After reading and engaging with Jenkins, I want you to explore what communication means today--in the 21st century. What does it mean? How is it different than even 10years ago (think past technology)? How does communication today affect who you are as a composer? A thinker? A knowledge-maker? What does it mean when Jenkins says "convergence culture is the future?"
Using Jenkins' three chapters as support explore 21st century communication. Your post should be 500 words and should engage with the other posts. DO NOT USE OTHER PEOPLE'S WORDS UNLESS YOU GIVE THEM CREDIT!! This includes your peers.
Due: Monday, March 21, 2011.
Communication today comes in a variety of forms. It may be face to face, cellular, texting, body language, or the online world. These are the forms, but what does communication mean today in the 21st century? I think that because of the variety of forms to communicate, it shows how broad it is—it almost seems limitless and always accessible.
ReplyDeleteTen years ago, iPhones weren’t around and nor was Facebook. In fact, the cell phone wasn’t even big and the online world wasn’t as vast as it is today. The development (mainly) the technologies and the online world has made communication so easy that it is a common norm. So with this quick development what comes out of this easy communication? This is where Jenkins definition of affinity comes into play. Mainly to Jenkins, an affinity is a place, whether online or physical, that people can go to in order to share common passions about a particular subject. I think today communication and technology are inextricably linked. Ten years ago and beyond, I would not make that statement. Today I think it is fully true. I remember my mom telling me stories from when she was in college. She would say how kids only called home once maybe twice a semester. You met up with your friends if you ran into them. There was no cell phone, no lab tops, and no emails. This is almost scary to me. I call home quite frequently, and I am able to meet up with my friends by texting, email, or Facebook. My question is, if communication has expanded so quickly with technology, what will happen ten years from now?
I would say a large portion of my communication is done either online socially, or writing for classes. As a composer for class, I don’t really think communication today really affects writing. Yes there are new places to post- discussion boards or old like print- but you still are just writing even though the medium may change. As a social composer, communication today absolutely changes how I write. A large part of my social communication is done via texting, or through Facebook. When you communicate with someone verbally face to face, everything is right there for you- tone of voice, facial expressions, and the content. When you communicate on the phone, voice tone and content is still there, but it is easier to be less engaged because you don’t physically see the person. When I text, I type out what I want to say and then I always reread it, because when things are written out black and white, your message may be perceived the wrong way because you can’t sense how the person is saying it.
“Convergence culture is the future," is because, according to Jenkins“ convergence culture is where old and new media collide…where the power of the media producer and the power of the media consumer interact in unpredictable ways…Convergence culture is the future, but it is taking shape now” (Jenkins). Overall I think she means that because convergence culture is new, it is still taking shape. The groundwork in a sense is being laid down. It is “unpredictable now”, but it is “our future”.
It has become utterly clear to me through reading Jenkins’s piece that he stresses the fact that communication today is not merely just consuming, but participating. It is “not being able to just read and write, but being able to participate in the deliberations over what issues matter, what knowledge counts…” (269). Communication is all forms of media, both new and old, mediated and remediated. It is not limited to the educated, the young, or the technologically savvy. But more and more people are beginning to see the numerous effects the 21st century has already produced and are able to use it to their advantage. However, Jenkins believes, “we need to rethink the goals of media education so that young people can come to think of themselves as cultural producers and participants and not simply as consumers, critical or otherwise” (270).
ReplyDeleteJust the fact that technology has changed so much within the past 10 years blows my mind. Rather than using a traditional encyclopedia, Wikipedia arrived and has now transformed the way we receive information. Jenkins uses this example to emphasize that people want to participate and “take seriously their obligations” (266). Wikipedia is so successful because it doesn’t suppress anyone’s ideas. However, that can also be a bad thing as well.
Another example of past technology is the home telephone. I know personally, my parents just disconnected our phone at home. There was no need for it. If people need to get a hold of us, we most likely always have our cell on. People are being able to be accessed faster and on demand. We no longer want to wait for people to call us back. I often hear the phrase, and am also guilty of saying this sometimes, “why isn’t he/she answering the phone?” Well, maybe it’s because they don’t have their phone on them all the time! Oh ya. Also 10 years ago, news wasn’t as fast and current. Now, a reporter can be on a scene within minutes of breaking news happening, with the viewer tuning in to the TV and the on-line newsroom on their computer in even less time. The example Jenkins gives from Marshall Sella, New York Times, is that “a man with one machine (a TV) is doomed to isolation, but a man with two machines (TV and a computer) can belong to a community” (256). This second machine is what is transforming our culture today and is allowing us to be able to participate and not just consume. And just like Alexis mentioned, I wonder what we’ll look back on in the future and think “Wow, I can’t believe we didn’t have that in college,” or “An iPhone? Are you kidding? How outdated!” Believe it or not, this is going to happen.
Alexis says, “I don’t really think communication today really affects writing”. I however, have to disagree with this. As a composer, it affects me by which medium I am writing for, and of course for what audience. People view things differently when written, viewed on a computer, rather than a book in hand. Alexis describes the different forms of communication and how it goes from clear to cloudy, when interpreting a message face to face, phone, and text. More and more we are straying away from face to face conversations. I personally value the physical presence of another human being rather than just talking to someone via email or Facebook. This most definitely affects the way I compose because I’m composing for an on-line generation. As a thinker and student of the world in which I live in, it is imperative I know what is going on in the culture and norms of society. And as a knowledge maker, I have to be informed about many diverse topics and I can use various forms of communication with others participating in discussions to be knowledgeable.
post #2-Amanda Saxton
ReplyDeleteConvergence culture is the sharing of media across different media sources, which in effect, “enables new forms of participation an collaboration” (256). This is the future because media will continue to evolve. But Jenkins also says that it is happening now. “Consumers will be more powerful within convergence culture-but only if they recognize and use that power as both consumers and citizens, as full participants in our culture” (270). Only time will tell where the future will take us, but the potential of communication, technology, and the participating consumer should not be underestimated.
Communication today in the 21st century is a participatory culture. In the past, it was only news anchors who reported the news, only journalists who wrote news columns. Today, a lot of news stories rely on information given by a common citizen; images provided by someone who happened to whip their phone out, and Internet news stories written by impassioned average Joe’s who feel a rhetorical situation coming on. Jenkin’s states: “This circulation of media content- across different media systems, competing media economies, and national borders – depends heavily on consumers’ active participation… Convergence represents a cultural shift as consumers are encouraged to seek out new information and make connections among dispersed media content.” A recent CNN news story reported that at least 61 percent of Americans now get at least some of their news online, compared with 50 percent who read newspapers. A simple ten years ago, most people didn’t even know how to use the Internet. Now, there are news websites that feature only news stories written by every day people. And every day people read their stories. I think this is a perfect example of the way people are changing the way they view news and the media.
ReplyDeleteCommunication today affects me as a composer because my audience is much larger now. For example, if I made a video for class about rhetorical situation and posted it on youtube, I would believe my audience would be my teacher. But I’d be wrong. Now that it would be online, many more people would have access to it. Other teachers, students, scholars, and internet surfers might all easily stumble upon my video. My audience would expand to the entire world, excepting China who doesn’t have youtube. This goes for any other work that is put on the internet, like Ignacio’s image of Bert and Bin Laden. He thought his audience would be just some kids who would laugh but his image traveled across the world to the middle east where it appeared on anti-American posters.
Alexis said, “As a composer for class, I don’t really think communication today really affects writing” but I would have to disagree. Sure the mediums change but think about how informal our writing has become as a result of convergence culture. We write in blogs for homework! Using blog style language and informal word choices! Of course communication today affects our classes and our assignments. It affects everything when it comes to communicating with the people around us. Even when communicating directly with our teachers, we still use new forms like email. In the last ten years the most common way to speak with your professor has gone from using office hours, to sending an email.
I think communication today has changed a lot when it comes to composing and writing. That is why this class even exists today: partly to help us go from students who can write papers to students that use any form of medium to get our point across.
In the 21st century communication is constant. In the past communication was limited to written word and the phone. Over the past 10 years we have grown acclimated to having constant access to anything we wish. Our forms of communication have broken through boundaries and grown to phones, cell phones, texts, emails, blogs, social networks, and other electronic publications. We were once a limited society, as Alexis noted. She pointed out that when our previous generation attended college, the prevalent forms of communication that were utilized were land lines and chances of bumping into someone on campus. This lack of communication is unfathomable to most people of our generation. We have completely renovated the definition of communication.
ReplyDeleteCommunication in today's society can be thought of as a discussion. The line between the roles of the composer and the consumer have been blurred. People are more active in the process of communication, socially and formally. Socially, the majority of our communication occurs through technology. Alexis stated, “I think today communication and technology are inextricably linked.” and I would have to agree. I can not imagine a social world without technology in it. In addition to the affects of technology on social communication, formal media has also been reinvented. Similarly to Amanda and Stacey, I would have to disagree with Alexis. Alexis said that she believed that, “As a composer for class, I don’t really think communication today really affects writing.” There are very few instances I can think of where modern communication, and technology since they go hand in hand, have not affected me as a composer. Formal communication, such as newspapers and magazines, have vastly evolved over the past ten years due to modern communication's affects on composers. An example of this that Jenkins noted was the fictional Hogwarts school newspaper. The newspaper was created by a young girl named Heather. Heather created this affinity space to educate the masses about Harry Potter and Hogwarts’s latest occurrences. This affinity space was founded on the internet and would not have been available to such a large demographic in any other forum. If Harry Potter had been written before our technological era, Heather's newspaper probably would have reached a dead before even taking off. Composers, such as Heather, have been given a slew of new mediums in order to implement their rhetoric. The idea “the news never sleeps” is at a point of ultimate truth. Composers constantly have the tools to deliver news to the masses at any time or location.
In addition to the changes of communication as a composer, communication as a thinker has also been altered in the 21st century. Entering the field of communication 10 years ago usually meant that you wanted to work for a printed publication. Now the case is very different. The birth of so many new technological mediums has also brought about new ways of thinking. No one would have ever thought that a web site such as Twitter would be sharing breaking news or spreading celebrity gossip in short blurbs. Actually, very few people had ever even conjured thoughts about a web page like Twitter. This is the perfect example of Jenkins idea that, “Convergence culture is the future.” Twitter, is a new medium in which people are able to communicate. The line between the composer and the consumer will continue to blur as long as communication remains on the same track.
I think Jenkins’ chapters give us a pretty good all around picture of how communication has changed in the 21st century. Digital technology has created such a greater potential for interconnectivity in today’s society compared to previous ages, and this to me is the fundamental difference in communication in the digital age. Jenkins’ chapters give us some strong examples of the types of possibilities the internet’s ability to bring together has created. The survivor spoiling community was a good example of the way that communities can form online around common interests. The example of an affinity space like the “Daily Prophet” also helped me to understand this potential better.
ReplyDeleteEven just 10 years ago, as Alexis points out, we didn’t have things like facebook and cell phones were practically unrecognizable compared to today’s advanced smartphones, and the online community was not as vast and comprehensive as it is now. Her point about how rapidly communication has developed alongside technology is interesting too, using the example of her Mom who went through the college experience without all of these technologies. What it made me think was that in today’s culture, communication is defined by its immediacy. We can instantly reach our friends, look up information, and share pictures, videos, or text almost immediately. Our generation of “digital natives” as we are sometimes called is used to this instantaneous form of communication, so we don’t always think about it, but it has certainly had some effects on how we communicate as a whole.
I think it affects the way I think because it has changed the way everyone thinks. Rather than knowledge seemingly resting privately among learned individuals, the internet and communities like the survivor spoilers show us a new approach to collecting knowledge communually, in communities where as they point out in the chapter, nobody knows everything, but everybody knows something. I think there’s a much greater overall shared consciousness of knowledge today because we all have access to information online and the common well of knowledge we all draw from has been expanded by the ability of almost any individual to contribute to it today.
When Jenkins opines that convergence culture is the future, I think this ability to involve more people and cater more directly to people is a big part of his belief. As he points out, the 21st century has seen a rise in media focused on including its consumers in the process of creating and judging the content, such as Slashdot, a website, and Current, the TV network. I think we’ll continue to see what he calls a “paradigm shift” in our media culture from content designed specifically for one medium towards content that takes advantage of the open-endedness of digital technologies and the way they are linked. I think we’ve seen that as technology continues to advance, the ways that we communicate have advanced as well, and I don’t think that will ever change, so as a whole I agree with Jenkins that this development of convergence culture will continue to reshape the way we share knowledge and media.
Convergence culture is the future. There are so many different types of media coming together for communication. I think it’s important to embrace this because it will enhance our media literacy. Some people are against this ever changing culture. They want to stick to the grassroots of communication. But it’s a lost cause when it comes to the media because there is always going to be something new. And if we learn how to use these new tools, they are always going to benefit us.
ReplyDeleteI think the best way to join in with the convergence culture is through pop culture. Everybody has a hobby, a favorite, an obsession. It’s important to learn how to voice our opinions and through the use of affinity spaces, this can be made very possible and easy. Jenkins says it is so important “to publicize the best practices of these online communiteis, to expand access and participation to groups that are toherwise being left behind, and to promote forms of media literacy education that help all children to develop the skills needed to become full participants in their culture” (259). Just as we were born into this digital generation, so are the children born in this generation, accept times ten. They have the stronger learning curve so it is important to educate them in cultural convergence so that they know how to communicate the way the rest of the world does so they do not get left behind.
I think convergence culture and affinity spaces empower us. They allow us to become part of the delivery of news and information. I think Stacey brings us a great point as she starts he post with the fact that news anchors and journalists are not the only ones who deliver news anymore. We all can through the internet. We all have a voice and a way to release it through convergence culture. It is is this coming together of different mediums that makes it easier for us to learn and participate and share.
Jenkins claims that “Convergence culture is the future” which deems true because of the way media industries are using it to their benefit. They are exploiting the advantages of media conglomeration. They are coming up with many different ways to sell content to consumers. And they are increasing consumer loyalty. They can create contests online for consumers to win prizes. They can make funny youtube videos like the Old Spice ads. Old Spice had their spokesperson Isaiah Mustafa answer questions sent in on youtube, which gave people something to laugh about but also increased their sales and consumer loyalty. When people find something they like and can relate to they are going to want to buy it and stay loyal to it.
I think convergence culture has affected each and every one of us. For me, it has opened my eyes to all the opportunities I have easy access to. I used to think there were no jobs for English majors and I was worried that I would never really get to make a living from my passion. I opted for other career fields such as business or even medicine (blegh!). But after taking only a few EWM courses, I have learned the importance of the media in this age of technology and how I can use it to benefit myself and the rest of the world.
It is obvious that technology is rapidly changing. I can remember the days before cell phones, DVDs and GOOGLE. Ten years ago I was ten years old. The coolest things I owned were my portable CD player and my GAMEBOY Color. During this time people were just starting to buy cell phones, and they were so expensive they were considered a luxury. The internet was up and coming, and people started to by computers for their homes. Looking back, it’s hard to figure out exactly where the change in communication and technology started. Currently, communication is faster, easier, and more accessible than it has ever been before. Communication is a vague concept because it can have so many meanings. We communicate with our friends, our family, and the people we work with. We are able to communicate with these people through the many forms of media that the advancement in technology has brought us. In the 21st century technology is communication. Every time we pick up out cell phones and send or receive a text message we are communicating. We use our computers and the magic of the internet to send messages via email and instant messaging or video chat. We use the technology we have to gather and process information, and to share what we know with others around us. Compared to ten years ago, communication is faster because it is at our fingertips. Back then, few things were digital. Few people communicated via text message and email because not everyone had the tools to do so. The internet wasn’t as fast as it is now, so people had to wait for their dial-up connections to connect before they could begin to communicate, and since the internet was connected to the phone line, you couldn’t call people and use the internet at the same time. Speaking of the telephone, Amanda said that her family had recently disconnected their home phones because the need for them has gone away with the advancement of the cell phone. I believe that this is a clear example of how were are progressing with technology. Now that people have cell phones, there is no need for a home line because cell phones go above and beyond what the home phone does. With a cell phone you can go anywhere while you chat, and you can have your phone with you at all times. Now, people can write and send information in seconds through their cell phones, laptop computers, and other technological devices that they carry with them.
ReplyDeleteAs a composer, I have the freedom to search and share everything and anything I wish with the use of the internet and computers. For instance, this blog is first being written in Microsoft word, on my laptop. I am writing down my thoughts and with the help of the internet I am able to transfer this composition to the website as an attachment where it will be turned into the blog that is open for everyone to read. I have the ability to write about anything I desire, and all of my compositions can be shared with others that I am connected to through the internet.
Jenkin’s idea on convergence culture being the future means that knowledge is now more accessible, and that anyone has the ability to share their ideas or learn from others. Thanks to google, news websites, online journals and blogs, people are learning things that they may have never had the chance to before. Thanks to technology, people are communicating more, and more often.
In the three chapters we read, I think that Jenkins has made it apparent that in the 21st century, the ease of communication has expanded exponentially. To me, it is the exchange of ideas increasingly dependent upon interconnectivity and participation (Jenkins 270). If you think about it, it’s almost impossible not to use any form of technology that engages with other people during the course of a day. Checking emails on blackboard, sending texts, writing on blogs for homework, and connecting to Facebook are all social revolutions in communication that have, in the past decade, become more and more popular if not necessary to our lives as students, thinkers, and composers. Some of my classmates -- Alexis and Eric, have already touched on the subject of these social communities becoming an integral part of our lives in ways that they were not only ten years ago. I agree that we do have an “immediacy” as Eric puts it, when it comes to accessing technology that allows us to communicate with others. For example, everything is at our fingertips, even literally with tools like the smartphones .
ReplyDeleteBecause of this immediacy, we have created an atmosphere beneficial to the ideas Jenkins defines as knowledge communities and affinity spaces. Both of these knowledge pools promote collaboration and self-education in writing- they are “held together by the mutal production and reciprocal exchange of knowledge” (Jenkins 27). Even ten years ago, I don’t think anyone pooled their information quite as comprehensively towards a shared interest in popular culture, with an example being the Survivor Spoilers of fanfiction sites and the fake magical newspaper conducted by children. One reason could be because the communities did not have the chance to circulate as they do now. Also, affinity spaces could not have thrived without a place to give people with shared interest a common ground to share ideas. In both of these cases, I think it’s interesting to note the tone of the communication— the age group is not limited to adults and it’s informal. Nowadays, I think people are more frequently interested in enjoying themselves with communicating than informing professionally and over the years, I think we’ve started to become a little more conversational with others even over the internet. Therefore, in response to Alexis and Amanda’s debate on whether or not communication affects composing, I have to agree with Amanda S. I do believe that communication affects the way we all compose because our tone is often more informal when interacting with others.
I think this is what is meant when Jenkins refers to convergence culture—our technological community has become intertwined , formal and informal. In fact, convergence culture is “where old and new media collide, where grassroots and corporate media intersect, where the power of the media producer and the power of the media consumer interact” (270). Because we depend on interconnectivity for communication, all our knowledge is converging into a community pool of knowledge. No one has to be a professional in the field to communicate their ideas publicly anymore. As a knowledge-maker, this is important to me because I know that I have the same authority as everyone one else in making contributions to knowledge communities and all facets of communication are limitless. By saying "convergence culture is the future," I think Jenkins is referring to the fact that success in the 21st century media industry depends on both new and old media because they are now intertwined. Like Amanda said,convergence culture is a way for industries to "exploit the advantages of media conglomeration and coming up with many different ways to sell content to consumers." Its true- if they know to use new and old media and communicate directly in a way consumers can relate to, then they will reach their target audience.
Communication is one of those terms that can be both extremely broad and specific when used in our language. There is the academic sense of the term, which can mean the study of how we talk, listen, and interpret one another’s language. Then we can think of communication between people in a casual setting, as the understanding of and response to both verbal and nonverbal cues. Whichever way we choose to define it, the most important part to remember about communication is that it is constantly changing.
ReplyDeleteWithin the last decade, communication has made leaps and bounds in terms of accessibility and frequency. With the advancement of our technological capabilities, our ability to communicate has become virtually infinite. I even discussed this issue with my parents when I came up to college. When my parents came to college here, they had one phone in their dorm rooms and access to pay phones around campus. Through these phones, regular mail, and person-to-person contact, they communicated with their friends, parents, and the outside world. Today’s college student would laugh at the presence of a phone in their dorm room. We have new communication devices: cell phones, email, and social networking, just to name a few. Even Jenkins discusses the complexity of today’s technological evolution. He gives the anecdote of searching to buy a cell-phone for the sole purpose of making calls, but realizing that such underdeveloped devices no longer exist or come close to rivaling the newest generations of smart-phones and PDA’s.
Communication has a huge impact on composing, for it touches on many aspects of the composing process. It affects the audience because it is important to use relevant language and speaking points when addressing your intended group. For example, you wouldn’t discuss the commonplace texting symbols and teenage lingo when writing for or speaking to the elderly, at least not my grandparents. Communication also affects genre because the technological revolution has provided many new genres in which to compose for communication purposes. I agree with Amanda Saxton in that “communication is all forms of media, both new and old, mediated and remediated.” For example, instead of sending a group of friends an email invitation to a party you’re having, you can now just make a “group” on FaceBook. In a lot of cases, genre and audience tend to be linked when it comes to forms of communication.
I was intrigued when Jenkins discussed convergence culture and explained his view that such a state is destined to become the future of composition and communication. We can see this played out in our daily communications, actions, and routines. We read a news story online, and comment directly on the thread, effectively communicating our ideas and opinions. Someone may take your opinion and elaborate on it, or debate it. And yet another person may be inspired by your post and decide to do further personal research on the subject at hand. I think Kelly put it perfectly when she said, “Communication in today's society can be thought of as a discussion. The line between the roles of the composer and the consumer has been blurred…people are more active in the process of communication, socially and formally.” Our communicative abilities have far surpassed many of our expectations, and I won’t be surprised when newer forms arise to further extend our capabilities.
Communication is definitely one of the most important aspects of today’s society. How would anything be done without it? I know the first site most people check when initially logging onto the internet is Facebook. Nowadays, it’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t have one. Being one of the major social networking sites, it allows us to communicate in many different ways with each other. You can find old friends by searching their name, post status updates, send messages, write on others walls, tag people, and even instant message. This site as a whole evolved from other online means of communication like e-mail, AOL instant messaging, and even MySpace. This site is important in keeping contact with people you may not speak to on a regular basis. The invention of the cell phone has also made communication a lot more convenient and simple. Now, people can always have their phone on them and be reached. Before cell phones, people only had home phones or work phones and would only be available to be reached when at that one place where the phone was. Even the advancements of the cell phone help with easier communication. Texting is very helpful because if then for some reason someone can’t talk on the phone they can respond via text. Or instead of leaving a voice message that may not get listened to right away, a text message in written form is right there. I know this helped me personally one time. I was at Warped Tour with my friends, and got separated at one point. It was so loud with the several bands playing that communicating on the phone was impossible, but texting saved me. Communication is also very important not just in the social world, but in the business world as well. Many businesses and organizations communicate with their members mostly by e-mail. Being in NROTC, we get several e-mails every week so we are up to date on events and important information. It’s easier to get this information out via e-mail to 100 and something people. Means of communication varies according to situation. However, communication itself is important nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteCommunication has massively changed and became advanced since 10 years ago in 2001. Around that time, the same means of communication existed for the most part, but many have advanced to the fullest. The first original cell phone was invented in 1973. The IPhone being highly more advanced, probably the most advanced cell phone of present time, wasn’t invented until 2007. Now, four years later in 2011 the fourth generation of the IPhone has been released, actually released in 2010. Technology is consistently advancing more rapidly as the time goes on. Facebook was created a little less than 10 years ago in 2004, moving us from MySpace to Facebook. When it first came out, it was primarily college students that had them, but now with the same being true, it extends to high school, even junior high kids, to our parents and even sometimes grandparent’s generations.
#2...
ReplyDeleteCommunication I believe has an important role in being a composer, a thinker, and a knowledge-maker. The point of composing it to appeal to an intended audience. That can be considered means of communication; trying to get a point across. Especially in our major, much of our writing will be done in a more journalist-type world as opposed to creative fiction. Much of our work will probably writing about the world, events, and other things that are real life. Composers must also think in a way that will effectively appeal to that audience to make sure they will be engaged.
I think when Jenkins describes the term “convergence culture” he is explaining the overlap of old media with new media that is becoming more and more evident. Thinking back to analyzing about the change in media over time, after being invented, not very much of any one form has completely changed to be considered something different. MySpace and Facebook are both social networking sites, just most users only have Facebooks now. The cell phone is extended from the home phone, and started out really basic and now can do almost anything. As can be seen, convergence culture is important to communication. We need the original ideas of these many technologies, but with advancements over time it is natural to want to improve each to its maximum potential. Convergence culture is what is making todays and the future society so digitally enhanced.
I like that Stacey pointed out, “Sure the mediums change but think about how informal our writing has become as a result of convergence culture. We write in blogs for homework! Using blog style language and informal word choices!” I forgot to mention this form of medium, but blogs are a big part of communicating online. It allows for people with certain interests to express their opinions to other followers of the blogs, and allows them to communicate and engage in conversation. I also agree that these allow us for more informal writing; when communicating quickly and for mere opinion, there is not really a need to be formal in writing. I think it’s interesting when Alexis mentions how body language is a form of communication. It’s not as obvious, but this expresses our feelings toward something. Communicating through text or online, it’s much more difficult to fully understand what a person is feeling. So, even as technology and communication keep on advancing, the role that in person body language has can’t ever be fully represented. Communicating through text or online, it’s much more difficult to fully understand what a person is feeling. So, even as technology and communication keep on advancing, the role that in person body language has can’t ever be fully represented.
Media in the 21st century is comparatively very different than media 10 years ago. 10 years ago television was the center of attention; it was one of the greatest media giants to exist at that time. The Internet was only in its infancy, and no one could have predicted the game changer it is now. Our culture has adopted a “what I want when I want it” [Jenkins] mentality, and television, for the most part, has failed to keep their viewers. With the advent of instant media, such as Youtube or Netflix, giant media conglomerates have been clamoring to keep up.
ReplyDeleteOne of the methods that the media conglomerates have been using is online streaming video (Hulu) or on-demand downloads (iTunes Store) which give the user the choice when and what he/she watches. “Television began as a one-way street...but that street is now becoming a two way,”[Jenkins]—Nowadays, television is a two way street. On the website Hulu, viewers have the ability to directly communicate with the cast and crew via commenting on certain episodes or even tweeting them.
When Jenkins says that “convergence culture is the future,” he means that media is becoming more of an interactive process between media conglomerate and consumer. People refer to younger consumers as the “Youtube Generation.” Those of us part of this Youtube Generation demand instant gratification in the shortest amount of time. The advent of the Internet has catered to this mentality for the last few years. Jenkins states, “we are in a critical moment of transition during which the old rules are open to change”—but are we still in this transition moment? Television still has a mass audience, and media conglomerates have mastered the online aspect as well. Through Hulu, Twitter, and Facebook, the media has taken over much of everything online. You can follow stars of your show on twitter to see what they’re up to, you can re-watch last night’s episode on Hulu if you missed it, and you can talk about the show on Facebook with your friends. If the media conglomerates haven’t mastered the Internet yet, they’re really close to doing so it seems.
I completely agree with Amanda in her statement where she says that the speed at which news travels today is mind-boggling. Yesterday morning I was listening to an NPR report about allied forces maintaining a “no-fly zone” over Libya and how the Secretary General of the United Nations thought the allies have “gone too far.” A couple hours later, I’m sitting in a coffee shop when CNN came on the TV saying that France had declared war on Libya, and that the United States was declaring war as well to maintain solidarity. That evening on twitter, through CNN again, that a building in Gaddafi’s stronghold was destroyed, and that a cease-fire was declared. Then finally this morning, through Reddit, I find out that the cease-fire was violated and the war will continue. After reading Jenkins, it was only then I realized how different my method of obtaining news was compared to traditional methods. No longer is my news limited to the newspaper or a newscast, nowadays it really isn’t limited at all. As long as you have some sort of connection to the Internet, you can get any news you want, anytime.
Communication, in our era, has become defined with respect to "more interactive and participatory media channels" (Jenkins, 255). Old technology was presented on a much smaller scale and usually involved direct interaction between a few individuals or else one way communication: the telephone, the telegraph, the television. With the emergence of an internet that is efficiently navigated, more individuals have access to information and means by which they can share their point of view with one another. Because their response is able to affect viewership, as exemplified by the lack of viewership for the MTV show Skins after the controversy surrounding it, media becomes a dynamic interaction in which the viewers, through their collective power, can control content. We desire to play a large role in what is presented to us. And the media desires to have our attention. They will expand through every form of media in order to do this. "Expanding the potentials for participation represents the greatest opportunity for cultural diversity" (Jenkins, 268). The more ways that they can present something, the more atuned to our desires they become...the more we trust and rely on them. I think this demand on technology is supported by what Amanda says about cell phones. We put a lot of pressure on technology to offer us immediacy, to instantly grant us what we want without the delay of media; whether this is to speak to someone, to access information, or to have our #1 with a large Diet Coke. We put our trust in technology and when it fails us, we freak out. In a way, it seems like within our communication with other individuals, we are taking part in a dialogue with our technology; a back to back series of questions and answers, demands and reciprocations. Consider how not having a Facebook in this day and age is almost like not existing. Jenkins quotes George Gilders who says "the intrisic properties of the computer pushed toward even more decentralization and personalization" (Jenkins, 255). I would disagree with this. It seems as though instead of our technology bringing us in more direct contact with one another and personlizing our experience, it is actually blurring the lines and clumping us with the mass. The "personlization" is a lie, a guessing game on the part of corporations and media outlets. We are being more and more entangled in the network of technology than the network of one another.
ReplyDeleteConvergence culture is the future. I repeat this statement with Jenkins but probably with more of an inevitable tone than a delighted one. Jenkins says this because convergence culture offers satisfaction to everyone; to consumers, CEOs, stockholders, viewers, etc. The only problem is, if convergence culture means that we become a mass, then it would only succeed in decreasing the clarity by which we communicate. That is, unless communication is undergoin a change in definition. After having read this, I'm not completely sure of the definition of communication, but according to our culture, I don't believe it means what it used to.
Where do I begin? Technology is always enhancing and becoming more and more efficient as time progresses. When Jenkins says that "convergence culture is the future" she basically means that everything will end up becoming one. For instance, mobile phones. In 1973 Martin Cooper, a scientist working for Motorola successfully made the first ever cell phone call using a portable handset (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/When_did_the_first_cell_phone_come_out). That phone was only used for making phone calls while you were on the go. To call back to your home while grocery shopping and ask if we have enough of milk in the fridge. From 1973 to now shows a great difference in the technology. Yea, you are thinking of course they did not have the technology that we had. Let’s say the last ten years. In the year 2000, technology was supposed to be no more, it was supposed to be the end of everything that had batteries and plugged into a wall. But, it was basically the building period for new and improves technology pieces. Staying with the cell phone, by the year 2000 the mobile phone became an accessory, with students having them in school, to business people chatting away on them as they go to work, to elder people (grad students) having their very own mobile phones as well. These phones became savvy enough to take pictures, record videos, record conversations while on the phone, and have games (snake, Tetris, etc.). Now, phones can not only allow users to talk on the phone, text and do all of the above items, but you can also surf the web while on the phone, text to talk, face talk, have instant updates sent to your phone, have an alarm set for multiple times throughout the day, and much more. Technology is becoming a part of our everyday lives (technology generation). We have computers that have touch screens, and which are compatible to our mobile phones. Another form of convergence of our technology would have to be gaming systems. Gaming systems were created for people of all ages to be able to play a game of their choice with their friends and family. Now they can play with people from around the world, by playing online. In not just from the fact that you can play with others from different countries, you can also talk to them (on headset). Players can surf the web just as if they were on the computer in their room, and can even watch movies on it as well. When Jenkins says that convergence culture is the future, she is correct, because every time you look at the television you see an ad that has the new and improved technology right after you have just bought the "hottest" thing on the market. Technology is becoming transparent and is being embedded into our lives. It is helping composers as myself be able to write out the steps or thoughts of a paper, on my mobile phone while waiting on the bus, and allows me to surf the web for the number of a company that I need to get in contact with. Technology is making life much easier, but will it give us hell as we continue to build upon each and every form of technology.
ReplyDeleteI would consider communication to be the main theme of the 21st century. Everything we do has to do with the communication of information. The goal seems to be to make communication fast and to be able to communicate from distances as far apart as possible. Chatting online, whether its text or video chat offers us the ability to communicate with people from all around the world. Cell phones have become little computers in their own right. Texting, emails and even video chat and instant messaging are all available on several phone plans. At to that the ways we use social media site such as Facebook and twitter to communicate not only with our friends and family but for business purposes and the sharing of world news.These websites, including blog websites like Tumblr and LiveJournal, not to mention the one that I’m writing for now is offer affinity spaces for many people. They are trading posts for information and intelligent discussion
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing about all this communication technology is that it’s main and most noticeable difference from communication say twenty years ago even, is that it appears to involve less and less of a personal touch in the delivery of a message .Even phone calls are becoming less common these days because of preference of text messaging. But what does that do to the personal touch that comes with hearing someone’s voice over the phone? It is difficult to convey emotion through text as I’m sure may of us have learned. With a letter at the writer can deliver meaning through their handwriting, A lot is lost with the convergence of text and the digital world. The situation is a give and take.
As a composer, I see this flux of technology and communication as a infinite number of possibilities. This is the communication age and being a composer has never been more full of opportunities. The problem seems to be that everyone is trying to do the same thing at the same time. Everyone in this generation is a composer and possibly better at it than any other generation before it because our whole lives are centered on communicating. On an even more personal note, I myself am stuck in the communication flow. I catch myself thinking of what I can share on facebook or twitter and when I find something worth sharing I’m excited about it as a both a maker and giverr of knowledge
Convergence culture is “where new and old media collide (2)”. Jenkins’ idea of convergence culture has three components. These are media convergence, participatory culture, and collective intelligence. All of these components interact together to form this new culture where the new media is interactive rather than the old passive media (5).
ReplyDeleteMedia convergence is the path that content is passed through mediums. It is also has to do with the “new rules” that media corporations utilize to interact with each other (3). Because this has the potential to leave other mediums behind, it causes a cultural shift. Participatory culture is the new ability consumers have to interact, and thus react, to media. We are encouraged today to talk amongst ourselves about the media we see, so it is a collective act (4). Collective intelligence allows us to use each other for information as others use us for information. Collectively, a group will know exactly what happened in season two of Survivor; an individual would not be able to give you as much information.
As composers, we have to adjust to the ability of our audience to react to our works and that these reactions may not be nice or something that we want to hear. Or if we have spoilers lurking, we will have to keep our works as secret as possible. If we become authors, we will have to make the decision to allow our works to be sold electronically because they might not be “consumed” otherwise. As thinkers, we have to challenge the credibility of sources and recognize the differences in a converged society. As a knowledge-maker, knowledge making has and will become much more difficult. We will have to step up our game to really find new knowledge. The creation of the internet allows us to access just about any knowledge we type into Google.
Even in just 10 years, we have been thrown so much further into convergence culture. I was 10 ten years ago and did not have a cell phone. My eleven-year old sister has had a cell phone for about three years. This new culture is one that keeps you in constant contact for better, or for worse. My youngest sister is six and when I got my first touch screen a year ago and downloaded a coloring app for her, she knew automatically to touch the color and then touch the part of the picture she wanted to paint. I watched her in awe as she did this and when she said, “What?” I just told her she was the smartest little kid ever. Her generation will be completely different from mine. They will look at my current lap top with disdain, while when I was there age, we were still using dial up internet connection. They will use their computers naturally while their parents are amazed at the existence of all these things that children will have at their disposal. I agree with Jay that television used to be the largest media there was. But who actually sits around and watches the news or the weather when you can look it up instantly, not even from your computer, but on your phone?
According to Jenkins, “Convergence is a word that manages to describe technological, industrial, cultural, and social changes depending on who is speaking and what they think they are talking about”(pg.1). After reading his works I think that Convergence is about the transformation that media goes through over a period of time. “Convergence is an old topic taking on new meaning”(pg.2). To me this pointed out that Convergence has been around for a very long time, however it has become a very big deal because of how much it has changed since the technological revolutions has rocketed over the last decade. Like Amanda and Eric said, the technology we have today has really influenced the world and how we few media. Today as I sit here writing this I receive text messages from my parents while receiving facebook updates on my phone. Unless I was to lose my phone or throw it in some water, I am always connected and that is just with a Blackberry. If I had an iphone I could potentially watch the news and to all the other things I mention at the same time. Because all us are all connected to each other through technology, news and information never stops travelling. The fact that news never stops travelling and we can access it so easily makes the media world that much faster paced. It also effects everything down to the layout of different forms of media because it has to be appealing not only as a newsletter or newspaper article, but it also has to be appealing as a website or some other form of media. “Rather than talking about media producers and consumers as occupying separate roles, we might now see them as participants who interact with each other according to a new set of rules that none of us fully understands” (p. 3). Another example of the perplexity of convergence is game consoles which is another item mentioned by Jenkins. Once upon a time it was all about Sega or even up until we had Nintendo 64, now even my roommates and I have a PS3. We play video games not only with each other but we can sign online and play with mu cousin in New York. “What would get a family to give grandpa an xbox for Christmas? These people had the technology to bring about Convergence. These systems are not just about playing video games anymore either. Now on one system you can watch movies, access the internet, access work out videos, and play video games. Convergence is not just about the shift of works from one medium to another, it is also about the participating culture. “Not all participants are created equal. Corporations-and even individuals within corporate media- still exert greater power then any individual consumer or even aggregate of consumers. And some consumers have greater abilities to participate in this emerging culture than others” (pg.2). As for who I am as a composer and how convergence influences me… The first thing I think about is who my audience is going to be and if my work can be translated into an ever larger audience.
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