Reflection Essay – DIGC 101

Emma Langley

‘Using and Experiencing the Web as a Communication Form’

Technology, in turn New Media Technologies, has made the communication

process between other individuals all around the world, possible to interact with.

Having the ability to communicate through numerous alternatives, which

traditional models of communication could not make possible. Technology and its

development therefore, has come a long way in terms of communication, and is

primarily through the Web which is allowing for these new communication

patterns to form. Through the interactivity of the Web, social networking sites,

blogs, image/video sharing sites and thousands of personal web pages are

allowing for all levels of communication to occur. The Web therefore can be

classified as an effective Communication form for today’s technological

audience.

According to Jenkins (2006), convergence is “the flow of content across multiple

media platforms, the corporation between multiple media industries, and the

migratory behaviour of media audiences who will go almost anywhere in search

of the kinds of entertainment experiences they want” (pp.2). Convergence is the

Web today, having the ability to converge the old and the new, to create a flow

of information and communication from user to user. It is through convergence

that the Web is an effective tool of communication.

Online Worlds or Social Network Sites, revolve around this concept of

convergence. Through the Web today, almost anything seems possible and as a

daily user of various social networking sites, it seems that it is continuously

upgrading to meet the demands of its interactive audience. Social Networking

sites offer their users numerous applications across multiple platforms to stay

entertained or to simply waste time. With applications such as instant

messenger, status updates, music, photo and video sharing, communication is

continuously growing through this new web sensation.

Social Networking is continuously growing and expanding through the Web and is

forming a daily routine within millions of people’s lives. “With Australians

spending one in every 10 minutes online… [accounting for] 10 per cent of all

Internet time worldwide” (Bloomtools 2009), it is clear that communication, as

well as entertainment, plays a large role to why people are so addicted to

interacting through the Web.

According to Eloise Langley when interviewed on 20 August 2009, “it is my

generation’s way of communication, to stay up to date with the social dilemmas

which are happening, and to find out these dilemmas/gossip instantly, without

the traditional hassle of the phone or face to face communication.” This response

coming directly from the so-called technological generation, who are perceived

as being the most technologically advanced, however this does not make it

exclusion to the younger populations. With a growing amount of generation x, y

and baby boomers all becoming involved within the new form of communication

of social networking sites through the web. Evans (2009), states that, “With the

social networks, people may feel like they are 'left out of the loop' if they don't

have an online persona because so much information flows through these social

networks”. This flow of content across different multiple media platforms, is why

the web today is an effective form of communication.

The history of Social Networking is also essential to fully understand the

effectiveness of these sites and the Web as a form of communication. Through

personal reflection, Myspace was the first social networking site that reached a

massive population of users, including myself. The main interactive period of

Myspace therefore was between 2003 and 2006 (DIGC101, Wk5 Lecture Slides),

with many users after this period moving to the newer and better social network

site, FaceBook, which is presently dominating the social networking realm.

Overall, Social Networking Sites are an effective communication form through

the Web, as they offer “an entrance into another reality” (Flew 2008, pp.42),

without the constraints of the traditional communication forms.

Blogs or Weblogs are another interactive communication form which is accessed

through the Web. “'Blogging' [is an] contraction of the term 'web logging' [and] is

perhaps best described as a form of micro-publishing. Easy to use, from any

Internet connection point, blogging has become firmly established as a web

based communications tool” (Williams, JB & Jacobs, JS 2004). Blogs therefore,

having the ability to communicate personal information, which any user of the

web can become interactive within, to the blogs created for business firms and

academic students, via the web.

“The blogging phenomenon has evolved from its early origin as a medium for the

publication of simple, online personal diaries, to the latest disruptive technology,

the 'killer app' that has the capacity to engage people in collaborative activity,

knowledge sharing, reflection and debate” (Williams, JB & Jacobs, JS 2004). This

aspect of interactivity, again like social networking sites, is continuously allowing

users to become involved in the web, in result to use the web as a modern form

of communication.
Gender and Politics within Blogging, is also important to address in reflecting

upon blogs as a communication form of the web. According to Doorns, NV et al

2007, “weblog writers present their gender identity through narratives of

`everyday life' that remain closely related to the binary gender system”. That

people subconsciously write with a personal bias and a personal gender

preference, which reflects through their blog submissions. Further stating that,

“the act of diary writing on weblogs can be understood as challenging the

masculine connotation of the weblog as an ICT, demonstrating that the use of a

technology is pivotal in shaping the ways in which technologies themselves are

conceived of as `masculine' or `feminine'” (Doorns NV et al 2007). With many

people assuming that the act of writing these online diaries is a feminine act,

rather than a masculine one. However with a continuously growing database of

users, both female and male, this stereotype is leading away from gender

classifications and allowing any user the ability to express themselves through

the web. Resulting in the web being an effective communication form for today’s

technologically advanced audience.

Computer-mediated-communication (CMC) therefore is growing in popularity, as

discussed through both the social networking sites on the web (SNS) and through

the act of Blogging, however also can include the interactivity of image and

video sharing sites. These image/video sharing sites allow users to again become

interactive and to communicate a part of themselves through the web. YouTube

is a great example of how people create, upload and share content across

multiple media platforms.

YouTube can be described as a social networking site, allowing users to

communicate and interact with eachother through its many features such as

comments, like/dislike tools, and through the embedding tool. These features of

YouTube make communication between users simple, accessible and

entertaining. According to Cha, M et al 2007, in ‘I tube, you tube, everybody

tubes: analyzing the world's largest user generated content video system’,

YouTube is definitely a new form of communication through the web, focusing on

the new flows of visual communication. Stating that, “User Generated Content

(UGC) is re-shaping the way people watch video and TV, with millions of video

producers and consumers. In particular, UGC sites are creating new viewing

patterns and social interactions, empowering users to be more creative, and

developing new business opportunities”.

Image sharing sites are also common features of the web today and another way

in which creative communication can flow through. According to Danica

Barbagallo when interviewed on the 23 August 2009, “I love to search the web

for interesting and creative photos, using sites like Photobucket, Flickr and

Google Images to find them. They are great in communicating passion and

creativity… I also use these sites to upload my own personal images and to then

be able to embed them into my profile pages like Myspace”. It is clear through

this interview that many people use image sharing sites through the web, as an

effective form of communication.

The Web therefore can be classified as an effective communication form for

today’s technologically advanced users. Allowing for communication to occur

across multiple media platforms and having the ability to make communicating

through the Web a daily routine. These factors proven through the continual
growth in Social Networking Sites, through the millions of self-generated Blogs

and through the various image/video sharing sites which all allow for

communication in some form to be shared with the rest of the world. The Web

therefore, is and will continue to be for many generations, the greatest sensation

in communication!

Reference List

Bloomtools 2009, ‘Facebook and MySpace still growing in popularity’,

accessed 14/04/2009, http://www.bloomtools.com/articles/facebook-and-
myspace-still-growing-in-popularity.html

Cha, M, Kwak, H, Rodriguez, P, Ahn, Y & Moon, S 2007, I tube, you tube,
everybody tubes: analyzing the world's largest user generated content video
system, ACM, New York, NY, USA.

Doorns, NV, Zoonen, LV & Wyatt, S 2007, ‘Writing from Experience:

Presentations of Gender Identity on Weblogs’, European Journal of Women’s
Studies, vol.14, no.2, pp143-159.

Evans, K 2009, Online Worlds, weblog, accessed 14/6/2009,

http://twitwall.com/view/?what=020D070A06

Flew, T 2008, ‘Approaches to new media’, in New Media: an Introduction,

3rd (ed.), Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, pp38-57.

Jenkins, H 2006, ‘Introduction’, in Convergence Culture: where old and

new media collide, NYU Press, United States, pp1-24.

Moore, C 2009, Social Network/ing, lecture slides, DIGC101, New Media

Communication, University of Wollongong, accessed 26 August,
http://www.scribd.com/doc/19091227/DIGC101-Week-5-Slides.
 Williams, JB & Jacobs, JS 2004, ‘Exploring the use of blogs as learning
spaces in the higher education sector’, Australasian Journal of Educational
Technology, vol.20, no.2, pp232-247.

**See also Interviews (in text referencing only required, according to Harvard
Referencing)