1. THE DIGITALTHE DIGITAL
REVOLUTION?REVOLUTION?
Dr Bex Lewis Research Fellow in Social Media &
Online Learning, CODEC, Durham University
Dr Tim Hutchings William Leech Research
Fellow, CODEC, Durham University
@drbexl
@tim_hutchings
#MediaLit14
Image Credit: Stockfresh

2. Session Overview
•Bex:
• The Twitterfall
• Change Happens…
• Old Media and the Digital Age
•Tim:
• Authority
• Privacy
• Is it a revolution?

3. THE TWITTERFALL
Dr Bex Lewis

4. Let’s Talk About The Twitterfall:
#MediaLit14

5. Tweeting in Church?
• Good Thing?
• Bad Thing?
• Why might/might
not people tweet
in church?
• What might
encourage more
‘engagement’?
Image Credit: Stockfresh

6. Change Happens…
Dr Bex Lewis

7. WHAT IS THIS ABOUT?
An incredible new technology enables the
transmission of text on a worldwide base. It
rapidly reduces production and distribution
costs and for the first time allows large
numbers of people to access text and pictures
in their own homes.

8. Gutenberg
Printing Press,
1439
Image Credit: Wikipedia

9. https://twitter.com/hanelly/status/405754162555944960/photo/1

10. https://twitter.com/LeistCatalano/status/473076349394255872/photo/1

11. A moral panic may be
defined as an episode,
often triggered by
alarming media stories
and reinforced by
reactive laws and public
policy, of exaggerated or
misdirected public
concern, anxiety, fear, or
anger over a perceived
threat to social order.
http://www.ashgate.com/pdf/SamplePages/Ashgate-Research-Companion-to-Moral-Panics-Intro.pdf
Image Credit: Stockfresh

12. Right back to Socrates…
This discovery of yours will create
forgetfulness in the learners' souls,
because they will not use their
memories; they will trust to the external
written characters and not remember
of themselves…you give your disciples
not truth, but only the semblance of
truth; they will be hearers of many
things and will have learned nothing.
(Phaedrus, Benjamin Jowett trans.)
http://bigthink.co
Image Credit: Wikipedia

13. http://youtu.be/pQHX-SjgQvQ

14. Technological determinism is
a reductionist theory that
presumes that a society's
technology drives the
development of its social
structure and cultural values.
Wikipedia

15. Core Ideas:
• The development of technology itself follows
a predictable, traceable, inevitable path
largely beyond cultural or political influence,
a continual journey of progress
• Technology in turn has inherent "effects"
on societies, rather than socially
conditioned or produced by society, where it
has organised itself to support and further
develop a new technology

16. The Medium is the Message
(McLuhan)
"the printing press, the computer, and
television are not therefore simply machines
which convey information. They are
metaphors through which we conceptualize
reality in one way or another. They will
classify the world for us, sequence it, frame
it, enlarge it, reduce it, argue a case for
what it is like. Through these media
metaphors, we do not see the world as it is.
We see it as our coding systems are. Such
is the power of the form of information.”
Neil Postman, Teaching as a Conserving Activity (1979), p. 39
Neil Postman

17. Pew Report, 2012
quoting Jeff Jarvis, Journalist
“Before the press … information was passed
mouth-to-ear, scribe-to-scribe; it was
changed in the process; there was little
sense of ownership and authorship. In the
five-century-long Gutenberg era, text did set
how we see our world: serially with a neat
beginning and a defined end; permanent;
authored. Now, we are passing out of this
textual era and that may well affect how we
look at our world. That may appear to change
how we think. But it won't change our wires.”

18. Even though in practice, face-to-face
communication can, of course, be
angry, negligent, resistant, deceitful
and inflexible, somehow it remains
the ideal against which mediated
communication is judged as flawed.
Prof Sonia Livingstone, Children and the
Internet: Great Expectations and
Challenging Realities. 2009, p26

20. DISCUSS
All technologies offer
AFFORDANCES,
CONSTRAINTS and change
SOCIAL PRACTICES
e.g.
What has been made possible with the
introduction of mobile phones?
How have mobile phones limited our activities?
How have our social practices/habits, etc.
changed since mobile phones?
Image Credit: The Worship Cloud

21. “Old” Media & the Digital
Age
Dr Bex Lewis

22. Broadcasting
At its inception, first as a company, in 1922, the BBC broadcast only
on radio. Twenty years later, a television channel was added.
Today, it provides 8 distinct TV services, 10 national and dozens of
local radio stations and operates in a world of hundreds of
channels with thousands of content providers. It runs one of the
most visited websites in the world; the BBC’s international news
websites now record over 230 million page impressions a month.
The BBC World Service continues to maintain its position as the
world’s leading broadcaster, transmitting programmes in English
and 42 other languages to 146 million listeners per week. Digital TV
has reached more than two-thirds of homes, and by 2012 the whole
country will be receiving television in this way. And for millions, the
convergence of media is already a reality.
A Public Service for All: the BBC in the digital age (2006)
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/272256/6763.pdf

23. http://www.aspeninstitute.org/policy-work/communications-society/programs-topic/digital-broadcasting-public-interest/broadcasting-
Citizenship and Community
The market, being by definition the mere
aggregation of individual decisions, takes no
account of community and of the complex
relations between citizenship, culture, and
community. In particular, the fragmentation
of audiences that pure market-driven
broadcasting may produce could
undermine both communities and cultures
by limiting our shared experiences.

24. The Price of Plurality (Report,
2008)
This in itself may appear strange as the internet ushers in a
world of choice and diversity such that the world of
analogue television could never have imagined. Even so,
as communities become more disconnected, the debate
over what makes a shared culture amidst diversity of
individual choice has become closely linked to the
issue of how public values will be reflected in
broadcasting in the future. As a result, plurality has
become the meeting point for a number of arguments about
the future of our broadcasting institutions – the BBC licence
fee, the public status of Channel 4, and the PSB status of
ITV and Five.
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/broadcast/reviews-investigations/psb-review/psbplurality.pdf

25. https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/bbc-news-stop-this-media-blackout-of-the-green-party/?state=sign

26. https://www.facebook.com/124563204315456/photos/a.124695450968898.19183.124563204315456/542937682478004/?type=1&theater

27. Second-Screening
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/technology-research/2014/Second_Screens_Final_report.pdf

29. http://apps.channel4.com/app/the-million-pound-drop/

30. Potential Drivers
• user desire/need for shared rather than isolated TV
experiences
• a sense of connection with others/community
• social comparisons (validation)
• curiosity in seeking out others’ views
• getting more information
• getting access to content at a convenient time and place
• to influence/interact with content
• sense of acknowledgement from others
• interest in debate/discussion (social inclusion, fun,
information).
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/technology-research/2014/Second_Screens_Final_report.pdf

31. 24/7 News Culture
• Local TV newsrooms moved into the 24/7 mindset thirty years
ago, when videotape, microwave and satellite technology made it
possible to broadcast live or just-recorded video reports anytime,
and from just about any place. Technology changed the culture
and the content of TV news. Reporters could now “go live” from
a legislative debate or a police chase; they could alert
communities to a dangerous chemical spill or break news of a fatal
car crash even before the next-of-kin knew it had happened.
• Overnight ratings and viewer research told stations which
stories and coverage attracted viewers, and drove more “live,
local and late-breaking” reports. a diet of accidents, fires and
crime; of too many events and too few issues.Media critics at
newspapers lamented the resulting TV news menu:
http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/leadership-management/what-great-bosses-know/80865/247-culture-tips-from-the-best-and-worst-of-tv/

32. Newspapers
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23969887

33. http://positivenews.org.uk/

34. Music
The conventional argument:

36. http://elitedaily.com/music/how-one-generation-was-able-to-kill-the-music-industry/593411/

37. Industry Voices (2013)
http://video.foxnews.com/v/2160237384001/digital-age-changing-the-music-industry-for-good/#sp=show-clips

39. http://youtu.be/EUmNDKvSPMo

40. Cinema
http://youtu.be/IP_f4LHi1hc

41. Sure Fire Blockbusters?
Those days are all but gone. It was while on the press tour
for The Lone Ranger (budget: $200m+) that director Gore
Verbinski lamented the fact that the current Hollywood
system supports small movies (courtesy of studios'
marquee labels, such as Sony Classics) and massive
blockbusters. To warrant a wide release of anything in
between - a film that isn't a comedy - is increasingly tricky.
After all, to pay for distribution and sufficient
marketing to a get a film noticed is a heavy burden for
a studio. Marketing strategies thus tend to be big,
broad and wide, or slow builders. And where are you
supposed to position a mid-budget feature in the midst of
that?
http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/blockbusters/27405/10-big-problems-with-modern-day-blockbuster-cinema-needs-intro#ixzz34FaCgQbI

42. http://youtu.be/BtVeUIy0GyA

43. http://www.buzzfeed.com/adamdavis/3d-movies-are-the-literal-worst-for-people-with-glasses

44. The Aesthetics of Cinema
Does the digital era spell the death of cinema as
we know it? Or is it merely heralding its rebirth?
Are we witnessing the emergence of something
entirely new? Cinema in the Digital Age
examines the fate of cinema in this new era,
paying special attention to the technologies that
are reshaping film and their cultural impact.
Examining Festen (1998), The Blair Witch
Project (1999), Timecode (2000), Russian Ark
(2002), The Ring (2002), among others, this
volume explores how these films are
haunted by their analogue past and suggests
that their signature element are their
deliberate imperfections, whether those take
the form of blurry or pixilated images, shakey
camera work, or other elements reminding
viewers of the human hand guiding the
camera. Weaving together a rich variety of
sources, Cinema in the Digital Age provides a
deeply humanistic look at the meaning of
cinematic images in the era of digital perfection.

45. Film Piracy
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/apr/02/film-piracy

46. Publishing
…with 15 percent to 25 percent of book sales shifting to
digital format by 2015 the book industry is heading into
wholly new territory…
Whatever the sector, the emergence of new reading
devices suggests an interesting evolution in writing itself.
Creating long-term value will not come from simply
reformatting print content into digital words. Rather, the
greatest opportunity lies in experimenting with such new
formats as nonlinear, hybrid, interactive and social content,
electronic modes that add motion, sound and direct reader
interactions through technologies we will discuss below
http://www.bain.co.uk/bainweb/PDFs/cms/Public/BB_Publishing_in_the_digital_era.pdf

47. http://blog.youversion.com/2014/04/why-friendships-in-bible-app-5-are-different/

48. What is the future for publishers?
Polly Courtney (Self-published)
1. Fragmented readership –
few books/sell big = doesn’t
work
2. Risk-averse: publishers
looking for sure-fire hits
3. Uses eBook sales data to
adapt price re: demand
4. 3/1self-published/
published – who is
undertaking quality control?
Richard Charkin (Bloomsbury)
1. Slim, but ever-present
chance of success = exciting
2. Shift in kind of risk taken:
more books being published
than ever before.
3. Agreed, but thought the
product itself being
devalued.
4. Even positive review in New
York Sunday Times = 200
sales. Word of mouth = key.
http://www.bytethebook.com/news/report-charkin-courtney

49. Discuss
• What is your ‘lived experience’ of how
‘traditional’ media has changed?
• Any other media you want to mention?
• Are there consistent themes?
• Which of those aspects could be seen
to be negative?
• What do you see that is
positive/offering new opportunities?
• How does this knowledge affect your
ministry role?

50. AUTHORITY
Dr Tim Hutchings

51. Who do you listen to,
online?

52. “Hierarchies and networks are two
very different systems and the Internet
was really developed for only one of
them.”
- Chris Helland, 2005

53. But nothing is ever quite that
simple…

54. “The fluidity and transience of online
environments poses challenges to
traditional authority structures, roles,
and tools. The result has been that the
internet is framed both as a threat to
certain established roles and
hierarchies and as a tool of
empowerment by others.”
– Heidi Campbell 2012

55. New authorities…

56. “The internet serves as a spiritual hub,
allowing practitioners to select from a vast
array of resources and experience in order
to assemble and personalize their religious
behavior and belief. This encourages a
convergent form of religious practice online,
a process that allows and even encourages
users to draw from traditional and new
sources simultaneously.”
- Heidi Campbell 2012

57. The proliferation of web sites calling themselves Catholic
creates a problem… it is confusing, to say the least, not
to distinguish eccentric doctrinal interpretations,
idiosyncratic devotional practices, and ideological
advocacy bearing a ‘Catholic' label from the authentic
positions of the Church… A system of voluntary
certification at the local and national levels under the
supervision of representatives of the Magisterium might
be helpful in regard to material of a specifically doctrinal
or catechetical nature. The idea is not to impose
censorship but to offer Internet users a reliable guide to
what expresses the authentic position of the Church.
- “The Church and Internet”, Vatican report, 2002

59. … and old authorities

66. But is authority really about
people and institutions?

68. PRIVACY
Dr Tim Hutchings

69. What do these
three have in
common?

70. So should we put up with
being someone else’s products?

72. IS IT A REVOLUTION?
Dr Tim Hutchings

73. Event Publicity, 2010:
“There is a revolution sweeping across the globe, driven by the
massive growth of the internet and internet related
technologies. Known as the Digital Revolution it is on par with
other great global shifts such as the Agrarian Revolution and
the Industrial Revolution. And it is completely changing the
landscape of how we communicate, how we influence, how we
relate. This isn’t simply about coming to grips with a new
technology to assist us in our work, but requires of us a
fundamental shift in our processes, our structures and
approaches. If we don’t respond then as Eric Hoffer states, we
will find ourselves, ‘beautifully equipped to deal with a world
that no longer exists.’”

74. The electric technology is within the
gates, and we are numb, deaf, blind,
and mute about its encounter with
the Gutenberg technology, on and
through which the American way of
life was formed... Our conventional
response to all media, namely that
it is how they are used that
counts, is the numb stance of the
technological idiot. For the
"content" of a medium is like the
juicy piece of meat carried by the
burglar to distract the watchdog
of the mind.
Marshall McLuhan (again)

76. Image Credit: iStockphoto
@drbexl
@tim_hutchings
http://www.slideshare.net/drbexl/