1. Media Theory To perform well on this module you need to be very familiar with the key media theories and theorists writing about the internet today. In the exam, you need to show that you have understood, and are engaging with, these theories. Media in the Online Age

2. THEORIST NUMBER ONE: David Gauntlett Media Guru Professor of Media and Communications at the University of Westminster (the leading institute in the world for web research) In 2008 he was one of ten 'leading thinkers' interviewed about the future for The Independent's Visionaries supplement. GAUNTLETT

3. Gauntlett argues that we need to have a We need a recognition that the separate categories of ‘producer’and ‘audience’ are collapsing, as a growing number of people become creators, curators, arrangers and remixers of digital media. Gauntlett’s wise words… Media Theory Media in the Online Age

4. Media Theory Continued… To introduce you to his ideas, here is David Gauntlett’s 7-minute video about Media in Everyday Life. Make notes on the points you find most interesting and relevant – and there will be a test afterwards! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlzu8UYidTY Media Theory Media in the Online Age

5. Media Theory Continued… Jot down your answers to these questions, making sure they make sense. 1.What used to be important to audiences, when listening to the radio and attending the cinema? 2.What did you previously need to make media? 3.In his picture, Gauntlett says that the audience used to be the little people, but to what did he compare the media companies to? 4.What visual metaphor does Gauntlett use to demonstrate Web 1.0 and Web 2.0? 5.What does Gauntlett suggest people are taking much more pleasure in today? Media Theory Media in the Online Age

6. Media Theory Continued… Jot down your answers to these questions, making sure they make sense. 1.What used to be important to audiences, when listening to the radio and attending the cinema? Time 2.What did you previously need to make media? Big Stuff! Cameras etc 3.In his picture, Gauntlett says that the audience used to be the little people, but to what did he compare the media companies to? Gods! 4.What visual metaphor does Gauntlett use to demonstrate Web 1.0 and Web 2.0? Lego gardens 5.What does Gauntlett suggest people are taking much more pleasure in today? Making things! Media Theory Media in the Online Age

7. Media Theory Continued… One of the most important concepts in Gauntlett’s discussion was of Web 2.0 This is a key media theory in itself. The term was originally coined by Tim O’Reilly, and the idea developed by Gauntlett, amongst others. Media Theory Media in the Online Age

8. Key Theory: Web 2.0 (Tim O’Reilly) The term "Web 2.0" is commonly associated with web applications that facilitate interactive information sharing, user-centered design, and collaboration on the internet. Examples of Web 2.0 include web-based communities, web applications, social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, wikis, blogs, and mashups. A Web 2.0 site allows its users to interact with other users or to change website content, in contrast to non-interactive websites where users are limited to the passive viewing of information that is provided to them. It does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but rather to the ways software developers and consumers use the Web.

9. In Web 1.0, each garden is separated and partitioned. But in Web 2.0 the space becomes communal… Note: this is Gauntlett’s explanation of O’Reilly’s theory of Web 2.0

10. Media Theory Continued… Next up is Gauntlett’s new book, ‘Making Is Connecting’. There are copies of the whole book in the library for those of you who are aiming for As and A* and want to read around the subject. For now, read the first chapter, which is available on the website for the book (right-hand-side of home page), and there are a few printed copies here. Go to: http://www.makingisconnecting.org/ If you don’t get through the chapter finish reading it for homework, and make notes on the important aspects ready for a discussion next lesson. Media Theory Media in the Online Age

11. Key Quotation: Gauntlett calls the pre-Web 2.0 era the “Sit Back and Be Told era”.