New Media

Manovich states in The Language of New Media, that there are five different principles that New Media can be identified with. These are: numerical representation, modularity, automation, variability and transcoding. (Manovich 2001, p.44) All of these ideologies help describe what New Media is and each one cannot be used without interlinking to another. However, variability covers a wide range of ideas that perhaps make it one of most important.

‘A new media object is not something fixed once and for all but can exist in different, potentially infinite, versions’. (Manovich 2001, p.56) An example to demonstrate what is meant by this would be that of images on Photoshop, where the user can manipulate and change the same image into many different versions. (Manovich 2001, p.58) For instance, a user can make the photograph black and white and in the style of a watercolour painting.

Variability establishes how websites customize the media for the user. Information can be used to create a personal and unique experience for each person. Such as, on web sites like Facebook, there are advertisements which are directed at certain profiles. They use the information from people’s “liked” pages or location to customize adverts to try to entice the particular individual. (Manovich 2001, p.57) It shows the correlation between social and technological variations which indicates that users today are more focused on being individual rather than complying. (Manovich 2001, p.60) Users ‘construct [their] own custom lifestyle and “select” [their] ideology from a large (but not infinite) number of choices’. (Manovich 2001, p.60) This interactivity gives users a unique experience and changes the user’s view on media. It gives them the idea of choice which means they feel in charge and not influenced by others.

‘Periodic updates’ (Manovich 2001, p.57) uses variability in a different way. It lets platforms such as Apps on Smartphones, update and adapt themselves automatically. This makes New Media more practical and efficient for users as they do not have to physically do it themselves. Information on sites, for example, the weather forecast can keep updating itself to let the user have the most current reading of this information. (Manovich 2001, p.58)

Variability allows the user to link the most important properties of New Media which ‘on first sight may appear unrelated’. (Manovich 2001, p.59)

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Bibliography

MANOVICH, Lev (2001). Principles of New Media. In: The Language of New Media. Cambridge; London, Mass.; MIT Press,