An associative media architecture and platform that enables communication of media objects between participants using a variety of communication infrastructures and media presentation devices as determined by the users and owners of the media assets. Media assets formatted as media representations are associated with a globally unique identifier to form a media object. The media object can contain any media representation irrespective of format. The media object is an elemental entity having characteristics that are preferably retained throughout the life of the media object. The media object may be owned by one or more participants. The media object may be associated with owner preferences that can influence the context in which the media object is presented. The media object may exist in multiple storage locations, although each stored instance of the media object retains its unique identification and remains associated with the owner preferences.