What is media and the types of media?

do you know there are so many types of media? Media, which generically refers to any route of communication, is the plural form of the word medium. Art, news, instructional material, and many other types of information are all included in this, which can be anything from printed paper to digital data. Phones, television, and the Internet can all be seen as forms of media because they can all reach or have an impact on people.

The term “media” in the context of informatics refers to both the tools used to store data (such as hard drives, CD-ROMs, diskettes, etc.) and the tools used to transport it (such as cables and wires) or even spread it in its various forms (videos, sounds, podcasts, etc.). The media are moving more and more toward this field’s digital side in the modern era.

All types of media electronic communication that are sent across the globe via computer networks and fibre optic cables are considered modern digital media. The Internet and social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) are two examples of contemporary media that have profoundly altered our world.

Techopedia Explains Media

The history of media is frequently considered a tautology (slightly playfully, but also seriously). For history to be preserved and transmitted over time, some sort of media must be used. The development of printing press technology led to several changes in Western civilization, ranging from the intellectual to the political and beyond.

Digital media sprang from twentieth-century technology, which in turn aided in the development of the internet. The construction of ARPANET, which foretold the advent of the internet through the decentralisation of data and packet-switching technologies, and hence framed the contemporary digital media environment, was made possible by academic research as well as American military backing.

Today, a variety of media are available, however some have already become obsolete:

• Newspapers, journals, radio, television, magazines, and now even billboards are examples of traditional media. Print media and broadcast media make up the two main subcategories of traditional media.
• Print media, which encompasses all printed paper publications like newspapers, magazines, books, reports, clinical journals, leaflets, essays, etc., is the oldest kind of media.
• At the start of the 20th century, broadcast media first appeared in the shape of radio and (later) television. Broadcast television is now beginning to lag behind as online media sources take over, much as the arrival of TV reduced the significance of radio as a way for people to obtain information in the form of news.
• Fiberoptic cable and computer networks are just two examples of the physical and virtual media used to convey the elaborately encoded signals that make up digital media, which represents an ever-growing fraction of modern communications. Modern digital media encompass the Internet as a whole, but on a more specific level, “media” refers to websites, blogs, podcasts, videos, digital radio stations, mobile phones, as well as the communication channels used to transport data, like instant messaging, video chats, and emails.
• In informatics, the phrase “computer media” is frequently used with a variety of connotations. Hard drives, USB drives, DVDs, CD-ROMs, and floppy discs are a few examples of the electronic data storage devices that are referred to as “storage devices.” It also refers to the cables, like as coaxial cables, fibre optic cables, and conventional electrical lines, that are used to connect workstations together (twisted-pair wires). More generally, the terms “media” and “multimedia” refer to any information-transmission methods, including presentations, images, sounds, and video (if they combine different types of media).
• All of the media outlets that have a big simultaneous audience are considered mass media. National and international magazines, TV and radio stations, and other traditional mass media outlets are all included in the term “digital mass media,” which mostly refers to social media sites and well-known online publications. Some people believe it makes sense to include certain video games, including massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs).
• Social media has already been highlighted because these platforms fall within the categories of both mass media and digital media. They consist of programmes and websites that individuals use on their computers or cellphones to share content in real time. They are examples of cutting-edge technology that changed the last ten years by enabling everyone to exchange almost any kind of information on a worldwide scale.

It’s necessary to first dip your toes in the water and understand what media is before plunging headfirst into the many sorts of media. Information is communicated through media, a communication instrument. The terms earned media, shared media, and owned media may also be used to refer to the three categories of media, which are also referred to as news media, social media, and digital media.

Print media, television, films, and video games are a few further examples of contemporary media.

What are the different types of media?

News media (earned media)

To convey news to a specified audience or the broader public, news media employs components of mass media. Any writing about you or your business that you did not produce yourself or pay for falls under this category. For instance, rather than spending money on advertising, your business may secure a feature in Forbes. Earned media may take on many forms in today’s environment, such as being included in a review (including negative ones on Yelp) or through a tweet about your company that was liked and retweeted.

Social media (shared media)

• A website or app called social media enables users to simply and rapidly generate and share material with the world. Because the meaning of it is continuously shifting, it is the “developing” media. The easiest way to define shared media is as social media posts about your brand on sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. This is also recognised as the most economical PR platform.
• They are frequently utilised by individuals all around the world and are user-friendly. Despite the fact that we can obtain news online, it’s possible that it’s inaccurate because there are no restrictions on what may be posted.

Web media

• Web media is a type of online communication that combines text, audio, and visual elements. Web media includes things like graphics, photographs, and movies. Because you directly created it, it is stuff you own. Today’s most well-known owned content examples include podcasts, websites, blog entries, and videos. Owned media can also include content that was developed by your workers, provided that a contract was signed by both parties and the content was included.

Print media

This is the media that is still in existence today and that your parents were exposed to. Print media, which sometimes goes by the names conventional and even “old-fashioned,” comprises books, comic books, periodicals, and newspapers. Print media are being utilised in conjunction with desktop publishing tools and electronic book reading devices like the Amazon Kindle.

Example of print media:

• Newspapers—published and delivered every day or every week. They cover birth announcements, local, national, and worldwide news, sports, politics, technology, science, and entertainment news about movies, celebrities, and the world of fashion. The parents of today grew up with this kind of print media.
• Books provide readers the option to share their knowledge about a certain subject or topic by focusing on it.
• Magazines that are published weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually. It includes information about money, cuisine, lifestyle, fashion, and sports, among other things.
• Banners are used to promote a business’s goods and services and are displayed in prominent locations to draw attention.
• Massive billboard ads produced with the aid of computers. Their objective is to draw passersby.
• Brochures are a specific kind of pamphlet that outline every aspect of a business, including its goods, services, terms & conditions, contact information, address, etc. They are either handed out to individuals or delivered together with the newspapers.

Other forms of media

• For more than 50 years, Malaysians have been captivated by television as a source of entertainment. TV channel selection was initially restricted, and viewers were required to watch shows at the times they were broadcast. You may now view a range of movies and television series on demand thanks to streaming applications. The first kind of entertainment is a movie, which you could only view in a theatre in the past. But thanks to modern technology, you can now stream or rent movies to view on your computer, phone, or television.

Since the 1980s, video games have been accessible for purchase. You may now virtually immerse yourself in a game thanks to lifelike visuals, fast CPUs, and incredibly accurate simulations. Video games are a terrific approach to learn how to connect with a certain audience. The media actively promotes video games, which are marketed to particular demographics. A company can develop a video game product with a message aimed at broad demographics.

Conclusion

We utilise a variety of media to keep ourselves entertained, learn new things, and stay informed. Thanks to technological advancements, we can utilise the media of our choice whenever and wherever we choose.

So, due to the Internet, we can listen to the radio on the way to work, watch our favourite programme on our phone, and access any information or news on our laptop or mobile device. In the future, who knows where technology could take us.