Web207: Topic 1: Introduction

Study notes from this week are summarised below. References will be cited where appropriate.

• Every second one hour of video is uploaded to YouTube, yet 60hrs every minute
• Modern journalism requires no formal training. All you need is Internet connection and webcam
• Media convergence is more than simply a technological shift. Convergence alters the relationship between existing technologies, industries, markets, genres and audiences (Jenkins, 2004)
• Kodak went broke this year due to digital culture - lack of film sales
• Facebook now hosts more photos than Flickr. Approximately 100 billion photos have been uploaded to Facebook as of March 2012
• Convergence means technological and social change facilitated by (but not exclusively driven by) new technology and affordances (Jenkins, 2004)
• Digitisation - everything becomes digital, but what are the implications? Many of us grew up analogue. How do you cope? What will happen to the traditional media industry?
• In the 1990s the web was mostly a publishing medium, in the 2000s it has increasingly become a communication medium (Manovich, 2009)
• TV, film, music, gaming, photography are now digital. People are still watching TV but are watching it differently - at a time which suits them and with no commercials
• In the Vietnam War era, it took years to build up the network of underground newspapers, alternative comics and people’s radio stations that supported the antiwar movement. In the digital age, antiwar activists emerged almost overnight, forming important alliances, sharing ideas, organizing actions and mobilizing supporters, with most of the important work taking place in cyberspace (Jenkins, 2004)
• Social media platforms give users unlimited space for storage and plenty of tools to organize, promote, and broadcast their thoughts, opinions, behavior, and media (Manovich, 2009).

Reflection: How will advertising agencies air commercials if we all have DVR's and PVR's (Digital Video Recorders and Personal Video Recorders) and skip the ads? Will we start seeing product placement within movies and TV shoes? i.e. Coke cans in the fridge of the characters? Will the characters all wear Nike shoes? Will they all use iPhones and iMacs? Will it be obvious to the viewers? Have you started to notice that already?

References:

Jenkins, H. (2004). The Cultural Logic of Media Convergence. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 7(1), 33-43. doi: 10.1177/1367877904040603

Manovich, L. (2009). The Practice of Every Day (Media) Life: From Mass Consumption to Mass Cultural Production. Chicago Journals, 35(2). doi: 10.1086/596645