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Blog 6: NEW MEDIA, POLITICS, AND ENGAGEMENT

According to Theresa Sauter, the media and specifically social media’s roll in the political world is to; inform people of occurrences, educate citizens on the meaning and significance of events, provide a platform for competing viewpoints and allows for informed public opinon, give publicity to political goings on and expose political wrong doing and create public scrutiny(2012).

Politics will be relayed across every medium there is, whether it's so the politicians can attempt to reach out to young audiences, or they're being mocked by them, politics is every where.

Democracy is a fruit that only grows with everyone's hand helping, take away politics on the internet and you'll end up with a lot less people, knowing or caring.

In the 1990s, there was a discourse of decline in political participation, a "crisis of democracy" (Castells 1998, 342-49). "Falling voter turnout; lower levels of public participation in civic life; public cynicism towards political institutions and parties; and a collapse in once-strong political loyalties and attachments.” (Coleman and Gøtze 2001, 4). Resulting in the decline of social cohesion and community well-being - “bowling alone” (Putnam, 2000)

Politics is about who can shout the loudest so the internet is the obvious battle ground, but of course things can go a little differently such as online activism. Online activism has given the power of politics back to the people, we can respond to policies with greater word spreading of a protest or concern.

The hackers known as Anonymous have engaged in multiple cases of online activism, in protests, hacking government websites, and even posting a video of a message from Anonymous is now seen as an act of online activism - simply for being known as a group of political headstrong, capable and active group.

References:

•Castells, Manuel. 1998. The Power of Identity, vol 2 of the Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture. Malden, MA: Blackwell

•Putnam, Robert. 2000. Bowling Alone: The collapse and revival of American Community. New York: Simon and Schuster.

•“Week 8 New media politics and engagement”, Sauter Theresa 2014. Accessed 15th May 2014. http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_4_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fcontent%2FlistContent.jsp%3Fcourse_id%3D_108110_1%26content_id%3D_5232450_1

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WEEK 3 CREATING AND CONSUMING NEW MEDIA CONTENT: We the audience

“… those who were on the receiving end of a media system that ran one way, in a broadcasting pattern, with high entry fees and a few firms competing to speak very loudly while the rest of the population listened in isolation from one another— and who today are not in a situation like that at all.”(Rosen 2006)

With the launch of Web 2.0 the audience spectrum has begun to change, no longer are we (the audience) in the corner eating while the cooks continue on in the kitchen, no, now we're the cooks too! Are there too many cooks in the kitchen? Well the internet's a big kitchen but that doesn't mean there's not going to be a hell of a mess.

“If all would speak who shall be left to listen?” (Rosen 2006)

I find this to be just slightly dramatic. Yes, there are disadvantages the creator-consumer dynamic - the exploitation of data by businesses, a lot of awful memes, everyone thinking they're opinion needs to be heard, ect. But let's dissect this a little, not everyone is a creator-consumer, in fact I'd say that less than half total people who use the internet, aren't necessarily blogging and posting comments and memes. Yes, evening just reading and watching is technically creating something by the process being logged, but the consumers aren't really hungry for that kind of creation.

Then again, businesses monitor data and use it to their advantage. “Every mouse click or video view is logged and even these inactive lurkers are ultimately (unwillingly?) generating data to refine content delivery systems or recommendation engines, and ultimately drive up the popularity of online media businesses.“ (Green & Jenkins 2011, 111)

So really it's not just that the audience has changed and become creators, the creators have also become the consumers. “The changes the internet has wrought … are shifting how we value audiences, how we understand what audiences do, and how they fit into the networks of capital, both economic and cultural, that constitute the current media landscape.” (Green and Jenkins 2011, 110; with reference to Van Dijck and Nieborg 2009)

Even just consuming is participating, and thus creating (in ways you may not have first intended). Viral makes the world go round and the world makes viral go round. “...audiences play an active role in ‘spreading’ content: their choices, their investments and their actions determine what gets valued.” (Green and Jenkins 2011, 116)

That's right you helped Rebecca Black's "Friday" become so popular. You helped Facebook get more popular than Myspace. Your 'like' counts!

Bibliography:

•Green, Joshua and Henry Jenkins. 2011. “Spreadable Media. How Audiences Create Value and Meaning in a Networked Economy.” In The Handbook of Media Audiences edited by Virginia Nightingale, 109-127. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

•Rosen, Jay. 2006. “The People Formerly Known as the Audience.” PressThink: Ghost of Democracy in the Media Machine, June 27. Accessed May 17 , 2014. http://archive.pressthink.org/2006/06/27/ppl_frmr.html

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"The Big Data"/"Please don't press print"

Every time theres a little flicker of activity on the internet, it is scored. Every time you “like” something on Facebook, it is scored. Every time listen to something on Spotify, it is scored. This is the condition for everyone on the internet, a receipt of all your activities is stuck to the bottom of your shoe. They call it The Big Data, the collection of everyone’s activities on the internet ever. IBM says that we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day– 90 per cent of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone (Runciman, 2014). And Academics are trying to study this pollution cloud of data. What for? Science thats why - someones gotta sift through it and organise! Of course what about the use of it, the practical appliance of wisdom gained from seeing how many times people watch the same cat video? Can bad the guys, I mean corporations get even better with suggestions of products? Is this already happening? Whenever I send an email or message on Facebook, the ads change to happen to be about what I was just privately messaging my friend. The question arises, how morally ethic is studying the big data? Is the collection of numbers fine but the appliance of knowledge gained not? What about people being able to see everything you do on the internet when you’re in the privacy of your own home. No one’s around, but they’re always watching sound right? People try to portray a friendly, no bullying vibe on the internet, I’d say stalking by invisible watchers is a form of bullying. The study of the big data reminds me of the NSA’s actions of spying. So is the big data just a big stink cloud of the hussle-and-bussle of internet use that we should all just look away from? Probably. Is that going to happen or is it going to be studied to bits and used to take advantage of the public? More Likely. Bibliography: Runciman, B. (2014). Big Data, Opportunities and challanges . United Kingdom: BCS Learning and Development Ltd. #n8803013

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#nottobevorbose

Simple text doesn't seem to be good enough anymore for communication. Although I guess since Abraham Lincoln had ; ) in a transcript of a speech written in 1862, text seems to be out of style for a while now.

Since people have started using emoticons more often in texted communication, it hasn't necessarily made anything clearer. Typos abound, a 'good night' message with a smiley face can come across as friendly, one without a smiley face can be seen as blunt, and one with a winky face can come across as the person being cheeky/flirty.

As people become more reliant on these small little hints to actual meaning, we also seem to be more susceptible to misinterpretation.

Income the hashtag, now we know exactly what the person is talking about!...Sorta, we lose sarcasm and other emotions and intentions attached - at least the topic is clear though. Maybe we can start putting hashtags as film genres, or even themes for high school readings, just to quickly get the idea of it, and maybe even a little comment by someone.

"The Outsiders" #Commingofage #Teenagecompanions #Classstruggles #Shirtlesspatrickswazey

Hashtags do seem to be the best text medium for the clearest thought, but thats just the thing, its a thought, a little comment - but not really a communication. I'm just waiting for the days of a hipster-revied sweep of sonnets but in hashtags. Or even an 'ironic' party theme of emoticon masquerade dress up.

Although emoticons and hashtags first had the intention of clearing things up with moods and final thoughts attached, things haven't really gotten any better. Just another little thing in the message that you hope you understand, but you can never really trust because you're not truly sure.

I hope we can move away from emoticons and hashtags and promote more usage of good writing, hell even bold and italics would help more than a winky face and a hashtag saying yolo. Then again I'd also like to see a revival of the telegram, mixed with sexting.

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Transmedia of Prometheus

While transmedia is an ever-expanding phenomenon, every once in a while a project comes along that deserves to be studied for it’s achievement in developing and utilizing new methods of transmedia - Ridley Scott’s 2012 film Prometheus is one of these films. It (Prometheus) is a major stepping-stone in the evolution of transmedia. The film’s approach of integrating the world of Prometheus with our own – with stylized TED-talk videos, ‘leaked footage’ of characters getting ready for their mission, ads for androids which feature in the film, as well as an investment opportunity for a company that only exists in the film.

The marketing and transmedia of Prometheus covered the usual Facebook and television ads but went further into people’s live by also slipping into their daily life and interests – from a stylized futuristic TED-talk video to androids being a sellable product advertised on Youtube and The Wall Street Journal, even to a train station in France being converted into alien architecture. The transmedia of Prometheus delve even further with ‘leaked footage of emerging technologies’, videos of character’s quoting books and films and even twitter Q&A’s of audience to android-character, opening a direct dialogue between audience and character.

Prometheus’ first transmedial move came as a very sneaky and clever video uploaded to the Internet without announcement where…

“…TED, a popular thought leadership speaking series, is reimagined in the year 2023 where technology genius and industrial mogul Peter Weyland shares his vision of the future. In so doing, he sets up the plot of the film, and premeditates a story world that we’re already familiar with from the other Alien films.” [1]

During the 2012 WonderCon, attendees at the film's panel were given ‘Weyland Corporation’ business cards that directed them to a website and telephone number. After calling the number, the caller was sent a text message from the Weyland Corporation that linked them to a video that was presented as an advertisement for the "David 8" android. A month later an extended version of the ad is released to Youtube, creating even more buzz for Prometheus. The ad mimics exactly how modern-day ads play out, from the little jingles to the redundant trying-to-be-clever dialogue “What makes robots so…robotic?” yet something isn’t right – there’s a human head in a sealed plastic casing, and it just moved. Next thing we know an off screen voice that could be talking about the next Apple product is talking to an android played by Michael Fassbender. Just like the android mimicking a human being with only a subtle hint that something is off, the ad for the ‘David 8’ is a mimic on today’s real advertising for products, only that it’s selling something for a fantasy world - a world the audience wishes to be in – the world of Prometheus.

This invitation into the world next extends its hand to The Wall Street Journal, where a full page is given to advertising the ‘David 8’ – a product that would actually attract the business readers of The Wall Street Journal.

Oren Aviv, Fox studio’s chief marketing officer describes the aim of the transmedia videos for Prometheus is that…

“…it’s all connected. These don't happen independently. It’s designed to be part of this transmedia effort. It gives people a chance to explore and share and discuss and never ruin the movie.” [2]

Soon after the world of Prometheus grows even closer to ours by opening a two-way dialogue between audience and character - A twitter account simply named David8 is activated. The account let anyone ask the android character any question, and the android replies with a new, individual and specialized answer every time.

This two-way dialogue between audience and character is a rarely seen before transmedia achievement. And although there’s obviously one or more writers creating the responses of David8, it’s the fans, who when…

“…immersed in a wide-ranging narrative universe, will strive to produce their own transmedia extensions…” [3]

[1] Hall, S. (2012). "Prometheus and ted where does the marketing end and entertainment begin." Sparrow Hall. Retrieved 26th/3rd, 2013, from - http://www.sparrowhall.com/blog/prometheus-and-ted-where-does-marketing-end-and-entertainment-begin/.

[2] Chmielewski, D. C. (2012) Meet David the android from Ridley Scott's upcoming 'Prometheus'.

[3] Mélanie Bourdaa, A. G. (2012) Henry Jenkins explains his vision of transmedia and audience engagement.

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Keep on playing

It's interesting to see the history of working society and the differences between them and their coupling technologies. Global connectivity is now in, but is truly supported by the mass production of the computers that connect, and the culture to it fuel it. The culture of the "playbour". Google drives this idea with it's employees. Why spend 30 minutes going out and eating lunch on a work break, when you can go downstairs, eat, and be back to work in 20? This of course maximises work flow and productivity without resorting to cheap slave labour, or is a kind of new version of cheap labour? Perhaps these employees are working for less than they should be? Sure there's all the office bonuses of free food, gym, and slides, but it sounds like a ploy for maximum productivity. This 'playbour' lifestyle has sunk into modern society as well. People using facebook constantly/youtube/the internet in general. People using the internet in strengthens the impact it has on society and how society survives - now with 3-D printers being able to build entire houses in a matter of hours, the number of "physical" jobs will continue to lower. Perhaps one day far into the future when the world is covered in screens, "physical" job workers will be the highest paid...or outcasts... Or atleast tracked like the TESCO armbands. Which just sound like experimenting on rats and automatically collecting the data on them. Will these armbands eventually become RFID (Radio frequency identification technology)then how about we have a reason for everyone to get one of these installed into the arm. Make it cool, make it productive, make it fun and make it easy. Look at the new RFIDmini! Have music vibrate through for veins so you can listen to your favourite radio hits in your head no matter where you are! (may or more not collect personal data and measure you as a human being) It sounds like society will eventually be all about the "playbour" life style, scary to think that people might evntually be essentially working all the time, with holidays in the office and funerals down the down the hall. This brings about the question, will people be paid to use the internet? I don't mean working online, I mean that being online is working. Maybe I just can't deal with the maximum work efficiency and information/people at your fingertips. I don't know, something sounds fishy when things are looking utopic.

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Who are you?

How up to our necks are we really buried in social media? Yes just about everyone has an online account and 'identity' and those who don't are responded with things like: "What the hell do you even do with your life?" or "Wow you are so cool and brave - you're such a vagabond, dude!" But how different are our 'online' selves to our face-to-face selves? And what about the difference with being anonymous and having a 'profile'? I'd like to explore these differences. Since the birth of youtube and myspace, living online has since become the latest thing for modern society, like a fad with global peer-pressure behind it. Profile picture, your interests, who are your friends, where and where you were born, and where are you now? Social networking has become a great tool for socialising, but when one steps back and looks at these 'requirements' to have this online social life, things start to look a little scary. This is the world wide web, and when you make an online identity you are caught in it and everyone can watch you wiggle. But of course the majority of people are comfortable with this and put a show on for who ever is watching. Others however don't seem so comfortable with every word typed and photo uploaded being stuck online forever - and traceable back to you. Thus anonymity has gained some push on the internet. Sites such as 4chan and reddit give this space for anonymous discussion, and it's these sites that seem to be the complete opposite to social networking sites like Facebook, opposite in content and spirit. No posts like "just ate this dinner here have a picture of what I ate lol #onadiet" but rather more controversial posts like opinions, ideologies and humour - things that would never be seen on Facebook. Why? Because no one can recognise you - but they can recognise the idea of your post - thus making anonymous online posts seem to be kind of a 'freer' way of discussion on the internet, and letting things like having friends or family be able to say what you really think. In a way anonymous posting harks back to more personal face-to-face conversations, and in a sense, a more human sprouting of ideas and discussion. It will be interesting to see how social identity and online anonymity shapes in the coming years of the internet, but with governments and groups being against, and hoping to take down this ability to be anonymous, are we going to be stuck in the web forever, always being watched? I hope not.

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