Media convergence: main approaches to definition
The article is devoted to the analysis of the process of media convergence and crucial characteristics and typology of this process. The author studies both foreign and domestic approaches in order to conduct an extensive analysis of this topic. The article is concerned with specific and significant differences in approaches in connection with the understanding of media convergence. There are few explanations of differences between these representations. First, foreign scholars explains media convergence as a consequence of the development of the computer industry in the 20th century. M. McLuhan, Canadian professor of English literature, was a pioneer on this topic; he wrote several monographs on it. Through the vision of a generalized approach to the electric structuring of the world and his theory of technological determinism, M. McLuhan provided a foundation for understanding the process of media convergence. To explore this phenomenon, he used the concept of “implosion”, which means erasing the line between different systems (not only in the area of mass media). Other approaches differ significantly in depth because media convergence is studied not only in a technological context, but also in a social one, allowing evaluation of cultural and social issues and the communication process from different points of view. Domestic scholars analyzes the process of media convergence primarily in the area of mass media. Researchers note that this process is related to the integration of formerly isolated mass media (print, electronic), as well as to the development of the organizational structure of media companies, etc. Notable foreign scholars study media convergence as a multidimensional process. Consequently, research potential is greatly enhanced.