Introduction

Convergence, convergence and convergence that is what the recent hot topic that people have been talking on but what does it mean? According to the Merriam Webster online dictionary, the word “convergence” refer as the merging of distinct technologies, industries, or devices into a unified whole”. In the era of globalization, people have been relying on technology or to be specific the three main screens which are television, smartphone and also laptop screen to get the latest news, information, or to keep in touch with someone. This reflect that we are in the era of media convergence which is an era of the merging of previously distinct media technologies and media forms due to digitization and computer networking. In other words, media convergence is the confluence of the 3 C’s which is communication, content and computing. The research done by newspaper Mail Online state that nowadays average person spends more time on their phone and laptop than sleeping. This is because the study claims that the average person spends 8 hours and 41 minutes on electronic devices. In addition, according to a research done by MediaKix which compare the time we spend on social media and common daily activities and the result was quite surprising and shocking. This is because the result found that people spend the most time on activity such as watching television which consume 7 years and 8 months and 5 years and 4 months on social media while people just took 3 years and 5 months for daily activity such as eating and drinking. Sad to say that we are not leading a healthy lifestyle but in the mean same time it reflects that the revolution of industry 4.0 is happening or going to be realistic which part of our life will be evolved around with mass of technology and the era of media convergence.  Hence, this reflect that it is hard for people in this 21^st century to be free of the trap of these three screens because this enable them to be update with what is going on around them or the latest news and information.

Advantages of media convergence

i) Disseminate first-hand news

               Media convergence generates many obvious opportunities for creative industries to circulate content and advertisements. One of the benefit is that we can witness first-hand news or information. This is because before the presence of media convergence the journalism can only publish the news that they got from the press conference in written type such as newspaper or magazine. However, with the presence of media convergence journalism can used different type of medium to disseminate their news or information to the public. For instances, the journalism can publish the latest news or the first-hand that they got at the media company official websites such as Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. In addition, with the development of broadcasting the journalism can report the latest news through live broadcast or livestream via Facebook at anytime and anywhere. This is because livestream is an application which enable the journalism to reach their audience all over the world and this enable the people or citizen to get update to the latest news. This reflect with the presence of media convergence the journalism can disseminate the first-hand news or information to the public through new and efficient way.

ii) Reach a broader audience

               Another benefit is that media convergence allows sources to reach a broader audience with the same media message presented across different platforms to fit the needs of each consumer. This is because the information is readily to be disseminate to the people via multiple platforms in today’s society. The audience or the people is able to access to the news or information through many different ways and able to pick a platform that best suits his or her needs. The presence of media convergence enable the audiences to choose which platform best suits their needs, which ultimately increases the number of opportunities to view a message on a platform that each individual prefers. For instances, when we are taking public transit to somewhere like work or school some of us will be frantically and trying keep up with the hustle and bustle of society and do not have the capacity to wrestle with reading the newspaper but with the media convergence nowadays we can keep update ourselves with the latest news by browsing through our social media or the newspaper online. In addition, maybe some people enjoy listening to the latest news rather than reading he or she can enjoy it through the podcasts and they just need to plug in their headphone or earphone and receive the same content as someone reading from the paper. This reflect that with the development of media convergence people can use different way or medium to keep themselves update with the latest information.

iii) Save cost

               In term of industry, with the development of technology, the cost of products and software was lowered. This is because instead of having different news crews for every medium, one converged media operation can use the same reporters and staff to produce stories for, telecommunication, television and Internet mediums such as social media or the media company official websites. Thus, by combining each medium’s resource, a converged operation can increase the quality of its product. Furthermore, the increased convenience of information provided by converged stories makes using the media a better experience and the public does not need to pay much to get the latest news.

Disadvantages of media convergence

i) Disseminate of fake or false information

       One of the disadvantages of the media convergence is people can create up their own story or news regarding some issue and post or share it in their social media platforms. This have lead to disseminate of fake or false information and news. For example, during the Malaysia 14th general election the news of the opposition party that lead by Tun Dr. Mahathir have won the election had been viral through the social media before the real result declared by the chairman of SPR. These have created riot or chaos among Malaysians and the supporters of the opposition party have flooded at Putrajaya to celebrate the good news. The netizen should not share or disseminate the information that is not been confirm by the respectively people or the journalism. Then during 3 a.m. the chairman of SPR declared that the opposition party of Malaysia have won majority seat in the parliament and after the official announcement made by him the people can share about the news. Therefore, before the official announcement people should not disseminate or share any news that have not been confirmed and if we see from the other side of this issue what if the information that have been viral is false and the official news is the other party win the election, “Can you imagine what kind of consequences that the person will be facing by disseminate fake information?”. This reflect that it is important for us to know the news sources can be trusted or not before we disseminate the information to other people.

ii) Facing high security risk on personal detail

               Besides, the disadvantages of media convergence are that it is facing high security risk in the field of their personal detail. This is because everyone can access to any information they need through websites such as google without any boundary or rules. For instances, the content of a page can be stolen, copied and also redistributed without the proper consent or authorization which mean anyone can just copy and paste from the website and claim that the content belongs to them without giving a credit to the writer of the content. People might be exposed to identity theft and compromise of personal information such as credit card details. For example, if the people pay via online banking they are required to fill in their personal detail and also their account number to proceed to the paying system. However, those cybercrimes criminal take this as an opportunity for them to gain some money by hacking in to the banking system and the people would not realize about that. This is because the website they log in is exactly the same as those bank official websites. To be specific this kind of act is known as phishing which is an attempt to trick someone into giving information over the internet or by email that would allow someone else to take money from them.

iii) Some people might be left behind this era

           In the era of media convergence some people such as the old people or the people that live in the rural area they will be left behind of this development. This is because they are lacks of knowledge or do not have idea how to reach to those media through technology. For example, the old people still depend on those conventional ways by reading newspaper to get the latest news instead of through media. In addition, some place especially in rural area does not have a good coverage of connection to Internet or television. Thus, these problems have leads to some disadvantages to this group of people and they will be eventually left behind about what is going on around them.

Positive impact of the three screens to the society

i) Enable us to get the latest news and information

The three screens enable the people to get the latest news regardless of using smartphone, television or laptop. Before the presence of the smartphone and laptop we can just keep ourselves update to latest news by sitting in front of the television screen after having our dinner because the news will be broadcast at the prime time which is at 8.00pm. However, with the revolution of technology nowadays people can keep themselves update with the latest news in every nook and cranny by subscribing some news channel or read through e-news in their smartphone and laptop. Therefore, the presence of the three screens have made the people life more convenient and knowledgeable by keeping them updated with the latest news despite their hectic life.

ii) Keep in touch with people

People also can keep in touch or keep contact with their friend or family through the 3 screens. This is because through social or chatting applications such as WhatsApp, WeChat , Messenger and more, one’s can video call or text their friends or families through the application. For instances, if you are working at oversea and when you miss your hometown or longing to see your family member you can keep contact with them by video call via your smartphone or laptop. In addition, now with the development of technology you can video call via your television or to be specific your smart television screen by using screen mirroring. Screen mirroring which is also known as screen casting is a way which allows you to mirror your mobile device’s content to your television screen and all you have to do is just switch on the connection for screen mirroring on both of your smartphone and television in order for the connection to work successfully. 

iii) One’s can express his or her feeling

Through the smartphone and laptop one’s can express their feeling by simply clicking the ‘log in’ button to their account. For example, if someone feel like talking or express their feeling to someone but they are not able to do that in reality, they can choose to express their feeling such as anger, happy, surprise and so on in the social media by writing a few words and also use emoji to represent their feeling. In the mean same time, one’s can also express their thought about some issue or about a picture by living a comment below the respectively post. As an example, when you saw your friend post a selfie at his or her social media account you can leave a comment by saying “You look awesome” and that is a way of express your feeling or thoughts about something.

iv) Enable us to do online shopping

In this 21^st century people can buy things through the 3 screens without going out from their house or it is known as e-commerce with the development of media convergence. This have gave a new life for the television because previously the television act as a tool for people to entertain themselves through the programme such as drama or soap opera but with the presence of CJ WOW Shop, television have act as a medium for the people to sell their thing to the audiences.  If after the show or during the show the audiences interested in buying the product they can buy the product through calling the phone number given or visit the product website. In addition, if the audiences call the retailers to buy the products during the show there are special promotion or free delivery and that is of the marketing strategy to attract the customer to buy the products. Besides, nowadays people can do online shopping even though they are in the commuter or bas because all they need is smartphone or Iaptop and you can browse or search for the thing you want to buy at the search engine and thousands of online shops website will pop out. Indeed these 3 screens have made online shopping possible for those that have a busy life and have no time to shop for their groceries or products.

Negative impact of the three screens to the society

i) Create more competition or rival in business and people might lose their job

               Competition, competition and competition! This is the main issue in the professional realm regarding digital media convergence through the three screens. This is because all media sites are easily accessible and available for anyone and the society just need to have gadget like smartphone and laptop. Although, there are some saying that having competition in business is good so that the people will improve their business. However, from the scope of digital world everyone can promote their own products and services via gadgets and with help of social media platform. Therefore, the society can eliminate the middle man or known as advertisers and build their own brand up by themselves. This tactic may be beneficial for entrepreneurs, but not for individuals in the advertising business.

ii) Expose to fake news and information

When the three type of screens made our life much more easier through media convergence the society can search or browse the information they want to know and they might face some risk. The risk is the society might expose to fake news and information especially through phone and also laptop. This is because people tend to blindly share the information or news they got from other people via their social media or Whatsapp  without justify or checking where the news source is from and it is from a trusted source. The society normally use phone and laptop to access to their social media platform. According to the study of Columbia University and the French National Institute, “59% of links shared on social media have never actually been clicked”. That was a quite frightening number because it reflected that half of the user just share the information without even clicking the links and in other words they do not even know the content that they are sharing. The user might be the victim of some sort of crime and so on because they might be helping people to spread their propaganda and more since they do not even bother to click and read the content of the link. Therefore, in the era of media convergence where information overload and people tend to be overwhelmed with the information the people or user of the website or social media have to be more wises or they can log in to some website where the news have been clarified from the government or professional people such as ‘Sebenarnnya.com’. In the ‘sebenarnya.com’ the citizen of Malaysia can get the latest news that have been clarify that the news is from a trusted source.

iii) Less communication in real life

Another impact of phone and computer screen to society is it have reduced the interpersonal or face-to-to face communication. People tend to chat with their friend, colleagues or family through social media platform rather than face-to-face. However, some people seem to be shy to approach people in real life but they can approach people by chatting with stranger in the virtual world well it may sound hilarious but that is the facts that is happening in this world. For example, someone might have 900 friends on their social media platform even at the age of adolescent, these is quite dangerous because we would not know that actually that person might just give us fake personal detail and use fake profile picture. In other word, this mean catfish where someone have fictional online persona and it really hard for us to judge them whether their personal detail is true or not.  Thus, the society have less communication interaction in real life, this generation is missing out on building long-lasting relationships with individuals.

iv) Health of the society

               People have been indulge in the world of the three screen which are television, laptop and especially smartphone. they will have some consequences to the health of the society. One of the symptom that the society might face when too much of screen time especially in smartphone and laptop is text claw. The avid texters and Candy Crush enthusiasts may be subject to text claw and actually text claw is an unofficial term for soreness and cramping felt in the fingers, wrist and forearm after heavy smartphone and laptop use. Besides, text neck is also one of the health problem that the society will be facing when spend long periods of time looking down at their smartphone. According to expert calculations, the angle at which our big heads look down forces our spine to bear the weight of approximately 60 pounds and this habit may lead the society to have medical spine care at an early age. Eye strain will be face by all the society regardless pf what type of screen you are staring or looking at. This is because any activity that requires active use of the society eyes such as reading or watching movie can cause eyes fatigue. 

The positive impact of the smartphone and laptop screens to higher education students

i) Gain knowledge and get the latest information

               Besides, going to lecture hall or attend talk the smartphone and laptop screen have become a part of the university student life to gain knowledge or get the latest information. For example, if the lecturer would like to cancel the class the lecturer will inform the student through email, message or in the WhatsApp group via the two screens the students will get the latest information from their lecturer or friends. The university student will also keep themselves being update with the current affair that happen inside or outside of the country they will use media such as YouTube, Facebook or the official website of the news company.  

ii) Tool for assignment and presentation

               Assignment after assignment and assignment, yet indeed that is one of the part of university student life and it is the most crucial part. In order to do all the assignment given by the lecturers the student need to use laptop. This is because the student need to do those assignment by using the Microsoft Word application so that they can submit it in hard or soft copy to the lecturer. In addition, the student also need laptop to do their presentation slide and present the slide in the class because all the presentation in university will use slide instead of paper presentation that we use to do during our elementary school.  

iii) For discussion

               The two screens are also important for the university student as discussion purposes. As all of us know that university student life quite hectic and they do not really have much time to meet their friends for group discussion. Instead of meeting in real life the student can choose to video call their group member or just discuss in the group by sending messages via their social media platform or WhatsApp. These can be done by using smartphone or laptop to reply their messages or having video call or conference with the group member. This shown that the two screens have made the university life more convenient.

Negative impact of laptop and smartphone screen to higher education students

i) Reduce the student concentration in class

                 These gadgets will reduce their concentration in class because the student will use the facilities by connect their phone and laptop with the campus Wi-Fi . For instances, when you are at class and you saw your phone or laptop have receive a new message or email we will check our message or email because human is full of curiosity. The moment the student touch or grab their phone or laptop to reply to the message that they receive, these will reduce their concentration in class because they will keep on replying their friends message without any endlessly. These is one of the negative impact to higher education students.          

ii) Eye strain

               I believe most of the higher education student will be facing this problem. This is because eye strain occurs when a person stare at a screen for hours and this will be part of the university student lives. The university student has to face smartphone and also laptop screen so that they are able to do their assignment or get the latest information. As all of you know doing an assignment it is not easy because the student has to search for information and it takes time. Therefore, they have to stare at their digital devices for long periods of time and this will lead to sore or dry eyes, fatigues, headaches and more which will decrease the student productivity. 

iii) Too relying on the Internet or website information

               The higher education student will be too relying on the information online and do not bother to search information from the book. However, the university student should not neglect that for the reference part that they required to put in as many different type of reference as possible. In addition, some of the information that we found on one particular website might be differ from the other website. Therefore, the university student should not be too relying on the Internet information although it is more convenient then searching book in the library.

Conclusion

In the nutshell, it could not be deny that we are in a media convergence era now where everything can be done and also the people get to know the latest news by just one click. From the above it can be concluded that the society cannot be free form the trap of the three screens which are television, smartphone and laptop screen while the higher education students cannot be free from the trap of laptop and smartphone screen. This do reflect that the most important screen in the world or the society nowadays is the smartphone and also laptop screen. This is because both of the screens can do multitasking task such as typing, calling, recording, play games and also upload picture or video to the social media unlike the television screen which just enable the people to watch movie, drama or news without any interaction with other people. These three screens have its own positive and negative impact. The society regardless of stages, ages or nationality should not be too addictive into these three of screens till we neglect about our safety and health. Thus, as a part of the society all of us should use the three screens wisely.