What I understand about what going beyond new media is that we should use this vast collection of new media for something different. Using a piece of new media for something not fully intended is going beyond. Something like using multiple bluetooth enables lightbulbs to create a visual light based art piece. Bluetooth is still pretty new and this example is something I believe is going beyond new media.
I think that the way to “do” or “practice” media studies is just to use it. The main point of new media is for it to be used and I think the best way to learn about something is to get hands on experience with it. If you want to learn about how twitter works and study what is, going onto the website or downloading the app and making an account and actually participating is going to be the best way to learn. I feel that if you try to understand new media just by what other people are saying about it, you will never get the full experience of that new media. If someone watched gameplay of a new video game on youtube of a game they were really anticipating but the youtuber in the video calls it bad, then the person might not end up buying the game and missing out on something that they might have liked even though someone else didn’t. The youtuber and viewer might have completely different play styles or just like different kinds of games but the viewer will not get to experience the game to the fullest if they do not play it themselves. I believe that the way to practice new media studies is to practice the new media.
Objects can be used to hide microphones and video cameras to eavesdrop, spy, or even just gather information. This is something that has been doable for many years. Now the microphones and video cameras used to gather information about us are not even hidden. Cameras and microphones in plain sight are being used in new objects that are up for sale, and people buy them. These objects would not do this if it wasn’t for the people who made them. Objects themselves, like a lightbulb, are not smart. Even if you put a bluetooth receiver and transmitter in a lightbulb, you wouldn’t even be able to connect to it. When someone decided to make the bluetooth work they had a choice to discard the information or possibly make money off it, they chose to sell out. I think this is one of the main reasons these objects started to come into question. The human-machine relations only exist on the surface. I don’t believe there is a deeper level of connection between machines and humans. Even if there was a machine that came close to being able to interact with a human, the human is still just providing input (voice or something else) to the machine which is processing and responding to it. When you have a presence online or even on something that might be connect to the wireless internet you are transmitting information. The internet is not a secure place. New medias are almost always connected to some mesh of other objects and they are always transmitting information back and forth. I don’t think there is any intimacy using technology. The most intimate you get is writing an anonymous post about something your are passionate about and maybe even having a conversation about it. However, someone may always be watching.
Jacob Villa 