Where is the media heading and how should you prepare your (future) media maker for the future changes within the media landscape? Terms such as crossmedia, transmedia and gamification have become indispensable in the online industry. But what do you get out of them in practice?
The book ' Mediastorm ' by Erik van Heeswijk , editor-in-chief of VPRO Digitaal, describes a storm of wind force 10 that is coming our way. A so-called media storm: sometimes it seems calm, but there is a calm before the storm. Van Heeswijk describes the state of affairs of dimensions that have an impact on the digital revolution such as the 'big movements', the consequences for the production of media, new relationships with the public and the power of interaction. He also looks at the fact that media have become more customized than ever. He then discusses new business models that go with this.
Converging media
Television, radio, mobile telephony and the internet are merging; where we used to pay attention to 'only' one medium, it is now the case that media makers compete for our attention on multiple platforms and multiple devices. On your smartphone you watch a TV program again and on your tablet you show your holiday photos to friends. Van Heeswijk also states:
“But to what point will digital media grow? Will there be a device that takes over everything and makes the others redundant?”
Does this really mean that in a few years we will only have one device that serves all our needs? According to Van Heeswijk, this is largely theory. What you see is that devices all have their own specialism and context and therefore all have their own function. We can read articles and watch fragments anywhere, anytime and wherever we want. These activities all have their own moment in the day and we are no longer 'tied' to the device that, traditionally, belongs to it. The devices, and therefore also the users, are becoming increasingly flexible.
Everything is therefore mixed up and media makers increasingly see their material on other platforms than the ones it was originally intended for; media makers are, as it were, forced into a broader distribution strategy. Van Heeswijk does warn that you have to make sure that your material does not become contextless because you distribute it via different media. You are faced with the strategic choice: customization or 'suitable for all channels' material. The tension between these two changes the way media makers and companies work together. " But ", says Van Heeswijk, "this is precisely where the most beautiful successful multimedia strategies emerge."
What has changed?from one-way to two-way traffic. There is interaction from and with the audience and the audience has even become a prosumer. According to Van Heeswijk, this is all because the media are now much more prominent and this is reinforced by terms such as speed, scale, accessibility and community formation. Media in the 21st century are on a completely different level than 'before'. With the arrival of user-generated content, you can ask yourself: do we actually still need 'real, professionally appointed' journalists? Thanks to new technologies, everyone can become a broadcaster themselves. This is where the optimists and pessimists come into play. The optimists believe that the messages sent by the independent broadcaster are unfiltered and therefore pure. Pessimists believe in the importance of professional journalism and fear the fact that you will soon no longer be able to trust any message. Here too, there is a greece telegram data tension. Van Heeswijk indicates that there are three measures that can break this tension:
Focus
Compartmentalize
Attention
These measures can make the difference to still keep control as a media maker and at the same time involve the audience in your program. These measures are explained in more detail in the book.
Overhyped concepts
Multimedia, crossmedia and transmedia; these are frequently heard terms at conferences. Everyone has a different definition, but no one can explain what the terms mean exactly. The terms have to do with the presence on different platforms. According to Van Heeswijk, it is about the distribution of stories on different platforms and not so much about interactivity or revenue models (at least that is not the focus of the terms). Van Heeswijk indicates that the difference lies more in the way in which the different platforms are operated. The chapter on this subject further explains each term using examples.