That’s all she wrote!

And here we are, several weeks after my first post, blog virginity taken forever.

I must admit, coming into this assignment that I had my concerns. I am not the most tech-savvy girl in our class, I’m sure, but somehow I found a new way to express myself and have thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

New media is a fascinating thing. What we learn in class and what we see in our daily lives and online are now more than ever clearer to me.

My final blog post will comment on new media itself.

With the Internet taking a quantum leap from its humble beginnings to what we see now, media has gone along for the ride and has adjusted quite nicely. Even the word, ‘media’, is used now more than ever. Media has taken over our lives, and there isn’t much objections.

Media has become such an intricate and accepted part of our lives that it is now taught in schools. It is impossible to spend more than an hour in or out of your home without being exposed to some form of media. It is, dare I say, as omnipresent as God Himself.

Call it what you will: Web 2.0, the Second Gutenberg Shift, etc. It is so widely accepted that even older generations are hoping on board the digital bandwagon (no offense, Dr. Strangelove).

All in all, media is what it is and will always remain a constant in our lives. And that is a fact Dr. Strangelove can surely appreciate.

Add a comment March 27, 2009

Thirty Mile Zone…

One thing is for sure the way we hear the news has changed. Over the years people change the way in which they access their information. When you need to know the weather you use to just walk outside and check, today people turn on their computer and check the weather network. When you wanted to get celebrity gossip you would go to the store and pick up a US weekly, today you turn to TMZ.

TMZ is a new concept of finding media and accessing all the celebrity trash you could possibly want. They were there first to bring us news about Lindsey Lohan’s “fire crotch”, Mel Gibson’s DUI, and in latest news the Rihanna and Chris Brown fiasco. The issue is why television has become the new realm for celebrity gossip. Since 2000 the gossip industry has felt the need to expand its horizons towards Television and online magazines (Ezines) because of the growing demand for everything to be in easy access. people enjoy being able to know what is going on without having to go to the store and buy a magazine, having it on television and online has made peoples’ lives easier and not to mention more environmentally friendly.

Not only has online and television gossip moved away from print for these reason but they have also moved into these sectors based on the fact that it sanctions them to advertise more, which inevitably means makes them more money. In The Empire of Mind, Dr. Strangelove discusses how “news corporations receive the largest portion of their revenue from advertising (usually around 75 per cent). This relationship is so integral to the media sector that the business press regards media and news corporations as a branch of the advertising sector. News corporations do not sell news they sell an aggregation of eyeballs to advertisers. Through this exchange relationship commercial news is inseparably tied to the interests of the corporate sector” (Strangelove, 164). And there you have it, finally makes sense now doesn’t it, magazines have moved to television and online sources based on the fact that it will make them more money.

Add a comment March 27, 2009

Online Dating: The New Form of Looking for Love

New age media has changed everything we do; from the way we cook to the way we talk on the phone and now to the way we date. People don’t seem to care for face to face interaction anymore, its all about time management and getting to know people when it is convenient, preferably on the fly. This is why there has become a growing trend in social networking, virtual speed dating and online dating services. People like the idea of getting to know people in the comforts of their own homes and without the intrusiveness of meeting strangers for the first time. Dating over the internet makes people feel more at ease, there is less to worry about. For instance, not liking your dates appearances or the feeling of an awkward silence. All this can easily be avoided by simply logging out of the web site, can there really be a bad side?

People start to loss out on real communication having to go through a medium such as the internet to connect with the outside world. Not to mention that a lot of the stuff put out on the internet is false, half of the people on these dating sites lie about something in there profile. It might be easier to just meet up with a person in real life see if you like them or not and move on. Instead of looking online then deciding the person is worth the time in meeting, then going through the process of getting together and realizing the person form your virtual reality is not who they seem to be, thus resulting in the process starting all over again. Why bother. Even though today people live stressful lives it seems more fun and interactive to meet with people in person, instead of dating your Dell.

Add a comment March 27, 2009

Cyberbullying…

Bullying has been taking place for years; it is something that happens in school yards and social circles all over the world. We as a society worry for our children our friends or ourselves and hope that things like that don’t happen, but we are all aware they do. Children can be cruel, and in a group dynamic they can be even worse. A friend of mine showed me a video on YouTube about a girl who was held hostage in a home and beaten for the sole purpose of being posted on the internet. Fifteen minutes of fame, I think not.

“Cyber bullying involves the use of information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual or group, that is intended to harm others.”

- Bill Belsey (taken from CyberBullying.ca)

What happened to just stealing kids lunch money on the playground, apparently times have changed?

Add a comment March 27, 2009

Sex Sells!

American Apparel is a relatively new phenomenon, from their cute socks and trendy leggings, it has become a cultural fetish; everywhere you look you see people wearing it.

At first I thought it was because it is a store that does not in any way support sweatshops and tries to promote a natural beauty and lifestyle for its customers. But then I realized it’s in the way they advertise, American Apparel uses their employees as in store models, as well as in there campaign ads they use regular people just like us. The only problem here is how they oversexualize their models; they try to create an ideal for people through the images of oversexualize beings which presents itself as a form of soft porn. Strangelove argues that “it is intensely ironic that this latest trend in highly customized marketing is celebrated as liberating” (Strangelove, 39). These ads attempt to create a sense of liberation for regular “sweatshop” made clothing by seeming to be more natural and zen but the only thing that comes across to the audience is sex and that is what sells, right?

Add a comment March 27, 2009

Big Brother is Watching

In today’s technologically advanced world, we see the government lean in ways that to some may seem very intrusive, but could it be for the betterment of society? I suppose time will only tell. I came across something in the New York Times that stated big brother was moving into cars. Not only can people be monitored by satellites circulating above the atmosphere but now we can me monitored in our very own vehicles.

“Mandatory breathalyzers in all vehicles is just one item in a veritable surveillance package that all drivers will be forced to accept if they wish to use America’s roads and highways. GPS tracking and taxation black boxes are being pushed to coincide with the construction of the NAFTA Superhighway, where all vehicles will be forced to use toll roads and will have their every movement catalogued by spy satellites in alliance with a massive centralized database. US citizens will be forced to adopt a de facto national identification card and have their freedom of mobility defined by behavioral fealty to the government under proposals set to derive from NAFTA superhighway toll road system and the implementation of the American Union. Biometric eye scanners that can detect tiredness and deny mobility if the system judges the driver to be fatigued are being proposed for individual vehicle use after being utilized by police in Australia. Proposals are in play to install surveillance cameras in all cars, especially in areas where legislation has been passed that bans the individual from smoking in their own car if a child is also present.”

All these things seem like they would be good for the wellbeing of society, but when does Big Brother start to cross the line? People start to feel like they lose privacy and feel like they are criminals or terrorist and it isn’t fair to assume people will be law breakers.“This echoes Foucault’s insistence that whenever power is exercised there is likely to be resistance to it. Baudrillard describes the globe itself as resisting the hegemonic domination that globalizing capitalism attempts to establish” (Strangelove, 207). In The Empire of Mind we come to realize that people will always have a problem with authority based on that fact that it takes away for their mobility and freedom as individuals but the thing is the government is trying to impose laws that make the world a safer place, so society needs to see how it all plays out.

Just think back a few decades ago when there weren’t any stop lights, imagine the chaos…

Add a comment March 27, 2009