Each age is defined by an underlying spirit; Barney asserts in his thesis statement that ‘the spirit of our age is the spirit of the network’ (Barney, 2004). He finds that the network society pervades the individual, social, economic and political climate, and this to Barney grades the network societies place in history. Van Dijik reveals how many critics have described this epoch as ‘web society’ where the world is connected on more planes than ever before, the psychical space and time constraints have been broken, yet contrary to this we seem to use the web to define ourselves and evoke as sense of individualism on a common platform. The new media has a potent effect on society globally, and in understanding the consequences of this potent new media it would be prudent to explore its characteristics of integration, interactivity and digital code as Van Dijik sees it. Integration is of great importance to the structure of new media as combines telecommunications, data communication and mass communication in one strand. Van Dijik explains this to be a convergence and thus the new media can be called a multimedia. Integration exists in a variety of strata; infrastructure, transport, management, services and types of data. Integration has allowed for digitalization of new media through the use of digital code.
Second to integration is the characteristic of interactive media. This pertains to a ‘sequence of action and reaction’ (Dijik, 2006). Interactivity is based on a time and space dimensions. New media has allowed for a significant shift the time and space paradigm. The concept of online on the web allows for a continuous stream of time and space, which defies the older conventions of having a fixed space or time for a given medium. Van Dijik raises a valid point; digital media is more interactive than traditional media, and the user could potentially be empowered to influence the content they consume, however Van Dijik suggests that this power has yet to be fully exploited by the media consumer. Another element of interactivity is the mental dimension which relies on the context and value of the relations between users.
Digital code is the third characteristic of new media and is associated with transmission of binary code made up of a series of 0’s and 1’s. Digital code has replaced analogue. Digital code allows for standardization and thus content is produced, disturbed and consumed with greater ease. The characteristics of integration, interactivity and digital code are not isolated elements but rather they exist and operate in chorus. In short Castells summates the attributes of a network society: ‘the network society is made up of production, power, and experience, which construct a culture of virtuality in the global flows that transcend time and space.’ (Castells, p. 1998:370)

Sources
Barney,D. (2004) The Network society.
Castells, M. (2004) ‘Informationalism, networks, and the network society: a theoretical blueprint in The Network Society’.
Van Dijik, J.(2006) The Network Society .