As an A-Level Media student, my experience in researching various forms of media has become one of the most intriguing yet. Our modern world continues to vary, stretching a single idea into an industry worth billions. Many examples of concentrated ownership consist of the Big Six multi-media conglomerates (including Disney and Viacom), and we are now reaching into an age where media takes a different form, each second of the day.

Content is now user-generated, which has adapted into the idea of concentrated ownership. Social media is one of the most rapidly evolving industries, consisting of news, celebrities, and other forms of media, controlled by over two billion users worldwide. Media has now evolved from a limited and oligarchic set of industries, to giving practically any user responsibility for the events that take place online.

A prosumer acts as a portmanteau (otherwise known as the combination of words) between a producer and consumer. Everyone is a consumer and could potentially change the outcome of any issues reported in the news. We are now able to give feedback to help improve the multiple media industries, mainly through the use of social media. This way, the world of general media has evolved into a new modern concept, consisting of the internet becoming a place for people of different national cultures to learn about one another, and to campaign for equal rights for all, something that could not become as easily achieved, even from two or more decades ago.

Nowadays in the worlds of Instagram and TikTok, among many other social media apps to name, anyone could take on the role of an influencer. Anyone could easily try out blogging or journalism, or even test out their talents in song or dance to an online audience. We are entering the age of the influencer, in an age where online content is free to access in many countries. We are seeing different types of influencers, even more recent pop stars such as Doja Cat and Saweetie who combine the concept between a celebrity and influencer, working as world-renowned music artists whilst also maintaining a highly followed social media profile.

After my research, I found that social media began to defy the concept of traditional media, before becoming one of the most successful industries as part of the general media. Social media relies heavily on trends, which fade out quicker than many expect. Millions upon millions of posts and videos could be created around that trend before the world have moved on to another topic. Will we ever see an age where even YouTube will one day fade out of the limelight and is replaced by a completely different form of media?

Only the time of our future generations will tell.