Multimedia studies is an interdisciplinary field of academic discourse focused on the understanding of technologies and cultural dimensions of linking traditional media sources with ones based on new media to support social systems.

History

Multimedia studies as a discipline came out of the need for media studies to be made relevant to the new world of CD-ROMs and

hypertext Hypertext is E-text, text displayed on a computer display or other electronic devices with references (hyperlinks) to other text that the reader can immediately access. Hypertext documents are interconnected by hyperlinks, which are typic ...

in the 1990s. Revolutionary books like Jakob Nielsen's ''Hypertext and Hypermedia'' lay the foundations for understanding multimedia alongside traditional cognitive science and interface design issues. Software like Authorware Attain, now owned by

Adobe Adobe (from arabic: الطوب Attub ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for mudbrick. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is use ...

, made the design of multimedia systems accessible to those unskilled in programming and became major applications by the end of the 1990s

Recent challenges

The Internet age that has been growing since the launch of

Windows 98 Windows 98 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of Microsoft Windows operating systems. It was the second operating system in the 9x line, as the successor to Windows 95. It was Software ...

has brought new challenges for the discipline including developing new models and rules for the World Wide Web. Areas such as usability have had to develop specific guidelines for website design and traditional concepts like genre, narrative theory, and stereotypes have had to be updated to take account of

cyberculture Internet culture refers to culture developed and maintained among frequent and active users of the Internet (also known as netizens) who primarily communicate with one another as members of online communities; that is, a culture whose influence ...

. Cultural aspects of multimedia studies have been conceptualised by authors such as

Lev Manovich Lev Manovich ( ) is an artist, an author and a theorist of digital culture. He is a Distinguished Professor at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Manovich played a key role in creating four new research fields: new media stud ...

, Arturo Escobar and

Fred Forest Fred Forest (born July 6, 1933) is a French new media artist. He makes use of video, photography, the printed press, mail, radio, television, telephone, telematics, and the internet in a wide range of installations, performances, and public interv ...

. The increase in

Internet trolling In slang, a troll is a person who posts deliberately offensive or provocative messages online (such as in social media, a newsgroup, a internet forum, forum, a chat room, an Multiplayer video game, online video game) or who performs similar be ...

and so-called

Internet addiction Internet addiction disorder (IAD), also known as problematic internet use, or pathological internet use, is a problematic compulsive use of the internet, particularly on social media, that impairs an individual's function over a prolonged period ...

has thrown up new problems. Concepts like emotional design and affective computing are driving multimedia studies research to consider ways of becoming more seductive and able to take account of the needs of users.

Media studies 2.0

Some academics, such as

David Gauntlett David Gauntlett (born 15 March 1971) is a British sociologist and media theorist, and the author of several books including ''Making is Connecting''. His earlier work concerned contemporary media audiences, and has moved towards a focus on the ...

, have preferred the neologism, "Media Studies 2.0" to multimedia studies, in order to give it the feel of other fields like

Web 2.0 Web 2.0 (also known as participative (or participatory) web and social web) refers to websites that emphasize user-generated content, ease of use, participatory culture, and interoperability (i.e., compatibility with other products, systems, a ...

and Classroom 2.0.British Film Institute
Media Studies Conference 2007
, 4–6 July 2007Transforming Audiences International Conference
6–7 September 2007Andy Ruddock (2008)
'Media Studies 2.0? Binge Drinking and Why Audiences Still Matter'
''Sociology Compass'', Volume 2 Issue 1 Page 1-15, January 2008.'Towards a Brave New World? The Media Studies 2.0 Debate'
, presentation by Geoff Lealand, University of Waikato, at AMES conference, May 2007Blog/forum about Media Studies 2.0
by William Merrin The media studies 2.0 neologism has received strong criticism. Andy Medhurst at Sussex University for instance wrote of the media studies 2.0 neologism introduced by David Gauntlett, "Isn't it odd that whenever someone purportedly identifies a new paradigm, they see themselves as already a leading practitioner of it?"

Issues and concepts

Media ecology Media ecology is the study of media, technology, and communication and how they affect human environments. The theoretical concepts were proposed by Marshall McLuhan in 1964, while the term ''media ecology'' was first formally introduced by Neil ...

and

information ecology Information ecology is the application of ecological concepts for modeling the information society. It considers the dynamics and properties of the increasingly dense, complex and important digital informational environment. "Information ecology" of ...

Cyberculture Internet culture refers to culture developed and maintained among frequent and active users of the Internet (also known as netizens) who primarily communicate with one another as members of online communities; that is, a culture whose influence ...

s and new media #

Online communities An online community, also called an internet community or web community, is a community whose members engage in computer-mediated communication primarily via the Internet. Members of the community usually share common interests. For many, on ...

and

virtual communities A virtual community is a social network of individuals who connect through specific social media, potentially crossing geographical and political boundaries in order to pursue mutual interests or goals. Some of the most pervasive virtual commu ...

Internet troll In slang, a troll is a person who posts deliberately offensive or provocative messages online (such as in social media, a newsgroup, a forum, a chat room, an online video game) or who performs similar behaviors in real life. The methods and ...

ing and

Captology Captology is the study of computers as persuasive technologies. This area of inquiry explores the overlapping space between persuasion in general (influence, motivation, behavior change, etc.) and computing technology. This includes the design, ...

Universities offering degrees in multimedia studies

University of the Philippines Open University The University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) is a public research university and is the fifth constituent university of the University of the Philippines System. The majority of UPOU students are based in the Philippines but all of ...

* CIIT College of Arts and Technology *

iAcademy Information and Communications Technology Academy, better known as iAcademy (stylized as iACADEMY), is a private, non-sectarian educational institution in the Philippines. The college offers specialized Senior High School and Undergraduate progr ...

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

(BS multimedia writing & technical communication) *

Aston University Aston University (abbreviated as ''Aston'' for post-nominals) is a public university situated in the city centre of Birmingham, England. Aston began as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School in 1895, evolving into the UK's first College of a ...

(BSc multimedia computing) *

Birmingham City University Birmingham City University (abbrev. BCU) is a university in Birmingham, England. Initially established as the Birmingham College of Art with roots dating back to 1843, it was designated as a polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic in 1971 an ...

(BSc multimedia technology) *

University of East London University of East London (UEL) is a public university located in the London Borough of Newham, London, England, based at three campuses in Stratford, London, Stratford and London Docklands, Docklands, following the opening of University Squar ...

(BSc multimedia studies) * Glyndwr University (BA graphic design and multimedia) *

University of Mary Hardin-Baylor A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

(BS multimedia & information technology) *

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated to MDX) is a public research university based in Hendon, northwest London, England. The university also has campuses in Dubai and Mauritius. The name of the university is ...

(BSc multimedia computing) *

Robert Gordon University Robert Gordon University, commonly called RGU (), is a public university in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. It became a university in 1992, and originated from an educational institution founded in the 18th century by Robert Gordon (philanthrop ...

(BSc multimedia development) *

University of Westminster The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Po ...

(multimedia computing)

References

{{reflist

External links

''IEEE Transactions on Multimedia''
Media studies