For this weeks post, I have explored the topics of social media, the online persona, micro-celebrities and the concept of non-humans and Twitter in the form of a podcast. I apologise sincerely for the rambling however I tend to travel off into stories unknowingly.. Exploring Soundcloud as someone that uploads rather than just listens was interesting for me, however not as interesting as the cringe fest when having to listen to my own voice played back over and over..
Citizen journalism is when private individuals do essentially what professional reporters do, report information.
The current world we live in is all about producing, sharing and consuming. Citizen journalism is incredibly popular. No degree required or fees to pay unlike qualified journalists, and no filter or direct risk. Citizen journalism is the absence of authority, an open process with no closure. The arrival of the Internet with blogs, podcasts, YouTube and other Web-related innovations is what has made citizen journalism possible. Blogs and social media have taken away the feature of ‘gatekeepers’ (publishers, editors, content controllers) allowing individuals to post what they want, free from control.
As social media allows for immediate uploads, it is quickly becoming the host to report news before any other form of media.
However, one problem it poses is that Citizen Journalism has been marred by inaccurate reporting; such as reports during Superstorm Sandy that the New York Stock Exchange had been flooded.
With the majority of citizen journalists not being paid for their work, it seems unrealistic to expect them to have the same commitment to their work as paid professionals would, this being a problem that doesn’t seem likely to disappear any time soon.
Nevertheless, Citizen journalism allows for instant access and immediate information for people all around the world, we just have to be careful as to what we take as fact and fiction..
To wrap this up, a video that most likely expresses how qualified Journalists feel about Citizen Journalists..
This weeks topic focused on the way convergence alters the role of audiences in their interaction with digital media platforms and content. I have created a Prezi to mind map topic, and explore the different areas of Media Convergence.
Gone are the days, where you could only access the Internet at home. Where you had to wait for your sister to get off the phone to her boyfriend, wireless was yet to come and dial up sounded something like this..
These days a phone is no longer just a communication device. The smart phone has become an integral part of our everyday life offering a range of services in one small, sleek, interactive unit.
Standing in line waiting to order a cup of coffee? Waiting for the bus? Stuck in the doctor’s waiting room or the dreaded RMS? There once was a time in human existence when all of these scenarios would have left us staring at the walls in a zombie-like stupor, or browsing through the array of outdated magazines almost every waiting room provides. Now? Browse the web, tweet about how you’re waiting for your coffee/bus/doctors appointment, check your Facebook or fling birds at pigs.
Smartphones put computing power in your pocket that would have taken up an entire room a generation ago.
We compulsively take our smartphones with us wherever we go. The bathroom, the classroom, the bedroom- everywhere. Our phone is always in hand, pocket, bag, bra, whatever you fancy. ‘The internet is now a part of your body’ (Mitew, Teodor)
So what does this mean to our non-virtual reality?
This all happened so fast! We didn’t have the time to set boundaries for smartphones vs every other factor of our lives, and now consequently, we find ourselves struggling to preserve our relationships and form meaningful interactions with those dear to us. We’ve become irrevocably immersed in our digital lives. The virtual world is prioritised over everything else. We must Instagram our dinner, rather than actually savouring it and sharing impressions, or maybe a forkful of the dish, with the person next to us. A Snapchat story is formed to document every event, but not in the way a photo documents and preserves a moment. A Snapchat is temporary. It merely satisfies the need for us to prove how great of a night we’ve had, and after 24 hours the videos and photos you spent half the night taking, half the night absorbed in your smartphone, are erased.
Its all about a balance. Just as we’ve always had to balance friends, family, work, responsibilities etc; with the advancement of technology allowing us to be constantly online, always connected, we have a new element to balance amongst the others. Our online presence vs the rest.
Famous, or perhaps infamous, for their iconic marketing and advertising strategies, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is arguably one of the worst offenders for controversy. So, when given the task of discussing and dissecting a particular image of my choice, I could not resist the array of mind bogglingly, inappropriate advertisements PETA delights us with on a regular basis.
I myself am not vegetarian or vegan, but that has absolutely nothing to do with why this PETA campaign frustrates me so much; I am female.
Upon first inspection, I see a blonde, voluptuous woman with a rather large emphasis on her cleavage. She is dressed in what appears to be ‘sexy nurse’ attire. In large, red, uppercase letters the words ‘BYPASS HEART DISEASE’ and beneath a persuasive tag line telling me to ‘Get healthy. Go vegan’.
Without reading into it, you’d think you were viewing an advertisement for a strip club..
Did it capture my attention? Yes. Was I then considering the effects of the meat I consume and how it affects my health? How it increases my chance of heart disease, cancer and/or a stroke? NO! I was questioning why exactly PETA required this woman dressed the way she was, wearing a provocative outfit with a considerable amount of cleavage on display to tell me this. Why not a woman dressed in the proper attire a nurse would wear, or a male nurse? Yes, there is the argument that this would not capture the attention of nearly as many individuals as the sexy, female nurse does. However, the fact that in order to promote what PETA stands for – advocating for the rights of animals and the benefits of veganism, we must objectify women and insult nursing as a profession is both appalling AND counterproductive for both minorities.
In PETA’s opinion this is an effective, eye-catching way to convey their message, this is certainly not their only campaign to display women like this. Their intentions may be to inform us of the beneficial reasons to go vegan, and once I analysed the image I understood their message, however in my eyes it is largely clouded by the more pressing issue of how this particular image speaks to me as a woman.
There is however, definitely potential for this image to be viewed in a completely different way by someone with different contextual values and opinions to that of my own. The way you read this image and interpret its message is completely dependant on your own perspective.
The bottom line (in my opinion) is that this advertisement is extremely derogatory to women, and to nurses. Nurses are trained medical professionals, educated women and men. I support PETAs intentions (to a certain extent), however I do not agree with their advertising and marketing strategies. As a woman, I find their approach cheap, appalling and insulting.
emilykeyes,smilingpolitely 
