New media timeline: Mass media

By ddykstra0
  • 100

    Intro

    I define Mass Media as the accessibility to new information and the points on this timeline will be defining points that I believe greatly impacted the ability to spread new information. The first couple were established BCE so there is no actual date.
  • 101

    Spoken language

    The very beginning of information being able to be spread is the formation of spoken language. This allowed people to spread ideas and information amongst themselves and tell stories to their descendents to keep information alive.
  • 102

    Written language

    No doubt the next big step in sharing and recording information was written language. This meant people could gather information without someone being right by them.
  • 103

    Mail

    Postal systems would undergo very many changes and vast improvements as years go on, and since dates of different countries and empires differ from one another, I chose to put it early in the timeline since it could be argued that it started during the BCE time period.
  • 220

    Silk Road

    With the silk road, goods became a global thing instead of just a local thing. With this, globalization had begun with the ability to bring information from people of one part of the world to another part.
  • May 30, 1440

    Printing press

    Although there had been block printing (200 AD) and the invention of moveable type (1040) the printing press revolutionized mass media by allowing the written language to be seen by nearly everyone instead of only the rich. This improved the literacy rate as well since reading was becoming a more feasible thing to do. This allowed much more people to be involved and share information and ideas.

  • newspapers

    The growing popularity of newspapers was the first way people from all over an area could be given the exact same up-to-date information about things that were going on around them. This was a huge step for people being able to actually keep up with their world in a weekly or daily notification.

  • Radio

    Radio was the first way to reach large audiences without physically being represented. This was a huge step in sharing information throughout the world.

  • TV

    Though invented earlier, in the 1950's TV became an essential way for people to reach mass target audiences. Though it only allowed for one way communication, it still was a significant soucre of information to those that could afford it.

  • Internet

    With the ability to send information almost anywhere in the world using the world wide web would become essential to mass media as we know it. This would be the turning point for vast amounts of information to be shared and stored.

  • Cell phones (smart phones)

    The emergence of cell phones was big since you could be mobile and talk to people, but smartphones are even bigger than that. With smart phones people, for the first time in history, have instant new information on them at all times. This has served as a device on which newspapers, radio, Tv, internet, email, social media, and call/text information that is almost always with people. This has caused globaliztion to skyrocket as no longer does one have to stop to get and update of the world.