10 Media Revelations
By Patrick O’Connell
1.
In the film Generation Like we see how social media and technology have essentially taken over the way we communicate. Through the sites like Facebook we give ourselves a sense of worth by associating a “like” on Facebook with a real life gratification. Just by going out there on these social media networks you can see how our lives have changed to revolve around the lives we build online. We are able to witness the technological shift the world is experiencing first hand and that experience is felt throughout the entire film Generation Like, as well.
- "Further reinventing oral culture has been the emergence of social media, such as twitter and in particular Facebook, which now has nearly one billion users worldwide. Social media allow people from all over the world to have ongoing online conversations, share stories and interests, and generate their own media content." (Campbell 9)
- "Facebook's immense social dynamic audience is its biggest resource, and Facebook, like Google, has become a data processor as much as a social media service, collecting every tidbit of information about its users- what we "like", where we live, what we read, and want we want- and selling this information to advertisers." (Campbell 64)
2.
The technological shift that we are living through can be seen first hand with the introduction of E-Readers into the market place. These tablet devices enable you to literately carry a library in your hands. As an avid reader my use of my Kindle has let me expand my ability to read several books at the same time all with the swipe of my finger. I was also shocked to read in our text about the shift that the publishing industry is going through trying to adapt to the rise in popularity of these e-readers.
- "By 2012, e-books became the best selling adult fiction book format in the United States, accounting for 15 % of all books sold... Perhaps the best indicator that e-books are here to stay is that the New York Times launched a weekly e-book best seller list in February 2011."(Campbell 362)
- "Another way to preserve books is through digital imaging. the most extensive digitization project, the Google Books Library Project, which began in 2004 features partnerships with the New York Public Library and about twenty major university research libraries... to scan millions of books and publish them online."( Campbell 363)
3.
On the very first day of class we discussed the idea of the human tribune brain. Since that day each time I start to analysis anything I immediately start to think of how each fact or picture is being processed by each of the different brains. Most of the time my thought process flows directly to the limbic interpretation. I feel that use this brain process first because I’m more of visual person. I tend to need to physically see what I am accomplishing rather than processing it inside my head.
- The Human Brain is the most complex living thing in the known universe
- The Human Brain streams 400 billion bits of information every second
- The Conscious Brain is able to process 2,000 bits of information every second
- Neuron's that wire together fire together!
4.
As we continued to read more and more in our textbook I was really drawn to the section about newspapers. I had never really thought about what really goes into the making of a newspaper. This process was visualized for me through the film Page One. That film really opened up the whole medium of news that I hadn’t been exposed to before. It was interesting to see the effort that was put in daily to print the paper everyday. It really makes me wonder how that process will change as the Internet steps into control.
- "The Newspaper industry enters 2012 neither dying nor assured of a stable future. The industry has rallied around a story about itself- that year by year it is developing new digital products and new revenue streams to transition from dependance on print advertising..." (Campbell 301)
- " For Example, the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) reported that between 2003 and 2009, there was an 8.8 percent growth in newspaper readership worldwide, mostly in regions where the internet had not become ubiquitous. These increases are concentrated in Asia, Africa, and South America, while sales are declining in North America and Europe." (Campbell 301)
5.
The idea of multitasking was always one that I thought totally relied on the person being able to control multiple actions at once. After reading into the idea of multitasking in our text I found out why so many people consider themselves excellent multitask when in reality they are. People are given the impression that they can multitask because of the technology they are surrounded with enables us to do this. Without those machines we probably wouldn’t be able to accomplish half the things we are able to do.
- "Media multitasking has led to growing media consumption, particularly for younger people. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation study found that today's youth- now doing two or more things at once- packed ten hours and forty five minutes worth of media content into the seven and a half hours they spent daily consuming media." (Campbell 13)
- "However, media multitasking could have other effects. In the past, we would wait until the end of a TV program, if not until the next day, to discuss it with out friends. Now, with the proliferation of social media, and in particular Twitter, we can discuss that program with our friends- and with strangers- as we watch the show." (Campbell 14)
6.
The final film we watched in class was We Steal Secrets, the story about wiki leaks and Julian Assange. This film got me thinking about the age of privacy we live. Since watching that film I have continued to think more and more about how much privacy I really have on the Internet. I’m not one of those people who are putting every detail of my life out there but I would like to know how far does my digital footprint go and what can people really find out about me?
- " And in 2010, after WikiLeaks released thousands of confidential U.S. embassy cables into the public domain, the U.S. Justice Department contemplated with charging the websites's founder Julian Assange with violating the 1917 Espionage Act. One U.S. senator insisted '[Assange] be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. And if that becomes a problem we need to change the law.'"(Campbell 553)
- "One of the laws that tips the debate towards stricter enforcement of copyright is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, which outlaws any action or technology that circumvents copyright protection systems. In other words, it may be illegal to merely create or distribute technology that enables someone to make illegal copies of digital content, such as a music file or a DVD." (Campbell 554)
7.
One part of the course that really grabbed my attention was the section in our text about Magazines. I have always just thought of magazines as place filler at the super market as your checking out. It was really interesting to go into the history of the magazine. The uses of magazines kind of blew me away, especially the sections about using magazine for social reform. The information that I was exposed to really grabbed me by surprise this semester. I had never really thought of the different uses media has, including magazines as literature and not tabloid news.
- "...many magazines also engaged in one aspect of yellow journalism- crusading for social reform on behalf of the public good. In the 1890's, for example, Ladies Home Journal... led the fight against unregulated patent medicine, while other magazines joined the fight against phony medicines, poor living and working conditions, and unsanitary practices in various food industries."( Campbell 320)
- "With headlines like "Sex Secrets of a Russian Spy,""Extraterrestrials Follow the Teachings of Oprah Winfrey," and "Al Queda Breeding Killer Mosquitoes," supermarket tabloids push the limits or both decency and credibility. Although they are published on newsprint, the Audit Bureau of Circulations, which check newspaper and magazine circulation figures to determine advertising rates, counts weekly tabloids as magazines." (Campbell 335)
8.
The two main mediums I think of when I think of how media is used in every day life I think of the Internet social media and TV. The TV has been around a lot longer than social media so naturally one would assume that TV has the power over the other. That has been the case for years until just about now. Today we see TV moving from cable to the Internet. There are tons of sites that enable TV to continue with the need for an actual Television.
- "The Development of cable, VCRs and DVD players, the Internet and smartphone services has fragmented televisions audience by appealing to viewers individual and special needs. these changes and services by providing more specialized and individual choices, also alter televisions former role as a national unifying cultural force, potentially de-emphasizing the idea that we are all citizens who are part of a larger nation and world." (Campbell 233)
- "The bottom line is that television, despite the audience fragmentation, still provides a gathering place for friends and family at the same time that it provides access anywhere to a favorite show." (Campbell 233)
9.
When I think about how much radio I really do listen to I realize that video really did kill the radio star. These days music is all about the music video made for the song. I tend to find myself listening to radio in the car more than anywhere else. With the advancement of the smart phone and the music apps we starting to see a difference in how radio is captured, not just over radio waves but streamed over the Internet as well.
- "Although online piracy is still a problem with about one quarter of Internet users worldwide accessing unauthorized music content each month." (Campbell 146)
- "Another venue for digital music is streaming services like Spotify, MOG, and Rdio. A single stream isn't worth much but collectively they generate more substantial revenue."(Campbell 147)
10.
The last revelation is probably the biggest one of the
semester. This revelation is that technology is power. The ever-changing
technological world that we live in rewards those who invent the next biggest
thing. To get ahead in the world you need technology these days, if you don’t catch
up you may end up falling behind too far to get back even.
- “The marketing of news as a product and the use of modern technology to dramatically cut costs gradually elevated newspapers from an entrepreneurial stage to the status of a mass medium.” (Campbell 281)
- "The Internet, however, has helped to level that playing field. Political speech, like a cleverly edited mash up video, or entertaining speech, like a music video by California teenager Rebecca Black singing about the weekend.. can go viral and quickly reach millions, rivaling the most expensive commerical speech.
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