Online media

Online or digital media, which includes photos, videos and music, distributed over the internet. These are either non-copyrighted or copyrighted materials provided either free or for a fee.

Social media, online media and digitally convergent media have become more powerful than governments.

• Posts and unaired news can be spread a lot easier. This news, however, can be fake. There was recently a post on instagram which spread around news regarding ongoing 'corrective rape' for young LGBTQ+ individuals in India. This post was shared so much, it gained over 750,000 likes. Yet eventually, someone came forward and disproved the entire post, and suggested the account had only shared this news for likes. This shows how online media can be more powerful than the government, as it spreads false news stories quickly.
• BLM footage on twitter in the masses, accounts were airing live attacks on black people by the police, which the news companies would not broadcast.
• Some people share a lot of politic-related news on their stories. These posts inform individuals what is right/wrong, and although this is the correct thing to do, sometimes these posts are highly opinionated and biased opposed to factual. This means that those with authority can control others to behave in a certain way to fit their bias.

Online media relies on engagement - encouraging user click through and interaction to develop habits where the user will keep returning (e.g. Instagram). This is essential in maintaining profit and financial gain.   

• 
  YouTubers will rely on their scandals to make money, and often name them with a dramatic title which makes watchers want to listen in. This title often relates to the scandal. 
• So essentially, whilst making a mistake, they still make money. These videos have a crazy amount of views, with KSI having 16.5 mil for an hour long video, James Charles with 54 million views for a 40 min clip
  etc.
• The comments are also left on for these videos. In Logan Paul's apology, there are 1.3 million comments. Although most of these are abusive, it still keeps the engagement of the video up.
• Others would argue that engagement isn't always necessary, as a lot of YouTubers simply start their career to document a moment in their life (particularly study-tubers) and so they are not relying on engagement, nor do they initially require it to make online media.
• 
  Posts like this on instagram tells users to like the post to find out 'what will happen to them'. This is just a way to gain likes whilst targeting bored or young teens who have nothing better to do. It's almost like creating your own interactive fanfiction. Although you do not need likes to operate as a fan page, spreading love is easier with a bigger platform.
• Social reading sites such as Wattpad also encourage engagement, as readers of particular books can actually ask the author to change the plot. For example, if the story is ongoing, the author may ask for ideas about what to include next. The audience becomes less passive and more like the producers.

Never being subject to traditional forms of regulation, Online Media presents a literally impossible to understand, hyperreal collage of news, fake news, ideology, hatred, advertising and videos of cats... 

• Logan Paul uploading the 'suicide forest' video, where he filmed a dead man hanging from a tree. Although this was eventually removed, you can still find it on the internet.
• Skai Jackson calling out two boys who said the n-word on her twitter account, a year after they had done this. Although she was right to correct them on their mistakes, she could have handled this better particularly as they were children. She could have messaged them privately opposed to doing this in front of one million people, as this lead to other users doxing these children and giving out their personal information such as their school, address, parent's names and qualifications.
• The #whitelivesmatter hashtag which was used to spread racist ideologies around, this was not really moderated and no-one was punished. K-Pop stans on twitter and instagram posted fancams (videos of idols performing) to this hashtag to try and 'drown-out' the racism, but social media platforms themselves did not do anything about it.

There is no differentiation between these forms, leading to a form of hyper convergence with no hope of differentiating between previously distinct forms of media. 

• I would say that there is to a certain degree. Although Snapchat and Instagram both have a "stories" feature the design of the apps can be different, which indicates which platform is which. 
• There are also different purposes for these apps. I would personally post on Instagram if I wanted something to be more permanent, whereas I would use Snapchat to give a day-to-day of what I am up to.
• The Kardashians post on snapchat with life-updates, whereas their instagrams include professional photos.
• There are some features which cross over, but I would say they are still distinctive.

With no impediment to posting, extreme ideologies such as holocaust denial, pro-eating disorders, rape threats and images of abuse can be shared with relative impunity.

• 
  You can find subliminal audios on the internet which are supposed to make you 'skinner', these promote an unhealthy body type and spreads the ideology that being skinny will make you more attractive.
• "Eating isn't very Chanel" post
  
• "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" promotes pro-eating disorders.
• People calling Jennie from black pink "fat", when she is simply not. Not only is this abusive towards Jennie, but these claims are simply untrue. She is thinner than the average person, which promotes the idea that you have to be skinner than her to seem average.
• You can upload any hate online, any bad content. You'll get abuse for it, but there's nothing actually stopping you.

And yet, the internet can potentially collect all human knowledge, can allow the sharing of artistic endeavours with positive impact. 

• You can share around petitions to raise money, it's easy to do so. You can pay for a dog's surgery which the owners cannot afford, which makes a positive impact.
• You can collaborate on forums, help people out with their homework etc on student room
• Wikipedia is a huge platform to share human knowledge.