Social Media are being blamed for the development of closed tribal spaces in this, one of the most challenging political and cultural landscapes I have experienced in my lifetime.

The continuum that links real events with their transformation into images and media forms knows few limits.

To understand why New Media may have been convenient for both scholars and artists one need only look at the evolution of media studies.

I am not suggesting by any means that things have not changed. I am not saying that digital media are simply extensions of existing forms of expression.

This blog entry proposes to briefly explore the transformation from the local context of community media to the creation of national and international information networks.

This was one of the most prescient presentations at the conference.

There have been a number of responses to my recents posts and here are some samples:

One of the ironies of modern mainstream media is their belief, loudly trumpeted, that they have a major influence on the opinions and outlook of readers.

Richard Posner, who is a Federal Appeals court Judge as well as Senior Lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School and an active Blogger, is one of the most prolific writers in the United States.

I am writing a chapter for a book that will come out next year on New Media, edited by Oliver Grau whose most recent book was Virtual Art .

A discussion on the term "new media" may indeed seem pedantic. I should note, though, that the term has been in use at least since 1967 . . .

I am following this discussion with tremendous interest, though I think that we ought to be careful about assumptions and value judgements . . .

Jonathan Tyrell raises the question: "...if we were to study 'everyday' face-to-face conversations, would we discover less or more idle chatter?

It is just possible that the combined influences of an abundance of multimedia input to the very young - impacts their ability to more fully develop effective interpersonal communication skills.

The panel I chaired at the the Vancouver International Digital Festival was very interesting.

The Vancouver International Digital Festival brought practitioners/creators, programmers, engineers, artists, designers, and many other categories of people together around a common interest in New Media.

This is the first part of my presentation at the recent Refresh Conference in New Media at the Banff Centre .

This is the second part of my presentation at the [Refresh Conference in New Media](http://www.mediaarthistory.org) at the Banff Centre