INSTITUTUION NAME
In the earlier times, which means around the middle of twentieth century, printing was one of the most significant method to communicate ones ideas to the masses. The printing press industry published manuals and that resulted in promoting literacy. Around that time, people got interested in learning the art of writing letters and the availability of manuals made their task easy. There was a rise in the number of people who could communicate by the method of writing. Circulation of written material started amongst such people. These written materials were the most prominent means for sharing thoughts and ideas. As we know that the technique of photocopying came later, people used to copy the printed text and circulate it further. This is how flow of ideas was maintained earlier. There were three important reasons for collecting these texts. Firstly, to collect anything that was motivational to the reader for the purpose of ‘self-improvement’. Secondly, it was done to express oneself termed as ‘self-expression’ and thirdly for the purpose of ‘self-promotion’ which was done by circulating poems .
What are commonplace books?
Large notebooks were prepared in which anything which was significant to the reader was copied. These books were generally the work of an individual and were shared with friends and family on occasions. This resulted in the transmission of ideas further. One such example is of Devonshire Manuscript . Such manuscripts had no particular order and any new information was inserted. In comparison to them, commonplace books were more organized as they contained specific headings so that the reader could retrieve the information later. Commonplace books were of two kinds. One was not specifically dedicated to a single kind of information which meant that it included remedies, recipes and notes from sermons. The other one was specifically dedicated to motivational and inspiring statements. Readers used to copy the quotes given by learned men in an attempt to get inspired from whatever they have to say . In the year 1512, it was Erasmus of Rotterdam was the one who introduced this idea that people who have created commonplace books must use headings and include the information under relevant section. Erasmus also emphasized the importance of copying the written text in one’s own handwriting. According to him, this practice made the reader understand the material which they read. . As stated by Standage it was found out that there existed a huge variety of texts in commonplace books. There were all written materials ranging from motivational quotes, remedies to recipes and jokes. It was also found out that there was this trend of cutting and pasting the content out of the books into the commonplace book instead of copying it by writing it down. This was a negative practice as it resulted in permanent destruction of the printed material and hence it could not be forwarded in its original form to the next reader .
More details about commonplace books:
This example of preparing commonplace books talks about how old media operated. Ideas were shared with the families in the form of written materials which had variety of contents. It also gives us an insight into the kinds of people of that time like it portrays their concerns and interests. The contents of commonplace books represent what was popular among the people of those times. It was found out while researching through these papers that the places where exchange of these manuscripts happened were mostly in the universities, the royal court and the center of legal profession which were termed as the Inns of Court in London . They were a great means for connecting socially with people and specifically for the younger generation. They had the opportunity to be in constant touch with their patrons with the help of these books . It was a tool for people who used to think alike to connect with each other and it also helped in the enhancement of their existing thoughts.
What is postsecret.com?
The most prominent example of new media is social media. It is a wide platform for people to share their views about several issues. The most interesting part of new media is that most of its content is available forever and will be passed on to the coming generations by the means of internet. An example of this is the website postsecret.com. People share their secrets by writing them down on a postcard and it is then mailed to the office of this website. Afterwards, selected secrets are published on this website. These are the personal experiences of people which they get to share anonymously with the world. This is a form of communication in which the identity of an individual remains secured and therefore people can come out and share the things which they have been wanting to express but could not because it was embarrassing to share with the world. All kinds of secrets good or bad are shared on a mass level with people through the help of this website.
Not only the platform postsecret.com, there are many other websites which allow people to express their views and share them globally. Today, people living in a different continent can share their ideas with other instantly. People do not have to wait for months for sharing letters and opinions. Everything is available at just the click of a button. New media has one major advantage that instant responses are available and people can interact with each other. This results in a smooth flow of ideas. This is how people get to exchange their thoughts in today’s time without any hindrance of time. People have shared secrets about their sexuality, day-to-day activities and things that they are too afraid to say to people on their face . In earlier time, people used to maintain commonplace books to write down all the things which they found inspiring, motivational or useful but their secrets were not penned down like that. It was never taken into consideration as the commonplace books were lent to other people and this could have resulted in the revelation of details about one’s life.
Social media websites these days like Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr etc. are a great platform where like-minded people come together and share their views. Website like Facebook have ‘Pages’ dedicated to an idea or a cause and people who are interested in that come together. Any news can be shared with the world through Facebook or Twitter. Even the things that are not reported or emphasized on by the mainstream media are out and available for people to know. For this very reason, now when any government or ruler tries to impose something that violates the human rights then people from all over the world come in support of the people of that country. A very striking example that has come forward recently was of an American man named Tom Mahoney travelling all the way to India to deliver a prosthetic leg for a horse. The horse was beaten up out of rage by a member of an Indian political party and that resulted in losing his leg. The news of his suffering reached this man through the social media website, Facebook . This is the power of new media and especially social media. Here incidences are not just stated but conveyed so emotionally that people feel compelled to do something about it. It has helped in unifying and connecting people across globe. Masses are more inclined towards the story which they can relate with . This is the reason that emotional stories about families and friendship are more followed and shared by people. There are many examples that can be found on social media about stories having emotional connection getting more and more shared by people. Also, people are becoming politically aware through online media. They get regular and instant update about whatever is happening globally. This awareness is empowering for people and the source of it is current media. There are several examples where people have unified with the help of social media and protested against the atrocities committed by those in power. A very recent example of this is Panama Leaks. There were many people whose name was found in the list and it is still under investigation. The President of Iceland whose name was also present in Panama Papers had to resign after massive protest by the people of Iceland . New media has played an essential role in this as sensitive and highly confidential information is now available for the world to see. Social media does the job of organizing people with same interests. Presidential Candidates are using social media for their campaigns. Almost every influential person is on social media because it is a great platform to get feedback from masses.
There are blogs created by individuals to express themselves. People also make videos which can then be posted to any websites. The most popular website for sharing videos is YouTube.com. People share their videos and if it becomes a viral video then they are paid for that. New media is not only limited to the opinions of professionals in journalism but is also a way for any individual s to express themselves and also make money.
There are also some disadvantages to this new form of media. People post the things they believe in, at times even without checking the facts. Negative emotions are also ignited which result in people making insensitive remarks. A drawback of social media is that people put their personal lives on display and allow everyone to take a peep into every tiny detail of your life is not a healthy habit. The virtual world of followers and trends create an illusion in the minds of people. To get recognition in real world is something entirely different and virtual media is an easy way to attain fame.
Compare and contrast between the two media:
We have discussed both about how the media used to operate in earlier days and now. The fact is that there is immense difference between old media and new media. The way information was created, stored and forwarded are all different from earlier times. Also the way the new media influences people’s minds varies. Information is getting generated at a much higher pace than earlier times and it is interesting that this information can get passed on to the coming generations very securely without the fear of it getting damaged unlike the case with written material.
As mentioned earlier, people used to exchange commonplace books in town halls or royal courts. Basically, physical contact was necessary for people to share information. Nowadays, information can be exchanged without having to meet personally. Mostly all kinds of information from news, recipes, remedies, anecdotes, jokes are all available now digitally. A person can get information just by being connected with people in the virtual world. In earlier times, as people had to meet personally for exchanging written materials they were bound to communicate and that somehow resulted in improved social skills. Now because people share information through social media, they are not meeting up and that is affecting their social skills. Fear of facing people and attending social events where an actual conversation may be involved are becoming issues for concern.
One more issue that goes against the current media is the issue of anonymity. People are becoming insensitive about what they say because they know people cannot hold them accountable for whatever they post. Hate posts and negative remarks are seen in large numbers on social media and more often than not, these people cannot be traced back. It is a fact that people are now expressing their inner thoughts more boldly as everyone now a platform to do so without any special qualification to do so. Some people lack the sense of responsibility and might post content that might be full of hatred or biased. The main problem with the new media is that such people reach out to people who think alike. It is harmful as people with negative mentality can come together and form their own group.
Nevertheless, new media has its advantages too. The pace at which the information is transferred is extremely fast. It helps in organizing like-minded people. Old media like commonplace books or other written materials forwarded the information at a very slow pace as the written material had to copied down first and then passed on to the next reader. The process of writing it down was a laborious task. Also, the ideas of a scholar say belonging to Germany could have taken time in reaching to the people of say Russia. New media has helped people in blurring the boundaries of nations. Flow of various ideas is taking place beyond countries. People now easily get feedback about any piece of information they provide. Earlier motivational quotes of scholars were just noted down whereas now people can respond to these motivational speakers. As mentioned earlier, for the purpose of creating their own book, people used to sometime cut out the original text and paste in their books instead of writing. This resulted in damaging the original text. Now, if anybody wants to keep some information with them they can easily take a picture of it or if the information is in digital form then it can be stored to their personal digital gadget. This let the original content to remain intact and available for other users too. One more interesting thing is that any written material was confined to be shared with one reader at a particular time. New media allows multiple users to access the same content at the same time. We are living in a time where all what we want is easily accessible and it is going to be interesting to see what further modifications take place in mass communication.
Works Cited
New Media, Old Media. (2010, March 23). Retrieved April 16, 2016, from PEW Research Center Website: www.journalism.org
Sunday Secrets. (2016, April 9). Retrieved April 16, 2016, from Postsecrets Website: postsecret.com
Jacobs, A. (2012, January 23). 'Commonplace Books': The Tumblrs of an Earlier Era. Retrieved April 15th, 2016, from The Atlantic Website: www.theatlantic.com
Milne, R. (2016, April 5). Iceland PM ‘resigns’ over Panama Papers leak. Retrieved April 16, 2016, from The Financial Times website: www.ft.com
Singh, K. (2016, April 13). Leg-up for Shaktiman: American brings limb for him. Retrieved April 16, 2016, from The Times of India Website: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Standage, T. (2013). Poetry In Motion. In T. Standage, Writing On The Wall (pp. 73-77). London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
