Digital Publishing in an Age of Convergence Series: Innovation in Context
Editor’s Note: We got a little off track with our own publishing schedule of this wonderful ongoing series by Lauren Sozio, so apologies to our readers for that. In light of the our conclusions regarding the strategies being successfully employed by the GRIT 50 firms to grow their brand awareness as well as last week’s announcement by Google on their use of digital content as a respondent gateway, partner monetization program, and incentive system I believe the topic of digital publishing convergence remains highly relevant to the market research industry. Lauren’s analysis of the history, drivers, and future of this trend is just fantastic, so we’re very happy to be getting back into the groove on publishing the installment. Enjoy!
By Lauren Sozio
The age-old relationship between man and machine is a volatile dialogue, contested, embraced and eventually naturalized with each innovation. There is a complex and interdependent interchange between technology, individuals and community: a multilayered discourse that is the foundation for my study.
Digital idealist Yochai Benkler illustrates technology’s membership in a greater ecology. As “different patterns of adoption can result in very different social relations”, technology becomes inseparable from its milieu. Within this oxygen-rich environment, it defines and is defined by the individuals who employ it. Nicola Cavalli argues the importance of context, as she distinguishes innovation, which, unlike invention, warrants not simply technological development but social adaptation. Media historian Lisa Gitelman furthers that innovation is not a technologically driven process, but defined by the complexities of cultural engagement. User integration is as integral to innovation as the production of new technology itself.
This paper favors a more robust, interdisciplinary approach to address the tension between old and new media, and seeks to examine technology in conjunction with community. Henry Jenkins develops this notion, as he prescribes merging the fields of political economy and audience research to account for technological changes. While the political-economic approach allows for insight into the structural mechanisms that drive production, audience research allows for in-depth analysis of consumption patterns. This integration of both perspectives allows for the co-existence of industry and culture, and consequently of the material and the symbolic.
Context is also about creating parallels. The digital disruption of an analogue model is not isolated to the publishing industry. Over the past decade, the music and video industries have been similarly shaken by this transition. Peer-to-peer file exchange and direct musician to fan portals have complicated the record labels’ role as a gatekeeper. Telecom providers, Direct Broadcast Satellite, and online video aggregators break apart a space once controlled by networks and studios. These new entrants (along with piracy, which has challenged the practice of windowing) have forced incumbents to revise their business models in order to stay relevant. Consumers expect convenient and customized viewing, from content to ads. Preferences are driven by algorithms and social networks. Viewers consume content simultaneously on multiple screens, as television sets have been crowded-out by mobile devices and gaming consoles. The publishing industry is in a prime position to learn from these trends, as well as from the errors their counterparts have made along the way.
In spite of the technical differences between industries, they all share the same fear: becoming obsolete as new technology cannibalizes old. When examining this shift, it is critical to keep in mind the ecosystem comprised of organizational structures, consumer behavior, next generation electronic devices, the many permutations of content, the incumbents and the new kids. There is no simple dichotomy. It is more complex than the novel eclipsing the outdated, as each of these elements coexist, contradict, complement, and confuse one another.
Convergence in a Networked Ecology
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