I would like to share with you an article on ownership of companies in media - the topic which we discussed on our last meeting during the class "New Media and Society". Just a little abstract:
"Some nations can influence and control their media greatly. In addition, powerful corporations also have enormous influence on mainstream media.
In some places major multinational corporations own media stations and outlets. Often, many media institutions survive on advertising fees, which can lead to the media outlet being influenced by various corporate interests. Other times, the ownership interests may affect what is and is not covered. Stories can end up being biased or omitted so as not to offend advertisers or owners. The ability for citizens to make informed decisions is crucial for a free and functioning democracy but now becomes threatened by such concentration in ownership.
The idea of corporate media itself may not be a bad thing, for it can foster healthy competition and provide a check against governments. However, the concern is when there is a concentration of ownership due to the risk of increased economic and political influence that can itself be unaccountable."
Want to read more? Go on: http://www.globalissues.org/article/159/media-conglomerates-mergers-concentration-of-ownership
petek, 21. maj 2010
sobota, 8. maj 2010
Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide
Recently I've read book called Convergence Culture - it talks about where and how new and old media collide. Henry Jenkins takes us on a journey through modern culture, past the must-see television series and social networks to fan fiction, comics and internet forums. Jenkins then takes his book beyond the most byzantine storytelling to point out that it is as much about discovery rather than telling the story. It moves from media to experience and relies on the media property staying ahead of large groups of people who use online tools to collaborate on this discovery process with each other. From a marketing perspective, planning rather than story creation is going to be the dominant element as brands look to architect their own experience for consumers to discover. Very nice reading!
nedelja, 18. april 2010
Possibilites of Second Life - Virtual Romance
We know main definition of Second Life. Marina and me wrote down next lines (as a part of our assignment) -
Second Life broke out with other contemporary technologies. It provides a possibility to experience an alternative life in a specially created virtual world – in times, when globalization blurred geographical borders, Second Life was faced with an enormous success. People started to change their behaviour in a social matter and are transferring their lives to a virtual environment, which became physical in one way. Some are using virtual worlds to search for their partners, others are there for entertainment and business – everyone is motivated differently, but main goal of Second Life remains one: to be used as a communication tool and not as a true second life.
Let us put educational aspects of Second Life beside us for a second and focus on other possibilities in Second Life - the possibilities of everday's, real life. If you could have a chance to start your life over, would you? What if you could live all your dreams to the fullest without limitation? There is a virtual chat reality that can allow you to experience much of what you are too afraid to experience in “real” life.
Some of the things that work best in SL are music, both live and recorded, dancing (any style you can imagine), relationships (both voice chat and typed), sexual encounters(as real as your imagination), education, lectures, and even movies. A brief comment on Second Life sex, you are meeting actual people and interacting with them in ways you probably would not do in first life, so just be careful and courteous. Most behavior in Second Life is mature, but like real life sometimes it gets out of hand. Unlike real life nothing can harm you here, it is like practice. Use Second Life as a way of extending the possibilities in your life and experiencing things you have been curious about but could not do in real life.
In Second Life you can have relationships you never thought possible and experience feelings you did not know you even had! Another word of caution here, it may appear that your 1L and SL are separate but I can assure you that they are not. Everything is connected in some way which can be both good and bad. If you do something in Second Life to hurt another person(emotionally) then the ramifications are both in real life and Second Life. It works the other way too, if you meet someone special and you get to know this person well, romance in Second Life will affect your real life. You can be partnered in Second Life to one person and married to someone else in real life, or it can be the same person or no one. The intentions you go in with will determine your experience - the possibilities are endless!
But here is the question - would you prefer something that is not real or would you prefer something real in you real life? Yes, of course, the possibilities in real life are limnited, but they are still real - feelings and connections between two persons are something that can't be replaced.
Second Life broke out with other contemporary technologies. It provides a possibility to experience an alternative life in a specially created virtual world – in times, when globalization blurred geographical borders, Second Life was faced with an enormous success. People started to change their behaviour in a social matter and are transferring their lives to a virtual environment, which became physical in one way. Some are using virtual worlds to search for their partners, others are there for entertainment and business – everyone is motivated differently, but main goal of Second Life remains one: to be used as a communication tool and not as a true second life.
Let us put educational aspects of Second Life beside us for a second and focus on other possibilities in Second Life - the possibilities of everday's, real life. If you could have a chance to start your life over, would you? What if you could live all your dreams to the fullest without limitation? There is a virtual chat reality that can allow you to experience much of what you are too afraid to experience in “real” life.
Some of the things that work best in SL are music, both live and recorded, dancing (any style you can imagine), relationships (both voice chat and typed), sexual encounters(as real as your imagination), education, lectures, and even movies. A brief comment on Second Life sex, you are meeting actual people and interacting with them in ways you probably would not do in first life, so just be careful and courteous. Most behavior in Second Life is mature, but like real life sometimes it gets out of hand. Unlike real life nothing can harm you here, it is like practice. Use Second Life as a way of extending the possibilities in your life and experiencing things you have been curious about but could not do in real life.
In Second Life you can have relationships you never thought possible and experience feelings you did not know you even had! Another word of caution here, it may appear that your 1L and SL are separate but I can assure you that they are not. Everything is connected in some way which can be both good and bad. If you do something in Second Life to hurt another person(emotionally) then the ramifications are both in real life and Second Life. It works the other way too, if you meet someone special and you get to know this person well, romance in Second Life will affect your real life. You can be partnered in Second Life to one person and married to someone else in real life, or it can be the same person or no one. The intentions you go in with will determine your experience - the possibilities are endless!
But here is the question - would you prefer something that is not real or would you prefer something real in you real life? Yes, of course, the possibilities in real life are limnited, but they are still real - feelings and connections between two persons are something that can't be replaced.
petek, 16. april 2010
Educational Uses of Second Life
When Marina and me were making our research paper entitled "Second life as learning environment" we found many interesting material, including educational (amature) video clips on YouTube. Down you can find one example:
ponedeljek, 5. april 2010
How did the European Parliament encourage online the European Citizens to participate to the 2009 European Elections?
The turnout of the European Parliament Elections has been falling steadily since the first elections in 1979 indicating increased apathy about the Parliament despite its increase in power over that period. Something needed to be done.
In order to reverse this tendency, the European Parliament is increasingly using the Internet to reach out the European citizens online. The year 2009 was particularly interesting for the use of social media like social-networking and content-sharing web platforms. Below, you can see a scheme of European Parliament online communication strategy.
To be honest, I wouldn’t have expected that just six months ago, as the EP didn’t even have a Facebook page back then. But these are the days for experimentation and quick changes, and the June 2009 election was the European Parliament’s first experience with social networks. But how does an impersonal institution use social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, tools that profile persons, individuals?
Differing from Barack Obama or any other political candidate’s use of social media, EP didn’t have a political cause, other than “use your vote”. How everything started? Well, European Parliament used America's presidental elections (and especially marketing strategies behined it) as a good example how to draw people attention.
European Parlimanet estabilshed a team of experts - the EP web team started their social network effort late. Comparing to Obama, who started his campaign two year before the election, the EP web team had little extra resources, and could only start full time campaign work when the heavy parliamentary work ended in May 2009. They had the Facebook page ready in May, and had also to do some design work for the MySpace site, which launched in April. EP team also started their own YouTube channel and released several YouTube videos during the campaign - they also made some videos, from which especially one stood up and drew people's attention.
And the effects of the EP's online campagine, you ask? Well, we can say that the numbers are interesting. All the social media efforts of the EP were interlinked in the end, and content got cross-promoted on different platforms, everything except from the blog. About 55 000 people are fans of EP on Facebook. Most fans from Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Poland, and Belgium, 2500 followers on Twitter totally, 3000 friends on MySpace, 3000 views a day on Flickr. And the final, most important number - EP’s web site had about 500 000 visitors on election night to check the results.
Where you also a part of it?
In order to reverse this tendency, the European Parliament is increasingly using the Internet to reach out the European citizens online. The year 2009 was particularly interesting for the use of social media like social-networking and content-sharing web platforms. Below, you can see a scheme of European Parliament online communication strategy.
To be honest, I wouldn’t have expected that just six months ago, as the EP didn’t even have a Facebook page back then. But these are the days for experimentation and quick changes, and the June 2009 election was the European Parliament’s first experience with social networks. But how does an impersonal institution use social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, tools that profile persons, individuals?
Differing from Barack Obama or any other political candidate’s use of social media, EP didn’t have a political cause, other than “use your vote”. How everything started? Well, European Parliament used America's presidental elections (and especially marketing strategies behined it) as a good example how to draw people attention.
European Parlimanet estabilshed a team of experts - the EP web team started their social network effort late. Comparing to Obama, who started his campaign two year before the election, the EP web team had little extra resources, and could only start full time campaign work when the heavy parliamentary work ended in May 2009. They had the Facebook page ready in May, and had also to do some design work for the MySpace site, which launched in April. EP team also started their own YouTube channel and released several YouTube videos during the campaign - they also made some videos, from which especially one stood up and drew people's attention.
And the effects of the EP's online campagine, you ask? Well, we can say that the numbers are interesting. All the social media efforts of the EP were interlinked in the end, and content got cross-promoted on different platforms, everything except from the blog. About 55 000 people are fans of EP on Facebook. Most fans from Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Poland, and Belgium, 2500 followers on Twitter totally, 3000 friends on MySpace, 3000 views a day on Flickr. And the final, most important number - EP’s web site had about 500 000 visitors on election night to check the results.
Where you also a part of it?
ponedeljek, 22. marec 2010
Youtbue as Research Tool
Last week, during the online meeting there was a talk about Youtube beeing an research tool. I have found one interesting article that talks about this topic and about how Youtube will become a new Google. How? Check it out.
At First, Funny Videos. Now, a Reference Tool.
By MIGUEL HELFT
Published: January 17, 2009
FACED with writing a school report on an Australian animal, Tyler Kennedy began where many students begin these days: by searching the Internet. But Tyler didn’t use Google or Yahoo. He searched for information about the platypus on YouTube.
“I found some videos that gave me pretty good information about how it mates, how it survives, what it eats,” Tyler said. Similarly, when Tyler gets stuck on one of his favorite games on the Wii, he searches YouTube for tips on how to move forward. And when he wants to explore the ins and outs of collecting Bakugan Battle Brawlers cards, which are linked to a Japanese anime television series, he goes to YouTube again.
While he favors YouTube for searches, he said he also turns to Google from time to time.
“When they don’t have really good results on YouTube, then I use Google,” said Tyler, who is 9 and lives in Alameda. Calif.
Tyler’s way of experiencing the Web — primarily through video — may not be mainstream, at least not yet. But his use of YouTube as his favorite search engine underscores a shift that is much broader than the quirky habits of children.
The explosion of all types of video content on YouTube and other sites is quickly transforming online video from a medium strictly for entertainment and news into one that is also a reference tool. As a result, video search, on YouTube and across other sites, is rapidly morphing into a new entry point into the Web, one that could rival mainstream search for many types of queries.
“There are an increasing number of people who are doing video searches to supplement and improve what they do in their offline lives,” said Suranga Chandratillake, the chief executive of Blinkx, a video search engine.
With inexpensive cameras flooding the market and a proliferation of Web sites hosting seemingly unlimited numbers of clips, it’s never been easier to create and upload video. You can now find an online video on virtually any topic. Web videos teach how to grout a tub, offer reviews of the latest touch-screen phones and give you a feel for walking across the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, Italy.
The consumption of video has followed a similar trajectory. In November, 146 million Americans watched videos online, streaming a total of 12.6 billion video clips, or nearly double the number they streamed just 20 months ago, according to comScore.
YouTube itself has grown even faster. Its share of videos streamed soared to 40 percent in November from 17 percent in March 2007.
And now YouTube, conceived as a video hosting and sharing site, has become a bona fide search tool. Searches on it in the United States recently edged out those on Yahoo, which had long been the No. 2 search engine, behind Google. (Google, incidentally, owns YouTube.) In November, Americans conducted nearly 2.8 billion searches on YouTube, about 200 million more than on Yahoo, according to comScore.
This startling statistic prompted Alex Iskold, the founder and chief executive of Adaptiveblue.com, a Web start-up, to ask in a blog post, “Is YouTube the next Google?” In other words, is YouTube effective as a mainstream search engine, and might it supplant or rival Google some day?
To test the idea, Mr. Iskold, whose inquiry was inspired partly by a conversation with Ian Kennedy, Tyler’s father, about his son’s search habits, performed a series of queries on YouTube and rated the results. Not surprisingly, some searches (vacuuming carpets, Donkey from Shrek) produced better results than others (George Washington, astrophysics).
As more video is added to the Web, the proportion of video searches that deliver satisfactory answers will grow, too. The question is, how far will video go as an alternative to text?
Mr. Iskold said that two factors would naturally limit video’s potential to supplant text on the Web. First, much content doesn’t lend itself well to video. And the Internet derives much of its utility from the web of links connecting its sites. But Mr. Iskold said that a shift toward video would continue, and that young Internet users, like Tyler, would only accelerate it. (In the comments section of Ms. Iskold’s blog post, two other parents said that their sons also used YouTube as their primary search tool.)
At YouTube, Hunter Walk, a director of product management, said the move toward video might not necessarily lead to a decline in the consumption of text or other media. Video, text and other formats, he said, will complement one another in interesting ways.
Mr. Walk said a good example is provided by an ad for Hillary Rodham Clinton during the Democratic presidential primaries — the one in which a voice asks “Who do you want answering the phone?” at the White House at 3 a.m. during a crisis. A search for “Hillary Clinton 3 a.m.” on Google would bring up news stories about the ad and the controversy surrounding it. On YouTube, the same search brought up the original commercial, as well a response by the Barack Obama campaign, pundits’ commentaries and an assortment of spoofs, giving users a much different understanding of how the story unfolded, Mr. Walk said.
“Video is part of the discovery process,” he said. “Depending on the user and the type of content, users may want to start with video or text.”
YouTube won’t break out searches by category, but Mr. Chandratillake said that on Blinkx, some of the fastest-growing searches were in reference categories like money, travel, health and food. More traditional categories, like entertainment, sports and user-generated content, remain more popular but are growing at a slower rate, suggesting a shift.
Tyler’s father, Mr. Kennedy, who is a product manager at Nokia, said he has watched Tyler and his friends going from the Wii to the computer and back to the Wii enough times to understand how much the use of online video is changing. “All of us who are a certain age think of video as a medium associated with television, and not as a reference,” Mr. Kennedy said. “It’s another method of search that we don’t fully appreciate.”
Direct link - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/18/business/media/18ping.html?_r=2
At First, Funny Videos. Now, a Reference Tool.
By MIGUEL HELFT
Published: January 17, 2009
FACED with writing a school report on an Australian animal, Tyler Kennedy began where many students begin these days: by searching the Internet. But Tyler didn’t use Google or Yahoo. He searched for information about the platypus on YouTube.
“I found some videos that gave me pretty good information about how it mates, how it survives, what it eats,” Tyler said. Similarly, when Tyler gets stuck on one of his favorite games on the Wii, he searches YouTube for tips on how to move forward. And when he wants to explore the ins and outs of collecting Bakugan Battle Brawlers cards, which are linked to a Japanese anime television series, he goes to YouTube again.
While he favors YouTube for searches, he said he also turns to Google from time to time.
“When they don’t have really good results on YouTube, then I use Google,” said Tyler, who is 9 and lives in Alameda. Calif.
Tyler’s way of experiencing the Web — primarily through video — may not be mainstream, at least not yet. But his use of YouTube as his favorite search engine underscores a shift that is much broader than the quirky habits of children.
The explosion of all types of video content on YouTube and other sites is quickly transforming online video from a medium strictly for entertainment and news into one that is also a reference tool. As a result, video search, on YouTube and across other sites, is rapidly morphing into a new entry point into the Web, one that could rival mainstream search for many types of queries.
“There are an increasing number of people who are doing video searches to supplement and improve what they do in their offline lives,” said Suranga Chandratillake, the chief executive of Blinkx, a video search engine.
With inexpensive cameras flooding the market and a proliferation of Web sites hosting seemingly unlimited numbers of clips, it’s never been easier to create and upload video. You can now find an online video on virtually any topic. Web videos teach how to grout a tub, offer reviews of the latest touch-screen phones and give you a feel for walking across the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, Italy.
The consumption of video has followed a similar trajectory. In November, 146 million Americans watched videos online, streaming a total of 12.6 billion video clips, or nearly double the number they streamed just 20 months ago, according to comScore.
YouTube itself has grown even faster. Its share of videos streamed soared to 40 percent in November from 17 percent in March 2007.
And now YouTube, conceived as a video hosting and sharing site, has become a bona fide search tool. Searches on it in the United States recently edged out those on Yahoo, which had long been the No. 2 search engine, behind Google. (Google, incidentally, owns YouTube.) In November, Americans conducted nearly 2.8 billion searches on YouTube, about 200 million more than on Yahoo, according to comScore.
This startling statistic prompted Alex Iskold, the founder and chief executive of Adaptiveblue.com, a Web start-up, to ask in a blog post, “Is YouTube the next Google?” In other words, is YouTube effective as a mainstream search engine, and might it supplant or rival Google some day?
To test the idea, Mr. Iskold, whose inquiry was inspired partly by a conversation with Ian Kennedy, Tyler’s father, about his son’s search habits, performed a series of queries on YouTube and rated the results. Not surprisingly, some searches (vacuuming carpets, Donkey from Shrek) produced better results than others (George Washington, astrophysics).
As more video is added to the Web, the proportion of video searches that deliver satisfactory answers will grow, too. The question is, how far will video go as an alternative to text?
Mr. Iskold said that two factors would naturally limit video’s potential to supplant text on the Web. First, much content doesn’t lend itself well to video. And the Internet derives much of its utility from the web of links connecting its sites. But Mr. Iskold said that a shift toward video would continue, and that young Internet users, like Tyler, would only accelerate it. (In the comments section of Ms. Iskold’s blog post, two other parents said that their sons also used YouTube as their primary search tool.)
At YouTube, Hunter Walk, a director of product management, said the move toward video might not necessarily lead to a decline in the consumption of text or other media. Video, text and other formats, he said, will complement one another in interesting ways.
Mr. Walk said a good example is provided by an ad for Hillary Rodham Clinton during the Democratic presidential primaries — the one in which a voice asks “Who do you want answering the phone?” at the White House at 3 a.m. during a crisis. A search for “Hillary Clinton 3 a.m.” on Google would bring up news stories about the ad and the controversy surrounding it. On YouTube, the same search brought up the original commercial, as well a response by the Barack Obama campaign, pundits’ commentaries and an assortment of spoofs, giving users a much different understanding of how the story unfolded, Mr. Walk said.
“Video is part of the discovery process,” he said. “Depending on the user and the type of content, users may want to start with video or text.”
YouTube won’t break out searches by category, but Mr. Chandratillake said that on Blinkx, some of the fastest-growing searches were in reference categories like money, travel, health and food. More traditional categories, like entertainment, sports and user-generated content, remain more popular but are growing at a slower rate, suggesting a shift.
Tyler’s father, Mr. Kennedy, who is a product manager at Nokia, said he has watched Tyler and his friends going from the Wii to the computer and back to the Wii enough times to understand how much the use of online video is changing. “All of us who are a certain age think of video as a medium associated with television, and not as a reference,” Mr. Kennedy said. “It’s another method of search that we don’t fully appreciate.”
Direct link - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/18/business/media/18ping.html?_r=2
nedelja, 14. marec 2010
Media & Chomsky
Today I was looking through blogs of my fellow mates in New Media & Society course and I read Jernejs post on a new book that just recently came out: Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out: Kids Living and Learning with New Media. He still hasn't read it all yet, but he believes that this book will prove to be a valuable source of knowledge for anyone interested in social media, kids living with media and online identity construction.
While reading this post, I started to think, which was the book that striked and reshaped my image on media situation in todays world. Simply written, short, but effective - Media Control by Noah Chomsky.
Why this one? This book can be read within 45 minutes and not only gives real-life examples of modern propaganda uses and successes, but also gives a brief history of its use in the United States - and the modern media was born in the USA, at least in some ways. But in which, you may ask? Well, let me demonstrate you - one of the amature reviewers at amazon.co.uk wrote next lines..."Speaking for myself, I get sick when I hear "CNN, The Most Trusted News," and watch Fox and every other mind-melted American media. I have to admit, I also get nauseated (literally) in just the sight of G.W. Bush or any of his administration attempting to tell the "truth." (the review it's old, but the same thing would be, if we would just change the name og George Bush with Barak Obama's). And what's even more disturbing are the supporter's; Blind and angry fighters with bias moral slants and empty slogans. On the other hand, PBS and Comedy Central are refreshing alternative exceptions to all of these deceptions."
Chomsky examines how propaganda can be just as effective in a free society as in a totalitarian society, citing multiple examples of the American people being misled and the irresponsible complicity of the media establishment dating back to the days of Wilson. There is something that affects the media and understands media as a source of power. If you haven't read the book yet, check it out.
While reading this post, I started to think, which was the book that striked and reshaped my image on media situation in todays world. Simply written, short, but effective - Media Control by Noah Chomsky.
Why this one? This book can be read within 45 minutes and not only gives real-life examples of modern propaganda uses and successes, but also gives a brief history of its use in the United States - and the modern media was born in the USA, at least in some ways. But in which, you may ask? Well, let me demonstrate you - one of the amature reviewers at amazon.co.uk wrote next lines..."Speaking for myself, I get sick when I hear "CNN, The Most Trusted News," and watch Fox and every other mind-melted American media. I have to admit, I also get nauseated (literally) in just the sight of G.W. Bush or any of his administration attempting to tell the "truth." (the review it's old, but the same thing would be, if we would just change the name og George Bush with Barak Obama's). And what's even more disturbing are the supporter's; Blind and angry fighters with bias moral slants and empty slogans. On the other hand, PBS and Comedy Central are refreshing alternative exceptions to all of these deceptions."
Chomsky examines how propaganda can be just as effective in a free society as in a totalitarian society, citing multiple examples of the American people being misled and the irresponsible complicity of the media establishment dating back to the days of Wilson. There is something that affects the media and understands media as a source of power. If you haven't read the book yet, check it out.
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