What is media change?

A particular point I would like to highlight for my final blog is the abundance of change within the media over the last 5-10 years. Actions that used to takes hours to perform can be done in minutes and things that would usually take minutes now takes seconds.

What am I talking about? Well a perfect example of how media has changed a regular norm throughout the last five years that I can recollect is reading a book. taking into consideration the context 5 years ago normally you would have to search through your local bookstore or library to find additional resources, whether it be fictional, non-fictional or academic reasons and now through the creation of online stores, tablets and ability of online platforms which now enable the reader to view an infinite number of texts online, the act of reading a book and physically turning each tactile paper page has been completely re-developed.

Although this redevelopment does seem to be beneficial for book lovers on the go, the die-hard book lovers  who appreciate the act of turning each page and embracing the smell that comes with older books.

Not only are our social behaviours constantly changing due to technology always evolving, but brand new jobs are becoming available due to emerging sectors e.g. social media. Through my studies at university we have become more aware of companies desperation to become linked in the social media world, because being not connected or in some way involved has the potential to cause a media crisis, For example in 2001the public within the Philippines were able to coordinate a major protest in Manila following the possibility that their President might of been let off the hook for wrong doing. But due to the strong online and social media presence of the people Estrada (the former President of the Philippines) was then forced out as a national  leader (https://www.diigo.com/bookmark/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.foreignaffairs.com%2Farticles%2F67038%2Fclay-shirky%2Fthe-political-power-of-social-media?tab=people&uname=andersand).

In the above image you’ll find a general search I did typing in social media into the job search on seek one of Australia’s largest job site and already 1853 jobs are available to apply for. This example on Seek provides evidence in backing up my conclusion that media is constantly evolving in so many various ways and that we have become completely unaware of this occurrence that we subconsciously accept it straight away, e.g. with the introduction of iPad, the idea was initially praised for its innovative design and abilities whereas now only three years down the track (the iPad was introduced on Jan 27, 2010) it has become a regular if not compulsory gadget to have around the house.

Generative Art

Something that we were all asked to throughout the week leading up to our class is to research and discover different examples f new media art, and something that really stood out for me was when I visited New York in 2012. Whilst walking past the infamous Rockefeller Building I came across a beautiful display of holiday art projected onto the magnificent Sak’s fifth Avenue Store, displaying a variety of lights synchronised with the landscape of the building, to present almost a magical experience.

This form of projection art was such a creative new age idea to captivate an audience into feeling to holiday spirit.

Another example which interested me later after viewing it off another student was Beyonce’s performance at the Billboard awards night in 2011. this creative new art form redeveloped my idea of the way music videos are perceived. This performance by Beyonce  manipulated the viewers experience (especially my own) into believing that this extraordinarily synchronisation of her body movements with the pre-filmed projections of shapes and images displayed behind her and alongside have developed a revolutionary way to experience music performances, not only are the appealing to my senses of hearing, but through the visually pleasing aspect it really can reformulate the way in which we experience live music.

These are just some of the large scale new media art exhibitions, come to think of it art often leads the way towards media change that in turn influence the media, cultural and social behaviours of society whether it be something as small as a local display of art (graffiti, a single painting, or expression) it only takes one inspiration thought from a piece of art to recreate it into something innovative and potentially highly soughtafter.

 

Overlooking the Guardian

A reading I found particularly interesting this week was that of Simon Rogers’ article in the Guardian providing a 10 point guide to data journalism and how it’s changing. This article had some four points that were particularly interesting to me that I thought to relate to:

Rogers’ goes on to inform the reader that data journalism has been around ever since the existence of data, think about it… When ever we see articles review large companies the statistics informing the reader of its success, how much profit it comes into, percentage of increase etc. these statistics all come from data and help to reinforce the authenticity of the article providing factual data that draws the reader in. For example when a journalist chooses to include statistics:

As you can see the journalist includes a great deal of data into the article to provide more depth. Ask yourself, if the research and data wasn’t included within the article, would it be interesting, intriguing or even newsworthy? In my opinion it wouldn’t have nearly half as much appeal to me without providing the data to back up the ideas made.

2. Open data means open data

Straight statistics will give you a thousand examples of journalists taking those numbers and running with them in completely the wrong direction, there have been plenty of occurrences where journalists manipulate the data and statistics that have been collected to portray a certain outlook. Although in saying this there is thankfully also decent data journalism taking place

For example it was later discovered the above article provided false information which was created by The Onion, leading to prove that the data that is sometime provided to the public may not always provided individuals with a complete unbiased or correct information.

3. Anyone can do it…

What is great about data journalism is that with the new technological advancements it enable anyone with the capability to publish anything, especially online in blogs, emails etc.

4. It’s (still) all about stories

Data journalism is not graphics and visualisations. It’s about telling the story in the best way possible, enabling the reader to feel a visual sense of what picture you’re trying to paint, or so to speak. Sometimes that will be a visualisation or a map, but not always it can also be presented in the form of a news story where the journalist creates such a descriptive account of what happen the reader can adequately enable a visual sense of what is trying to be said.

WORD: Transversality

Rogers, S. (2011) Data journalism at the Guardian: what is it and how do we do it?. [online] Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/jul/28/data-journalism [Accessed: 23 April 2013].

Levy, M. (2013) Sydney traffic ranks high in world’s worst. [online] Available at: http://www.theleader.com.au/story/1464563/sydney-traffic-ranks-high-in-worlds-worst/?cs=12 [Accessed: 2 May 2013].

There is more to media than meets the eye

An interesting point I found to be educating whilst i read through the prescribed readings for this week (based around the idea of ‘Media Ecology’) is the hard evidence towards the idea that individuals who hold power throughout the media on an international scale can also reflect the authority they hold over the general population and society as a whole. In other words the key individuals within the media ecology have the largely influential ability to sway people’s opinions and gain their support.

Proving my point is Forbes’ 2012 list of the most influential people in the world, within this category the names of Presidents, Kings, Prime Ministers and governing heads of state heavily saturate the top 20, although something that stood out to me was Bill Gates (Microsoft Billionaire) in position number#3 overtaking the likes of the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI. Also in #20 the Co-founder of Google Sergy Brin, and Google CEO Larry Page tied to secure a sport within the top 20 clearly proving the point that above significant and power political people of importance, other individuals who govern the way in which we interact with technology have the authority to dramatically alter our perspective.

Another interest point pointing towards the trend towards power held through control of the media directly falls under the #25 and #26 positions which are held respectively by Mark Zuckerberg (Founder of Facebook, social media giant) and Rupert Murdoch (Chairman and CEO of News Corp.). Not only is Zuckerberg essentially the youngest individuals on the top 100 most powerful people but to have established and internationally recognised brand within the space of 8 years enticing over a billion users towards your application is a clear demonstration of how someone, no matter their status or age has the potential to control the media ecology of the world.

WORD: DATA

Creating a new reality… an Augmented reality

Hello again. Today I’m talking about something I found really quite interesting this week in our classes discussion; augmented reality. For those of you who don’t know, Augmented Reality basically merges information or images with video streamed from a webcam. This can be considered a step beyond data mash-up. The result is similar to virtual reality but uses real-world images in real time. This technology can be applied to some of the many potential revolutionary applications in education, including the study of architecture, art, anatomy, languages (Yang, J. and Chen., et al. 2010), decoration, or any other subject in which a graphic, simulation or 3D model could improve comprehension. Augmented reality could also be used together with QR codes in books to create augmented books in which images or simulations could complement the book content (Martin, S. and Diaz, G., et al. 2013).

I think the reasons behind why I found Augmented Reality so intriguing is the infinite number of possibilities it creates for the future, not only for education purposes but for other uses within society. For example, Applications created from the perspective of a tourist or someone travelling in an unfamiliar area could inform the user where they are, what’s going on around them, upcoming events, reviews of restaurants in the area etc. the possibilities are limitless. Imagine never getting lost in a city. Imagine always being able to identify a tree, flower or insect while walking in the woods. Imagine looking into the night sky and being able to point out every planet and star. Imagine pulling up recipes and cooking instructions without ever needing to use your hands.

The growing numbers of innovative applications created by AR enthusiasts not only create new exciting ways in which people can explore new things but they also enable individuals to gain access to this information quite easily making it accessible for anyone who is interested who is equipped with mobile technology.

Back to my initial point, is the great advantage AR has for individuals in regards to its engaging capabilities associated with education. Along with the constant evolving forms of technology, the education sector is always looking for new ways to engage students and make learning an exciting and interesting process, and I believe AR could have an extremely positive impact upon the ways in which educators or even individuals teach themselves new knowledge and ideas.

Through researching further into the evolution of augmented reality I found that students learning through AR will first utilise handheld devices, but will switch to some form of glasses later on (Scholl, T. (2012). The continued refinement of voice recognition software will then make this a hands-free technology and down the road, the technology in these devices will likely be implanted. Therefore eventually we will be able look at people, animals, and real life objects and immediately pull up a wealth of information to explain everything we observe. This tool could revolutionise the attitude towards learning, leading individuals to become more excited in regards to doing their homework as the new methods created continue to make learning an enjoyable experience

References:

-Yang, J. and Chen, ., et al. (2010) Computers & Education – Integrating video-capture virtual reality technology into a physically interactive learning environment for English learning. [online] Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S036013151000165X [Accessed: 1 May 2013].

-Scholl, T. (2012) Teacher Cadet Technology: Augmented Reality & Education. [online] Available at: http://teachercadettechnology.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/augmented-reality-education.html [Accessed: 1 May 2013].

-Martin, S. and Diaz, G., et al. (2013) Computers & Education – New technology trends in education: Seven years of forecasts and convergence. [online] Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131511000844#bib52 [Accessed: 1 May 2013].

You learn something new everyday…

Lance Strate clearly illustrates a definitive meaning of  Media Ecology in his overview “The study of media environments, the idea that technology and techniques, modes of information and codes of communication play a leading role in human affairs.” This particular idea struck me, because as as well as it being true in modern day society, it is also becoming increasingly prominent aspect within our lives. In an average day individuals can upload the directions to their destination, transfer money between accounts at the click of a finger, educate ourselves through an infinite number of online resources, email large numbers of people with complete ease and various other examples. These new and efficient ways easily accessible to us in everyday life are in turn causing generations to avoid using the functions of our own brains and relying on technology to do all the thinking for us. This idea is closely related with Stieglers thoughts on hypomnesis and anamnesis, “Now, these cognitive technologies, to which we confined a greater and greater part of our memory, cause us to lose an ever-greater part of our knowledge”.

Through younger generations choosing to use these efficient form of media they’re missing an opportunity to use and train their brain. For example, in using GPS which directly tells you which direction to go and how long it will take you, it overturns the use of our actual  need to think on our own. Not only that but we lose the chance to learn navigation skills, something that is a useful life skill. The same is  prevalent in the example of emailing large numbers of individuals with complete ease as opposed to letter writing. Along with Email’s list of positive characteristics it avoids to engage people in forms of physical letter writing, which proves to be a more intimate and personal form of communicating with one another (getting and email saying “I love you” as opposed to a handwritten letter doesn’t have the same effect).

However, there are certain other individuals who present differing ideas which are all for technology. Through further research it was believed by some that  “the activation of systems in the brain and nervous system” that trigger technologies to be our extended mind. Therefore through activating systems of the brain confining our memory to technologies it does not equate to using our brain instead of technologies. In a sense, we are actually learning new skills through adapting this technologies into our lives, through educating ourselves using online resources we are providing ourselves with an improved set of research methods and capabilities expanding the information available to us. Although, it does come to a point where we basically become so dependent, for example the internet, we would be lost without it.

On that note there is something else I would like to discuss, global mnemotechnics. In thinking about my own specific memory in relation to technology, i was able to take into account this weeks reading’s key idea in my own life. I admittedly have fallen addictive to various forms of technologies, and in turn would be completely lost without them. Something i have recently noticed within the past year relating to my technology consumption habits is the transition to an iPhone specifically in relation to the calendar and contacts application available to me. As stated in the reading the storage of phone numbers 5 years ago would have been neatly written in my nifty address book, where as now it is efficiently stored in my phone.  This practice has lead me to rely upon my phone’s storage, so if it were to become damaged or lose my contacts I would not have the memory capacity to memorise all the numbers and be quite lost.

This idea is also present through the calendar app in it’s ability to remind me of upcoming events or notes and even send me alerts to keep my events organised, and sort my life in accordance to what it in regards to (so i have a calendar for uni, work, sport etc.), but if I were to lose my phone I would become quite literally lost and most likely to forget the simplest of things.

until next time…

Another day another blog

Hello again, Today I will be discussing ideas related to media, cultural and social change and how they all influence each other. The enlarged image illustrating the evolution of man throughout time clearly demonstrates the cultural change evident throughout society today. We as a society have evolved to use mediums or some form of media when communicating with others. This medium is becoming increasingly popular as it gives individuals a form of expression, control of:  senses, information, memory, command, and often at a distance. This trend towards communication through the use of a medium is therefore disconnecting individuals from personalising their own responses towards each other creating a new form of social standards and social norms within society.

Marcel Mauss’s theory around techniques of the body can be used in relation to individual’s cultural shift towards using media as it is an ‘effective technique’ as opposed to one that is ‘traditional’. To add more onto this idea, people do have several traditional techniques or habits but if the new technique offer a greater efficiency, entertainment or appeals to them in a certain way individuals are likely to try and alter their traditional habits to more effective techniques. Although in saying that individuals prefer the more efficient techniques, this too is not always the case. Through following traditional techniques individuals can potentially achieve more, or just prefer to stick to what they know.

An example of this could be the trend towards sending letters to what is now increasingly popular to send emails. There is a certain personal value attached when receiving a letter, a personalisation  that is not always associated with emails therefore whether individuals use the traditional technique or conform to the updated effective technique can all depend on the message you want to send.

until next time…

Word of the day: Technics

Greetings…

My Name is Olivia and I’m a third year student studying Media at The University of New South Wales and this blog includes my notes and thoughts in relation to one of the courses I’m currently studying ‘Advanced Media Issues’.

In our first week we questioned ‘what is a media event?’ resulting in some interesting thought processes and discussions. We looked into the idea that media events were hard to define (other than something with a beginning and an end) because the specific ‘event’ itself are hard to determine due to their ongoing nature and constant “changing of change”, this idea was something that became clear within discussions between classmates. Evolution is a key feature related to the inevitable change throughout history, and with the involvement of media becoming larger and larger it pushes for more change.

A key example would be my own introduction to a smart phone. In reflecting on this example it is interesting to ponder over how different my life is now with the introduction of technology and how dependent I have become upon it as time passes. When iPhones were first introduced I didn’t see the need to have one over a regular more-basic phone, I hung out with people who literally could not go anywhere without having their phone with them or would frantically search for the nearest charger to prevent the battery from dying and thought it was a bit over the top…. little did I know I was soon to join this craze. Once I upgraded from a basic Nokia to a smart iPhone I then learned the depth of what it could be used for and how great it really was.

In this example I drew a few conclusive thoughts in regards to media events. Through using an event such as an introduction to a new technology, it can dramatically alter you lifestyle. Along with your personal learning, context is crucial. So along with personalising the way in which you learn it will help you to retain information better, this idea can also relate to such media events in saying that through their personalisation they can make you more organised, and efficient.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGvo5-27VpE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IsnmZB9cLQ

Through these two videos; one promoting an old Nokia phone and the other an evolution of iPhones, you can noticeably tell the huge change technology has evoked upon each of our everyday lives whether it be directly or not through the well-known media event ‘Introduction of the smart phone’.

Until next time…