Media has quickly evolved as time continues to progress, leaving us with terms such as “old media” and “new media”. It is important for the creator of some form of media to first choose a medium of their liking so that they can connect with their audience and display it in the most appropriate manner. An author must choose an appropriate medium in order to display their message in a way that will appeal to their desired audience. If an author uses a ‘bad’ medium, then their intended audience might avoid or stray away from what they created due to disinterest or potential confusion.
In order to portray content and maintain a certain stream of rhetorical devices, an author has to ensure that they know what they’re doing and who they’re trying to connect with. Spaces in the realm of “new media” allow for significantly more interactions and individuality which can appeal to a wide variety of audiences.
Medium and Content
J.D. Applen uses a multitude of people to highlight new media and old media. He uses these voices to explain how they all correlate with one another. Richard Lanham mentions his belief that contact with electronic words impacts the perception that people have differently than printed words. Lanham specifically states that in contrast to the “electronic word”, printed words attain “No pictures; no color; strict order of left to right then down one line; no type changes; no interaction; no revision.”
Essentially, there is no room to interact with written text whereas electronic text paves the path for interaction. There is space for varying perceptions even modification. This is where the concept of perception and choosing a specific audience comes into play. The specific medium of an online space paves the way for interactions among the audience. Content can be changed and modified at any given time. Whether it be adding or modifying pictures, links, and the overall design of a website. This impacts the rhetorical strategies used within a website and the perception of the audience.
New Media
Applen states that we become more aware of text in online environments “…in part due to the fact that we know how to manipulate letters and words in electronic environments, and thus can see them change before us; they are not just laid out in an unchanging format, as in a book.” “New media” is forever changing and it’s wrong to think that it lies stagnant. It’s modular, it contains variability and interactivity. It can be changed and accommodate a multitude of varying audiences. The selected audience doesn’t like something? Change it. The rhetorical devices used can be modified based on the changing of content. There is no concern of it being locked into place permanently. On the other hand, old media is a little more difficult to change.
Old Media
However, there is an overwhelming thought, especially backed by Manovich, that new media promotes individuality. This thought is opposed to traditional print forcing everyone to share the same perspective. That thought is also challenged because, although old media can’t be individualized like new media can, each person interacting with old media can have their own perspective of things and formulate their own thoughts. As Applen mentions, “We bring our own sensibilities to and create our own meanings from these traditional texts, and they too allow for freedom.”
Understanding media is about perception and perception is reliant on the audience at hand. Old media can’t be changed or modified in the same way that new media can. But, it can be perceived differently, leading there to different impacts and thoughts for every audience member involved. The unfortunate part of old media is that there’s no way to go in and change the content after distribution. Once a movie is released or a book is handed to someone, it can’t be changed in a major way. It can’t be reworked in a way that will permanently alter the content of the medium at hand. In this instance, the chosen rhetorical devices stay the same.
The Importance of Rhetoric
George Landlow states “Electronic linking, which generates the fundamental characteristics of hypertext, changes many of the characteristics of text that derive from print, particularly from the physical isolation of the printed work. By inserting the individual text into a network of other texts, this information medium creates a new kind of textual entity—a metatext or hypermedia corpus.” Medium impacts the perception of a text and the rhetorical devices applied to the mentioned text. There is a distinct tie between medium, content, and rhetorical devices when it comes to new media. One change can cause a change in everything else.
As I mentioned in my Week 5 Blog Post, digital rhetoric centers around understanding digital spaces and communicating in them. Digital rhetoric ties into new media and is important to understand. This allows an author to accurately communicate with an audience in a digital space. Medium, content, and rhetorical devices are all aligned with one another to provide material in a digital space.
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