It’s the Audience, Stupid!

What is the new approach to storytelling and how is it being used to broaden audiences?

The new approach to storytelling is to engage the audience and to give them what they want.

How is digital media being used to engage audiences?

Digital media allows for consumers of media to also be participants in the media.

Give three specific examples of how you can incorporate storytelling into an article you write?

One way to incorporate storytelling into a written article is to connect the story with something personal. Another is to use another’s story to give your article a more human feel. Yet another is to give the article a narrative, rather than being just a statement of facts, the article then becomes a story.

All the Aggregation That’s Fit to Aggregate

What does aggregation mean?

Aggregation is to take existing content and compile it into one place.

Why does the author describe Arianna Huffington as “the queen of aggregation?”  Go to the Huffington Post and provide an example.

Arianna Huffington is described as “the queen of aggregation” because she pioneered the idea of taking the most interesting and popular news stories, from numerous sources, and compiling them into one location so that readers could easily access the information. From the Huffington Post’s website I have come to the conclusion that about 30% of the content is direct links to other media outlets such as CNN, The NY Times, The Weather Channel, The Washington Post, Etc.

Is aggregation a threat to professional journalism – why or why not?

I don’t believe that aggregation is a threat to professional journalism because most aggregation services still use content generated by professional journalists. In fact, the trend of aggregation has gotten consumers used to more and more content, and that content needs to be generated by someone.

Photojournalism in the Age of New Media

A professional journalist receives a photo captured by a citizen journalist….

·         What are the positives?

Usually free, don’t need to send photo journalist to the field, citizen journalists can get to places other journalists can’t.

·         Why does the professional journalist need to be careful?

Because verifying the information can be problematic, as can finding the owner of the material.

·         Why might the content of the photo be called into question?

If the original source cannot be contacted then the content of a photo may be called into question.

·         How does citizen photojournalist impact the job of the professional photojournalist?

At this point I would argue that they don’t very much. Citizen photojournalists are often in places where professionals can’t get or would be too dangerous to send them to. Also, the photo quality of most citizen photojournalists pales in comparison to that of a professional. That being said, I think that in the future the competition will be as such that news organizations will have little to no reason to employ professional photojournalists anymore.

Questions for the article “Youtube”

1.      How does the interaction online become the key for Youtube video production community? Please use the media convergence concept to explain it.

Interaction online is key to YouTube because it relies on user generated content. Also, without feedback, people would be less likely to continue to post their videos to YouTube.

2.      The article mentioned that the teens are mainly passively consumers of Youtube being on the periphery. But seven out of 10 most subscribed partners are teens and young adults. How do you explain this use of Youtube in youth?

I’d explain the fact that seven of ten most subscribed partners on YouTube being teens and young adults are teens and young adults are the most participatory viewers on YouTube. True, the 25-35 demographic may watch more videos on YouTube, but they’re less likely to create playlists, subscribe to content producers, or comment on videos themselves. As a member I the 25-35 demographic I’m happy that this is true, because if you saw what the average comment on a YouTube video was, you wouldn’t want to have any part in that. Teens and young adults have the most subscribers because they are the ones who related to teens and young adults who do the subscribing.

3.      How does Youtube use different techniques to create an online community that is different from other websites?

They stream large size content.

4.      What is the next step for Youtube development? Please use the concept of participatory culture and media development theory we discussed to explain your answer.

There are two possible next steps for YouTube to take—either both or one or the other; one would be that YouTube makes collaborations on projects easier by providing space for raw content to be uploaded and for users to “invite” other users to collaborate on projects (like being invited as a moderator on a Facebook community page). The other would be the introduction of 3D technology.

Social Media

Social Media Use is Soaring—Tine to Reconsider Your 2013 Strategy

·         What did you learn about the growing trends in the use of social media?

That Pintrest has had the largest growth, but Facebook still dominates people’s time on the internet.

·         What takeaways do you see from the data?

One thing that I noticed was an 80% increase in Google+, I think that this may be due to the fact that a Google account was needed to sign up for Google+ in the first place, recently they have expanded Google+ to anybody with a Google account. The 80% increase of Google+ users may not even know that they are Google+ users.

Technology & Internet:  10 Social Media Tips Every Business Needs to Know

·         How does business uses social media?

Businesses use social media platforms less socially, and less personally. It is used to disseminate information, not to share personal stories with your target market.

·         Were you surprised by what “social media is NOT?”

I was not surprised at what “social media is NOT.” Businesses should not be using Facebook the same way that personal users use it.

·         Describe some of the things that “social media IS.”

Social media is a free outlet that users spend lots of time on. It is a creative way for businesses to reach their audience, but it should only be part of their marketing strategy.

·         What are the takeaways for business from this article?

Use social media, but don’t use it frivolously.

Questions for “Can Blogs Revolutionize Progressive Politics?”

1.      Why do the Democratic leaders embrace blogging as a potential political communication considering the traditional media landscape in politics?

Young people tend to vote more for democrats and also tend to adopt new technology more readily than their older counterparts.

2.      Blogging encourages a participatory culture. In what way does the participatory culture in blogging expand digital media convergence?

Participatory culture in itself expands digital media convergence by turning digital media into an auditory experience.

3.      In the article, the author says: “The ability of the Internet to erase geographical distances can become a structural weakness in elections where district lines and eligibility are key.” How can blogging counter this weakness in the process of turning the netroots to grassroots?

With the use of blogging, politically active people can encourage change not only in their own voting district, but in others as well. Television and radio do this to a degree as well, but only on a corporate scale. Blogging allows anyone with enough knowledge and time to become politically influential.

4.      The author spends the second half of the article discussing the lack of diversity in current blogosphere dominated by elite bloggers. Please use the concept of digital convergence to explain how blogs can become the real bearer of freedom, democracy, egalitarianism, and participation in the new media communication?

Blogs allow anyone to rise to the top and become an “elite” blogger with enough hard work. People are often found on the internet (twitter, blogs, etc.) and given writing jobs with little-to-no experience other than what they write in their blogs. Influential people have started blogs and almost instantly become the “blogging elite,” but others have started from nothing and raised themselves to the same level with their own hard work. If anyone can become influential due to blogging that leads to the idea that blogs can become the bastion of freedom, democracy, and egalitarianism.

The Keystone Pipeline Debate

The Keystone Pipeline is a planned pipeline system that will bring crude oil from the Alberta Tar Sands to refineries on the Gulf Coast. While there has been much debate about the environmental effects of the pipeline and much discourse about its implementation, the facts show that the alternatives could be even more detrimental to the environment. 

Some people believe that we should not exploit the Alberta Tar Sands at all; that extracting the oil itself would be environmentally dangerous and would set us back in the development of new energy resources that could eventually replace fossil fuels. There are two problems with this argument; one is that we have yet to develop these new technologies and the infrastructure to deliver them to the people.  We still currently depend on fossil fuels for everything from driving our cars to fertilizing our fields, and we are much better off getting our fossil fuels from Canada than from the tumultuous Middle East. The other problem with that argument is that stopping the pipeline will not stop the exploitation of the Alberta Tar Sands, it will only change the way the crude oil is being shipped. 

Others believe that oil pipelines are too dangerous and that running them through the United States creates too large of an environmental risk. The problem with this argument is that we already have many oil pipelines crisscrossing the United States. Another problem with this view is that if we do not use an oil pipeline to ship the Crude from Alberta to the Gulf Coast then the rail system will be utilized. Shipping the crude by rail presents the same environmental concerns as shipping by pipeline, but since rail shipping of crude has only recently become so utilized, the contingencies for major disasters are far fewer than those set in place for pipelines. While it is true that there have been less oil spills due to trains than pipelines in the past, the increased use of rail to ship crude will also lead to increased number of disasters associated with it. According to an article by James West in Mother Jones Magazine, last year alone 1.2 million gallons of crude was spilled from trains—more than every year before it since 1971 combined.

The Keystone Pipeline will create jobs, tax revenue, and a reliable source of energy for years to come. Opposition to the construction has valid points, but when the alternatives are considered the Keystone Pipeline is the safest and most environmentally conscious way to move the crude oil from where it is to the place that it is destined to end up.