A internet intervém em todos os níveis do sistema mediático (é diferente)

Nunca antes , como acontece com a internet, se dá uma intervenção tão radical no sistema de comunicações; mudando não apenas emissão, mensagem mas tambem recepção.

«This attention to the forces and the subjects shaping media technologies is one of the striking features of the convergence paradigm. While the advent of new media and the digitalization process provide the conditions for widespread change within the media system, these same conditions are being actively shaped by the various actors populating the contemporary media environment: that is to say, by multimedia conglomerates (on the supply side), by public institutions (on the governance side) and by users themselves (on the consumption side). A medium, therefore, can not be defined unless one starts from its accompanying 'protocols' and "practices", which shape it on the cultural, economic and social level (Scaglioni, Sfardini, 2007).» (Mascheroni, 2008: 14)

«Other social technologies have radically changed societies in recent history such as the automobile, telephone, radio and television. However, unlike the internet, these technologies remained fairly static in many ways. For example, cars are still used primarily for transportation, telephones for voice or text exchanges, radios and televisions to receive (and not send) programs. Similarly, remember Henry Ford's quip, "[the car] can be any color, so long as it's black"? Though all cars are no longer black (...) fonte: A Portrait of Early Internet Adopters: Why People First Went Online --and Why They Stayed by Amy Tracy Wells, Research Fellow, Pew Internet & American Life Project February 20, 2008