Discussion Questions

Today many TV shows and advertisements try to look amateurish or "homegrown" to emulate what is often seen on the Web. Do you think professional production values will continue to drop, or do you think amateur user-generated content will get better over time? WHY??

I think it's possible that amateur user-generated content might become the new professional standard.  It is obviously already becoming popular in television and advertising, and we have to remember that technology gets better and better every year.  Soon, it's probable that miniature versions of professional production equipment will be available for relatively cheap prices in any Best Buy you walk into.  

If the technology and equipment becomes available everywhere, amateur video content will get better over time.


What social media sites do you find yourself using the most, and why? In your opinion why is Facebook so much more successful than MySpace, and do you think Facebook is "here to stay" for the long term.

Like millions of other people in the world, I find myself using Facebook more than any other social networking site.  I think the reason for this is, quite simply, that it's the most popular one.  People use social networking sites in order to connect with most amount of people they possibly can.  Why would they choose a website that didn't have as many options?  It wouldn't make any sense.


That said, I do think Facebook is "here to stay" for a while.  I think it's too late in the game for anybody to come up with a new idea that can grow as fast as Facebook did.  So as long as social networking websites remain a vital part of our technological society, Facebook will live on.

McLuhan Photoshop Assignment

The image I created shows Maximillian Robespierre, an incredibly influential political figure during the French Revolution, in a traditional boxing poster going up again the new media form of blogging.  In my last post, I used blogs as an example of new, revolutionary media, emphasizing the fact that, in today's technological world, anybody (literally, anybody) can have their work published for all to see.  

This has not always been the case.  It used to be incredibly difficult for one to voice their opinion and even harder to have an audience that is willing to hear it.  

That is why I created this image.  The quotes above the picture were from the original boxing poster, but I thought they fit.  The blogspot logo is saying, "Hand me the torch, or I'll just take it."  It's very true.  The torch has already been passed.  Welcome to Blogspot.

 

New Media

Blogs, like the one you're currently reading, are becoming more and more prevalent in the communication industry.

1.  BLOGS

Publishing personal thoughts, opinions, and arguments is much easier to do today that it has been in the past.  Rather than going to journalism school, working and clawing your way up the industry's ladder, and finally getting the chance to make your work known... now all you need is a computer.  Scratch that.  All you need is access to somebody else's computer.

The accessibility of blogs is, in some ways, great for communication.  They provide a simple, quick way for countless numbers of people to get their opinions out there.  Of course, with millions of different blogs on the vast World Wide Web, you're bound to find a few that are influential, important, and worldly.  However, you'll also find ones like "Hot Chicks with D-Bags" and "Lesbians who Look Like Justin Bieber."  Entertaining, sure, but if I'm a New York Times writer 20 years ago, I'm not a very happy horse knowing that www.icanhazcheeseburger.com probably gets a million times more readers than I ever did.

2.  TWITTER

Tweet

In many ways, Twitter defines Marshall McLuhan's vision of a global village.  The internet makes everyone who has access to it connected in that everyone has access to the same information as everyone else.  Facebook connects people and creates this global village by being able to see who is friends with who, and what people are up to in terms of jobs, relationships, or even what they did last night (news feed photo album stalking).  Twitter allows people to tell the world exactly what they are doing at all times.  If you just woke up, rubbed your eyes, brushed your teeth, and put on pants.... you could tweet to the world that you just woke up, rubbed your eyes, brushed your teeth, and put on pants. 

3.  Meebo

Instant Message Everywhere

 Don't worry, the Internet apparently knew how annoying it was to have a million tabs open on your browser, so they just combined everything in one super communication site called Meebo.

I had no idea this website existed until my brother told me to include it in this assignment five minutes ago, so I went to the website to check it out.  It's an explosion of social networking.  It's the online equivalent to having reality TV show cameras following you at all times.  Not sure if I like it.

But it does decrease the clutter on your computer screen...