Review
Digital Communication in the Age of Immediacy
Luís Miguel Pedrero-Esteban 1, *
1
2
*
and Andrés Barrios-Rubio 1,2, *
Department of Communication, Faculty of Communication and Arts, University Antonio de Nebrija,
28015 Madrid, Spain
Department of Communication, Faculty of Communication and Language, Pontifical Javeriana University,
Bogotá 110121, Colombia
Correspondence: lpedrero@nebrija.es (L.M.P.-E.); andresbarriosrubio.abr@gmail.com (A.B.-R.)
Abstract: The media has become a central aspect of everyday life, providing information and
entertainment, and serving as a basis for citizen consumption. The content that appears on the
internet today is the result of numerous experiences accumulated throughout the history of media,
particularly in the last four decades of technological and social development. The following text
analyses how the hybridisation of analogue and digital technologies affects audience consumption
patterns and expectations, leading to a more flexible relationship with the media. This study employed
a theoretical examination of documentary sources, including texts, articles, and digital materials.
The findings indicate a shift from simple, vertical, and linear communication systems to networks
that enable horizontal and personalised consumption. The conclusion drawn is that technology
has redefined structures and concepts, with the smartphone serving as the focal point of media
consumption. Living culture is shaped by technology, because the message, more than the specific
content, is the meaning, recognition, and exchange of a world that needs to be re-thought.
Keywords: communication; media ecology; media; evolution; transformation
1. Previous context
Citation: Pedrero-Esteban, L.M.;
Barrios-Rubio, A. Digital
Communication in the Age of
Immediacy. Digital 2024, 4, 302–315.
https://doi.org/10.3390/
digital4020015
Academic Editor: Yannis
Manolopoulos
Received: 18 February 2024
Revised: 6 March 2024
Accepted: 28 March 2024
Published: 31 March 2024
Copyright: © 2024 by the authors.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/).
The digital ecosystem presents a constant stream of information without sufficient
context or references for the reader to fully comprehend and organise. The adoption of
technology has created a new dynamic between media and users, with time being the
defining factor in this transformation [1]. However, simply having easy and immediate
access to information does not guarantee its relevance or promote critical understanding of
the content. Digital media literacy is increasingly important in understanding the convergence of traditional media messages with short hybrid formats created at the crossroads of
online channels and media [2]. This includes tweets, stories, push notifications, newsletters,
memes, and emoticons, among others. The list of formats will continue to grow and change
as innovation in devices, applications, social media, and platforms progresses and as users
adopt and adapt to them [3].
The proposed scientific review of media ecology [4–8] over time will follow five major
conceptual blocks, in the order of the documentary review conducted by the authors of this
text. In the first stage, that of the analogue era, the media became a fundamental element
of everyday life; they popularised themes, introduced expectations, and generated needs
in the collective imaginary. The second stage was that of the mediation of consumption,
in which audiovisual programming techniques determined consumption patterns and
habits to the point of conditioning schedules and even the configuration of the home. The
biosphere played a role in shaping the criteria for decoding and understanding the narrative
and aesthetic elements of the different genres and contents. In terms of media literacy
and ecology, citizens were able to access messages both synchronically and semantically:
they were able to differentiate between genres, distinguish fiction from entertainment, and
discriminate between advertising and information.
Digital 2024, 4, 302–315. https://doi.org/10.3390/digital4020015
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/digital
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In recent decades, technological innovations have transformed the public’s relationship
with the media [9]. The proliferation of satellite and cable networks has led to the creation
of specialised channels, while the emergence of digital media has resulted in a hybridisation
of languages that has made the audience’s relationship with the media more flexible and
redefined their expectations and consumption patterns. As a result, production logics have
been altered, and user routines have changed [10]. In the new century, platforms have
introduced a radical change in the media ecosystem. Their sophisticated complexity allows
for personalised menus, placing everyone at the centre of the offer. This aims to absorb
what was previously referred to as ‘available time’, now known as the ‘attention rate’. To
achieve this, it exposes them to a constant and intense stream of stimuli to encourage their
prolonged use of all devices for accessing content, particularly smartphones.
The fourth stage is characterised by instantaneity, which is linked to an overwhelming
whirlwind of stimuli through multiple channels and media. These channels and media are
increasingly devoid of contexts or references that allow for comprehensible, even-ordered,
digestion by the user. A new narrative species has emerged, that of short textual formats,
which has given rise to the so-called ‘snack culture’. Media micro-formats condense short
but significant stories [11]. They are linked to micro-textual expressions of knowledge that
precede the media itself, such as riddles, allegories, parables, commandments, proverbs,
refrains, sayings, and aphorisms. This is like the power of a message that goes viral on
social networks.
Citizens’ relationship with the media can influence their thoughts and behaviours. In
the digital environment, media–audience–user perspectives are triangulated, potentially
fragmenting reality and revitalising the mediation process [12–14]. The aim of this analysis
is to explore the convergence of analogue and digital technologies and the audience’s
relationship with media content. Media ecology is a useful framework for understanding
the digital transformation of the media industry and the behaviour of agents in constructing
reality [15,16]. We are currently living in an era where information and entertainment are
easily and instantly accessible [17]. However, the ease and immediacy of access alone do
not guarantee the relevance or critical understanding of the content consumed. Therefore,
media literacy is more important than ever to effectively respond to the challenge of
comprehending and dealing with our surroundings [18].
2. Introduction
The media are fundamental institutions in daily life, central sources of information
and entertainment, and shape citizens’ perceptions of their surroundings. Since the advent
of the internet, this sphere has experienced significant growth; over the past 40 years, there
has been a shift from a basic, linear hierarchy in the public’s engagement with the media
to the formation of networks and micro-networks which have spawned a wide variety of
offshoots with numerous participants. The various communicative propositions circulating
through the internet reshape our access to knowledge while concurrently constituting the
foundation of a culture that allows for the facile and direct transmission of discourses that
ascribe significance to the events occurring throughout the world, both local and planetary.
Much of this process can be explained by the media ecology [19]. This refers to the context
and environment of media, encompassing its structure, content, and impact on people.
The widespread adoption of the internet and its ensuing social and cultural effects has
transformed the dynamic between citizens and the media. The digital landscape has revolutionised the way we interact with the world, as technology has placed a greater emphasis
on virtual social engagement. Within these micro-communities, citizens interpret and
assign significance to the messages and priorities of the digital sphere [20,21]. The current
landscape has reconceptualised structures and notions, particularly with the smartphone
being at the forefront of interpersonal communication and user media consumption [22].
Technology moulds our living culture, wherein the message bears more significance than
specific content and allows us to honour items we relate to with an openness to reassess
the milieu surrounding individual subjects.
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The media system that comprised the press [23], radio [24], and television [25] during
the 1980s has transitioned into a world that has been shaped by the internet [26] during
the 1990s and communication platforms during the 2000s [27]. Alongside these traditional
media, there have emerged web media, app media, social media, live media, podcasts
(during the 2010s), and other channels for disseminating communicative content [28]. A
wide range of products and services are available to users on various screen devices, which
individuals spend an average of 6 h and 37 min a day on. Currently, there are 5.44 billion
smartphones globally that enable users to watch television (3 h 23 min), engage in social
networks (2 h 31 min), read the press (2 h 10 min), access music (1 h 38 min), listen to the
radio (59 min), and consume podcasts (1 h 2 min) [29].
In interpreting and shaping reality, the role of traditional media (newspapers 15%,
radio 16%, television 48%) is weakening while online media are becoming increasingly
prominent (67%), particularly social networks such as Facebook (28%), YouTube (20%),
WhatsApp (16%), Instagram (14%), Twitter (11%), Messenger (6%), TikTok (6%), or Snapchat
(2%) [30]. Their narratives are founded on proposals that unify text, sound, and image.
However, they do so by intentionally violating the grammar conventions of radio and TV
genres through various structures and codes.
People’s relationship with media technologies shapes their thoughts and actions.
McLuhan argued in Understanding Media that technology’s effects do not manifest as
opinions, “but constantly and without resistance alter relations of meaning and patterns
of perception” [31] (p. 31). Neil Postman expanded on this notion, stating that everyone’s
worldview is created by the media, and each medium suggests a new direction for thought,
expression, and sensibility [32]. This triangulation of factors arises from the viewpoint
of the medium, audience, and user, in turn placing the digital environment within the
collective imagination, causing additional fragmentation of reality [33]. Additionally, this
triggers the mediation process [34].
We are thus presented with a situation in which the visual sense is the most familiar,
comfortable, and widely consumed sense, and offers greater appeal and effectiveness
than text [35]. This element features affinity, stimulation, and persuasion elements which
foster social interaction [36], resulting in a dialogue between the producer of the content
and the viewer/user. This generates observable outcomes in the receiver’s behaviour
such as increased exposure time, credibility, and receptiveness of the message [37]. This
significant alteration to the production and distribution strategy of the communicative
product presents a challenge to the issuing agent, necessitating the acquisition of new
competencies in their work [38].
The analysis proposed here contributes to the research and study of media ecology [39]
by understanding the strategy deployed in the reinvention of the media industry and
the behaviour of agents in the construction of the notion of reality [40] in the collective
imagination. We live in an era of easy and instant access to information and entertainment,
but neither easy nor immediacy alone guarantees relevance, let alone critical understanding,
of what is consumed [41]. More than ever, digital media literacy is essential, because who
dares to live forever if communication does not provide the meaning to understand and
know how to ideally engage with our surroundings?
3. The Means That Rock the Cradle
The 1980s marked a pivotal moment for traditional media. The press experienced
a crisis of representation with the public, whilst radio improved its portability and adjusted its generalist and thematic schedules to cater to a wider audience [42]. Television
capitalised on the use of colour imagery and expanded its reach with new channels, including some subscription-based options. The shift from a business model based on local,
regional, and national concepts towards international expansion and the formation of
media conglomerates was apparent.
Since the 1950s, FM radio has enabled the public to experience music as a cultural and
social phenomenon, associated with age, social groups, and moods [43]. An archetypal
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illustration is the Top 40 format, which extensively plays the latest chart-topping songs on
continuous rotation. The radio was named by its creators who took inspiration from the
jukeboxes used in bars at the end of the 20th and the middle of the 21st centuries. These
machines only allowed selection of a song by inserting a coin and were limited to holding
only forty singles [44]. Despite being characterised by the repetition of the same songs,
this paradoxical feature made it popular and encouraged listeners to purchase the records
containing them.
In fact, between the mid-1950s and the advent of the internet, music radio functioned
as the main platform to promote the catalogue of the record industry. This was facilitated
by a relationship between radio and discos which extended beyond the economic and
commercial aspects and developed with the emergence of a more diverse and segmented
music scene. Subsequently, new radio stations emerged, specialising in different genres,
styles, and audiences, expanding beyond the original Top 40 format. In the early years
of the 21st century, radio programming schemes, such as Adult Contemporary, Country,
Album Oriented Rock, Gold, and Beautiful Music, imposed the times and patterns of popularisation and consumption of music. This type of volatile content is now individualisable,
as noted by Moreno-Cazalla and Pedrero-Esteban [43].
This accomplishment relied on a precise programming formula for radio that not only
arranged the sequencing of records but also determined the positioning of advertisements,
call signs, and even the duration of the presenter’s contributions, creating a musical clock,
referred to as the “hot clock”. The system’s rationale is grounded on an exact equilibrium
between recently released songs and those that have been on air for weeks. Every Saturday,
a catalogue of 40 records is released, categorised by colour: red, green, blue, black, and
white. The total number of newly released red records is consistently lower than the number
of green ones, which have been airing for several weeks, and lower than the number of the
progressively older and better-known blue, black, and white ones [45].
The radio formula implements a basic algorithm, utilising a mathematical progression
that repeats newer records more frequently than older ones. This harmonic flow captures
the listeners’ attention, enabling them to internalise the repetition patterns, which eventually enables them to anticipate when their preferred song will be played. The listeners
adapt accordingly to the patterns established by the broadcast. The impact of music radio
on cultural industries, its programming logic and effect on listener attention, symbolises a
critical juncture in the development of mass media. Throughout the 20th century, the mass
media has evolved to become an indispensable part of daily life in society [46].
As asserted by sociologist Nik Couldry, these technologies are designed to transmit
and preserve content, and being essential with meaning, they prevent the world from being
meaningless to anyone [47]. Connectivity is the primary means by which the organisation
of society is established. It determines our behaviour, establishes routines, and ultimately
shapes perception, and even critical thinking, regarding our surroundings.
4. The Mediation of Analogue Consumption
4.1. Media Ecology
Media ecology is a didactic communication theory that has been developed from the
contributions of researchers like the Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan [48–50]
and his student, the American sociologist Neil Postman [51]. It is one of the many communication theories and discourses that aim to conceptualise, systematise, and discuss
communication practices [52]. In 1971, Postman launched the first media ecology programme at New York University, which institutionalised the concept [51]. The success
of this approach lies in its attempt to analyse the influence of the media by combining
approaches and processes of a technological, social, and cultural nature. The epistemology
of this approach will not be delved into here [15].
Media ecology can be summarised by the basic concept that communication technologies, ranging from writing to mobile screens, produce surroundings that influence
the individuals who utilise them [53]. This interpretation enables us to understand that
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media produce environments that encompass their users, shaping their perceptions and
cognitions. Prior to the emergence of digital technology, the mass media, and their semiotic
expressions [54] functioned as mere conveyors and intermediaries of the social, economic,
and cultural milieu in which they were operating, although they also provided a basic
framework of comprehension, despite their limited technological capabilities. Symbols,
images, and sounds were imbued with significance, and their meanings were transmitted
through these channels.
From the mid-nineteenth century, social communication was limited [55]. (a) On one
hand, mechanical industry enabled the mass distribution of books and the press using
the printing press and rotary press. (b) On the other hand, the cinema began its initial
expansion, hampered by limitations in the distribution of celluloid tape and the projection
equipment. Technical terms like celluloid tape have been explained on first use. (c) Sound
communication was limited to radio, a medium that had attained national coverage and
promised to expand globally through shortwave. (d) Television, which had not yet become
a means of social communication in its primary stage of development, was impeded during
the Second World War, and its expansion would only occur in the 1950s and 1960s [46].
During the early stages of media development, the current ecosystem originated from
analogue languages and technologies. It was structured around a centralised, unidirectional,
and vertical distribution model, which established a power dynamic of subordination
between the broadcaster and the public [56]. One could select a newspaper from the
news-stand, tune into different stations on the radio, or browse through the numerous TV
channels using the remote control, colloquially known as “zapping”. However, there were
no additional options available for engagement or instantaneous involvement [57]. What is
significant regarding creation, production, distribution, and marketing is that each medium
was a part of an industry shaped around specific and differential factors while also relying
on independent technology in relation to each other [58].
An evaluation of the relationships between media producers and citizens is crucial in
the current environment. These relationships are still identified and labelled based on the
nature of the message, such as readers of the press and/or magazines, listeners to radio
and/or music, and viewers of television and/or cinema. Objective analysis is necessary for
an accurate assessment. There was no opportunity for confusion as the languages, media
(paper, transistor, record or cassette player, television, cinema. . .) and distribution networks
of each medium were distinct, as were the senses and abilities they targeted [59].
However, two transversal variables coincided: one external and ever evolving (the
production and broadcasting technologies of each medium), and the other internal and
constant (the talent and aptitude of professionals to craft captivating and evocative works,
both in terms of narrative content (the stories) and formal presentation (the genres employed)). The tastes and patterns of media choice, exposure, and consumption determined
citizens’ exclusive, unique, and inalienable perceptions naively [60].
4.2. Gender Branding and Consumption Patterns
All individuals over 30 years of age, who were raised during the era of mass and analogue media [47], have had their perceptions and patterns of assimilating information and
entertainment shaped to a significant degree. As a result, they may still view current events,
fiction, and escapism as if they were responding to the reality that conditioned them at that
time. These generations struggle to comprehend the present-day media landscape owing
to their upbringing amongst linear radio and television broadcasts, synchronous consumption, irreversible messages, and imposed schedules [61]. This environment accustomed
viewers to passive television watching and adherence to content and genre durations, while
simultaneously moulding their approach to interpreting and appreciating the narrative
and aesthetic components. In other words, it solidified a level of media comprehension
in which multiple generations of audience members were able to interpret material that
was programmed to be unambiguous and processed strategies, while also factoring in
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the requisite time to fully comprehend said material. This homogenous and generalised
behaviour is unsustainable under the alluring empire of digital technology [62].
Analogue technology enabled the rudimentary reception of channels, providing limited options of adjusting volume, channel selection, or identifying the broadcasted content.
The passage of time emerged as a pivotal factor in the conception and establishment of
audiovisual genres, which serve as the fundamental categories shaping the processes of
creation, distribution, and commercialisation within the cultural industry [63]. The influence is readily evident when we analyse the types of TV drama that lay the foundation for
the change in media landscape, epitomised by the proliferation of audiovisual streaming
services such as Netflix, HBO, and Amazon Prime Video, as well as Filmin, Flixolé, or
Atresplayer in Spain, among others [64].
In the realm of competitive free-to-air television, the objective of generalist programming and the duties of the programmer (including planning, production, procurement,
promotion, and schedule shaping) were aimed at garnering the greatest possible viewership and establishing loyalty towards the unique content it provides [64]. In tackling this
challenge, fiction has emerged as one of the most effective and efficient macro-genres [65].
This may be due to its ability to transfer the allure that stories have always held for humanity to the small screen. Moreover, unlike more restrictive literary or cinematic forms,
the cathode-ray medium allows narrative, expressive, and aesthetic conventions to be
portrayed through varied channels and thus engender specific expectations in viewers [66].
Television series have become choral, open-ended dramas characterised by a slow
narrative development and repetitive dialogue that revolves around the main plot. The
cast is often unfamiliar, making it necessary to acquaint oneself with multiple characters
throughout the series. Broadcast daily, they are scheduled for an entire season, allowing
fans to consume them without undivided attention or even miss an episode. Their typical
broadcast time is in the afternoon, although some infrequent occurrences of prime-time
broadcasts have been observed [67]. This trend has re-emerged in the digital era after
the unforeseen triumphs of Turkish productions [68]. Such productions can be viewed as
imitations of the prosperous radio serials that were previously labelled ‘soap operas’ due
to being broadcast in the afternoon, when people were typically doing their dishes, and
sponsored by detergent brands [44].
In this form of television fiction, the plots were slow and the action deliberately slow,
so that the production could be spread over many episodes at a lower cost than series or
films. Audiences embraced this narrative, which kept them engaged for months, even if
they felt that the plots hardly moved forward. However, to encourage daily viewership,
the scriptwriters employed cliffhangers at the end of each episode to create an extreme and
unresolved dramatic situation, inducing psychological tension in the audience to maintain
their interest in the next episode [69]. In Venezuela, these endings were perceived as “bites”
of curiosity, reminiscent of a snake’s, leading to the country’s television critics labelling
telenovelas “soap operas”, the Latin American version of a serial. The term “soap opera”
has become widely used to describe both an audiovisual genre and the intricate daily
situations that are like those portrayed in soap operas, due to the widespread recognition
of this term.
The frequency with which these dramas are broadcast daily, and the ensuing tension
that captivates their audiences every evening, differs from that of serials, which also depict
conflicts and establish deep emotional connections with the viewer, but through a weekly
sequential storyline. This rhythm created a distinct type of anticipation: every episode was
aired with the assurance that, despite the development of the plots and characters’ issues
from episode to episode, the outcome would remain unknown until the last day, regardless
of the story’s nature [70].
In the 1990s, television series were typically scheduled in quarters consisting of thirteen
episodes and running for several weeks between summer and Christmas, or from the start
of the year until Easter. If a channel successfully captivated its audience with the initial
episode, it was assured a devoted viewership and corresponding advertising revenue for
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the ensuing three-month period. Subsequently, if the viewer became engrossed in the
narrative, they would have to wait patiently until the conclusion of the quarter to discover
the outcome [71].
The miniseries genre is also delimited by time, with the key factor being the reduction
in the number of episodes used to tell a story. During the 1990s and the first decade of the
2000s, commercial television channels showed little interest in this format, as the audience
were more content with multiple seasons of their favourite drama. Interestingly, in the
present decade, miniseries have emerged as a prominent offering of television channels
and audiovisual streaming platforms. This is due to their proximity to ongoing events
from a narrative perspective and their provision of concise stories with conclusive endings.
Such brevity is increasingly valued given the vast selection of available titles and limited
reviewing time [72].
The relationship between genres and formats and how they impact the shaping of
expectations, patterns, and practices of media consumption can be seen in non-fictional
contexts as well. For instance, the journalism industry carefully tailored the foundations of
news production to align with the expressive variations present in the broadcasting of news
stories. The radio bulletin, lasting three minutes and broadcasted hourly, provides a concise
summary of the most significant and forthcoming events. Only pertinent information
is included without superfluous details. Subjective evaluations are avoided in favour
of objectivity. The main news bulletin is thirty minutes long and categorizes news into
“sections” following the historical legacy of newspapers that employed the “inverted
pyramid” scheme, ordered chronologically by the dates of news events. A headline,
preceded by a subtitle or followed by a subtitle, an intro or lead, which concentrated the
most important data (the answers to the famous six basic questions: what, who, when,
where, how, and why), and a development, in which it was obligatory to write from the
most important to the least important, in case the reader did not have enough time to read
the whole story [73].
From a media ecology perspective and in terms of literacy, the organisation of structures, categories, and forms of expression of analogue mass media was highly effective in
guaranteeing that citizens received messages not only synchronously, but also semantically.
The masses were presented with identical information and comparable communicative
products, resulting in a homogenisation of the impressions that their perception of current
events was based on [74]. The development of consumption habits and expectations of
content was founded on the delineations of genre brands. Even without prior training,
citizens were able to discriminate between series, miniseries, serials, or sitcoms and differentiate between information, entertainment, and advertising versus fiction. A profound
understanding of the media available allowed for critical evaluation, a crucial factor for an
even more critical decision: whether to access it or not [75].
5. The Digital Ecosystem
In the final decades of the 20th century, technological advancements altered the
interplay between citizens and the media [76]. In 1980, CNN, the inaugural cable channel to
concentrate on news, arrived, followed a year later by MTV with their rendition of Top 40,
albeit now complemented by video clips. This format introduced a noteworthy narrative
innovation by compressing stories into three-minute durations, akin to the length of pop
songs. The commercials were bewildering, serving as a compulsory school of fragment and
speed aesthetics. The concept of ellipsis was brought to the forefront of the viewer’s minds,
as the detergent’s magical ability to whiten in mere seconds was showcased.
The expansion of specialised channels always has been made possible with FM in
radio, and cable and satellite in television. The initial attempt for “cinema on demand” was
enabled by VHS and the video store. The compact disc and its automated song selection
feature anticipated on-demand listening on music platforms. The Walkman, Discman, and
transistor miniaturisation made audio consumption portable and individualised. As a
result, the hybridisation of analogue and digital technologies enabled listeners and viewers
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to have a more flexible relationship with the media, ultimately redefining their consumption
patterns and expectations [77].
It was the widespread digitisation of the media system which brought about permanent transformation to the production processes of the industry, as well as the habits and
customs of its consumers [78]. The convergence of various technologies, channels, and
narratives has led to a reciprocal transfer of expressions and languages used in analogue
media [79]. As a result, it is now possible to access content from press, radio, or television
indiscriminately, using terminals that offer numerous leisure and entertainment options,
unimaginable just two decades ago. This has resulted in an unacceptable expectation for
content to be accessible at any time, in any location, and on any device [80].
Platforms have played a significant role in this process, serving as the model, archetype,
or prime example of the digital media landscape. Virtual spaces provide a wide variety of
interactive services, ranging from social networks and platforms for user-generated content
to websites where products are sold and exchanged, and even those that host video game
competitions [81]. Additionally, they offer access to vast collections of audiovisual and
sound content for streaming. The interesting aspect is that these platforms (such as Netflix
for films or Spotify for pop music) were originally established on aggregation, operating
as a video store or sound library offering titles created by other companies in the film or
record industry [82].
They soon realised that to compete with one another they needed specific and exclusive
content. Consequently, they became a powerful alternative to mainstream media [83].
Interestingly, even whilst it appears that consumption is individualistic, asynchronous,
unique, and inimitable when watching HBO series, listening to podcasts or songs on
Apple, viewing youtubers, or streaming e-sports on Twitch, such activities delimit one’s
consumption profile. Big data and artificial intelligence can instantly identify, track, and
even predict patterns, and preferences of such users [84]. The predictions made by Black
Mirror in 2011 have materialised much sooner than envisaged by its creators.
We are currently experiencing an unparalleled transformation in the communication
ecosystem: the previous mass models, with their depleted ability to amass and keep audiences, are unable to endure the attack from these systems, created through sophisticated
technological intricacy that identifies individual or accumulated preferences to define
patterns and generate communities centred on related demands [85]. They have created a
novel form of engagement that prioritises users while yielding a higher ‘attention rate’, a
coveted goal in the digital economy [86]. Achieved through intense, constant, and wideranging stimuli, the user is urged and enticed to remain glued to media content access
devices, particularly smartphones.
6. The Instant Communication Paradigm
The latest technological developments, fusion of communication platforms, and blending of different storytelling techniques have transformed the fundamental nature of traditional media and their inherent, fixed forms of expression. These forms now mutually
influence each other, in contrast to the traditional modes of reading printed press, listening
to radio, or watching TV [87]. In today’s media ecosystem, we can access various forms
of entertainment via terminals that converge and enhance possibilities for leisure. Digital
platforms are now the primary sources of such media, offering vast collections of resources
for instant consumption and employing tools that capture even the minutest features of
user behaviour—a state of hyper-vigilance, according to Srnicek [88].
The collective citizen interactions across all digital platforms create a vast amount
of data that exceeds analogue metrics and scales [89]. In merely one minute, Google
registers 2.4 million searches worldwide, 694 thousand hours of video watched on YouTube,
167 million videos viewed on TikTok, and 1 (unit). 7 million Facebook posts, 66 thousand
Instagram photos, 347 thousand tweets, and 2.43 million Snapchat snaps. Users also stream
for 1 million hours, forward 241.2 million emails, and send 18.8 million SMS messages [90].
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This estimate undergoes exponential growth annually, with both the user count and their
activity on virtual platforms continuing to increase [91].
The widespread automation of data processing via artificial intelligence has spawned a
novel media stream in which connection usurps contact, interaction supplants relationship,
addiction replaces concentration, and the accumulation of information supersedes the
exchange of experience. The evaluation of a programmed, event, or new record is no longer
solely reliant on careful audience calculations from surveys and audiometers. Instead, it
now depends on a meticulous and comprehensive analysis of views, downloads, likes, and
comments; the more comments, the better, even if they go unread. Objective measurements
hold more weight than subjective assessments [92].
Given text already adheres to the principles or lacks context, here is the answer: Faced
with such an overwhelming whirlwind of stimuli that it is difficult to digest, the ecosystem
itself offers two alternatives for adapting the media consumption of digital users, which
can be correlated with the endogenous and exogenous variables mentioned above. The
initial solution is revolutionary in comparison to its analog counterpart. The days still have
24 h, and the minutes still add up to 60 s. However, due to the digital compression of audio
and video, it is possible to adjust their playback speed from 1.5× to 2× or 2.5×. This results
in a shortened duration of the content. This feature is accessible not solely for downloaded
films, series episodes, songs, podcasts, or audiobooks, but also for streaming on platforms
including YouTube, Netflix, or Spotify [93].
Without delving into the alterations that this practice may have caused to the author’s
original concept and the narrative and aesthetic traits of their work, speeding up audio or
audiovisual content enhances the user’s time for entertainment or information. Within a
timeframe of 24 h, it is feasible to view films or listen to audio books that formerly required
48 h. However, according to Ashlee Vance, the author of a successful downloadable
biography on the Audible platform about Elon Musk that many users consumed at twice
their normal speed, connecting the brain to a machine, and downloading information as
efficiently as possible becomes a mechanical process where efficiency, rather than emotion,
governs [94].
The second approach to managing the overwhelming flood of digital content is dependent on the external factor of creativity. Scolari cautions that the proliferation and
consolidation of networks have significant impacts on both media ecology and individual
consumption patterns. The network functions not simply as a medium, but as a metamedium that fosters the development, experimentation, and ratification of new digital
phenomena, linked, like in the past, to the incomparable advantages of technological innovation. Among these species, short text formats have found a place in “snack culture”,
which represents original cultural forms in today’s media ecology. The rapid fragmentation
and speed of the video clip, which surprised analysts and intellectuals in the last decades of
the twentieth century, has now evolved into a textuality that takes the cult of brevity to its
ultimate consequences. From this perspective, snack culture is perceived as a highly chaotic,
re-combinatory, and fast-paced arena that supersedes the golden age of neo-television and
opens doors to a novel cultural system [95].
What are the digital microspecies that constitute snack culture? Additionally, what
are their features as related to the media formats and genres that have influenced media consumption habits thus far? The list is extensive and constantly updated with the
development of media, technology, and user interpretations. It includes trailers, mobile
episodes, webisodes, posts, tweets, memes, newsletters, SMSs, WhatsApp messages, stories, snapchats, push alerts, banners, recaps, and TikTok videos. These products condense
stories into brief formats but remain meaningful and relevant. “We live in a world that
often distrusts brevity and connects it with being simplistic, unnecessary, or even frivolous.
It is commonly understood because of speed and fragmentation. As can be assumed and
proven, both long-lasting banalities and valuable brevities exist” [96].
Snacking culture celebrates brevity and conciseness, as evidenced by the popularity
of tweets that are no longer than 100 characters and Facebook posts that are 40 characters
Digital 2024, 4
311
long achieving 86% more engagement than longer ones. Additionally, ephemeral stories
introduced on Snapchat and popularised on other social networks have become a staple of
this culture. It prioritises fragmentation (linear radio is enclosed in podcasts for on-demand
use); it prioritises virality (a channel’s main goal is to become the prevailing subject matter
of its programming); it favours remixing (the meme extends the lifespan of any character);
and it normalises acceleration (and consequently, the miscalculation of time) [97].
This text demonstrates how the media industry has responded to the exigencies of
the new consumer environment and the strategies that are currently driving its operations.
The media’s common and convergent goal is to rejuvenate its audience by focusing on
mobile phones. Social networks have become the ‘highways’ through which content
attracts a younger audience, which over time will become captive. Therefore, strategies to
enter these platforms such as Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube are
crucial. The media’s proximity to users is reinforced by the number of views, the direct and
immediate measurement of their impact, and the permeability and simplicity that facilitate
live broadcasts as an alternative to the conventional signal. This proximity is not only
related to the content but also to the brand and credibility that these media carry. Similarly,
push notification alerts on mobile devices represent a new form of micro-journalism that
strengthens the media’s connection to users’ daily lives. These notifications can include
breaking news, calls to action for live consumption, or web content consultation, sports
results, exclusive topics, and complementary data [27].
In summary, the media industry, both locally and globally, faces the challenge of
creating a coordinated and convergent broadcasting system that includes print, broadcast,
screen, and network media. This requires the definition of new professional profiles,
such as social media, big data, and design, as well as new metrics for measuring success,
including audio, video, and social networks. Above all, a new mindset is needed, as the
digital environment demands innovation. The media must now engage in dialogue with
their increasingly fragmented audiences, rather than simply providing narration. In the
face of a revolution that reinforces McLuhan’s statement—that the medium, whether it be
technology, device, or interface, is the message—the challenge is to adapt the industry’s
natural product, which is original, rigorous, and reliable content, to the contemporary
environment [98]. This includes the shift from linotype to web media, from radio to the
digital soundsphere, and from television to video on demand [99].
7. Conclusions
In just under 40 years, humanity has transitioned from a system of basic linear communication to one of complex and interwoven interactions. As a result of technological
advancements, coupled with creativeness, the narrative coherence of television series and
serials has been replaced by an unconstrained flow of Snapchat and Instagram stories. People now scroll and swipe instead of browsing on TV, while YouTube and Twitch broadcast
various events. Surprisingly, the popularity of contemporary music no longer hinges on
Top 40 radio stations, but on TikTok. However, there are no rigid frameworks in this new
era; only algorithms govern content dissemination, signifying the end of cadences, genres,
and schedules.
All multimedia content is always now accessible and locations, even before it becomes
intuitive. As stated by the CEO of Google in 2010, “Technology will be so successful that
it will be very challenging for anyone to view or consume any content that has not been
tailored to their liking in some form” [65]. The current concern is the information that the
machines reveal about individuals [100]. The systematisation and controlled distribution
of analogue media has led to a literacy that promotes analytical and structured thinking,
thereby subverting the ontology of media time.
The computational environment that fragments and democratises knowledge has
given rise to a digital media ecosystem. This ecosystem has diluted structures and contexts,
blurred labels, and erased once inalienable genre, channel, and medium categories. We live
in an era of easy and instant information and entertainment access. However, relevance
Digital 2024, 4
312
and critical understanding of what is consumed cannot be guaranteed solely based on ease
and immediacy [88].
The network is a platform for the exchange of knowledge, where the interpretation
of reality and the use of information depend on the collective representations that govern
communicative and social activities. Digital text is a means of updating codes for communication. Its production relies on operative knowledge and communicative intentionality,
which enable the updating of its structures of meaning in relation to the communicative
environment’s situations and contexts. The rules of usage are subject to modifications, both
momentary and permanent, which are influenced by social processes. These processes
are reflected in the textual experiences of individuals, which means that knowledge and
access to them are never uniform. Social platforms, as communication channels, determine
the use, construction, and organisation of text, as well as the expression of emotions and
thoughts through verbal and non-verbal forms.
This article aims to explore the development of media in the digital communication
era. It acknowledges that this phenomenon has occurred at different places around the
world due to political, economic, social, and other factors. Future research could broaden
the view to recognise these differences and broaden the perspective on the issue of media
ecology. It is important to objectively evaluate the impact of technology on audience
consumption dynamics. Social platforms have become increasingly dominant in shaping
society’s non-conformist attitudes towards media, content consumption, and information
agendas. This has become a focus of attention for communication research, which will lead
to new work in this field.
Author Contributions: The authors state that the two participants of this article worked together:
conceptualisation, formal analysis, treatment, writing, written review, and editing. All authors have
read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This research received no external funding.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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