ARTS2090: Publics and Publishing

This blog is personal reflections and archives about publics and publishing in the world today. This blog will have a variety of links, videos, mindmaps and writing that reflect the art of publishing.

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Distribution of Music and Journalism

"Transversally" 

Now that is out of the way...

This week I investigated how the Internet is forcing change in certain industries. In particular music and journalism. Surprisingly these changes are very similar. Producing these mediums used to be a qualified task, now anyone with a computer can be a journalist, musician or producer. Because of these changes both the journalism and music industries have had to adapt to the challenges the Internet has thrown at them. 

The music industry is rapidly changing. This issue has been discussed throughly over the past years. Casey (2011) points out that the new music industry is already here. An industry where the musician doesn't need a recording contract, agent or even an instrument to produce recorded music. She goes onto to say there are countless new artists emerging along with countless new consumers. I have noticed in the cultures I interact in it is socially cool, even encouraged, to find "new music". This means trawling Facebook, YouTube, SoundCloud etc. and once you have found this "new music" you post it on your blog, Twitter, Facebook to show your friends. This is an example of music being intergrated into social media. 

These new musicians often do not record in traditional recording studios. After engaging in this week's readings I realized how Apple has now become the recording device, the producer and the host of music. The musician can record their piece on GarageBand where they can edit and produce it. They can then send it off to the iTunes store (or Amazon) where the store will host it. Taking 30% of all profits for simply having the song on iTunes (or Amazon). There is no risk for them to host the music (Paul 2012). 

David Byrne (2007) discusses what is like to be on both the creative and the business aspects of the music industry. He voices his concern that the industry has become about selling the product (e.g. albums) instead of the concepts (i.e. music). Because of the changes to the industry recording costs have declined, manufacturing and distributing costs have declined and touring is not just for promotion (Byrne, 2007). These changes demonstrate how the music industry has altered since the rise of the rise of the Internet. 

Journalism is being challenged in similar ways. Now anyone with a smart phone, laptop, tablet or any other connection to the Internet is a journalist. Opportunities for citizen journalists keep appearing. Now the major newspapers are encouraging audience participation, debate and even to challenge the journalists and correct them according to Rusbridger (2012). I find this concept interesting. Although the media sources state they are all for citizen journalism they still control which article the audience is allowed to comment on (more on that in my research paper).

This led me to thinking about what a closed environment the Internet is. If a citizen, lets call her Jane,  contributed to an online paper or online part of a paper such as The Guardian (this is hypothetical remember), and they post on their blog, Facebook, Twitter and email all their friends about it imagine how many hits it would get. Now assume the article is well written and very interesting so each of Jane's friends shared this article. And so on and so fourth. Add a paywall into the equation, and although this would discourage some, it would also increase payments from a demographic not necessarily tapped into. I'm not entirely sure this makes sense, but it was a huge realisation moment for me.  I believe it is very well represented in the Guardian News Advertisment about the Three Little Pigs which can be seen here.

This advertisment and interacting with any online news source highlights how intergrated the multimedia platforms are. These changes show how the journalism industry has adapted the Internet. They also highlight how the industry will continue to change. A lot of media scholars believe this is the way media will be distributed in the future. Slowly fading out the traditional forms of distribution. 

I found it interesting to see how the music and journalism industries have changed to accomodate the Internet, and how they will continue to change so they are still profitable and satisfying to all audiences. 

Refrences  Byrne, D (2007), David Byrne's Survival Strategies for Emerging Artists--and Mega Stars [Accessed 9/4/12] http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/magazine/16-01/ff_byrne?currentPage=all

Paul (2012), I'm a Successful Artist. And Here's Why Things Have Never Been Worse, [Accessed 9/4/12] http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2012/120214cracker

Casey, T. (2011), The New Music Industry Is Not Coming, [Accessed 9/4/12], http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/the-new-music-industry-is-not-coming.html

Hicks, J. (2012), The Verge Interview: David Car on Curation, Crowdsourcing and the Future of Journalism, [Accessed 11/4/12] http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/3/2912487/david-carr-interview-dnp

Rusbridger, A. (2012), Q&A with Alan Rusbridger: The Future of Open Journalism, [Accessed 11/4/12] http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/mar/25/alan-rusbridger-open-journalism

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Essay in Leiu-of-Examination: Distribution

ARTS2090 ESSAY-IN-LEIU OF EXAMINATION

‘The term communication can be defined in a wide and strict sense is: a process by which a system is changed by another system’ (Vilem Flusser, Writings Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press: p8)

Distribution has arguably always been about communication systems that bring other systems into contact. Is publishing, in itself, inevitably going to be disruptive?

‘The new is terrifying. Not because it is this way and not another way, but because it is new,’ Flusser (2002).

Distribution directly correlates with communication systems, one cannot exist without each other, and neither would exist without society’s need to communicate. Publishing itself is not going to be disruptive in the traditional sense of the word. Rather it is going to be disruptive in the evolutionary sense of the word. That is: ‘Disruptive, (Diversifying) Selection a process by which more than one trait of a population is selected, possibly leading to two different species,’ (Lack, 1947). This theory can be applied to media, as technology is evolving and so is the media developing ‘different species’. Media practices are combining to make it simpler and faster to comply with society’s demands. Through the comparison of Twitter and The Sydney Morning Herald one can observe how publishing has been ‘disruptive’ and has thus evolved.

            Distribution is defined by the Cambridge Online Dictionary (2011) as; ‘the process of giving things out to several people, or spreading or supplying something.’ Although this is a traditional definition of the word, it is applicable to Web 2.0 on a larger scale. Web 2.0 allows spreading, supplying and giving of things/words/pictures in an instant and vast method. Distribution is the same in essence, but now works on a larger scale. Publishing on the other hand, has changed. The Cambridge Online Dictionary (2011) states Publishing is; ‘to make information available to people, especially in a book, magazine or newspaper’. Whilst Web 2.0 still makes information available, it is more accessible, to all sorts of people at a faster pace and all over the world. These definitions highlight the change since Web 2.0 and show how publishing has been disruptive in the evolutionary sense.

  Flusser points out that communication is a process by which a system is changed by another system (2002:8). Although this is true to a degree it does not completely encompass what it is to communicate. Humans have been communicating in various ways as long as they have been on the Earth. Since smoke signals we have been able to communicate over great distances, and as humans have become more and more sophisticated we have been able to make the world a smaller place. Every time communication becomes more advanced, the ideas of previous communication methods are not discarded. As Brecht said; ‘don’t throw the baby out with the bath water’ (Mumford 2009). Essentially we are achieving what the Native Indians started when they used smoke signals, on a much larger scale of course. Communication is now available across vast distances. Every time we communicate without being in the immediate presence of the person with whom we are communicating, we are publishing something.

  Vilem Flusser is a Czech-born, philosopher, writer and journalist. His works are published in many different languages across the world. As a media critic he is not as highly regarded as McLuhan, Baudrillard or Barthes.  His work complements theirs although it is different in certain ways. ‘Just as McLuhan pronounced the end of the “Gutenberg Galaxy”, so did Flusser proclaim the end of writing. Neither would appeal much to a theoretical world that was discovering the importance of language, writing and so forth’ (Poster, 2011:ix). Flusser’s work is especially relevant in society today as writing is becoming more irrelevant, as people are easily able to access the information they are seeking from the Internet. The way in which information is delivered has developed greatly in the last decade.

  It is evident that distribution has changed through the distribution of news. In recent decades people have been receiving their news through a variety of different sources. News has gone from newspapers to radios and television to now more commonly online news websites, news blogs and what I will be focusing on; Twitter. Twitter is a micro-blog which allows users to post information using 140 characters or less. ‘It’s almost impossible to describe Twitter ( Bora Zickovic’ as cited in Ben-Ari (2009)). Through the use of hyperlinks people are able to select which story interests them the most from a variety of sources. The Sydney Morning Herald has an online option, this is the newspaper in electronic format, with a more constant stream of stories. However, it does not have the diversity an account such as Twitter offers, nor is it set out in short explanations not exceeding 140 characters. Twitter users’ accounts completely depend on their interests. If they only want Australian news then they can follow Australian News Teams, but if someone wanted to follow Australian and American News then they can follow the appropriate teams or people. ‘Whom you follow on Twitter is key to the quality of information you receive,’ Ben-Ari (2009). Twitter has become a common news source, particularly for the younger generations, as it is a quick way to convey news stories.

  The change from conventional newspapers to Twitter is a change in medium. Marshall McLuhan would then say this is a change in message. ‘McLuhan was a critic and analyst of the communication media’s impact on individuals and society, which, he argued occurred by changing individuals’ sensory organization and thought,’ (Carey, 1967) as cited in Rogers (2000).  McLuhan believed technology is an extension of the man. As we would use a hammer or a wheel we use technology. ‘One of the most important ideas attributed to Marshall McLuhan is that mass media are extensions of man, with communication technologies allowing individuals to be exposed to news events from afar and to exchange messages with others at long distances,’ Rogers (2000). This is particularly true of society today. It is uncommon for a Western adult to not own a mobile phone and/or a laptop without the Internet. This shows the accessibility of online news and Twitter, instead of the uncomfortable large newspaper. Through the mobility of phones, laptops and now iPads and tablets people are beginning to find sites such as Twitter a more comfortable news source than the traditional format of the Sydney Morning Herald.

  McLuhan (1965) also distinguishes between ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ media. In Understanding Media he makes a basic distinction that ‘a hot medium (like radio) [or in this case the Sydney Morning Herald] has much detail supplied by the source, so that little needs to be added by the audience individual. Not much is left to be filled by the receiver’ Rogers (2000). The Sydney Morning Herald presents its information in whole on both its website and in the newspaper. The picture, headline, interviews and information are contained in a single article. Twitter on the other hand is described as a ‘cool medium (like television) provides meager information and low definition as the pixels must be concreted instantaneously by the audience individual to give meaning to the otherwise hazy message,’ (McLuhan 1965:22) as cited in Rogers (2000). Twitter users are invited to use shortened hyperlinks to access more information about whatever the current tweet is referring to. In this way the reader is not limited to 140 characters but the smaller, easier version is available to them. Twitter, in this instance, shows how publishing has been disruptive. While it hasn’t been forgotten, it has changed to fit in with a fast-paced demanding society.

  Hyperlinks have dramatically changed publishing, distribution, and communication systems in general. George Landlow exhibits this change in his article, The Definition of Hypertext and its History as a Concept. Hyperlinks is a term coined by Theodor Nelson (Landlow 1992:2) in the 1960s. A regular computer user is able to gain the answers they seek by merely typing key words into a search engine. Hyperlinks allow most information to be accessed by anyone. Hyperlinks, online media and Twitter all expel the hierarchy of news and media. When newspapers were the only news source, it was only available to middle and upper class, as these were the only people who could read in the Middle Ages. Now most of Western society can read, and for those who cannot there are tools that can read a web page out to them. This publishing and distribution change has altered communication systems drastically. Children can as easily search news sites as their parents. The differing nationalities, ages and genders have access to the same database and information, blocked only by pay walls and password blocks. Hyperlinks are a key factor to the change of distribution and publishing in today’s society.

  Any person can become a publisher. David Gauntlett refers to this in his book Making is Connecting. The barrier between the writers and the readers has been diminished. People are able to contribute to news sites, establish their own Twitter account recommending stories for general public. Although they might not have the qualifications of their predecessors, they are given the prestige of being the story choosers. ‘[This is a] sharp contrast to the 20th century media, like television, when people had to have what was made for them by media professionals,’ Gauntlet (2010). If any person, with access to Web 2.0, in society can choose their distribution and publishing method this removes the significance of publishing, thus disrupting it. The author is no longer important in news stories. Any one can find a specific view on any news story by using a search engine correctly. Society is no long limited by the journalists’ or editor’s views in a particular paper. In his paper The Death of the Author, Roland Barthes discusses the desacrilization of the author, thus becoming the ‘scriptor’.  In today’s digital age, society receives culture and information effortlessly. ‘Language knows a ‘subject’ not a ‘person’’ Barthes infers (1977:2), this can be seen through Twitter as people don’t necessarily know the person tweeting but they trust their hyperlinks as they might have the same views or be from the same area for example. The trust placed in the ‘scriptor’ demonstrates a disruption in publishing, showing how distribution has changed with the technological age.

  ‘In the age of media convergence, with the explosive growth of the Internet and multi-media, the future of newspapers has become a matter of legitimate concern’ Thottam (1999:1). Because of the rise of Web 2.0 traditional newspaper format is in trouble. Many have speculated its disappearance in the next decade due to the rise in tablets and online journalism. ‘The web is a medium freed from the constraints of time and space experienced by print. It has broken down traditional deadlines imposed by the telegraph, the old printing process and traditional distribution systems’ (1991:3). Traditional newspaper companies can no longer rely on advertisements in the paper or subscriptions as the only income. Online papers are gradually establishing pay walls to get the income they once had at the risk of loosing readership. ‘Rusbridger [the Guardian’s editor-in-chief] described universal paywalls as a ‘hunch’ and said that the newspaper industry would learn valuable lessons from trying different business models, including staying generally free while charging for specialist content or asking readers to pay on different platforms, such as mobile’ Busfield (2010). ‘Newspapers cannot afford to give away their entire content for free through the Web. Giving away partial content has not hurt them so far. The trick is to use the Web edition as a bait or teaser to draw the reader to the print product,’ Thottam (2009:9). Through establishing paywalls the paper companies have the mobility of other online websites, but they are earning the income they would from the sale of tangible papers. This is a demonstration of how the newspapers are adapting to the change in publishing and distribution. 

  Flusser said the new is terrifying, because it is new. This essay has shown how society has adapted to the disruptive publishing and has come to demand the fast pace, reachable news that is available today. Due to disruptive media, news is available globally and instantly to all types of audiences, making the news world a more accessible place. The evolution of publishing is what has made media and the news what it is today, with Web 2.0 it will keep evolving and aiming to satisfy human’s demand for speed and accessibility.

Reference

Arizona Education, [Accessed 30th of May, 2011] http://www.geo.arizona.edu/Antevs/ecol438/evolglos.html information sourced from: Lack D. (1947), Darwin’s Finches, Cambridge University Press

Barthes, R. (1997) Death of The Author, Image, Music, Text, editor and trans Stephan Heath, New York: Hill

Ben-Ari, Z, (2009), Twitter: What is This Chirping About? News and Opinions Bio Briefs, [Accessed 30th of May, 2011], http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1525/bio.2009.59.7.19

Busfield, S. (2010), Guardian Editor Hits Back At Paywalls, [Accessed 2nd of June, 2011], http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/jan/25/guardian-editor-paywalls

Cambridge University, (2011), Cambridge Online Dictionary, [Accessed 8th of June, 2011], http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/

Gauntlett, D. (2010), Making is Connecting, [Accessed 2nd of June, 2011], http://www.makingisconnecting.org

Landlow, G., (1992), The Definition of Hypertext and Its History as a Concept, [Accessed 2nd of June, 2011]  http://cyberartsweb.org/cpace/ht/jhup.history.html

Mumford, M. (2009), Bertolt Brecht, Routledge Press, New York

Poster, M. (2011), Does Writing Have a Future: Introduction, translated by Nancy Ann Roth, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis 

Rogers, E.M., (2000), Mass Communication and Society, Vol. 3, Iss. 1, [Accessed 1st of June, 2011] http://web.ebscohost.com.wwwproxy0.library.unsw.edu.au/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=17&sid=f988d312-818d-4fa5-bdc4-431f695de8ca%40sessionmgr15&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ufh&AN=3061533

Thottam, G. (1999), Future of Newspapers: Survival or Extinction, Vol. 2[Accessed 2nd of June] https://dr.ntu.edu.sg/bitstream/handle/10220/1759/AMIC_1999_JULY1-3%28VOL2%29_08.pdf?sequence=1

Vilém Flusser, “Zurück,”in Vilém Flusser, Nachgeschichten: Essays,

Vorträge, Glossen, ed. Volker Rapsch (Düsseldorf: Bollmann, 1990), 168

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Magazine Publishing

ARTS2090: PUBLISHING

Magazines are defined as a periodical publication containing articles and illustrations, typically covering a particular subject, (Wikipedia). Magazines tend to handle the news after it happens as a feature. This means the articles are more in depth with more sources. These features are informative but not necessarily current. They also cover specific aspects of life in depth. For example Cleo magazine covers fashion, sex and other feminine topics that appeal to that demographic (18-30 year old females). Although not a vital form of media it still represents a role of data in society albeit a very specific one.

Magazines are available to anyone with the money to afford them. They are available at news agencies, supermarkets and convenience stores and there is a subscription service for those too remote to get it weekly etc. Most magazines have websites, blog sites, Facebook and Twitter to communicate with readers between issues. These websites help them accumulate a magazine that is what the reader wants. The Copyright goes as follows; (Wikipedia): In late 2006, Australia added several ‘private copying’ exceptions to the Copyright Amendment Bill 2006. It is no longer an infringement to make a copy a literary work, magazine, or newspaper article for private use. Therefore it is illegal to reproduce and sell for financial gain.

Magazines started in the 1700s, with The Gentlemen’s Magazine appealing to the ‘gentlemen of the era’. The oldest consumer magazine still in print is The Scouts Magazine, which started in 1739. There are three main categories for magazines; Paid Circulation, Free Circulation and Controlled Circulation. These categories have branched out over the years.

Magazines can be very influential, especially for particular demographics. Dolly and Girlfriend magazines appeal to young teenage girls at a time when they are easily imprinted upon. Although all magazines can be seen as influential in any aspect, each demographic responds differently. Readers of fashion magazines are enlightened to the recent fashions. Sport magazines are appealing to specific readerships, and are therefore influential to the followers. As the readers have already placed their trust in the magazine their impact is higher.

 Magazines publish data relevant to their readers. The data is specific and appeals to a certain readership. Edwards talks of how data starts as speculation, he uses climate as an example,

“This supposed contest is at best an illusion, at worst a deliberate deception—because without models, there are no data.  Everything we know about the world’s climate—past, present, and future—we know through models.” Edwards

This can be seen in magazines. All of there data sets start as speculation. This is how ideas are formed and the information starts.

“No longer under debate, however, are the fundamental frameworks of knowledge about the global climate: how we know what we know.” Edwards

 “A final thread that runs throughout this book is the idea of infrastructural globalism. In the context of meteorology, this refers to how the building of technical systems for gathering global data helped to create global institutions and ways of thinking globally.” Edwards

Because of satellites and the way media and social media especially has evolved means the world has become communication paradise. Because of this magazines are able to take advantage of overseas interviews, events and information that appeals to their particular demographic easily. This expands culture, particularly for remote countries such as Australia, and gives variety to standard entertainment.

 The distribution of magazines has varied dramatically over the years. The magazines are now available to anyone, anywhere via the Internet, Apps or digital form. So whilst overseas you can still see your magazine on your iPhone or iPad. These Apps are also interactive, linking clothing with the stores that stock them. The magazines are readily available for those willing to get the nearest retailer. There has been much variation to the distribution of magazines. 

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Death of the Information Age?

In this weeks readings the idea of distribution and publishing was common thread through both David Gauntlett’s 'Making is Connecting' and Wes Dobson’s ‘'Dawn of a System's Age'. What resonates most with me was Dawn of a System’s Age.

Whilst I agree with Joe Salvo that a new age is upon us, I believe the System’s Age has to work systematically with the Information Age as one cannot exist without the other.

The Information Age was a time where we could access information at a click of a button. Whilst we have moved forward with this concept I do not believe that we have completely neglected it. Each contribution to Web 2.0 needs consumers also the blog/post/website will die, and the author will not continue it. It is the public’s need and want for information that causes journalists, authors and regular citizens to keep churning it out.

Though the gap between the leaders and the followers is becoming blurred, there is still a need for the Information, whether that is coming from the leaders or regular citizens, the information and background to each blog/post/website has to come from somewhere.

I mention Gauntlett’s post because he makes valid points with distribution also. He points out that the Internet is a form of expression; people post to express their views, feelings or just daily habits. But by becoming a creator it makes you a better consumer:

“Once you’re a creator, making things in the world, not just a consuming stuff made by others, it makes a significant difference to your augmentation to the whole world,” Gauntlett said.

Viewers, readers and contributors themselves are still absorbing what the Information Age is presenting to us.

Joe Salvo describes the System’s Age as; "sensing, collecting, and manipulating data in near real-time with little to no human supervision."

 This Age is very much upon us. But I believe that the Systems Age would not be able to exist without the Information Age.  

 As Gauntlett said; “It’s possible to be too optimistic about this but there’s no point being pessimistic.”

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VISUALISATION: How This Affects Society...

Can our visualizations make a difference to society?

My group tackled the comparison of fast food and gyms in the CBD. We decided to do this as we feel that society is bombarded with advertising by fast food chains making them irresistible to human nature. We compared the prevalence of fast food chains with the lack of prevalence of gyms in the postcode 2000. 

We decided on this visualization because of obesity rates in the Western World. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2007, fast food chains in Australia served 1.64 billion take away means alone. This accounts for 44% of all meals served in the commercial sector. 

News.com.au shows The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development report found obesity rates in Australia had been increasing faster than any other advanced nation for the past 20 years.

This was the basis of creating our visualization. By making our invisible visible, people are able to see the saturation of fast food chains compared to the lack of advertising for gyms.

How is it that we eat food which we know is bad for us and yet, going to the gym seems so unpopular? Is it the upfront cost of a gym? Or the saturation of fast food advertising in our media and society in general that attracts us? Or perhaps it is the convenience of fast food? 

In our CBD there are 26 fast food chains in comparison to 9 gyms, that’s an 8 to 3 ratio. 

The saturation of fast food chains in the CBD makes it almost impossible to resist such an easy option. Instinctively we are attracted to the smell of sweet buttery bread. The logos also capitalize on human nature; the colours of red, orange and green subconsciously trigger hunger or excitement so people who pass by are attracted to these options.

There are 17,000 fast food outlets in the whole of Australia accounting for 28% of all commercial foodservice outlets. This visualization exhibits how easily saturated by fast food chains any CBD local would be.  As human beings our self-control is just not that good 

By creating this visualization we are exhibiting the saturation of fast food stores in comparison to gyms, and how that can affect an average person’s decision.

*Permission to change after due date*

News.com.au: http://www.news.com.au/national/australias-obesity-rates-out-of-control/story-e6frfkvr-1225929170271

Australian Bureau of Statistics:http://www.abs.gov.au/ 

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Archive Fever PT 2

The idea I got off Attention Shoppers! from Wired in this weeks reading is attention seeking. Today's society craves the attention/acknowledgement to make some record of our existence. 

Our constant want to be famous or to do something out of the ordinary is so we can be present in the media or records in some way.

“No one would put something on the Internet without the hope of obtaining some. Its called attention,” Goldhaber (1997)

Goldhaber wrote this in 1997, I think is more apparent in society today. Recording ourselves online is so much easier in 2011 than 1997.We regularly update our Facebook/Twitter/ Tumblr/ Wordpress/ E-mail accounts whilst programming to record shows on our Foxtel iQ and commenting on newspaper articles online on our iPads and Kindles.

Our individual online presence is enormous. Even after we pass away our numerous accounts are still available online. I know a girl who passed away last year and her friends still write on her Facebook wall as a means of communication.

The ever-growing online world allows thousands of records to be produced every second. For example when I post this blog a record of my thoughts in ARTS2090 in week 6 of 2011 is now recorded.

“Attention has its own behaviour, its own dynamic, its own consequence,” Goldhaber (1997).

Our online presence/attention seeking has both negative and positive connotations. By posting too much on line you’re in danger of online predators stalking you. On a positive note online presence often makes it easier to communicate and to be in touch with people who have similar interests.

The online media world allows for individuals to have individual presence. Whether for attention seeking or seeking be archived online media presence is an important part of society today.

Goldhaber, M. (1997) Wired: Attention Shoppers!, [Accessed 4/4/11], http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5.12/es_attention.html  
  

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The Unintentional Archive

The reading that resonated with me the most this week was; http://mattogle.com/archivefever/. 

I was amazed that this article spoke so true to me. The fact we post so much information about ourselves on the Internet. When people talk about privacy I think I have been good. Name, date of birth, gender and I thought that was all.

But if I go through my Facebook I would be able to tell anyone exactly what I have been doing since 2007 because all the records are there, being a self-confessed Facebook addict.

Since April 2007 I have also joined Twitter, Wordpress, Tumblr and most recently YouTube, Flickr, Foursquare, LinkedIn and Delicious Links. This kind of freaks me out; all those websites know my email address, gender, date of birth and my preferred on screen name (which may or may not be alias).

Another new revelation is that all these social networking sites can now be linked together. I just enter my e-mail address and voila “We can gather your information from your email and Facebook to see what friends use this site” eek! (I normally press yes because I figure some friends is better than having none!)

 Matthew Ogle (2010) speaks true when he says: "What were you thinking about on November 23rd, 2009? You probably have no idea, but Twitter might."

While these digital archives can be handy if we want to remember where we were in 2008, how much of this information do these social networking sites keep?

Checking in on Facebook is another freaky concept. I don’t know if people realize that when they check in at home, everyone knows their address. The current trend is that people friend others after one meeting, who is to say they are trustworthy? And by tagging friends how can you trust people on their pages?

Although I am not about to cut myself off from the social networking sites I am defiantly more aware of the things I am archiving.

Ogle, M. (2010), Archive Fever: A Love Letter to the Post Real-Time Web, [Accessed: 29.03.2011], http://mattogle.com/archivefever/

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Assembling Publishing-Publics/Archive Fever

I really struggled with the readings of this week. To interpret them I started to make a mind map, but that seemed to get me more tangled. So I decided to write, at least I know how to do that.

My idea of an assembly is a gathering of people, or in Latour's terms a gathering of human and non-human things. Latour draws parallels between situations. His works titled as the Actor-Network Theory. This defined in Wikipedia (2011) is called the "material-semiotic" method this maps relations that are simultaneously material (between things) and semiotic (between concepts). 

"Although it is called a “theory” ANT does not usually explain  “why” a network takes the form that it does. It is much more interested in exploring how actor-networks get formed, hold themselves together, or fall apart. It is not, in other words, a theory "of" anything, but rather a methodological stance that researchers can take in their analysis." Wikipedia (2011) 

From this paragraph I understand that we are to establish how actor-networks get formed in relation to publishing.

I am going to interpret how ANT relates to publishing. It is my understanding that publishing appeals to the assemblies. These assemblies are united by a common hobby or interest. Those who want to be informed about global and national events subscribe to the Sydney Morning Herald or the Daily Telegraph. Those who are interested in Rugby Union subscribe to Union the magazine or http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com.

Latour refers to elements and relations in an assemblage. So instead of just analyzing the human parts of publishing we should analyze every human and non-human entity involved with the art of publishing.

I can see how Latour’s theories relate to publishing. I am still confused with the theory of it. This is my understanding thus far.  

 Wikipedia, (2011), The Actor Network Theory (ANT), [Accessed 20/3/2011], http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actor-network_theory   

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Q and A an example of convergence publishing. Also an excellent video if I do say so myself. 

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Are We Lazy Publishers?

  Are broadcasters lazy publishers? Jess Cooper was too lazy to press private when publishing her birthday party. Charlie Broker points out in how to write a news story, that all the news stories looks familiar. Has it gotten to the point that we as consumers don’t demand any more? Or did the broadcasting studios have so much success with that format that we don’t demand any more?

This satirical clip was humorous the first and second times I watched it. But it took until the third viewing to ask myself who is he laughing at; the broadcasting studios or the lazy viewers (i.e. us)?

In this day and age we respond best to those broadcasts that are presented to us with no thought or effort from us. After a long day at work who wants to come home, turn on channel 7, 9 or 10 and have to actually think about what’s going on in the world?

ABC apparently offers a more intellectual type of news. My father the ever-boasting intellectual claims to only watch ABC news as it feeds his mind. But in sitting down and watching the ABC with my father I have noticed that similarly set news stories also appear –the list on the television screen is a favorite of theirs. Does this make it any less intellectual? Does it damage the intellectual’s view on ABC news if they were shown this Charlie Broker story?

Most importantly does it affect the content we are listening to if the stories are set our similarly? And most of all who is being lazy, the viewers or the publishers?

Charlie Broker's How To Write a News Story is posted below. 

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Charlie Broker's; How to Write a News Story

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Tablets; delightful or destroying?

The discussion of ebooks, iPads and kindles are dominating the media industry. A tablet is no longer something to cure a headache and online newspapers are starting to become a part of everyday life. 

So many questions are asked in regards to this technological advancement; How will this affect the media industry? How will this affect the print industry? Why would you buy a bigger iPhone that can't call anyone?

There is so much positive and negative information about tablets and the way media is heading. Interestingly, our society has never been one to take to change easily. I know our generation is meant to be the technologically advanced generation but this doesnt mean we adapt easily to change.  When I told my friends who don't study media that newspapers might not make it out of this decade every single response I got was; "[scoff] not a chance", no could imagine life without newspapers. 

Environmentally, economically and logically going digital makes sense. Although there is flaws, like Peter Kirn points out at this moment we seem to be reliant on Apple products only (2010; How a Great Product can be Bad News:Apple, iPad, and the Closed Mac). Every idea starts with one main product such as Xerox for printers and photocopiers. The competition is just getting started. 

Micheal Bhaskar said in 2009 mobile internet was more common in South Africa than desktop based internet. This indicates how fast our world is moving. "...the distribution of internet access is heavily weighted towards mobile with this trend continuing apace." Bhaskar (2009). 

Out of all the articles read for this entry Judy Sims spoke to me the most. "I'll just say that yes, I believe it's [the iPad] a game-changer because it will hyper-personalize the experience a person has when interacting with media and change the times and places at which they do so" Sims (2010). Although it might take our generation and generations before us a while to warm to the iPad/tablet reign and let go of our precious subscriptions, I believe that this is the future.  

Bhaskar, M. (2009), EBooks in Africa, [Accessed 11/3/2011], <http;//thedigitalist.net/?p=577> 

Kirn, P. (2010), How a Great Product can be Bad News: Apple, iPad and the Closed Mac, [Accessed 11/3/2011], <http://createdigitalmusic.com/2010/01/how-a-great-product-can-be-bad-news-apple-ipad-and-the-closed-mac/>  

Sims, J. (2010) Keep the Print Guys Away from the iPad App, [Accessed 12/3/2011], <http://simsblog.typepad.com/simsblog/2010/01/keep-the-print-guys-away-from-the-ipad-app.html>