CONVERGENCE!

From the reading, we learned about convergence culture and how it is displayed in 4 different changes in media circulation. Those changes are industrial, social, technological, and cultural! These changes affect how media dissemintes, how we conusume products, and the different methods we have to purchase goods. The only way these changes have any affect and continue to influence the market is because of the conusmers (us). We as the demand, directly influence the suppliers to change their websites, products, delivery services; their goal is to supply to us in the most effiecient, trendy, and fastest way possible. Each different change has an effect on the consumer. For example, social change is important because it allows the consumer to feel like they are a part of the system. Whether it is in the comment section or giving their opinion, the consumers are socially interacting with one another; this also expands time spent on that website. 

Creative engagement is a fun and effiecient way to allow consumer participation. One example is the review section on Amazon, where thousands of people can review and reply about a certain product they are selling. In the reading, it explains that networks and other companies should allow their fans or consumers to give their input. Not only will the company gain constuctive critism, but it allows interactivity between the fans. Through creative engagment, fans are more loyal to the show because they have a connection which increases profit for the network. 

How to find what you want!

1. The Long Tail theory, for me, was very confusing and I had trouble understanding how it fit into the group of six different ways we purchase goods from the internet. After discussing with my classmates and doing further research, I think I understand! The Long Tail Theory represents some of the most popular websites we use everyday. Online shopping is so much easier than in-store shopping; the Long Tail Theory describes how we can find anything we could dream of on Amazon, E-Bay and other online stores that you could never visit physically. Online sites can sell niche products to certain consumers, instead of searching through hundreds of stores for something you'll never find. An example I thought of is Google! Although we don't always purchase things from Google or other search engines, we tell the website what we're looking for; including key words, dates, and other things that it might relate to. Being able to search through thousands of websites and information to find the ONE article you're looking for is part of the theory. 

2. I would 100% consider my consuming behavior to be "the bargainer". First of all, I don't have a lot of money to spend so I always search for the greatest deals. I compare prices on multiple platforms and I most likely won't buy something unless I know I will never find it cheaper anywhere else. Another example of how I am the biggest cheapskate is that I try to trick the system. Most website's have an option to enter a coupon or promo code to lower your total right before checkout. I always search online for free promo codes to lower my total. It doesn't always work and usually I waste my time, but sometimes you find a lucky code that saves you a whopping $1! 

Where are your privacy standards?

The amount of information we provide and receive from the internet allows our society to run in a virtual world. Almost anything can be done online or through the internet, which is convenient to almost all people. We are given the opportunity to personalize our browsers and accounts by including information like our birth date, e-mail and telephone number, our address and the background we come from; most website even allow us to keep our credit/debit card information saved. How much is too much? In the article “Privacy-Enhanced Personalization” we are provided with statistics and regulations we follow when personalizing our favorite sites. 

Privacy-enhanced personalization is a field to find the balance between users striving for the best possible personalization within the boundaries set by privacy (Kobsa 26). Everyone has the right to their own preferences, or as the article explains, individual privacy attitudes. There are privacy fundamentalists who feel an extreme concern about disclosing information to websites. Next there are  the privacy unconcerned, who express a mild concern about who might receive their information. Finally, there are privacy pragmatists who are generally concerned, but are more willing to disclose personal information when they actually understand reasons or benefits from sharing. 

I would consider myself part of the privacy pragmatist group because I usually have trust in the websites I use. Although I should be more cautious when sharing my debit card information, I find it easier to have the numbers already programmed in. To my convenience, most of my most frequently used websites are personalized. “Recent surveys indicate the about 80% of Internet users are interested in personalization” (Kobsa 27). Imagine all the personal information that many websites have access to. I think another reason that websites allow their users to personalize with their information is to accumulate more time spent on that website. 

The risk of allowing information on the internet varies. We should all be more cautious of where we enter in our information and individually determine the importance of that piece of your identity. Do you think that the risk of being hacked, having your identity stolen, or other chances of insecurity is worth the convenience of saving a few extra minutes? 

Snapchat Discover!

Everyone uses Snapchat! Including you… 

Just recently Snapchat has been adding a bunch of new qualities to their app that makes it completely different from any other photo-sharing app! They have cool features like SnapCash, which allows you to 'snap' someone money into their bank account. There's your story, which allows you to post a picture or video for all of your Snapchat friends to see! They even hold events that you can watch on your story while people upload them in real time! Honestly, there is no other form of social media like Snapchat that allows you to share pictures and video so quickly and in such good quality. 

Well, Snapchat has just released a new feature that COMPLETELY changes how quickly and how much media we can receive through our phones. With Snapchat Discover, different networks like CNN, Comedy Central, ESPN, and even the Food Network can share things with their app-users. Not only is this medium quick, fun and interactive; but the information on the app is recent, un-biased and interesting to learn from. It's completely different from Facebook or Twitter because these are stories/articles shared from actual networks, instead of your friends. I look forward to all the different articles my Snapchat Discover has to offer everyday; my favorite is the Vice channel, where they talk about cool stories about social justice issues or the mistreatment of people in other countries. Snapchat Discover is accessible to almost everyone and I hope they take advantage to learn about issues happening in our country and our planet. Here's a very great article getting deeper into Snapchat Discover and how it works. Snapchat has easily become my favorite app because I can share things with my friends, but more importantly I can be more aware and up-to-date with actual events happening around the world. 

http://fusion.net/story/47528/snapchat-discover-could-be-the-biggest-thing-in-news-since-twitter/

Network Laws!!!

Between all three laws, I understand and agree with Sarnoff's Law and Reed's Law the most. Sarnoff's Law states that the value of a broadcasting network is directly linear to the number of viewers it has. This is very important especially for mass media broadcasting. The number of people watching, or clicking or sharing the network’s content, the higher the value of the radio/television network. These numbers help us understand why and how digital networks are valued; you can understand exactly how much value a piece of content contributes. 

Reed’s Law is used for larger networks and more specifically social networks. This law claims that networks, or social media, will grow exponentially depending on the size of the network. Because of the possible sub-groups that the network supports, the number of potential participants will grow. There’s no way to really know how many users there are, and the only way to reasonably measure the value is by how counting the groups the network already supports and the affiliations they have with eachother. 

I agree with Sarnoff’s Law more, even though all three laws are substantial. In my experience with mass communication, I agree that the value of your network has a lot to do with the number of people clicking, watching and sharing your content. If a certain video or article attracts new viewers or subscribers, that is just a result of the shares on your content. Although Reed’s Law is accurate because of the sub-groups and their potential to grow the network, it still can not be 100% accurate. With Sarnoff’s law, we can at least see how many people are watching and try to graph the network’s growth from those numbers. The relationship between viewers and the qualities they share are important but their click to the networks content is more important. 

Five years from now, I think most people will receive their information completely online. I believe that Reed’s Law will be the most used because so many people will have an identity online, that brands and other networks will be able to learn about their viewers simply on the things they look up. Our online identity already contributes so much to how different networks can target us but eventually, everyone will be a target to someone. 

Why We Blog!

I’ve tried running a blog before but I usually run out of things to type about. I think to have a blog, you have to be the type of person who loves to share their words. Although I do love sharing my life and the experiences that I have, I do not like typing them down onto a website for people to read. I also don’t like reading about other people’s experiences; I’d much rather see it than read it. That is just because I am a more visual person and I love video production and documentaries. 

Bloggers have their own reason as to why they blog; some for personal reasons, others for public reason. I know of quite a few blogs that are strictly dedicated to Parks and Rec and others blogs that will talk about anything and EVERYTHING. It really depends on the type of person and how much of their opinions, thoughts, beliefs, they are willing to share online. I think that blogging, and sharing your life online, can seem like a cry for attention by some people. People who do not spend a lot of their time online wouldn’t understand why it is fun to share your life through words or videos. 

There can be different types of blogs. Some bloggers can have a comedic tone or a serious one; others might like to share stories of give advice to people based on their experiences. There could be blogs as catharsis, where one might go to share their feelings and have an outlet to let out their emotions. Overall, I think blogs are healthy and fun. If someone wants to share their life then they should have the right to and others should respect and understand their choices. 

Tune-Yards - Powa