Hello Folks and welcome to my first blog post on the Mobile Media Futures Ning network!
My name is Stephanie Audet and I am a in my second year at QUT studying Media and Communication. My aim is to share with you all the gossip surrounding mobile photo and video sharing. Today the topic I shall focus on is the social outcome of mobile photo and video sharing and how it all began.
Photo and Video-sharing in the "Olden days"
In the so called "olden days" when camera phones were seen as the most sought-after gadget and having a colour screen just wasn’t “cool enough” anymore, I thought my Nokia 3100 was the coolest phone I would ever have. By the way, this was only around the year 2002. These “cool phones” proved to be disappointing as sharing was limited. Sharing a photograph was through MMS and would cost approximately 50c per message. So if I wanted to share a photograph with everyone in my contacts list, it would have cost me a lot. To upload photos onto a computer, I had to do it through infra-red and the only computer I could do that with was a laptop. Needless to say, it was not worth the effort and most of my videos and photographs stayed on my phone for only me to see.
Sharing after Mobile Convergence
After the introduction of mobile convergence and the popularity of web 2.0 sites such as Facebook, Flickr and Youtube grew, sharing photos and videos became much easier (and cheaper!) Convergence expert and academic Henry Jenkins explains convergence as "more than simply a technological shift." It is the merging of media channels and technologies to produce a set of new practices. Convergence culture enables the consumer to control their media and also to create their own. (Bogust 2006)EXPAND ON THIS
A product of convergence is the 3G mobile network which has recently been released and is certain to make sharing videos and photos a lot and easier than before enabling the use of the mobile internet. PC World has declared that “Mobile companies see a big future in multimedia and Internet content for users hungry for faster, feature-rich mobile services” (2007). This is promising that the popularity of photo and video sharing will only grow from here.
There are a number of downloadable applications that have been introduced that help facilitate mobile and video sharing. Flickr, Facebook and Youtube have all introduced mobile applications which enable people to upload their photos and videos straight from their phones onto internet websites to be shared across the globe.
When you consider how mobile photo and video sharing has improved in only 5 or 6 years, the future of photo and video sharing is promising greater and better outcomes. I can’t wait, can you?
References:
3G Mobile Phones. 2007. PC World. http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;929589163;pp;1 (Accessed September 8 2008)
Bogost, Ian. 2006. Review of Convergence Culture. Water Cooler Games: http://www.watercoolergames.org/archives/000590.shtml (Accessed September 8 2008)
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
How can the Internet and Educational Social Networks be Beneficial to University Students?
Through my research, I have stumbled upon many interesting websites I never knew existed. One of these includes “Classroom 2.0”, a website that combines education and networking together. I look at it as the “Facebook of Education” where people can not only communicate but learn from one another too. It is websites like these that find me thinking- “How will education change/be affected by such internet facilities?” This has inspired me to write a blog that focuses on Learning networks and Education networks to examine what affects they could have on students such as myself.
What is Classroom 2.0?
As stated on their website, “Classroom 2.0 is the social networking site for those interested in web 2.0 and collaborative technologies in education”. (Classroom 2.0. 2008)Like Facebook and other social networking websites, Classroom 2.0 allows users to create their own account which automatically allows them to build a profile page that displays a brief summary of their interests and characteristics. They can also write comments on their friends’ profile pages and join groups. The main difference is, everything is focused on education and learning, for instance instead of joining the “I love McDonalds Breakfast” group on Facebook, on Classroom 2.0 you can join the “Elementary 2.0 group” (a group especially created for Elementary school educators) or the “DigiSkills group” (a group for both teachers and students to learn digital skills). There is also a Classroom 2.0 blog which any member can write on.
How will this change or alter traditional Education and Learning?
Social networks such as Classroom 2.0 may not be the most popular websites on the internet and the chance that it will become as popular is very slim. However, I was using Classroom 2.0 as an example of how simple it can be to learn and teach other people through the internet and be part of a learning/education network. Students may not realize it, but the internet is a great advantage too us all when it comes to educating ourselves. We can use forums, write blogs, read each others blogs and we can even watch educational videos online. From my point of view, we no longer have to solely rely on our University texts or Lecturers for information when the internet is filled with extra information that may not have been covered in lectures of readings. If we didn’t completely understand a lecture or reading for example, we could to a quick search on Google and read a blog or wiki article to get a deeper under standing. I also find that reading other peoples blogs gives me a refreshing insight on things that I would not have thought of before. Other people would argue that blogs are not a good source of information however I believe that when it comes to general knowledge and opinions on certain topics, they are an excellent starting point for research. In that respects, University students can become a lot more independent in the way they learn by finding their own resources.
This definitely does not mean that I think my classmates and I will no longer need to go to University at all; we still need to learn from our lecturers and tutors to receive information and learn about unknown topics. The internet simply enables us to gain further understanding and knowledge.
How to become part of an online Education/Learning Network
Here is my concise step to step guide on how teachers or students can become part of an educational social network:
Step 1: Join a social networking website such as Facebook or Classroom 2.0. Trust me, its easy as pie and will only take a few minutes out of your day. Once you have completed creating your account, join some groups that relate to whatever you are studying or are interested in. Befriend people in those groups to build a network of contacts.
Step 2: Create your own blog and make it easily accessible for your network contacts to read (This can be done by adding a link on your profile page). Start writing about whatever you wish to write about.
Step 3: Read your network contacts’ blogs and don’t be scared to comment and give feedback, chances are people are doing the same to your blogs.
Step 4: Keep blogging, commenting and using your social networking account to continue to learn more and educate others.
That’s it, you’re done and as you can see I have written a very simple process. There are many different ways to join network communities but I could write a whole blog I would need to write an entire blog to outline all of them. Carolyn Foote’s article “Classroom 2.0 in Education, Guest Blogger” explains this further in her guest blog for “The Classroom 2.0 Blog”. I would recommend you look at her article if you are seeking further information on online communities and networks.
The KCB201 Social Learning Network
If I haven’t mentioned before, the reason I started writing this blog was for an assessment for my University subject named “Virtual Cultures”. I feel that I can not conclude this blog without pointing out that the “Virtual Cultures” assessments is a perfect example of an online learning and educational social network! By creating our own blogs and tagging them to our Del.icio.us page, we have made our blogs easily accessible for each other to access. Because we are all unique and have our own interests, we have all written blogs that reflect our insight on certain topics we have been learning about. For example, I wrote a blog that discussed how Citizen Photojournalism was a form of Produsage which no one else in my unit has written about (or at least I haven’t seen a blog that did). I have shared my personal insight on unit content with my peers by writing about them in my blog articles and they have done the same. We are all contributing to each others education by sharing our views on unit content. To me, it is exciting to know that students can now find information and gain knowledge from each other rather than only rely on University lecturers and texts.
Conclusion
To conclude, this optimistic blog on learning networks and education networks has explained the benefits these networking sites can have on both educators and students. By having these networks, users get to learn and contribute to each others learning. In regards to university education, learning networks follow a complete different format where students no longer have to rely only on lecture materials to learn.
References:
Classroom 2.0 Homepage. 2008. Classroom 2.0: http://www.classroom20.com/ (accessed 12/05/08)
What is Classroom 2.0?
As stated on their website, “Classroom 2.0 is the social networking site for those interested in web 2.0 and collaborative technologies in education”. (Classroom 2.0. 2008)Like Facebook and other social networking websites, Classroom 2.0 allows users to create their own account which automatically allows them to build a profile page that displays a brief summary of their interests and characteristics. They can also write comments on their friends’ profile pages and join groups. The main difference is, everything is focused on education and learning, for instance instead of joining the “I love McDonalds Breakfast” group on Facebook, on Classroom 2.0 you can join the “Elementary 2.0 group” (a group especially created for Elementary school educators) or the “DigiSkills group” (a group for both teachers and students to learn digital skills). There is also a Classroom 2.0 blog which any member can write on.
How will this change or alter traditional Education and Learning?
Social networks such as Classroom 2.0 may not be the most popular websites on the internet and the chance that it will become as popular is very slim. However, I was using Classroom 2.0 as an example of how simple it can be to learn and teach other people through the internet and be part of a learning/education network. Students may not realize it, but the internet is a great advantage too us all when it comes to educating ourselves. We can use forums, write blogs, read each others blogs and we can even watch educational videos online. From my point of view, we no longer have to solely rely on our University texts or Lecturers for information when the internet is filled with extra information that may not have been covered in lectures of readings. If we didn’t completely understand a lecture or reading for example, we could to a quick search on Google and read a blog or wiki article to get a deeper under standing. I also find that reading other peoples blogs gives me a refreshing insight on things that I would not have thought of before. Other people would argue that blogs are not a good source of information however I believe that when it comes to general knowledge and opinions on certain topics, they are an excellent starting point for research. In that respects, University students can become a lot more independent in the way they learn by finding their own resources.
This definitely does not mean that I think my classmates and I will no longer need to go to University at all; we still need to learn from our lecturers and tutors to receive information and learn about unknown topics. The internet simply enables us to gain further understanding and knowledge.
How to become part of an online Education/Learning Network
Here is my concise step to step guide on how teachers or students can become part of an educational social network:
Step 1: Join a social networking website such as Facebook or Classroom 2.0. Trust me, its easy as pie and will only take a few minutes out of your day. Once you have completed creating your account, join some groups that relate to whatever you are studying or are interested in. Befriend people in those groups to build a network of contacts.
Step 2: Create your own blog and make it easily accessible for your network contacts to read (This can be done by adding a link on your profile page). Start writing about whatever you wish to write about.
Step 3: Read your network contacts’ blogs and don’t be scared to comment and give feedback, chances are people are doing the same to your blogs.
Step 4: Keep blogging, commenting and using your social networking account to continue to learn more and educate others.
That’s it, you’re done and as you can see I have written a very simple process. There are many different ways to join network communities but I could write a whole blog I would need to write an entire blog to outline all of them. Carolyn Foote’s article “Classroom 2.0 in Education, Guest Blogger” explains this further in her guest blog for “The Classroom 2.0 Blog”. I would recommend you look at her article if you are seeking further information on online communities and networks.
The KCB201 Social Learning Network
If I haven’t mentioned before, the reason I started writing this blog was for an assessment for my University subject named “Virtual Cultures”. I feel that I can not conclude this blog without pointing out that the “Virtual Cultures” assessments is a perfect example of an online learning and educational social network! By creating our own blogs and tagging them to our Del.icio.us page, we have made our blogs easily accessible for each other to access. Because we are all unique and have our own interests, we have all written blogs that reflect our insight on certain topics we have been learning about. For example, I wrote a blog that discussed how Citizen Photojournalism was a form of Produsage which no one else in my unit has written about (or at least I haven’t seen a blog that did). I have shared my personal insight on unit content with my peers by writing about them in my blog articles and they have done the same. We are all contributing to each others education by sharing our views on unit content. To me, it is exciting to know that students can now find information and gain knowledge from each other rather than only rely on University lecturers and texts.
Conclusion
To conclude, this optimistic blog on learning networks and education networks has explained the benefits these networking sites can have on both educators and students. By having these networks, users get to learn and contribute to each others learning. In regards to university education, learning networks follow a complete different format where students no longer have to rely only on lecture materials to learn.
References:
Classroom 2.0 Homepage. 2008. Classroom 2.0: http://www.classroom20.com/ (accessed 12/05/08)
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Comment on Student's blog
Here is a comment I left on a blog post named The Long Tail, when will the music Industry get it?
I agree with your opinion that Record companies and musicians need to give in to the “trend” of the Long tail and niche markets. What they are doing wrong is still following the old business (back in the days of web 1.0 when sharing was almost unheard of). Consumers are smarter than they were before, that goes for anything, not just music. Marketing must now be more strategic than it was before to target niche audiences.
A perfect example of Strategic marketing in my opinion would be Radiohead’s release of their latest album In Rainbows. The band recognized that CD sales were declining and that digital and concert sales were growing (Gallo 2007) so they allowed people to download their music and decide which price to pay for it. Results showed that 3-5 people did not even pay for the album (Richard 2007). The release was still profitable though as it not only allowed people who had never listen to the band before get a “free” copy of the CD, it also gave Radiohead free adverting! Their revolutionary way of distributing music was documented in newspapers, blogs and even television news. The “free music” or “choose the price” strategy also proved effective in selling concert tickets since most of their shows from their around the world tour have sold out!
Chris Anderson has written a good article which expands on this topic: http://www.thelongtail.com/the_long_tail/2007/10/radiohead-econo.html
References:
Richards, Jonothan. 2007. 3 in 5 didn’t pay a cent for Radiohead’s Album. Times Online: http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article2817679.ece
Gallo, Phil. 2007. Digital Sales boost music industry, Album sales drop again. Variety: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117956655.html?categoryid=16&cs=1
I agree with your opinion that Record companies and musicians need to give in to the “trend” of the Long tail and niche markets. What they are doing wrong is still following the old business (back in the days of web 1.0 when sharing was almost unheard of). Consumers are smarter than they were before, that goes for anything, not just music. Marketing must now be more strategic than it was before to target niche audiences.
A perfect example of Strategic marketing in my opinion would be Radiohead’s release of their latest album In Rainbows. The band recognized that CD sales were declining and that digital and concert sales were growing (Gallo 2007) so they allowed people to download their music and decide which price to pay for it. Results showed that 3-5 people did not even pay for the album (Richard 2007). The release was still profitable though as it not only allowed people who had never listen to the band before get a “free” copy of the CD, it also gave Radiohead free adverting! Their revolutionary way of distributing music was documented in newspapers, blogs and even television news. The “free music” or “choose the price” strategy also proved effective in selling concert tickets since most of their shows from their around the world tour have sold out!
Chris Anderson has written a good article which expands on this topic: http://www.thelongtail.com/the_long_tail/2007/10/radiohead-econo.html
References:
Richards, Jonothan. 2007. 3 in 5 didn’t pay a cent for Radiohead’s Album. Times Online: http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article2817679.ece
Gallo, Phil. 2007. Digital Sales boost music industry, Album sales drop again. Variety: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117956655.html?categoryid=16&cs=1
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Youtube, the doorway to finding a Niche Market (and other cool things)
Youtube, the ever-growing video website is possibly the best website on the net to kill time when your bored/ procrastinating doing your Uni work (don’t deny it, we all do) but did you ever think that it could ever become more than just a fun website to watch videos from? Almost any videos can be viewed on Youtube from aspiring musicians to business entrepreneurs. The way I see it, Youtube could be seen as the doorway to the Nouveau Niche.
The Nouveau Niche is a term that was first coined by Trendwatching.com in 2005. It is a term used to define the new form of consumers that are emerging. As their article explains, the mass market business model is fading away because we consumers no longer want to be told what we need or have what everyone else is has, we will search for what we want and find it. The internet has facilitated this by being one of our main “searching tools”. On Google I can search for “bird skirt” and get hundreds of results (I have been shopping around for a skirt with a bird pattern on it for a while now and have found some lovely independent designers). I believe that the same could be done with Youtube. Youtube users could search for what they want and find videos made by new businesses advertising their products/company.
Attract your Niche
What makes Youtube so great in my opinion is that it is free to join and free to upload videos. It is also a very simple website to use, so simple that my own grandmother can use it. This makes accessing a wide variety of people from different niches easier by targeting them through the form of videos. Shawn Janer’s article on Niche websites lists a number of website that have utilized Youtube to target specific Niches. These include weight loss encouragement video sites, Yoga instructing videos site, online video dating websites and even knitting advice websites. Janer states that most of these small online businesses are only a few weeks old. I have viewed a few of the websites and I think they are very well made. I found the Yoga video website really interesting as it had plenty of videos on different types of yoga (slow paced, fast etc). This just goes to show how easy it can be to access a Niche market through Youtube videos and how simple it can be for consumers to find what they want.
A different way of utilizeing Youtube to attract your niche would be to broadcast video advertisements of whatever your business is trying to sell. I found a perfect example of a small online store business that did this the other day when I was searching random videos on Youtube. I searched “Rayban Wayfarers” (really cool sunglasses design) since I was curious what videos could have been made about them. Along with many silly video posts of people playing around with sunglasses, I found this video (link) from a website named Speleotherapy that sells Rayban sunglasses 90% off RRP. [Click the link to access the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA6r9Co2iCo] The video is nothing special and I probably could have done a better job, but that doesn’t matter because they got their main point across and included a link to their website in the information bar. Now I am writing about this website on my blog and shareing it with others which I wouldn’t done if they hadn’t posted this advertisement on Youtube. Small businesses can now use Youtube as their advertising platform and best of all, it’s free.
The Youtube Partner Program
The Youtube partner program is a program that started in May 2007 and recently opened in Australia this year. (Kaplan 2008) The benefits that Youtube partners have are that they receive a percentage of the ad revenue profits that Youtube gets. This means that a youtube partner can actually get paid for their videos and the amount they receive depends on the amount they get. As stated in an Internet news article , “The program is open to both individual content producers and media companies looking to broaden their reach by tapping the viral Web.” By being a Youtube partner, companies can also receive profit from the advertising on the site as well as advertise their company.
Anyone can be a Partner
One good thing about the Partner Program is that although it was first developed for companies, it is also available to almost everyone. As long as you are over 18 and do not use copy-righted material, you can become a Youtube partner, easy. From what I have read from some blogs, it is quite easy to apply and get an approval from Youtube. The most subscribed Australian Youtube channel is the channel of a 21 year old University student named Natalie (as her Profile page-Community Channel states). From what I’ve seen, her videos are simply funny skits of her making fun of herself and are nothing high tech or advanced. Yet that doesn't stop her from having just under 65,000 people subscribed to her channel and earning some money from it.
Conclusion
Youtube has proven that it is not just a fun website to view videos from, it can actually be beneficial to businesses and even ordinary citizens. Youtube enables businesses to access their Niche through videos, wether that be advertiseing their products or making the videos the basis of their business. The youtube partner program is another way of getting profits from videos.
References
Kaplan, David. 2008. Fodder: Youtube Doles out $1 Million In Ad Rev share; CPMs Nowhere in Range, Paid Content: http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-youtube-spreads-1-million-ad-revenue-payout-to-partner-program/ (accessed April 28 2008)
Anonymous. 2005. Nouveau Niche.Trendwatching.com: http://www.trendwatching.com/trends/nouveau_niche.htm (accessed April 27 2008)
Janer, Shawn. 2008. Ten Youtube Niche Video Sites. Marketplace Sitepoint:http://marketplace.sitepoint.com/auctions/34588 (accessed April 2008)
Corbin, Kenneth. 2007. Youtube Broadcast youself: Get Paid. Internet News: http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/3715931 (accessed April 28 2008)
The Nouveau Niche is a term that was first coined by Trendwatching.com in 2005. It is a term used to define the new form of consumers that are emerging. As their article explains, the mass market business model is fading away because we consumers no longer want to be told what we need or have what everyone else is has, we will search for what we want and find it. The internet has facilitated this by being one of our main “searching tools”. On Google I can search for “bird skirt” and get hundreds of results (I have been shopping around for a skirt with a bird pattern on it for a while now and have found some lovely independent designers). I believe that the same could be done with Youtube. Youtube users could search for what they want and find videos made by new businesses advertising their products/company.
Attract your Niche
What makes Youtube so great in my opinion is that it is free to join and free to upload videos. It is also a very simple website to use, so simple that my own grandmother can use it. This makes accessing a wide variety of people from different niches easier by targeting them through the form of videos. Shawn Janer’s article on Niche websites lists a number of website that have utilized Youtube to target specific Niches. These include weight loss encouragement video sites, Yoga instructing videos site, online video dating websites and even knitting advice websites. Janer states that most of these small online businesses are only a few weeks old. I have viewed a few of the websites and I think they are very well made. I found the Yoga video website really interesting as it had plenty of videos on different types of yoga (slow paced, fast etc). This just goes to show how easy it can be to access a Niche market through Youtube videos and how simple it can be for consumers to find what they want.
A different way of utilizeing Youtube to attract your niche would be to broadcast video advertisements of whatever your business is trying to sell. I found a perfect example of a small online store business that did this the other day when I was searching random videos on Youtube. I searched “Rayban Wayfarers” (really cool sunglasses design) since I was curious what videos could have been made about them. Along with many silly video posts of people playing around with sunglasses, I found this video (link) from a website named Speleotherapy that sells Rayban sunglasses 90% off RRP. [Click the link to access the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA6r9Co2iCo] The video is nothing special and I probably could have done a better job, but that doesn’t matter because they got their main point across and included a link to their website in the information bar. Now I am writing about this website on my blog and shareing it with others which I wouldn’t done if they hadn’t posted this advertisement on Youtube. Small businesses can now use Youtube as their advertising platform and best of all, it’s free.
The Youtube Partner Program
The Youtube partner program is a program that started in May 2007 and recently opened in Australia this year. (Kaplan 2008) The benefits that Youtube partners have are that they receive a percentage of the ad revenue profits that Youtube gets. This means that a youtube partner can actually get paid for their videos and the amount they receive depends on the amount they get. As stated in an Internet news article , “The program is open to both individual content producers and media companies looking to broaden their reach by tapping the viral Web.” By being a Youtube partner, companies can also receive profit from the advertising on the site as well as advertise their company.
Anyone can be a Partner
One good thing about the Partner Program is that although it was first developed for companies, it is also available to almost everyone. As long as you are over 18 and do not use copy-righted material, you can become a Youtube partner, easy. From what I have read from some blogs, it is quite easy to apply and get an approval from Youtube. The most subscribed Australian Youtube channel is the channel of a 21 year old University student named Natalie (as her Profile page-Community Channel states). From what I’ve seen, her videos are simply funny skits of her making fun of herself and are nothing high tech or advanced. Yet that doesn't stop her from having just under 65,000 people subscribed to her channel and earning some money from it.
Conclusion
Youtube has proven that it is not just a fun website to view videos from, it can actually be beneficial to businesses and even ordinary citizens. Youtube enables businesses to access their Niche through videos, wether that be advertiseing their products or making the videos the basis of their business. The youtube partner program is another way of getting profits from videos.
References
Kaplan, David. 2008. Fodder: Youtube Doles out $1 Million In Ad Rev share; CPMs Nowhere in Range, Paid Content: http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-youtube-spreads-1-million-ad-revenue-payout-to-partner-program/ (accessed April 28 2008)
Anonymous. 2005. Nouveau Niche.Trendwatching.com: http://www.trendwatching.com/trends/nouveau_niche.htm (accessed April 27 2008)
Janer, Shawn. 2008. Ten Youtube Niche Video Sites. Marketplace Sitepoint:http://marketplace.sitepoint.com/auctions/34588 (accessed April 2008)
Corbin, Kenneth. 2007. Youtube Broadcast youself: Get Paid. Internet News: http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/3715931 (accessed April 28 2008)
Friday, April 25, 2008
Citizen Journalism and Traditional Journalism
Bellow is a comment I left on a blog:
(Click here to access the blog)
Hi!
Firstly, I’d like to say thanks for the good post! I am a University student and have been learning quite a bit on the topic of Citizen Journalism. I agree with your opinion that Citizen Journalism will not replace traditional Journalism as we will always need this form of media for information and facts. What I don’t agree with is that blogs should be about “story-telling”. I think blogs are an excellent source for finding opinions of ordinary folk as traditional journalism can be biased or information can be silenced. From my experience, there are blogs out there that are well written and look like a professional journalist has written them, however there are some that are the complete opposite. This is why blogs should mostly be used for opinions. The importance is to keep it balance, to consume both forms of professional and amateur media.
Another point I want to mention is how video websites such as Youtube can be used as another way to create Citizen Journalism. Yes, a lot of Videos on Youtube are completely unrelated to journalism however there are quite a few “News video-blog” channels such as Whatthebuckshow who posts video on entertainment news. There are also user-made educational videos. My prediction is that soon, more and more people will be creating their own journalism as it has become very easy to.
(Click here to access the blog)
Hi!
Firstly, I’d like to say thanks for the good post! I am a University student and have been learning quite a bit on the topic of Citizen Journalism. I agree with your opinion that Citizen Journalism will not replace traditional Journalism as we will always need this form of media for information and facts. What I don’t agree with is that blogs should be about “story-telling”. I think blogs are an excellent source for finding opinions of ordinary folk as traditional journalism can be biased or information can be silenced. From my experience, there are blogs out there that are well written and look like a professional journalist has written them, however there are some that are the complete opposite. This is why blogs should mostly be used for opinions. The importance is to keep it balance, to consume both forms of professional and amateur media.
Another point I want to mention is how video websites such as Youtube can be used as another way to create Citizen Journalism. Yes, a lot of Videos on Youtube are completely unrelated to journalism however there are quite a few “News video-blog” channels such as Whatthebuckshow who posts video on entertainment news. There are also user-made educational videos. My prediction is that soon, more and more people will be creating their own journalism as it has become very easy to.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Citizen Photo-Journalism- A form of Produsage
Hello again!
I meant to write a blog last night but unfortunately was too tired after University and quickly headed to bed so I could wake up early and take photographs of the Anzac day parade. It was at the Anzac day parade whilst (I was taking photographs) that I got the idea for this blog. I noticed that taking photographs has become more and more popular. Almost everyone was taking photographs of this news-worthy event. I wouldn’t be surprised if many of the people at the parade will want to share their photographs on the Internet.
This blog will be discussing how the distribution of photography has been affected by Web 2.0. More importantly, I wish to focus on how Web 2.0 has caused a rise in Citizen Photo-journalism and allowing the number of Produser Photographers to expand.
I meant to write a blog last night but unfortunately was too tired after University and quickly headed to bed so I could wake up early and take photographs of the Anzac day parade. It was at the Anzac day parade whilst (I was taking photographs) that I got the idea for this blog. I noticed that taking photographs has become more and more popular. Almost everyone was taking photographs of this news-worthy event. I wouldn’t be surprised if many of the people at the parade will want to share their photographs on the Internet.
This blog will be discussing how the distribution of photography has been affected by Web 2.0. More importantly, I wish to focus on how Web 2.0 has caused a rise in Citizen Photo-journalism and allowing the number of Produser Photographers to expand.
What is Citizen Photo Journalism?
Citizen Photo-journalism is basically an off-spring from Citizen Journalism, where anyone can “Create their own journalism” (Noyes. 2007) It is Web 2.0 facilities such as Wikipedia and Blogs that allow this process. The reason why Citizen Journalism has become popular is because consumers no longer want information told to them, they want to be able to create and interact with the news (Timmer.2007) Citizen Photo-journalism follows the same concept by focusing on telling journalism through photos.
How is it different to traditional Photo-journalism?
Photo-journalism is not new, like traditional journalism, it has long been noticed as a respectable medium. In the same way to how journalism is critiqued, photo-journalism has been critiqued for being selective in the news it represents. Traditionally, photographs for newspapers or magazines were hand selected by editors and photographs were produced by paid professionals with costly cameras (Malik. 2006).The professionals still exist but are now competing with the amateurs who are posting their photographs on the Internet for free on their blogs or on photo-sharing websites such as Flickr. The amateurs are creating their own journalism through photography.
Citizen photo-journalists also show different perspectives than a professional would especially when they are actually “part of the news”. A perfect example of this is of the photographs taken during the London Bombings in 2005. The photograph taken by Adam Stacey straight after the train had been hit, is what became on of the most well-known photographs from that event. (Gillmour.2006) As Dan Gilmour states “the production values of the image are hardly professional. But that doesn’t matter. What does matter is the utter authenticity of the image, made so by the fact that the man was there at the right time with the right media-creation gear.” (2006) This is another example of how Citizen Photojournalists differ from the professionals.
Citizen photojournalists are Produsers
The word Produser was first coined by Axel Bruns (my lecturer at QUT). A simple way to define this word is this:
Produser= Producer + User.
A Produser is a person who is a user as well as a producer of the Internet. That is, they not only produce information but also help to make it grow by editing and adding new information. Produsage allows users to contribute in shaping an ever growing community of information and knowledge. (Bruns. 2007)
I find Citizen Photo-journalism to be a great example of Produsage. Just look at this Flickr group named Photojournalism 2.0's homepage. The members of this group are contributing more and more information through photographs of certain events. Although they can not edit anyone's work, they can post a discussion board thread or write a comment on a photograph. This is user-based contribution.
News website such as Yahoonews have given in to this trend by allowing users to upload photographs on their You Witness News website (Malik. 2006). The photos that are seen as newsworthy are then published in various areas of the Yahoonews website by editors. Yahoonews has found a way to compete with this new form of photography by recognising it as a new medium.
Photo-journalism blogs
We all know about blogs (if you don't, your reading a blog write now!), there are thousands of blogs on the Internet that are created by Citizen Photo-journalist. In news blogs, the writers blog about events, current affairs and so on. Citizen Photo-journalists do just that but with photographers instead of words.
Here are a couple of links to Photo-journalism Blogs I found Interesting:
Focused on PhotoJournalism- This photographer pretty much documents his life through Photography and produces some interesting results. There are also links to his Flickr page and other blogs he's created.
Travels Accross the Equator- This blog has photographs from this bloggers travelling experiences.
The World Through my Eyes- A blog from someone who lives in South America that documents life in his country.
And if you want more... Here is a link from BlogCatalogue which has will guide you to many more Photojournalism blogs.
Conclusion:
I believe that Citizen Photo-journalism is a growing trend and that Web 2.0 is aiding this style of produsage by allowing users to share and contribute to "their own journalism" through photography. Give it a couple of years and we will all be walking around with cameras in our hands just so we can be "at the right place at the right time" and capture a news worthy moment. We will all be Citizen Photo-journalists!
References:
Bruns, Axel. 2007. Produsage: A Working Definition. Produsage.org:
http://produsage.org/produsage
(viewed 25/04/08)
Gillmour, Dan. 2006. The Decline (and Maybe Demise) of the Proffesional Photographer:Centre for Citizen Media:
http://citmedia.org/blog/2006/12/04/the-demise-of-the-professional-photojournalist/
(viewed 25/04/08)
Mailk,
http://gigaom.com/2006/12/04/yahoo-reuters-cameraphones/
(viewed 25/04/08)
Noyes, Katherine. 2007. Journalism 2.0 : Power to The People. Tech news world:http://www.technewsworld.com/story/57193.html
(viewed 25/04/08)
Timmer, John. 2007. Anonymous “Good Samaritans” produce Wikipedia’s good content. Ars Technologica: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071018-anonymous-good-samaritans-may-produce-wikipedias-best-content.html
(viewed 25/04/08)
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
My Very First Blog Post!!
Hello Fellow Bloggers and Blog Readers!
I am now the owner of a new exciting Blog Page, Hooray! I am a Media and Communications student at QUT in Brisbane Australia. Since I began my studies, I have learnt lots of information on how the media landscape is changing. Ever since I first herd the terms Web 2.0 and Citizen Journalism, my interest on how the Internet is changing has grown. I used to think that the Internet was just a good time waster and helpful when writing assignments. Things have now changed. Citizen Journalism and Web 2.0 has opened up opportunities for many amateurs and professionals in various fields such as journalism, business and arts. Peter Bihr is a blogger who writes on these topics.
I have chosen to make my very first blog-post focus on the web 2.0 and net-working sites that I am participating in. My aim is to give more personal and subjective incite on these. Feel free to click the links and check my web-pages.
Last.fm-Click here access my Last.fm Profile
Last. fm is probably the best site on the Internet for music lovers who want to find more music to listen to. I first joined the site when I was getting bored of listening to the same music over and over again. What is unique to last.fm is their downloadable "scrobbling" software which tracks down what music you listen to in whatever media player you use and then displays it on your user-page. Last.fm then gives you recommendations and "neighbours" (people who have similar taste to you) and creates a 'recommendations radio" (a radio of artists you do not listen to that you may like according to the other artist you listen to) and "personal radio" (a radio which features the artists you do listen to). I am free to view anyones user pages and listen to their radio and their recommendations and any they can do the same. Radio's are not the only thing about last.fm, the rest of last.fm is very much user-created. Each music artist has their own page which is created by the users themselves. This can be changed and edited by anyone else which is a perfect example of web 2.0. Users can tag the artists, join forum groups and post blog posts as well. If it weren't for last.fm I would not have found as many interesting artists who are now my most listened to artist.
MySpace- Click here to access my MySpace Profile page
If you went to my high school and you said you didn't know what Myspace was people would look at you more shocked than if you told them you didn't know which country you live in. The site was first created for musicians so they could promote their own music and gain a fan-base. Since then, it has turned into one of the most popular social networking sites around the world. What I love about it is that I can personalise it by having my own pretty background, upload photos, write blog-posts. My friends can write me comments and they will appear on my page for everyone to see. I have also found some long-lost friends on MySpace, seeing how everyone has changed is always fun! MySpace has proved to be an enjoyable socialising site.
Facebook- Click here to access my Facebook Profile page
It would be fair to say that Facebook is the "New MySpace". Along with many people I know, I created a Facebook account after my MySpace account. The two bare many similarities in the sense that they are both social networking sites that allow people to communicate with one another. Facebook however has more of a conservative and professional look though which appeals to more mature people (MySpace has more of a youthful appeal). Something else which Facebook has that Myspace doesn't is applications such as a picture of your favourite Starbucks drink that can be added to your profile page. Facebook has proved to be very popular as well as MySpace.
Flickr- Click here to access my Flickr Page
I share a hobby with many people around the world,that hobby is photography. Ever since I joined this site, I have learnt that I have a lot to learn to become a good photographer. There are some truly amazing photographic artworks from millions of people around the world found on this site. The basic concept is this- upload photos, give them titles and tag them so that anyone can see them, make friends, join groups and leave comments on photographs. This concept works well as it combines social networking with art. I find Flickr not only a great place to talk to people who share my interest but also a great place to find inspiration.
Del.icio.us- Click here to access my Del.icio.us Page
I had never heard of Del.icio.us until earlier this year however, I do find the concept very innovative and helpful for finding resources for University assessments. Inspired by the "Favourites" tool bar, This website offers an easier and more organised way to adding favourites. With Del.icio.us users can tag their resources therefor everything is organised according to how they've been tagged. Not only that but you can join networks through del.icio.us and look at their tags and resources. Del.icio.us has simplified the "favourites" system and added social networking with it.
and now... Blogger!
There isn't much I can say about blogger since I only recently joined the 'blogging world'. I herd about this site a while back but it wasn't until I was assigned to create one for a University assessment that I actually started using it. So far I find it very easy to use for a first time blogger such as myself. I was amazed to see how simple it was to create a blog, best of all, its free so anyone can use it! I am hoping I will get to learn more about blogging from using this site.
Thanks for reading my first blog post and feel free to comment.
I am now the owner of a new exciting Blog Page, Hooray! I am a Media and Communications student at QUT in Brisbane Australia. Since I began my studies, I have learnt lots of information on how the media landscape is changing. Ever since I first herd the terms Web 2.0 and Citizen Journalism, my interest on how the Internet is changing has grown. I used to think that the Internet was just a good time waster and helpful when writing assignments. Things have now changed. Citizen Journalism and Web 2.0 has opened up opportunities for many amateurs and professionals in various fields such as journalism, business and arts. Peter Bihr is a blogger who writes on these topics.
I have chosen to make my very first blog-post focus on the web 2.0 and net-working sites that I am participating in. My aim is to give more personal and subjective incite on these. Feel free to click the links and check my web-pages.
Last.fm-Click here access my Last.fm Profile
Last. fm is probably the best site on the Internet for music lovers who want to find more music to listen to. I first joined the site when I was getting bored of listening to the same music over and over again. What is unique to last.fm is their downloadable "scrobbling" software which tracks down what music you listen to in whatever media player you use and then displays it on your user-page. Last.fm then gives you recommendations and "neighbours" (people who have similar taste to you) and creates a 'recommendations radio" (a radio of artists you do not listen to that you may like according to the other artist you listen to) and "personal radio" (a radio which features the artists you do listen to). I am free to view anyones user pages and listen to their radio and their recommendations and any they can do the same. Radio's are not the only thing about last.fm, the rest of last.fm is very much user-created. Each music artist has their own page which is created by the users themselves. This can be changed and edited by anyone else which is a perfect example of web 2.0. Users can tag the artists, join forum groups and post blog posts as well. If it weren't for last.fm I would not have found as many interesting artists who are now my most listened to artist.
MySpace- Click here to access my MySpace Profile page
If you went to my high school and you said you didn't know what Myspace was people would look at you more shocked than if you told them you didn't know which country you live in. The site was first created for musicians so they could promote their own music and gain a fan-base. Since then, it has turned into one of the most popular social networking sites around the world. What I love about it is that I can personalise it by having my own pretty background, upload photos, write blog-posts. My friends can write me comments and they will appear on my page for everyone to see. I have also found some long-lost friends on MySpace, seeing how everyone has changed is always fun! MySpace has proved to be an enjoyable socialising site.
Facebook- Click here to access my Facebook Profile page
It would be fair to say that Facebook is the "New MySpace". Along with many people I know, I created a Facebook account after my MySpace account. The two bare many similarities in the sense that they are both social networking sites that allow people to communicate with one another. Facebook however has more of a conservative and professional look though which appeals to more mature people (MySpace has more of a youthful appeal). Something else which Facebook has that Myspace doesn't is applications such as a picture of your favourite Starbucks drink that can be added to your profile page. Facebook has proved to be very popular as well as MySpace.
Flickr- Click here to access my Flickr Page
I share a hobby with many people around the world,that hobby is photography. Ever since I joined this site, I have learnt that I have a lot to learn to become a good photographer. There are some truly amazing photographic artworks from millions of people around the world found on this site. The basic concept is this- upload photos, give them titles and tag them so that anyone can see them, make friends, join groups and leave comments on photographs. This concept works well as it combines social networking with art. I find Flickr not only a great place to talk to people who share my interest but also a great place to find inspiration.
Del.icio.us- Click here to access my Del.icio.us Page
I had never heard of Del.icio.us until earlier this year however, I do find the concept very innovative and helpful for finding resources for University assessments. Inspired by the "Favourites" tool bar, This website offers an easier and more organised way to adding favourites. With Del.icio.us users can tag their resources therefor everything is organised according to how they've been tagged. Not only that but you can join networks through del.icio.us and look at their tags and resources. Del.icio.us has simplified the "favourites" system and added social networking with it.
and now... Blogger!
There isn't much I can say about blogger since I only recently joined the 'blogging world'. I herd about this site a while back but it wasn't until I was assigned to create one for a University assessment that I actually started using it. So far I find it very easy to use for a first time blogger such as myself. I was amazed to see how simple it was to create a blog, best of all, its free so anyone can use it! I am hoping I will get to learn more about blogging from using this site.
Thanks for reading my first blog post and feel free to comment.
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