Usefulness and Potential Benefits of Analyzing New Media from the Perspective of L. Manovich’s Soft Technological Determinism – The Case of Instagram and Smartphone

Abstract

The article is an attempt to confront Lev Manovich’s soft technological determinism with twocontemporary media - the smartphone and the mobile application called Instagram. The analysis isbased on the characteristics of a term called “new media” identified by Manovich, with emphasis onvariation and cultural transcoding.The verification of accuracy and the use of the soft technological determinism in the contextof selected new media has varied by the discourse on contemporary new media and constitutes aninteresting point of view. The evolution and the development of both variation and cultural transcod-ing (two elements conditioning their universality which continually shows an upward trend) regardingmobile media, give an opportunity to forecast their productive potential.