Mutually Catalytic

New new media add to the already competitive world of media for our attention much like Charles Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest. Print threatened the spoken word and television threatened radio. Although print media had a profound effect on our memories it gave us the ability to save our history and narratives for future generations. Radio also survived due to the recording industry as most actors and actresses moved from radio to television. The evolution of older media to new formats allows for its survival. As print and television benefitted older media, so will new new media benefit new and older media today.

Blogging and YouTube threaten newspapers and television as they each compete for our time. However, when a blogger or a YouTube video becomes famous enough it could end up on another medium. For example, "Julie and Julia" tells the story of how a blogger became very successful in the medium of cinema. In addition, when we finish our blog or upload our YouTube video, we can use widgets as a way to get the word out quickly by posting a link to our Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter pages. All these media can benefit each other, despite some of the negative effects they may have on older media.