How far does the influence of citizen journalism stretch?

Citizen journalism is described by Fernando as a form of “hybrid, grassroots, open source, participatory reporting” (2008). It is the ability of an average person working externally to the mass media to disseminate information to the public. Some of the earlier instances of citizen journalism date back to the American Revolution of the 1700s. Pamphleteers, such as Thomas Paine were responsible for igniting the movement and stirring the hearts of everyday Americans and intellectuals alike (Independence Hall Association, 2008). As a result, the revolution achieved a greater level of support and therefore succeeded.

Although it is by no means a new phenomenon, citizen journalism has become more prominent in the modern era due to new media developments such as the internet. The internet has allowed for any individual with the desire to do so to publish their work. Many do this in the form of uploading videos and photos, writing articles and blogging. In line with traditional forms of news media; the topics discussed by journalists in their blogs range from politics, to celebrities, to sport. Due to the ease and efficiency of publishing work, blogging has become extremely popular, resulting in a mass amount of content on many different issues.

One major issue with regards to citizen journalism is the lack of gate keeping available to filter fallacies and other inappropriate information. Whereas traditional news formats have employers responsible for fact checking, citizen journalists only have members of the online communities of which they belong to judge their work. Therefore, a great many of these publications do not warrant the same level of respect from readers as regular media outlets.

However some scholars maintain that this lack of gate keeping can have positive consequences. The freedom of any person to publish information allows more viewpoints and issues to be presented and can counteract the biased overtones of many traditional media formats (Bruns, 2008). For example, in Burma, the Military Junta have control over the national media, and therefore have heavily censored news coverage of the recent protests regarding the decision to remove fuel subsidies. In September of 2007, several protesters were assassinated by the Junta. As the media were unable to report on the matter, it was actually citizen journalists who provided international media with footage of the assassinations (Fernando, 2008).

Whilst the efforts of the citizen journalists, or pamphleteers as they were known, were successful in building support for the American Revolution, scholars often debate the influence and respect of such journalism in the modern world, despite the fact it is so common. Taking the points discussed above into consideration, it can be said that the influence of citizen journalism can have the same level of impact as traditional forms of media such as newspapers and television reports. In fact many of these traditional media outlets are now aware of the influence of citizen journalism, and are using it to their advantage. An example of this is the news television broadcasters acquiring footage taken by local citizens of the 2001 September 11 attacks in New York. If these citizens had not filmed the event, the people of the world would not have the same recollection of the first plane colliding with the World Trade Centre.

Reference List

Bruns, A. (2008). Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life, and Beyond: From Production to Produsage. New York: Peter Lang.

Independence Hall Association. (2008). Retrieved May 5, 2008, from http://www.ushistory.org/Paine/index.htm.

Fernando, A. (2008). Citizen-powered journalism fills a void. Communication World, 25(1), 2-9. Retrieved May 5, 2008, from EbscoHost.

Politics, PR and New Media

New media technologies are beginning to emerge as the dominant force in political campaigns. During the golden age of politics, in the 1950s and 60s, the introduction of television brought politics into the home. People no longer simply read about party policies and observed pictures of potential leaders in newspapers, but rather had the opportunity to hear first hand the policies from these leaders in real-time, from their own homes. More recently, with the invention of the internet, exposure to political campaigns has never been so significant. Journalistic coverage of campaigns went from something people read about in the newspaper and listened to on the nightly news, to being covered across many internet sites which people viewed in their daily lives. Political advertisements also began to show on the internet, increasing exposure to the different positions of each party.

Whilst campaigning was taken to a new level with the introduction of the internet, I believe it has been taken to an even higher level with the introduction of Web 2.0 technology. O’Reilly describes the Web 2.0 phenomenon as “the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform. Chief among those rules is this: Build applications that harness network effects to get better the more people use them” (2006). Basically Web 2.0 technology is the move away from users as consumers of internet material, to creators of this material. Examples of Web 2.0 based websites include Facebook, Delicious and You Tube.

With the introduction of Web 2.0, public relations is now playing a significant role in political campaigns, and is now considered to be just as important as advertising and journalism in determining outcomes of elections. Take for example the trend that has seen You Tube become a channel for politicians to communicate their beliefs, policies and visions to the people. The success of Barack Obama, who is the current favourite to win the Democratic leadership to compete in the 2008 United States Presidential election, can arguably come down to his use of new media technology to communicate with voters. To prove this, the speech he presented on You Tube at the beginning of 2007, entitled ‘My Plans for 2008’ has been viewed over one million times, with the comments in response overwhelmingly positive. In doing this, Barrack’s team has successfully utilised the ability of all citizens to become content creators to generate a greater level of interaction with the public. This has enabled them to better understand what issues people want their campaign to target.

This new trend has the potential to minimise the negative effects of mediatization on political parties. This is the process whereby political institutions and the public “increasingly are dependant on and shaped by mass media” (Mazzoleni & Schulz, 1999, p.247). This process often has negative effects for the parties, as policies become skewed and damaging information is exposed. With the introduction of more interactive media, such as You Tube, politicians have a better platform to explain their points of view by their own terms, without the influence of external media sources which can potentially alter messages.

Politicians are increasingly becoming aware of the potential of new media technologies to enhance their campaigns. Through the use of Web 2.0 technology, there is now a greater focus on public relations in campaigns, with greater interaction between party leaders and the public.

Reference List

Mazzoleni, G. & Schulz, W. (1999). “Mediatization” of Politics: A Challenge for Democracy?. Political Communication, 16(3), 247-261.

O’Reilly, T. (2006). Web 2.0 Compact Definition: Trying Again. Retrieved April 30, 2008, from http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2006/12/web-20-compact-definition-tryi.html.

Folksonomies and the New Economy

When the internet was first created, people predominantly used programs such as the Yahoo Directory and Encyclopaedia Britannica to search for information. These are websites which permit users to peruse through certain topics labelled under various headings such as history, sport and music; a very taxonomical approach. The issue with this form of searching is that there is no room for flexibility. With these search engines, there is no consideration of the fact some people may have differing views as to what heading a topic should be placed under, placing significant limitations on a user’s ability to find specific and relevant information.

One major development in new media technology known as tagging has made finding accurate information a much simpler task in the modern era. Tagging is the term used when people choose their own keywords to label information they find on the web. Few or no restrictions are imposed on these choices (Neal, 2007, p.7).

The process of using these tags as a reference point for future searches is known as Folksonomies. This term was first coined by Thomas Van Derwal. He stated that the act of Folksonomy was committed “in a social environment (usually shared and open to others)" (2007). The social book marking site Delicious is a perfect example of a website which uses this form of searching. Users have the capacity to bookmark or tag any webpage they may find using their own terminology. Not only does this make finding the document easier for them in the future, it also means other users have a greater chance of finding it, if they are seeking the same information. The problem of having too many irrelevant search returns is rapidly diminishing, as folksonomies is becoming more prominent all over the web. Another example is the photo-sharing site Flickr, where users upload and tag photos under a certain heading, making it easier for both the individual and other users to find.

Unlike taxonomical searching, the Folksonomical approach has fewer limitations and also broadens horizons in relation to finding information. Not only are users able to make more refined searches, increasing their chances of finding relevant information, documents are now often displayed with a related tags feature. A major implication of this is the new found ability of people to find information they may once never have located. They will be able to learn about unfamiliar topics, simply because they have searched for certain information and observed documents in related tags.

For this reason I believe it has been imperative in the rise of the new economy, or the information age, where there is a “growing importance of ideas and intangibles over objects and things” (Flew, 2005, p.147). If more value is now placed in a person’s knowledge as opposed to their material assets, a trend such as Folksonomies is only going to improve people’s chances of being considered ‘wealthy’ in the information age. Never before have people had such an opportunity to expand their knowledge-base because never before has society been exposed to so much information. The new economy will certainly benefit from an increasing presence of social sharing environments which use this Folksonomical approach.

REFERENCE LIST

Flew, T. (2005). New Media: An Introduction. (2nd ed.). Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

Neal, D. (2007). Introduction: Folksonomies and Image Tagging: Seeing the Future?. Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 34(1), 7-11. Retrieved April 21, 2008, from Proquest.

Van Derwal, T. (2007). Folksonomy. Retrieved April 20, 2008, from http://www.vanderwal.net/folksonomy.html

The Integration of Virtual Communities and the Real World

‘Virtual communities’ is a term that is becoming quite prominent in studies of new media technology. John Hartley describes virtual communities as “communication which occurs through Internet forums (such as e-mail, chat rooms, graphical worlds and discussion lists) that allows people to participate within multiple social networks (2005, p. 231). These communities appear in many forms, from the online social networking sites Facebook and Myspace, to websites which allow people to create a virtual identity, such as Habbo Hotel. These sites allow people from any geographical location to come together and form a community.

With the introduction of Web 2.0 technology, where the focus is on user collaboration and user-generated content, there has been an increase in the level of online interaction. This raises the question of how is it possible to transform the social norms and expectations of real world society to a virtual context. The answer is that this is not really possible. This is because there is less governance of people’s actions and rules and regulations are usually imposed by those who belong to the community, rather than outside influences as is done in the real world. It is therefore interesting to note the different characteristics of each and the differing ways they organise themselves in order to operate successfully as a community.

In the real world, communities are usually formed by people of similar geographical location and common beliefs and personalities. Conversely, online communities have the capacity to join people from any corner of the globe, despite language or cultural barriers. Furthermore, these online groups are more specific in their connection, meaning that while users may not be similar in any other way; they may share one small passion, such as liking the same band. Real world communities are often made of people who share many similar interests, and this is why they have formed a community. Another key difference between the two is how each are governed. The real world has people of power such as politicians, policemen and chairmen of boards to ensure communities are acting appropriately, ethically and within the law. On the other hand, positions of power in virtual communities are given to those who participate frequently and valuably. For example in Wikipedia, the people who govern the pages are mainly members of the Wikipedia community who devote much of their time to ensuring pages are of an adequate standard.

It is apparent that online communities are becoming part of everyday life in the real world. As Flew states, “the whole concept of ‘online’ and ‘offline’ worlds has become less tenable over time” (2005, p.66). This is due to the increasing level of integration of the internet, specifically virtual communities, into our everyday practises.

The influence online communities are having on offline communities is becoming increasingly obvious. It is as if we are coming to rely upon our virtual identities to form part of our real world identities. I can reiterate this point using an example of a current trend. Many social events are now being organised through Facebook with most of the communication occurring over virtual social networking. It is simply a more efficient method of organisation, and with an increasing amount of people connecting to virtual communities, it is also becoming more reliable. The key point to understand is that while virtual communities and real world communities are very different in terms of how they are organised and operate, they are now coexisting more so than ever before.

REFERENCE LIST

Hartley, J. (2005). Communication, Cultural and Media Studies: The Key Concepts. (3rd ed.). Oxon, London: Routledge.

Flew, T. (2005). New Media. (2nd ed.). Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

The Long and Short of the Longtail

The Long Tail is a concept that was first introduced by Wired Magazine’s Chris Anderson. He described the Long Tail as the niche market dominated by the sale of products which are not in the ‘mass market’ and which are rarely found in physical stores due to the fact they do not appeal to the interests of the wider public (2008).

The Long Tail trend has emerged with the development of the internet and online businesses. Many online companies have discovered that there is a significant opportunity to make a profit through combined sales of Long Tail products. This has been particularly evident in the entertainment businesses of music, movies and literature. Amazon, Netflix and Itunes are examples of online stores which offer consumers the ability to search through product listings and make purchases, without the limitations of geographical locations. These limitations are omnipresent with physical stores, which tend to stock products considered more mainstream or with greater purchasing appeal.

The global reach of the internet has been a major factor in the rise of the Long Tail. Physical stores do not often stock less-mainstream products due to the minimal chance of them selling. These stores need people within close proximity willing to buy products. However as these are less-popular products, the probability of them selling, or selling well enough to make a profit, is not likely. Online stores break down these physical barriers. It does not matter where the buyers are located geographically, as they are shopping in a global arena of the internet.

Whilst the Long Tail has the obvious benefit of allowing consumers to better tailor their purchases to their own specific tastes, scholars have also considered potential negative implications of the phenomenon. In particular, Byrnjolfsson, Hu and Smith discuss that a world so adapted to individual tastes may result in social segregation and increased hostility towards others (2006). While this is possible, it is more likely that the trend will simply result in the eventual replacement of large sales of popular products with many small sales of less-mainstream products.

The emergence of the Long Tail in the age of new media technology raises many questions with regards to whom or what has been responsible for determining what is popular in the marketplace. As these online corporations are making such large profits from products deemed part of the Long Tail, it should be noted that it could be the marketplace, as opposed to the people buying in the marketplace, determining what is popular. Prior to consumers having access to Long Tail tailored businesses such as Netflix and Amazon, it was a difficult task to track down an item or product that did not have greater public appeal. Therefore it should be taken into consideration that the limitations physical stores placed on purchasing lower-end products may have in turn been responsible for these products going unsold. As Anderson states, “everyone’s tastes departs from the mainstream somewhere” (2008). Long Tail businesses have simply provided these people with an opportunity to explore their less-mainstream tastes, and have turned a healthy profit as a result.

Reference List

Anderson, C. (2004). The Long Tail. Retrieved March 29, 2008, from http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/tail.html.

Byrnjolfsson, E., Hu, Y., & Smith, M,D. (2006). From Niches to Riches: Anatomy of the Long Tail. MIT Sloan Management Review, 47(4), 67-71. Retrieved March 29, 2008, from Proquest.

Initial Post

Hi.

My name is Nicole Ferguson and I am currently completing a degree in Media Communications and Public Relations at the Queensland University of Technology.

This semester I am doing a subject called 'Virtual Cultures,' which focuses on the impact various new media technologies are having on societies, businesses, individuals and cultures. As one of my assessment pieces I am to make a blogging portfolio, discussing the themes we have looked in lectures and tutorials.

Some of the terms and subject matters which will be explored in this blog page include; Media convergence, Folksonomies, Smart Mobs, The Long Tail and online virtual communities. More themes will also arise as the semester progresses and I am introduced to more aspects of virtual culture.