The

The Medium is the Message – Diffusion

Group New Media and Its Impact on

Media Consumption

A TDG dBrief™ Topic Paper

Author: Michael Greeson © TDG Research 2006

5800 Granite Parkway, Suite 300 Plano, Texas 75024 +1 469.287.8050 Intelligence inActionable Action® Intelligence for New Consumer Technologies1

The Diffusion New Media’s Impact on Media Consumption Group

Table of Contents

Preface & Purpose 2

‘New Media’ Defined 3

How the MediumThe Impacts the Message 4

DiffusionFocusing on the Consumption Experience 6

TowardGroup a Unified Theory of Media Consumption – Blending Old and New 7

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Preface & Purpose

As with many words and phrases created to describe technical innovations, the term ‘new media’ continues to be thrown about with abandon. Similar to expressions like ‘the Internet’ or ‘digital home’ or ‘podcasting,’ ‘new media’ has come to mean different things to different people. Little wonder given that the phrase has been used to describe media innovationThe for more than 50 years.

DiffusionMost of us claim to understand what ‘new media’ means, but very few can state clearly the literal meaning of the term or reduce it to a series of core logical components. The termGroup is itself a sign of our current confusion about where we think media in general is headed and the pace at which it is changing.

Defining clearly the concept of ‘new media’ is important for a variety of While exact definitions may vary – or reasons. First, the concept itself begs perhaps because they vary – it is vital to for definition, if only to bring some establish a clear, concise definition of degree of continuity to professional ‘new media.’ discourse. Second, it helps to identify the components of new media that require more detailed examination and analysis. If our motivation is to understand not only what new media is, but how its creation, distribution, and consumption are different from traditional or ‘old’ media, we first need to establish a common definition. But that may be easier said than done.

We are at a time in the history of media in which customary modes of consumption are breaking down, becoming increasingly fragmented, splintering into thousands of highly individualized, highly personalized consumption experiences. It is the novelty of these experiences from which the uncertainty regarding media production, distribution, and consumption emerges.

Despite these differences, many contend that listening to ‘digital music’ is still listening to music; ‘viewing online video’ is still watching video; reading an ‘online magazine’ is still reading a magazine. It is these regularities that enable us to still refer to it as ‘media.’ Then again, many believe that changes in the technology used to encapsulate the media (the ‘medium’ if you will) inherently results in changes to the nature of the consumption experience itself. It was in Marshal McLuhan’s famous work essay, The Medium is the Message, in which this premise was best articulated:

“In a culture like ours, long accustomed to splitting and dividing all things as a means of control, it is sometimes a bit of shock to be reminded that, in operational and practical fact, the medium is the message. This is merely to say that the personal and social consequences of any medium – that is, of any extension of ourselves – result from the new scale that is introduced into our affairs by each extension of ourselves, or by any new technology.”1

Yes, regularities in media consumption will occur regardless of the fact it is labeled ‘old’ or ‘new.’ Then again, identifying these regularities has proven difficult, most notably

1Marshal McLuhan with Quitine Fiore, The Medium is the Message. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (New York: Random House, 1967).

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because we cannot engage in a meaningful discussion on the subject of new media until we’ve established a vernacular that makes sense to those engaged in the conversation. We need a nomenclature that embodies an appreciation for the similarities and differences between these different modes of media.

The purpose of this brief topic paper is to lay out a reasonably concise definition of ‘new media’ and discuss a few of TDG’s insights regarding this rapidly emerging social and business space.The It is not intended to be an exhaustive examination of the subject but merely to set the stage for a new primary consumer research project and a set of upcoming reports on concepts of identification and engagement in the latest age of Diffusionnew media. Group ‘New Media’ Defined

So what is ‘new media’?

‘Media’ in this case can be defined as means or instrument by which something is conveyed or communicated. ‘Media’ is thus tied closely to ‘medium’ which is defined as “that which remediates, translates, refashions, and reforms other media, both the level of content and form.2” For example, the written word is a medium of expression, as is the spoken word, the artistic ‘word,’ and even words that are transmitted by mediums such as radio, TV, or the Internet.

When we speak of ‘new’ media, however, things become a bit more confusing. Are we referring to the latest forms of media we’re encountering, or to something truly unique or novel about the media itself? This question exposes two different senses of the word ‘new’: the first defined as being of recent origin or recently brought into being (a new TV show); the second defined as being novel, unfamiliar, maybe even strange (a new concept of the universe).

Recent comments by Christopher M. Schroeder, CEO and president of The Health Central Network, provide an interesting answer to the question of what is meant by the phrase ‘new media’:

“The philosophers have said for millennia that there is ‘nothing new under the sun,’ but we who think of ourselves as revolutionaries of any sort delude ourselves into believing we are all about the ’new.’ Like most absolute statements, neither is entirely correct. The Internet, and its ability to empower individuals with total control of their media and communications experiences, is profoundly new. At the same time, it never ceases to amaze me that some of the coolest innovations are, at their essence, simply taking existing needs and behaviors and rendering them faster, cheaper, more efficient, more beautiful, or more convenient than before.”3

2 Len Manovich, The Language of New Media (MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass. 2001), p. 89 3Christopher M. Schroeder, “Gestalt: The Truth Springs Eternal,” Media Post Publications, September 2006, (publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=47204&Nid=23864&p= 320801)

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According to this conception, ‘new media’ means being at the same time the latest form of media and truly unique and novel. Seems fairly accurate, I’d say.

Let me offer a formal definition, if only to satisfy those readers who are more academically inclined. Perhaps the most concise definition of ‘new media’ was offered by Len Manovich in his 2001 book, The Language of New Media.4 Manovich defines ‘new media’ as beholden to five ‘tendencies’: The 1. Numerical representation – media is described mathematically thus becoming Diffusionprogrammable (“all forms of media as computer data”); 2. Modularity – media as collections of discrete samples (e.g., pixels, polygons, Groupvoxels, characters, or script); 3. Automation – numerical coding enables automation of many operations involved in media creation, manipulation, and access; 4. Variability – a ‘product’ or ‘output’ is not fixed once and for all but rather has the potential for many versions; and 5. Cultural transcoding – “the structure of computerized media now follows the established conventions of the computer’s organization of data.”5

So then how is ‘new media’ to be distinguished from ‘old media’?

New media is now considered synonymous with the shift of all The term ‘new media’ is synonymous with media to computer-mediated forms the shift of media to computer-mediated of production, distribution, and forms of production, distribution, and communication, especially as it communication. pertains to the use of Internet technologies for media purposes. For example, the following are just a few of the categories that would qualify as new media according to both definitions:

• Streaming or downloading of online music and video services; • Time- and place-shifting of digital entertainment content; • Internet-based social environments; • Immersive electronic gaming experiences; • Computer-generated/aided works of art; • Digital image capturing, editing, and viewing; and • Human-computer interfaces (HCIs or what we commonly call GUIs).

The list of new media-related applications has evolved to envelope virtually all forms of media including electronic books and magazines, even interpersonal communications.

‘Old media,’ then, includes media that doesn’t conform to the five principles stated above. Media that is not digital (and thus does not exhibit the properties of digitization) is by definition ‘old’ – in this instance, it has little to do with the age of the media in

4 The Language of New Media, p. 25 5 Ibid, p. 45

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question but with whether or not the media is numerically represented, modular, automated, variable, and transcoded. Examples of old media would include:

• Broadcast and PayTV programming; • Premium TV programming; • Pay-per-view and on-demand programming; • ListeningThe to music; Diffusion• Theater attendance; • Movie rental/purchasing; •Group Placement of various CE devices in the home; and • In-car entertainment.

How the Medium Impacts the Message

Manovich’s definition is so incredibly rich that a series of papers can be (and have been) written on each tenet. However, for the purposes of the current essay, I would like to focus on the fifth new media principle mentioned – that is, the principle of cultural transcoding.

To ‘transcode’ means to translate something from one format into another, and Manovich identifies two ‘layers’ of new media between which this transcoding takes place in regards to new media (and media in general): the cultural layer and the computer layer.

o The cultural layer is illustrated by traditional media study concepts such as story and plot; composition and point of view; mime and catharsis; and comedy and tragedy.

o The computer layer, on the other hand, is illustrated by traditional computer science concepts such as process and packet; sorting and matching; function and variable; and computer language and data structure.

Because new media is computer- dependent (that is, created using While the consumer might not interact computers, distributed using with all elements of computerization computers, and stored and involved in new media, it remains obvious archived on computers), the that the ‘computer layer’ has a defining distinctions between these two layers are blurred and the operation role on the ‘cultural layer’ and thus and logic of the computer impacts both how consumers experience influences the traditional cultural new media and the meaning they derive logic of media in deep and far- from it. reaching ways. This applies to not only the creation of media but how it is presented to other human beings. As McLuhan stated some 40 years ago, in many cases the medium is the message. That is, the means (or medium) by which we choose to package and distribute specific media has a

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profound impact on the meaning the consumer derives from the media – the message is conditioned by the medium.

Focusing on the Consumption Experience

My primary objective in guiding you through the academic discussion surrounding new media was Thetwo-fold:

Diffusion1. To help show that the business of new media is inherently contingent upon how the terms are defined, and Group 2. To reveal where modern conceptions of new media fail to account for the impact that transcoding has on the consumption of new media.

To the first point, it should be obvious how significant definitions are to enabling and advancing business discussions. If the parties engaged in a discussion assume different meanings for key terms then they are participating in a parallel discourse – that is, simply talking past one another. Too often this is the case with the new media press – the term has become so vacuous that it borders on being meaningless.

To the second point, while not necessarily more important than the first, its implications are so significant that, in my opinion, the computer layer has overshadowed the cultural layer to such an extent that the entire value proposition of computerizing media experiences can no longer be presumed to be inherently desirable. Being ‘new’ or ‘digital’ no longer implies ‘cool’ – in fact, in most cases it implies ‘complexity’ and ‘chaos.’ In many cases, the complexities overshadow the unique aesthetics of new media content.

Simply stated, the computerization of media has resulted in greater complexity in regards to how human beings access, navigate, organize, and consume media. Designers of digital media products may take issue with this statement and argue that the benefits of digitizing media far outweigh the difficulties. For ordinary consumers, however, this is not necessarily the case. The difficulties involved in transcoding (that is, of accessing, interfacing, and consuming digital media) often outweigh whatever benefits digitization may seem to have. Even tech-savvy consumers encounter enormous difficulties when attempting to interact with new media solutions.

Herein lies one of the fundamental challenges facing the new media industry: to enable the benefits of digitization (which should enhance the media experience) without the complexity inherent in digitization (which often diminishes the media experience).

One solution to this problem has been to abstract the computer layer as much as possible from the media consumption experience. For example, graphical user interfaces or GUIs are now not only a necessary part of the media experience but they have become of critical importance to determining which content consumers actually choose to view. Ordinary consumers rely on the program guide to identify and select the specific program of greatest interest. However, the amount of content available to consumers has grown beyond the ability of average IPGs, meaning that consumers are not aware of the variety of content available to them and thus settle for what appears to be most interesting at the time.

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The work now being undertaken in virtual reality, voice recognition, and multimedia navigation interfaces is intended to make it simpler for consumers to interact with digital media. Yet such solutions imply the use of even more sophisticated technologies which in turn raise the specter of even greater complexity. It’s a trade-off that those in the industry believe consumers are willing to accept. Then again, most industry insiders have never bothered to actually ask consumers about these experiences and often have little insight into the problems and frustrations that most consumers face. And the consequencesThe of this lack of awareness? Exorbitant rates of returns, widespread consumer frustration, burdened call centers, damage to brand credibility, and ultimately lost revenue and profits. Diffusion I’m not suggesting a return to the days of sticks and stones; that is neither reasonable nor warranted.Group Some degree of interaction with the computing layer is by definition required for interacting with new media content6. By no means, however, should this imply that the level of interactivity required be cumbersome or unpleasant. The challenge is to determine what level of consumer interactivity is suitable for new media consumption experiences, develop solutions in line with these expectations, and then actually prove to consumers that this ‘stuff’ really works as promised.

In the end, we need to focus more of our energy on the experience of media consumption instead of the technology of remediating, translating, refashioning, and then redistributing media.

Toward a Unified Theory of Media Consumption – Blending the Old and New

When computerization first began to impact the world of media, the focus was on using these new technologies to aid in the production and distribution of media material. Thus the complexity associated with this computerization was not something with which the consumer directly interacted – while it grew to dominate the ‘back end,’ it remained separate from the consumption experience.

With the advent of the Internet and the introduction of ‘personal’ computers and digital media devices, the complexities of digital technologies could no longer be kept at bay. They found their way into the home, into the car, and into virtually every aspect of our lives as consumers and as workers. Yes, they were ‘technologically advanced’ and ‘cutting edge’ but the value proposition was overshadowed by layers of complexity.

In terms of new media hardware and The nature of new media consumption can services, we continue to witness the same only be understood in relation to prior rules phenomena. Developers often have a of media consumption. New media has very poor understanding of what meaning only insofar as it can be consumers need, while consumers have a compared to old media – their meanings, very poor understanding of what these similarities, and contrasts are revealed as new technologies make possible. interwoven. Think of old media as a To bridge this gap, companies often turn precedent from which new media finds to consumer research as a means to test meaning.

6 In fact, interactivity is considered to be an inherent part of new media, so much so that the relationship between observer and observed (between consumer and media) is symbiotic rather than unidirectional or linear.

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new concepts and examine new usage scenarios. However, researchers too often fail to interpret new media behavior in terms of old media characteristics – as if the fact that one is computerized and the other is not somehow eliminates the need to understand how the two relate to one another.

To conceive of new media behavior separate from old media behavior is not only invalid but fraught with risk. For old media companies stepping into new media, this view has led to theThe creation of fragmented consumer models upon which well-intended companies have wasted billions of dollars chasing ideas that had little chance of success – recent examples of such failures include ESPN’s mobile service and Warner Bros. online Diffusionservice. Neither of these companies paid enough attention to what consumers needed from such services nor what they would actually pay for. As a result, millions of dollars wereGroup stranded on ‘good’ ideas that had no realistic chance of success.

For new media companies without a history in old media, too often they are unable to define a business model that makes sense to investors because there is no frame of reference. For example, social networks are all the rage, but turning consumer usage of these free services into sustainable revenue is proving very difficult.

The challenge for researchers is to create an understanding of both new and old media consumption behavior in terms of one another; to explain these two seemingly separate realms in terms of a single consumer segmentation model that accurately characterizes both realms of behavior. An ambitious project, indeed, but one whose value should be obvious to any company active in the new media space.

As Christopher M. Schroeder stated in his aforementioned expose:

“There is a wonderful wisdom in understanding that there are fundamentals in human nature in terms of how to motivate people and how to get things done. The arrogant and the foolish take no heed of these fundamentals. But the great online innovators would do well to take heed of predecessors who might teach them.”

For new media purveyors, the truth of this statement rings clear. In the end, it is better to align one’s model with established human behavior than attempt to redefine it. In other words, make my music, video, and gaming experience more enjoyable but do not radically alter the way I choose to enjoy it. Incremental alterations will be tolerated; drastic overhauls of my experience will be rejected.

Final Thoughts

I’m not suggesting that something as complex as new media consumption can be reduced to set of space-time coordinates or a study of mechanics7. Despite the long- standing trend toward positivistic social sciences, there is a consensus (albeit tentative) that human behavior is meaning-laden which (unlike the ‘meeting’ of two quarks) is a byproduct of intentional human behavior and the complexities of the social context in

7 In fact, in my upcoming report entitled Toward a Unified Theory of Media Consumption, I argue that, whereas ‘old media’ consumption may have been static at best, ‘new media’ consumption is highly variable and implies a range of probable consumption behaviors.

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which it occurs. To attempt to impose the scientific regularity of physics onto such a robust phenomenon leads to oversimplifying the complexities and, in the end, generates bad science.

Then again, regularities will occur in new media consumption; the question is at what level they will occur. This implies articulating the criteria according to which new media engagementThe and identity take shape, a far more robust project than can be undertaken in this short essay. Within the next few months, TDG will be dedicating at least one large- scale primary research project and two reports to the issues of engagement and identity Diffusionin the age of new media. In the meantime, it is sufficient to say that when it comes to new media, there is no doubt that with the advent of new digital technologies, McLuhan’sGroup famous dictum rings true: in the age of new media, it is more obvious than ever that the medium impacts the message – and not necessarily in an aesthetically or pragmatically positive manner.

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Copyright Notice This document was published by The Diffusion Group, Inc. Copyright 2006. Reproduction is forbidden unless authorized. All rights reserved.

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