Digital media are forms of communication that can be stored and communicated via computers. They are packaged into ‘digital format’ (i.e. 1’s and 0’s) to be communicated, usually via the internet.
In today’s information society, such media are not just used for socializing. They’re used to build businesses, communicate, disseminate information, and even start social movements.
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All 19 Examples of Digital Media
1. eBooks
eBooks are books that can be played on personal devices such as phones, laptops and ebook readers (such as the Amazon Kindle).
2. Mobile Apps
Mobile apps are software applications installed on mobile phones to help you with your day to day life, such as to help you navigate around a city, remind you to drink water, or present you with news updates.
3. MP4 Audio (lossy and lossless)
Digital audio can be packaged in many different formats, but MP4 is one of the most common. Sound is captured by a computer and digitized, allowing speakers to reproduce it at will. Audio can be compressed so it’s lossy (meaning the compression decreases audio quality) or lossless, which usually requires greater memory on a device.
4. Websites and Blogs
Blogging and building websites was one of the first ways the internet was used to revolutionize media production and consumption. We consider the ability to create your own blogs and disseminate your own information to the world to be one of the greatest advantages of new media.
5. Digital Photos
Once, photos were produced manually using film. Today, most cameras are digital, meaning image data is stored in 1s and 0s in a computer, ready to be reproduced on screen or printed using imaging software on a computer or device.
6. Holograms
Holograms can create 3D images using beams of light. Holography involves capturing a scene’s inference pattern, which allows you to record the field of depth in data. Then, using laser beams, the original scene can be reproduced in full 3D. This is fledgling technology, and we’re not at Star Wars quality in holography quite yet.
7. Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.)
Social media are forms of digital media intended to help people communicate through the use of software. Key social media include the old ‘My Space’ and Facebook as well as newer platforms including Twitter, Instagram and Tik Tok.
8. Online Display Advertising
Companies have found new ways to advertise to potential audiences in the digital era. Now, many companies use online display advertising which has the great benefit of being able to create targeted advertising. Advertisers can track people around the internet and re-advertise to them all around the web with products they know you want!
9. Video Sharing Software
The undisputed king of video sharing software is, of course, YouTube. YouTube allows people to make recordings on their video cameras and phones and upload them on the internet for everyone to watch. This has allowed people to become their own video producers, and created countless hours of free entertainment online.
10. Video Streaming Software
Video streaming is different from traditional video sharing because you can stream data live to people around the web. Users don’t have to download the whole video before watching it, but can watch snippets of a video that’s been (or in the process of being) uploaded to a streaming platform.
11. Virtual Reality
Virtual reality is most commonly googles that you wear and can explore a three dimensional virtual environment by looking around with the goggles on. These can be used in medical training, flight training, and gaming. You can also wear gloves that help you engage with the virtual environment.
12. Augmented Reality
Augmented reality is different to virtual reality because you use goggles (or other devices) to help give you information about the real reality around you. For example, people can use goggles that have a compass in the top corner to show you which direction you’re walking in.
13. Wearable Technologies
We’ve referred to a few wearable technologies above. They’re technologies that we place on our body to help us perform better or give us feedback on our bodies. Examples include smart watches, virtual reality glasses, augmented reality glasses, digital heart rate monitors and even our smartphones.
14. Educational Video Games
Digital media has led to the gamification of learning. Today, we use video games to learn math, English, geography and all sorts of other skills. Good educational video games provide positive feedback for getting correct answers, and implement spaced repetition of things you got wrong so you get re-exposed to them throughout the games to help you learn.
15. Online Forums and Wikis
Online forums such as Reddit and Quora provide a public space for people to post questions and share expertise. They leverage the power of the internet ‘hive mind’ to help one another develop more knowledge or discuss topics of interest to niche communities.
16. Podcasts
Podcasts hit the market in 2004-2005 after the emergence of streaming and RSS feeds. This allowed people to create their own form of 21st Century radio shows and push them to fans around the world as soon as they were made available. While first initiated by comedians, there are now podcasts on any niche idea you can imagine.
17. Webinars
Webinars are live seminars hosted over the internet. They’re used for professional development sessions, education and training, and online school. Usually a webinar allows text chat during a presentation, screen sharing, and having multiple presenters at once.
18. Vlogs
A vlog is a personal diary that is filmed on video (video-blog) and shared with friends, family or the public. They are widespread on online video platforms such as YouTube. One of the most famous vlogs is the “vlog brothers” who have been vlogging on YouTube for over a decade.
19. RSS Feeds
RSS feeds are (Really Simple Syndication) are software that allow people to access updates from their favorite websites, podcasts and other media upon release. When something new is released from a publisher, it is pushed to the consumer’s device immediately. They allow people to aggregate news and information in an up-to-date way, and consume them at their own pace.
Related Article: 13 Examples of New Media
What are Careers in Digital Media?
Digital media jobs are growing rapidly as the world continually digitizes. The vast majority of these jobs sit within media, communications and advertising sections of organizations. Digital media managers create and distribute advertising materials about companies through digital media means. This includes a great deal of social media marketing.
Other digital media jobs involve creating digital media for educational purposes. Examples include careers in curriculum design and development for training on the job and in universities.
Conclusion
Digital media are diverse and often very different types of media that superseded print media in the late 20th Century. What unites them is that they all involve the packaging of information in digitized form so information can be stored and read by computers, smart phones and other computerized technologies.
Chris Drew (PhD)
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Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]
