The document discusses the long tail theory of digital media. It explains that services like Amazon, Spotify, and Netflix can extend the life of products beyond their initial release through low volume sales over a long period. This allows niche and non-mainstream products to find an audience. Digital media also focuses on user interactions rather than just audience size. The document then provides brief overviews of several media theorists and their perspectives on changes in digital media.

1. A2 Media Theory
Part 3
E-media & social media

2. Long Tail Model
(c) Jon Meier
Chris Anderson
Digital media services such as Amazon,
Spotify & Netflix can extend the life of a
product well beyond its initial release.
Often applies to niche and non-mainstream
products. There is renewed interest in ‘back
catalogue’ items, nostalgia, spin-offs and tie-
ins (sequels & prequels).
Low volume sales over a longer period can
generate more revenue than short-term high
volume sales on the immediate release of a
product. The long tail is a key part of e-media.
http://www.slideshare.net/emmasugarmanphot
ography/the-long-tail-theory-15370294
https://www.ideagrove.com/blog-
1/blog/2005/10/understanding-the-long-
tail-theory-of-media-fragmentation.html
Trad media: it’s all about
audience figures
Digital media: it’s all about the
number of interactions
Time
Memorizer: think of Fairy TALES & Hans Christian
ANDERSON

3. Clay Shirky
(c) Jon Meier
social media guru, NYU
Old models of producer-audience
have broken down.
New audience-
groupings have
grown up:
collaborative
projects,
crowdfunding,
crowdsourcing,
publicity
campaigns run
by volunteers.
‘End of Audience’ Model
"Every consumer is also a
producer, and everyone
can talk back."
Media had been a hierarchical industry—in
that one filtered first, and then published. "All
of that now breaks down…......People are
producing who are not employees or media
professionals. So we now publish first, and
then filter. ”
It’s all about connections,
participatory networks
https://www.ted.com/talks/clay_shirk
y_how_cellphones_twitter_facebook_
can_make_history?language=en
“Media is GLOBAL,
SOCIAL, UBIQUITOUS &
CHEAP”
Memorizer Shirky doesn’t shirk view of audiences
transformed into sharers, commentators and producers

4. Aleks Krotoski
(c) Jon Meier
The web is a mirror which
reflects our concerns and
preoccupations.
It also influences who we
are and how we behave.
She embraces e-media
in a positive way but is
keen to make us more
aware of the power of
dominant digital players
such as Google &
Facebook.
https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=8A6Ky49573Y
Psychologist & journalist.
Clear, intelligent commentator on
everything concerning e-media.
The Internet is a
democratic space. This
cyberdemocracy is
disruptive (counter-
hegemonic) and pluralist.
It It provides a
counterbalance to
traditional ‘big brother’
media conglomerates with
their mechanisms of
control, surveillance and
censorship.
Memorizer: intelligent dALEKS
On the negative side,
the web is also a
space where
hegemonic forces
still exist alongside
cyberdemocracy.

5. (Sir) Tim Berners-Lee
(c) Jon Meier
The British inventor of HTML, the language of the internet.
He envisaged the internet as a creative space which is democratic and decentralized.
A supporter of internet neutrality and openness.
A campaigner for digital human rights:
"Threats to the Internet, such as companies or governments that interfere with or snoop
on Internet traffic, compromise basic human network rights."
He recognized that information is still in the hands of the few.
memorizer: Tim berners hyphen
lee hypertext hyperclever hyper
advocate of internet openness
Evidence to support Berners-Lee’s concerns:
conglomerates such as Google (owners of You Tube), companies
such as Facebook and Twitter exist due to strong ad-based
commercial promotional content. State surveillance has been
replaced by corporate surveillance – companies use the internet
to find detailed information about consumers’ tastes and buying
habits. State surveillance also exists (the ex US intelligence
employee Ed Snowden has proved this]. There is lots of Internet
‘policing’ in the form of corporate regulation, control and
censorship. The Internet itself has become a means to collect all
sorts of information about individual users.

6. Dan Gillmor
(c) Jon Meier
Academic. Author of ‘We the
Media’
Observer of Citizen journalism.
E- media challenges the hegemony
of media oligopolies (clusters of
media conglomerates) – ending the
traditional ‘few to many’
transmission model.
Changes the balance of news values
from a dominant hegemonic model
to a more pluralist context.
Updates Chomsky’s view that
traditional mass media news
organisations manipulate news
agendas to support corporate
interests.
Examples to support
Gillmor’s views (which
actually came along
after he wrote ‘We
the Media’) would be:
Real News and Vice
News + the power of
bloggers and vloggers
such as KSI, Zoella,
Russell Brand

7. David Gauntlett
“Web 2.0”
(c) Jon Meier
The term web 2.0 was popularized by Tim O’Reilly
Web 2.0 is the user-generated, social, interactive version of
the web.
Media content used to be produced by corporate elites and
handed down from on high.
This evolved into a shared, convergent culture.
Web 2.0 is interactive. It favours UGC (user-generated
content) and UCC (user-controlled content).
New media is Postmodern in nature – simulated, unoriginal,
imitative, hybrid and self-referencing.
Gauntlett is also a
strong advocate of the
multiple and fluid
identities model
promoted by e-media.
Read the conclusion
to his book on
theory.org
http://www.theoryhead.com/gen
der/extract.htm
Buzzwords:
Web 2.0
Making & Connecting
web 2.0 is PARTICIPATORY

8. Alvin Toffler
Futurologist (1970s & 80s!)
(c) Jon Meier
Author of ‘Future Shock’ and ‘The Third Wave’
Possibly more influential than Marshall McLuhan
Coined the term ‘Prosumer’ (Producer Consumer) in ‘The Third Wave’
Foresaw the impact of technological change and the digital revolution
“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those
who cannot read and write, but those who cannot
learn, unlearn, and relearn. ”
Explanation of the ‘Third Wave’ (each wave pushes the earlier one aside):
First wave: the agrarian revolution (end of the hunter-gatherer era)
Second wave: the industrial revolution
Third wave: the electronic (post-industrial) revolution
We must search out totally new ways to anchor
ourselves, for all the old roots — religion, nation,
community, family, or profession — are now shaking
under the hurricane impact of the accelerative thrust

9. Harry Jenkins
Convergence Culture
(c) Jon Meier
Convergence culture, participatory quality
of new media
‘Few to many’ vs ‘many to many’ model.
Jenkins is known for his work on the
participatory nature of new media; the
primacy of the prosumer (a term first used
by futurologist Alvin Toffler in The Third
Wave, 1980) and the convergent nature of
media content (the growth of multimedia
‘transmedia’, interactive content).
Keen advocate of transmedia storytelling.
memorizer: Harryjenkins -
convergence & transmedia
His view is that there is a more balanced
relationship between audience and
producer. This has led to synergies &
corporate convergence in areas such as
ownership, production and distribution
[Netflix producing and distributing their
own productions. House of Cards,
Orange is the New Black. This is called vertical
integration: every stage of the production process is owned
by the same company. Examples: Disney-Marvel merger;
Google-Youtube, Amazon + Kindle etc]
Has also written extensively on comic books,
superheroes, fandom & video games.
Downplays the role of media violence.
Fans were the first audiences to show
the collective participatory nature of
social networks. The first digital communities
tended to grow up around sci-fi texts such as Star
Wars and Star Trek.‘50 Shades of Grey’ was
originally developed from a Twilight Fanfiction site

10. JAKOB NIELSEN
(c) Jon Meier
Lean back (passive) vs lean forward
(active) technologies.
Nielsen has done a lot of research into
reading styles in traditional print vs web-
based texts. Not surprisingly, he found that
people read differently on the web.
Less sustained concentration, more
scanning etc.
He also noted the rise of ‘second screen’
engagement – e.g. watching one screen e.g.
TV or main PC whilst using another device
(phone or tablet).
Arguably, new media
has come full circle
towards a new lean
back model – Netflix,
binge-watching etc.
We are returning to a
lean-back model of
media consumption.
This could be a
reaction to active
media engagement,
marking the return of
the couch potato?
Memorizer: neeeelson leeeeean back
It could be argued
that this trend for 2nd
screening and
liveblogging, (using
social media to
comment on
traditional live media)
has been exploited by
producers to create
texts such as
Gogglebox.
Don’t be afraid to add
your own comments. This
shows critical autonomy
and media knowledge.

11. Tim O’Reilly
(c) Jon Meier
• popularized the term web 2.0.
Emphasises the importance of:
• Social aspects, participatory & collective nature of digital media
• UGC (user generated content)
• audiences’ migratory behaviours
• the power of collective intelligence – [leads to mechanisms such
as crowdsourcing & crowdfunding]
memorizer: wee (media) web 2.O ’Reilly
Academic, Business Guru & Internet Analyst

12. Andy Warhol
(c) Jon Meier
Not a media theorist but, of course, a talented and innovative artist.
Any good media student is also a keen follower of the visual arts.
Much of his work perfectly illustrates some
key media ideas. It often comments
ironically on the duplication, mass
production and commercialisation of art.
His work also highlights the shallowness
and commercial exploitation of fame.
‘in the future, everyone
will have their 15
minutes of fame’.

13. Denis McQuail
(c) Jon Meier
How relevant are Mass
Communication theories today?
Can we still talk about Mass
Communication in a digital age?
Has carried out
extensive research on
mass media and
communication.
Summarizes and draws
together work of many
other theorists.
Explores the impact of
e-media.

14. A reminder about some older ‘classic’ theoretical perspectives:
Hegemony, neo-Marxism & the Frankfurt school (1)
(c) Jon Meier
The Frankfurt School (Benjamin, Adorno, Horkheimer) focussed on the ‘culture
industries’ rather than media alone but the same principles apply to traditional mass
media . Their neo-Marxist ideas led to theories about the subtle persuasion of passive
audiences and the Hypodermic Needle Model. The main implications of their ideas are:
• The entertainment, media and culture industries help to promote capitalist values.
• Corporate nature of the culture industries.
• Growing industrialisation of the entertainment industries.
• Pressure to grow a conformist consumer culture for the sake of profit.
• Stifling of individuality in favour of a more profitable mass consumerism.
• Cultivation of false hopes and needs through the growth of advertising.
• Glorification of materialism, consumerism and capitalist values.
The Frankfurt school
sociologists perhaps
saw similarities with
centralized state-
controlled Nazi
propaganda which they
had escaped from.
The key e-media question
is: do digital media
undermine the
hegemonic influence of
traditional media?

15. A reminder about some older ‘classic’ theoretical perspectives:
Hegemony, neo-Marxism & the Frankfurt school (2)
(c) Jon Meier
Adorno and Horkheimer used
the Hollywood film studio
‘machine’ and popular music
as a starting point for their
views on corporate power.
Leads to a uniform culture
and a passive complicity with
hegemonic structures.
Marx called this
blind consent of the
masses to their own
position of
subordination ‘false
consciousness’
The ideas of the Frankfurt
School are linked to Gramsci’s
views on Cultural Hegemony:
manipulation of masses by
attaining their consent (soft
manipulation, leading to
acceptance of the status quo
and unequal power structures)
The Hypodermic
Needle and Passive
Audience Models link
to George Gerbner’s
Cultivation Theory
and Mean World
Syndrome
This, in turn, links to Stanley Cohen’s ideas on
Moral Panics: the promotion of fear based on a
populist media agenda of highlighting society’s
moral decline and then scapegoating minority
groups. The resulting paranoia tends to promote
measures which favour the status quo and
protect the interests of elites.

16. Flow-Theory & e-media
(c) Jon Meier
Opinion leaders are now no longer necessarily
members of social, corporate elites. They
might nowadays be showbiz, music or sports
celebrities. Audiences are exposed to many
diverse and conflicting ideas through social
media, peers, family etc. The old model is no
longer valid where there was a 2 way
interaction between audiences and elites
(including media editors/proprietors).
Sometimes called Two-Step Flow. The traditional view, advocated by researchers
such as Lagersfeld and Katz, is that ideas flow from media to opinion leaders
and then to audiences.
So, in the past, the interests, ideologies and messages of those in power were
often shared by influential media institutions. These shared values meant a
protection of privilege.

17. Gatekeeping & e-media
(c) Jon Meier
Gatekeeping is the idea
that traditional media are
governed by powerful
decision-makers who
decide what content to
audiences can and cannot
see.
There is a decline of
traditional gate-keeping in a
pluralist, fragmented media
landscape.
This is also comparable to
the breakdown of Hall’s 3
readings model as
dominant hegemonic
readings become more fluid
and disrupted.

18. (c) Jon Meier
This ties in with x’s view that …
This confirms x’s comments about ...
This reflects/illustrates/ supports x’s opinions...
This can be seen to connect with x’s view that...
We can see a connection here with x’s model ....
At this point, it is worth considering x’s theory that ...
X outlined the theory that ......
**********
This contradicts x’s model...
This appears to refute/contradict x’s argument that ...
Although x’s believes that ... , I would argue that ...
Although x’s views may be partially relevant/applicable here, I
tend to believe that ......
Despite x’s view that ..., I believe.....
USING THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES IN YOUR ESSAYS
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