The ideas of New Media were not simply created by new technologies alone but though cultural changes in society, changes such as Modernism. As Creeber notes, "Modernism is the umbrella term we give to the way that human society responded to the changes that took place during the industrial revolution", (Creeber, 2009, pg.11). A world transformed by ideas of a beneficial and progressive industrial society, diminishing previous societal structures such as a religious monopoly of dominance.
The faith of the masses now invested in technological advancement and material goods to help deal with the stresses of daily life rather than relying on spiritual guidance, "A triumph of consumerism, commercial culture"(Manovich, 2002, pg.31). The Fordism production line ethic resonated this change across all layers of society, the same product replicated cheaply, quickly and with little collective thought, as the "Modernists came to perceive industrialization as the enemy of free thought and individuality", (Creeber, 2009, pg.12). Manovich notes this practice in today's media production, where "modern media follows the factory logic", dividing a singular project into repetitive jobs such as an artist who only colours backgrounds for an animation, (Manovich, 2002, pg.51).
In Post-Modern society, focus changed from the consumption of material goods to that of information. Leading to the rise of "information technologies, the globalization of financial markets, the growth of the service and the white-collar", an information age, (Creeber, 2009, pg.15). The Frankfurt school feared the "ideological influence of the media on a gullible and powerless audience", the masses drooling over their mass produced, mind numbing, popular culture? (Creeber, 2009, pg.15). The elites who dismissed popular culture as a low brow mind control underestimated the complex relationship between the reader and the text. Audiences are not mere puppets of media but "active participants in the production of meaning", they can interpret the meaning of texts using their own cultural means (Creeber, 2009, pg.16).
Identifying how elements such as popular culture cannot be categorised as high or low brow, "as the 'real' and 'unreal', the 'authentic' and 'inauthentic'", as the meaning lies within the cultural view of the reader (Creeber, 2009, pg.17). This is identified in today's culture where the meaning and status of media is being blurred, using multimedia mediums such as YouTube. Where low brow mash-ups such as the "What does the wolf say?" become more significant than professional industry standard media. The masses now hold more power and influence over the media they consume, sharing, choosing, participating and driving New Media.
Bibliography
Creeber, G. Digital Theory: Theorizing New Media (Maidstone: OUP)
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