Media & Mediation @allysonaamedia-blog - Tumblr Blog

Final Reflection

Overall, my Media & Mediation class taught me a lot about the ways we view and interact with media.

Today, the world is heavily inundated with media. We see it everywhere - through television, film, and now, everyone has access to media through smartphones. Some subdivisions of media have arisen, such as social media.

In class, we mentioned how social media originated. Originally, Myspace was the most popular platform of social media, spearheaded by “Social Media Personality” Tila Tequila. Since then, social media has made strides to become a platform for news, through Facebook’s “trending” news topics.

Then, we mentioned the phenomena of ‘cyber race’, and how ambigious people used to be able to be on social media, which is now changing due to shared photos and video. This also touches on “aura”, also mentioned in class.

Aura is the idea that nowadays on media, things are transient, and the true message people try to convey through pictures shared does not reflect its actual artistic value.

We also talked about video games, a subset of media that is often overlooked. We learned how video games can affect ones thought process, especially children, who are one of the biggest consumers of video game media.

Overall, this class taught me about how to mediate, as well as translate media to best convey a message, which is very useful to my degree.

What's interesting about the shift from an industrial age to a technological age is that we keep inventing new media: movies, records, radio, television, the Internet, and now ebooks - and one of the things that's most interesting about the invention of a new medium is watching it reinvent itself as it penetrates the culture

David Gerrold

Reflection #7 - Cyberspace

What is cyber space?

The term itself is hard to define, as we must understand what cyber means on its own, and where it came from.

According to Tegna, a publicly traded broadcast and media company, :

“Words matter. Routine misuse of the word “cyber” is one reason we do not have a common framework for discussing cyberspace. Cyber should not be used as a verb nor should it be used as a noun that can stand on its own. Saying “cyber” should not automatically connote a cyberspace attack nor should it drive one immediately to assume that cyberspace activity is all about spying, espionage, crime or challenging our right to privacy. The term cyber is most useful as part of the compound word cyberspace and cyberspace is simply the man-made domain created when we connect all of the computers, switches, routers, fiber optic cables, wireless devices, satellites and other components that allow us to move large amounts of data at very fast speeds. As with the physical domains—land, maritime, air, space—we conduct a variety of activities in cyberspace to benefit individuals, commercial entities and governments. The key difference between cyberspace and the physical domains is that cyberspace is man-made and constantly changing. That characteristic offers both opportunities and risk.”

Cyber, therefore, is defined as a “man-made domain created when we connect all computers”. The definition also says that it is “constantly changing”, two great ways to define CyberSpace.

Certainly the term refers to the World Wide Web, through which we communicate and connect with people from different corners of the globe, all walks of life, ages, and races.

CyberSpace is also forever changing. As a Mass Communications major, this is especially clear. Many platforms of information in print are considered obsolete, and some papers have even moved to becoming solely digital.

Take the Times-Picayune, for example. It has been one of New Orleans most revered daily newspapers. It switched to weekly publication, and has recently changed to bi-daily. However, it is always available through the web, via nola.com, where it garners many more “viewers”.

Journalists, also, no longer rely on simply good writing. They must know how to work cameras, produce, direct, edit, shoot, film, and change audio levels. They must be familiar with cameras and video camera, as well as microphones and headsets.

This is all indicative of our world moving toward a more digital world.

In late 2014, Mozilla launched a $25 phone in several emerging markets like India, the Philippines and Indonesia. Dubbed the world’s cheapest smartphone and run on an operating system built entirely on open Web standards (HTML5), the move marked a new frontier in efforts to connect emerging market countries. Could this be a spur to truly universal access? The last year has seen the development of a range of important initiatives to open up Internet access to the two-thirds of the world that doesn’t have Internet access – but not without controversy. Google’s Project Loon uses high-altitude balloons placed in the stratosphere at an altitude of about 32 km (20 mi) to create an aerial wireless network with up to 3G-like speeds. 2014 saw the first test in a developing country, and some have raised concerns about content providers simultaneously acting as network providers. The Alliance for Affordable Internet, led by the World Wide Web Foundation, is a coalition of private sector, public sector, and civil society organisations who have come together to advance the shared aim of affordable access to both mobile and fixed-line Internet in developing countries. The initiative has so far gained the commitment of four countries — the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Nigeria and Mozambique — to work to shift policies and regulation. The initiative has already seen Ghana commit to abolish import duties on smartphones. Meanwhile, Internet.org, led by Facebook, is offering free Internet services for those apps and services that have partnered with Facebook and various service providers. Some have spoken out about this type of so-called positive traffic discrimination, where one set of apps and services are privileged over another, for its potential to crowd out competition and stagnate the market for available Web services.

webfoundation.org

Reflection #6 - Myspace to Facebook: Race and advertising evolves in the digital age

Once upon a time, when the internet was young, we had no way of knowing another’s ethnicity online.

“a/s/l?” or “age, sex, location” was a common question in chatrooms. This is because those chatting with one another had no basis for whom they were addressing.

Now, in the age of social media, ethnicity is in the forefront of the digital world. Anyone who comments on a blog, news site, or any web page has the option of displaying themselves for all to see. While this may seem like an invasion of privacy, we assert that it is not by our indulgence in social media.

Spearheaded by Myspace, internet “consumers” slowly climbed out of the hole that was the world wide web. Now, it was commonplace to display your portrait as a “profile picture”, to design your webpage to show your likes, dislikes, hobbies, places you’ve been, and even a “top 8″: a place to display your top 8 friends on social media.

This was ultimately brought to light by reality television personality, and subsequent Queen of Social Media, Tila Tequila. With over a million “followers”, she laid the basis for inter web social groundwork, and that was no accident.

People like Tila Tequila followed suit: Musicians used Myspace to promote their music. Soon big companies found a goldmine in this: and so came forth the age of Internet Advertising.

Facebook soon blew Myspace out of the water in terms of popular social media. Now, social media became even more extensive, and arguably, intrusive; You are encouraged to list your workplace, your school history, the books you like, the movies you enjoy, your relationship status, your lack thereof, your political party affiliation, your religion....

And advertisers use all this to promote products directly to you.

In a way, social media rejects the lines separating race; but we, as users, fuel it. It is hard to avoid opinions regarding race, religion, or politics when scrolling through your Facebook feed. Now that everyone can see who is engaging in conversation, it gets a bit more “black and white”.

For example, if the issue is X, and someone is against X, they may be targeted for such based on their ethnicity. If someone is for X, the same may happen.

Not too long ago, racial lines were blurred in cyber space, because we weren’t given context. Now, the lines are much more evident. Whether this is good or bad is up for debate.

Reflection #5 - Outsourcing Media

We’d like to think that media is a utopia; a platform for all ideas, conservative and liberal. Every time we log onto social media, we see it as a marketplace of ideas. All different kinds of people joined together in “cyber space”, sharing opinions.

Cyberspace, however, isn’t the utopia we think it is.

In post World War II, it was mostly women working in factories that produced what we would call today a computer. Those days, most factories were in America, but conditions were naturally deplorable, as were most industries those days.

Now, we have the Silicon Valley “boom” to blame for the outsourcing of technology production. Today, smart phones and personal laptops are plentiful; it is safe to say that everyone owns one, people from all races, ages, religions, genders, and ideals.

This is good in and of itself; the fact that so many different walks of life can engage in media is, at best, the goal of “cyber space”. But this presents a problem we know all too well.

When a product, such as a laptop or smart phone, is in high demand, companies want to produce it as quickly and cheaply as possible in order to get it into the hands of the consumer. One of the biggest technological companies is Dell, which spearheaded outsourcing.

Today, Dell has factories in China and Mexico making it’s computers, tablets, and all other forms of technology. They are constantly competing with other companies such as Apple to create something, better, faster, newer.

This means that there is now an arms race in the technological world. Again, conditions are deplorable, workers needs are being met, and the wages are incredibly barren. That means every time we open up our $800 laptops, or scroll on Facebook on our $500 phones, we engage in the conditions these workers face.

This also presents a catch-22; without technology, we would have no knowledge of these conditions. It becomes a cycle. However, companies can avoid this by ceasing the outsourcing of production.

Reflection #4 - legality of remixing

I had wondered whether remixing something is legal. I figured that by taking another artist’s work without permission, you would get in trouble. However, remixing is creating something new out of original work. Parodies, which are legal, would fall into this category. I did some research and found out that in 2010, there had been a motion set by the Electric Freedom Foundation, which read:

“EFF also won a groundbreaking new protection for video remix artists currently thriving on Internet sites like YouTube. The new rule holds that amateur creators do not violate the DMCA when they use short excerpts from DVDs in order to create new, noncommercial works for purposes of criticism or comment if they believe that circumvention is necessary to fulfill that purpose. Hollywood has historically taken the view that “ripping” DVDs is always a violation of the DMCA, no matter the purpose.”

While this is in reference to videos on youtube rather than music, it is still groundbreaking. This is because “amateur” creators often use youtube to showcase their work, just as they used to use Myspace for such. The fact that they can legally take another’s work in order to convey a new message is exactly what remixers do, and what DJ spooky touched upon. DJ spooky said that “everyone [these days] is a DJ”. This motion set by the EFF allows everyone to express themselves via youtube, one of the most fundamental artistic, and accessible platforms on which to go viral.

You're only as good as your record collection

DJ spooky

Hip Hop and Electronic music AKA modern pop music are two genres that use an abundant amount of samples, from actual sound rips to lyrical samples. I personally think a lot pop music today has lost a lot of originality because of this, but it has also helped give other songs even more meaning, no matter how subtle. For example, take “Paper Planes” by M.I.A. as a song that used a sample to add to the meaning of it’s lyrics and add even more context to the song. The song samples “Straight to Hell” by The Clash, which references the immigrant experiences and hardships in places like the U.S.

To conclude, I believe that remixing music can come across as lazy, but in some cases, add to the context.

Reflection #3 - Remix

Dj Spooky stated that sampling is the repurposing of original material. Sampling, therefore, is really the foundation of what a remix is.

A remix is often defined as taking original pieces of media and turning it into your own. This can done in music, television/film, and even art. For example a musician can take an original song, manipulate and add to it to create their own original version of that song. An artist can use another artist’s signature elements, like a Jean-Michel Basquiat crown tagged onto a modern artist’s work. The closest style of art that would embody a remix is pop art.

Pop artists often put rearrange original samples into their songs. A relevant example of this is this week hot 100 billboard’s number one hit, “Hotline Bling” by Drake, which is a reworking of a song by a smaller artist named D.R.A.M, “Cha-Cha”.

Remixes have, and always will be, a popular way to envision media. Dj Spooky says that today, everyone is a Dj. That’s because we are bombarded with media every day: in completely different forms.

Remixes are considered original works of art. However, some see it as ripping off of original content. For example, a lot of samples are used in the hip-hop genre, no matter how small that sample is. Public Enemy used over 20 samples in their song “Fight the Power”. They even used samples from famous speeches, such as those by Martin Luther King. The music video uses footage that the band did not themselves shoot. Often, royalties must be paid in order to use these sounds and footage.

Reflection #2

With everything so easily accessible, as well as easy to broadcast to a wide audience, aura is clearly present in our daily lives.

The concept of ‘Aura’ is a new phenomena related to the rise of social media, as well as the accessibility of smart phones.

Walter Benjamin noticed particular qualities of traditional art waning in modernity, particularly, the “authority” art carries. He associates aura with the status of the artwork, authenticity, and unattainability. Nowadays, everything is attainable. We can access the Mona Lisa, for example, simply through our search engines.

According to Cease Fire Magazine, “Benjamin sees the transformations of art as an effect of changes in the economic structure. Art is coming to resemble economic production, albeit at a delayed pace. The movement from contemplation to distraction is creating big changes in how people sense and perceive. Historically, works of art had an ‘aura’ – an appearance of magical or supernatural force arising from their uniqueness (similar to mana). The aura includes a sensory experience of distance between the reader and the work of art.”

This is a new luxury, an epidemic caused by the technological era. Now, with smart phones, art is also losing its authority. Rather than using our phone to take an original “work of art”, such as a picture, we use it to prove that we were at a certain place. For example, we would take a picture of us at the Mississippi River, post it to social media, and assert the fact that we were there. Our aim is no longer to take a beautiful picture.

Aura is defined in antithetical relation to the productive forces that have been rendering it socially obsolete: technological reproducibility. This is especially true in the cinematic world. Film is meant to be shown to the masses, reaching a large audience.

interesting infographic on box office revenue by country

A film review - The Rabbi’s Cat

The following is a film review I wrote for The Rabbi’s Cat:

The point of this review was to shed light on animated films - a genre that is stereotyped for children, but in The Rabbi’s Cat, we clearly see it a genre for all ages.

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