Introduction

Daniel Wallburg

1. Convergence happens in the media and communication fields because people are always looking for stories to talk about and want to experience different types of entertainment. The two conditions that lead to convergence are the media producer and the media consumer interaction. The more people talk about a story like a cartoon character being racist the more attention it will get on media sources like the computer and Television. This is shown by the one who created the story of the character Bert being a racist character, even though he was from Sesame’s Street. He created a cult that he did not need to create.

2. The three different kinds of convergences that the reading talked about were media convergence, participatory culture, and collective intelligence. Media convergence is how the story gets told throughout the media, it talks about news stories, the different brands that are being sold and the consumers can get what they want. The participatory culture was the old culture in which people interact with each other according to a set of rules. Some people have greater power in this culture than others. Collective power is another source of power from the media, it comes from peoples everyday interactions with each other.

3. Digital convergences have cultural and social impacts to change because of the purpose of the devices were supposed to be.  New media these days show the audience what they want to see and think is entertainment rather than what they should see. A cellphone for example is how people can go on the internet and play games rather than just making phone calls like they were supposed to do when they were first invented. Television now holds several channels of entertainment and news rather than just showing a certain number of channels.

4. It is still a question as to whether the new media has displaced the old media in history. Those who create the new media will often say how the new media will change everything. While those who still look at the old media will remark how the new things changed nothing. This is because the new media still has the classic functions of the old media, such as talking in the phone and watching shows on TV.

5.  The levels change concept of media consumption by making audiences rethink old assumptions about programing and marketing decisions. If the old consumers were passive, the new ones would be more active. These contradictories help create new ideas for consumers to think about, causing media to change.