In conclusion..

I think this assignment has been a really interesting opportunity to encourage students to engage in and become more comfortable with forms of citizen media. I have found it more useful and interesting to be able to write things and get a response, as well as view and comment on the writings of others in the class, rather than doing an assignment like journals, where only the prof is the one doing the reading and commenting one.

Citizen media is so prevalent, and in my opinion important, especially if one is interested in any sort of media based career. It is important to be engaged and aware of what is going on in the blogosphere, and this class has provided a refreshing hands on way to experience what we are learning about. I have appreciated this class for giving students an opportunity to gain an audience for our opinions in a safe way.

As a final blog for this class, I want to mention some blogs that I personally visit/find interesting. The sites Gawker and Jezebel provide a fascinating mix of pop culture, politics and satire. Ew.com is a great of hub of all things entertainment wise, whether it be music, television, movies or books. Feministing.com is a great source on feminist perspectives on politics, education and entertainment. For your gossip fix, there is the Canadian gossip blog site, LaineyGossip.

I’ll just give another mention of my final project that will be completed on Monday, a blog I am doing on social media and the government.

Be wary of internet hoaxes today, and good luck with your final assignments and exams!

Final Projects

The semester is coming to a close and our final projects/essays are due in a week. As mentioned in class today, I am creating a blog to present my final project. While the blog is still in its beginning stages, I hope next week you can get a chance to check out what I have posted about social media and the government!

I thought everyone came up with really interesting topics, and was really impressed by the people who are doing really creative methods for the projects. I am not that technologically savvy, so I am sticking to blogging!

Speaking of final projects, I would also like to use this post to talk about our fellow classmate’s online magazine. I think it is a really cool idea to create the actual content that’s being discussed in the project. I had never heard of this Wix site or program and I think it good that there are platforms out there that are free for people to access and be creative with that don’t cost that much money or require an extensive knowledge of technological elements to use. The online magazine looks really professional and sleek. I couldn’t figure out a way to zoom in however, to read the magazine articles. The magazine was overall easy to navigate, and reminded me off professional online versions of magazines!

Good luck on the rest of your blogging and final projects!

Earth Hour Effective?

Earth Hour is a global initiative organized by the World Wildlife Fund which encourages individuals and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and appliances for an hour. The initiative aims to raise awareness about climate change and the effects our energy usage has on the environment.

It may look like I am not participating in Earth Hour. I am no environment hater, but I have three essays to write (not to mention some blog requirements to fulfil!) so I need all the time I can get with the lights on. Some people respond negatively to one not participating in Earth Hour, but my effect on the planet is greater than one hour. I personally believe it is our consistent habits that are more important than spending one hour with the lights off.

I think creating awareness about the issue is a good thing, and it is neat that it is something that people all over the world participate in at the same time, fostering a sense of global community. I know campus organizations have encouraged the school to turn off some lights during Earth Hour, and there have been celebrations in Toronto that included the lights at the CN Tower being turned off.

However, if once it is over, people go back to wasting power, is it really effective? On the Earth Hour site, it encourages participants to upload pictures and videos to Flickr and Youtube, as well as tweet about what they are doing, which can be engaging, but doesn’t it encourages people to then get on their computers and upload this stuff?

On a personal note, when I was in second year, my roommates were all keen to participate in Earth Hour, shutting off all the lights in the house and breaking out candles to light. I was down for them celebrating, but I was working on an essay (this time of year is always busy!) and wanted to get work done before going out. My roommates pressured me into turning out my lights, so for an hour I did work in the dark except for a small light I turned on in my room. When the hour was over, all the lights went back on, and one of my roommates left with her boyfriend to go to the movies...and left the lights on in her room.

Did you participate in Earth Hour?

Canada vs. Ann Coulter

Canadian media is buzzing about Ann Coulter and her speaking engagements at Canadian universities, and the controversy that has ensued. It began when Coulter was sent a letter from the President of the University of Ottawa, informing her of Canada’s laws on hate speech differing from the United States. The letter was leaked to the media, and Coulter claimed she was being threatened for jail time for something that had not occurred, and was herself a victim of hate speech. Students protested the night the speech was supposed to occur, and the event was eventually cancelled for safety. This all happened the day after Coulter’s speech at Western, where she told a Muslim student to “ride a camel”.
Coulter is making many remarks on the state of Canada’s free speech laws, and is claiming she will file a complaint with the Human Rights Commission in regards to the letter from the University of Ottawa. While Ann Coulter has the right to speak where ever she wants, the students have just as much right to protest. Considering Coulter’s previous comments, was it wrong for the university to send her that letter? Is she right in claiming she was treated differently from other controversial speakers because she is a Republican? Or was the university just informing Coulter as to what would and would not be tolerated in regards to hate speech, as a way of protecting their diverse student population?

YouTube Fame

We’ve discussed YouTube a lot in class, and about the communities and “celebrities” that have come received international recognition from going viral on the web. Often this “fame” doesn’t amount to more than recognition, unless one is a singer. However, some have found a way to cash in on their fame.

A very popular video “David After Dentist”, which shows a young boy being taped by his father while still under the affects of the anaesthetics, was the second most viewed video on YouTube in 2009. This video has turned into a cash cow for the family of the boy. The family earns revenue from the ads that run beside the video, as well as from a website the family know runs that sells T-shirts and stickers. The video has led to David and his father appearing on many television shows, and the father, also named David, recently made an appearance at SXSW. The money they have made has been enough for the father to quit his job. The family is saving money for David’s college tuition, and has also donated over $6,000 to charity.

A lot of people however, feel like the DeVore’s are exploiting their child. If the family came across this opportunity innocently (posting a video on YouTube so family members who didn’t have Facebook could see) and they have an opportunity to make money off of it, that can benefit their child is it really a bad thing? Or is there too much risk is placing their child in the spotlight?

So many people post things on the internet, and they are only watched by friends and family. Can we say we wouldn’t ourselves take a similar opportunity? Is this all innocent fun, or does it breed a hungry for any form of attention that leads people to make up their own opportunities, for example the boy in a balloon hoax.

It makes me wonder if our society is really changing, or if we are just doing things we have always done (ie filming funny moments of our children), but with an uncontrollable wider audience. Most likely the internet views and fame will fade with time and be forgotten. Whether or not the Devore’s will mind going back into their normal life remains to be seen.

The Prime Minister on YouTube

When I think about using YouTube, I think about all the time I spend listening to music, watching clips from television shows, or some newsworthy moment of the day. Now, we can apparently use YouTube to “interview the Prime Minister”. According to YouTube’s blog CitizenTube, on March 16th, 2010 at 4pm, Stephen Harper will be answering questions posed by YouTube users. The preferred method of question is actually user posted videos.

Prior to this, on March 11th, Stephen Harpers’s response to the throne speech was streamed on YouTube as well. This is being done via a YouTube Channel called TalkCanada.

This is part of a growing trend of politicians having a social media presence via channels such as YouTube and Twitter. While social media is undeniably important in politics, is this really an attempt to engage with the Canadian public? Do Canadians really want to see Stephen Harper on YouTube? Or is it more of an appearance of an open forum? It can be assumed there will be quite the screening process of questions since YouTube and its commenter’s are not exactly known for their eloquence or tact.

It will be interesting to see how many Canadians participate in this, and if it provides a more open discourse with the Prime Minister.

Twitter & the Undead Celebrity

Yesterday the internet was a buzz about the apparent death of legendary Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot. These reports began on Twitter yesterday afternoon and quickly spread across the site. The speculation became so much that CanWest News picked up the story and reported it on several of their news sites. Once picked up by a “legitimate” news source, the reports began to spread rapidly.

However, Gordon Lightfoot was alive and well, on his way to the dentist office, when he heard a report on the radio that he was dead. The original reports are now being called a prank. This is not the first time that celebrities have been falsely reported as dead on Twitter. While Twitter has proven an impressive force in instantaneously spreading information across the globe, what is the affect it can have on the false information that gets picked up? While news sites have an obligation to retract stories, and will probably delete the original report (whether out of accuracy or embarrassment), Twitter users do not have that obligation and Twitter is much harder to control.

Now, it is not confirmed that it strictly was a Tweet that CanWest went off of in their reporting of Lightfoot’s death, but wouldn’t it be standard procedure for a journalist to contact a representative for Lightfoot to find out from the source? As we have discussed in class, there is a debate about the idea of blogs being journalism. While this story shows the lack of accountability that can be present on the internet, how much credibility can journalism give itself when it relies on random internet sources? Are journalists acting any differently than those who post online?