CONVERGENCE

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MEDIA CONVERGENCE

The convergence of the media is one of the most important aspects of Media in the Online age. Convergence refers to difference areas of the old Media becoming linked to each other new areas of the media. The major reason for the convergence of the media is because of the impacts the web is having on the media industry. A big example of how convergence is effecting the Media industry is the fact that all magazines now have webpages that allow people to get news as it happens instead of waiting until the next issue.

THE MEDIA BEFORE THE ONLINE AGE

Before the online age the different aspects of the media world were almost completely separate. There was only a small form of convergence in the fact that you would occasionally get adverts for different aspects of the media in a magazine or if you were watching the TV, but now the whole of the media industry has found its home online. Doing everything from allowing you to read your favourite magazine or the days news online to letting you watch the latest TV programmes minutes after they finish airing for the 1st time. Before this you would get your news or watch TV at set times, for example the only time to see a programme would be at a set time or on a late night repeat and you would only be able to get news through the daily newspaper or on a specialised news programme.

CONVERGENCE IN THE FILM WORLD

Media convergence is now a major part of marketing films. As well as running the standard marketing techniques of posters and releasing trailers in cinemas with TV sports. Now in the online age it is much easier to market films for a lower price then previously needed. Using Social networking sites such as Facebook you can create a page for free and then begin to spread word about the film across the world. Viral campaigns are also a major part which help to aim the film at the right audience for film by putting adverts on sites which are more likely to be visited by the films target audience.

SOCIAL NETWORK MARKETING

ONLINE MAGAZINES

The online age has completely changed the ways that we receive our news. Now instead of getting a newspaper or a magazine every day or week to get the latest going’s on you can simply click onto a website and receive the latest updates when and where it happens. This has led to a change in the magazine world who can report a story online on their webpage and then cover it more detail in their publication as well as been able to add extra features in both online and in the freed up space in the magazine. Also the online features allow the magazine to receive feedback immediately on stories and their features by adding features like a comment box where anyone can leave their thoughts about what is going on in the world.

THE INTERNET

The Internet is a globalized network and was officially launched in 1969. Since then, its role has changed rapidly from its original use as a communication tool to provide easier and faster access to information for universities and various other educational institutions. In today's world, it is an important tool used to reach various audiences around the world. Its users have strived to create more uses for the Internet than the mere sharing of academic information. The television, radio and newspapers are the world's main mediums for accessing news and entertainment. Now, all three mediums have converged into one, and people all over the world now can read news on the Internet.

THE GOOGLE TAKEOVER MODEL

Reasons for the Google takeoverGoogle is the most used search engine.

Gmail, while maybe not the most used email provider it is definitely the most highly desired.

Google News is viewed as a #1 news site for many people.

Blogger is one of the leading blog sites

Google Desktop Search.

Google Adsense - probably the most widely used advertising on the web these days

PETER BARRON OF THE NORTHERN ECHO

Peter talks about the changes in the print industry and what effect these changes may have on the future of the print industry.

“These days the paper that newspapers are written on is thinner but more expensive and not so good value for money.”

He also states that climate change is a factor in the death of print work.

He predicts that over the course of around 10-15, the death of local newspapers will occur in their current form.

He also believes that more younger people prefer digital media so do not buy print.

To give an example of this the Northern Echo website gets 20,000 hits a say even though the exclusives are only in the printed paper.

The synergistic relationship between print and TV benefits each other in terms of A) widening the sources, and B) making a wider range of broadcasting and other skills available to all.

Peter also states that apps are a potential threat.

It also faces competition from blogs, Twitter and ‘citizen journalism’

COMICS – MOVIES

From the article Graphic Novels are Hollywood's Newest Gold Mine By Rebecca Winters Keegan, its shows how comic books and film have come together to become very successful “Stories and characters first written for an audience of a few hundred thousand geeks at most are reaching, at the box office and on DVD and cable, popcorn-chomping crowds that number in the tens of millions.”

Frank Miller, creator of the graphic novels Sin City and 300, says that "The dalliance between Hollywood and comics is becoming a marriage, The downside is in the heads of people who make comic books. Everybody wants money and fame”

Thanks to the box-office success of A-list superheroes like Spider-Man and the X-Men, Hollywood's appetite for comics-fuelled material is insatiable

Things weren't always so great though, as is the case of Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin.

Studios began to turn there attention to fantasy literature which brought them great success with films like Harry Potter and The Lord Of The Rings

PROSUMERS

The consumer now enjoys many more creative opportunities than were once available to them.

People are not only watching and reading things created by professionals, they are now creating there own, with help from websites such as YouTube.

The biggest growth on the side of the consumers in recent years has been with the rise in popularity of Machinima.

TECHNOLOGICAL CONVERGENCE

Technological convergence is the tendency for different technological systems to evolve towards performing similar tasks. Convergence can refer to previously separate technologies such as voice (and telephony features), data (and productivity applications), and video that now share resources and interact with each other synergistically.