David Gauntlett

David Gauntlett was born in 1971 and is a British socialist and media theorist. He specialises in temporary media audiences, the everyday making and sharing of digital media, and the role of such media in self-identity and self-expression.

What is media in the online age?

For this topic I will be exploring media and what significance it has to the online age. Back in the days media was controlled by time, there were certain times for TV programs and radio programs, with no way of watching them again.

Media in the online age has changed the way the media connects with its audiences. Because of web 2.0 people can now consume more, and also interact and contribute to the web. Devices such as laptops, mobile phones and ipods allow access to the web at any time. Web 2.0 has seen the death of the schedule, there are no more limits to when and where you can watch things as we now have online catch up and on demand. Therefore people are spending more time online than watching TV.

Topics such as politics have now become more broadly recognised as social networking sites, such as facebook, update news on politics and other issues in the world so the younger generation can know more about our society. Web 2.0 allows users to contribute to the web, which means they can interact with the web and other people around the world. Everything uses the web, from companies to shops and magazines, online is where you have to be if you want to be recognised and want to develop as a buisness or socially. In other words, the web is taking over our lives.