Digital and Social Media: The Root of Our Existence As the list of mediated technology continues to grow, some argue that the traditional definitions of mass media and mass communication are no longer relevant in our society. Where does digital and social media fit into the scheme of things? Before we engulf ourselves in answering that question, let’s consider the state of media and mass communication today. New Media, New Considerations New considerations of what mass media are and what mass communication entails began to take shape during that later half of the 20th century. As early as the late 1960s with the development of computers, government and businesses were reaping the benefits of communicating to large amounts of people using technology and these new ways of were gaining a lot of attention. During the 1970s, computers were introduced to the individual for their own personal use and thus the revolution into new media began (Computer History Museum, n.d.). New media are those systems that have two characteristics in common--digital and interactive. While legacy media provided one-to-many communication with little to no feedback, new media are delivered in a digital format allowing the audience member to respond, often times immediately to the mediated message. These new media systems include, but are not limited to computers, the Internet, CD and DVD technology, and interactive video games. Portable and handheld media such as cell phones, smart phones, and netbooks have joined the ranks of new media providing the ability to deliver a variety of mediated messages on the go. New media provide us with the capability of interacting with media and with others in real time over large network systems. These systems have allowed us to advance personally and professionally and have even paved the way for some major accomplishments in our society. However, their introduction has left us with the seemingly impossible task of redefining mass communication. The traditional definition of mass communication introduced in chapter one does not adequately describe our media environment today. That definition focused on one-to-many communication with the possibility of limited feedback. The audience was, in essence passive. With today’s media systems the audience has, and takes advantage of, the opportunity to be active an active participant in the mass mediated process. VIDEO Given these factors some have presented new ways of looking at mass communications. Vivian (2009) describes it as a, “technology-assisted process by which messages are sent to large, faraway audiences”. This definition removes the restriction of a complex organization being the sender of the message. Biagi (2010) offers a similar definition of the concept describing mass communication as, “communication from one person or group of persons through a transmitting device (a medium) to large audiences or markets”. Still others have decided to abandon th.

1. Digital and Social Media: The Root of Our Existence
As the list of mediated technology continues to grow, some
argue that the traditional definitions of mass media and mass
communication are no longer relevant in our society. Where
does digital and social media fit into the scheme of things?
Before we engulf ourselves in answering that question, let’s
consider the state of media and mass communication today.
New Media, New Considerations
New considerations of what mass media are and what mass
communication entails began to take shape during that later half
of the 20th century. As early as the late 1960s with the
development of computers, government and businesses were
reaping the benefits of communicating to large amounts of
people using technology and these new ways of were gaining a
lot of attention. During the 1970s, computers were introduced to
the individual for their own personal use and thus the revolution
into new media began (Computer History Museum, n.d.). New
media are those systems that have two characteristics in
common--digital and interactive. While legacy media provided
one-to-many communication with little to no feedback, new
media are delivered in a digital format allowing the audience
member to respond, often times immediately to the mediated
message. These new media systems include, but are not limited
to computers, the Internet, CD and DVD technology, and
interactive video games. Portable and handheld media such as
cell phones, smart phones, and netbooks have joined the ranks
of new media providing the ability to deliver a variety of
mediated messages on the go.
New media provide us with the capability of interacting with
media and with others in real time over large network systems.
These systems have allowed us to advance personally and
professionally and have even paved the way for some major
accomplishments in our society. However, their introduction

2. has left us with the seemingly impossible task of redefining
mass communication. The traditional definition of mass
communication introduced in chapter one does not adequately
describe our media environment today. That definition focused
on one-to-many communication with the possibility of limited
feedback. The audience was, in essence passive. With today’s
media systems the audience has, and takes advantage of, the
opportunity to be active an active participant in the mass
mediated process.
VIDEO
Given these factors some have presented new ways of looking at
mass communications. Vivian (2009) describes it as a,
“technology-assisted process by which messages are sent to
large, faraway audiences”. This definition removes the
restriction of a complex organization being the sender of the
message. Biagi (2010) offers a similar definition of the concept
describing mass communication as, “communication from one
person or group of persons through a transmitting device (a
medium) to large audiences or markets”. Still others have
decided to abandon the concept altogether in favor of another
term stating that “mass” is no longer representative of the
fragmented audiences that exist today. Rather than re-evaluate
the definition of the term, they have chosen to refer to the
process as “media communication” or “mediated
communication” (Chaffee and Metzer, 2001). Both views of
what concept should be used to describe this communication
carry some validity. Throughout this text we will not discard the
term mass communication, but rather we will use it in the
following way: Mass communication is the process of sending
messages to large audiences using some form of mediated
technology.
SOMETHING TO PONDER
1. How often did you use digital or social media today?
2. Was there any other means of communication available
such as face-to-face or phone?

3. 3. Did you achieve your goals as a result of using the forms
of media?
THIS WEEK’S ASSIGNMENTS
This week you will understand more about the processes of
digital and media literacy. You will also become more aware of
your social media use and think about how different messages
can be effectively communicated using digital and social media.
REFERENCES
Computer History Museum (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.computerhistory.org/internet_history/
Dominick, J. R. (2010). The Dynamics of Mass
Communications: Media in the Digital Age
10e. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Vivian, John (2009). The Media of Mass Communication 9e.
Boston: Pearson Education
Biagi, Shirley (2010). Media/Impact: An Introduction to Mass
Media 9e. Boston: Wadsworth
Learning.