Modernization of Media with Industrial Revolution

 "Modernism is the umbrella term we give to the way that human society responded to the changes that took place during the industrial revolution." (Creeber p.12 2009) modernism which started with industrial revolution was changed lots of human human behavior and mind.when God-centerede and theocratic system was completely defeated , people tried to find different system and method for doing something. this trying was for doing better human life.when happend this things,  worker class gained some right and possibility for leisure time and activity.Afterthat showing up"everyday culture" to be found in pulp novels, the cinema, television, comics, newspaper, magazines and so on. Andreas Huyssen point out, modernism was almost consistently 'relentless in its hostility to mass culture'(1986.238)

 When Frankfurt School evalute modernism with marxists approach, they highlighted fordism effect on mass culture. Fordism was a term coined to describe Henry Ford's succes in the automobile industry, his improvement mass production methods. (Creeber p.12 2009) on the other hand, ford producted car which is fast manufactured and cheap was culture industry. Because lots of people can afford to buy this car and buying car was very common and popular for lower to upper class people.

 Post modenism  means that economic transition has taken place from a manufacturing based economy to service based economy. "Consumption and leisure now determine our experiences rather than work and production." For example company symbol and slogan  are meaning making. 'Goverments or offical ' can not do everything but companys and brand effects people with postmodernism. For instance lots of people don't know leaf represent which tree but this people know fastfood , music, technology or other brands logo easily in the current word.

Bibliography

Creeber, G and Martin R. 2009, Digital Cultures Open University Press.

Digital Cultures

Creeber starts of by stating that the study of New Media is a 'Complex and Diverse' field. In his work 'Digital Cultures' Creeber takes about Modernism and Post-Modernism and how they lead to and relate to New Media theory.

'Modernism is the umbrella term we give to the way that human society responded to the changes that took place during the industrial revolution.'(Creeber, 2009: pg 11).

When Modernism came about in the late 19th century it was received by the majority of society to be this scientific way that would take the human race forward and be revolutionary in the production process, and with the rise of Modernism came Industrialization.
Industrialization brought about arguably the most important production invention of all time, the printing press. The invention of the printing press gave birth to a way of relaying news to the masses in a way that was never done before.
Many Modernists believed the introduction of Industrialization to be the looming down fall of originality, that 'modernists came to perceive industrialization as the enemy of free thought and individuality' (Creeber, 2009: pg 12).
The best example of this being true was in Henry Ford's case. Henry Ford profited significantly from industrialization when he made adjustments to the assembly line method, this allowed him to produce auto mobiles faster and cheaper and this also meant that they were more accessible to ordinary Americans. However because they were all mass produced this meant there was no discernible difference in the final products.

'when asked what colours his cars came in, Ford famously replied, any colour as long as its black'. (Creeber, 2009: pg 13)

'There are many examples that reflect modernism's disdain for the media,' (Creeber, 2009: pg 12). The best example and most famous of theorists that took a stance against this was The Frankfurt School. The Frankfurt School consisted of a group of Marxists that where exiled from Germany during the second world war and came to America. The Frankfurt School seen the media culture in America as a prime example of a culture that had become a 'standardized product of industrialization' (Creeber, 2009).

After the industrial revolution there came Post-Modernism. With the coming about of post-modernism came the society of consumers, in this era products where starting to made to fit the consumers needs rather than the product being made for manufacturings sake. From the point when this cultural change started it hasn't changed it has just become more demanding and now products are created to fit our every need and this is a result of the consumer society being embraced as it has been. The way of consuming has come on some much that even when your watching television your not passively consuming it your more evolved and you interact with it. New media is interactive.

'New media is interactive. In contrast to traditional media where the order of presentation was fixed, the user can now interact with the media object.' (Manovich, 2002)

Bibliography: 

Creeber, G & Martin, R. (2009). Digital Theory: Theorizing New Media

Digital Cultures : Glen Creeber

Creeber starts of by stating that this field of study is a "complex and diverse one"(Creeber, pg.11, 2009). In no way is he incorrect because of the vast amount of methods and theoretical approaches that New Media contributes.

I understand that Creeber has divided the 'New Media' up into different historical timeline changes, such as Modernism and 'old media', which took place during the industrial revolution and the invention of the printing press, where upon a new form of media was born. The first people to take an ideological stance upon modernism was 'The Frankfurt School' and in particularly, Adorno. They highlighted the new phase of the industrial revolution that was mass production and they often perceived the media as product of industrialization(Creeber, pg.12,2009), where upon they came up with the term 'Fordism', referring to Henry Fords first mass production system of the automobile.

This perception of mass production of the Media, called the 'Fordist Philosophy' was apparent in mass culture, where it seemed that every TV show, film and magazine were identical. (Creeber, pg.13, 2009). This group of Marxists and their theories led them to clearly distaste these 'industrialized' products, and the fact that they were only to keep mass audiences deluded in their oppression.

The next theory of the Media is Postmodernism, which brought about changes after the industrial revolution. This brought about the rise of new information technologies, leading up to the ones which we are using and producing today. Creeber refers to other writers, such as Levinson(1999), and how much of his work anticipated the power of New Media to enhance an audiences interactivity with electronic information as a whole - transforming us from voyeurs to participants.(Creeber, pg.15,2009).

This means that as far as this new information technology age has came along, we as the participants now have a more active role in what is being produced throughout all forms of New Media. If we are the participants and the producers then we responsible for what the consumers after us are being shown.

Creeber states in his conclusion that "critical understanding of the field is essential if we are to produce a sophisticated theoretical approach"(Pg.22,2009)


References - Glen Creeber, Digital Theory: theorizing New Media, 2009, (Pgs 11-22)

Digital theory: theorizing New Media - Glen Creeber

In order better understand New Media, 'Old Media' must first be analysed along with its relationship to modernism. "Modernism is the umbrella term we give to the way human society responded to the changes that took place during the industrial revolution." (Creeber, 2009: 11).
Industrialisation began at the end of the nineteenth century and many modernists viewed it as an enemy of free thought and creativity (Creeber, 2009). Although this could be said to be true, as it did profit the producers rather than the masses, it could also be said that it advanced the country culturally. An example of a profiteer was Henry Ford's success in the automobile industry (Creeber, 2009), his techniques of mass production made producing cars not only faster but cheaper. This made Ford's cars more accessible to the masses, although this method did come with draw back of every car looking alike. "When asked what colours his cars came in, Ford famously replied, 'any color - as long as it's black'. (Creeber, 2009: 13).
The Frankfurt School, who were a group of marxist theorists who exiled from Germany to America during the Second World War, theorised that this 'Fordist' philosophy was apparent in all areas of mass culture, making all productions similar (Creeber, 2009). They found that American mass production was linked to it's mass culture.
Post Modernism came after the industrial revolution, it has absorbed the effects of that era and embraced it. A consumer society had emerged and the economy went through a transition from manufacturing based to service based (Creeber, 2009).
Products have been produced to fit our needs, our phones became mobile and have video, music, games, internet, and much more on them. Interactivity has become a major point of focus in our media, for example while watching television programmes we might often see a hash tag for use on twitter. The audience not only watches the show but also comments while the shows progresses to a world wide audience.
The user now has a say in the production, sometimes as much as a producer. If we look at Big Brother or the X Factor as examples, it is ultimately the viewer that votes contestants out of the show and decide the winner. The general public are having a bigger say in the world than ever before and it is a exciting time to live in.


Bibliography:

Creeber, G. (2009). Digita Theory: Theorizing New Media & Cubitt, D. (2009) Case Study: Digital Aesthetics in ED. Creeber, G. & Royston, M. (2009) Digital Cultures: Understanding New Media; Maidstone, Open University Press.

Digital Cultures: Theorizing New Media.

New media, according to Creeber has such a 'complex' and 'diverse' field that it is almost impossible to conclude it with a single definition. (Creeber & Martin, 2009, p.11).

Attempting to explain New Media, Creeber talks about Modernism and Postmodernism. Modernism is the "umbrella term" which refers to how the humans "responded to the changes that took place during the industrial revolution". (Ibid, p.11).

From Creeber's book, we learn that the modernism's reaction towards modernity was contradictory - a celebratory reaction, 'Fordism'- Henry Ford's T-ford "successes in the automobile industry" and then there was the 'pessimistic' reaction, The Frankfurt School. (Ibid, p12)

  

Ford used mass production techniques, allowing cars to become 'more accessible' and 'cheaper' while being produced more rapidly. Consequently, this mass-production resulted in all his T-Fords being identical. This is where the pessimistic theorists of The Frankfurt School start their dispute -- claiming

Ford's philosophy "evident in all aspects of mass culture", meaning the production of new products are no different to the previous products. (Ibid, p12)

The Marxist theory of The Frankfurt School expresses their detestation towards the 'industrialised' products, claiming they only offer a substitute to the needs of what the mass actually needs, for example, Theodor Adorno's theory on popular music. John Reith, first director General of the BBC generally disapproves with the Marxist theory of the Frankfurt School but actually supports their claim on mass culture, he states : 

"It is ocassionally indicated to us that we are apparently setting out to give the public what we think they need -- and not what they want -- but few know what they want and very few know what they need" (cited by Briggs 1961:238)

(Creeber and martin, 2009, p13)

In contrast with modernism, Postmodernism is the phase following the industrial revolution. A post-industrial (post-fordist) economy is an "economic transition" which took place "from a manufacturing based economy to a service-based economy" which eventually lead to the "decline of heavy industry." (Ibid, p. 15)

This shift in ideology from the pessimistic view of The Frankfurt School was essentially detected by the work of Marshall McLuhan.

Creeber mentions the argument developed by critics about the "landscape of postmodernism and New Media are turning citizens of democracies into apolitical consumers,  no longer able to distinguish between the stimulated illusions of media and the harsh realities of capitalist society.." (Ibid, p20), which creates a platform for McLuhan's famous argument of 'The Medium is The Message', which is something we can clearly identify with in today's society. McLuhan's theory promotes the idea that the audiences are more influenced with how the information is presented instead of what is actually presented. Also, these critics argue that "postmodern obsessions with images over depth produces a superficial and artificial environment" where consequently, "little is taken seriously". (Ibid, p20)

REFERENCES:

• Creeber, G & Martin, R (2009) DIGITAL THEORY: Theorizing New Media