Week 7 Reading

This next chapter in Convergence of Culture takes a look at how new media technologies are affecting the democratic process here in the U.S. and how it is creating new types of democracies online as well. Technology, of course, had always played a vital role in our elections. Before computers it was the printing press that allowed the information to circulate to a wider population. The same could be said about trains which allowed for candidates to travel all across the U.S. in relative ease, giving voters a chance to see and hear the candidates first hand.

Now there are now over 101 ways to reach voters online. An example of that is how John Kerry in the 2004 election sent out an email announcing his running mate before he did the traditional televised broadcast of the announcement. This allowed for the information to spread and stir interest before the more official announcement took place. This gave time for people to speculate on the reasons why he made that decision. This was then was picked up by the mainstream media giving Kerry some more publicity.

Now days there are even more ways for politicians to directly connect with the voters. In recent times Twitter has been a huge tool for lawmakers. Through its use they are able to communicate the moment to moment goings on of their office. From drafting legislation to voting on bills (healthcare being the primary example). The use of these technologies has made Washington D.C., as well as other legislative bodies, seems closer and more interactive.

I myself can see the politicians’ use of new media technologies every day. I am a fan of President Barak Obama on Facebook. I now receive regular updates on my Facebook page about key legislation that the president finds to be important (once again mainly on healthcare). I use Facebook literally every day and so do many other people, especially other college students. The use of this new type of social technology has allowed Obama to better connect with a demographic of voters who traditionally do not have a high voter turnout. It was Obama’s ability to connect with young voters in that allowed him to with the 2008 election.

Once again the book has highlighted how new technologies that are teaching children about real world ideas. Take for example the mayoral elections that took place in Sim’s City Alphavill. This program was originally meant as a game, but for some it was an accurate representation of a real democratic process. This is quite similar to sights such as the Daily Prophet and Sugar Quill mentioned in the last chapter as it actually encoruages children as well as adults to learn about and actual vital subjects that is integral to being a literate and informed citizens. This is necessary for a democratic process, because the more informed the public and the debaters are the more piercing and insightful the national discussion becomes.

The use of all these technologies creates a whole new facet to democracy in which anyone can participate in the discussion whether it is on Facebook, Twitter blogs, chartrooms, or message boards. Only through debate and discussion can we as a nation come to some form of consensuses or compromise.

Week 6 Reading

In The Convergence of Culture Chapter “Why Heather Can Write,” the subject moves back to fan communities coming together and communicating through the internet. Now not only is the communication for the enjoyment of fans (in the previous chapters it was Survivor and American Idol) but also for an advancement of one’s set skill and abilities.

In the case of this chapter it is Harry Potter and the writing of “fan fiction.” The creation of fan fiction, done either by a child or an adult, can still be a learning experience in the realm of writing. Harry Potter has been widely accredited with turning a generation onto reading (myself included). Now through the creation of fan sights people can share their love of the franchised and delve further into the universe that J.K. Rowling has created in her books. Participants on their sights not only write and post their “fan fiction” online, but also receives critical remarks as well as constructive criticism of their writings in order to improve it.

Keep in mind the majority of these users are still adolescents in school. The use of this sight not only allows for the children to have a safe and healthy outlet, but also is in itself a learning experience. Through the constructive criticism of older and more experienced members on the sight, young children are now becoming better writers at a much younger age. And while they are interacting and enjoying a subject of their own choice the user is learning the subject English Lit Composition.

Certain proofers though have more specific abilities when it comes to reading a first draft. Certain rules proofers should always abide by are suggested by the online sight Sugarquill.com. They include letting the submitting writher know if one is better at story cohesion or grammatical correctness. From this point on, potential writers have their stories critiqued not only for grammatical errors, but also to make sure points in the story make sense and making sure the characters have sensible motivations for what they do.This all encompassing experience encourages children and young adults to become better writer. Soon after these experiences online, one can hope to see some of the participants go on to write and publish their own original works of literature.

This type of learning experience has become more effective than a traditional classroom. This is due to the fact that children can identify better with Harry Potter more than other more traditional literary figures(of course Harry Potter in his own right will go down in history as a great literary figure for its massive popularity).

Children add their own real life aspects to their characters by incorporating it into the back-story of their online profile. This also gives them a way to express other emotional concerns that goes with growing up.

This all goes back to universal popularity of Harry Potter and how through the internet people are able to express their enthusiasm for the subject. Through a direct or indirect way the use of new media and popular culture are helping certain Harry Potter fans to learn valuable lessons.

Week 5 Reading

The chapter Quentin Tarantino’s Star Wars is all about fan participation in an active franchise and how it is a complex love hate relationship with extremes on both ends of the spectrum.

On the one hand, it is the active fan participation that keeps a franchise as large and successful as Star Wars going. Fans want to add to the universe that George Lucas has created because they see it is such 3-dimesional way. The world inspires them to create their own stories with the universe as the starting point.

On the other the production company can see this creation of fan fiction and movies as a violation of their intellectually property. Production companies throughout the past few years have had to find the right type of balance between the two extremes. The question now becomes: “How much is too much?” Where do production companies draw the line from fans actively participating in the franchise, and copyright infringement? This balance is greatly needed because both the consumer and the producer rely on each other to get what they want. The problem starts when the consumers start to become and active producers of the same type of content without the production company’s consent. This in a certain sense devalues the original content because the market is now being flooded with other forms and imitations that, now thanks to modern digital technology, look really well done.

George Lucas has struck a good balance with the fans of Star Wars. He has designated a sight Atom Films to be the official host of all amateur film content and even has yearly competitions where he judges the best of the best. At the same time he has created boundaries that people must obey if they want their work to be shown. Some of that includes the not allowing any sort of explicit or sexual content or fan fiction.

The ban on fan fiction I believe is somewhat extreme. While the Star Wars universe is large and expansive with books filled with information about every planetary system and alien race. It is my opinion that there can always be room for more. This puts a creative limit on many of the fans, especially women, who only want to share their vision with other hard core Star Wars fans. But because of this ban on fan fiction the distribution of such works is not as main stream as one would hope.

All in all the boundaries for production companies and consumers, and what is considered copyright infringement is still being defined. Companies are now acknowledging that fact that they rely on fans for their revenue, and that trying to completely control the content will do nothing more than simply alienating them.

Form my production team we have decided to create an application called “101 Things To Do When You Turn 21.” We came up with a great number of ideas such as having the 101 things to be a check list of sorts with information on each activity. We will be having pages devoted to mixology as well as safety procedures if a person has too much to drink. My job right now is to think of about 20 things one can do at a house party. Once we have all our content in place we will begin to develop a user interface for the application.

Week 4 Reading

              In the chapter “Searching for the Origami Unicorn” the reader learns about how the owners of the Matrix franchise have branched out the story line to several different forms of media. This creates an all encompassing feel towards the Matrix franchise as fans are able to access content in several different ways across many different media platforms such has movies, video games, massive online multiplayer games, and TV. The story of the whole Matrix universe is contained and woven through all these different types of media.

               There are both pros and cons for expressing media in this fashion. The pros are it gives the experience a richer and more intense feel to it, allowing the diehard fans to dive deep into the universe and experience to the fullest. The cons are that for the less devoted fan it becomes too much work to experience the whole universe. In order to do that one must go and participate in several different forms of media that the Matrix franchise has set up. And if one does not participate in all the different formats they miss out on key information to the storyline. An example of this is the relationship between “the kid” and Neo. In the movie there is an inherit lack of exposition about his character, how he came to be there in Zion and what his relationship to Neo is. The only exposition offered is when Neo says, “I didn’t save you kid, you saved yourself.” If one has not seen the other media braches to this franchise, in this case the Anime packet the Animatirx, the viewer would have no context for how this character came to be in this universe. The use of different forms of media, not just film, has allowed the Matrix franchise to turn the entertainment business on its head. Now many major movie franchises are following suit such as Lord of the Rings, launching its own massive online multiplayer game.

All in all these media platforms creates a wonderland of content for the users to explore. The question is for the user, “how far down the rabbit hole do you want to go?” The creation of a narrative inside an entrainment franchise is difficult to keep straight. Story lines and threads need to be stitched together. Events must take place in a chronological order and such events must be in line with the whole true story.

In The new media Reader, we are introduced to the idea of society with cybernetic technology. These forms of technology are coming into the main stream market much like films and motion pictures came into the market in the early 20^th century. The book talks about how we integrate these new technologies into our day to day life and how we also incorporate it into our view of warfare as a society. Now we not only see warfare thorough the eyes of a camera that someone is holding, but also through one mounted on top of a cruise missile hurtling towards the enemy. Some say these images are too much like videogames and desensitize us to the horrors of war. Because of this we have been less inclined to protest the recent actions that our government has taken in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan. This means that society as a whole is becoming accustomed to the trials and tribulations that war brings upon the inhabitants of the war zone. This is all through the cybernetic technology that removers us from the situation and allows us to become remote 3^rd party viewers.