Digital Media: Accelerating Information
One of the main lessons I emphasize when teaching the Introduction to Mass Communication at Linfield College is that understanding the development of the mass media over history helps understand the changes we are witnessing every day. The shift to online, or “digital media” as I prefer to call it, follows the trend started by the invention of written communication. Every time there is a new advance, information distribution accelerates. Consider:
Oral communication to written communication.
Hand written communication to the printing press.
Print to electronic, first the telegraph then radio.
Radio to television.
Television to digital media.
At each step, the existing mass media had to adjust and change in order to respond to the new technology. In some cases, it just died out, like the telegraph.
Advertising Age recently posted a video of Rob Katz, CEO of Vail Resorts, discussing how digital media has changed their marketing strategy. It is an excellent presentation on how they are responding to digital media by changing their ad placement, message development etc. Bottom line is that their decision time has been reduced drastically because of the speed of digital media. Now, they can respond to specific market conditions and target their message.