NEW MEDIA By Alina Haq

NEW MEDIA

New media refers to on-demand access to content anytime, anywhere, on any digital device, as well as interactive user feedback, creative participation. Another aspect of new media is the real-time generation of new, unregulated content. New media deals with the issue of things being new, many argue that new media technology such as mobile phones is actually just a regeneration of old media and so therefore isn't new. Terry Flew comments that there are many, many aspects of new media, as some examples: convergence, globalization, cyberspace, digital-capitalism, interactivity and security.

SOCIAL NETWORKING

Facebook and twitter are known to be the most popular sites for social networking. It allows you to interact with friends, family and even people you would not normally be able to get in touch with in the normal world - such as businesses and celebrities who like to interact with their fans or answer queries. These sites are great for promotion as it helps you share your messages to thousands. For my magazine, I would create a twitter which would allow people to follow me and read my tweets about my magazine. I would be creating competitions to get the audience involved and feel a part of something. Also, they would be permitted to send me feedback of what is good and bad for my magazine to help me be aware of what kind of content should be included in my magazine. I would create a Facebook page too with the same aspects but the only difference is that they will ‘like’ my page rather than ‘follow’ it like twitter. This would appeal to a predominantly younger audience as they use social networking the most.

BLOGS

A blog is a discussion or informational site published on the world wide web and consisting of discrete entries ("posts").

-Posts are typically entered in chronological order

-Interactivity: allowing visitors to leave comments and even message each other that distinguishes them from other static websites

-Numerous blogs provide commentary on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries; others function more as online brand advertising of a particular individual or company.

-A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. 

-Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (art blogs), photographs (photoblogs), videos (video blogs or "vlogs"), music (MP3 blogs), and audio (podcasts). Microblogging is another type of blogging, featuring very short posts. In education, blogs can be used as instructional resources. 

CONTINUED…

I would create a blog for my magazine to upload personal data such as behind the scenes content, interviews, what will be coming up next in my upcoming issues and so forth. This would be extremely helpful as I can’t provide videos and other matters like this on my magazine. It would allow me to promote artists, companies and anything else related to my music magazine. This is a good opportunity as most of my profit will be based on advertising.

IMAGES

The notable sites for images are Tumblr and Instagram. Both sites allow you to follow people, once you have followed someone their posts would appear on your newsfeed. This is important because it lets you inform your viewers on upcoming events. Instagram lets you upload your own personal pictures, whereas Tumblr is a picture blog where you can ‘reblog’ other people’s images. I plan on creating an instagram account as my personal images would create a ‘behind-the-scenes’ sense to the viewers. I can also ‘follow back’ the audience creating a personal and exclusive response for them to achieve. Both Tumbr and Instagram are a great way to share your ideas to thousands of people, the sites allow you to accomplish self promotion for free.

SOUND

As my magazine is based on music, SoundCloud and YouTube are important as they are the biggest music networks at this moment in time. YouTube is the most popular, every time an artist or a band releases a new single – they would upload it on YouTube to share it with everyone else. Famed labels use YouTube to their advantage to promote their artists’ music they know that most people would go to YouTube in search for music this is also because YouTube is free. My magazine will have a YouTube account called ‘Dynamic’ where interviews with the artists, bloopers, vlogs and behind the scenes videos will be contributed. I can share these videos on twitter and Facebook as well as being able to embed it onto my blog.

SMART PHONE

Nowadays, it is rare for someone to not own a smart phone. Some may say a smart phone is crucial as people access data through smartphones regularly as they carry it around with them. A smart phone is extremely helpful in terms of it’s flexibility, it contains a schedule, notes, alarm, the internet browser, apps that cover anything from entertainment to learning how to play the piano and so forth. I am planning to create an app for my magazine, it would be free to any person who owns an android or iPhone so it is easily accessible. The app would include a digital form of my magazine, sneak peaks of the new issue, exclusive competitions, fun games etc. I would be able to update it regularly to keep the audience in the loop of what is happening.