Tahir Russell
Convergence
Professor Caçoilo
Convergence
Convergence is the change of media over
the course of time through intersections of various forms of other media. It is the technological, industrial, cultural
and social changes in the ways media circulates within our culture. The broadest term of convergence is described
as a situation in which multiple media systems coexist and where media content
flows fluidly across them. Convergence will continue to grow and change, as
media industries think of new ways of selling content to consumers. Transmedia is a concept that companies are
beginning to take advantage of because of the revenue that it brings them.
Consumers of companies always want
more; transmedia is a way of getting the people more while still telling a
story on a different platform. “Offering new levels of insight end experience
refreshes the franchise and sustains consumer loyalty”(98 Jenkins). Companies
that can keep up with fan interests and expand their franchise across multiple
platforms tend to due much better than companies that do not utilize transmedia
storytelling. The knowledge we have now
on media and its changes can be used in our approach to the future changes of
media.
In order to approach the future of media with our knowledge in our existence we need to understand how it is changing. Media is changing across multiple platforms all the times. Social Media is becoming a big place where media companies are spreading their information and network. Social Media such as Instagram and Facebook are now used for ads as a way to get consumers to buy their products. Along with ads a new form of marketing called viral marketing is a new way to distribute advertisements. “Viral Marketing relies on promoting a product, service, or brand through natural communication channels online, in which people spread the message because they want to, not because they are being paid to”. The personalization of media and technology seems to be where the future of media is headed.
Virtual and augmented reality seems
to be where the future of gaming and other media technologies are headed. We
are in an era where technology is always around us and over our bodies, Samsung
and Apple’s version of a phone on your wrist are examples of this. People
always have their smart phones with them, almost as if it is a part of their
body. It makes perfect sense that there would only be something else that would
be an extension of technology to go over our bodies to make the experience feel
more realistic. Palmer Luckey founder of the Oculus headset said, “In this
sense, games are very much pioneering Virtual Reality. It’s going to expand
into a lot of other things like education, medicine, emergency response
training and things like that,” enthuses Luckey. “Mostly it is going to start
with gaming, and that’s because the games industry has all of the tools and the
technology to build immersive real-time 3D worlds” (GamesRadar). Essentially
these gaming experiences are starting to appear more lifelike and will
hopefully be a catalyst to expand into other new developments as well.
As the experiences and media
development begins to change so does the capability to contact those who seemed
out of reach. During last elections Democratic debate for Presidency,
candidates were asked questions by YouTube vidoes, “average” citizens as they
were called. Candidates were then prompted to answer those questions from
YouTubers(Jenkins 272). This is the way of the future, regular people have the
ability to connect to those who seemed out of reach.
Stuart, Keith. "16 Trends That Will Define the Future of Video Games." The Guardian. N.p., 23 July 2015. Web. 02 Dec. 2015.
Luckey, Palmer. ""Virtual Reality Is Inevitable" - Palmer Luckey Tells Us about the Future of Gaming." GamesRadar+. N.p., 02 Sept. 2015. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.
Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York UP, 2006. Print.
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