A New Age of Mass Media Distribution

For years, mass media has consisted of a unidirectional “hub and spoke” model in which a centralized source distributes content to a large audience. In this model, the centralized source decides what information is relevant and accurate, or worthy of being distributed to the masses. However, with the revolution of the internet and peer content production, we may notice several large-scale changes in the structure and function of mass media distribution.

To outline the characteristics of a peer produced mass media network, we must examine existing peer-produced institutions such as Wikipedia. In this system, encyclopedia entries are created by a single user and then freely edited by other users until the entry reaches an equilibrium point at which the general public agrees with information in the entry. In this respect, “truthful” information is determined by the masses over time rather than given to it from a centralized source. Unlike traditional encyclopedias that follow the current mass media model, Wikipedia’s content is determined by its viewers rather than by a single entity. With the introduction of the internet, there is potential for all forms of mass media to approach this user-defined model over an extended period of time.

Many aspects of the current mass media system are becoming increasingly user-controlled. For example, there used to be a time when the price of watching a television show was enduring a series of advertisements. Now, thanks to TiVo’s live recording technology and iTunes’ new availability of television shows for commercial-free download, users can find ways to opt out of watching commercials. Currently, people do not have to watch the news on television; many receive “RSS feeds”, specialized streams of data over the internet that aggregate pertinent news information and present it to the user. With the advent of the internet, it is theoretically possible that, like Wikipedia, the masses can determine the content. Consider for example the current issue of the Foley messages. The first source of information on the letters was an anonymous blog on the internet, followed by a report on CNN.com about Foley’s alleged sending of sexually explicit letters to minors. However, the veracity of the claims against Foley is questionable. In a user-defined internet-based mass media network, millions of users across the world would provide input and insight into whether or not his crimes truly were committed, and ultimately (in theory) truth would prevail. As mass media moves toward a user-defined limit, the criteria of relevance to the masses and factuality are determined not by a single entity or provider of media, but by a networked audience that continually refines news until it approaches a state of truth and importance to its audience.

One must also keep in mind the limitations of this form of mass media. As in Wikipedia, when controversial issues arise (such as terrorism, scandals, etc.), a user defined report does not reach an equilibrium point; rather, it is edited and changed so often by biased parties that the end result is, simply put, noise.

Ultimately, it is unsure whether or not the internet will usher in a new age of mass media distribution, or whether this revolutionized form will be user-defined. But with the growing trend of user-defined aggregation and refining of information prevalent in currently popular sources of information on the internet, and with the growth in the internet’s bandwidth (with consequent growth in the amount of information available instantly to users), it is quite realistic to envision a mass media revolution in our near future.