We say no to Misogyny!

Women weren’t always an active part of society. This was because they were expected to commit to their domestic jobs in the household. Even more, women were non-existent online. Things started to change, both in society and online. As women started to take a more active role, they were still discriminated against. For example- Dr. Adrianna Wadewitz was an American feminist and Wikipedian created an anonymous account where she would edit pages on Wikipedia. While anonymous and no one knew her gender, no on really had any comments on her way of writing or what she wrote. When she revealed her identity and was known as ‘Adrianne Wadewitz’ people started to change their prior views of her writing. Things like “you can’t be a women or you don’t write like a women,” and suddenly no one was taking her arguments seriously.

In modern day society when women are still being targeted and bullied. It seems that’s nothing is changing and that is horrific. There are places where women can share past experiences and know that they aren’t alone. There is the #mencallmethings hash tag where women shared the horrible things that have been said to them. Take Charlotte Dawson for example, she was bullied on Twitter, people telling her to kill herself and other outrageous comments.  It is this sort of abuse that keeps women in hiding and can ultimately cause suicide.

Women aren’t going to stand for this any more. Look at the campaign started on Facebook ‘Destroy the Joint.’ The page itself says it’s for “people who are sick of the sexism dished out to women in Australia.” It stands for gender equality and civil discourse in Australia. Looking at the page, it discusses examples where women are either facing sexism or inequality, which has slightly become one in the same. One recent post is where a high school girl was asked to leave prom because so her “dress wouldn’t lead boys to think to impure thoughts.”

Women are fighting, and men are joining in who find this unacceptable, maybe it really is time for some change…a change that sticks.

Reference:

Dreher, T 2014, ‘#mencallmethings: Identity and difference online,’ BCM112, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, May 13.

Youth and Politics

Over the last decade, it seems that youths have become disengaged with politics. The reasons for this:
–       Less economic security for youths
–       Our politicians seem to not care for the problems that youths face
–       Collective identifications replaced through processes of individualisation
However over the last couple of years, there has been a new movement that has taken over the way we see politics.

Occupy Wall Street began on September 17 2011 and is a “people-powered movement… fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process.” Occupy can be followed twitter with the hash tag #ows. Since this Australia has joined the Occupy movement with the slogan ‘Solidarity, Unity & Respect.’

One of the many issues that is currently debated around Australia is schooling, in particular the change of funding to Universities around the country. The 2014 Budget will see 20 per cent of funding for each course cut, and the caps that prevent universities increasing degree prices will be abolished from 2016. This budget cut will cause a strain on many current and future students. Labour’s education spokesperson, Kim Carr, believes that this isn’t a good decision, as it will become difficult for disadvantaged people to study. “They can’t [study] if you are starting to put huge financial barriers in their way,” Senator Carr said.

A recent protest occurred on the well-known show Q&A where a group of university students hijacked the show and started chanting “No cuts! No fees! No corporate universities!” on the deregulation on universities and increased fees. But It was argued by ABC Radio host Jon Faine whether “this is an effective way of getting your point across? ” he wondered. “Does it actually work?”

This form of protesting isn’t effective, a bunch of students yelling at Education Minister Christopher Pyne isn’t going to solve the issue at hand. Protesting needs to be well though out, and needs to be organised so the best outcome occurs, unfortunately what happened on Q&A wasn’t one of those times.

References:

Glenday, J 2014, ‘University funding: Student fees may rise as Government considers major shake-up, ABC News, 23 April, viewed 10 May 2014, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-23/federal-government-considers-uni-funding-shakeup/5405252 >

 

What’s a REMIX?

Everyone loves a good remix!

A remix is any form of intervention in the cultural or ideological flow of a text. This means that the remix is aiming to reconstitute the meaning of the text. A reason for creating remix is to treat the text differently to highlight and introduce the audiences to our own interpretations of the text.

And the very people who are making these remix… US, who have watched the original content and have wanted to make some changes that we felt could make someone laugh, or even to add some deeper meaning that we want to share with audiences. We have gone “from audiences as passive consumers of media to users as active content creators.” As the audience has become the creators, it offers the ability for anyone to create this content; anybody can participate to share their message to the greater community.

Remix is seen in many shapes and forms and can be produced and advertised to many different mediums. YouTube an example as it provides an “excellent opportunity to trace the emergence and development of cultural memes from the initial, notorious video clip to a host of mashups, parodies, reinterpretations.”

However there are deeper meanings for creating a remix. There are the political implications. As someone changes the cultural meaning of a text, the audience start to shape and change their own views on particular topics used in the remix. And if someone has the ability to change the cultural meaning, they could also change the political meaning. The power behind a good remix is endless.

Now, I’m going to leave you with two remix examples that I love.

1- Is the YouTube video called AFTER EVER AFTER, where the YouTuber uses the music of known Disney Movies and offers an alternate story of Disney Princesses after happily ever after.

2- The voice over of The Dark Knight Rises movie trailer with the graphics of the well loved film The Lion King

How will you tell your story?

Transmedia; is “storytelling that represents a process where integral elements of a fiction get dispersed across multiple channels to create an entertainment experience.”

What type of mediums is there that are incorporated into the story telling of a fiction? Well different mediums are used for specific reason; by this I mean that each medium makes its own contribution to the story and the tail that is unravelled.

Look at the Marvel’s Avengers, they one but one film, yet a collaboration of other films that tell the individual tale of the heroes e.g. Thor, Captain America, The Hulk and Iron Man. There is also a spin off television series Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D. Games that are produced by both fans and Marvel that can be played on a computer and smart phones. And of course where it all started; the comics that share the story in a different light.

That is transmedia storytelling at its finest. It offers different options for the audience to gain insight and understanding of the entire story world created. However there are many other outlets that offer the ability for transmedia storytelling.

YouTube is of one these many outlets; it offers both fans and even the franchises to expand their stories by producing online that are posted onto YouTube. Not only can YouTube offer people the chance the learn and upload new information about the fiction at hand, it serves as a medium where people can share something on YouTube that is watched by someone else who shares it on Tumblr and so on, so fourth. An example is the Cinderella 2.0, a video made on YouTube that is a tutorial for storytelling brand content on transmedia. But more than anything it demonstrates how something as small as a video that was shared from YouTube to Facebook can cause such a stir that it is transferred across multiple mediums to connect with different audiences.

References:

Global, FCB 2013, Cinderella 2.0: Transmedia Storytelling, online video, 20^th May, YouTube, 29/4/14. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP-zOCl5md0>

Jenkins, H. (2007) ‘Transmedia Storytelling 101’, <http://henryjenkins.org/2007/03/transmedia_storytelling_101.html>

YouTube and Produsage

Produsage is a new term that includes the audience as people who now produce and use content. According to Axel Bruns produsage is “a model of describing today’s emerging user-led content creation environments…and offers new ways of understanding the collaborative content creation and development practices found in contemporary informational environments.”

The four characteristics of produsage are-

–       Organisational shift- shift from individuals as producers to a larger and broader based distribution of content by a community of people
–       Fluid movement- movement of produsers from being a leader, to a participate and user of the content
–       Unfinished- the work is always unfinished and constantly being re developed or developing
–       Permissive regimes- includes issues of ownership, employ copyright systems for authorship but it enables a continued collaboration on further content

So where does YouTube fit into all of this? YouTube over the years has changed dramatically. People were uploading videos individually, that revolved about them and the theme of their video. An organisational shift occurred where YouTubers were now collaborating with other YouTubers creating a shift from individuals to groups. There are also whole YouTube channels that make videos with multiple YouTubers such as Daily Mix that is a “new beauty and makeover YouTube channel… that is hosted by some of the UK’s biggest YouTube stars including Pixiwoo, Tanya Burr, Wayne Goss, Jim Chapman and Ruth Crilly.”

Daily Mix can also be used as part of the fluid movement, where the YouTubers are acting as the leaders who organise the videos, the producers who make the video and participate as part of user content.

As for unfinished work and permissive regimes, YouTube as a whole covers those characteristics. Videos are made weekly, the channels themselves are constantly developing and as more viewers are accumulated the opportunities for the YouTuber become endless. YouTube also has its own copyright laws and issues of ownership mentioned in my blog post This video has been removed

YouTube is a great platform where Dr Axel Bruns characteristics for produsage are demonstrated and developed.

Until next week…

References:

Bruns, A 2007, Produsage: Towards a Broader Framework for User-Led Content Creation, Proceedings Creativity & Cognition 6, Washington, DC, viewed 9th April 2014

We are the audience, lets communicate!

Audiences have become the most valuable aspect of media technologies and their success. Being part of an audience we become this dialogic platform where we offer input and can have access to information where we can facilitate a conversation.

As an audience we interact with other audience members and the media technology. This is demonstrated by liking someone’s page on Facebook, leaving a comment on someone’s YouTube video or pressing the follow button on Twitter notifying someone of his or her new audience member.

What can we do as audience members? What access do we have and what sort of relationship is built between the technology and its users A.K.A US. Look at the web, by its design it is dialogic. The platform is meant to support the organisation of information so that it can support a forum of conversation about that said information.

YouTube. Is it dialogic or monologic? I’d say it has aspects of both. When searching for a video it is the way you access the information that is broadcasted [monologic] but as you watch the video you can push the like button, share it through various media platforms and most importantly comment. When you comment on someone’s video, you have access to a conversation. You can ask questions to which other audience members or the owner of the video may reply to and thus becoming dialogic. YouTube also attempts to make your visit to its site as easy as can be. Once a member you have the option to subscribe to people and become notified when they upload a new video, you also are given a “what to watch” option which are suggested videos based on genres you already watch.

YouTube nature is more dialogic than monologic, making it a forum that allows interactions and communications between the audience and technology.

Reference:

Moore, Christopher (2014), ‘Lecture 5 Audiences: power, access and participation,’ BCM112, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, 3 April.

How much control do you have?

Today at the touch of a screen we are able to access virtually anything. This is done through various media devices such as mobile phones. But what control do we have over these devices and the various media platforms that we use on them?

According to Henry Jenkins, “new media technologies…expanded the range of available delivery channels and enabled consumers to archive, annotate, appropriate and recirculate media content in powerful new ways.” However “on the other hand, there has been an alarming concentration of the ownership of mainstream commercial media.”

This means that we either have an availability of control or none at all. An example would be Apple and Android devices. Apple runs the iPhone, and Apple is a completely closed platform. This means that only Apple can make alterations to the device. A disadvantage to a closed system is that it offers limited input and that in return means the device is limited. Whereas the Android is an open device and offers flexibility to its consumers who can then alter and customise their device to their specific needs.

Apple and Android are clear-cut; it is either an open or closed device. What about other platforms? What about YouTube? Initially I thought it was an open source. It allows anyone to upload videos on just about anything (ensuring that they meet the copyright agreements) and people can comment and like and share each of these videos. However this is where YouTube may be uncovered as a closed platform. To watch videos you do not have to have an account with YouTube. However as an active member of society, if you wanted to comment, like or share this video you would have to make an account. Also YouTube can remove any comment or any content that you upload to YouTube without your consent if it was deemed inappropriate or violated any of YouTube’s polices.

So on a final note, YouTube seems to be a closed network because even though it seems we have multiple options on what we can do, we have to follow a code of regulations that limit exactly what we may want to say, watch or upload and share with the world.

Reference:

Jenkins, Henry (2004), The cultural logic of media convergence, International Journal of Cultural Studies, Volume 7(1): 33–43.

This video has been removed…

YouTube is probably the biggest media platform where its main day to day concern is copyright. As mentioned on the YouTube site “when a person creates an original work that is fixed in a physical medium, he or she automatically owns copyright to the work.” Have you ever clicked on a YouTube video ready to watch and then come face to face with this? I know it’s annoying as hell.

http://mashable.com/2012/08/03/embedding-video-copyright-infringement/

This is simply because the rules of someone’s contract have not been followed. This is often done by someone outing in a complaint and asked for this content to be removed. YouTube cannot determine the copyright ownership and if it receives a complete take down notice, they remove that content immediately. The most common form of copyright infringement seen on YouTube is the use of third party material such as music, images or extracts of written material that belongs to others. Under YouTube’s terms and conditions when you agree to them “you warrant to YouTube that you already have the necessary copyright clearances for any third party material you use in the material you submit.”

Although YouTube works to stop copyright infringement in 2007 Viacom filed a lawsuit against Google’s YouTube over “posting Viacom programmes on YouTube video service without permission.” The lawsuit led to arguments over the limits of federal laws aimed at copyright and the right for people to share any source of entertainment online. The lawsuit first filed was for 1 BILLION DOLLARS claiming that YouTube illegally broadcasted over 79,000 copyright videos. The settlement was finally settled this past week and the terms of the settlement are not known.

But what if YouTube decided that anything posted on their site became open content? Where others could reuse and alter someone’s content. Would people continue their use of YouTube? Probably not considering many creators of YouTube are making profits from their content, and if they are used and posted somewhere else, why watch it on its original page or by its original creator?

A site to watch just about anything… YOUTUBE

In February 2005, something big was developed. Can you guess what is it? This network allows you to watch hours and hours’ worth of data on just about anything that comes to your mind; games, films, songs, sports, news and just everyday people completing tasks such as the cinnamon challenge for your daily entertainment. Yes, if you haven’t already guessed what this media platform is, then 1- where have you been since 2005 and 2- stick around because YouTube is the media platform I have chosen to study and 3- it’s in the title!

YouTube has become a way for people to interact, share and inspire people from all ends of the world with original content. The scale is which YouTube operates is massive. 72 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. In 2011, YouTube had more than 1 trillion video views, which is 140 views for every person on the planet. I, myself am one of these viewers, who spends hours watching videos of my favourite youtubers.

Since its conception, YouTube has transformed and developed. It can be accessed through any media device that has internet connection. However in what direction is YouTube going? What problem is it facing or could potentially face in the future? With the amount of time spent on the internet and YouTube, issues such as cyber bulling start to become problems. Another issue possibly, is the speed of videos and how long it takes for them to load. How will YouTube filter the good from the bad?

Now for a quick video that you’ll either love or loathe!