Media convergence essay

Throughout contemporary society, the rapid development of technology has led to the phenomenon of digital media convergence. This process is constantly evolving and progressing, spreading across multiple media platforms allowing for effortless communication and interaction across the globe. In particular, this accessibility to share and produce information to such wide audiences has allowed for the rise in power of advertising and new media over modern consumers. Traditional media forms of television have combined with newer forms such as music video and social media via the Internet to expose both the informed, and unaware consumer to a multitude of marketing strategies in a way that has never been dreamed of before, allowing for advertising to shape and sustain the media that we consume. Within this discussion of media convergence I will specifically explore the growth of “consumer sovereignty” and the role of branded content as a prominent factor towards the success and dominance of the modern advertising world upon consumers.

In order to draw relationship between media convergence and advertising, it is important to have a strong understanding of the concept of media convergence. As stated by Dwyer, media convergence is the “ process whereby new technologies are accommodated by existing media and communication industries and cultures. The fact that the term is used to describe this adaptation, merging together and transitioning process, is an indication that the ongoing confrontation of old and new technologies is complex and multilayered” (Dwyer 2010). In recent years, the emergence of the social network across Internet and mobile devices has become a prominent and highly accessible source of communication between consumers. There is an increasing number of ways for consumers to share and distribute information, creating effortless communication in the modern world. A notable example of this accessibility and opportunity for communication is evident