Guest post: Todd and Alex

Here is a link to a 16 minute short film my brother and I did about changes in technology. It is about a salesman in the 1960's who is trying to sell a product to a town whose inability to accept change makes him question his machine's audience. As a side note, this film won best film at the OU CAC Film Festival this year. Enjoy!

http://vimeo.com/16327087

[note: if the link doesn't work, go directly to vimeo.com and put "Innovative, Greenlee" in the search box.]

Guest Post: Connor

As everyone has been finishing up their research essays, I started wondering whether being able to research using the internet has changed the way we do it. Certainly it’s more convenient to simply go to the database and find some articles than the old days when you would have to actually go and find the book or journal you needed. When people like Carr criticize the internet for making us less intellectually rigorous, maybe they’re right, but surely we can see around us the benefits that are also provided. In writing my paper, I wound up including information from sources as varied as government researchers and German universities; would this even be possible without the internet to allow us to share this abundance of information and knowledge?

Of course, the problem here is that for the most part we don’t use it that way. Sure, when you need to write a paper for class you go on and find great swathes of knowledge surpassing anything in the past; when you use the internet for fun you end up on Facebook or something similar. I may be wrong about this, but it seems like the internet is a kind of dichotomy: when we use it seriously, it is maybe even more useful than traditional media – when we use it for leisure, it is far worse. I just feel that we get more out of reading for leisure than we do from surfing the web; what do you think?

Guest Post: Nina

I came across an article on the humor website Cracked.com entitled “7 Reasons the 21st Century is Making You Miserable.”

http://www.cracked.com/article_15231_7-reasons-21st-century-making-you-miserable.html

This is intended to be a humorous article and has some offensive language, but I think it touches upon a lot of the ideas we discuss in class. The author basically cites 7 ways technology is making people unhappy compared to those 50 years ago. One of his major reasons for society’s unhappiness that I thought was interesting was the fact that we don’t encounter enough annoyance in our lives. The media has made it possible for a person to tune out all the frustrations he or she encounters daily. For one, the Internet allows almost everything to be done online, in the comfort and solitude of your own home. No longer do you need to wait in long lines and deal with a disgruntled employee at Walmart. You can even buy a CD and have it directly uploaded to your computer without having to sit through traffic at a bunch of red lights on your way to a music store.

He also points out that because of cell phones and iPod’s, we can avoid all the discomfort and inconvenience of small talk or even boredom. I know every time I have to walk around on campus I have my headphones in to make the time pass faster and more enjoyably, and when I’m waiting at the doctor’s office or something, I always try to find a friend to text or a level of Angry Birds to beat.

This author argues that building up a tolerance for annoyances makes you a happier person because you don’t get irritated as easily and you can let little things go. In the article he claims that, as a whole, people 50 years ago were generally happier with their lives and had more close friends. I wonder if he’s right, and that filtering out the annoyances in our lives just makes us less able to handle the irritating situations that we can’t avoid.

Guest Post by Colin: Keeping up with Social Networks

Have people taken social networks too far? I ask this question because with so many social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr etc., people ridicule those who spend all their time on these sites instead of doing something productive. I can honestly say that I do spend a lot of time on Facebook just like many of my friends. All of these websites are included in the term new media, and I am not sure if that is a bad thing or not. Is it strange that I have constant radar on my friends through Facebook, or that I can see where my friends are at all times? Has it brought people closer together or just made us bounded to our computer at all times? 

This video (http://youtu.be/zSP8xm_gaK4)  makes fun of people that are constantly on these types of websites, and they are called “New Media Douchebags” (it is a little offensive). It seems that if you are not part of certain social networks that you are missing out on something, but do people like “New Media Douchebags” who are constantly on these sites take it too far? I’m all for new advancements in new media, but is this the direction that it should be taking with websites like Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. These websites are great for keeping in contact with old friends, or getting an idea out there, and even sharing information but it seems that those are the minor uses for these websites. If you are not tweeting or poking someone on Facebook or liking someone’s status you might be behind on the new media spectrum, but then again you might get called a “New Media Douchebag”.

Guest Post: Daron

I found an article posted a few days ago on PBS’ “mediashift” section of their website.  I figure it can’t get more fitting for our class blog than that. 

Here’s the link: http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2011/04/many-journalism-schools-put-minimal-effort-into-facebook-pages101.html

The gist of the article (as you can probably tell by the title) is that journalism programs aren’t putting enough effort into their facebook pages.  That seems a bit ridiculous when you consider how heavily universities are concentrating on teaching digital and social media.  I know there are a few in our class studying some facet of journalism, but this is relevant to a number of majors, if only for student communication and discussion.  I’m surprised we’re not using facebook pages as a greater means of rating or discussing professors and classes—or at least using it to collect students’ votes on issues.  The professor rating idea could obviously be a bit of an issue because of whom the gatekeeper or primary amender of information is for each page, but whatever—not the point.  The point is, why wouldn’t we (or more specifically, journalism students) be using facebook as a means of communicating information?  Is this weak ties idea really the issue?  I’m thinking it could just be laziness on our parts; we don’t want to get on facebook to be productive.  That’s what google’s for, right?  Still, seems strange the top Journalism colleges aren’t getting with it.  I also think we should be on Jennifer Paull’s “top ‘J-school’ list”, but oh well.  

New Media and Politics (Anonymous guest post)

The media today is capable of influencing people's opinions in a number of ways, whether it be through pictures, videos, or just over the television. Since most Americans don’t have a close relationship with Presidential Candidates for example, we depend on the media to effectively portray this person too us to help us determine the candidate we think would do the best job. However the media is notorious for stretching the truth, and using certain techniques that they know will trigger our liking. For instance, in the photo below, Obama was potrayed in red white and blue with a very strong word beneath. The people who created this image knew that using very patriotic colors and a strong word which makes us think of possible good change will hit the homes of many Americans and sway their vote in that direction.

http://obeygiant.com/headlines/obama-hope

Guest Post: Macey

In high school I was constantly up to date with everything going on in the news and entertainment world. I would read the paper at least once a week and I was constantly on facebook. Needless to say I was very up to date on current events and I was constantly surrounded by electronic media. Since I have come to college my contact with television, and the newspaper has dwindled. My room mates and I never turn our television on and I have not picked up a paper once since I have been here. I went from knowing everything about current events to not even being able to tell you one thing about what was going on outside of campus. For example the only reason I knew an earthquake had destroyed Japan was because I saw someone post about it on Facebook. I began to think that media was only limited to technology, and since the only thing I was using that was electronic was my lap top, to do homework and facebook, I felt as if I was no longer surrounded by media. As a result of this class however, and my intro to mass comm class, I have learned that media is literally everywhere we go. We are constantly around it even if you do not watch even five minutes of television. There are advertisements telling you where to be or who to vote for on the sidewalk you are walking on. There are posters on every wall, window or light pole you pass by. The examples could go on and on! We are constantly surrounded by media and we do not even realize it!

Guest blogger Christine: Purposelessly Online

In the past couple of weeks, we’ve talked about new technology and its effects on social activism – how we’ve gone from the kind of life-risking activism it took to effect the Civil Rights Act to the kind of activism that only takes sending a text message to donate ten dollars to the Japan tsunami relief. In thinking about the upcoming essay, I’ve been considering how this has had an effect on the sense of purpose we feel as individuals. Let me explain: dictionary.com defines purpose as “the reason for which something exists” or its “practical result, effect, or advantage.” Not everyone will agree, but I think that having a sense of purpose is vital to living a peaceful and happy life; knowing your purpose in relation to your family and community is key to being content with your career, family roles, and other relationships.

So I’m wondering if there’s any connection between the sense of purpose we feel and the amount of time we spend online. Whereas there are benefits to being on Facebook and Twitter like connection to others, especially those who live far away, and convenient communication, I have to believe that Turkle was right when she said that new technology encourages us to have the “illusion of companionship without the demands of friendship” (Turkle CP200). We like Facebook and E-mail and other forms of digital communication, because they are convenient andeasy, not because they necessarily encourage better and stronger connections with people. I worry that in the pursuit of faster and easier, we sacrifice meaningful and substantial.

I think one of the main points Gladwell was getting at when talking about “strong-tie” versus “loose-tie” activism (Gladwell CP193-195) was that being part of an online community is not the same thing as being part of a close-knit group of friends, and it does not have the same benefits and outcomes. Joining an event on Facebook doesn’t mean you’re passionate about its cause or care at all for that matter. Tweeting “pray for Japan” doesn’t mean you’re on your knees begging for God’s blessing on Asia or that you’ve done anything to help the cause. If these are the things that being an “activist” or bettering humanity is about, then it’s no wonder we should lack a sense of purpose. Being online requires no passion, it requires no real friendship, no true knowledge of your cause, no true sense of self. These are things that are vital to prospering and bettering ourselves and others, and while being online doesn’t necessarily contradict those things, it doesn’t exactly encourage them either. New technology has allowed us to reach out further and in greater measure than ever before. But if we’re not careful, I feel like we may lose ourselves in the convenience of it all.

Guest Post: "Tweet Tweet" by Marquis

The world has come a long way from the days of having to write letters in order to communicate over long distances. In this year of 2011 there are now several different ways of communicating and recently one of the more popular ways has been via Twitter. Twitter, the site where you can keep up with the thoughts of your favorite celebrities and stay updated on the news of the world.

I joined Twitter a year ago and I understand the attraction to it. It's fun to be able to stand on your own "soapbox" and voice your opinion to your "followers and people that you follow. I would describe twitter almost as a chat room. I've been able to talk with a many friends and people I've met from the past. I've also been able to chat with people I've never met before just because we share common interests.

Twitter is also good for staying in touch with some of the events going on in the world. If a large amount of people found something interesting or news worthy, you better believe it will be "trending" worldwide. I found out about the Japan earthquake and tsunamis via Twitter. I wouldn't be surprised if Twitter eventually becomes the number one destination for many people who seek the latest news. But would it be a good thing for people to choose Twitter as their prime choice for news? I suppose only time will tell.