Interactivity and Mobility of Digital Convergence and its Consequences

Industries of various fields are facing a new generation which all kinds of media are converging together due to the development of digital and internet technologies. From the late 1990s, the convergence of mobile communication devices and the internet has created a path for users to access massive information services (Barnes, 2015). Among the integration trends, interactivity and mobility are two of the most significant. According to the report by Newzoo in 2019, smartphone usage has reached 3.8 billion with 3.2 billion users around the world. People’s every-day life has become heavily reliant on the internet, especially on mobile devices. In this case, it is important to aware of the changes and influences on us. This essay will analyse interactivity and mobility of digital convergence and discuss the influences.

Media convergence is an inevitable product of the development of the times. McLuhan (1964) states that “Every culture and every age has its favourite model of perception and knowledge that it is inclined to prescribe for everybody and everything.” And now, digital technologies have become an essential part of human society. It is undeniable that this progress has brought uncountable convenience and possibilities. Such convergence has brought textual, visual and vocal contents together, and integrates producers and the customs of viewers, readers and internet users, which also has created new concepts and political challenges (Canclini, 2009). Traditional media has its unique narrative, people are just audiences, viewers and observers, could only assimilate and digest the instilled information. From a historical perspective, the development trend of the media is towards broader connections and every change means more connections. The emergent of radio had changed the narrative of the news story, likewise, the TV had altered radio programming (McLuhan, 1964). Finally, the progress of the internet has reached the highest achievement in establishing connections — the whole world.

The emergence of interactivity in digital area has changed the definition of media audience, we all are participations, producers, consumers, disseminators at the same time. People need and tend to have a connection between themselves and the world in order to satisfy social and personal needs and reflect personal value (Galan et. al., 2020). And digital convergence has provided opportunities, especially within the internet. Despite that at the early development of the internet, it did not show the function of interactive, even did not be considered as mass media, largely because of the low penetration rate at that period. Rheingold (1994 cited in Morris & Ogan, 1996) states that t was built by amateurs, students and schoolers pieces by pieces. Which not exists in researchers’ perception of mass media (Morris & Ogan, 1996). Things have changed shortly after its interactable potential emerged. Oblak (2005) states that the expansion and popularization of the internet brought a new world to traditional media, which has unique features, alternate contents and viewers, “if you are not online, you don’t exist at all”. Interactivity has offered a sense of participation and identity to users, and the function of interpersonal communication arises on the internet.

The interactable internet has brought benefits to community. Ordinary people have a chance to be known by more people by build-up themselves website, blog and communicating other users on social media. A significant example is the prosperity of short video industry. Social media platforms such as YouTube and TikTok have become millions of people’s means of living, the influencer has become a hot job which increasingly people tending to join in, and audiences can also learn a variety of knowledge and experience different cultures and lives through a small screen. The news industry also joins in, seeking more profits, because traditional media platforms are making less such as newspapers and radio. But in this situation, the definition of journalist has been changed dramatically, independent journalists emerged. Mythen (2010) states that the digital convergence and interactable media have advanced the citizen journalism. Under the advanced technology, communities could produce and publish media products independently (Mythen, 2020). However, these improvements also could cause massive issues.

“Another question relates to the interchangeability of producers and receivers of content (Morris & Ogan, 1996)”. The hidden problems of the functions that make the internet flourish are exposed, such as the anonymity allows people to express any speech without any responsibility, which leads to multiple of problems on social media platforms, such as cyberviolence. Furthermore, fake news now is a serious problem. Evidence shows that public’s perception would impact by media (Mythen, 2010). Thus, under the condition of anonymous, social media platforms are easily be used by criminals and inflammatory or inappropriate speech could be used by irresponsible journalists which may cause dangerous social problems. So, in this environment, the public gradually loses confidence in the media for both individual and traditional.

On the other hand, as it continues to develop, a new feature attracts people to participate in network interactions for a longer time and more frequently. “An iPod, a phone and an internet communicator, one device (Jobs, 2007)”. Mobile devices have opened a new generation of digital convergence. The mobility is a revolutionary progress and mobile devices have inherited all features of digital technologies. The method of accessing various information has beyond the limitations of space and time. Ojanperä (2006) states that the integration of devices makes that mobile phones more than a phone, they are mobile computers. It is true, digital technologies improved so fast that any mobile phone now can calculate more and faster than computers decades ago.

Mobile devices as internet commutators, have shortened the distance between people and there is no boundary among diversity media anymore. For instances, a huge change could be found in film industry. According to the report of MPA in 2019, the global Home/Mobile entertainment market has reached $48.7 billion which surpassed the global box office market ($42.2 billion) the first time. Furthermore, among the consumptions, mobile devices occupy a large part, MPA reports that in the US, the average number of the time Americans use smartphones is 3 hours and 43 minutes a day, and the time they spend on TV is 3 hours and 34 minutes averagely, which is the first time that smartphones surpassed TVs (2019). Moreover, due to the progress of mobile hardware, a mobile phone could also be used as a play station. Mobile electronic athletics is an endangering activity which has attracted numerous people especially youths. And a large part of them are living by playing games and live streaming on mobile phones. However, as people increasingly dependent on mobile devices, there are also problems need attention.

In the resent decade, smartphone addiction has been recognized as existing, which studied by researchers it affects people’s mental healthiness. Research of Fonseca, Gutiérrez, & Rubio shows that the over-use of mobile phone connected with personality variables, including neuroticism, impulsivity, self-identity, anxiety and stress (2016). Additionally, another significant influence of mobile devices is that made us “always on”, people’s private space is encroached by various information, such as pop-up ads and applications’ push notification on mobile phones. The consumption of information is altering by mobile devices (Molyneux, 2018 cited in Curry, Peacock & Stroud, 2020).  large amount of time is wasted on those useless contents.

Fortunately, people have begun to notice the phenomenon that technologies are impact people in a negative way, and tired of ubiquitous advertising and over-entertainment, and COVID-19 makes people aware of the importance of serious subjects such as medicine. From the other aspect, the progress of digital convergence cannot be controlled, its development has exceeded all predictions. In addition, in recent years, the virtual reality technology and wearable technology such as smartwatch and glasses have shown excellent potential, both in terms of video narration, games and daily life, which are possibly become the next big step of digital convergences. While enjoying the convenience of technologies brought to our daily life, it is vital to be aware of the negative aspects and grasp the balance between the virtual world and reality.

In conclusion, despite that this essay only analyses the digital integration from general perspectives, the fact that digital convergence has affected our lives significantly cannot be denied. Society largely depends on various products of digital integration. The interactivity and mobility not only have brought convenience and benefits to people's daily life, but also could cause damage to people’s mental health. Technologies should serve people, reduce people’s burden, and make people healthier. Using them properly and grasping the use time is vital in order to maximise the benefits and minimise the damages of technology to mankind.  

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