Convergence Culture

Convergence is the act of old and new media colliding and intersecting with each other in ways which brings together different mediums of delivery into one device. In the past a mobile could only do one thing, call other mobiles. Mobiles now encompass many different forms of media including internet, gaming, video ect. Jenkins definition of convergence is much more complex than this. He uses the term to refer to the ever changing trends in the media world, its relationship with participatory culture and the idea of collective intelligence.

When people are asked to describe the current media landscape they often respond by making a list of the latest technology and tools. Jenkins believes we should focus more on emerging trends and cultural practices rather than focusing on the hardware which would facilitate this convergence. He states that because these practices cut across many different media platforms and cultural communities that they suggest something in the way we live in relation to present day media. He is suggesting that the way we participate or consume this media has an effect on our everyday lives.

"We are entering an era when media will be everywhere. Convergence isn't something that is going to happen one day...Ready or not, we are already living within a convergence culture." (Jenkins, 2008. p.16)

Jenkins is making the point that media convergence affects the way on which we consume media, for example a student doing coursework may have a word document open, browse the web, listen to music as well as a variety of other tasks all at the once.

New forms of media are being put out at an alarming rate, so fast that we barely have time to assess the cultural impact one piece of technology has on us before the next iteration is released. Marshall McLuhan (1969) echoes this thought suggesting that "Media are often put out before they are thought out" (Jenkins, 2006) Jenkins states that old media doesn't necessarily die, what dies is the tools we use to deliver these forms of media, the media itself evolves.

Bibliography

Jenkins, H., 2006. Eight Traits of the New Media Landscape. [Online]
Available at: http://henryjenkins.org/2006/11/eight_traits_of the_new_media.html[Accessed 7th October 2013].

Jenkins, H., 2008. Convergence Culture: Where Old And New Media Collide Revised. New York: NYU Press.