What is Digital Media?

So, I came to this blog at a loss of what to write. What kind of digital media should I write about? What IS considered "digital media"? I subsequently took a break and started chatting with a friend online. The person sent me this article: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/27/us-turkey-police-idUSTRE73Q56I20110427 which I found entertaining enough. I decided I would try to do my blog entry on this article, but was at a loss as to how. An international story, not at all related to technology, what is there to discuss digital media wise? That's when I took another look at the article and it hit me: I am reading this article on the internet. I received this article through an instant-messaging service. Honestly, is there a day that goes by that does not involve digital media?

What struck me most about this article is how many ways a person can share it and how easy it is to do so. I think of myself as fairly knowledgeable of the internet but I still thought it was a little overwhelming. This website gives the users a myriad of ways of sharing this article, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Digg, or just plain Email or Print. Now, I don't even really know what Digg is, something about counting readers? Of the other three, I was rather surprised to see LinkedIn paired with Facebook and Twitter. I have a Facebook, Twitter, and a LinkedIn profile, but I always thought LinkedIn was a bit more professional than the other two, not a place you shared articles and such. But perhaps if they are business related articles? It made me rethink the importance of sharing media over social networking sites. Even sharing on LinkedIn is important? Could sharing an article help a person get a job? Something to think about.

I also couldn't help but recall my last blog entry while reading this. The article is almost engulfed by side-bars, appealing to our attention-deficit society. Click on the link and look to see what I mean. Ads, options to share, related news articles, requests to log in, Most Popular list, related videos, comments and more!! It's overwhelming! There is even a section called Social Stream where you can see who has linked this article elsewhere on the internet, mostly through Twitter. Why would anyone need to know who's sending what to who? This is a confusing, public world we live in.

Now I know if I am ever at a loss in discussing Digital Media Literacy, I only need to open my eyes.