Video for Professor Strangelove’s CMN 2160 Media Theory class.

Human nature requires the individual to constantly seek out knowledge. Power, in society, is allocated according to the type of knowledge one posses. This creates a divide between the have and the have nots. Through history upper classes have been more privy to various forms of technology resulting in a division of knowledge and thus a division of people. Upper classes create connections within the same social group causing knowledge to be shared with a select few people.

Jamie Keeley

Erica Saunders

Andria Schoenert

References

Chen, X. & Ding, G. (2009). New Media as Relations. Journal of Chinese Communication, 2(3),

367-379.

Cheng, Jacqui. (2007, June 25). Social Networking Divide: Facebook is for Preps, MySpace for

the Fringe. Ars Technica. Retrieved from: http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2007/06/social-networking-divide-facebook-is-for-preps-myspace-for-the-fringe.ars.

Correa, T., Hinsley, A., & de Zúñiga, H. (2010). Who Interacts on the Web?: The Intersection of

Users’ Personality and Social Media Use. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(2), 247-253. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2009.09.003.

Franken, R. E. (2007). Human Motivation. Belmont, California: Thomson Wadsworth.

Gretzel, U. (November, 2001). Social Network Analysis. Retrieved from:

http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/TSE-portal/analysis/social-network-analysis/

Hare, Breeanna. (2009, October 14). Does Your Social Class Determine Your Online Social

Network? CNN.com. Retrieved from

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/10/13/social.networking.class/index.html.

Mawere, Mutumwa. (2010, February 1). Africa 2010–Bridging the Knowledge Divide–Social

Networking. The Zimbabwe Telegraph. Retrieved from: http://www.zimtelegraph.com/?p=5762

Scarff, A. (2010). Communicators Without Borders. Communication and Mass Media Complete,

27(1), 37-39.

Simon, J. (2010). Repression Goes Digital. Columbia Journalism Review, 48(6), 12-14.

Retrieved from Communication & Mass Media Complete database.

Wade, M. (September 9, 2005). Social Network Theory. Retrieved

from: http://www.istheory.yorku.ca/socialnetworktheory.htm

Watson, Rita and M. Blondheim, eds. The Toronto School of Communication:

Interpretations,Extensions, Applications. UTP 2007.

Wilcox, D. L. & Cameron, G. T. (2009). Public Relations: Strategies and Tactics. Boston,

Massachusetts: Pearson.

(2008, December 2). The Best of Blair Waldorf. Retrieved from:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRKojkU-REA.

(2009, April 20). e-Week 2008. “La Comunicacio mobil i el sise llenguatage”. Robert Logan. (4a part). Retrieved from:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcB8Zvi9Q-s.

(2009, April 24). e-Week 2008. “La Comunicacio Mobil i el sise llenguatage”. Robert Logan. (3a Part). Retrieved from:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRqbcbsY1-A.

(2009, November 21). Noam Chomsky on Manufacturing and Consent (Part 2). Retrieved from:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gqc0V7vtcVI.

(2010). Social Media Grow Up. MediaWeek, 2010, 18. Retrieved from Communication &

Mass Media Complete database.

(2010, March 27). The Medieval Era: Medieval Society Hierarchy. Retrieved from:

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http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/9297-the-medieval-era-feudal-hierarchy-video.htm.

As a result media users are distracted in their day to day tasks. Work productivity is lower due to the high amount of distractions these devices are bringing in to the human brain. In addition, safety is at risk for all users who aren’t paying attention while they cross the street or are distracted while driving.In an article by the New York Times it was found that “slightly more than 1,000 pedestrians visited emergency rooms in 2008 because they got distracted and tripped, fell or ran into something while using a cellphone to talk or text”.Individuals engaging in this form of instant networking are also risking their relationships. The distractions that social networking devices bring to a relationship cause distance between friends, family, and friends. Thus one should think twice about the amount of information necessary for their overworked brain, it may just cause more harm than good!

Jamie Keeley

Richtel, M. (January 16, 2010). Forget Gum, Walking and Using Phone is Risky. Retrieved From: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/17/technology/17distracted.html?th&emc=th

However, what has this done to our interpersonal relationships? No longer are we having face to face conversations with friends and family as all of our communication time is now spent on social networking devices. We have become so entranced by devices such as Twitter that  we have become detached from our immediate environments.As stated in an article about the networking device, “ devoting a lot of mindshare to “knowing now” about the wider world can make you stupider about your immediate surroundings”.People today end up missing on information that effects their day to day lives due to the fact that we are so concerned with things going on within the online community.

Jamie Keeley

Dumenco, S. (2009). 10 things Twitter taught me about media-and myself. Advertising Age, 80(41), 13. Retrieved from Communication & Mass Media Complete database.

After visiting a site entitled “Inside Facebook”, a branch off the site dedicated to tracking its growth, women over 55 years of age were the most popular age group joining their site. Is there motive behind this abundance of mothers? A study by Stanford University reported that these older individuals use online social sites to reconnect with childhood friends, keep watch over the on goings of their children, which ultimately result in close relationships with their peers, their kids, even grandkids. Parents who are interested in their kids’ online activities contribute to the sharp increase in older users on Facebook, said Linda Fogg-Phillips, a 49-year-old who, with her brother, co-taught a six-week class at Stanford called “Facebook for Parents.”

By: Andria Schoenert

For more information visit:

“All in the Facebook family: older generations join social networks” at CNN.com

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/13/social.network.older/index.html

While companies may perhaps use social media for numerous discrete business reasons, they should be using this online niche as a method for working toward amalgamating social media proficiency into efficient well-designed teams, “silos” of expertise are no longer as capable in today’s society and ultimately should be avoided.

“A Facebook promotion is only as good as the information that it feeds back to the sales, CRM, marketing or senior management executives who can turn it into a business gain,” said Paul Verna, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the Insight Brief “Five Reasons Why Marketers Need to Have a Social Media Strategies”.

Companies use sites such as Facebook as an online boardroom. They come at minimal expense to the company, and the services the company provides are spread across a much larger market. They gain the popularity they require in order to be a success, that is however dependent on the information they lend to the public eye via their computer screens. With the advancements in computer online technology, and it popularity increasing at an alarming rate, it is absolutely necessary that companies develop a social media strategy as a team that can be viewed and appreciated by new clientele and other competing industries.

By: Andria Schoenert

For more information on Social Media Strategy refer to:

Paul Verna’s “Five Reasons Why Marketers Need to Have a Social Media Strategies” at:

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007508

eMarketer estimates that in 2009, 15.5 million North American Internet users ages 12 to 17, or 75%, will use social networks, and by 2013, that number will jump to 17.9 million, or 79% of all online teens. According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, that 75% of  teens mostly went to social networking sites  to interact with friends. That includes activities such as staying in touch, making plans, finding new friends and flirting.

A similar study was conducted by OTX Research where a group of “technology embracing” youth aged 12 to 24 from parts of North America, United Kingdom, Germany, India, and Japan who’s results hint at how teens of today’s industrial world are creating and maintaining connections with others. The average number of “friends” respondents had on a social networking site was 99; 43 of whom actually seen on a regular busniess, but interestingly an average of 33 were never seen in person, that means 30% of friends acquired on these sites were complete strangers! Sixty percent of those polled said they “enjoyed making new friends online”, and 7% said they were “making lots of friends”.

Unfortunately the online experience is not always a positive one. It is obvious now that online networks leave very little to mystery about ones personal, general, and private life, which often can come back to haunt you. Over 60% of those who participated in the same worldwide survey recognize that what was written across their profiles could potentially damage their careers. Additionally, 48% admit the possibility of embarassment due to what they themselves had posted, and finally 38% expressed that they regretted several of the things that had been featured (whether posted by themselves or others) on their profiles.

All this research to say that although online social networking may seem advantageous and desirable, but these sites can often have repercussions on both your academic future and career opportunity upon completion of your secondary education.  

By: Andria Schoenert

For full survey details visit Emarketer’s “Teens on Social Networks”:

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007041

Disneyland draws in its enormous crowds through the social microcosms, fantastical pleasures of reality, and its constraints and joys. The fantastical element of this imaginary world stems from the openness and warmth of the crowd, eager to participate in activities that rely heavily on the excessive amount of “gadgets necessary to create the multitudinous effect.” Parallel this notion with online networking sites; Facebook has over 30 million members eager to participate in all the programs and “gadgets” it has to offer. It is an online fantasy world we find ourselves getting swept into every time we log on. Baudrillard contrasts Disney’s alternate reality to the absolute solitude of the parking lot. Comparably, as we sit in front of our computer, we find ourselves in the absolute solitude and silence of our room, library, classroom, etc., where the drone of stillness is infinite. We are left with the choice of continuing life in the real world, walking away from the computer and continuing work in reality, or getting swept into Disney Online. Facebook has become a playground for the technologically savvy, between posts, photos, events, videos, new friends, profiles, etc., everyday there is some form of new thrill as you navigate through the network.  

 The imaginary of Disneyland is neither true nor false, it is a deterrence machine set up in order to rejuvenate the fiction of the real outside its walls. This world seeks to maintain a childish atmosphere in order to make us believe that the adults are elsewhere, in the real world. Disney Online’s (Facebook) fantastical elements are also deemed neither true nor false, and it is conclusively a program set up in order to recreate the fiction of the real world outside the screen. It is an online playground for people of all ages.

By: Andria Schoenert

Baudrillard, Jean. “The Precession of Simulacra” p.1-7, and “Absolute Advertising, Ground Zero Advertising” p.87-94, from Simulacra and Simulation. Trans. Sheila Faria Glaser. Ann Arbor:U of Michigan P, 1994 [1981].

The second and more surprising discovery came much later while reading an article from the New York Times. The article described another set of friends who discovered a way to watch their favorite television shows simultaneously, with the help of internet technologies. People all over the world are meeting as they regularly would to watch their favorite television shows together, however, now from across the world. New media has made it possible for individuals to perform everyday activities via technological application. Advancements in technology have served to strengthen the connections of it’s consumers, myself included.

Jamie Keeley

Vance, A. (January 3, 2010). Watching TV Together, Miles Apart. Retrieved From: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/04/technology/internet/04couch.html?partner=rss&emc=rss.

Skype. (2010). About Us. Retrieved From: http://about.skype.com/.

The insecurities of people everywhere are now available for viewing online. Individuals open themselves up to be critiqued and even bullied by allowing peers to comment on their profile pages and pictures. Anxiety about their relationships are also heightened. People can no longer go on a casual date or explore the possibility of a relationship without a live feed of this news being broad casted to family, friends, and peers. One would not even entertain the idea of a quiet breakup or divorce anymore. Suddenly, there is even more social pressure to be successful in every aspect of life. Things such as appearance, social status and relationship status are all sources of concern and worry. Today’s world is plagued with concern over every step they make in life and how it will be viewed by the public. Hyper-focus on the image one is projecting to their social networking communities has unequivocally caused  unease for today’s generation of communicators.

Jamie Keeley

Holson, L. (January 6, 2010). Breaking Up in a Digital Fishbowl. Retrieved From: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/fashion/07breakup.html?th&emc=th

The goal now is for large corporations and companies to make their products a way of life. Just like breathing and sleeping, one is sipping a Starbucks Latte or jamming on their IPOD. The goal is to become “part of the atmosphere”. Without thinking the consumer has already made the choice to be the brand they buy. Advertising needed to reach a new point “creating something on another level beyond logical”. The new approach to marketing means skipping over what the product does and how it is useful and focusing more on what it means. The brand must now form an emotional bond with the consumer, creating an entire meaning system for people where they can base their identity and ideas of the world. A primary example of this is Delta’s new airline Song. Deciding to create a new airline in the worst economy of airline history Song was confident that they would be successful because they had the secret, focus on the lifestyle of a certain type of person and target their emotions.

Douglas Atkin reviewed his studies of cults and applied such knowledge to branding. People decide to join a brand for the same reason they join a cult, in the belief that there will be meaning, a way to live and a sense of belonging. The idea is to create a movement of people through tactics such as pseudo spiritual marketing, forming an emotional bond with the consumer. This use of human emotion creates what is called a lovemark in which a brand introduces “loyalty beyond reason, infused with mystery, sensuality and intimacy”. Advertisers should eventually find their brand in an iconic place in each consumer’s heart. By inserting themselves into the consumer’s life in such a personal way the brand starts to naturally exist without question or control.

Jamie Keeley

Cameron, G. T., & Wilcox, D. L. (2009). Public Relations: Strategies and Tactics (9^th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

Goodman, B., Dretzin, R., & Soenens, M. (2003, November 9). Frontline: The Persuaders. Boston, MA: WGBH.