Online Media

Abstract

The term “online media” refers primarily to technical communication media where digital content is transmitted from any kind of server to distant receivers via the → Internet (TCP [transmission control protocol]/IP [Internet protocol]) or other digital networks, for example, mobile services, and presented on a computer or a comparable terminal device (notebook, PDA [personal digital assistant], or mobile phone). Not all kinds of digital media are online media: multimedia CDs, DVDs, DVD players, mp3 players, or media applications on standalone computers are referred to as “offline media,” as content is stored at the place where it is presented. In opposition to broadcasting media (→ Radio; Television), where analog or digital content is broadly transmitted (via terrestrial or satellite broadcasting or broadband cable; → Cable Television; Satellite Television) to all receptive devices, in online media a client computer requests specific content from a server that, in turn, directly – that is, from point to point – delivers the content. According to this technical definition, online media facilitate a broad variety of different forms of computer‐mediated communication (→ Internet, Technology of). They can be described along several dimensions dealing with (1) basic aspects of communication structure, (2) aspects of exposure and user interaction, and (3) theoretical and institutional aspects of mass media.