Information Age 

Information age (also known as the Computer Age, Digital Age, or New Media Age) is a period in human history characterized by the shift from traditional industry that the Industrial Revolution brought through industrialization, to an economy based on information computerization Digital media are any media that are encoded in a machine-readable format. Digital media can be created, viewed, distributed, modified and preserved on digital electronics devices. Computer programs and software;

Digital media is digitized content that can be transmitted over the internet or computer networks. This can include text, audio, video, and graphics.  This means that news from a TV network, newspaper, magazine, etc. that is presented on a Web site or blog can fall into this category. Most digital media are based on translating analog data into digital data. The Internet began to grow when text was put onto the Internet instead of stored on papers as it was previously. Soon after text was put onto computers images followed, then came audio and video onto the Internet. Digital media has come a long way in the few short years to become as we know it today and it continues to grow.

The following are the characteristics of information age

 Digitality  include near continuous contact with other people through cell phones, near instantaneous access to information through the World Wide Web, third wave information storage (where any fragment in a text can be searched and used for categorization, such as through search engine Google), and communicating through weblogs and email. Some of the negative aspects of digitality include computer viruses, loss of anonymity and spam.

INTERACTIVITY Interactivity has become a term for a number of new media use options evolving from the rapid dissemination of internet access points, individual with the appropriate technology can now produce his or her online media and include images, text, and sound about whatever he or she chooses.

 Manipulation of information is a significant economic, political, and cultural activity. Its main driver are digital information and communication technologies, which have resulted in an information explosion and are profoundly changing all aspects of social organization, including the economy, education, health, warfare, government and democracy. 

 Networking We all gain our knowledge by tapping into the knowledge of others. It is technology which can ease the information transfer, but it’s the people behind the technology that are doing the sharing. When you find information relevant for your work or study, note the person behind the information and follow them. Find what Linked In groups they are members of, if they have a face book page, or twitter etc and follow them and when you use well social network can help to create what we call social capital. But without being fully informed you may even be searching for the wrong information, or less relevant information for your field of study.

BY JOSHUA HELENA M

BAPRM 42571