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Salt Lake Community College

Confluence of Media

Lexi Olander
COMM 2500
Julie Gay
12/08/2017
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Lexi Olander

Prof. Julie Gay

COMM 2500

8 December 2017

Confluence of Media

In todays ever changing and technology dominated world, our modern day

society is constantly finding new ways to make the process that humans access media

more efficient and convenient. Our society has accomplished this feat through the

principle of media convergence. To define media convergence, one must simply

dissect the phrase itself. Convergence is defined as the act of meeting at a point or

inclining toward each other. Whereas media is defined as the main means of mass

communication (broadcasting, publishing, and the Internet), regarded collectively.

Simply defined in todays world, media convergence is the merging of several media

channels into one single entity. In the past, our society has defined books,

newspapers, radio, television, and cinema as their own distinct unit. However, today,

with the combination of digitization and computer networking, these traditional

media platforms have been broken down and integrated. This has enabled the

immediate and global exchange of every kind of content. Media convergence greatly

affects our day-to-day life in both industrial and social aspects, as well as influencing

the powerful world of American business.

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In the past, products were designed to perform their own specific tasks: a cell

phone was used for making and receiving calls, the radio was used to listen to music,

the television was used to to watch shows or movies. Currently, modern technology is

taking the world by storm. Modern phones allow us to surf the internet, use social

media, watch TV, play games, video chat, take pictures, read books, etc. all while

making and receiving calls like its original model. Most radio consoles are a thing of

the past as most users have subscribed to satellite radio or have resorted to using the

bluetooth capabilities of their phones or aux cords to listen to music. Or updated

radios have touch screens and can connect to your phone and use GPS services.

Smart televisions are now able to use the internet so consumers can use social media

and check the weather some televisions even allow users to play games. Henry

Jenkins, in Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, defined media

convergence as, a word that describes technological, industrial, cultural, and social

changes in the ways media circulates within our culture (it is) and ongoing process

or series of intersections between different media systems and not a fixed

relationship (Jenkins 2006). This means that the definition of media convergence

will continue to change as media platforms grow and improve through time.

First of all, media convergence has affected our society by making all of our

lives easier as a whole. The Media Equation Theory, which looks at interpersonal

communication between an individual and the media and how people tend to treat

computers and other media as if they were either real people or real places, states
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that humans of modern society rely heavily on different media platforms. So much so

that we attach emotions to different medias and treat them as if they are real. Since

we spend so much of our time using todays technology, media convergence affects

our lives by allowing us to use said technologies more efficiently and conveniently.

Today, everything we need is in the palm of our hands. Media convergence then

impacts our lives in the way that nowadays, digitization is taking the world by storm.

What is digitization? Well, simply put, it is the conversion of text, pictures, or sound

into a digital form that can be processed by a computer. Newspapers, books, DVDs,

etc. are all becoming digitized which allows media content to be easily adapted for

use in any medium (S. Chakaveh and M. Bogen 812).

Furthermore, media convergence affects our lives by allowing sources to reach

a broader audience with the same media message presented across different

platforms to fit the needs of each consumer. In Media Convergence: The Good, The

Bad, And The Ugly, this impacts our lives because, audiences are fragmenting based

on which platform best suits their needs, whichultimately increases the number of

audiences available and the number of opportunities to view a message on a platform

that each individual prefers (nationcommunication.com). Along with so many

consumer needs being met, consumers can also interact with other consumers on

different media platforms to create new and better experiences.

On the downside, media convergence also creates challenges to everyday

society. In todays world, technology is constantly growing and evolving, which

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ultimately means that our opportunities are continuously growing too. This can

become overwhelming and difficult to keep up with. Also, having everything a person

needs in the palm of our hands invites less and less social interaction which can

simply lead to disastrous results for the human race as predicted in dystopian novels

alike. According to nationcommunication, Media convergence also requires a source

to establish credibility and rapport for an audience to deem it

reliable (nationcommunication.com). This is a challenge because it means that

media platforms must ensure that audiences stay engaged by establishing a credible

and trusted platform in a unique and creative way.

In addition to those aforementioned social and industrial effects and impacts,

media convergence heavily affects American business. Media convergence allows

consumers to access media in a way that is not damaging to the pocketbook. Creative

industries are constantly coming up with new ways to make access to their medias

more efficient and cost-effective. Converging media together is cheaper than

employing multiple employees specializing in only one platform. Also, it is more cost-

effective to use social media for public outreach and for marketing purposes. For

example, if a company wants to advertise, it is must cheaper to make their company

known on social media platforms than printing out articles or physical ads on

billboards or in newspapers. The digital form is free.

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An impact of media convergence being so cost-friendly is government

deregulation. This has allowed media conglomerates to own different kinds of media

in the same markets (S. Chakaveh and M. Bogen 812) and this strategy means that

companies can reduce labor and material costs. It also means that barriers are raised

to newcomers seeking to enter media markets which limits competition for

converged companies (S. Chakaveh and M. Bogen 812).

Also, a challenge to this benefit of media convergence being so cost-effective, is

that it increases the need for surveillance. Since media convergence is so affordable, it

means that media convergence is increasing so with everything in one place,

surveillance is a must. This directly impacts our society because it raises an eyebrow

about privacy rights.

Finally, media convergence is not a bad thing. Its impacts and effects are

mostly extremely useful and convenient. With the disappearance of physical forms of

media, digitization reduces our footprint and chance for waste (books, DVDs, etc. are

thrown away and not always recycled). It allows our society to be more efficient

because everything we need is in one place. Jobs in technology and digital media are

secure and not running out anytime soon. There are also some negatives that go

along with media convergence for example, it could be hard to keep up with in the

ever-changing world of technology and it could create concerns about personal

privacy because it is advancing so quickly. To solve this, more education should be

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delved out in our society on new media platforms so the old and new can keep up

with the changes. Also, merely upping the amount of security on new media

platforms will solve the concerns about privacy rights. Even with the negative aspects

of media convergence, the positive side is far greater than the negative side.
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Annotated Bibliography

Chakaveh S., Bogen M. (2007) Media Convergence, an Introduction. In: Jacko J.A.

(eds) Human-Computer Interaction. HCI Intelligent Multimodal Interaction

Environments. HCI 2007. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 4552.

Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

In this paper, S. Chakaveh and M. Bogen explore the different strategies of

media convergence. Strategies like the rise of digitization and the strategy of

government deregulation making it more cost effective for media platforms. It

talks about the economical impacts of media convergence and how this is

beneficial to American society and culture. It agrees that media convergence

makes life easier for the everyday American. This paper doesn't list many

downsides but instead focuses on the positives of media convergence.

Jenkins, Henry. Convergence culture: where old and new media collide. New York

University Press, 2016.

In Henry Jenkins detailed book about media convergence, he offers a simple

and succinct definition of the phrase. In his book he simply says that the

definition of media convergence is forever changing and can be morphed

depending on the technological culture at the time. He offers detailed

descriptions of how media convergence has affected society throughout the

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technological revolution. He also remarks on how media from the past and

present media have formed together.

Nationcommunication. Media Convergence: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

NATION: COMMUNICATION, 25 Sept. 2016,

nationcommunication.wordpress.com/2016/08/29/media-convergence-the-

good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/.

This article wraps up the concept of media convergence. It applies the

principle to everyday life and provides examples of how media convergence is

shaping our society. It offers the benefits of media convergence, as well as

some of the negatives or downsides. It states that there is more good than bad

and that there are truly no ugly parts about media convergence. It states that

media convergence exists only to allow us to use our beloved media devices in

a more efficient and convenient way, or in a way that fits each of our lifestyles.