From Facebook to the iPhone, from YouTube to Wikipedia, from Grand Auto Theft to Second Life, this book explores new media's most important issues and debates to create an accessible and essential text for newcomers to the field. With technological change continuing to unfold at an incredible rate, it rounds-up major events in the media's recent past to help develop a clear understanding of both the theoretical and practical debates that surround this emerging discipline. To organise and explore the crucial issues within such a large and ever changing subject area, the authors have commissioned case studies to sit along side the main chapters so that there is an interesting balance between the well-trodden and the newly emerging topics within the field as a whole.In doing so, it is hoped that it will provide a lively and original introduction to essential issues and areas of key interest. Topics covered include digital television, digital cinema, game culture, digital democracy, the World Wide Web, digital news, online social networking, music & multimedia, virtual communities and the 'Digital Divide'. This is an essential book for anyone studying new media or for anyone who simply wants to know and understand more about contemporary media culture.