Emerging Media Report - Jake King

Jake King

Newbold

ENG 213 Section 004

10-20-10

Emerging Media Paper

How Will People Afford the New Media?

Article:  Emerging Media: The Cookie Monster

The proliferation of new media channels presents an interesting conundrum: How will consumers be able to afford all these new services?

By Damien Stolarz

            In class, we have been discussing how advancements in technology have made an impact in our world, whether it be how we communicate, learn, collaborate, or view the working world as a whole. We have seen positive and negative impacts, such as how schools are dealing with their teachers having limited knowledge to teach their students regarding technology or how luxuries like Google give everyone the same availability to knowledge. But something that is brought up in the article Emerging Media: The Cookie Monster by Damien Stolarz is the role of money in all these new advancements, whether it is how technology companies make more money from it and how none of it may matter if hardly anybody can afford it. The main topics he addresses are how consumers end up paying for media from several places and what businesses do to continue gaining new consumers.

            Stolarz states in his first sentence that TV companies are always looking for what they like to call the “triple play” customer. This means that the customer subscribes to a home phone, cable, and TV from the same carrier. At times nowadays, companies can even find the “quadruple play” customers, those who have the triple play services along with the mobile phone. “Although this seems like hitting the customer convenience jackpot, a rule of thumb for subscription services is to not let that bill get too big,” Stolarz states. But Stolarz then brings up a problem concerning that fourth piece of media. “Now that you can watch video content online, on your phone, on your portable media player, and even in your car, the real question is how many different subscription fees consumers can endure.” These are the same new types of media we have been looking at in how our world has changed due to them, but the convenience of them may not matter in the future if the availability of them in so many areas becomes too much for the average consumer to handle financially. Stolarz says, “The prospect of developing new businesses that expand demand for their content on new platforms is exciting, but the threat of cannibalization of their existing revenue streams is also real.” An example of this would be the DVD industry. Many content owners feared DVDs at first, yet the market of it grew enormously. So to think that mobile, internet, and in-car content won’t continue to fight would be ludicrous.

            But despite some of the disadvantages businesses have in selling their emerging media in this manner, there is still light at the end of the tunnel that keeps them alive. Stolarz uses the example of when TV came into our country. “Consumers don’t want to view ads. But there’s one thing they object to even more: spending money. This is how TV in the U.S. took hold. The availability of a world of free content compelled penetration into 99% of U.S. households. Building value-added cable and, later, satellite services on top of this unmatched installed base proved not only feasible but profitable,” he writes. The same type of advertising is taking place when it comes to internet and TV has come along for the ride. There are TV screens at gas pumps, in taxis, and don’t forget about the huge plasma TVs at the mall, which are strategically placed in purchase-decision locations creating a vicious cycle where continues to be made. Stolarz gives his opinion of how the same type of deal will take place with our new emerging media and the internet. “It starts with location. Your phone asks for your zip code. Gradually, with GPS, carriers learn where you are at any time. Then they can stream some (ad-supported) video newscast relevant to the place you’ve just driven to. Most importantly, the phone remembers, "OK, this phone owner goes between these two places a lot. I bet they’d prefer JetBlue." This will lead JetBlue to be advertised near this customer for it to be purchased.

            The point of this article is to explain how the industries in charge of the new emerging technologies in our world are comparable to the loveable cartoon addict we know as the Cookie Monster. The Cookie Monster knows one thing and one thing only, and that’s that cookies are absolutely delicious just like these industries know that the internet, mobile phones, etc. are all in great demand for convenience. And just as the Cookie Monster doesn’t know when to stop eating cookies, these industries don’t seem to even be looking for a way to have these medias at rest. The internet is becoming a necessity, and they know that people will continue to purchase several methods of access to it. As this activity grows, so will prices and internet bills leaving the power and convenience of the new emerging media almost worthless since it will be at a point where hardly anyone can afford them.

“Online Social Networking as Participatory Surveillance” by Anders Albrechtslund - Emerging Media Research Project

Tyler Trosper

Eng 213 Section 4
Dr. Webster Newbold

Emerging Media Research Report     

            The article “Online Social Networking as Participatory Surveillance”, written by Anders Albrechtslund, fits into the research our class has been doing in regards to social networking.  As one can tell from the title, the article goes in-depth over the issues of surveillance “as a form of participatory surveillance involving mutuality, empowerment and sharing” (Albrechtslund).  Albrechtslund connects this research to Marshall McLuhan’s idea of the “global village”, as everyone that connects to the internet is able to observe anyone they want, no matter the distance.  Also, this surveillance of others is generally created through social networking means, people placing their entire lives up for display in the regards to what information they post about themselves on social networking websites.  Albrechtslund’s article goes into territory we never touched as a class, that is surveillance has become generally much easier with the creation of social networking, but it can also be seen as a scary tool for people with ill intentions.

            With the advent of social networking, the available information for a certain individual has increased tremendously.  For example, Albrechtslund points out the increase of youths posting an excess amount of information about themselves on social networking websites, which at times places them in danger of being attacked by predators, identity theft, and so on.  However, he brings up that that this is ignorance of the user and those issues should not lead to the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA) banning certain use of the internet at public libraries and schools, as that increases the digital divide, a term we encountered in Selfe’s Technology and Literacy in the Twenty-First Century: The Importance of Paying Attention.  As only a few students would have access to a certain portion of the internet because of others’ lack of internet at home, the situation creates a problem of inequality (Albrechtslund).  In that case, students should instead be warned about the dangers of posting personal information by teachers and parents, not hindered by what content they can access on the internet.

            Along those lines, surveillance of individuals can stretch back many years through social networking.  The feelings in a blog or comments on a certain person’s “status” on a social networking website can be temporary, but when those feelings are shared on the internet they can be viewed by others for a long time (Albrechtslund).  In getting a new job, more and more employers are searching their potential employee’s social networking past, which can be seen negative depending on the type of information is found.  Even through another person’s role in social networking, as Albrechtslund mentions through Tribble, your chances of getting employed can be jeopardized.  However, this, judging others by their use of social networking can be seen as a type of discrimination, as the individual is only expressing their rights of freedom of speech, and, depending on how far back certain information was posted, could be completely taken out of context today (Albrechtslund).

            An important term pops up in Albrechtslund’s article briefly, the idea of the “global village”, which had been mentioned in McLuhan’s book The Medium is the Massage.  In terms of surveillance, social networking as a “global village” works very well.  In a village, everyone knows everyone else’s business and watch out for each other.  Through social networking, people can be watched all the time, and not just from present activities but also through previous use of the internet as all the information, even as mundane as comments on someone else’s internet profile, is stored indefinitely on a database (Albrechtslund).  In this way, surveillance is much easier to accomplish through social networking than it is through real life; vertical surveillance, the sense of one person looking over all, like the government, can instead be replaced with horizontal surveillance, the most common person being able to spy on an individual (Albrechtslund).

            Furthermore, the example in the beginning of Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky, the incident of the missing cell phone, indicates the power of surveillance through social networking means.  One incident involving a handful of individuals was observed by millions of people worldwide, a phenomenon unheard of before the creation of blogging.  The observation eventually led to actions, suggestions by lawyers, support from others, and the eventual action of the police in arresting Sasha.  Albrechtslund brings up the idea that as soon as surveillance is acted upon it becomes “as a mutual, empowering and subjectivity building practice – is fundamentally social”, a true “global village” that is capable of observing others and available to help out when the need arises, such as with the incident with the lost cell phone (Shirky, McLuhan).

            Surveillance of others through social networking can also be used, as demonstrated earlier with the missing cell phone from Here Comes Everybody, for sharing of information and action among others, but also used to learn about others and become friends.  In this sense of a “global village”, a person is able to find someone of similar interests by first observing them, finding this information, which is most likely easily viewable through social networking means.  And through this observation these two individuals, possibly towns, states, or even countries apart, friendship could be formed (Albrechstlund).  I can provide an example of this myself.  As a teenager, I was infatuated with a certain series of video games, but no one I knew in the physical world played or liked them as much as I did.  However, this changed when I joined a forum that was specifically catered toward fans of that particular series.  And through my observations and interactions, I was able to make friends with people all over the world who liked that video game series.

            Surveillance through social networking can have its benefits along with its share of problems.  Young individuals can be prone to attacks by various means because of how much information they are willing to put online about themselves.  And through the actions of youth, employers can judge their potential employees, as information created on social networking has the potential to last forever.  However, with action through surveillance, such as the missing cell phone incident, positive actions toward a resolution can be produced (Shirky).  And through surveillance, likeminded individuals are able to find each other through social networking.  All-in-all, surveillance through social networking means has its dangers (identity theft, predators, etc.), but there is still a lot of positive potential in the act of surveillance (Albrechtslund).

“Online Social Networking as Participatory Surveillance” by Anders Albrechtslund:  http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2142/1949

I could not figure out how to attach my report. So I am just copying and pasting it. Enjoy.

Does Education Care About Twitter?

            Education is currently battling with the issue of technology in the classroom. Recent studies have discussed how technology is used in the classroom, how prepared teachers are to use it, and how accessible it is in schools throughout the country. In Joanna Dunlap and Patrick Lowenthal’s article, Horton Hears A Tweet, several of these concerns are expounded upon along with how educational technology can make good use of Twitter in online and regular education courses.

            To begin the article, Dunlap and Lowenthal proclaim that, “social networking tools, have great potential for enhancing the social context in support of learning, especially in online education” (Dunlap and Lowenthal 1). It important to recognize that technology does bring about better ways for students to learn in the future; therefore, we need to make sure we are paying attention to these new technological items as we progress in the twenty first century. Dunlap and Lowenthal go on and argue that education can better itself through the use of social networking sites such as Twitter, even though there are drawbacks. Such potential problems with Twitter involve people becoming obsessed with it, it taking too much time, and the content, which is sometimes questionable (Dunlap and Lowenthal 1). However, they feel Twitter can be a great tool, which can “add value to online and face-to-face university courses (Dunlap and Lowenthal 1).

This notion of technology possibly harming us today has been brought up before. In his article Does the Internet Make You Smarter, Clay Shirky notes that new technologies have always caused people to question whether or not new ideas harm or help people. Shirky writes of the printing press coming about, which caused people to worry about the effects it would have on citizens. It did actually change how Europe ran because people could read their own literature and religious texts, which eventually did away with the reliance on Catholic Church because people could finally interpret their own texts. Essentially, Shirky says that new technologies such as the Internet actually restore reading and writing as central activities in our culture. He also feels that new media is not harmful because it brings about new institutions that allows our society to develop. This links to Dunlap and Lowenthal who see the concerns with Twitter and using it in education, but also sees the potential it brings to better our society as we move forward.

            Dunlap and Lowenthal also focus on how Twitter can help students to be engaged and aide in the educational process. For starters, Using Twitter or other online forms of communicating can “encourage cooperation among students, encourage effective learning, and enrich educational experiences (Dunlap and Lowenthal 1-2). Again, it is vital to see how these new technologies can help bring about new forms of learning and thinking. Dunlap and Lowenthal go on and discuss the importance of making sure that students feel the “social presence” when using these methods of teaching because it allows students to feel that their peers and teachers are real. Without the social presence, students could feel “isolated and disengaged” (Dunlap and Lowenthal 2). Basically, Dunlap and Lowenthal feel that we must make sure students do not just simply post questions and wait while others talk and debate issues. This would not really benefit the students because they are not activity engaged in the discussion. Before Dunlap and Lowenthal discuss Twitter’s characteristics, they argue that Twitter, “allows us to establish natural, free-flowing, just in time contact with students,” which helps students to bring about the social presence that is needed in classes.  

            These concerns again link to the concerns that Clay Shirky and Nicholas Carr made concerning new technologies possibly coming to distract us and possibly dumb society down. However, it is important to note Marshall McLuhan’s book, The Medium is the Massage. McLuhan wrote that we need to be flexible and adapt to the new environment or we will be pushed aside. He also feels that people need to accept the new ideas because they are the way of the future and we need to be prepared to use them.  In the end, we need to be flexible and attempt to use Twitter and other forms of technology in the classroom or we are limiting our ability to move forward and become educated.

            Finally, Dunlap and Lowenthal discuss why Twitter is so special. They assert that Twitter is perfect because it is, “part social networking and part microblogging” (Dunlap and Lowenthal 3). Another reason why Twitter is great for online education courses is that it allows students “to share ideas and resources, ask and answer questions, and collaborate on the problems of practice,” in a quick, efficient manner (Dunlap and Lowenthal 3). Twitter is also an interesting social site because professionals are on it. These professionals can bring about their own knowledge, which in turn enhances learning because these students get real life experiences and information.

However, Dunlap and Lowenthal note that certain guidelines must be put into place for students to understand and use Twitter effectively.  Students first need to be motivated to use it, and then need to be shown people that they can follow. This allows them to get a good start on other scholars who they can follow and learn more about Twitter. Then, students need to be shown “appropriate ways to use and engage in the Twitter community,” versus the basic way in which most users Tweet basic information about their lives (Dunlap and Lowenthal 5). Last, students need to be encouraged to post their own work, knowledge, questions, or concerns. This allows a community of learners to come together to help one another out and update ideas.

            Another interesting aspect of using Twitter for learning is that it promotes “a lifelong learning skill,” because these new sites will become the way of the future. (Dunlap and Lowenthal 6). The use of Twitter also brings about a sense of community where students can “share and get feedback on their ideas, work, and products” (Dunlap and Lowenthal 7). This relates to other authors who feel that technology can help us in the technological world that we live in today. Cynthia Selfe writes of the problems that are occurring today in schools when it comes to technology, such as inequities in schools concerning computers and the Internet, the use of technology in the classroom, and the lack of teacher training when it comes to using that technology. Overall, Selfe argues that we need to focus on new technology and new ways of learning because they will become the way of the future and we need to train our citizens to become technologically literate. Being able to use Twitter and new technology in schools benefits students because they are learning the ways in which new ideas and developments will shape the world.

            Dunlap and Lowenthal do not simply focus on using Twitter is distance courses, but in face-to-face classes as well. They note that Twitter can be used in the classroom because it is “an effective way to create a black-channel forum during a lecture or presentation,” where students can post comments and feedback without interrupting the speaker or presentation (Dunlap and Lowenthal 8). It is important to make sure that these black-channel comments are not harmful and negative, but positive and uplifting. Twitter can also “be used the way clickers are used for polling the classroom,” which can bring about student participation or engagement during a class because they can vote or send messages to the instructor (Dunlap and Lowenthal 9). This way, students can reflect their opinions and post answers to topics together in the class. These polling exercises also help the teacher because they can see what the students are thinking, what they might need help on, or what they would like to learn more about. 

            It is interesting to see how Twitter can be used in face-to-face classes and online courses. Overall, new ways of learning are coming about through the development of technology. This relates to Clay Spinuzzi when he writes about knowledge work and new forms of being educated. Usually, students learn vertically and specialize in one area. However, with new forms of technology, we need to be able to learn horizontally by crossing fields, trades, and disciplines so we can become well rounded as technology influences us daily. By using Twitter and other forms of technology, students can learn to embrace new ways of becoming educated and can also become technologically literate.

            To end the article, Dunlap and Lowenthal say that there must be more research performed by professionals concerning technology and education. They encourage researchers to examine the relationship between faculty and students and the learning strategies employed, rather than just the impact of the technology in isolation. In conclusion, they feel that Twitter, “allows us all to make noises in greater amounts and recognize that every voice counts,” but more inspection can help professionals to see what we need to do to make technology fit well into education so students can succeed in today’s world  (Dunlap and Lowenthal 11).

            Overall, Twitter and other social networking sites can enhance the learning experience for many. It allows people to come together and post questions, concerns, or problems. Once posted, fellow students, or professionals can come together and work to help one another learn new ideas. Finally, students could learn a vast amount of information from using these networking sites. With all of the new technologies that are out there, students would undoubtedly enjoy using these methods to work with their peers and discover new ideas and opinions. In conclusion, it is important to focus on new sites such as Twitter, as they can be a platform for new ways of learning and thinking about the issues of today.

Jordan  

Emerging Media Report-

In his article, “Interactive Online Journals and Individualisation,” Paul Hodskin suggests that there has
been a shift among people using the internet towards individual web logs (blogs) and online interactive journals as a way to socially communicate with each other. This trend is transitioning into a commonality and it is almost preassumed that people have some method or form to interact online with others, whether it be with a social network such as Facebook or a personal blog on a site such as Tumblr. The article gives substanial support for this idea, stating that “the dramatic growth in blog use is provided by the blog search engine, Technorati, which in April 2005 claimed to be tracking over 9,000,000 blogs, a figure which had risen from just 100,000 in 2002,” (Technorati 2005).

The fundamental claim of this article evaluates the relationship between individuals and groups on the
internet and how they network or communicate. The article focuses primarily on LiveJournal and its users to identify and base the research. It is said that the use of LiveJournal encouraged individual-centered patterns communication in multitude of aspects. Instead of being impacted passively by technology, individuals and groups have used online communicative forums as a means to keep track of existing relationships, but in concurrence with that process, the patterns of communication of these individuals and groups have changed, expanding networks of sociability.

Individual online journals have brought about some significant changes in the structure of this commu
nication. According to the article, “significance of individual distinctiveness within everyday communications has been increased,” (Hodskin, 30). Elements of individualism in everyday communications engaged in by members of a community or group implies that use of interactive online journals or blogs can be anticipated to increase patterns of interaction significantly more than individual-centered agency than has been observed in the case of many discussion forums. This relates back to a concept in the first chapter of Clay Shirky’s Here Comes Everybody when we change how we communicate, we change the nature of our society.

There is also an idea of an online subculture community. From this article’s research emerges a
supposition connected to this subculture community that we have discussed and are experiencing directly in class; individuals can be brought together at a common digital meeting place asycnhronously. This is now enabling students to take online college courses and actually earn a bachelor’s degree online. One college known for this option is University of Phoenix. Our class has had digital conferences set as class sessions that I believe were very successful. As long as students still come prepared for the online conferences and participate assertively in the discussions it is not unreasonable to think that it would be typical or normal for someone to take online courses for higher education than in person class routines. This topic could be useful and applicable to study or understand for future students.

The graph to the right shows a prediction of where students are expected to attend their classes in the near future. It is interesting that the vast majority of students will switch from attending all classes in a physical classroom to taking some of their classes in a digital realm. More significantly perhaps, this bar graph also claims that there will be more students in general taking higher education classes in 2014 compared to 2009. It does not necessary allude to classes being more available and credible into the reasoning of this academic population growth.

Another valid conclusion this article discusses is the standard language users of these online communities use. It is described as ‘bullet point conversations.’ The collected interactions found on LiveJournal consis tently displayed short, often less than a sentence long, comments to exchange information or ideas. Another observaion in this same study indicated that posts are only commented on while they are new. This ties in with our discussion in class of what signifies or is essential for a blog’s success. Posts have short-lived lifespans because very abruptly those that accumulated a thread of comments are becoming replaced or updated with even newer posts. I would consider a blog successful when, “if one wished to continue to take part in a conversation any more than a 24 hours after it had begun, it [would be] necessary proactively to scroll back through several pages worth of entries from various individuals,” (Hodskin, 20). This means the blog is constantly being commented on and updated frequently, which is a goal our class has set for our blog.

Overall, Paul Hodskin clearly identifies the significance and influence of emerging networking sites and other advantageous digital facilities as rapidly growing conventions. Technology directly affects and changes the way people live their lives, from taking a midterm exam in your pajamas in bed with establishing online higher education courses to forming online subculture communites, bringing people of all different social class, age, race , etc., together to discuss the same subject. This provides a limitless list of possibilities to achieve as a digitalized communtity of the globe.


-Lindsay Gross

Welcome to Emerging Media Reports

This blog has the special purpose of hosting the Emerging media Reports of the Introduction to Digital Literacies class (ENG 213) at Ball State University.  Please feel free to browse and make comments on these reports that investigate articles and Web sites dealing with trends and issues in emerging media and digital literacy technologies.