In an important and interesting topic which the Cultural Innovation Center raised in Doha for the electronic media, and at the invitation of the Center, I was one of the participants in the cultural salon which has been administered by Moza Al Shak and Reem Al Harami.
I raised in my talk about the new media which invades our society and contributes in educating us regardless offence of some people to use it, and I mean with the New Media social continuity networking (Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube ..), which originated primarily for social continuity networking among individuals which was created primarily for social networking among individuals, but its use has extended to include activities and other fields such as political and mass-communication (informative) activity, especially in the Arab zone.
I have raised a query that is we in front of alternative mass communication about the prevailing mass-communication with its traditional formulations “readable, audible and visual”?
Or we are in front of a new advanced version of the traditional mass communication?
I think it is neither. But we are in front of a new mass communication, nothing to do with the old mass - communication. Because of the different tools, instruments and elements of the communication process, and most importantly contrast conceptual, philosophical and theoretical structure between the two?
The issue of the allegation that we are in front of alternative mass-communication (media), is a controversial competitor issue since the emergence of the era of the information network, especially during the last ten years, which saw vast marketability , and huge for records, and chat sites etc, in that period. Some people raised some expressed a view means; that we are in front of an alternative mass-communication, and the owners of that view exaggerated that these new instruments will replace by passing time the old instruments.
However, time has proved that the issue is not simple. And we observed that some of the miss-communication (media), especially its visual spatial (space) was able to convey developments in communication, via its insertion many of the modern techniques, those instruments proved through it that it owns the ability of continuity, until now with rapid mass communication (media) developments. We observe that social continuity networking in democratic systems, are still not effective politically, but it works according to its social manner, which it was established for itself, such as social continuity networking. And the reason is that the instruments of traditional mass-communication (media) in those countries, do not have state monopoly, but are laid open before their citizens.
And this reinforces my belief that we are in front of a new mass-communications (media).
This is because of several reasons:
First: Dependence of continuity networking or entire internet space, as a new mass communication, came as a reaction to the social and political reality in the Arab region, and this reality is imposed from narrowing restrictions and frameworks, in the field of expression about the viewpoint and the dissemination of ideas.
Second: Full domination of the organisations of reign on the traditional instruments of intercommunication and mass communication (media). Therefore, it didn’t leave any traditional channels for free youth, where intercommunications networking turned into safe asylums (refuges) for them.
Third: The many restrictions before the publication of newspapers, and establishing broadcasting and television stations, which do not allow the emergence of an independent neutral media.
Fourth: Ease of use, low cost, so it is not required from the user of such networking except a little bit computerised data, in order to enable him to transfer, and disseminate and display what he wants, and send it to different localities while users of traditional mass-communication (media) it is supposed that they possess the special qualifications such as writing the news, the essay (article) and the modes of photography...and so on.
Those networkings have been turned into what we can name it with street mass-communication (media) in return for Authority mass communication (media).
And thus it broke the monopoly of the countries to the mass-communication (media) and it has been exchanged the roles between the street and the power in the media message, hence the street was always takes the role of the future and the receiver, while the power remained holding the role of the sender and the impressive. But, now the street has become mostly is the impressive.
And we hear sometimes who claims for an oversight (superintendence) on this new media (mass-communication) in order to preserve the society, and I’m in my belief that if we prescribe a is the same as we go back to the old media (mass-communication) and the era of backwardness.. and we are still remembering how did the technology develop has We still remember how technology has evolved and oversight (superintendence) failed to follow ..
This means that the control (oversight) must be subjective, educational and religious that we can consolidate and root in our sons and children and not to demand its return because of our backwardness and disruption technological advancement that surrounds us.
