back in the days a telephone a camera a flashlight and an mp3 player were all separate items in 2007 the first smartphone was announced by steve jobs which could almost do it all and it changed our lives forever every once in a while a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything it's like a frankenstein's monster of all these tools and gadgets and for that we thank media convergence media convergence is the joining or converging of distinct technologies into one it takes completely separate ideas and smashes them together so that we're left with one big idea we use our cell phones every day and more than we like to admit it's become to the point that we don't notice how much media we consume every day since the more intense our media usage becomes the more invisible media is to us our devices and media are so intuitive so natural to use they slowly migrate into us and they become ubiquitous now where exactly did media convergence come from well it appeared from the digitalization of media content and rapid internet usage which results in allowing new forms of content to emerge and the transformation of various industries services and work practices first up technological convergence arguably the most significant type of convergence it is the merging of technologies that allows us to access previously and accessible technologies on one device for example the iphone this various media content was once tied to specific communications media or platforms cinema newspapers magazines radio and broadcast all have their own purpose today however due to the worldwide web tablets and smartphones people can now access all sorts of media within one digital device this leads to the development of cross media content and which material is provided in different formats through portals and links that are relevant to similar resources after technological convergence took off in the 90s industrial mergers and media players began to enter the game of convergence these giant media players aim to diversify their products across various platforms let's pause for a second and go through what for example time warner owns just to name a few they own dc comic universe hbo cnn time magazine and of course warner brothers pictures these giants are apparent in every mass media ever just as disney or in a digital sense google people came to face smash into stampede right yeah but it wasn't because they saw pictures of hot girls you can go anywhere on the internet and see pictures of hot girls it was because they saw pictures of girls that they knew people want to go on the internet and check out their friends so why not build a website that offers that friends pictures profiles whatever you can visit browse around maybe it's someone you just met at a party but i'm not talking about a dating site i'm talking about taking the entire social experience of college and putting it online the birth of social media jump started a new routine for media users by shifting its gear forward from the passenger to the driver or in this case the audience to participant this lean forward shift cause user created content to appear in which it becomes more challenging to distinguish the amateur from the professional transparency also becomes one of the media content's production's characteristics since it is more social collaborative and shared this allows plenty of space for user anatomy and an increase in user participation and diversity to take place also known as cultural convergence transmedia storytelling is the result of media convergence engaging with professional media which is very tightly connected to brands and franchises being distributed across media think about harry potter it's a book it's a movie franchise there's a theme park a website where you can quiz on which house you're in brand extensions also interconnect with transmedia storytelling due to acquiring new audiences and product sales therefore gaining profits and revenues many media critics assume that digital technologies such as the world wide web virtual reality and computer graphics must divorce themselves from earlier media for a new set of aesthetic and cultural principles the theory of remediation argues that new visual media achieved their cultural significance by remodeling earlier media the evolution of media can be observed as just one big chain of remediation photography remediated painting film remediated stage production of photography and television remediated film and radio based on previous events regarding media convergence and how it continues to evolve this sphere has a broad path ahead of it the possibilities for future media convergence are endless for example what if media continues to fuse even closer with its users will we be able to upload our thoughts in real time in the future without touching a keyboard or screen i mean this is obviously sounding increasingly like a black mirror episode everything that's encoded in memory you could uh you could upload you could basically store your memories as a backup how will we achieve long-established principles of media policy and what will replace our beloved smartphones ultimately what is the next step in media convergence you