Media - The Extensions of Man Part 2

Media: Online data bases, such as WebMD or IMDB (Internet Movie Database).

Content: A data base is defined as a a comprehensive collection of related data organized for convenient access. A database contains facts that can be trusted. The facts depends on the type of database and can vary from medical facts to facts about movies.

Message: The average person is now able to access all types of information with out leaving home. Someone with a medical question could access a database such as WebMD to answer questions about certain medical issues. This saves a person time and money because instead of visiting a doctor every time they have a small question they can just visit the database. This also allows the average person to become more educated and have more knowledge about facts that might otherwise be completely unaccessible to them. Information is also organized in a way that is easily obtainable so research can be done more quickly and efficiently.

This is a very positive form of new media because it allows for the general public to be more educated and aware. It also causes people to be more independent and self reliant. The only down side to this is that people may become "too" independent, where as they aren't communicating as much or as often. For instance, with WebMD, people might misdiagnose themselves instead of communicating with a doctor who would have perhaps given them the proper diagnosis.