First week of blogging for new media!

Welcome dear readers to my new media blog for COM201!
Throughout my blog I will be focusing on topics covered in the lectures and readings, despite this I will not be afraid to add relevant comment from my own personal experiences. I believe a blog is a space for information mixed with individual opinion alongside peer review and collaboration. A blog is a 'potential broadcaster of one’s taste’ (Levy, 2006, p. 23) just as every form of mediated communication can be.

Recently the forms of communication have been widening and diversifying to the point where a persons music preference through their 'playlist', a word that would not have been recognized 10 years ago, can dramatically change the public's views. The release of Obama's diverse playlist was able to create immense amounts of coverage and humanize him as a candidate.

An interesting point that I took from the McLuhan reading involved the 'electric light' as a pure medium for communication. The medium not only facilitates the communication but "it is the medium that shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and action" (McLuhan, 1965). For example without social networking sites I could not easily keep contact with the friends I have made overseas. This then changes the question to, would I keep contact? To be honest the simple answer is no. The medium shapes the style and frequency of communication therefore altering and forming social structures

Thanks for reading along this week my loyal followers, stay tuned for more riveting insight into the world of new media!

Levy, S. (2006). The Perfect Thing: How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture and Coolness, New York: Simon & Schuster, pp. 21-41.

McLuhan, M. (1965). 'The Medium is the Message' in Understanding Media: the Extensions of Man. New York: McGraw Hill, pp. 7-21.