The internet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHlD31IwdK0

MM52 - PG 13

Task

1. Summarize MM52, pg13 on a MEST3 blogpost, show your critical autonomy 
2. Are you bothered by people tracking your online movements? Is it a small price to pay for life online?

1)

Summarized by sections

Private Spaces, Converging Life Spheres

This section of the article discusses the questioning of Daniel Trottier who compares the digital space of social media to a dwelling that has increased [the] social proximity of different life spheres leading to social convergence. It discusses how we live our lives separated in different worlds but suited to the people we want to include in the individual worlds and possibly convey ourselves in different ways. For instance, the article talks about how we use more careful language around our parents compared to the ‘slang’ or less carefully selected language with our friends.  This section goes on to say how these life spheres that we live in can get mixed up and the real possibility of how easily somebody can access information about us.

The Cost of Data Mining

Talks about how private the information really is that we put out on social media, despite how much or how little we reveal. For example, some researchers found that from a record of one Facebook user’s subjects and items they had liked they were able to accurately identify the user’s race, IQ, sexuality, substance use, personality or political views that is known as data mining and is legal. It then goes on to talk about how we agree to companies using our personal information when we click the ‘accept Terms & Conditions’. However, we just assume that companies will act responsibly with the information they have in their possession.  In the fourth quarter of 2013 Facebook generated $2.61 average revenue per user (ARPU) which converts to £1.73: Our information is what social media platforms use to be profitable.

Government Surveillance

This third section talks about the huge revelations of Edward Snowdon and the American and British Government wanting to have total transparency of the internet. This is a arguement defended by saying that total transparency for the Government would be protecting ‘freedom’ against terrorists. However, many argue that this point is heavily flawed and means that we would lose the right to privacy among other things.   

2) As I have gathered a more developed understanding of the internet and social media sites, it does bother me that people are tracking my online movements. If my online movements are being tracked then somebody may as well be following me with a camera everyday. As a result, of my online movements being tracked I try my upmost best to ensure that my privacy settings are always set correctly and I do not reveal to much information about myself. However, as proven by the researcher in the MM52 article the quantity of information revealed does not really matter because a lot of things can still be found out about you. 

Despite it bothering me that my online movements are being tracked, I do think it is a small price to pay for the social media life, because with sites having the information they have they are supposedly making the experience better for us each and every time. The tracking of online movements also applies to us as individuals not just multi million pound conglomerates. For example, how do you think we know who the best people are to follow on Twitter? and if you are a small inderpendant business owner how do you think you are establishing if you are getting sufficient traffic to your website? 

Introduction to NDM: reading and blog task

Task

Go to our Media Magazine archive and open up MM56 - April 2016. You need to read the following articles:

Page 10: Living and learning in a digital age.

Page 46: Periscope and the implications of live streaming.

Page 53: A2 A* exam essay on Spotify.

1) Read the first two articles. Write one paragraph on each summing up the key aspects.

2) Now read the A2 A* essay. Why do you think it was so successful? 

3) Finally, answer this question in a well developed paragraph on your blog: How has digital media changed your life in the last 5 years (for positive or negative)?

PG 10: Living and learning in the digital age article, talks about a ex media studies teacher who spent 1 year in a school with Year 9's as a researcher looking at the relationship between life at home and at school, their interaction between the members of the class and boundaries or possibilities between the two worlds. The researcher wanted to see ways that learning were framed at home as well as in school and whether current criticisms about social media being negative in every aspect of young peoples lives was true. The researcher believed that at the moment research into such aspects was very limited and sometimes a lot of it was based on what adults tell young people to do and the decisions they make for them. The researcher had to make sure that research was done fairly and properly but found that there was a clear distinction between popular culture and the forms of high culture valued by the school and from the past. The research appeared to suggest that schools are not as interested in cultural and social uses of the media but in the ways that they can make management and control more effective.   

PG 46: This article is about the Periscope App which is similar to Twitter in that it is a service for people to post on but it is a video based service, you start filming and Periscope feed and click to tweet that a session is live and then anybody following you can watch you live stream. The article covers Piracy, Privacy and Potential of the Periscope App. The concern of Periscope privacy would be that people think damage may well be more permanent in that if a stream is already live you may record things that you do not mean to actually post on Periscope. There is also the danger of sharing information with third parties, which Periscope does with Ditto who scan images for branded content. Then  Piracy concern is that major events and large companies are being cheated of there content. For instance, one example given is that Periscope users watching Game Of Thrones premiere re transmit it on live stream to other Periscope users for free. This means that the film profits could suffer as people have no need to go to the cinema to see the film again. Finally, is the potential for success of the Periscope App, working class individuals across many different industries are excited about how they can use it in their everyday live. 

2) After reading the A* response I think that it was successful because it covers all possible aspects of the statement given with clear evidence from the case study on Spotify. The work also includes many statistics which back up the claims the student makes to answer the question. Most of all, I think that this response was extremely successful because it argues both sides to the given statement and it does not solely focus on Spotify but it appears to make comparisons and mentions to other services such as Tidal created by Jay Z.

3) I think that the developments in new digital media have changed my life in the last 5 years very dramatically but positively. This is because the digital media developments have altered the way in which I consume the media. For example, when I was younger (without a mobile phone) I would only watch the news with my parents on TV. However, now I have a mobile I read it on my phone independently.  Another way in which digital media has changed my life in the last 5 years would be simply the fact that it has made me want to consume the media more as it is quicker and most importantly free when it is on Twitter, Facebook similar. The changes in digital media have also allowed me to develop the love for my hobbies that I have. I like to to create videos of family photos and have now learnt how to do very professional looking ones thanks to being able to easily access digital media.