Media Sectors
The internet
The internet is a large network of connected devices and the infrastructure that hosts online services. The infrastructure includes the servers, data centres, cables, routers and mobile masts that carry data between devices.
Online services such as streaming, social media and websites run on this network. When you stream a programme, scroll through posts or open a web page, your device sends data across the internet to a server. The server sends the media back. The internet makes that delivery possible, but it is not the programme, post or page itself.
Internet or media product?
A media product is the finished item people use, such as a video, a music track, a website or a game. The internet is the network and infrastructure behind many of those products. For example, a youth club might upload a highlights video to a video-sharing service. The video is the media product; the internet is the connection and hosting system that lets people watch it. The internet is not itself a media product, even though it is often the way media products reach you.
| Item | What it is | Media product? |
|---|---|---|
| The internet | A network of devices and infrastructure that carries data and hosts services | No |
| A video on a video-sharing service | Finished content that people watch | Yes |
| A website for a local museum | A finished online product with pages and content | Yes |
The internet is grouped with new media when media sectors are listed, but that does not make the network itself a media product. Describe it as a network and infrastructure that hosts online services, such as streaming, social media and websites. It is not a single product like one video, one post or one website.
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OCR Creative iMedia · Media Industry Sectors