Media meshing
Encyclopedia
Media meshing is the process of using one of the media
, such as a blog
or a website
, to enhance the experience of another medium, such as a newspaper article or a fictional television program. "Meshing" may describe activities and motivations of an information receiver which are completely independent of the intentions of the source of that information. "Meshing" may also be used to describe the activities of an information provider, who may intentionally encourage consumer engagement by using multiple media or channels of information exchange related to a product or organization, as in an integrated advertising campaign
. Strictly, in both cases, "media meshing" ultimately describes the behaviour of the person receiving the information.
When the meshing of media sources is encouraged by the source itself, as is often the case with commercial products and special interest promotions, media meshing may be better described as integrated media
. This describes the activity desired by commercial entities when they encourage web traffic through non-web media such as billboards or newspaper articles in a comprehensive advertising campaign
.
However, from the perspective of the information consumer
, Lerma describes that meshing represents a way to experience media which is fundamentally different from the way people interacted with mass media in the past. When the participants themselves choose the channels, pieces, sources, and specific media that they use to enhance or disassemble the first piece of media they encounter, especially when these are perceived to be mostly independent sources, the result is an enriched self-discovery experience with a level of engagement not possible from even the most well designed guided experiences. Meshing goes beyond simply mutually inclusive public relations across media channels, pieces, and product placement
. Broadband
technology and diversity of online services have increased the accessibility and prevalence of simultaneous media experiences to the point where some would argue there is a new, more demanding and more inquisitive, incarnation of information consumers
. The richness of experience in meshing becomes even more evident when information receivers puts their new views and interpretations back into the media by posting or answering questions on a discussion forum or blog, publishing a formal in-depth response, or creating an independent fan site. In cases like these, the persons may be called information prosumer
s, as they are both consuming information from various sources and producing a web of related information for other "meshers" to consume (or prosumers to mesh).
It is arguable, however, that this is the traditional approach of historians and scientists to information sources, and that what is new is the speed and ease with which cross-referencing and elaboration can be achieved with the media delivery and display technology that is used, and the amount of time invested in multi-source research by the non-specialized population. It is also arguable that multi-form/multi-source information gathering only "seems" new when contrasted to the recent era of single-voice and non-interactive commercial television and radio information broadcasting. It is also important to note that if the sources are not chosen carefully to be as orthogonal as possible, media meshing will result in a false reassurance of the "facts" presented by the single-voice of the original articles, but it would still technically be media meshing (i.e., confirming a CNN
television story about an event in London by meshing the CNN.com web-site, BBC
radio, and The Guardian
newspaper will probably confirm the original facts, but a different set of facts may be forthcoming from an email to a friend who lives there or from reading a blog from a beat-cop in the area.)
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
, such as a blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
or a website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
, to enhance the experience of another medium, such as a newspaper article or a fictional television program. "Meshing" may describe activities and motivations of an information receiver which are completely independent of the intentions of the source of that information. "Meshing" may also be used to describe the activities of an information provider, who may intentionally encourage consumer engagement by using multiple media or channels of information exchange related to a product or organization, as in an integrated advertising campaign
Advertising campaign
An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication...
. Strictly, in both cases, "media meshing" ultimately describes the behaviour of the person receiving the information.
When the meshing of media sources is encouraged by the source itself, as is often the case with commercial products and special interest promotions, media meshing may be better described as integrated media
Integrated media
Integrated media is a new form of media content creation that cohesively integrates content and context across multiple platforms, such as web, film, print, audio, live event, etc. It includes traditional content, branding, branded content, storytelling, advertising, product packaging, and more...
. This describes the activity desired by commercial entities when they encourage web traffic through non-web media such as billboards or newspaper articles in a comprehensive advertising campaign
Advertising campaign
An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication...
.
However, from the perspective of the information consumer
Consumer
Consumer is a broad label for any individuals or households that use goods generated within the economy. The concept of a consumer occurs in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.-Economics and marketing:...
, Lerma describes that meshing represents a way to experience media which is fundamentally different from the way people interacted with mass media in the past. When the participants themselves choose the channels, pieces, sources, and specific media that they use to enhance or disassemble the first piece of media they encounter, especially when these are perceived to be mostly independent sources, the result is an enriched self-discovery experience with a level of engagement not possible from even the most well designed guided experiences. Meshing goes beyond simply mutually inclusive public relations across media channels, pieces, and product placement
Product placement
Product placement, or embedded marketing, is a form of advertisement, where branded goods or services are placed in a context usually devoid of ads, such as movies, music videos, the story line of television shows, or news programs. The product placement is often not disclosed at the time that the...
. Broadband
Broadband
The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...
technology and diversity of online services have increased the accessibility and prevalence of simultaneous media experiences to the point where some would argue there is a new, more demanding and more inquisitive, incarnation of information consumers
Consumer
Consumer is a broad label for any individuals or households that use goods generated within the economy. The concept of a consumer occurs in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.-Economics and marketing:...
. The richness of experience in meshing becomes even more evident when information receivers puts their new views and interpretations back into the media by posting or answering questions on a discussion forum or blog, publishing a formal in-depth response, or creating an independent fan site. In cases like these, the persons may be called information prosumer
Prosumer
Prosumer is a portmanteau formed by contracting either the word professional or less often, producer with the word consumer. For example, a prosumer grade digital camera is a "cross" between consumer grade and professional grade...
s, as they are both consuming information from various sources and producing a web of related information for other "meshers" to consume (or prosumers to mesh).
It is arguable, however, that this is the traditional approach of historians and scientists to information sources, and that what is new is the speed and ease with which cross-referencing and elaboration can be achieved with the media delivery and display technology that is used, and the amount of time invested in multi-source research by the non-specialized population. It is also arguable that multi-form/multi-source information gathering only "seems" new when contrasted to the recent era of single-voice and non-interactive commercial television and radio information broadcasting. It is also important to note that if the sources are not chosen carefully to be as orthogonal as possible, media meshing will result in a false reassurance of the "facts" presented by the single-voice of the original articles, but it would still technically be media meshing (i.e., confirming a CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
television story about an event in London by meshing the CNN.com web-site, BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio, and The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
newspaper will probably confirm the original facts, but a different set of facts may be forthcoming from an email to a friend who lives there or from reading a blog from a beat-cop in the area.)
Engagement
Advertising
Activities
The following activities, while perhaps not unique to media meshing, are characteristic of this type of 'enhanced' media consumption- look up Web sites related to TV programming
- look up Web sites mentioned on TV ads
- take part in online polls mentioned on television
- access more than one type of media simultaneously
- Communicating becomes socializing - email, instant chat and online communities bring families and friends together in real ways, replacing other forms of socializing
- Sound bites become full stories - a five second headline on the evening news turns into four hours of deep multi-source coverage and 14 hours of discussion online
- Just for fun becomes personal entertainment - try correcting a few pages in Wikipedia for fun, for example
- read stories in magazines and newspapers, then go online to get multiple angles on the same stories
- watch a reality TV show, then go online to get character bios, behind-the-scenes information
Examples
- In news, using WikiNews and WikipediaWikipediaWikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
together to investigate, confirm, and gain a deeper understanding of broadcast news stories from a commercial or publicly funded source
External links
- Report - It's a broadband life mediaedge:cia 2005-Apr-19, retrieved 2007-Apr-14
- Yahoo! It's a Broadband Life