Custom «History and Theory of New Media» Essay Paper Sample

The decade of the 90’s certainly paced way to a more sophisticated system of communications hosted through the Internet. With all the developments that the Internet has offered the human society, everything could now be accessed; everything else could be made through one click of a button. Even media presentation itself has actually been affected by the major breakthrough technology offered by online communicating connections. The development of the World Wide Web has certainly offered different options of communicating and international connections even between people who do not even know each other. The connections of the human society have been made tighter and much easier to deal with in so many ways.

                Through this particular communication innovation, the springing out of virtual culture and virtual society came into clear picture. Different people from all races around the world are now able to connect with each other primarily making connections with each other through the Internet. There now exists a virtual community that is composed of people of all ages and races who are able o understand each other as humans, not actually considering discrimination. To many evaluators of the said technology, the Internet is now the latest

Through this innovative design of technology the economic as well as the political concerns of the different communities within the human society could now be clearly identified. Mostly, the media access to real time news and worldwide events have been continuously enhanced to assist information distribution within the society. Through the different mediums of information presentation, the Internet has been noted as the key reason why most people around the world who are at times not even a part of the political and economical system of the communities are now able to give their comments and suggestions regarding the existing systems within the society. This particular feature of the Internet indeed impacts the systems with which the human society today exists.

The Communication Projects

                Communication projects are usually made to connect different people from all over the world. Internet connections have made this particular meeting online friends procedure possible. True, with this system of connection, it is as if no stranger exists in the society already. Aside from this the said sites add in them the animated presentation of information that would not only inform the “bloggers” of the latest events in the society, in fact it also entertains the surfers of the Internet. Among the examples of such communication project include Mixi and You Tube.

A)Mixi [SNS, Japan]

                Mixi is a social site that deals with encouraging the connection of the people who are invited to become members of the said online virtual community. It primarily came from the words mix and I. This primarily pertains to the aim of the site to help people get connected with others. ⁶ It is more of a virtual place where people could share their ideas about certain topics of their own concerns and thus be able to find people who are much more like them with whom they could reconnect themselves with.

How the Project Works 

                This particular Social Networking Service [SNS] developed in Japan which was first established in February 2004 with more than 5.7 million members and at least less than 500,000 virtual communities that hosted several messaging systems that assisted in connecting people who have similar interests together. With an invitation-only procedure of the said system, the communities are primarily interconnected within the system that allows them to message with everyone else who is also a member of the said virtual organization. The project offers several features such as tune playing, music video features and video animations. ⁸ For some time, the said project went on in continuous operation, however, with the pursuance of the Mixi Tsukare movement, the elimination of the said project has been pushed through. This has primarily been because of the fact that the said project already affected the lives of the youths who are constantly involved within the said system of online messaging.

Relationships Prompted by the Project

                Usually, those who are members of the said messaging project become friends and some even meet up and finally end in a mutual connection based on passionate affection. It could not be denied that the said project has primarily been a cause for the development of different levels of relationship among its members. Both Japanese and other races of people have been meeting through this particular internet site. More likely, socialization is the main goal of the said online site upon establishment. It has particularly been able to meet that certain aim within the span of time that it has operated online.

The Aesthetic Value of the Site

                The presentation of the accounts through the Mixi site is particularly assisted by the different blog posts and photos of the friends of the one whose account is being viewed. Through the said account, the latest news about the members are posted for viewers to know. Aside from this; several other featured presentations are hosted through the said site. However, it could be noted that even though the site presented several personal data about the owner of the account, at least 65% of the presentation was more for advertising purposes such as cartoon character animations, movie stars and other promotional ads, primarily features that supported the site’s sponsor’s profit-based interests. From this perspective, it could be observed that the features of the site offered to its account members are focused more on messaging and not on the presentation of the personal data of the members. Instead, the site also hosted many activities for advertising processes for the sponsors of the site.

The Direct Relation of the Aesthetic Value to its Network Conditions

                Through the user reviews, the members of the site could actually rate the process by which the administration of the said online organization tries to serve its clients. Hence, networking procedures for the said site could be considered critically and carefully planned to increase the satisfaction of its clients to the best limits that it could attain. It also allowed larger space for blogging with a considerable fee of 300 yen which particularly lives up to its mission of helping the people within the society meet up with the people that they would be much compatible to get along with.

B) The You Tube Site

                You tube is more of a video sharing site where people could watch and later on review the said featured video presentations. The videos could actually be like anything else. The said videos could feature political issues and economic advancements, jokes and personal events that the senders had to deal with, religion and other social issues and other more topics that could come from anywhere else in the world. The disadvantage here though is that the videos are less evaluated and there are no measures of restriction as to which videos are to be allowed for presentation and which videos would not be available for public viewing. ¹⁰ Everything is uncensored and anybody could simply access the videos to watch them and be either influenced or simply be entertained by them.

How the Site Works

                You tube started as an invention of the Time Magazine. It primarily hosted news featured videos that have not been shown on television yet. As expected though, the site actually was able to host several clients who were satisfied of the videos that they saw and were able to relate to what they have watched through the site. The evaluations were great, therefore the Time Magazine administrations decided to continue hosting the video presentations. However, along with the clips that they themselves have collected from the news reports that they hosted, they also opened the doors for amateur videos to have a chance on being shown online. The fact that the videos are amateur; there are not much of an editing procedure that is applied. The fact that the videos are supposed to entertain the clients, the administrations imply aims for the vague chance of making it possible for amateur video takes to have their one chance of fame through the hosting of the said site.

Relationships Promoted by the Site

                Most likely, as mentioned earlier, the site becomes a freeway of videos that discuss the different topics that primarily concerns the society. Hence, as a result, people who are able to connect with each other through the said site are more likely those who have concerns in the issues presented within the videos. The bloggers who comment about what they have watched are usually giving considerable reviews that help amateur video makers more aware of what they should consider in editing and posting their videos for public viewing. Aside from this, several commentators and columnists also benefit from primarily reading the blogs that are presented within the site.

Aesthetics of the Site

                Aside from the video presentations themselves; the site also hosted a minimal space for sponsor ads. The major importance of the sites featuring the amateur videos particularly helps in developing the talents of the senders and the commentators as well. More often than not, the assistance that the site gives to several online journalism professionals certainly makes this site a reputable media source.

The Direct Relation of the Aesthetic Value to its Network Conditions

                The connection of the site to the major sources of the videos and benefactors of the presentations certainly creates a meaningful and resourceful result for media practicing methods. Certainly, the presentations are made to create possibilities for the stakeholders of the site a chance to make good in their video presentations and in the same way affect the society through the presentations that the videos are made for.

The Question of Authenticity

Because of the major developments in information technology today, the communication procedures that have been introduced to the human society actually create a fine connection between people from all over the world. It is also for this reason that when a particular word is typed in a particular search engine website, innumerable information are being sourced out from different informative sites such as the ones mentioned herein. With this information spill over, it is not easy to distinguish between real information and false information. Gone are the days when information only comes from approved and authenticated sources.  IT has been observed and stated by Steven Johnson that people today use that of web 2.0 which is more often used by ordinary people, likely the process of information sharing in the said web has been much open allowing everyone wanting to share their thoughts through the internet have the right chance to allow others know about this. Apparently web 1.0 which is used by expert information providers are less accessed by regular people because of the security that protects the said sites. It could be observed that through this, the level of understanding that people could actually receive from the internet has been much questioned for their integrity. It could be observed then that simply accepting any available information through the net is certainly one of the many considerations that each individual should give attention to. Without the necessary precautions taken by everyone involved in the information sharing hosted through the internet even within community network projects such as mixi and youtube, people would have the less chances of getting the authenticated information as much as they expected.

                Online communication project sites are made to particularly host different idealisms of people around the world. With the aims and the missions of the said sites to help in creating a more culturally connected society through online communications could only be met through conscientious application of ethics in using the beneficial accounts that online connections provide its users. As it could be observed through the study hosted in this paper, online presentation of information through public messaging and video sharing certainly affect the lives of the people within the human society. However, although the sites are able to offer the access to different people and different presentations, it should occur to the users that they should take full responsibility of how they are able to use the sources of information through online connections as to how it primarily affects their personality and their lives.