My final media revelation is a result of the script writing we did in class. Until this class, I'd never done any script writing. Though I didn't exactly enjoy the process, it was interesting. I'd never considered how detailed scripts had to be and how much work truly went into them. It must be even more of a process when the script is something original, rather than just an adaptation of something previously made. Commercial scripting was a long enough process; I can't imagine scripting an entire play or movie. However, commercial scripting is an excellent skill to add to my repertoire.
Another of my media revelations comes from chapter 4: Commercials and Announcements. I've recently become very interested in the advertising business so this chapter intrigued me. Though many people are critical of advertising, it is integral to our capitalist economy. I found the advice of Robert Levenson, creative director of DDB, that Hilliard includes in this chapter to be very pertinent. Levenson tells us that effective commercials are ones that make the product interesting rather than the commercial itself. I think this statement should be true of advertising since it's goal is to sell products.
An example of what's been considered the best ad of all time:
My eighth media revelation comes from chapter 3, in which Hilliard discusses how important it is for media writers to keep their writing simple and direct, a point which was also heavily stressed in my print journalism class. From these two classes, I've learned that in today's fast paced world, few people have the time, interest, or investment to sit down and process information that is too difficult or complicated for them to understand. Keeping your writing short, simple, and to the point is the best and most effective way to retain an audience's attention and interest.
My seventh revelation comes from one of Hilliard's statements that we discussed in class. In the final chapter of our book, Hilliard says that creativity is not something that can be learned. When we discussed this statement in class, I was surprised to hear that many people agree with this statement. Though I do believe that creativity can be an elusive trait to many, myself included, I also believe that with the right inspiration and motivation, it can be found, in some form or another, in anyone and be produced into a marketable skill.
My sixth media revelation comes from Hilliard's discussion of radio in chapter 1: Mass Media. Hilliard mentions many times that the only limits to radio are those of the listener's imagination. Until reading this, I'd always thought of radio as a very limited medium. Now, however, I realize that radio has endless amounts of creative freedom with very little restrictions, assuming that your audience is as creative and imaginative as you are. However, because there is no visual image, it is important for the radio writer to make certain that their message is not lost in translation.
My fifth revelation came about as a result of watching another of Michael Wesch's videos, A Vision of Students Today. Watching this video made me feel overwhelmed as a college student, but it also made me realize that in today's 21st century media culture, we have to adapt to the constant technological changes that are going on around us. As someone mentioned in class, we're all but forced to use Twitter, Facebook, etc. If we don't, we get left behind professionally and socially. As a student in the video tells us, we're multitaskers not because we choose to be, but because we have to be.
The fourth of my media revelations comes from the term "hypertext" which Hilliard uses in chapter 2 on page 46. Hilliard tells us that hypertext is a term used to refer to writing material for the Internet. Hilliard goes on to say that hypertext is closer to the way we think with various thoughts, ideas, and viewpoints rushing through our heads all at once. He argues that writing for the Internet gives us this ability, whereas writing for paper only allows us to write in a logical, linear fashion. Maybe it's because I have only minimal experience writing for the Internet, or because for almost every piece of writing I do, I do a pencil and paper draft first, but I find writing for the Internet just as logical and linear as any other type of writing. Though I can understand the concept of hypertext, especially after watching Michael Wesch's video Web 2.0: The Machine is Using Us, I still feel that any writing must be done in a logical order so that it makes sense to the reader, as well as to the writer.
I found my third media revelation in chapter 2: Basic Elements of Production. Hilliard says that it would be useful for students with an interest in electronic media writing to also take production courses in the field of media that they want to work in. I agree with Hilliard's suggestion because not only does it give you a better understanding of how to write for that medium, but it also gives you a broader range of marketable skills.
My second media revelation comes from chapter 7 of our textbook: Interview and Talk Programs. Hilliard mentions several times that script writers for interview and talk programs must anticipate and include an interviewee's possible answers within a script. This requires a tremendous amount of work and background research on both the interviewee and the subject of the interview. This makes the scriptwriter's job a much bigger and more involved process than I'd previously thought.
My first media revelation is that Twitter can actually be a useful and effective marketing tool. When we were first introduced to the medium in class, I thought we were just using it as a way to have a class discussion without physically attending class. Also, I thought I would hate it. However, after using and exploring the medium, and discussing it's uses in class, I've realized that understanding how to use Twitter makes us more marketable as electronic media writers. Jobs even now where people get paid specifically to Tweet. I find this fascinating, and as a result am now investing more time and interest in learning how to use Twitter.
As I mentioned in one of my earlier blog posts, I'm currently enrolled in a print journalism class at Champlain College. For our midterm and final projects, we've been assigned to write a news story that pertains to students here at Champlain, and which would be published on our school newspaper's soon to be established website. When we first learned about Google Alerts, I subscribed to one from Champlain College, simply because I couldn't think of anything else to subscribe too at the time. I soon realized, however, that a Champlain College Google Alert could potentially be very helpful in help me find topics for these two stories.
The Brain:
Google Alerts rely heavily on the neocortex. Someone using Google Alerts must having working knowledge of a computer, the internet, and, obviously, they must know how to read. However, depending on what you receive from Google Alerts, I suppose they could stimulate the reptilian and limbic brains as well.
The Eight Shifts:
One particular Google Alert I received was a compilation of sixteen videos that the American School Search offers on their website to "give a better perspective of Champlain College." For the American School Search, this represents an epistemological shift. Instead of bombarding prospective students with facts and statistics, they're able to offer a series of videos to better represent the school. Here's an example:
Google Alerts represent a personal shift by making the information search more personal, and much easier. Instead of wading through thousands of websites and being overwhelmed with information, we can simply choose to receive a daily, weekly, or monthly e-mail containing primarily pertinent information.
Google Alerts also suggest an aesthetic shift since anyone with a smart phone has the ability to check their e-mail at any time, or from any place with internet access.
I have questions regarding Google Alerts and how they relate to the economic shift; in what ways does Google benefit from people subscribing to Google alerts?
Using Google Alerts represents a discursive shift because it makes our information search more subjective.
Because any activity on the internet can be monitored, collected, and analyzed, using Google Alerts also signifies a cultural shift.
The Seven Principles:
A Google Alert subscription to Champlain College (or any topic for that matter), can relate to reality construction. Through Google Alerts, I receive both positive and negative news regarding Champlain College. As a result of Google Alerts, I can learn outside information that I might not be aware of otherwise, such as how Champlain is rated on American School Search.
Production Techniques : it was very easy to set up a Google alert, and very convenient to have the choice of receiving an e-mail monthly, weekly, or daily.
Google alerts pertain to value messages because I can choose what alerts I subscribe to and therefore monitor the value messages that I'm exposed to. This helps me avoid messages from things I don't want to hear about, and focus primarily on subjects that I'm interested in.
Because Google Alerts lets me get news from only the topics I choose, individual meanings are more pertinent and easily determined than they are with other forms of media. I'm much more likely to take meaning away from news regarding something I'm interested in over something I'm uninterested in.
Persuasive Techniques:
Google Alerts offer a form of simple solutions.
Google Alerts employ timing by giving users the option of having an e-mail delivered daily, weekly, or monthly.
Plain folks is used in the video shown above.
This same video also uses a bit of humor with the cheesy music.
The Champlain College symbol can also be found at the end of the video.
Other videos on the American School Search website employ testimonial when they show Mark Crispin Miller speaking at Champlain. This could also be used as an example of scientific evidence since Miller is considered a media expert and guru.
In recent years Twitter has proven to be one of the most interesting and popular social networking sites on the internet. Though it has gained a wide following of loyal fans, it's also a topic of criticism for people who see it as the most ridiculous service the internet has to offer. Until very recently, I was a member of the latter group. Though I'm still fairly critical, I'm beginning to reconsider Twitter's impact on our social and professional worlds. For this media meditation, I'm going to consider Twitter's impact on our lives based on two opinions. One from the article that you provided on our class blog: How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live by Steven Johnson, and the other from an article in Newsweek called Don't Tweet On Me by Daniel Lyons.
The Brain:
Twitter primarily engages the neocortical brain. It's an internet service, so the user must have at least minimal knowledge of the internet and how to use a computer. It also requires reading, processing, and organizing various tweets, a task that my single-minded brain finds pretty difficult without the help of add-ons such as TweetDeck. Understanding tweets is made even more difficult by the constant use of "Twitter language," and symbols such as #hashtags, @ reply-s, and retweets.
The Eight Trends:
Most everything these days is representative of a technological shift, Twitter included. As Steven Johnson mentions in his article, conversations and discussions that take place via Twitter leave a digital record of every comment and tweet.
Twitter is perhaps the biggest representation so far of a personal shift. Johnson's scenario of the conference he attended that hundreds of Twitter followers were also able to attend in a sense is a perfect example. Through Twitter, hundreds of people were able to offer their opinions and suggestions on education and even introduce new topics to the individuals who physically attended the conference. Johnson says that Twitter "added a second layer of discussion and brought a wider audience into what would have been a private exchange." This is a form of mass participation that the world has not experienced before.
Twitter also represents an aesthetic shift since so many people access and use it through their smart phones. Johnson says "One of the most telling facts about the Twitter platform is that the vast majority of its users interact with the service via software created by third parties. There are dozens of iPhone and BlackBerry applications... that let you manage Twitter feeds." Twitter is also a prime example of a medium that is constantly blurring the lines between news, entertainment, art, and commerce.
Because it's only a matter of time before Twitter becomes a huge base for advertising, it also represents an economic shift. With the introduction of Web 2.0, advertisers realized that traditional forms of advertising would soon need to be replaced. Popular social networking sites, such as Twitter, are the new targets of advertisers.
Twitter also represents a huge discursive shift. Twitter allows people to express their opinions to which people can reply or retweet. In this sense, Twitter is basically just one giant discussion.
Because Twitter is an internet service, all tweets get saved somewhere in a database. This fact leads us to consider a cultural shift. We can ask who, besides ourselves and our followers, has access to our tweets and Twitter accounts.
The Seven Principles:
Twitter is interesting to consider when regarding reality construction. As Johnson mentions, Twitter gives us a sense of personal connection to the celebrities that we follow. In my opinion, this constructs a false sense of reality since we obviously don't know these celebrities personally, no matter how religiously we follow their tweets. Johnson also mentions that even if we reply to a celebrity's tweet, it's unlikely that they have the time, interest, or investment to read our single comment among all the other replies or tweets that they receive from other followers.
Regarding production techniques, I'll give Twitter credit in that they make it very easy to setup and create account. I also liked how when creating a username and password, they offered suggestions and told you if your choice was available while you were typing rather than going through the whole process, clicking "next," and then getting the message that your username is already taken or your password is too short.
As with any medium, Twitter is has the potential to contain value messages. Depending on who we follow, we can be exposed to tons of information that we have an interest in, or that is pertinent to various aspects of our life. If we follow companies, then we're giving them an excellent opportunity to convey their value messages to us. On the other hand, as Twitter users, we also have the opportunity to project our value messages onto all of our followers. However, as Lyons points out, "most of what streams across Twitter is junk. One recent study concluded that 40 percent of the messages are 'pointless babble.'"
Johnson touches upon ownership in his article when he asks if the current owners will "sell to Google early or play long ball?" What impact would selling to Google have on the medium itself? In the future, we may find out.
With Twitter, we're left to determine our own individual meanings. Like with value messages, this is all dependent on who we choose to follow, and what we take away from their various tweets.
Persuasive Techniques:
Both articles make great use of hyperbole. Johnson does so right in his title: How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live. Lyons does so when he describes Twitter as "morbidly fascinating, kind of like the forbidden thrill you get watching Maury Povich's show or professional wrestling."
Lyons brings up a sense of bandwagon-ing when he says "Twitter has been around since 2006, but it really took off earlier this year after Oprah Winfrey began using it."
Johnson uses an example of a rhetorical question when he says, referring to Twitter, "Why does the world need this exactly?"
Lyons uses an excellent example of the straw man technique: "Yes, a guy on Twitter posted the first photos of that US Airways plane crash on the Hudson River in January. Yes, Twitter let the world follow the protests in Iran. And yes, Twitter users send links to useful news articles. But forget all the stuff you've heard from bloviating Web gurus about Twitter being useful, or important, or deeply revolutionary. For most users, Twitter is entertainment--a giant TV channel with millions of shows. Almost all of them are garbage."
Lyons, although he clearly states the he doesn't find it funny, uses humor at the beginning of his article when he quotes some of Dane Cook's tweets such as "The future is wide open. What a slut." I also find it quite humorous when Johnson says at the beginning of his article "It's not as if we were all sitting around four years ago scratching our heads and saying, 'If only there was a technology that would allow me to send a message to my 50 friends, alerting them in real time about my choice of breakfast cereal.'"
One could argue that both articles use testimonial. Johnson is an example of someone who has witnessed how useful Twitter can be, while Lyons is an example of a Twitter user who has not yet found a really pertinent use for it.
It seems that Johnson is using either/or thinking in his article. Though he acknowledges that Twitter could potentially be useful, he focuses almost explicitly on the "garbage" that comes from it. He seems to regard Twitter with strictly black and white thinking; it's either useful or its garbage, with no in-between. Johnson, however, seems to regard it with a more open mind.
Both articles use scientific evidence pertaining to how many followers this celebrity or that celebrity has. Lyons tells us that Ashton Kutcher has 3.5 million followers.
Lyons also does a fair amount of name calling. For example, "Twitter has become a playground for imbeciles, skeevy marketers, D-list celebrity half-wits, and pathetic attention seekers: Shaquille O'Neal, Kim Kardashian, Ryan Seacrest."
This book engages the neocortex because it's composed entirely of text that the reader must take in and process. It relates almost strictly to the neocortex because, with the exception of the front cover, there are no pictures or anything else that might stimulate the limbic or reptilian brains, although one could argue that the emotional appeals made within the stories have the potential to engage the limbic brain.
The Eight Shifts:
Books are currently under going a technological shift. Devices such as Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook are revolutionizing the world of books, offering them in digitized, easily downloadable formats. Currently, Woodstock Revisited is not available as an e-book, but when I found this book on Amazon, I noticed a box titled "Tell the Publisher!" In this box, was a link saying "I'd like to see this book on Kindle." When I clicked on it, I was brought to a window with the following message: "Thank you for requesting Woodstock Revisited: 50 Far Out, Groovy, Peace-Loving, Flashback-Inducing Stories From Those Who Were There by Susan Reynolds in Kindle Edition. Our goal is to make every title available for Kindle. We will pass your specific request on to the publisher." This proves how far the technological shift has come so far, as well as where it could be headed.
Electronic readers and e-books also represent an aesthetic shift since reading devices such as the Kindle are emerging as new media platforms for literature.
The fact that books are now being digitized also represents a political shift. Digital books are accompanied by issues regarding copyright, ownership, and publishing.
Digital books also signify an economic shift. Books offered through the Kindle are usually much cheaper than traditional print books. If the e-book trend continues to grow, then it may undermine the prices of print books, which, in turn, could cause their eventual demise.
The Seven Principles:
Reality Construction: Because this book is an anthology of stories written by people who actually attended Woodstock, it constructs a certain sense of reality about the Woodstock experience. It gives accounts of people who describe Woodstock as the time of their lives; people who left the festival early because they couldn't handle the rain, crowd, and lack of food and shelter; and volunteers who helped provide food and rations for the overwhelming crowd of attendees. From these various stories, we are able to create a picture of the Woodstock experience, and what it was really like to in that infamous crowd of 400,000. Of course, some people also took videos:
Production Techniques: As I mentioned,Woodstock Revisited is an anthology of short stories from people who attended Woodstock. Each chapter is a unique story from a different point of view. All the stories are told in the first person which makes them more personal, and makes us, as readers, feel closer to the writers and better able to relate to and envision their various experiences. At the end of each chapter is a brief "Where Are They Now?" for the authors. Also, the cover of the book is representative of the late 1960s: light blue with tie-dye lettering and the head of a guitar. The font used is nostalgic of lettering that might be used in psychedelic art, but that isn't too fancy or flowery so as to still be readable. The same font is used for the text within the book. The book also features a glossary of hippie terms that a reader may not be entirely familiar with, as well as an index and list of statistics about the festival.
Value Messages: Each story within this book contains individual value messages depending on who wrote it. Most of them, however, are similar to the counterculture's from the 1960s, preaching peace and love, and describing how Woodstock changed their lives and the world. Given that the editor of the book also attended Woodstock, these messages come through pretty clearly.
Individual Meaning Because this book is a series of individual stories, individual meanings pertain to the authors of the stories as well as to readers. The writers discuss their Woodstock experience and what it means to them, and we, as readers interpret our own meanings from their stories.
Emotional Transfer: Woodstock was a very emotional and spiritual event for many people. By reading the stories of people who experienced this event, we're able to better understand what Woodstock meant to these people and why it was such an important event. Many of the stories describe what an overwhelming, powerful, and extraordinary feeling it was to see 400,000 people all gathered to share the experience of peace, love, and music. Many of the authors say that seeing the humongous crowd at Woodstock made them feel at home.
Production Techniques: The cover of this book makes use of symbols with the tie-dye lettering and guitar head.
Rhetorical questions are littered throughout the stories. One example includes "Was the government going to spy on us, threaten us, disband us, or gas us?"
Like rhetorical questions, hyperbole claims are also used throughout many of the stories. One man refers to his Woodstock experience as an "odyssey."
An example of testimonial is used right on the front cover; Wavy Gravy says of the book: "This is the real deal. These folks were actually there and done did it! Reading this is just like being there--except you have to supply you own mud. Enjoy!" ( Also a little bit of humor.)
The entire book uses plain folks since all the stories are from average people who were witness to this incredible event.
This book makes great use of nostalgia. All the stories are the memories of people who lived through one of the most turbulent, chaotic, and yet exciting times in American history.
As I mentioned earlier, many of these stories describe an immense sense of group dynamics. Several of the writers say that witnessing the enormous crowd at Woodstock made them feel as if they were a part of something bigger than themselves, and that, together, their generation could change the world.
The four pages of statistics at the end of the book are scientific evidence.
