Dimensions of media convergence
Technological Convergence
The technological dimension of convergence is the most readily understood. With the world wide web,
smartphones, tablets, televisions, and other digital devices, billions of people are now able to access
media content that was once tied to specific communications media (print and broadcast) or platforms
(newspaper, magazines, radio, television and cinema).
Since a diverse array of content is now being accessed through the same devices, media organizations
have developed cross-media content. For example, news organizations no longer simply provide just
print or audiovisual content but are portals that make material available in forms such as text, video, and
podcasts, as well as providing links to other relevant resources, online access to their archives, and
opportunities for users to comment on the story or provide links to relevant material.
These developments have transformed journalism by breaching longstanding boundaries—between who
is and is not a journalist (citizen journalism), between deadlines and other time, between journalists and
editors, and between content platforms. Technological Convergence involves converging distinctly
separate media delivery platforms. So, some examples of this would be the conversion from analog to
digital which continues to occur with television, the internet and mobile technologies.
Advantages of Technological Convergence
Technological convergence simplifies the production of media content. It also expands, accelerates and
facilitates its distribution, often with associated cost savings. A digital photograph, for example, can be
shot and circulated globally within seconds via the Internet. There is no need for film processing, printing
and physical distribution. Similarly, consumers can access multiple forms of media content on a single
device whenever they choose, often for free. With technological convergence, the electronic transmission
of data can be exponential. This replaces the more singular, physical transportation of material goods.
Convergence has also made it easier to produce media. Digitization allows consumers of media content to
produce and distribute their own content. They could be everyday people using social media sites. Or
they could be professionals (e.g., designers, filmmakers, musicians, writers, etc.) working in their field.
Some analysts see this as a democratization of media. Anyone with access to digital media and a
computer network can produce, consume and circulate media content.
Drawbacks of Technological Convergence
Our experience with convergence to date has also revealed some drawbacks. Not everyone has ready and
affordable access to digital media, or the skills to employ them. A connection to computer networks (and
the literacy required to navigate them) is increasingly vital. It creates a digital divide between haves and
have-nots. Also, the tracking capacity of computer programs has resulted in increased surveillance. This
has prompted concerns about personal privacy and security.
The rapid change of digital formats and the massive quantity of available data has led to challenges.
These include concerns about the storage, preservation and protection of things deemed important to the
public record. Digital content can be copied, changed and circulated with great ease. This presents a
challenge to existing copyright law and makes it difficult to prevent the pirating of content.
The music, film and television industries have been impacted by this. The publishing industries have also
been threatened by the free circulation of media.
Social Convergence
Social media is a new driver of the convergent media sector. The term social media refers to technologies,
platforms, and services that enable individuals to engage in communication from one-to-one, one-to-
many, and many-to-many. While the internet has always allowed individuals to participate in media not
only as consumers but also as producers, the social aspect of media convergence did not flourish until the
2000s, with the rise of sites that aimed to be user-focused, decentralized, and able to change over time as
users modified them through ongoing participation.
Social media is exemplified by the rise of online communication services that include Facebook, Twitter,
YouTube, Blogger and WordPress, and many others. The scale of growth of these social media platforms
has been phenomenal. Facebook first became publicly available in 2006, and by 2012 it had over one
billion users.
American media scholar Howard Rheingold identified three core characteristics of social media. First,
social media make it possible for everyone in the network to be simultaneously producer, distributor, and
consumer of content. Second, social media’s power comes from the connections between its users. Third,
social media allows users to coordinate activities between themselves “on scales and at speeds that were
not previously possible.”
An important shift associated with convergence and social media is the rise of user-created content, with
users changing from audiences to participants. The tools of content creation become cheaper and simpler
to use, distinctions between amateurs and experts become blurred, and media content production
becomes increasingly shared, social, and collaborative in nature. Changes in the way users produce,
distribute, access and re-use information, knowledge and entertainment potentially give rise to increased
user autonomy, increased participation and increased diversity.
Textual Convergence
Textual convergence is when print media, for example newspapers, books, have been merged with online
media. That is how online newspapers came to life. And this is one of the most convenient convergences.
Reading news online is one of the most popular and convenient ways to get your daily fix of news. Most of
us do it whilst eating our breakfast, heading to work or school, reading news changed since newspapers
started transferring to online platforms. Some have even decided to go completely online-only.
For example, newspapers like DNA deciding to go online in the recent past. That decision was made
because of the success that their online newspaper has gained. They have realised that the news industry
is changing.
Textual Convergence also refers to the relationship between different forms of media. A great example of
this is reality shows that not only rely on the television, but also involve text messaging to vote for
contestants, online forums to discuss performances and topics related to the show, videos, polls, and even
more recently, an official Facebook page and direct partnerships with platforms.
What’s also important is advertising on the internet and how the number of hits, clicks and length on a
website can boost profits and allow for a wider audience to be reached. By gaining an understanding of
what convergence is in terms of media, we’d be able to get a clearer understanding of how the media
around us is working now, and how it will continue to evolve in the future.
Textual — the re-use and remixing of media into what has been termed a ‘transmedia’ model, where
stories and media content (for example, sounds, images, written text) are dispersed across multiple
media platforms.
Media convergence has helped us in so many ways, for example information is so easy to access, we can
get the latest news online, not having to go to a store and buy a print copy of a newspaper, all the news
articles are in the reach of our fingertips.
Textual convergence refers to the merging of printed media into online news media. For example, books
and newspapers have been converted into social media-based writing and reading practices, also known
as citizen journalism. Now anyone can contribute to the media industry by commenting on social media
platforms. It is called textual convergence in media. Journalists are earning knowledge and improving
themselves through convergence. Now journalists can view others’ content easily because of
convergence. They are getting ideas and improving themselves. It allows them to learn more about the
rule and regulations of generating media content. Media convergence creates a new way to interact
between media practitioners and audiences. Readers comment to express their opinion. So, it allows for
making interactive communication atmosphere.
Political Media Convergence
Digital media have become an integral part of individual citizens’ political lives as a growing number of
people around the world use digital media technologies for information and communication. Collectively,
digital media have also constituted an important platform that people can use to coordinate and mobilize
among like-minded individuals. Nevertheless, while distributing informative and mobilizing messages,
digital media also facilitate socio-political factors that raise concern over the dissemination of
misinformation, information divides and political polarization.
Recent studies on the internet and political activism have highlighted the significant role of digital media
in shaping diverse forms of political participation and mobilizing large-scale social protests around the
world. Digital media such as Twitter and Facebook provide a platform for cognitive, affective and
behavioral connections that enable people to network collaboratively. For instance, digital media provide
people with news and mobilizing information and allow them to exchange their opinions with many
others, motivating them to engage in public activities. In addition, digital media content can be quickly
updated without expending a significant amount of time, money and physical effort, which enables digital
media users to easily pursue their communication goals through different activities online.
Accordingly, digital media can play a significant role in the development of democracy.
Information Divide and Political Polarization
While the positive effect of digital media technologies on participatory behaviors has been well
documented, a heated debate concerns whether digital media can help to develop a more deliberative
society. The proliferation of information communication technologies has provided diversified channels
where citizens can engage in free and open dialog and access information on various political and social
issues. As people are increasingly turning away from mass media to social media as a way of learning
news and civic information, new opportunities and challenges will arise. For instance, online social
networks influence the type and amount of information to which people are exposed, and social media
platforms curate content based on algorithmic information sorting, which elicits critical issues that affect
the development of the democratic process.
How much the changing boundaries of social media and the transforming dynamics of digital networks
facilitate the information divide and influence individuals’ political information sharing, conversation and
engagement will become an influential line of inquiry for years to come. Our current media environment
produces a paradox in which citizens could be immersed in larger, more diverse, and heterogenous
networks of political discussion and information.
Examples:
1. South Korea
A national survey in South Korea found that news curation plays a mediating role in the relationship
between social media use for news and political knowledge. They also suggested that political interest
and efficacy play significant roles in enhancing the association between social media use for news and
political knowledge. Their study contributes to the literature on political learning on social media by
illuminating the direct and indirect roles of news curation in the mediation models.
2. USA
A survey conducted in the states of Ohio and Texas found that Democrats are more likely to use a variety
of media platforms, while Republicans were more likely to segregate themselves to like-minded media
and to avoid traditional objective sources like national newspapers or broadcast TV news. They also
provided evidence that exposure to counter-attitudinal news outlets did not diminish partisan attitudes,
while exposure to attitude-consistent media validated them.
3. China
Chinese nationalism discourse on Weibo, the most popular Chinese social media platform is an attempt to
understand the different roles of online actors in setting the agenda. Different Weibo accounts were
explored, including organizational accounts, individual influencers’ accounts and ordinary individual
accounts and found that media agenda influences individuals’ agenda, while the construction of
nationalism follows a bottom-up direction.
The impact of information uses of different media is not the same. They documented that the
informational use of news content from print newspaper, radio and social media sources increases the
likelihood of political participation, and the positive relationships between news content use from the
radio and social media sources and political participation are stronger for higher- than lower-educated
groups. Press freedom is also a significant contextual factor reinforcing the role of TV news, print news
and social media use in participatory inequality.
Industrial Convergence
Technological transformations have been met by industry convergence and consolidation, as well as by
the rise of giant new digital media players. The 1990s and early 2000s saw large mergers, where the
biggest media companies sought to diversify their interests across media platforms. Among the largest
mergers were Viacom-Paramount (1994), Disney-ABC (1995), Viacom-CBS (2000), NBC-Universal
(2004), and the biggest merger in corporate history at the time, the 2000 merger of America On Line
(AOL) and Time Warner. There were also takeovers of new media start-up companies by the established
media players, such as News Corporation’s 2005 takeover of Intermix Media Inc., the parent company of
MySpace.
The methods taken by industries are disintermediation – breaking down traditional structures that
mediate the relationship between producers and consumers, and reintermediation – where industries
function with network distribution and e-commerce.
