Blog Assignment 6

1.  In the book review by Virginia Bailey, she gives us 4 elements that Henry Jenkins speaks of in his book.  These elements (technological, industrial, cultural, social) affect how our media spreads. Jenkins gives the example of "Survivor" and how the 4 elements are utilized with the participants of the media.  People look up spoilers online through social media by using smartphones, tablets, etc. (technological).  They converse with each other in comment sections on websites or blog about their ideas as well as tell the producers on Twitter how they felt about an episode (social).  It creates an environment that people desire to be a part of because it's popular and people feel that their input is important (cultural).  The corporations who create the show sell merchandise, have contests, etc. to get people excited and make more money (industrial).  All of this pertains to all television shows and even to websites, like Amazon.

2. Creative engagement is allowing for more diverse, creative methods of participation.  The review by Virginia Bailey talks of Jenkin's idea that companies should listen to fans in order to come up with more creative ideas for their media.  One example of this that I could relate to is the show "Pretty Little Liars".  The producers of this show are so smart in that they have the writers write as the show goes along and they research the audience's ideas for the show while listening to their feedback.  They heavily rely on social media so fans can tweet to the actors, producers, etc. and learn clues in order to solve the mystery.  Fans also create merchandise as well as letting them design the next season's campaign complete with fan art, commercial ideas, etc.  It's a really creative way to get the fans involved and give them what they like.

Blog Assignment 5

1. The Longtail Theory represents websites such as Amazon, Ebay, Hulu, etc.  All of these online sites sell large amounts of niche products.  Though these sites offer mainstream products, they also tailor to people's specific preferences.  An example of the Longtail Theory that I could come up with is YouTube.  Millions of small producers upload videos to YouTube and each channel is different while catering to niche audiences.  I've experienced this firsthand by religiously watching the Jesse and Jeana's vlog: BF vs. GF.  You all should check them out, they're pretty dope! (They also have another channel: Prank vs. Prank).

Here's the Links:
BFvsGF
PrankvsPrank

2. The "Bargainer" consumer behavior pertains the most to me in that I'm always looking for the best possible deal.  Just the other day, I searched sites like Amazon, Ebay, and Target to find a specific dress that I hoped they had in stock.  I compared prices to make sure that I could get the best deal, with taxes and shipping included.  Sometimes, sadly, I spend hours finding the best deal on a product.  I did that when looking for a specific Canon camera I wanted, and ended up getting a great deal.

Blog Assignment 4

Many people want their Internet experience personalized, but not to the point of compromising their privacy.  The article “Privacy-Enhanced Personalization” talks of others’ opinions on just how far personalization can go until it gets to that point. 

Different people have various privacy attitudes.  Privacy fundamentalists, according to the text, have big concerns about how their data is used and try not to disclose much information (Kobasa, 26).  Privacy unconcerned people have mild anxiety on the matter whilst privacy pragmatists pretty much don’t care (Kobasa, 27).  I would consider myself a privacy pragmatist because I’m willing to put certain information on the Internet, but I’m also hesitant to put important information about myself out there, especially because my name is not common and is easily searched.

When looking at the article, I was surprised to find that “80% of Internet users are interested in personalization” (Kobasa, 27).  I guess it honestly depends on what is being personalized.  I find it so annoying when I search for a product on Amazon and for the next month I’m shown similar products in every ad on Facebook or other websites.  However, personalization does have its benefits, especially on Netflix in my opinion, because it gives suggestions for future programs that you might enjoy. 

Another crucial point the article made was that people must trust a Web site in order to disclose their personal information.  Positive past experience is a good thing to have as well as a good reputation because more people can get on board with disclosing information if others recommend the site or say it’s safe (Kobasa, 29).  Those might sway me into trusting a website, but honestly I don’t have enough time to research that.  The first thing I do is look at the design of the Web site to see if I can trust it. 

The article states that the design and operation of a website can increase the users’ trust (Kobasa, 28).  We look to see if the website is professional in design, if there is possible contact information, etc.  Can we really trust that site just because it looks professional?  We have made professional looking sites in class and anyone has the tools to make it look convincing enough for people to trust. We all have searched for a movie online and looked through those “sketchy” sites that you can download movies or videos from.  We dig through the various sites until we find one that, just by how it looks, we think won’t mess up our computer.

After reading this article, I’m going to be more careful on the Internet because I don’t want to compromise my privacy. 

Blog Assignment 3

The latest new technologies that I've read about are the Stream 4K Ultra-HD TVs.  You might have seen the 4Ks in stores or online and they basically have more pixels, in fact, they have 8 million.  That's four times the current 1080p display.  Netflix has already started streaming for this 4K format, but you don't have to have a 4K TV in order to watch.  This new service offers streaming using the h.265 standard and delivers video video at 15.6Mbit/s.  This is so much better than the original 5.8bit/s.

I definitely recommend this article so you can become informed on the technology that is now available to you and that is coming in the future.  With this new technology clearer images will be available, as well as faster service.  This new technology will make videos easier to stream online through the Internet and faster.  Eventually YouTube and other websites will have clearer images and faster connection because of this new technology.  Not only will televisions be 4K, but also tablets and cell phones.

P.S.- They will also be making 4K Ultra-HD TVs that stream in 3D without glasses!  Be sure to look out for that!

http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/tvs-entertainment/8079/uhd-4k-tv-how-to-get-content-how-does-it-work-and-is-it-worth-it

Blog Assignment 2

1. With which one of the network laws do you most agree? Why?
All of the network laws were obviously created by knowledgeable individuals and make sense.  However, Sarnoff's Law makes the most sense to me and is the easiest to understand.  With Sarnoff's Law, the value of the network is being measured through the number of people on it.  This applies to television and radio.  Therefore, the larger number of people that are viewing or listening to a program, the more valuable it is because it's more popular.

I also understood Metcalfe's Law but it had too many critiques.  We learned that Metcalfe's Law measures the number of possible cross-connections that grow as the number of computers in the network increases.  According to this law, the more connected people, the more valuable the network.  However, there has been critics that say this term "value" is not clearly defined.  In Sarnoff's Law, television and radio's worth can really only be measured by how many people view or listen to the program.  It makes sense that if few people are watching the show, it must not be as valued by the people.  But when it comes to telecommunications and the Metcalfe's Law, "value" could mean many different things.  This law also assumes that connections in the network are all equal when some connections could be weaker, making the network less valuable.

Lastly, Reed's Law focuses on social media (or web 2.0) and claims that the usefulness of a network increases exponentially with the size of the network.  This law focuses on how powerful social media is with the many interactions a person can encounter.  Apparently, in order to measure a network's usefulness, you should raise 2 to the "nth" power ("n" being the number of members). Though this is fairly simple to understand, I tend to get confused easily when it comes to math so I still feel that Sarnoff's Law is the simplest and makes the most sense.

2. How do you think people might get their information 5 years from now?
The way that our society and technology is moving, I feel that we will become even more of an Internet-based society.  Television shows are being streamed online using Hulu or Netflix, the radio is being listened to online using Pandora or Spotify, newspapers are being published online as well as magazines.  We are becoming an Internet-based society and in 5 years I believe most everything will be only found on the Internet.  That is where we will turn for information with laptops, cellphones, tablets, etc. being our gateway to this other world.  Due to the hectic world we live in, we will only turn to places on the web that give us information fast and to the point.  We will most likely turn to social media before we read an article from an online newspaper.

Why We Blog

People blog for many reasons: to feel like they have a voice, to think out their issues, to share their journey in life, and to give others advice.  I've honestly always been critical of blogs because I feel that a lot of the time bloggers are very self-involved.  They want their voice to be heard and some will post on Facebook about their blog, practically begging people to read it.  Sometimes it comes across as desperate and like people are recording too much of their lives, like what sandwich they ate that day.  Most people don't really care about all of the details of others' lives because everyone somewhat self-absorbed.  Yet, I'm here recording my thoughts on this blog being hypocritical, though this is for class.  The article, "Why We Blog" addresses these issues and helped me to understand that not all bloggers act this way.

A man, Don, mentioned in the article, utilized a blog to track the progress of his wife's illness and treatment.  This, to me, is something that should be recorded, especially for family members or friends who want to know what's going on and desire to help in some way without being an annoyance.  Evan, a graduate student, posted his comments on diseases and science education.  Though some might find his blog a hard read, they are intellectual responses that teach others of these issues while bringing to light some of his ideas that have stemmed from his research.  Both of these uses for blogs are definitely appropriate, but what about blogs that serve as "catharsis".

I enjoyed the quote from Max, mentioned in the article, that blogging "endorses [are] laziness and cowardice".  I guess that's why blogging as "catharsis" aggravates me.  We should not hide behind a screen to share our opinions, beliefs, ideas.  We should act on them and live out what we feel strongly about.  But this is just my take in my biased rant in my cathartic blog.

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