M a r e k J e z i ń s k i
Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland
NEW MEDIA AS A SOCIAL PHENOMENON
ABSTRACT
Th e main objective of the study is to explain the new media as a social phenomenon and indicate that this kind of the media perform several signifi cant social functions, including informational and educational functions while serving as a discursive platform (the forma-tion of public opinion) and a realm to advocate political viewpoints. Th ese functions are discussed primarily in the context of the nature of the communication act performed by the new media and the nature of social interaction exercised through the use of the media. Th ey stem directly from the features that characterize the new media, namely, their multimedia, decentralized, hybridist, egalitarian, non-linear (concerning the quality of data decoding processes), and interactive character. It could be argued that the new media mainly duplicate the functions of traditional media, however, they use more advanced electronic technology to make the interaction more eff ective and quicker. More importantly, they adapt to the changing social situations easier than the traditional media, infl uencing the nature of social contacts and the act of communication through the electronic devices. Th rough the use of contemporary technologies, the media owners and journalists shape the public opinion and they are subjugated to the pressure exercised by the new media users in turn.
Key words:
new media, media decoding, interactivity, media egalitarism, social interactions, commu-nication
1. Introduction
An issue that should be discussed is the new media as a social and cultural phenomenon, as well as the issue of their features in the context of their social functions. Th e changes one observes in the sphere of the media as such are related to the substantial alterations in social contacts and the nature of interaction be-tween people. Th e means of communication infl uence the act of communication as a social phenomenon. In the broader perspective, the quality of the media and the communication acts performed through the usage of media in the virtual sphere infl uence and determine the nature of social contacts and force groups to adapt to the new conditions in real life.
Th e term “new media” is related to the media sector that is dependent on elec-tronic technologies as the means of transmission of data between technological devices and tools, such as computers, mobile phones, or the new generation of TV broadcast. Although the word “new” should be understood literally, the novelty of the media at a certain point of historical development (at the time of its invention, the radio was “new” in comparison to printed press and, subsequently, television was the “new” medium in the mid-20th century), it principally refers to the fact
that the act of communication has new features in qualitative sense. It embraces the aforementioned aspects of digitalization and technological novelties in the mode of transmission. It also implies the process of convergence as a feature that underlines the dynamic development of the media sphere. In other words, the diff erent sectors and means used by the media senders are ready to converge in order to meet the demands of the digital media market.
In the study the problems indicated are discussed in the context of, fi rstly, the new media features as a kind of media as such and, secondly, the functions the new media play in the social system and cultural sphere. It could be argued that the new media simply mimic the functions of the traditional media, i.e. the traditional media has accompanied human beings from the very beginning of humankind and could be described as a part of the means of cultural adaptation by human groups to nature. Furthermore, the media fulfi ll one of the most important needs people have – the necessity of communication. Without the latter, a human group cannot exist, as it is a functional imperative, i.e. it is an element of a system that must be satisfi ed in order for the entire system to function. In this context, the new media are a link in the chain of human communication. Th ey satisfy the aforemen-tioned need in a new, qualitative meaning since information is quickly carried in digital form and it reaches the user in accurate way. Moreover, new technologies allow one to simultaneously send and receive information to/from many people.
Th is can be easily accomplished: one can stay at his/her home while using such technologies and tools for social contact. In this way, a person becomes a part of an interactive network, as portrayed in the Web 2.0 metaphor. Lister et al. suggest the new media are interrelated with several social, cultural, and technological phenomena, which can be identifi ed as new technologies, visual culture, networks, users, economics, everyday life, and cyber culture1. Th e nature of the new media
and their functions should be viewed with the points indicated by Lister in mind since they combine cultural and technological characteristics2. Th ey, in turn, infl
u-ence the nature of social interactions practiced in contemporary, post-industrial societies at the beginning of the 21st century.
2. Main features of the New Media
Th e new media, as a sub-system of the media scheme, are characterized by such features as, fi rstly, the multimedia character; secondly, the interactive nature un-derstood as a specifi c kind of relations; thirdly, decentralization and non-linear quality of data decoding processes; fourthly, hybridism; and fi ft hly, the egalitarian character of the new media. Although each characteristic demands at least brief comments, from the present point of view, the latter is of the greatest importance as it concerns various phenomena, starting with power and concluding with the decision-making processes. Th e latter feature of the media, that is, the egalitarian character, should be discussed in more details as it springs from the previous fea-tures, and – as it will be argued – it constitutes the uniqueness of the new media phenomenon.
2.1. Multimedia character
Th e new media is a fusion of the written word, sound, and, of particular impor-tance, visual symbols, all of which give the fi eld a multimedia characteristic. Th e latter group is relatively broad and embraces photographs, graphs, drawings, paint-ings, letters (printed in various fonts), and video materials. Th ey are combined in order to attract the viewer/reader/observer who searches for a specifi c kind of
1 M. Lister, J. Dovey, S. Giddings, K. Kelly, New Media: A Critical Introduction, Abingdon-New
York 2009.
information. Th e user, as a participant in the act of communication, is perceived in a broad sense as the one who reads and watches the content. In the contrast to the traditional media, the diversifi cation of symbols are decoded by a person using the net simultaneously, as it is a kind of new experience that people can take the stimuli of various forms, coded by using diff erent symbolic indicators, and coming from various spheres.
Consequently, people working with the computers are ready to decode sounds and visual images as the parallel aspects of a certain broadcast. Th ey infl uence three from the major senses every human being has – sight, hearing, and touch (in this particular point one usually touches a keyboard and a screen of a computer or a mobile phone) simultaneously, which refl ects a specifi c character of real life re-lationships to a certain extent. However, in the case of computer–human relations, the sphere of real life should be perceived as a kind of metaphor, underlining the specifi c character of such a relationship. Computers and mobile phones are gener-ally treated as semi-living creatures to which some people talk, touch, and depend on or trust. Th is sphere indicates the qualitative change that stems from the usage of advanced technologies by people. Artifacts made by human beings are endowed with human features and are sometimes treated not only as technological devices (characterized by the lack of natural life processes) but also as sensitive partners.
2.2. Interactive character
Secondly, the interactive character of the new media has implications on two lev-els, namely, a person has to possess certain computing skills (the ability to operate a computer) and that he/she must be prepared to receive and send information to other people and infl uence the nature of such interaction. Both spheres are based on the main relationship, which can be described as the human–computer rela-tionship. Th e Web 2.0 version of the internet web allows one to penetrate the re-sources in a non-restricted manner and, more importantly, permits the user to create his/her own contacts with the media as a kind of equal partner who models and shape the content, the sequence of information, and the layout of the site on which he/she works.
Th e interactive character is also manifested in the phenomenon that can be described as the cult of novelty. Users tend to seek new information, new content, and new technological applications. Th is means that the consumption of both information and media content, in general, is based on the constant stream of the new stimuli designed to entertain or satisfy the reader. Categories tagged as “news”,
“gossip corner”, “politics” or “games” are based mainly on the “new arrivals” – in-formation, gossip, political events, and internet/PC games, which are novelties used to attract the user to talk about, to comment upon, or to play with new sub-jects. Website owners try to meet this requirement by off ering the main fi elds of the sites for new attractive information in the spheres of politics, the media, the lives of celebrities, business, or sports. Th is phenomenon refl ects humans’ basic need to be informed, as well as to feel safe and predictable, which provides a cer-tain stable framework for social interaction and common activities in an everyday social environment. Th is point should be emphasized as it can be treated as a con-tinuity within the framework of the media development – each media outlet tries to be accurate and to serve information according to social demands defi ned by its particular target groups, and to keep the news timing in the timetable of a me-dia institution.
Th e problem discussed above refl ects also the tendencies in the media in gen-eral. Th e fl ow of information is relatively untamed or even completely untamable, however, the media relies on this reality. On the one hand, they try to meet the demand for novelty and, on the other hand, they lift up the novelty phenomenon as a kind of stable paradigm for the media and contemporary life. Th is can be summed up as a media directive: the user is ready to consume (to watch, to listen) new information and share that information on the net at that moment or, at least, on the day the user is using the computer since yesterday’s information is old (Th e song Who Wants Yesterday’s Papers by the Rolling Stones has humorous connota-tions). Jagger and Richards’ “yesterday’s papers” metaphor refl ects a universal ten-dency by readers who are mainly interested in information and content that is timely and relevant about the future.
On the other hand, numerous people need the content of historical value, which they fi nd by scouring the archives of websites. From this perspective, the new media have a certain advantage over the traditional media. For example, in order to fi nd historical information one does not have to venture outside of his/her room and the content is easily accessible and accurate, especially if it is properly tagged. Moreover, the user can defi ne his/her needs and set the individual parameters in the process of searching for information. In the traditional media sector, one had to read, watch, or at least to scan the whole newspaper or TV program while in a library, a cultural institution, the press center, etc. (with the limited opportunities to take it outside). Th is point is the reason for the genuine mass popularity of the internet resources. For instance, Wikipedia (written mainly by the amateurs inter-ested in a particular sphere of knowledge) is more extensively used than encyclo-pedias (written by the experts). Th is represents a confl ict between the traditional
(i.e. old) way of learning and the contemporary model of seeking information that is exercised by the younger generations.
2.3. Decentralization and non-linear character of data decoding processes
Th e decentralization and non-linear character of the broadcast stems from the fact that the new media are not subjugated to one or, for that matter, multiple decision-making centers and are not in the hands of a few holders or owners. In the Web 2.0 civic journalism paradigm, everyone can be a journalist; each user can put a particular piece of information on a website and thereby exercise his/her freedom of speech. Although the users can publish information that is sometimes useless to everyone except for them, it seems that this function of the new media is so-cially important. For instance, average citizens can control politicians and the authorities, they can report events, follow the deeds of the movie, music, and sport stars. In this way, they take an active part in the process of creating websites. In other words, those who are actively engaged in the process of shaping the content of internet resources can inform other people and satisfy the need to share with others information that is important to them and, in the process, fulfi ll their ambi-tion of being a journalist or an informer.
Th is also causes a distribution of prestige and responsibility, which is in op-position to the traditional media, which has a stable division of roles in the journal-ist sector. Th ose who have written or presented the information were called jour-nalists (and in most cases this title demanded professional training) and they bore the responsibility for the information presented in the press, radio, or television. Pre-civic journalism was rather local and limited to the signals sent to the “real journalists” or the publication of so-called “letters-to-the-editor” by readers who wished to comment on the discussions taking place via the press. It is typical that almost every newspaper has an editorial section, which is fi lled with “letters to the editor” by readers (Today, readers still follow this tradition, but send their com-ments via email or by mobile phone to the internet editions of newspapers). In the digital media age, the situation is relatively diff erent as non-professional journalists can inform other readers, put their own material on the net, and present their investigations to the public.
It is assumed that the non-linear character of the new media is one of the main features ascribed to this kind of the media. As far as the traditional ones are con-cerned (for instance, television), one can receive only a single broadcast at a time. When a person is watching TV he/she is concentrated on the particular program
shown at that time. Th e phenomenon of channel surfi ng (i.e. changing from one channel to another by using the remote control) does not undermine this observa-tion. Th e perception of a human being (represented in this particular case by both the eyes and the ears) can only be focused on one channel in order to decode it properly. Th is is further reinforced by the fact that a TV only has one screen. A com-puter can cross that limitation by allowing one to watch and/or read several pro-grams or applications simultaneously by using various interfaces and internet por-tals (they can be active or minimized). Th e screen can be divided into several sections, which can be fi lled by diff erent computer applications showing more than one program. For example, a football fan can follow the ceremony of drawing lots in the World Cup tournament qualifi cations simultaneously from three or more diff erent sites, for instance, uefa.com, pzpn.pl, and non-football portals, such as interia.pl or gazeta.pl. Th e sites broadcast the event and a person interested in the ceremony can divide the screen into four zones in order to receive information from several sources that supplement one another. Th e main problem with such use (obviously, not limited to the football example) is the audio of a website – each sup-ports its video broadcast with an audio track, and if a person wants to watch sev-eral transmissions simultaneously, he/she can face a cacophony of diff erent audio sources. Broadcasters do not plan for the synchronization of their audio with that of other broadcasters. Consequently, a user is sentenced to mute the sound and become a just a viewer. In other words, one can watch several programs on the in-ternet, but can listen to only one of the audio sources in an undisturbed way.
Th e non-linear character of the new media is based on the fact that web sites are usually divided into several independent parts. For example, a website can be di-vided into text fi elds (titles, linear texts of the sentences, interactive forums, tags, comments, etc.) which allow one to read, comment or go deeper into the sub-layers of the internet resources); a traditional screen-like part for presenting the video sec-tions; mini-icons for applicasec-tions; toolbars; a main menu bar; advertisements (texts, pop-ups, or videos); several kind of blogs (written, video, or photo blogs); and pod-casts. Th e graphic layout of a website refl ects the specifi c character of the internet as the medium; numerous stimuli can disturb the reader’s attention and try to make him/her focus on a particular point to spend time and energy on them. Th is is due to the conscious decision of the website’s owners to place a variety of information on the screen in order to attract users and, more importantly (from the perspective of the owners), how to place advertisements on the site in order to maximize their ef-fi ciency for the advertisers while remaining convenient for the reader. Th erefore, it could be argued, that the design of a particular website is planned by the owners to attract internet users on the one hand and advertisers on the other.
More proof of the non-linear character of the new media is the possibility of repetition. In the traditional media, when a person stops watching (TV) or listening (radio) for numerous reasons (one leaves a room, for instance), the fl ow of informa-tion in the media is not stopped, but develops and continues without the presence of a particular viewer/listener. If one is not ready to record a program, he/she loses the content. Th e new media, by defi nition, off er a new approach – the dynamics of the broadcast can be stopped or repeated as the internet sites can be visited several ties, and the content of a message is not changed. Th erefore, one can stop to read or watch a part of a message several times to augment the perception of information. Paradoxically, this feature of the new media makes them closer to the press, that is, the medium of traditional character based on the print, which is generally stable and does not change. However, if a newspaper is lost or damaged a reader cannot go back to the message he/she is interested in. Th e new media overcomes this par-ticular inconvenience as they convey the message with no restrictions and if infor-mation is put in the world wide web it is accessible. Moreover, it is accessible from every part of the world (the basic problem in this context is the linguistic compe-tence of a user) while press articles are typically available only locally.
Th e symbols used by the webmasters to plan the site can be attractive or unat-tractive for the readers, but they usually convey a certain message that is in accord-ance with the policy of an owner of a site. Th is maintains the internet’s decentral-ized, non-linear, and interactive character. In this way, the interactive, decentraldecentral-ized, and non-linear character of the internet is exercised; one can choose a particular path to follow while consuming the content put on a site. One can also go back to change the direction and follow a diff erent route for gaining information.
2.4. Hybridism of the new media
With regards to the content and the form of the new media messages, it is possible to describe it as a hybrid form of the media, which driven by the necessity to design the site with its target group in mind. Th is hybridization arises out of several types of broadcast formats, which are combined in the new media genre. In the case of new media, visual culture meets print culture in order to bring information and data in a form acceptable to the average internet user. Moreover, such data is trans-mitted in a manner in which the cult of novelty, with its various instruments and tools, especially the technological aspect, satisfi es the contemporary approach to the internet or mobile phones. Devices, applications, adapters, etc., which should be described as gadgets designed to make using new technologies easier, have
fl ooded the marketplace. Th is is because visual culture dominates real life and the human eye is the primary source of information, especially considering that the human perception in everyday life is based on sight sensations. Th e viewer treats the images, photographs, and video sequences as the ones refl ecting the non-me-dia real world. Th erefore, it is the visual character of culture that is, as implied by the new media, a primary element. It is set in order to attract people who face the screen. As Andrew Dewdney and Peter Ride describe it:
Th e basic argument of visual cultural studies is that human culture has become more and more reliant upon the visual dimension of human sense perception in communication. Th e development of large-scale media technologies throughout the twentieth century is pointed to as evidence of the growing emphasis and social reliance upon visual communication. Photography, fi lm, television and photo-print create a visual environment, which has moved a culture dominated by the word to a culture dominated by the image3.
Another elementary aspect of the new media is the problem of division of the format and content according to a website’s target group. Like the press, radio, and television, the new media are undergoing the process of formatting as the basic manifestation of adjusting the content and format to the demands set by contem-porary viewers, readers, and listeners. Th e process of convergence is the one that sets a perspective by which one should perceive the media in general. It is assumed that the formatting of the new media content is related to the personalization of the new media messages to the viewer. Th erefore, most internet portals display various labels, which serve to attract as many potential users as possible, in its menu bar. Th ey are mainly convergent with the interests of the average reader and refl ect the lifestyle of target groups. Th e range of services that the internet off ers is relatively wide and embraces categories such as “news”, “sport”, “politics”, “fun”, “for kids”, “business”, “cars”, “lifestyle”, “games”, “gossip corner”, “erotica”, “man”, “wom-an”, “TV program”, etc. Some of the sections are planned in order to attract more readers than the others (“fun”, “gossip”, and “erotica” instantiate the point) by using content and messages that are simple and attractive for the average user. In other words, everyone can fi nd something interesting for them according to class, age, intellectual potential, or lifestyle.
In this perspective, the term “convergence”, both as a technological process and the media-related phenomenon (interrelated with the social sphere as well),
mands several comments. Convergence, as Henry Jenkins observes, is the phe-nomenon that crosses the limits of traditional media and customarily understood processes of development. To quote Jenkins:
Convergence does not occur through media appliances, however sophisticated they may become. Convergence occurs within the brains of individual consumers and through their social interactions with others. Each of us constructs our own personal mythology from bits and fragments of information extracted from the media fl ow and transformed into resources through which we make sense of our everyday lives4.
Th irty years ago, Ithiel de Sola Pool, in Technologies of Freedom: On Free Speech in an Electronic Age, predicted that the phenomenon of convergence as a process would revolutionize both the media system and the media genres in the upcoming decades.
A process called the “convergence of modes” is blurring the lines between media, even between point-to-point communications, such as the post, telephone and telegraph, and mass communications, such as press, radio, and television. A single physical means […] may carry services that in the past were provided in separate ways. Conversely, a service that was provided in the past by any one medium […] can now be provided in several diff erent physical ways. So the one-to-one relation-ship that used to exist between a medium and its use is eroding5.
It seems that the point of eroding character is of the greatest importance. Again, to quote Jenkins, “Convergence involves both a change in the way media is pro-duced and a change in the way media is consumed”6. He tends to perceive the
phenomenon as a challenge to both the media system and social system as well. Th e latter is also an important element of the point that the media are designed to serve people and, on the other hand, they are invented, produced, and changed by people. Th ose processes are interrelated and interwoven as they perform the core social functions (discussed in the latter part of the text). It stems from the fact that
4 H. Jenkins, Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, New York-London 2006,
p. 3–4.
5 P. Ithiel de Sola, Technologies of Freedom: On Free Speech in an Electronic Age, Cambridge 1983,
p. 23.
the media infl uence the quality of contemporary mankind’s lives to a signifi cant degree. As the functionalist paradigm indicates, social communication (and the means of social communication) is one of the most important immanent demands of each social system. Convergence, as a technological and social process, includ-ing the changes observed in the sector of new media, seems to be a universal tendency in the media sector, leading to the more eff ective use of technology and more effi cient fl ow of information in contemporary digital era.
Th e fact that the media determines social conditions is not new. It can be as-sumed that the media that mankind uses in the process of interaction shapes the nature of social communication, and thus, the media and the eff ects that they have in social life are evidently interrelated. As Raymond Williams wrote about the social life of the late 20th century:
[Social life] is characterised by the two apparently paradoxical yet deeply con-nected tendencies of modern urban living: on the one hand mobility, on the other hand the more apparently self-suffi cient family home. Th e earlier period of public technology, best exemplifi ed by the railways and city lighting, was being replaced by a kind of technology for which no satisfactory name has yet been found: that which served an at once mobile and home-centred way of living: a form of mobile privatisation. Broadcasting in its applied form was a social product of this distinc-tive tendency7.
Although Williams focused his argument on television, it seems that his point is still accurate and relevant, especially with regards to the problem of mobility. Th e latter is regarded as a tendency that is universal and common at the beginning of the 21st century. New technologies tend to be planned with mobility in mind so
that they can be used in diff erent places with no restrictions as to time and place, making them easier to use and more convenient.
More importantly, as this particular sector of the media is concerned, the new media are convergent with the traditional ones; the press, TV, or radio owners are also fi ghting for readers/listeners/viewers with every other kind of media (includ-ing the internet and mobile phones sector), and try to maximize the attractiveness of their service. In this respect, the new media follow the trends and strategies exercised by all media owners. Th e problem is related to the fi nancial aspect. On the one hand, the owners of the new media try to satisfy the readers and the ad-vertisement sponsors to gain revenue. On the other hand, the new media (as well
as the other media) depend on the process of the media content consumption in the contemporary world. Th e latter means, generally, the tabloidization of the con-tent and the form in which messages are delivered. It stems as a result of class taste, mass consumption, consumerist attitude, and the occasional and superfi cial, or even trivial, character of a message presented in the electronic media. Th erefore, the media content should be quick, easy to digest, and relatively short to attract the masses. In this context, the new media are characterized by an almost immediate reaction to the real world since the news is presented around-the-clock and are immediately supplemented with information as it becomes available. On the other hand, sometimes the internet is treated as a surface level medium that brings nu-merous messages, which are not deepened with regards to the content. Traditional media, particularly the press, do not fulfi ll the condition of a rapid reaction to real life events since it takes several hours to prepare and to publish the material.
2.5. Egalitarian character of the new media
It could be assumed that the new media possess an egalitarian character. In con-temporary times, they are common, easy to operate, and accessible for everyone. From childhood, human beings have been familiar with the technology that ena-bles the new media. Aft er all, four – and fi ve-year-olds operate mobile phones and computers. Human beings utilize the new media in everyday life when they shop via the internet or mobile phones, communicate with other people by computer applications, etc. Th e main result for the younger generation of the West is the fact that the socialization processes are accompanied by the new media and are per-formed by the usage of the new media. In other words, the younger generation is unable to fathom living in a world in which the new media is not pervasive, espe-cially considering that children are growing up surrounded by the new media. As it was previously mentioned, such use of new technologies is supplemented by the fact that they are relatively easy to operate and can be learnt by everybody. Th is essentially means that people recognize the new media as their natural environ-ment and as the primary point of reference; when a person needs information he/ she consults the internet instead of a book, which is traditionally ascribed to the process of learning and gaining information.
More importantly, the new media off er almost unlimited sources and informa-tion. Whatever content a particular user requires can be found on diff erent sites. Th is is due to the fact that in the new media sector there is no central repository of the data that the reader would be interested in. Th e internet can be described as
a system with no core and de-fragmented into numerous sections, which brings diff erent kinds of information to the reader. Th e new media sector is developing into a media platform that delivers various kinds of programs, articles, materials, and other resources. As a result, one can consume historical data, economic, fun, music, games, erotica, political news, etc on demand. In fact, the off er presented on the sites can be compared to a digital or informational ocean, which nobody is able to explore thoroughly. Th e latter problem is related to the popularity of inter-net search-engines, where one can fi nd commercially popular sites and the sites that convey non-evident information, accessible for those who are ready to spend some time to comb through the data. In other words, the niche site is equally im-portant to the commercially popular one, although it is not as easily discovered by the search-engines sometimes. Th is refl ects similar tendency in the traditional media, which profi les titles are off ered to the papers’ readers and television stations’ viewers.
3. Social functions of the new media
Th e features of the new media discussed above highlight its non-linear, de-central-ized, and hybrid character, but what also makes the new media unique is its frac-tured nature. Th e new media are fractured with regards to the power, authority, and access to information, communication, resources, and decision-making proc-esses. Access to information seems to be the most important demand in post-in-dustrial society; the internet is the stimuli of social expectations and the fulfi llment of the tendencies towards communication without the limitations and boundaries that stem form traditional media systems. It seems that the new media is the phe-nomenon that will shape the development of contemporary societies with regards to the economic and cultural spheres. Th e worldwide net, which evolved from military experiments and university projects, is the phenomenon that combines images, sounds, and words in a contemporary, technological junction.
As Brian McNair indicated, the main functions performed by the media in contemporary societies are informational, educational, and serve as a platform for public discourse (the formation of public opinion), publicity for political and social institutions, as well as the advocacy of political viewpoints8. Th ey are exercised in
the specifi c context of the political and cultural system of a particular society;
8 B. McNair, An Introduction to Political Communication (fourth edition), New
people involved in the act of communication have to take into account the context as a framework for their interaction. Th erefore, every act of communication is contextual in social meaning and, consequently, is determined and followed by social conditions in which such act is performed.
Th e features indicated by McNair constitute the basis on which further social functions of the media can be exposed, namely, integration, exclusion, and main-tenance of the cultural system. All the functions relate to the broader systemic framework and arise from the fact that the act of communication demands people who interact through the use of the media. In this context, the media help to bind social interactions and strengthen the ties within the groups, as well as help to indicate those groups and people that do not convey similar defi nitions of social situation as the sender of information does. Th e use of the media amplifi es so-cially determined defi nitions of “we/us” and “they/them” categories as social groups that compete or cooperate in the public sphere. Th erefore, it could be ar-gued that in this context, the new media are a foundation on which the collective experience is created; namely, “we” as one of the constitutive features of every social group. Such experience of collective “we” means that people belonging to the group share common values that bind them together, are subjugated to norms and regulations of social control processes. In this way, a bunch of people becomes a social group in a sociological meaning. Th e processes of integration through the use of the media is accompanied by the processes of negative labeling and social exclusion of those who are labeled as “they”, that is a category, which is typical for all human groups’ rhetoric. Although people generally tend to divide and under-line positive features of the group they belong to, this kind of thinking is present in the political discourse with genuinely strong intensity9.
Th is feature is present in the discourse practiced in the new media, especially considering that the internet can serve as a place where one can publish every single bit of information concerning the viewpoints on every single issue, includ-ing politics as the symbolically dependent activity. Th erefore, symbolic exclusion is aimed at the opposition political groups, which are those who do not share a particular vision of the world. Th e problem is worth noting in the context of the confl ict between the main Polish political parties at the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century (Th e Citizens’ Platform [Platforma Obywatelska]
po-litical party, which formed the government aft er claiming victory in the 2007
par-9 See, for instance, M. Jeziński, Język przemówień politycznych Wojciecha Jaruzelskiego w okresie
stanu wojennego [Th e Language of Wojciech Jaruzelski’s Public Speeches in the Period of Martial Law], Toruń 2009.
liamentary election (the government was formed with the Polish Peasants’ Party as a coalition partner), fi ghts the Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość) party, which governed between 2005 and 2007, as the main opposition party in the par-liament.) Aft er the elections of 2007 and the presidential elections of 201010, the
parties used numerous tools to stigmatize the opponent as the root of evil in the Polish political system, both in domestic and international relations, especially those with Russia. In Poland, it seems that the main issue that was refl ected and discussed in the new media was the political parties’ attitudes towards the 10th of
April 2010, as the turning point in Poland’s political history. Th e death of the former president of the Republic had serious eff ects on the cultural cleavages vis-ible in Polish society. Aft er the tragedy, Poland’s political elites fought each other in the presidential elections and in the Parliament. Th e main problem discussed in the political sphere was the manner the Polish government tried to explain the causes of the presidential plane crash. Poles treated the problem as a crucial one and they expressed their standpoints for or against the government’s stance to-wards the causes. To this end, the new media were used to express Poles’ points of view. Th ey were ready to promote several irrational theories that implicated the prime minister and/or Russian secret service in an international conspiracy, which culminated in the accident. Putting aside the issue of “the truth” presented by these groups, from the perspective of this study, the fact that the internet was used in such symbolic behavior is an important issue. Th e new media served as the plat-form for exchanging ideas and evoking actions that were undertaken in real life (people used social portals, such as “Facebook”, to organize protests and they plan the details of the protests, including slogans and banners).
To put the problem sociologically, the new media served as the means by which four levels of social action were practiced, namely:
• Firstly, the social resources (symbolic, technological, human, and organiza-tional resources important for undertaking the actions in real life) were mobilized;
• Secondly, meanings were generated, manifested, and transmitted in the pro-cess of social communication;
• Th e act of social communication was practiced; and fi nally,
• Th e groups were integrated around a shared vision of reality, which was expressed via websites, forums, or social portals.
10 It should be remembered that the Presidential elections were held aft er the former president
Th e last important function discussed in the paper is the role the new media play in social systems, for instance, the maintenance of the cultural structure and the reproduction of values and norms typical for a particular society. It seems that the new media, especially websites, created in a given language, refl ect the way the social groups adapt for social reality and indicate a specifi c character of every so-ciety. Discussions held via the net forums (with its topics unique and intense), the format of the information, the character of blogs published on the net, and all expressions of human interests and attitudes towards reality is supposed to mirror the structure and setup typical for a given society. In this context, the new media, as a subsystem of the general media scheme, are functional for a social system as a whole. Actually, all media are functional, which means they act as the elements that defi ne a situation convenient for a system or at least some of its parts. Th ey form a platform to release social tensions, provide a forum for public discourse, manifest the viewpoints held by people, make communication quick and eff ective, and serve as a means for the mobilization of resources. In other words, they act as a signifi cant factor that binds social groups and a forum in which the culture of a particular society is expressed. Consequently, in the contemporary era, people tend to interact and mobilize through the use of the new media and such mobiliza-tion can result in real activity or remain in the sphere of symbolic manifestamobiliza-tions of humans’ activity.
Moreover, in every society, the new media are prevalent throughout everyday life. Th ey are used as tools to communicate with others and as instruments to or-ganize a person’s daily schedule. Th e routine use of digital devices helps to make our life easier and more predictable, starting from electronic alarm clock, through the use of electronics during the daytime (in cars, workplaces, the internet, naviga-tion systems, or mobile phones), and ending with the late night news programs. It seems that the new media, which are invented and constructed by people, have colonized almost all spheres of everyday life. Th at phenomenon, in turn, shapes people’s activities as they tend to subjugate their deeds to the new media tools and devices and they plan the daytime schedule according to the media conditions. Although, we are far from the anti-utopian vision of the brave new world imagined by Aldous Huxley, we tend to go deeper in that direction – with its predictability, easy to use digital standards, and scientifi c planning. Passive intelligence systems are the best exemplifi cation of the point; people tend to shape and control such devices, however, they seem to unintentionally act according to the standards and setups in which passive intelligence function. As a result, they are ready to be shaped by electronic systems that scientifi cally organize their time and their pat-terns of behavior.
4. Conclusions
Th e social and cultural functions of the new media stem from the fact that tradi-tional media systems do not add new qualities with regards to such functions. However, it should be emphasized that the new media changes the nature of com-munication as they invoke new means by which people interact and communicate. Th erefore, it could be stated that the new media are not a mere replications of the media functions exercised in the previous decades; they allow people to contact in the new technological sphere. Th e digital data makes contacts more accurate and eff ective than the traditional media. Also, the issue of the interactive character of the new media should be underlined once again, as it permits the user to simulta-neously be a sender and a receiver of information. Th e latter means that the media present new possibilities as the qualities of social interactions in everyday life are regarded. Moreover, the new media devices should supplement the means of vis-ual culture mentioned above. Th e computer screen or mobile phone screen are set to represent numerous aspects of reality which can be labeled as visual ones. Th e visual environment is the most basic experience people tend to pay attention to when they try to decode the media content, especially with regards to the new media and their manifestations.
In a cultural and social sense, people use the new media and they shape the nature of social contacts. More importantly, the new media serve as a means by which people produce and transmit messages to other people in order to infl uence them, to present their own viewpoints, to create communities, etc. Th erefore, the new media perform several functions related to the integration and transmission of cultural patterns of behavior, which are signifi cant in the process of maintaining the defi nition of a situation, as they are treated as a functional sub-system of the media as such.
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