Today’s New Media machine gives us the chance to access and create content from places and in ways like never before. You might have bought the digital copy of the new Radiohead album recently, months before it’s physical release (Radiohead 2011) - digital music sales in Australia alone increased by 30% in 2010 (Bennet 2011), or may be watching otherwise inaccessible Bollywood movies online (Singh 2008), all from the easy access of your smart phone.
A film can now be funded online (Born of Hope, 2011), and YouTube has given us all the chance to be creators of content (Internet Killed Television 2011).
Games like World of Warcraft have enabled us to live an alternate life in an online gaming world (Nardi 2010), and Xbox Live puts us in a world-wide competitive arena. With this alternate connectivity and interaction it’s no wonder games like Call of Duty: Black Ops grossed over $360 million dollars in sales in it’s first day (Schwartz 2010).
Music, Games and Films make up a large part of our lives and our everyday interactions. They are not just forms of entertainment, but parts of our identity. What’s your favourite film? Who’s your favourite band? Are you an Xbox-er? The answers to these questions are part of who we are, and determines who our friends are.
References
Bennet, H. “Digital Music Sales Rise 32% in Australia” Last modified February 18 2011. http://www.hughsnews.ca/digital-music-sales-rise-32-percent-in-australia-0017727
Born of Hope. http://www.bornofhope.com/Community.html
(accessed March 21 2011)
Internet Killed Television, Last Modified March 16 2011. http://www.youtube.com/show?p=7H59sBsmEaA&tracker=show0
Nardi, B. “My Life As A Night Elf Preist: An Anthropological Account of World of Warcraft” Last modified July 5, 2010. http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3064/2574
Radiohead.com, Last Modified March 2011. http://www.radiohead.com/
Schwartz, W. “Call of Duty: Black Ops Day One Sales Gross Over $360 Million” Last modified November 11, 2010. http://attackofthefanboy.com/news/black-ops-day-sales/
Singh, M. “Bollywood’s Viral Videos” Last modified February 14, 2008. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1713342,00.html
