A Companion to New Media Dynamics

With the term ‘new media’ in use for decades now, one wonders if innovative digital forms and platforms can still be considered ‘new’ at all. Yet even as the lines have grown blurred between ‘new’ and ‘traditional’ media forms, there is much to learn about the dynamics surrounding the growth and adoption of new media. A Companion to New Media Dynamics presents a state–of–the–art collection of multidisciplinary readings that examine the origins, evolution, and cultural underpinnings of the media of the digital age in terms of dynamic change. Contributed by an international cast of top researchers, cultural entrepreneurs, and emerging scholars, various chapters reflect on the historical, technical, cultural, and political changes that underlie the emergence of new media, as existing patterns and assumptions are challenged by the forces of ‘creative destruction’ and innovation, both economic and cultural. At the same time, readings reveal how several of the familiar themes from ‘old’ media remain – questions of identity, sexuality, politics, relationships, and meaning. Topics explored include everything from the ownership and regulation of new media to their form and cultural uses, including questions of access, agency, and consumer co–creation. Providing a wealth of innovative insights, A Companion to New Media Dynamics is an indispensable resource to the development, current place, and future directions of new media practices within contemporary culture.