My life as a produser

Throughout this course I have developed many new tools and knowledge in terms of communications and pop culture technologies.  I have also broadened my knowledge in this field of information which we have studied over time.  Between Storify and Popcorn as well as our regular blogs I have become more aware and thus more able to “produse” over time.

Bird discusses term “‘produser’, representing the merging of the producer and consumer in an interactive environment, has been widely embraced as representing an entirely new way of seeing the media ‘audience’”.  To relate this to our course, I see our blogs and other work as being a method of production while providing information for the consumer of Facebook, Twitter, and other media forms.  Our tasks tier to this new media audience because our generation needs to be informed about modern technology and its uses, as opposed to topics which have been touched upon time and time again.

 In Peter Lunenfeld’s article he states, “Participation brings people into contact with the simulations, expanding the user base and turning the computer into a major social and cultural force”.  In order to better assist in understanding my role has a produser I found this quote to be very supportive.  By participating in different platforms and touching upon different topics, I have become more of a produser of social information as opposed to my previous kinds of informative writing.  Before my informative writing was highly based off of other ideas and thus I have developed more social and cultural forces of writing by analyzing topics that affect most of us rather than a few of us.

Referring back to Bird’s article, I feel as though I can now use this information and knowledge to improve the use of Twitter.  Some of my classmates have commented on my posts discussing how they agree that Twitter and Facebook should be used wisely and intuitively, which makes me feel as though I have benefited them in a way.  I may not be able to directly create software or manage a social networking platform but I can affect how they are used and protect users from making mistakes.

We live in a world (Western world) where we can use these platforms to inform one another and become produsers.  However this does not exist in many areas of the world (Nigeria) whereas 16.1 percent of the population has access to internet.  Therefore many cannot use the internet to become produsers and inform others about content.  Topics which are of dire relevance to society cannot be transferred to the consumer because the people with the money are the only ones able to become produsers.  Thus I believe it is important for people such as myself to continue to produse in order to share information of relevance.   

Stern states that his intimation of deprival is that our information and online content is used for marketing value.  I agree that by participating we are contributing to this market value for which is used to market to us.  My personal intimation of deprival is that we need to ensure that we produse effective material and don’t bring it to a point where information is dry.  As I have previously stated it is important to ensure our posts and information is important rather than repetitive or redundant.  We can provide effective information as consumers and producers and thus ensure that any intimations of deprival do not occur and weaken the power of social media.

Cheers.

Anthony M    

The evolution of citizen journalism

The Storify assignment helped me to understand how Twitter and Facebook can be used as tools for citizen journalism and social activism.  The power displayed by simply being able to search and add tweets and posts to a story for a quick reference makes the whole idea of it a lot simpler.  However there are also downsides because some of this information may be slightly skewed or inaccurate.

            I used music piracy as my topic of discussion for my Storify article and found it extremely simple and easy to use, almost easier than setting up my blog! Many people whom I have talked to on a regular basis (mostly age 30+) are against the likes of Twitter and Facebook.  I believe that in certain ways these social media sites are dangerous and can be harmful to one’s career.  Storify helped display, and hopefully more people will see, that social media can be used effectively to provide back up to articles.  I simply used a few tweets and posts to back up my stance on music piracy.  However I carefully selected and conducted further research to ensure the sources of these tweets and posts were at least somewhat qualified.

            The new opportunities given for social activism are mind boggling.  I remember when Hurricane Sandy happened there were numerous tweets and donations which would fund Sandy relief and assist those in need.  Without social media we are unable to transfer this information so quickly to so many people.  Some people get there info from the news however younger adults such as myself often watch the news.  Therefore Twitter and Facebook are strong sources of information and provide the ability for social activism for the younger generations.

            As well, social media may inspire a new generation of reporting for younger students.  This provides an excellent method for students to practice their journalism if social media is used effectively, rather than a distraction; which it is for the most part.  I myself sometimes tweet about personal matters while other times I may tweet or post about news.  This news is typically about sports because of my program and my interests in life; however anyone has the power to discuss anything they want that can be relevant to society.  Therefore my overall stance on the power of social media to open doors for citizen journalism and social activism is that it can be extremely effective and we should use it to our full advantage to make society aware of ongoing news and global issues.

            Secondly is a more in depth discussion of my personal use of citizen journalism and whether these new opportunities encourage my participation in citizen journalism.  As I previously stated I have been an everyday user of Facebook and Twitter for my thoughts and news, therefore I had already been familiar with these.  However once I was able to use Storify it encouraged me to practice my journalism skills at a practical level, rather than having to research journals, books, etc.  I definitely think this would encourage more people to write articles and use the tools on Storify to display opinions and facts.

            Module 7 gave me the freedom to choose a topic of my choice and conduct research in a different manner to help support my stance.  I could use tweets and posts which ultimately encouraged me to create a well thought article (I hope).  Therefore if everyone is given the same opportunity and is made aware of Storify and similar websites, more social activism will be evident and thus the citizens of the world will be more participative and involved in ongoing issues and events that affect our future.  I believe that more of my social media will be tiered towards providing information rather than personal matters so that I can use these tools to their full potential.  If others do the same we can continue to develop citizen journalism and thus make everyone more aware.

cheers.

We are Part of Online Communities

 In our current lives we use online communities to share information and reuse information without ensuring what we are doing abides by copyright laws.  We attempt to share and access these documents, files, etc for easy access of information which may not be free to use.  Simply with a press of a button or touchscreens you can listen to music, make videos, and share videos.  However we also share information which results in good for society, establishing both bad and good results of the increased use of information and communication technologies (ICTs).

            Our ability gain information has only become easier to access in the technological revolution, creating more lawsuits and jail time due to copyright laws.  Movies are often posted on sites such as YouTube and quickly taken off the internet due to copyright infringements.  In the video ‘Everything is a Remix’ by Kirby Ferguson we are said to be driven to copy, improve, and share creative products which is a major influence on this situation.  The following will discuss the online communities of producer-consumers and how there is a conflict with copyright laws more and more often.

            Social networking and media sites allow us to provide and share recent updates, pictures, and basically whatever we want more than any other websites.  Lev Manovich discusses in The Practice of everyday life: From mass consumption to mass cultural how these social media sites give us unlimited free storage with the ability to customize everything we want to share for everyone we choose.  This means that social media for producer-consumers is the largest online community.  In Sean Caley’s blog (http://seancaley.wordpress.com/2013/01/23/76a-online-community-of-different-preferences/#comments) he discusses how we do things such as post our feelings, favourable quotes, or random thoughts which we may not have posted otherwise if we did not have access to social media platforms.  As well, in Bennet’s blog (http://bennetsblog.wordpress.com/2013/01/17/engaging-in-the-online-community/) he discusses the evidence of Facebook as an emerging culture because more people have it in our society than those who don’t.  We see people as being weird in this sense if they didn’t have Facebook as it is considered a cultural norm.

            Hana’s blog suggests that she does not feel we need to post online about herself and produce content (http://pearlsglitterandpolish.wordpress.com/2013/01/17/my-online-consumption-vs-production/).  She says everyone has their own use for online communities and it may not be things such as social media outlets.  The difference between the two above referenced blog’s gives two sides to the story to help understand how we can produce and share content in different ways.

            I’m sort of in the middle of this whole discussion.  My only problem with social media outlets is that it allows us to create different personas.  We judge people based on Twitter, Facebook, etc rather than know them personally.  I try to reduce my conversations online and would rather speak to people in person.  Also these websites collect this data and keep them forever, you never know where your information is going, and whether that can negatively impact your life.  However its almost like an addiction, we can never get enough of these social media sites and choose to use them daily, hourly, and by the minute.  Manovich discusses that these site owners want people to pour their lives into these sites as these sites make a significant amount of coin.  Therefore it almost makes you believe your Facebook or Twitter use is making someone else money.

            The biggest issue would be us posting things on social platforms that don’t belong to us, creating infringement.  We all do it and I might be guilty of uploading stuff that may not belong to me from other sites.  Plain and simple it’s not right but at the same time we almost don’t care because it benefits us in the ways we need it to.   Therefore we need to be more aware and perhaps the news and government should intervene to fix this issue, even though I kind of hope they don’t, haha.

Cheers.

Online Content for the Greater Good

In the past year most people including myself have used the online world to consume and produce various documents, social needs, and personal browsing.  Therefore I am part of the contribution by consumers towards corporations so that they can track us on market to us more effectively.  Jenkins (2004) states that the American TV industry is targeting frequent online users to gain information about consumers.  Then our information is used by the TV companies to market effectively through online media platforms that we use.  Although I do think this violates our privacy there are benefits towards my and your continued production of online content.  However I am aware of this and still use online platforms despite what my information may be used for.  

My online content consists of Facebook, twitter, and YouTube mostly.  This content can be beneficial to society as Miller (2004) discusses that “collective consumer action”  focusing on social change can be progressive for society.  Therefore in terms of situations such as Hurricane Sandy and the Connecticut shootings I can post information expressing sorrow for these victims.  With all of society doing this there is more awareness for victims and thus increased charitable donations.  I myself feel it is important for people to be aware of these events so that we can help victims as online platforms have definitely helped broaden our knowledge of worldwide events.  

With examples of raising awareness for charitable purposes or expressing my own thoughts I will continue to produce online content for personal purposes but also for the greater good of the world I live in.  Although I may be targeted with ads based on what I produce and research the positives outweigh the negatives by continuing to produce online content.

Life With a Cell Phone (Major)

In the current life we live exist on of the most evolutional products in society.  These Personal Communication Technologies (PCTs) have evolved from simple handheld games to portable phones.  We speak, take/watch pictures/videos entirely on one devise which results in our reliance on them.  In the readings by Campbell & Park (2008) had a very important concluding message in their article stating that PCTs have become a central form of technology.  Similar to TVs, and radios, PCT’s are now uncommon if not being used; basically you cannot find a house in this country without a PCT.   It is crazy to think that our society is so inclined to grab our cell phones and text someone when we need to discuss something rather than face-to-face conversations.  The cell phones which we use assist in displaying us technologically as people judge us through messages in text.  This prevents us from knowing one another by person but rather as somewhat of potentially different person.  Therefore this constraint is one of the most evolutional innovations in technology.  We acknowledge ourselves less in person and more over our PCTs which is odd compared to how society was only 50 years ago.  In Raymond’s Blog, Are we all the same way? he discusses that we think what others would think of us before we state something on PCTs (http://raymondsg.wordpress.com/2013/01/05/are-we-all-the-same-way/) .  Therefore we are more similar to one another and less unique and different as humans have been in the past, This trend that I have noticed should be an issue in society even though it is not, and I myself am guilty of having more conversations on the phone rather than in person and contributing to the lack of personal interaction.

Nowadays we anticipate a high volume of applications and usages from our PCTs rather than texting and calling.  With my Blackberry I use applications such as texting, calling, internet, games, and more.  Especially on Facebook and Twitter I have used my phone a lot.  In an article by Walker et. Al. (2009) the authoprs make a point that the only impediment to future societal growth is the variation amounts of work we use our mobile devices.   These devices cannot simply replace all tasks by human but can certainly complete many of them.  This establishes a barrier to the growth of the human race.  We are unable to grow and our societal IQ may be shrinking due to our reliance on devices. This all makes sense as we are able to contact people quicker, search things quicker and do more on one device.  My stance on this situation is that we need to be aware of the advancement of these technologies so that human contact does not continue to decline, that’s just going backwards in society.

In the article by Zambonelli (2012) he discusses the inclusion of all humans as an urban superorganism were ICTs will impact society positively.  To travel, to shop, to eat’s blog discusses the reliance we have on our phones and are becoming more and more similar as one due to this reliance (http://totraveltoshoptoeat.wordpress.com/2013/01/05/hiding-behind-your-cellphonehaving-a-real-conversation/).  Therefore society has to begin moving in another direction although that seems impossible.  I agree with this point because it does contribute to the fallout of society as we will be compromised of similar people. Jordana’s article discusses how our cell phones may be contributing to our lack of effort in other areas of life such as job seeking (http://jordanakirsh.wordpress.com/2013/01/06/pcul-2f00-module-4-major-communication-its-complicated/).  We rely too much on PCTs which takes more time out of our days, this has to change.

In all I am in significant agreement with the articles above, society is moving backwards due to PCTs, ICTs etc. and we must fix this situation for future generations.

Impact of Ubiquitous Mobile Communication (Minor)

In our modern society the most evident evolution has been that of Personal Communication Technologies (PCTs).  I want to begin with a concluding point made in the Campbell & Park (2008) reading.  They discuss the implication that mobile devices have no become a central form of technology.  It is crazy to think that our society is so inclined to grab our cell phones and text someone when we need to discuss something.  Our phones thus represent us as people interpret the way we are simply by reading our text messages.  This constrains us from knowing one another by our true selves as we are judged upon written words rather than our face-to-face words and actions.  This personalization of communication networks as kept us from growing and acknowledging others just because they may be inconvenient to contact via our PCTs.  To me, this has been an ongoing trend that I have notice and although I am just as much a part of it as anyone else I will still attempt to keep certain conversations to a face-to-face level rather than discuss them over a text.

      As well we now expect MORE out of our devices than simply just texting and calling.  I use my phone for texting, calling, internet, games, and more.  Walker et al. (2009) discuss the only impediment to future societal growth as the amount of work we expect our mobile devices to do for us.  However these devices often do less for us than we expect them to and thus create a barrier towards us growing.  Logically this makes sense however we have been able to contact people quicker, Google things quicker, and wake up every morning thanks to one device.  Therefore my overall stance on the situation tends to be that we are enable by ubiquitous mobile communication but as a society we are constrained from personal face-to-face contact.    

Campbell, S. W. and Park, Y. J. (2008), Social Implications of Mobile Telephony: The Rise of Personal Communication Society. Sociology Compass, 2: 371–387

Walker, Guy H., Stanton, N., Jenkins, D. and Salmon, P.. (2009). From telephones to iPhones: Applying systems thinking to networked, interoperable products. Applied Ergonomics. March 2009, 40(2), 206-215.

Information Society of Our Time (Major)

As I discussed in my minor blog post there has been a transformation to a social networking society since the late 20^th century.  The readings discussed that this transformation is not necessarily a bad thing for society as the current state is a balance of technological revolution and continuance of past traditions (Mansell, 2010).  Thus I believe that it is illogical for people to down talk social networking evolution as there is valuable information that can be shared quicker and easier; thus advancing society through the use of new analytic methods to gain information from consumers.  Evolution has brought change to societal methods of communication and whether viewed positively or negatively, it is an advance and not a step back in society.  As well, Mansell (2010) discussed the information age which i interpreted as “Due to the technological society we know have central information in society where everyone can access it due to coding in systems”.  Therefore we have this development of the information age to advance our knowledge globally.  Similarly the post-industrial society means that we have shifted to a more social focus rather than industrial focus which previously existed; which has also contributed to advances in knowledge.

The role of technology to the political economy is described as “Developments in behavioral economics and targeted advertising are being used to extend the reach of commerce into the online spaces created by the Internet and, arguably, little is being done to keep these commercial forces at bay”.  Thus the political economy sees little control over information and opinions being advertised to consumers. However, persons studying personal development and new forms of identity information may see it as a setback and risk to these human developments.  This also leads into the relation of information and communication technologies (ICT) to issues of control.  Through the development of ICT’s there has been privacy issues surrounding control of stored information (e.g., Facebook, online purchasing).  There is more space for advertisements and propaganda as well questionable storage of photos and personal information.  This creates a contrasting situation over the debate of whether social networking and ICT’s are(not) beneficial to society.

It is also important to not some of the terms listed throughout the Network Society reading.  The authors discuss the term “Transformation of Sociability” which revolves around the fact that people who use the internet as a means for communication are more inclined to have more friends/contacts and be more sociable and politically active than uncommon or non-internet users.  Based off of my last point it is easy to understand that social networking is not a cause of anti-socialism.  Therefore our knowledge is being enhanced through the use of social networking.  We see, we understand, and we gain information faster through social networking, allowing our capabilities to produce more results.  My previous point is justified by lexxy54’s blog (http://lexxy54.wordpress.com/2012/11/09/module-3-minor-blog/) which discusses the creation of faster and efficient information sharing due to technological advances.  This point alone made me understand that social networking may not always be a distraction, but rather a contributor to advancement of my knowledge.

Another term listed by the Network Society was “Network Individualism”.  This term means that social networking and communication through internet allow the creation of individuality and allow/disallow certain forms of communication into their lives depending on a person’s mood.  At first in my minor blog post I misinterpreted the definition; however I now understand that social networking allows us to have other forms of communication rather than telephone/face-to-face conversations; which we may avoid depending on our moods in each scenario.  We decide how we want to communicate based on our present mood and control who we want to talk to, which can establish individualism if our moods are constantly negative.  I am sure I am not the only person who agrees that depending on our mood we choose to communicate through different forms of technology or face-to-face conversations.  That makes me believe that although we can advance our knowledge through technology, it can also detract us from certain conversational settings.

Based on the above my stance towards the technological revolution is that it is a good thing for the development of society.  Every new invention has had controversy surrounding it but many advance society so that we can truly see how far our capabilities can take us.

Cheers everyone,

Anthony M

Information Society of Our Time (Minor)

In the late 20th and to date in the 21st century there has been a transformation to a social network society.  Mansell (2010) discusses that this is not necessarily a bad thing as we should view society’s current state as a balance between a technological revolution and continuity of the past.  Therefore we can still use old methods from the past however we can take advantage of new analytic methods to gain valuable information on consumers.

As well, the Network Society reading discusses the “Transformation of Sociability” which means that people who use the internet as a means for communication are inclined to have more friends/contacts and be more sociable and politically active.  This shows me that social network communications may not necessarily be a distraction or creator of anti-socialites like we are sometimes told by others, but rather a method of enhancing our societal knowledge.

The reading also discusses “Network Individualism” which means that social networking and communication allows people to be more individual and allow/disallow certain forms of communication into their lives depending on a person’s mood.  Therefore we tend to not use certain social networking sites as opposed to others depending who we want/don’t want to talk to, and what we want/don’t want to hear/read.  I seem to do the same as I typically try to avoid certain Twitter handles and sites such as Instagram because I don’t feel the need to express myself or see other people pictures or opinions on certain subjects.

Hope that my post relates to you as well,

Cheers

Californian Ideology

It is very interesting to read The Californian Ideology and how it has turned out in the present day.  The shift to a technological age with unlimited resource sharing has not had quite the detrimental effect that Cameron (1996) states.  Cameron states that “The developers of hypermedia must reassert the possibility of rational and conscious control over the shape of the digital future”.  However, other than the overwhelming trend of heightened obesity rates, many new forms of technology have improved our connection with one another.  We can speak to each other face-to-face over a computer (skype) and keep updated on ongoing events so that we are aware of events that exist in society.  This will prevent such events as World War 2 from happening as our world as a whole is more aware of ongoing issues throughout each country.  I do not believe there needs to be a limit on technological empowerment as we each use it for our own needs (http://www.toymakerproject.com/what-is-technological-empowerment/).

 

The Online Generation (Major)

In the topic surrounding the management of one’s public/private personae in relation to privacy implications there are various aspects to consider.  Many users tend to adjust their personae in accordance with how they would prefer to be represented in different scenarios (Boyd, 2007).  However there are also people who do not adjust themselves when shifting from a public/private setting.  As well it is important to analyze the current stance against privacy in SNS and the impact that the user has on these privacy rules/laws.

Many Social Network Sites (SNSs) create a gateway for people to manage themselves differently although the sites may suggest they promote users to represent their real self.  I see the main reason we are given the opportunity to use social networking to establish a separate personae is because time is given in online scenarios whereas as person-to-person actions are instant for the most part.  Therefore we have more time to think about what we want to say online, and what the perceptions from friends/family will be.  I notice this everyday as I may react or reply differently to something on an SNS rather than a person-to-person conversation.  Our true selves are shown when we have to reply instantly in conversations and situations.  A Freudian Slip (also called parapraxis, is an error in speech, memory, or physical action that is interpreted as occurring due to the interference of some unconscious (“dynamically repressed”), subdued wish, conflict, or train of thought) is a great example of an event that would happen in a person-to-person situation rather than SNSs and thus shows the true thoughts of each converser.

However there are also privacy implications which limit the extent to which we can express ourselves (e.g., “Report” offensive content on Facebook).  Therefore I tend to “tone it down” or act differently to convey a more professional image of myself; and others may possibly convey a party-goer image to increase their social base.  As Lyon (2008) states, there are many ways in which we can make a difference in voicing our opinions to governments.  Establishing new laws and revisiting old ones can help shape our society so that SNSs are not used against us with the personal information that is stored.  Thus the people who choose to use SNS can display their personae without worry of how the information will be used and how long it will be stored.

Moreover the other side of the argument is the government’s side as they can use SNSs as a database for surveillance.  Albrechtslund (2008) states that governments would obviously be pleased with the existence of SNSs as a tool for criminal investigations.  This further strengthens our protection system and can enhance our countries safety.  Therefore it would be beneficial for both sides to establish a method for continuing to store information without compromising the privacy of SNS users.

Overall it is important to realize that SNS users will continue to portray different images in public/private settings.  If the user is aware that the information they post on SNSs is public they may portray a different image to conceal information or reveal information, depending on the user’s intent.  However the solution to the public/private personae relation to privacy implications would be for the user to conceal information that can be used against them.  At each person’s discretion, concealing important information would be beneficial to the user and assist the government in investigating those who are naïve enough to post revealing/criminal behaviour.  Each person can interpret this post in their own way however I hope that it opens everyone’s eyes to the amount of people that can see our public personae and thus adjust the ways we conduct ourselves on SNSs.

Classmates minor blog post http://cassgiorgio.wordpress.com/2012/10/17/module-2-minor-blog-post/#comments …further displays that people are becoming more aware of SNSs accounts and acting accordingly to avoid information that can be detrimental to one’s life.

Thanks.

Anthony M