Change of mass media and communication through technology

Change of mass media and communication through technology.
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Mass media was defined by (Splichal, 2006) as all media technologies that are intended to get to a large population through mass communication. Mass communication is a field of study of the various ways through which information is conveyed to widespread audience at the same time. Mass communication is used for entertainment, disseminating news and for advertising. Mass media may involve the use of print media or a broadcast media. Broadcast media disseminates information electronically while media use physical objects in transmitting information. (Splichal, 2006) observes that research in mass communication incorporates media institutions and the effects of media to the society in persuasion and manipulation of the general opinion. Over the years, there has been transformation in the technologies used in media which has led to many effects in the society.
Previously, mass media was consist of eight clearly defined industries that included television, books, magazines, recordings, radio, movies, newspapers and the internet as observed by (Downing, 2004) . This classification have however changed with the emergence of the digital communication technology in beginning of the 21st century and the close of the 20th century have ignited the debate of what should be considered as mass media. Currently mass media technologies are included in the seven media channels. (Downing, 2004) notes that the seven mass media includes; print recording, cinema, radio, television, internet and mobile phones. Mobile phone was the latest to be included in the mass media technology joining the category at the beginning of the new millennium.
Print media is the oldest mass media; being in existence since the late 15th century. Print mass media includes books, newspapers, pamphlets and magazines as noted by (Ramey, 2007). Recordings a wide array of technologies including gramophone records, cassettes, cartridges, compacts disks and DVDs. Recording have been in use from the late nineteenth century although some technologies in this category have emerged later in the second half of the 20th century. (Ramey, 2007) observes that cinema has been filmed from around 1900 while radios have been used since 1910. He further explains that television emerged from around 1950 and was a hallmark invention which combined the power of audio-visual to transform the traditional way of disseminating information. They could bring to the comfort of home motion pictures of an event and even may have been hailed as the greatest invention in the media technology.
(Downing, 2004) observes that internet emerged in the 1990 and has brought great power of disseminating of information. Mobile phone was only included as a mass media technology despite mobile phones being in use since 1979 where they were used for voice communication and in 1993, they were used for messaging. (Downing, 2004) explains that mobile and internet mass media are collectively known as digital media. Before it was categorized as a mass media technology, there was a debate on whether it should be included in this category.
(Ramey, 2007) notes that the issues that raised controversy on whether cell phones are mass media medium included that cell phones are essentially used for two way communication while mass media technology refers to all technologies that are used to disseminate information to a large group simultaneously. However, currently most mobile phones are able to access the internet which is a mass media itself. Despite this capability of mobile phones, there is still a question whether mobile phones should be classified as mass media or whether they are simply a medium to access a mass medium. Transformations have occurred in the use of mobile phones which has catapulted them to the status of mass media technologies. This began when Radiolinja from Finland in 1998 offered ring tones which could be downloaded as explained by (Ramey, 2007). This made mobile phones a platform for media delivery. This was followed in 2001 when camera phones were introduced by J-phone which increased the mass media experience in the use of mobile phones by increasing user interactivity. With inclusion of mobile phones as a category of mass media, the term ‘seventh of the mass media` was introduced by Tomi Ahonen in 2006 as explained by (Ramey, 2007). Currently, there is a way in which marketers are able to use satellites to broadcast advertisements and commercials directly into the cell phone. However in so doing, mobile phone owners receive unsolicited information the method helps to transmit information to millions of people and therefore fits in the description of a mass media.
Consequently, there is need to evaluate the unique benefits of mobile phone as mass media. Mobile phones are always on and carried around always and therefore they can be used in disseminating information at any time of the day. (Ramey, 2007) observes that mobile phones are a personal mass media platform where information is delivered to a particular person. Mobile phones provide a digital interface to the actual world. Mobile phones have an in-built payment platform and they capture the social perspective of media utilization. (Ramey, 2007) explains that mobile phones have the advantage that they get to the desired audience since it is personalized. The choice of the right mass media type that delivers the information to the right audience is critical since it avoids corruption of the social morals and it is effective since the audience can act on it fast enough.
(Ramey, 2007) explains that internet, mobile phones and computers are at times referred to as New-age media. Internet provides many mass media services including emails, blogs, and websites. Internet is also used to access radio and television programming through online listening and viewing. There is also the emergence of the social networks such as Facebook and twitter where users are able to interact and share information. In blogging, bloggers leave some news on their blogs or a description of some event which is shared to many users. The use of Facebook has created a large community of users who share information. Internet is also used for advertising where companies post the description of their products and viewers are attracted to visit their sites by either inclusion of games or some unique pictures. Internet is also used to make transaction where electronic commerce has been facilitated by use of internet.
The other question that research into mass media technologies should seeks to answer is whether video games should be looked at as a mass media technology. (Downing, 2004) observes that video games transmit similar message and ideologies to the users. This is enough reason why video games should be considered as mass media technology. Furthermore, video game users sometimes are able to interact and exchange their experiences with others when playing the game online. Players have the same experience and they receive similar messages and it is therefore seen that video gaming is a form mass communication.
Mass media provides news and entertainment to the public and has been referred to as mainstream media. In mass media however, giving of trivial but captivating news is emphasized rather than providing news that concerns the audience most. This is because in addition to providing an essential service to the public, mass media is a business where the provider of the news wants to make sales or to get customers who need their products advertised. (Downing, 2004) notes that mass media is contrasted to the local media where local media reaches a same audience like in the use of a public address system during campaigns while mass media reaches a large population say the whole country or can be even transverse national borders.
(Downing, 2004) argues that with emergence of the new me...