What do we mean by Media? What do we mean by Cyberculture?

First of all, what do we mean by Media? What do we mean by Cyberculture?

I think giving a clear definition is very difficult. Nevertheless, there are some basic characteristics that we could use in order to make these two terms clear. According to Dr. Gavin Stewart’s notes (found at Blackboard Academic Suite) from the first lecture:

Classic 20th century discourse on the media focuses our attention on broadcasting and the mass media. It analysized the 'media' in terms of producers of the media (e.g. institutions like the BBC), texts (e.g. TV Sit-coms) and audiences. This approach has meant that 'the media' have been defined as being synonymous with television, radio and newspapers etc. This approach quite rightly focuses on such issues as means of production, governance and regulation as important aspects of modern life.

The computer mediation changed completely the way we look at Media revealing new undiscovered areas, new unique ideas and new hard questions. According to Dr. Stewart's notes (found at Blackboard Academic Suite):

The study of the Internet, as an example of computer mediation, has raised all sorts of issues that have forced media theorists and practitioners to look again at the key questions of Media Studies, namely

1. What do we mean by Media? and

2. Why is Media Studies an important subject to study?

This new approach towards Media gave rise to the “New Media” which we will discuss later.

Personally, I would not like to be asked “What do we mean by Media?”. It is like asking how many stars are in the sky tonight. No one, of course, knows the real answer , but also no one can confirm the answer. A lot of theoritics tried and still try to define Media including all of their aspects, answer to the question “Why Media (plural)?” and which are the Media, “Is telephone a medium?”. Personally, I am very confused about this matter. On the one hand, I, stubbornly, do not care about what we mean by Media, on the other hand, I want to know everything about Media in order to understand how they work, how powerful they are and which are their limitations (if there are any). I believe that the question “What do we mean by Media?” is not going ever to be fully answered, since the technological developments and the new forms of expression will always raise new questions. But these studies will always provide exercise for the brain and a good chance to publish new articles and books.

“What do we mean by Cyberculture?” This is a subject that has been studied by many different researchers (sociologists, philosophists, lawyers etc.) from different angles. However, Cyberculture (according to the notes) “can be thought of as the social and cultural effect of the interaction between humans and digital devices such as desktop computers, servers and mobile phones in a myriad of material, social, cultural and political contexts.”

Next time we are going to analyse the terms “New Media”, “Old Media” in order to get closer to understanding “What do we mean by Media?”. Cheers!