Exploring the New Media Age: Internet and Social Media

This essay explores the transformative impact of the internet and social media, examining the statement: 'The internet and social media exemplify a new media age'. The paper delves into the influence of the internet, highlighting its role in technological advancements, globalization, and socio-economic development, while also discussing the impact of social media on various aspects of society, including politics, education, and marketing. The essay then analyzes how the internet and social media have shaped the new media age, contrasting them with traditional media and discussing the evolution of media from electronic and information ages. It also explores the reasons behind the adoption of social media and the internet as key components of the new media age, emphasizing their cost-effectiveness, ability to engage customers, and capacity to respond to societal needs. The conclusion reinforces the idea that the internet and social media not only exemplify the new media age but also address the shortcomings of traditional media, signifying the evolution of media and the information age.

Running head: MEDIA COMMUNICATION
MEDIA COMMUNICATION
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
Internet and social media has been the revolutionary introduction by deriving the age
of revolution. Internet and social media offers a vast range of opportunities for empowering
the activities and practices of population. Internet offers the platform of well-structured
interconnected network, by encircling business, governmental, private and public network.
Social media was originally introduced with the motive of connecting friends without
compromising on distance, but slowly started reflecting its influence over the new media
(Granados, 2016). The purpose of the paper is to demonstrate views on the statement, “The
internet and social media exemplify a new media age”. The paper will demonstrate personal
views based upon the readings derived from the course and secondary sources.
Body
Influence of Internet
The Internet is considered to be a decisive technology in the age of information. The
Internet has been the engine for technological transformation. The global network of the 21st
century is completely dependent on wireless communication and transcending space,
interactive communication and multimodal platform. Academic research also portrays a
strong connection between society and Internet. It is well known that technology and internet
networks are material culture, which is shaped under the social process for an institutional
environment based on values, interests, knowledge and ideas. The application of Internet has
expanded from the mid-1990s, thereby leading to the introduction of three major factors,
including the discovery by Tim Berners-Lee of www (World Wide Web), changes in culture,
social behavior and social structure as well as the institutional changes under the management
of the platform of Internet. The discovery of Tim Berners-Lee was aimed at offering an open-
source contribution for users in the global community for the continuity in openness for
IP/TCP Internet protocols. The institutional changes under the Internet management were

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aimed at loose management within the global community of the Internet through the strategy
of privatization and enabling both cooperative and commercial usage. The rise of Internet
application has marked the trend of changes in cultural, social, behavioral and social
structural structure with the trending usage of networking in the prevalence of organizational
infrastructure. From the early years of the Internet, it has covered a long but significant path.
The Internet is currently considered to be the most developed primary source for
communication and information. The Internet helps to connect the two nodes for an efficient
form of business derivation in the market. A host is considered a necessary constituent of the
network. The Internet has been a prime contributor in various developmental areas, especially
in globalization (Zhou, Peng & Dong, 2020). The Internet has been a significant driver for
socio-economic development, resulting in an amalgamated global community. The Internet
has revolutionized the approach of working with people; it has expanded the base of
knowledge and information in the global space. The amalgamation of the Internet and social
media has not only combined the expertise but is collaboratively contributing to the
innovation of business segments. Globalization is contributing towards productivity and
competitive edge by the easy access to information and enabling online or electronic
transactions (Campbell, Martin & Fabos, 2018). The Internet has responded to the need for
increasing job opportunities or markets by connecting two or more operating locations
together.
Influence of social media
The influence of social media started in the form of entertainment and communication
tools, but with time, it has embarked on its influence over various significant areas of
operation. With the increasing memberships and accounts, the application is reflecting
relevance and security. The primary influence of social media is the generation of visibility in
ethical, social, political, and environmental issues. Another contribution is spreading
educational content efficiently within the networks. Social media also contributes to

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organizations in deriving newer marketing opportunities and product developmental
strategies. Stimulating newer challenges and recruiting employees has been easier with the
application of social media networks. Social media has also been a positive contributor to the
generation of jobs. Moreover, social media has been considered as a platform for discussion
with the motive of generating ideas or sharing opinions (Givskov & Deuze, 2018).
Social media has demonstrated its influence over politics by allowing open discussion
and promotion of candidature. The society also experiences influences from the application
of social media. Training and developmental practices have also been impacted positively by
social media platforms due to the features of wider reach and mutual responsive platform.
Although the impact has been positive for most of the significant areas, but the population is
also witnessing negative impacts such as cyberbullying, privacy issues and also serves as a
distracting source.
Internet and Social Media signifying the new media age
Internet and social media platforms can be considered as the subset of new age media
rather than just considering these introductions as few examples. In the 21st century, the role
and contribution of traditional media have transformed dramatically with the new age of
social media and internet-driven services. Internet serves as the medium of publishing a
massive rate of user-generated information and content. Social media allows one-on-one
communication, which effectively replaces the disadvantage of traditional media. The new
media of the 21st century is utilized for describing the content considering various forms in
electronic communication. New media explains the existent content on-demand on the
Internet. The viewing of new age media content can be facilitated through any of the devices
and offers real-time interaction between people (Siddiqui & Singh, 2016). The ‘old’ or
traditional media can be considered as static or audiovisual graphics. The instances of new

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media include blogs, websites, streaming video, audio, email social media applications, web
advertising, and virtual reality environment.
The application and relevance of the Internet and Social media can best exemplify the
new media age. There are various terms used in the replacement for the new media age is the
digital age and information age. The new media age was marked with the introduction of the
Internet and technological advancements. With the advancing technological factors, the world
is experiencing aspects such as the Internet of things, Artificial Intelligence, and wearable
technology. Internet and social media are complemented by these advances as they are
blurring the gap between digital, biological, and physical world (Nisbet & Kotcher, 2009).
The world has experienced a number of changes with the evolving phases of
media. The medium of communication, mass media application and influence over society
have completely transformed with the introduction of the Internet and social media platforms.
Before the introduction of the Internet and social media platforms, the society of the world
was exposed to mass communication, which portrayed both qualities and drawbacks. The
features that distinguished the mass communication medium in the past was its reach and
professionalism (Liu & Lopez, 2016). But slowly, the world recognized the debates over the
traditional media as started considering the limited effects due to the lack of two-way mass
communication and the absence of targeted reach (Lowery & De Fleur, 1995). The media
revolution was reflected pace after the introduction of microelectronics and computers. The
media evolved to complement the factors of globalization. The impact of the Internet started
in the early 1990s with the expansion of existing information. At the time, the Internet was
regarded as the source of information and started substituting the older mass media
(Tajudeen, Jaafar & Ainin, 2018). The new media age started stimulating the presence of
digital opinion leaders in social media platforms. Internet and social media applications have
revolutionized the global culture in the new media age. Internet and social media have
stimulated the areas of signage in the retail industry and app technologies, virtual reality,

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web-streaming, and creation of digital content. Although the application of the Internet and
social media is criticized for compromising socialization with people in the traditional
approach, but empirical studies reflect that the Internet and social media in communities is
the replacement of traditional media such as Television, which ultimately promotes social ties
(Chafee & Metzger, 2001).
Evolving media in the 21st century
The contribution of traditional media has been transformed dramatically by the
implication of an internet-driven approach. The traditional media slowly evolved into the age
of new media with the motive of addressing the gap and concerns of traditional media.
Internet-enabled the publication in generating massive user-directed content. Internet and
social media have offered various features in the evolution of media, which ultimately
signifies the new media age (Hargittai & Micheli, 2019). The contribution to the possibility
of constructing creative content serves in favor of the new media. The new media can be
synonymously used in place of the Internet and social media usage. The world has
experienced various phases of media, which have portrayed the transition from traditional to
new. In the 1930s to 1980s, the world population has witnessed the electronic age, followed
by the information age, also popularly termed as Information age during the 1900s to 2000s
(Mergel, 2017). In this age, the Internet paved the path for a faster route of communication
and stimulation of social networks. People introduced the utilization of microelectronics in
the discovery of mobile devices and personal computers. The data, voice, sound, and image
started digitalizing.
Reasons behind the adoption of social media and the Internet as a new media age
There are various reasons, which have influenced the alignment of new media age
with the Internet and social media platforms. These platforms allow the goals and
functionalities of marketing in minimum or fraction of associated costs engrossed in the

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traditional media. Internet and social media platforms enable the brands or businesses to offer
a prompt and engaging medium for customers. Internet and social media platforms have the
power to respond to both customers' and employees’ needs (Poster, 2018). The platforms
derived through social media and the Internet allow businesses to utilize the valuable
feedback generated through the targeted audience on the web. Building customer loyalty is
possible with social media platforms and communities. Moreover, marketing strategies can
be modified by the potential of social media in converting sales, generating reviews, and
feedback. These characteristics encircling the application of social media and the Internet
demonstrate the need for media for complementing the globalization phase and for
responding to the changing needs of society.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded from the above discussion that the Internet and social
media do not only exemplify the new media age but have shaped the new media by
responding to the gaps and deficiencies of traditional media. The application of social media
platforms and Internet influence, the world population has witnessed the evolution of various
areas of media, depicting the era of new media or information age. The potentiality of the
new media age has been derived from the implications of social media and the Internet. Every
step of revolutionizing media has been facilitated with the motive of incorporating innovation
and technological advancements. In the discussion above, major differences between the new
and traditional media have been identified for the purpose of reflecting the expectations form
the new media age and the features of the Internet and social media. New media is expected
to resolve the barrier of one-way communication, lack of targeted approach, and should be
cost-effective for an even better result for the application. Internet and social media have
offered all these expectations from their platforms and with their adaptability to new
technological innovation. Thus, the Internet and social media best signify and exemplifies the
new media age.

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