Comm 323: Cassandra Rowe

Hello. This is a page I created to publish my writing assignments for my communications and social media class. Feel free to browse around if you want.

[ilovepeppers-deactivated2019122]

[unspokenusername]

WHAT DOES COKE, MEME AND MOOOH MEAN

[strangerbehindascreen-deactivat]

Oh great Cry, hate, and pain this will be a fun year

[dontyoureallycare]

ok so was reading it upside down (dont ask) so this wasnt me picking whatever this is it

YOLO

DEATH

COKE

so i challenge yao all to do the same read it upside down and reblog with the first three words that make sense

@waffelwar @literal-trash-queen @introduceinsecure @phantombookworm @justagirlinabookworld @pancakette @pinkhappypanda @thenicodiangelo @jew-aoba @isolemnslyswear and @startingtowondernow 

[pinkhappypanda]

The End Rage 😱

[deactivated11111122222]

Rage,hate and memes …well sounds like an interesting year

[totally-korean-guys]

Vape drugs rage 😂

[crimsoncrowe]

Drugs, Greg, and pain...who is Greg?!

[crimsoncrowe]

Recognize him? Probably as Blaine from Glee.  But would you believe that he was hired for that role partially because of YouTube?

Darren Criss may have made his debut on the theater stage early with the 42nd Street Moon and American Conservatory, but it was at University of Michigan where he and some friends founded Starkid Productions did he really make is start.

For it was with his friends in this group, they made some of their first plays most notably A Very Potter Musical (2009) where Darren starred as Harry “Friggin” Potter himself. It wasn’t long after they produced A Very Potter Sequel (2010) that Darren got the role on Glee.

Arguably, what got him the role was his performances with StarKId. This is because, and still true to this day, StarKid posts all of their productions on YouTube.  This small university group became so popular nationwide, by the time they produced a Very Potter Senior Year (2012) (while Darren began filming on the set of Glee) they had a full set, full tech equipment, and properly tailored costumes. Now compare that with the second image, from a Very Potter Musical. That is a lot of funding to gain in just three years when they produce at least two plays every year.

It just goes to show how powerful social media can be for a start up and the people who work there.

[crimsoncrowe]

I have recently decided to get back into working out, and I have always liked zumba and other cardio fitness like that; however, I can’t afford classes. My friends suggested I follow Cassey Ho, blogilates, on YouTube and do her workout videos.  And I love them! I love the idea of a fitness instructor making workout routines a little more accessible to people who wouldn’t have the funds or time to join a gym or buy fitness videos.  Plus her positive energy just makes you feel great!

Recently, some people have been leaving hateful comments on her videos.  Comments including “how are you so fat and a fitness instructor?” and “you should try losing a few pounds.” It’s deplorable! What joy do people get out of being horrible to others? 

This video I attached is her response to the hate.  She not only used YouTube to modivate people all over the world to be physically fit, but also shut down the haters.  She is an inspirational young woman who has used social media to build her career.  

[crimsoncrowe]

Snapchat

I gotta say, I love snapchat! It started out as something lame in my opinion but lately it’s convinced me it’s good for something. They recently added the news and entertainment media, providing their top stories in quick videos and animation. Then they started featuring cities. It’s unique. Bringing a whole community together by inviting them to participate by showing the best of their home. Last week, I saw them celebrate the Dutch holiday King’s Day. It was pretty amazing. It showed a side of the culture we couldn’t see from just looking at Amsterdam. And today, they had citizens of the UK celebrating the birth of a princess. I would like to see snapchat open itself to more possibilities. Such as creating one of these complied snaps streams for the Baltimore protesters to communicate what’s happening. It can even go a step further and all journalists in the field can snapchat as they are covering the stories. I think for these examples it would make everything covered in the news much more personal for us in the public.

[crimsoncrowe]

Animal Rights Activists on social media

This was about a month ago, but I still found it a really powerful use of social media in a positive way. A woman from Texas posted on Facebook a photo of her beaten cat and wrote a long post about how she beats her cat to display "dominance". When a friend of a friend, someone I follow on Tumblr, saw her post, they took a screenshot of her post and shared it on Tumblr asking for help on what to do. I did what I could by emailing the screenshot to the ASPCA asking them who we need to contact in Texas and forwarding along the post to my followers. But before I heard back from the ASPCA, a follower of one of my followers' parent was an animal control officer in Texas. She contacted the person who made the original post to get the animal abusers address. Less than 24 hours after this girl posted her abuse on Facebook: her county animal control officer was contacted, she was arrested, and the cat was removed from the home and brought to an animal hospital. Today the cat is alive and well in the shelter waited to be adopted by responsible owners. I thought about this when we were discussing whether or not social media promoted active participation with activism or not. Because of this personal experience, I would say social media can do great good when the causes of injustice is found by the people who care and can best assist. Sometimes a share can make all the difference in the world in someone's life.

[crimsoncrowe]

First post-grad job interview

I am graduating in a few weeks, and I was lucky enough to have a professor at Simmons connect me to a company for my first job interview; however, this company is based somewhat far from Boston without any T or bus access.  Therefore, there was no easy way for me to get there for the interview, so my contact offered to interview me via Skype. Personally, I hate phone interviews, so I was dreading this; but, I ended up loving my video interview. Everything went so smoothly as if I were in the office. We messaged links back and forth of our work and talked about our opinions on videography for a good half hour of the interview.  If anyone needs to interview remotely, I highly recommend using Skype.

[crimsoncrowe]

London v USA phone addiction

What I observed during my spring break trip to London was people are not attached to their phones like they are here in the US. Sure I saw people using them on the subway, or Tube, but I saw more people reading newspapers or talking with neighbors than I saw people zoned in on their Twitter feed.  I also loved how people were actually looking where they were going on the streets rather than staring at their phone screens. All in all, it was a wonderful experience I wouldn’t change for the world. I want to live there, both for the better winters and face to face interactions.

[crimsoncrowe]

I helped with these Tweets at my internship by roaming around the auditorium and taking photos at the Harvard Medical School (HMS) Ebola Forum before spring break.  At the time, I really felt silly. “Is live Tweeting really that popular?” 

This portion of the Forum, the only one I could attend, was very technical which made it very difficult to latch on to a phrase or quote that people would be able to understand clearly.  It wasn’t until I returned two weeks later when they showed me our Twitter analytics, that I understood how live Tweeting connects people.  When they can’t attend, our tweets allow our followers to participate none the less, and feel engaged.  It made me feel bad that we couldn’t comprehend the hard core science at this portion of the all day event. I felt like I let our followers down a little. Though, HMS was really appreciative for the photos. 

[crimsoncrowe]

Fandoms: GoT

Since the premiere of season 5 was last night, the Game of Thrones/Songs of Ice and Fire (GoT) fandom was very busy. I use them interchangeably because this book turned HBO hit series has fans that enjoy the two versions of George RR Martin’s tale.  Now, there is to much to say about this fantasy world that can be considered a spoiler, so I will say this ancient, magical world is home to many characters where no one is innately good or evil and all are fighting to accomplish their goals no matter how small. I think that is why people like this universe; it is very human.  

Participants in this fandom typically like both the show and book series, either having read the books first and then watched the show or vice versa. Still, there are some who just stick to one of the two. Overall, this fandom doesn’t participate by actively creating their own content often (at least by my observation).  However, they are very active social media users. On Twitter, it was among the top five trends of the night, and still maintained its place there this morning. One of the more popular social media trends I noticed are the amount of reaction videos on Tumblr and Vine to the few more *ahem* shocking scenes from the television series (hint: something to do with the color red or purple). These fans like to connect emotionally with each other, as this is an emotionally stimulating show, without giving away any one of the numerous spoilers to the show.  It is a very careful balance between giving away everything and not explaining anything that this community has been able to find which I find intriguing. Except when my roommates, who finished the books, talk to about it in front of me in code which is beyond irritating.  

Here are just some of the fandom active participation (fanart) numbers.   On FanFiction.net, there are six thousand stories tagged by the book series (Songs of Ice and Fire) and three thousand tagged by the show title (Game of Thrones). DevientArt, though dated, still has 80 thousand art pieces tagged with just the show and book series titles alone.  Tumblr has easily over 200 pages related to the series and countless posts made daily.  In the past two years, Anime Boston has been home to several GoT cosplayers who have their own photo shoot and panel. And let’s not get into ComicCon attendance rates. The GoT fandom hasn’t outnumbered the Harry Potter or Supernatural fandoms, but with their numbers continuing to increase, it might not be long before it happens.

[crimsoncrowe]

The Internet Era and Our Voice

I believe that this new relationship between service providers and customers has ultimately helped the customer, but devastated the service provider. With sites like Rotten Tomatoes, Angie’s List, and Trip Advisor, the customer has access to honest reviews by real people.  This is significant because, as I understand it, we are more likely to take the recommendation of a “friend” than trust an advertisement. This then ruins the current business model for the service provider because they have to change how they promote their services.

Personally, I think anonymity isn’t very helpful in this feedback loop. Maybe I’m cynical, but I don’t trust the feedback of someone listed as “anonymous” because I think the company paid them to write something or something similar to that.  This isn’t very fair of me since I don’t like dropping my name when I make a review, but it is how I think.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, however, I find myself trusting the reviews made by the Phantom Gourmet. This is because anonymity is essential to his business.  In the restaurant industry, if they know a critic is coming into the restaurant, they flag the table as VIP and do everything in their power to insure that one person’s meal is as flawless as they are capable.  Not saying that those reviews are not honest, what I am saying is the beauty of the Phantom Gourmet is they could be anyone, and they receive the same level of service as us.  Therefore, when I see a place as approved by the Phantom Gourmet, I trust this place to treat myself and anyone else who walks through that door equally.

[crimsoncrowe]

Social Currency

Social Currency: a term used to describe actual and potential resources which arise from the presence in social networks and communities, may they be digital or offline. For a brand, it can be divided into six layers: affiliation, conversation, information, utility, identity, and advocacy.

I see this as how effective a network or community is online. For instance, you can see the Facebook social currency is strong because the community exemplifies those six layers above and do so actively. They affiliate their brand with people and groups they want to. They open the doors for their users to have many conversations about both the brand and other topics of interest where that information is often shared to expand the conversation. Each user can create their own identity through Facebook, and can access it through a few different media which increases its utility. And finally, Facebook promotes advocacy with its users as well as within their own brand which increases likability of the brand.  The cycle continues and connects to each moving piece which increases the strength of the brand in terms of its social currency.

This is at least my understanding of how it works and looks. I am sure there are people out there who can accomplish this more clearly.

[crimsoncrowe]

90 minutes without my phone

So the other day I had to bring my phone to Apple because I cracked my screen.  They told me they had to take it for 90 minutes to complete the repair.  At first I was thinking it wouldn’t be a big deal, until I got to the Prudential Center and couldn’t talk to anyone, check snap chat, or manage my magazine via email. I tried to distract myself by getting professional clothes for work, but I kept reaching for my phone to send pics to my friend so they could advise me on my fashion choices.  I tried to shop for books, but couldn’t google the Amazon rating for the book. On top of it all, I had to keep asking sales reps what the time was. I was completely lost without my phone.  It is very unsettling to realize how attached I am to my devices.  I might need to work at that.

[crimsoncrowe]

Authenticity and Originality

What is the effect of internet culture on authenticity and originality? 

The author of Present Shock, Douglas Rushkoff, would say the internet keeps us from being authentic. Which can be true, considering anyone can create something online and declare it true. It really makes people question everything they see online, whether it’s an online dating profiles or a Wikipedia article.

Though this is sometimes true, I think that Rushkoff would agree that the internet allows many the opportunity at originality. There are many great creators and thinkers in this world who would just waste away without the internet.  People can start their own websites and even companies online.  Look at how big Facebook became and it was started in some kid’s dorm room.  

People create blogs with themes that engage their target audience on a personal level because the audience searched for them rather than the other way around.  People can record covers to their favorite songs, publish their short films, do impersonations, and so much more. Creativity and originality are limitless when it comes to the internet.

This idea of inbound marketing causes companies to think of new ways for their content to reach the their consumers without using force.  New marketers have to tackle this problem with original ideas.  

These are just a few examples of how the internet has fostered originality. Though Rushkoff might argue it allows people to steal ideas and creations from others, but since that minority stole things from others for centuries, his argument isn’t very original. 

[crimsoncrowe]

Predictions for Journalism

Here are the trends I would like to profile:

Crowdsourcing the future of news: Melody Kramer asked her social media followers what they predicted for the coming year for journalism.  She had three findings: new audio files, aggregation is more valuable to companies than content creation, and news sources will be less judgmental about how people get their information. While I can't say anything about audio files, I do agree with the other two predictions.  You can see news stations getting more active on Twitter and other social media to accommodate their audience, and you see them giving out pieces of the story on social media to encourage people to find more information on their own if possible.  

More is less (or too much):  Lydia Polgreen talked about how journalists have moved away from lengthy, information heavy articles to shorter articles that get the main idea across with a few quotes.  While I don't particularly love of hate this one, I have noticed this trend growing in popularity in my independent study.  As editor in chief of CommTracks this year, I decided we needed a balance of words, photos, and design intricacy. As a result, we have cut our word count down to 500 words per article instead of the previous 750 word maximum. This "more is less" attitude will definitely affect how people read anything in the future. Anything longer than 500 words will start to exhaust people.

The year of yes: discusses the positive movements in media over the past year.  After reading what Sue Schardt had to say, I couldn't agree more. Increased diversity and this being the "golden age of talent" allows people to demand better of their media, and forces media to change for them.  Therefore, people see more of what they want in range, media, and quality. We will certainly be pleased with our news if this trend persists. I feel as though this trend is starting to pick up, though not as much as we would wish.  

[crimsoncrowe]

Facebook: LOL

My Facebook feed on Sunday, February 22nd, broke down into the following categories:

“Trending” Stories - 25%

Humorous videos - 60%

- involving cute animals - 40%

“Status Update” - 6%

Inspirational quotes - 5%

Quiz results - 2%

Photos - 2%

I was not surprised by these results.  With the Oscars on television Sunday night, many of my friends were constantly posting about the wins and losses (which I counted as a trend).  I am a fan of videos, mostly humor related ones or animal related, so it wasn't surprising most of my feed included such videos shared by friends, from BuzzFeed, or recommended to me since I share similar posts. My Facebook feed allows me to check in on my friends and family while gaining personal pleasure from comical posts. Therefore, my feed has strong personal value that also allows me to interact with my friends with a simple “like” or comment.  The only thing I would consider changing would consider changing is following more news related pages, though I mostly use Twitter for my news.  Perhaps I won’t change anything. My current feed suits me fine.

[digitalcultures323]

[crimsoncrowe]

Read & be ready to discuss:Catch up on reading from last week Spreadable Media, Chapters 1, 2 "I liked everything I saw on Facebook" Write a blog post: First, categorize 100 Facebook updates, using...

[crimsoncrowe]

Chomping Away from 1985

My personal feeds vary based on the type of social media I am using.  My Tumblr is a chaotic mess of cute animals pictures/videos to social justice posts to hilarious vines or “Tumblr memes”.  Whereas my Twitter feed is all posts from newspapers and magazines; this is how I get my news.  Finally, my Facebook is a combination of the two previous plus I get to see what goes on in the lives of my friends and family.

When my friends share things on social media, it usually has something to do with an oddity like “world’s tinniest houses” or some social justice post involving gender/race/sexuality equality or animal rights.  The people I follow also like making comedy posts that include GIFs or puns.

Over the past week on my Tumblr feed, people couldn't stop posting about the Superbowl halftime show.  Not that I am surprised, Katy Perry’s halftime show was a sight to behold.  People mostly seemed interested in creating posts relating to the costumed shark back up dancers during “Teenage Dream” (refereed to by #left shark and #right shark).  The sharks are tagged in posts about the Super Bowl, Katy Perry, the John Mayer Late Late Show, and Back to the Future Part II (know as #backtothefuturepredictions).

I believe it all started when the sharks became off tempo during the dance, which made one shark look more dedicated to the performance than the other. After that, people started talking about it because it was funny.  The sharks were later guests on the John Mayer Late Late Show which added to their popularity.

The dancing sharks also became popular thanks to the new 2015 trend #backtothefuturepredictions.  In the 1980s sequel, Marty traveled to the year 2015 and showed us all what the future had in store.  Now that it is 2015, people are trying to see what the writers got right.  What do these things have to do with each other? As you can see from my last link, the dancing sharks look remarkably similar to the 3D shark from the “Jaws 19” ad outside the the future movie theater that almost ate Marty.  

Now I really love the Back to the Future predictions trend. I think it is going to be present for the entire year without becoming boring or overdone.  It will grow and develop with the year.  As far as the dancing sharks…well they are definitely cute.

Trend example links:

http://johnmayeritalia.tumblr.com/tagged/left-shark

http://irwinand.tumblr.com/post/110149183752/you-know-he-just-got-those-sharks-on-the-show

http://mintypartdeux.tumblr.com/post/110374942424/this-kind-of-joke-just-isnt-right

http://erikpreston.tumblr.com/post/109837814725/backtothefuturepredictions-superbowl-katyperry