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 typi ...

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 ( ; ) 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 used to refer to any kind of e ...

, 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. The second operating system in the 9x line, it is the successor to Windows 95, and was released to ...

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 is a culture based on the many way people have used computer networks and their use for communication, entertainment, business, and recreation. Some features of Internet culture include online communities, gaming, and social media ...

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

Lev Manovich Lev Manovich ( ) is an author of books on digital culture and new media, and professor of Computer Science at the Graduate Center, City University of New York. Manovich's current research and teaching focuses on digital humanities, social computin ...

, Arturo Escobar and

Fred Forest Fred Forest (born July 6, 1933 in Mascara, French Algeria) is a French new media artist making use of video, photography, the printed press, mail, radio, television, telephone, telematics, and the internet in a wide range of installations, perform ...

. The increase in

Internet trolling In slang, a troll is a person who posts or makes inflammatory, insincere, digressive, extraneous, or off-topic messages online (such as in social media, a newsgroup, a forum, a chat room, a online video game), or in real life, with the int ...

and so-called

Internet addiction Problematic internet use or pathological internet use is generally defined as problematic, compulsive use of the internet, that results in significant impairment in an individual's function in various life domains over a prolonged period of time. ...

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, and ...

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 theory 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 b ...

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 is a culture based on the many way people have used computer networks and their use for communication, entertainment, business, and recreation. Some features of Internet culture include online communities, gaming, and social media ...

s and

new media New media describes communication technologies that enable or enhance interaction between users as well as interaction between users and content. In the middle of the 1990s, the phrase "new media" became widely used as part of a sales pitch for ...

Online communities An online community, also called an internet community or web community, is a community whose members interact with each other primarily via the Internet. Members of the community usually share common interests. For many, online communities may fe ...

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 communi ...

Internet troll In slang, a troll is a person who posts or makes inflammatory, insincere, digressive, extraneous, or off-topic messages online (such as in social media, a newsgroup, a forum, a chat room, a online video game), or in real life, with the int ...

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 and open university and distance education institution headquartered in the town of Los Baños, Laguna, with satellite offices in Quezon City, Metro Manila. It is the ...

CIIT College of Arts and Technology CIIT Philippines - College of Arts and Technology (formerly Cosmopoint International Institute of Technology) is a private, non-sectarian college, and digital arts school in the Philippines that offers specialized and industry-based learning in t ...

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 progra ...

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

(BS multimedia writing & technical communication) *

Aston University Aston University (abbreviated as ''Aston''. for post-nominals) is a public research 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 c ...

(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 and gai ...

(BSc multimedia technology) *

University of East London , mottoeng = Knowledge and the fulfilment of vows , established = 1898 – West Ham Technical Institute1952 – West Ham College of Technology1970 – North East London Polytechnic1989 – Polytechnic of East London ...

(BSc multimedia studies) *

Glyndwr University , mottoeng = Confidence through Education , logo = Wrexham University logo.svg , image = Coat of arms of Wrexham Glyndŵr.svg , image_size = 180px , caption = ...

(BA graphic design and multimedia) *

University of Mary Hardin-Baylor A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

(BS multimedia & information technology) *

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated MDX) is a public research university in Hendon, northwest London, England. The name of the university is taken from its location within the historic county boundaries ...

(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 (philanthropist), ...

(BSc multimedia development) *

University of Westminster , mottoeng = The Lord is our Strength , type = Public , established = 1838: Royal Polytechnic Institution 1891: Polytechnic-Regent Street 1970: Polytechnic of Central London 1992: University of Westminster , endowment = £5.1 million ...

(multimedia computing)

References

{{reflist

External links

''Journal of Multimedia''

''IEEE Transactions on Multimedia''

''International Journal of Multimedia Technology''
Media studies