What is Emerging Media? And Why Should we Care About it?

Credit: DALL•E 2, OpenAI

Originally employed in the 1960s for government researchers to share data with each other during the Cold War, the commercial Internet, as we know it today, has evolved into a multi-faceted, technological communication tool used by billions of people around the world. From digital immigrants to digital natives, people frequently occupy this virtual space for engagement, interaction and networking. What, however, makes the Internet multifaceted? Why has the Internet become so prominent in the 21st Century? Why should we be cognizant of the Internet’s influence on society? How is the Internet related to emerging media?

Research shows that since the mid-1990s, tech experts and companies leveraged the Internet to develop online platforms including blogs, forums, social gaming, business networks, virtual worlds, video sharing, collaborative projects, social networking sites and virtual worlds. These platforms are commonly known as social media. I know what you may be thinking — “I thought social media only comprised communication applications such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, BeReal and TikTok?” Although these popular communication forms are often interchangeable with social media, the term can be applied to other online platforms because, like these applications, they produce user-generated content.

User-generated content is when users publish messaging such as images, videos, audio and texts online. Other users can react to this messaging by resharing and reposting it to different social media or reaching out to the publisher of the content. These identifiable or anonymous users include people, brands and social media bots.

Before 2010, people only used social media to connect with family and friends by sharing their everyday lives. Through formerly popular social media platforms such as Friendster, Myspace and Xanga, people gave their followers updates on what they were doing, the music they liked, their romantic relationship status and their opinions on current world events. People still use social media for those reasons, but the consistent metamorphosis and accumulation of online platforms encourage them to use these communication technologies for so much more. As communication professor Nicholas John argues, sharing is no longer the purpose of social media. Instead, users are online to privately and publicly express themselves.

The online presence of brands is one of the main reasons the purpose of social media shifted. Considering customer experience is now more valuable than selling products or services,

companies — big and small— harness social media to reach and build meaningful relationships with their target audience. Through social media, brands engage in two-way communication with their customers to thoroughly understand their target audience’s perception of the company, societal values and opinions on what should be changed or remain the same. This results in brand loyalty, advocacy, awareness and engagement. Companies also use social media platforms, such as LinkedIn and Handshake, to recruit ideal employees. Meanwhile, people leverage these professional networking sites to find jobs, connect with mentors, stay informed on their colleagues' or peers’ careers, remain knowledgeable on trends occurring in their industry and set up informational interviews with someone who has similar interests in a profession.

Social media bots also have an integral role in the transformation of social media’s purpose. The Office of Cyber and Infrastructure Analysis describes bots, short for “robots,” as programs that use social media platforms to execute beneficial or harmful tasks while simulating human behavior. Think M3GHAN without the gore. These bots, which vary in size depending on their function, capability and design, use programming such as artificial intelligence (AI) to post or react to content online. For instance, through social media bots, companies can provide 24/7 customer service to people who may need assistance with a product or service outside of their office hours. Social media bots, however, also have a reputation for disseminating misinformation which leads to social conflict, conspiracy theories and mistrust in the government and journalism. According to medical Internet researchers, bots tremendously increased these issues during the peak of COVID-19.

Despite their risks, technologists continue to develop social media bots with the intention of making the world an easier place for humans to live in. Developed by the artificial intelligence research institute OpenAI, ChatGPT is the latest free generative AI-fueled social media bot created to benefit humanity. Through the language model, people can receive personalized texts, including film scripts, stories, campaign ideas, press releases, blog posts and answers to queries, within seconds. Students are even using the platform to write essays, although Princeton student Edward Tian is trying to combat this issue with his app GPTZero.

Like Tian, some people have various concerns about ChatGPT. One of these concerns is the fear that the language model will replace media jobs such as journalism, marketing, adverting and public relations. Others are scared the bot will increase Internet-driven issues such as the spread of misinformation. These concerns are valid but nothing to worry about. Even though the language model is touted for its ability to quickly produce personalized texts, this content is not original. The creativity of content is what makes it appealing to its consumers. Meanwhile, it is essential that citizens and the government hold big tech companies, such as OpenAI, accountable. Consequently, these companies will have no choice but to provide transparency to the public, practice good ethics and implement policies that prohibit people from using social media bots for malice.

So where does emerging media fit into all of this? Well, the communication technologies mentioned throughout are all considered to be different types of emerging media. These Internet-based tools allow us to access people, companies, events, trends and other information on a global scale while publishing and reacting to content in the process.

Although there is worry surrounding emerging media, most tech experts have faith that the Internet, if used appropriately, will have a positive impact on society in the future. I’m no tech expert, but I certainly believe that a healthy relationship can exist between humans and emerging media if we inform ourselves of its dangers and collaborate on ways to solve these problems. After all, solutions to the world’s greatest problems have and always will start with us.