Social Media and The Election

Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler, Pinterest, and YouTube are all internet-based platforms for entertainment, information, communication, and now the Election. For the first time in history, debates are live-streamed on YouTube and available for people to replay on their computers and mobile devices. In 2008, Barack Obama had a social media campaign that helped him with the presidency. Since the influence of social media has grown, it played a major role in this year’s election. Although the 2008 US Presidential Election was referred to as the “social media election,” now this year’s election campaign is a totally different ballgame. Four years ago, 1.8 million tweets were sent on Election Day, but now, 1.8 million tweets were sent every eighteen minutes. Last Tuesday on Election Day, Twitter barely avoided crashing, peaking at around 327,452 tweets per minute. For Election 2012, young voters, ages 18-24, weren’t tuning in to watch the election results on the evening news. Twitter and Facebook were more convenient for young voter. Although I was helping out with the election, every time we took a commercial break, I would check my Facebook and Twitter to see what people were posting about the election. What shocked me was that although many young voters were using social media outlets, some were also watching comedic programs that commented on the election. On Tuesday night, during commercial breaks, some people were watching The Daily Show on the cell phones and iPads. Although I felt I was “missing out” on what was going on during the election, I was actually more tuned in. By having my cellphone, I could check my Facebook and Twitter, and receive information instantly about the election. Overall, I feel that this election had more social media interactivity than the previous election. During the previous election, I felt like I was “out of the loop” and didn’t know what was happening, but with this election, I felt “tuned in.” I actually knew, during commercial breaks of course, what was going on within seconds. 

"Wag The Dog" My opinion

"Why does a dog wag its tail? Because a dog is smarter than its tail. If the tail were smarter, the tail would wag the dog." Wag the Dog criticizes the "naivety" of society and how people's unquestioning absorption of propaganda only encourages the media to exploit them on a higher level. Wag the Dog also enforces the belief that politics is the art of media manipulation. Wag the Dog exemplifies society's complete trust in the imagery of media presented to them, and their belief of the political propaganda. Many issues arise from the film Wag The Dog. Some of these issues involve the power of the media in American culture to affect our values, the belief in "objective" reportage, censorship of news and information, and in general, the rationalizations society makes for going or not going to war.In today’s dynamic world we rely on different sources of information using varieties of information technologies. We depend on the various mass media for information about events in and outside of the United States. This information influences, and often shapes the view of our country and the world, and helps us determine the position on issues that affect us. The media indeed shapes our reality. We the people are the ones that believe and trust in most cases the information that we receive. Especially when this information comes from a seemingly trusted source, we tend not to doubt anything that we hear.  A very good example of how media can interpret anything and how ethical issues, interpersonal and organizational perspectives play an important role in our life is the movie Wag the Dog. The movie Wag the Dog focuses our attention on the media just to remind us that not everything that we hear and read is true. We should rely more on our personal experiences and use the media as a secondary source of information. The movie itself not only represents the power of the media but also the way the information is created and transformed between different groups within and outside the organization. Along with the media influence, ethical issues as well as interpersonal and organizational perspectives played a big role in the movie. I think it is ironic how media basically "wags the dog." In the movie, media is the dog, while public is the tail. The film shows media's control over the public. I think it is interesting how public can believe or trust the news. In Wag the Dog,  the president's face was never shown. I feel that by not showing the president's face, we, as the audience, could form an opinion. Overall, I liked the movie and would watch it again. As a person who wants to work in news, I found this movie entertaining in how the media has power and can influence or manipulate people to believe or do things.

Media Convergence: My take on it

Media convergence is something that impacts us all down to our every day life and such has become the way of life that society adapts and changes accordingly. The convergence of media affects us in everyday life. In today's information age, we are all surrounded by examples of converged media. Collaborations between consumer online services and broadcast media, like MSNBC, have brought the Internet to television. Convergence will eventually lead to the fusion of all forms of media, resulting in the creation of an entirely new medium. Today, it is already happening between television, radio, print and the Internet. The state of media convergence is always evolving. One form of media convergence is at the local level. Television stations, radio stations and newspapers within a market are working together to create websites that incorporate the advantages of that particular medium. One example of local media convergence is KDFW Fox 4 television. On the Fox 4 website, the local nightly newscast is seen live on the web in the same time frame as the television newscast. I like this because I don't have to worry about missing the news on TV, rather I could go online and watch the news.  One example of media convergence is computers and video on demand. Computers and network technology have allowed television to offer video on demand services moving away from the traditional or "linear" television. Equally the Internet has also become important for newspapers in media convergence. Newspaper has been a dying format for years and has had a hard time competing with newer media.    Many newspapers have started to concentrate on putting their newspapers on the Internet. One example of this shift from print to digital is the New York Times newspaper. Now, if people want to read the newspaper, they can go online and read it. The improvements in mobile technology has allowed many of these services (i.e. newspapers, TV. shows, and radio shows) to also be delivered to mobile devices as well bringing the operators of mobile networks into this convergence. An example is Hulu. Hulu is a website subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, “webisodes” and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, CBS, and Nickelodeon. In the past, each entertainment medium had to be played on a specific device. Video displayed on a television through some type of video player, music came through a tape deck or CD player, and video games were played through some kind of console. Media convergence has resulted in devices that not only interact with the media they are primarily designed to handle, but also with a number of other formats. Media convergence is also an excellent way to introduce cross-promotion and develop a strong name and image for a news organization. One example of this is WFAA promoting their name on Twitter and Facebook. When the news anchors tell their viewers to go on Twitter, the viewers can follow WFAA. This method that WFAA uses cross promotes both them and Twitter. Overall, with the constant changing of technology, I feel that media convergence is a great idea because if I want to watch a television show and I’m not at home, I can just get out my phone, go on the Internet, and watch the show whenever I want. I like media convergence because it is convenient for me, but I’m a little afraid of how “much” it is going to change in the future.

Shift of Traditional Media to Alternative Media? Oh my!

Traditional media, particularly the 30-minute newscast, is dying out among the younger generation. Most young people are looking to the Internet to receive information instead of television. I feel as though the 30-minute newscast news older people used to tune into has shifted to other mediums. As a person who loves 30-minute live newscasts, I don't know how long the "live newscast" will last. When I was younger, in the 1990s, my parents and I would sit around the television and watch the news every night, now we are on our computers watching the news. I feel as if I am one of few in my generation who actually watches a live local newscast. Today, online media alternatives are favored among almost everybody in their 30s and under. The reason why the younger generation is shifting away from mainstream (traditional) media is the matter of efficiency.  No longer do we need to sit through an entire program to get the information relevant to our interests, we can just search for the bits and pieces we need and go about our day in no time. Honestly, it’s easier to look on our phones to see a "live" football game instead of driving home and missing some of it. Especially among my generation, the millennials, we want to know information quick, fast, and in a hurry. I feel as though the 30-minute newscast couldn't have given us information quick without the invention of the Internet. Now, we can look at a local news website and see the newscast online. We don't have to rush home to our televisions to watch the 6 o'clock news. I love traditional newscasts because of the excitement of producing a live show, but since the Internet, it’s fading. Although there are entertainment shows like Late Night with David Letterman, but those don't compare with the local traditional newscast. As a person who actually wants to work for a local news station, I'm now thinking its not a good idea. With the baby boomer generation retiring and younger generations moving into the workforce, the shift of traditional media to more alternatives is bigger. I feel as though now I will have to work for a cable station since it is doing better than the local traditional newscast. But who knows, maybe traditional media will stick around for thousands of years just in different forms.