Reflections

During this assignment and the course I learned a great deal on the media and how it works. It thrills me to be able to give a voice of my own in the blog and I really enjoyed find images and related articles to add into the postings.I have developed new skills in terms of writing for various genres. This allows me to understand the different genres more as I thought there was only one style of writing and placements of elements on the page.

This assignment serves as a very good beginning to help me learn more about blogging. After visiting sites of famous bloggers, I believe there is blogs that are worthy to be made an example. This has caused me to be interested in blogging. One of the reasons why I am more interested in blogging now its because it offers me a voice of my own. Although sometimes there are ethical issues to be looked at.

Overall, this assignment has been a great help to me. I hope to continue blogging even after this assignment.

Online hate sites

This article talks about the Internet has been rightly hailed as a groundbreaking interactive marketplace of ideas, in which anyone with the necessary hardware and software can set up a cyber-stall. But the downside of this unparalleled information exchange is that, alongside its many valuable online resources, the Net also offers a host of offensive materials – including hate materials – that attempt to inflame public opinion against certain groups of people.

According to Mock & Armony (1998), the kinds of hate found on the Internet include expressions of hostility to "civil rights types" and "mud people" (the neo-Nazi term for non-whites and non-Christians), along with condemnation of race mixing, and page after page of antisemitic tracts, the majority of which deny that the Holocaust took place and promote conspiracy theories and other age-old antisemitic canards. Among the most virulent established websites are Canada's Heritage Front, Ernst Zundel's "Zundelsite," Tom Metzger's White Aryan Resistance (WAR), Aryan Nations, the Ku Klux Klan, Radio Islam, the Committee for the Open Debate of the Holocaust Story, and the National Alliance, arguably the most openly Nazi organization on the continent.

Mock and Armony (1998) also states that online hate could only be stopped by using the education system to education the younger generation about multiculturalism, anti-racist, and human rights education in our schools. Besides that, to battle hate on internet efficiently, they suggested that the law and a community effort to help stem the rise of more hate sites.

In my opinion, I think that hate sites are unnecessary threat to the society; it invokes anger and violence that could be avoided. I do agree with Mock & Armony that the government, the community and the education system have their parts to play in stopping hate spreading across the internet. Together they would be able stop individuals with biased views from spreading their ‘poison’ on the internet.

Reference list

1)      Media awareness Network, 2009 ‘Media Issues, deconstructing hate sites’ http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/online_hate/deconst_online_hate.cfm

2)      Media awareness Network, 2009 ‘Online Hate, An Introduction’ http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/online_hate/index.cfm

1)      Mock K. Armony L. 1998, ‘ Hate on the Internet’, http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/articles/online_hate/hate_on_internet.cfm

Privacy with new media

Is there such thing as privacy with the media? This article about 300 Facebook community groups being ‘hijacked’ by activists in an effort to expose how vulnerable online reputations are to tampering. The article goes on to say that members of the Facebook groups affected had a warning message posted on their walls. "Hello, we hereby announce that we have officially hijacked your Facebook group," the message said. "This means we control a certain part of the information about you on Facebook. If we wanted we could make you appear in a bad way which could damage your image severly (sic)." CYI also known as control Your Info claims its motives were pure and that the move was more of a "take-over" than a hack, as it involved a loophole with group administrator roles. The activist organization’s website says the Facebook incident is "just one example that really shows the vulnerabilities of social media."

What are the concerns with this issue?

The privacy threats of which people are concerned include:

• Visits to web sites will be tracked secretly.

• E-mail addresses and other personal information will be captured and used for marketing or other purposes without permission.

• Personal information will be sold to third parties without permission.

• Credit card theft

By using cookies, businesses can obtain personal information such as buying habits, e-mail address or the portions of web site that were looked at previously. This information can be combined into mailing lists for direct marketing purposes or it can be sold to third parties (Chung & Paynter, 2002).

In my opinion, the internet is a unsafe place to carry out transactions. This is because there is a lot of loopholes in the systems where people who knows what they are doing can take advantage of it. Unless a person is totally sure of security when doing transactions online, online transactions are not encouraged because they will put your personal data and belongings in danger of being stolen by hackers. 

Reference List:

1)     1)  Couriermail. 2009, ‘Facebook Groups ‘hijacked’ by activists’. http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,,26336076-8362,00.html

2)     2) Chung W. Paynter J. 2002, ‘Privacy issues on the Internet’, School of Business, University of Auckland.

Media Stereotypes

Stereotypes are rather negatively defined as a conventional, formulaic and oversimplified conception, opinion or image, whereas on the other hand they could act as communicators that get the message across efficiently. Stereotypes are useful devices because they are easily understood and make a clear, if unfair, and sometimes hurtful point (Lester, 2003). But too often stereotypes being misused in the media and causes misunderstanding and friction amongst groups.

One of the most dangerous ways in which the media stereotypes people is through the use of racial stereotypes. The entertainment industry, especially the film industry, is notorious for presenting their minority characters in a much more violent fashion then the white ones. Harsh language is far more overused in characters of racial minority than of their white counterparts, for example. This impression that people of color are somehow more violent, leads to fear and ignorance that fuels racism in America (Harper, 2009).

Women are also scandalously marginalized by the stereotypes of the advertising industry, and its translation into Hollywood. Models seen on television and in magazines are often depicted in demeaning poses that over-sexualize women and girls, sometimes even suggesting that it is okay to take advantage of them. Couples are often pictured together with the female in obvious subordination to the male, feeding the inequality between men and women that still exists today (Harper 2009).

In conclusion, stereotypes in the media cannot be avoided in my opinion.  The media should not be using stereotypes to fan the flames of conflict. Offensive stereotypes should be avoided and they should be used for purposes that would not invoke anger in certain groups. It is time for the media to realize that they have caused some minority groups to be marginalized more. But, as viewers and consumers with firm understanding of the harsh effects of these stereotypes, it becomes increasingly easier to not only ignore them, but to rise above them (Harper, 2009).

Reference List:

1)      Lester P. Ross S., 2003, ‘Images that injure: pictorial stereotypes in the media’, http://books.google.com.my/books?hl=en&lr=&id=x4yjcIocJAkC&oi=fnd&pg=PR11&dq=media+stereotyping&ots=sWShnbQ7Bi&sig=_YPUXb5ze9g4oZ73fq-W7S8XXhQ#v=onepage&q=media%20stereotyping&f=false

2)      Harper S. 2009, ‘Stereotypes in the Media’, http://www.edubook.com/stereotypes-in-the-modern-media/9200/

Media Violence

Media Violence

Violence in the media has been around since the time of the Egyptians and Romans. Violence has always played a part in entertainment. Current programs such as WWE, glorifies the use of violence and it attracts millions of audiences around the world, mostly youth. Besides that, videogames such as Grand Theft Auto, and first person shooting games such as Counter Strike, Call of Duty. These are just some of that I personally have played before. These numbers could be attributed to the decrease in influence of the family as the child forms its mindset during its tender years as a kid. If juvenile crime and violence were a function of watching television, then incidents of violence and crime would be more evenly distributed across demographic and geographic boundaries according to the availability of television. As a matter of fact, the rates vary greatly from community to community, class to class (McMasters, 1998). Some experts believe that the frequent and graphic violence in the critically acclaimed film Saving Private Ryan is a reminder that the portrayal of violent behavior can serve artistic and moral purposes. (Source: Center for Media and Public Affairs, 1999).

In conclusion, personally I agree with experts such as Paul McMasters that violence in the media has been steadily declining and the media doesn’t influence the person to act violently. The blame should not be placed solely on the media alone. Everyone has the responsibility of aducation young people that violence is not the way to settle things.

Reference List

1)      Media Awareness Network, 2009. ‘Media Violence Debates’.                                           http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/violence/violence_debates.cfm

2)      McMasters P. 1998, ‘Getting the facts straight on media violence’. http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=4533

New forms of media publishing

YouTube is a much known website for media hosting. To some people YouTube is just a form of entertainment when they are bored but it in fact is a very powerful tool for the media. Users can personalize the videos and upload it onto the website, which has its drawbacks as it has been slapped with lawsuits for infringing copyrights. However, YouTube has grown from strength to strength, particularly because of its nature where it allows users to place videos on the website; this is seen as a step for users to control the media once again. Most importantly, it is all for FREE!

But as mentioned above, there are some drawbacks to its success. Companies like Viacom and the English premier league has filed lawsuits against YouTube, blaming them for the lack of protection for copyrights. With $1 billion lawsuit looming, YouTube can only improve its copyright infringement system. Who knows what will happen if unauthorized videos are being posted up once again.

Reference list

1. Montgomery, J 2006, YouTube Slapped With First Copyright Lawsuit For Video Posted Without Permission, Music Television, http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1536695/20060719/index.jhtml?headlines=true.

2. Telegraph Online 2007,’ Premier League to take action against YouTube.’, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2312532/Premier-League-to-take-action-against-YouTube.html

Designing for Online vs. Print

There are significant differences in when designing for online and print. According to Redshaw(2003), for print media, it is focused on how it is presented to the readers, using chronological orders, framing ,etc. For online media, according to Dr Jakob Nielsen, readers of online writings tend to skim through the passage. Therefore the placement, type and color of fonts used are very important to capture readers’ attention. Besides that, overly structured grammar is not used as this would make them boring and uninteresting.

Printed newspaper

(Source:http://paul.kedrosky.com/WindowsLiveWriter/BestNewspaperFrontPageTodayMortgagesandM_DEAD/headlines_2.png)

Online Newspaper

(Source: http://www.adpunch.org/images/news-paper-online_25.jpg)

Conclusion

Prints and online has their advantages and disadvantages in conveying messages. To say that print media is slowly dying is not accurate as it still has its audiences. The feel of flipping pages of a newspaper or a book is still in favour of some reader’s out there.

 

1.) Kress, G & van Leeuwen, T 1998, ‘Front pages: (the critical) analysis of newspaper layout’, in Approaches to media discourse, eds Bell, A & Garrett, P, Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 186-219.

 

2.) Morkes, J & Nielsen, J 1997, Concise, Scannable and Objective: How To Write For The Web, Useit.com.

http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/writing.html

3.) Nielsen, J 1999, Differences Between Print Design and 4.) Nielsen, J 1999, Differences Between Print Design and Web Design, Jacob Nielsen's Alert Box.

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990124.html

4.) Redshaw, K 2003, Web Writing vs Print Writing, Kerryr.net.

http://www.kerryr.net/webwriting/guide_web-vs-print.htm

Types of blogging communities & methods to build blogging communities.

During my research for this post i found there was a few well known blog communities. 
Aeonity Blog Community
Mybloglog community
Blog Catalog community
Spicypage community

Joe Whyte has an excellent write up at the Search Marketing Standard blog on how to build up a blog community. He gives the classic ten point list, for his part one of a series in this column. Here is a quick summary of the ten point list:

• Network with others in your industry
• Learn about your blog community with MyBlogLogs and related blogs
• Be opinionated and lively with your content
• Have goals and think long term
• Retain your visitors
• Encourage commenting
• Use linkbait like titles
• Leverage social media
• Leverage link baiting
• Join ad networks                                           (Schwartz, 2007)

Aeonity Blog Community
Aeonity Blog a is a Free Blog Community where your friends and family can create a blog and get feedback from other registered users just like you. Aeonity Blog even offers a private feature that allows your blogs to be private if you want them to be.

Reference list:
1) Schwartz B. 2007, 'Building your blog community',
http://searchengineland.com/building-your-blog-community-10556

Classification of blogs & opinion about the most appropriate classification approach.

Personal blogs – Traditional blogs. Blogger, WordPress.

Microblogging. Twitter.

Corporate and organizational blogs.

By Genre – Political blogs

Travel blogs (travelogs)

House blogs

Fashion blogs

Education blogs

Niche blogs

Classical Music blogs

By media type – Vlogs

Linklogs

Sketchblogs

Photoblogs

Thumblogs

Typecasting.

Phlogs

By device – Moblog

Sousveillance.                                                                                                

                                                                                                                     (Wikipedia, 2009) 

           

In my opinion, blogs should be classified as what they advocate for. This means that blogs should be classified by what content they carry, rather than the type of media they use. A blog could use vlogs and writings on their blog. In my opinion, we have to realized that there is no one way to classify blogs as this type of media is very fluid and can be used according to users’ creativity and imagination. Therefore, the only way we could classify blogs in the most efficient way is to differentiate them by their genre they carry. For instance, Political blogs, travel blogs (travelogs), house blogs, fashion blogs, education blogs.

Blogs as current phenomenon & benefits to the community

In this post we talk about blogs as a current phenomenon and discuss some benefits for the community. Technorati currently states it is tracking over 112.8 million blogs, a number which obviously does not include all the 72.82 million Chinese blogs as counted by The China Internet Network Information Center (Helmond 2008).

Currently the trend around the world is the use of Twitter, which experts dub it as micro-blogging. More and more bloggers are moving to Twitter. Those who use Twitter say they do so to promote their blogs, bring interesting links to light, and to understand what people are buzzing about. 50% of Part Timers say they use Twitter to market their businesses. Other uses of Twitter, like interacting with companies (24%), politicians (11%), and celebrities (9%), are much less popular (Sussman 2009).

As if 2009, personal blogs are most prevalent, according to Technorati. Hobbyists Representing 72% of the respondents to this survey, hobbyists say that they blog for fun. They don’t make any money from their blogging - and only some would like to do so. More than any other group, though, Hobbyists say they blog to express their “personal musings” (53%). 71% update at least weekly, while 22% update daily. Because 76% blog to speak their minds, their main success metric is personal satisfaction (76%) (McLean, 2009).  Blogging could actually strengthen social networks allowing readers to know more about what interests you community.

Reference list:

Helmond A. 2008, ‘How Many Blogs Are There? Is Someone Still counting?’, The Blog Herald. http://technorati.com/blogging/article/day-5-twitter-global-impact-and/

Sussman M. 2009, ‘Twitter, Global Impact and the Future of Blogging.’ Technorati, State of Blogosphere. http://www.blogherald.com/2008/02/11/how-many-blogs-are-there-is-someone-still-counting/

McLean J. 2009, ‘State of the Blogosphere 2009 Introduction’, Technorati. http://technorati.com/blogging/article/state-of-the-blogosphere-2009-introduction/

Introduction

In this blog, i would be looking at publications, advertisements, and other media that i have come across each day. i would be speaking from not only my own opinion but also opinions of experts. I would be looking into newspapers and the internet for interesting news.