In The Language of New Media, Ch. 1, Lev Manovich speaks about the 5 principles of New Media. These principles are the following:

• Numerical Representation – think of Mathematics. As said in the text, “an image or a shape can be described using a mathematical function” (p.27). Numbers dictate and through the use of algorithms new “media becomes programmable” (p.27).
• Modularity – refers to the fact that new media objects are made up of independent modules that are made of smaller modules. “Media elements, be they images, sounds, shapes, or behaviors, are represented as collections of discrete samples (pixels, polygons, voxels, characters, scripts)” (p.30).
• Automation – looking at it from a very basic level, this is where the numbers (Numerical Representation) and Modularity (the pieces within the pieces) come together. The fact that New Media is programmable and made up of smaller pieces makes it easy for one to manipulate and create automatically. And that’s all that automation is really – the ease with which one can manipulate, and how automatic creating becomes.
• Variability – the definition for this principle is in the name (but all are, to a certain extend). This principle simply states that New Media objects exist in multiple versions. The nature of New Media simply allows for an infinite number of possibilities to be possible within one object/work.
• Transcoding – And lastly, this principle basically has to do with how we, Humans, respond. Once the New Media, the data, is presented to us what do we make of it? How does it affect us? Transcoding is how we represent and understand the logic which is influenced by the computer.