Consumption vs. Participation

Since our class focuses on New Media, the most relevant aspect of yesterday’s lecture was how advances in electrical and digital technology have changed media communication. Out of nearly 50,000 years of human communication, the past 200 have seen two major shifts, the Industrial Revolution, and it’s successor, the Digital Revolution. The first was collective in nature; it created a mass culture, a common set from which large populations could similarly consume. The Digital Revolution had an atomizing affect on the Media changes that happened during the Industrial. Instead of people consuming from a common set, people are instead participating in a common set, a good example would be the differences and similarities between Television and YouTube. I think this relationship, between mass consumption and mass participation is a fundamental aspect of New Media or Social Media, and an interesting entry point into its study.