Big Mac Attack!- Culture Jamming
Time Warner- Media Hegemonies / Mapping Who Owns What
Net Neutrality
To summarize the term, net neutrality or network neutrality is basically the idea of preventing ISPs (internet service providers) from deciding which websites a user can access [1]. I believe that ISPs should not have a say in what users are able to view over the internet, for the simple fact that they are paying for it. Also, if the forbidden content contains information that they really do not want us to view it should not be on the World Wide Web to begin with or there should be stronger measures of keeping such information safe and protected. Something that we need to keep in mind is that if net neutrality were not existent, ISPs would force users to choose one web service over another. For example, users of the MSN Internet service will only be able to use the MSN search engine instead of Google, while users of Comcast can only use the yahoo search engine instead of the MSN search engine. While there are positives of Net Neutrality there will always be some negative aspect. "Charging different rates for different sites can be compared to cable television, and this makes sense to a lot of internet providers who also provide cable and phone services. [2]" Therefore consumers are paying more in order to get more right? So why is it that ISPs aren't giving them what they paid for? Its only ethical.
If net neutrality were to become non-existent, there would be individuals who would understand the emotions and outrage of ISP customers and would create a whole new system to prevent ISP’s from limiting. Their new system would allow these deprived users the full access of the Internet that they once had with no boundaries and no limits. Wherever there is a demand (unlimited access to the internet), there will be someone or something to fill that demand (a whole new ISP that does not limit internet access and searching but may cost a little more money).
In reality, net neutrality has been an ongoing problem for many countries since the existence of the Internet, especially Canada. In Canada, this issue sparks up some major concern due to the fact that our major ISPs have willingly admitted to censored information through their ISP, controlling and traffic shaping. The principles of net neutrality go beyond those of what users can access and view on the Internet. It also involves receiving what you purchased from your ISPs. For example, I’ve purchased roger's Extreme Internet service costing me roughly $60 a month giving me 10Mbps. At times when I access the Internet it seems much slower than the speed that was advertised so I took it upon myself to check my actual speed online. My findings were that my Internet speed appeared to be much slower than what I’ve purchased. Also, recently ISPs put a limit on how much Gb of information you can view, use and access a month (Net neutrality). It is pretty clear now that the term net neutrality is being pushed aside slowly. The issue of controlling or throttling comes into play when an ISP purposely slows down the speed of user's Internet connections. In this case Bell has already admitted to doing so. Censoring and throttling our online content simply takes money out of our pockets and places it into the pockets of others.
Theory/Praxis- Media Literacy
When I first heard the term media literacy, I automatically knew what it meant. To me it seemed self-explanatory; the understanding of media. Like most people of my generation, I grew up in front of the television not knowing the true meaning and or understanding of the type of media I was being exposed to. Now, I cannot say the same. I do have somewhat of an understanding of what I’m being exposed to and I can comprehend what the community of the media is trying to convey through various mediums. Now I am able to ask pertinent questions about what is in front of me and what is actually not there. In other words, I can question things that I view to be reality and things that I view to be an illusion. Media literacy has become a tool to help me scrutinize various types of means and while doing so I have finally come to realize its true purpose.
A good example of something in the media that I have a better understanding of would be commercials for sponsoring children in third world countries. Although I see them as good causes, there is something uneasy about these organizations producing commercials showing the everyday lives and hardship of these poor children (little children working, talking about how their care takers are on their death beds and the children will have no one to take care of them). While flicking through channels you may come across one of these commercials and stop and watch to be "more informed" and initially that is their goal. But what most viewers do not know is that they are showing these particular clips to get you to pick up the phone and donate. They try and touch you on an emotional level so that you feel like emotions of guilt, and realize that you take the things you have in your life for granted and then finally pick up the phone and call. I refer to those viewers as being media illiterate because they do not understand the transfer of emotions that had just occurred.
MADD- Activist Project
Fake News
“Is this ‘fake’ news?” is a common question one may ask when it comes to the authenticity and accuracy of a news story. The term ‘fake news’ has become associated with governments’ and corporation’s pre-packaged news that has been released as news outlets. A majority of these corporations and governments release these pre-packaged news pieces through something called VNR's (visual news releases) [1]. VNR’s are essentially designed to look like an authentic news report. Through the VNR’s, people are more willing to believe that what is being displayed is truthful because it is portrayed as ‘news’. As a result, the government and corporations are finding new innovative ways to make their commercials and advertisements more news-like in order for them to be viewed as something that they may often not be; something truthful, something called news.
I personally do not think that corporately funded news is positive for our society. In essence, it seems that if you have money you have the ability to make society think, see or believe what you want them to. This means that money can be the cause or allowance of the transfer of misleading information in the media. With the booming public relations industry, dreams are becoming realities. "The fact that corporations and governments feel compelled to spend billions of dollars every year manipulating the public is a perverse tribute to human nature and our own moral values. The public relations industry has stolen our dreams, and returned them to us packaged as illusions. It must be our duty to dream more deeply, and to participate in the process of transforming those dreams into reality [2]."News should focus on the main idea of a story and abstain from all unnecessary corporate influences within them. Therefore the truth is that where ever there is money, there will always be false or ‘fake’ news.
A couple of days ago, I watched a movie called "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt". The movie was about a high profile lawyer, named Hunter who had an amazing record of putting criminals behind bars and was a shoo-in for governor in an upcoming election. But when an investigative journalist, C.J., who was known for one of his award winning news reports, begins to investigate this lawyer he comes to realize that he is tampering with evidence to secure his convictions. C.J essentially frames himself as a murder suspect to catch Martin in the act, and he does this with the help of his girlfriend causing a ‘mistrial’. But what C.J’s girlfriend later on comes to discover is that C.J hired the murdered victim from the previous case to act in his new report and later on actually murdered her because she was threatening to expose him.
It is evident that the government and corporations are implicating fake news into our world, but in relation to the film, we can see that this is happening with journalists as well. They only do this primarily for self benefit and profit. They effectively exhibit this ‘news’ to touch viewers on an emotional level and once that is accomplished, then you pretty much have the viewers in ‘the palm of your hand’. On that note, I would like all readers to keep this in mind: "Only a select few are aware that most of what's in a newspaper is either fact-plus-fiction or truth-minus-fact, which evens out to be just about the same thing.-Chuck Klosterman
Work Cited
[1] "Fake News".
[2]Klosterman, Chuck. "Sex, Drugs, And Cocoa Puffs" New York, NY: Scribner, 2003.
Buy Nothing Day
Is this some sort of joke? Until today I've never heard of this "Buy Nothing Day" on the 25th of November. Apparently Buy Nothing Day is a day which challenges consumer to put of shopping for just one day. This day is esentially a day to help reduce over consumption. "20% of the world population are consuming over 80% of the Earth's natural resources causing a disproportionate level of environmental damage and unfair distribution of wealth"[1]. To be honest i could totally participate in this buy nothing day because truthfully i have no money to anything anyway. Realistically, this Buy Nothing Day seems effective to some extent but only to those who are conscious and aware of what the world will eventually coming to when it comes to over consumption. It seems like we buy things that arent essential to live (wants) instead of actually buying things that we need. We live in a society where keeping up with the latest fashion trends and technologies is very important. With kind of mentality, i believe that it will be utterly impossible to get at least 50% of the world to participate in this "Buy Nothing Day". Really, do you know what kind of world we live in today?
Mass Media
The term "mass media" may be hard to define because the term is understood and interpreted in many different ways. In order to get a general idea of what mass media is it will be wise to break down the term. The word mass essentially means the common people or the multitude. Media is defined as the various ways or means of communicating information or things. So now that we are familiar with the two definitions putting them together makes the term mass media much more easier to understand. with that being said mass media is the various way or means of communicating information or things to a multitude of people. Mass media is comprised of different mediums. for example television (CNN), Movies (The Matrix), Newspapers (The New York Times)[1].
iPARTICIPATE- Participatory Culture
Participatory culture is evident in a portion of the lives of those who were born in the technological era. Some may not be familiar with the term “participatory culture”, however, media scholar Henry Jenkins defines this captivating term in the short clip below:
[http://wascsenior.ning.com/video/what-is-participatory-culture]
For those who have not watched the clip, the term “participatory culture” is defined as a culture with relatively low barriers for artistic expression and civic engagement [1]. It is also something in which one believes that their contributions matter and make a difference, and they also feel a sense of social connection [1]. MacArthur divides participatory culture into 4 different forms:
Affiliations — memberships, formal and informal, in online communities centered around various forms of media, such as Friendster, Facebook, message boards, metagaming, game clans, or MySpace). [1]
Expressions — producing new artistic forms (digital sampling, skinning and modding, fan video making, fan fiction writing, zines, mash-ups) [1]
Collaborative Problem-solving — working in teams (formal and informal), to complete tasks and develop new knowledge (such as through Wikipedia, alternative reality gaming, spoiling). [1]
Circulations — “Shaping the flow of media (such as podcasting, blogging).” [1]
Now that you have some insight on the concept of participatory cultures, we will discuss a few cultures that I engage in. To start off, we will converse about the very popular online community we all know and love; Facebook. Facebook is an online community where millions of people network and connect and keep up with their friends and acquaintances upload an ample amount of photos, links and videos and also meet and get to know new people [2]. As of September 2009, Facebook has said to have over 300 million users, which is almost the population of the United States!
Online gaming or MMORPGs (massive multiplayer role playing games) is another participatory culture that I take pride in being familiar with. Unlike some people who take part in this culture, I have self discipline and know when I've played enough. MMORPGs are essentially online communities where thousands of people around the world come together and interact with each other and assist one another. Although everyone is aware that this culture is a virtual and sometimes unrealistic experience, they sometimes take things too seriously. For example, in South Korea people are prosecuted for stealing virtual property. "Players in South Korea have been prosecuted for stealing virtual property. More than half of the 40,000 computer crimes investigated by South Korea's National Police Agency in 2003 involved in online games". Really? It is a huge wonder why people let something that has no effect on reality affect their personal lives in the real world.
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Work Cited
[1]"Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century". Digital Media and Learning". 10 October 2009. Web. http://www.digitallearning.macfound.org/atf/cf/%7B7E45C7E0-A3E0-4B89-AC9C-E807E1B0AE4E%7D/JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF
[2]"Facebook". Facebook. 10 October 2009. Web. http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home
WWW.- The Ecology of Media
The World Wide Web, popularly known as the Internet, would probably be one of the world’s greatest technological advancements of the 20th century. Due to the existence of such a powerful resource, the world has shrunk by allowing communication with others and the access of information to be a less difficult activity. With the emergence of the internet, new cultures and communities are also developing and evolving.
The term media ecology is derived from two words; 'media' and 'ecology'. Now lets define both terms. From my research, the term media simply means the various ways or means of communicating information or things [1]. The term ecology means relations and interactions between organisms and their environment. Putting those two words together with the understanding of what both terms mean, media ecology is simply the role communication and information plays in human affairs or the study of media environments. Neil Postman defines the term as "how media of communication affect human perception, understanding, feeling, and value, and how our interaction with media facilitates or impedes our chances of survival"[2].
Whenever there is a shift in medium there is a corresponding shift in culture. As a cultural impact, people believe that the Internet is killing our culture as humans and our traditional ways of doing things (i.e. sending letters, using the libraries for research, writing on the chalkboard). They believe that realistically we have become lazier because we have become accustom to the advancement of technology. I believe the Internet is an enhancing tool and it is making us much more informed and knowledgeable of broad and narrow contents. Also, it makes the process of accessing things much simpler, considering space and time is no longer a factor. One thing I’ve come to realize is that we do not understand this medium as much as we think we do. We do not care how it works or operates or where it originated. The things that most of us are primarily concerned with are if we are connected to the Internet and able to access this World Wide Web of information. Although this technology exists in reality, we do not realize it exists because it is a part of us like most cultures are. The Internet or the World Wide Web is just an extension of our minds. Like one of my fellow classmates stated on our class wiki, "Google is the extension of our memory". It is clear that I am not the only one who believes strongly for such an argument. As McLuhan said, “Fish don't know water exists till beached"[3].
The World Wide Web has dramatically changed humankind and the processes and methods we use to communicate with one another. For example, eighteen years ago the email address Sexi_girl101@hotmail.com did not exist nor did the term 'email'. Eighteen years ago "Sexi_girl101@hotmail.com's real name was Annie Francesco. In order for Annie to communicate with someone who is a long distance away, she would have more than likely sent them a letter by mail. If she was aware that almost two decades later she will have the option of sending a letter through a new technological society called the World Wide Web, do you think she would embrace that technology? Even though she has knowledge that in the future it would be the most popular and fastest means of communicating and obtaining information? This scenario is somewhat similar to the one Klosterman brought up: "It becomes very clear that- you have become obsessed with Canadian football. And this future is static and absolute; no matter what you do, this future will happen...come across a pre-season CFL game between the Toronto Argonauts and the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Knowing your inevitable future, do you watch it?" (Klosterman, 132). [4]
Marshal McLuhan states, "The medium is the message"[5]. Since the Internet would be considered the medium in this scenario, what is the message?
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Work Cited
[1] "Ecology." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 06 Oct. 2009.
[4] Klosterman, Chuck. "Sex, Drugs, And Cocoa Puffs" New York, NY: Scribner, 2003.
[2] Postman, Neil. "What is Media Ecology?". 7 October 2009. http://www.media-ecology.org/publications/MEA_proceedings/v1/humanism_of_media_ecology.html
[5] “The Playboy Interview: Marshall McLuhan.” Playboy Magazine (March 1969). 7 Oct. 2009. http://folk.uio.no/gisle/links/mcluhan/pb.html
Ju's Media Autobiography
This video, created for my mass communications class, is a visual autobiography my insight, understanding and use of the media. This brief video incorporates some of my personal work (fashion sketches, recorded films, and earth zooms) as an attempt to display my creativity and talent in relation to media. Enjoy!
Academics & a Blog
The concept of academic blogging is rather new to me; however, I am more than eager to embrace it. As a lover of fashion, I tend to spend a lot of time following various fashion and celebrity gossip blogs. Now that I have created my own, I can combine ideas from the ones I am familiar with and my own personal creativity! "Inside Ju London" is my first blog and I was somewhat nervous at first because I was not sure of how confident I was to display my work. At the same time, I felt excited because people all around the world will be able to view my thoughts and person opinions on academics and the media. The special thing about blogging in general is that one is able to express and discuss their ideas freely with no boundaries.
Even more so, with academic blogging you are able to express and discuss your ideas freely as well as learning something new. Although there may be some people that will oppose or tear your what they call "premature" ideas apart, there will always be someone in the world that shares similar ideas and values as you do, and that will take the time to view your blog. What I also find interesting is that each blog post I make will be based on a particular topic chosen by the professor, and that I will also be able to raise my own questions involving my reactions to the weekly readings on my blog. This way not only does my point of view get across to my desired audience, but the ideas of other prestigious authors and scholarly writers will as well. With academic blogging there is never a wrong answer. As an official blogger, I believe I have entered into an environment of something that I have only recently picked up on; an “academia" (a community engaged in higher education and research).
