An aspect of media studies I have personally always struggled with is the media vs society debate or, as Siapera (2013) would argue, the dynamic relationship between media, technology, society and humanity.

I have previously researched different communication theories on the relations between audience and the media, from the ‘hypodermic needle theory’ (Lasswell 1927) to the ‘users and gratification theory’ (Katz & Blumler 1974). The ‘hypodermic needle’ theory asserts that audiences are passive and susceptible to the influential power of the media (Lasswell 1927) while conversely the ‘users and gratification’ theory argues that the audience has agency and is actively using the media to gratify their needs (Katz & Blumler 1974). The relevancy of these two extremely contrasting theories is questionable as they are dated, focus on mass media and are relatively reductive in their perspective on media-audience relations. Yet, they provide a starting point and a context for the study of media and social relations. We have all got to start somewhere right?

source: <https://giphy.com/gifs/television-the-simpsons-zQGe42ja2h1N6>

When I started researching into these various communication theories for the first time my immediate thought was- obviously the ‘users and gratification’ theory is the most accurate. Humans are way too smart to be influenced by the media. We just use the media for our gain, that sounds about right. Honestly, this thinking was just anthropocentric. But I find it very difficult to accept the fact that I may be influenced by the media. Yet, I cannot deny that new media in particular plays a crucial role in my life and that I am affected by it.

In the text ‘Understanding New Media’, Siapera (2013) examines the interactions and relations between society and media, with an emphasis on the role of new media. She characterises new media as constantly evolving and asserts that “the rise of new media is associated with their ubiquity” (Siapera 2013). Pretty much everyone I know has a smart phone. The only people I know who don’t have smart phones are my grandpa and someone I went on a date with once who had a brick phone to be an ‘individual’.

source: <https://imgflip.com/meme/122982680/Zack-Morris-Brick-Phone>

When it comes down to it, I could come up with many arguments as to why I’m not influenced by traditional media. However, with new media I find it increasingly difficult. For example, as touched on in the lecture, traditional media has more of a hard shell approach to advertising in contrast to new media which has more soft shell advertising. With traditional media it is a lot easier to know when something is being advertised to you. With new media, advertisements are often subtler and it can be hard to know when something is an advertisement and when it isn’t. A few years ago the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK changed the law to stipulate that YouTubers need to tell their fans if they have been paid to promote a product (BBC 2014). This was following an advertisement campaign run by Oreo involving numerous famous YouTubers such as Dan Howell and Phil Lester. Online ‘influencers’ have been blurring the lines between content and advertisement, making it difficult for audiences to decipher what is honest and what is not. However, at the same time audience’s can have a direct influence on the content in new media, through commenting, sharing, liking and generally interacting online.

source: <https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-30203816>

Siapera (2013) argues that there is a “mutually conditioning relationship between human agents and technological artefacts”. She argues that the relations between technology and humans can bring about change in existing areas of life yet concurrently shifts in society can bring about change in technology. This gives a wide perspective on the overall relationship between humanity and technology and one that overall I agree with. However, with relation to social media I think that the concept of influence becomes more difficult to define as the lines are blurred between content producer and audience.

REFERENCES:

Siapera, E, 2013, Understanding New Media, SAGE Publications, London, pp. 1 – 16

BBC, 2014, Vloggers paid for promotions ‘need clearer labelling’,

Lasswell, 1927, Propaganda Technique in the World War, Knopf, Oxford

Katz, E and Blumler, J 1974, The Uses of Mass Communication, SAGE Publications, Beverly Hills, CA

I come from a relatively clumsy family. Both my sister and father have have long lanky legs and are therefore constantly either falling over or banging their heads on things. Thankfully, in some ways, I was not blessed with long legs but somehow still inherited the uncoordinated gene. Some of my fondest memories include somehow falling over while standing in a sport class resulting in a twisted ankle, running into a pole in primary school and more recently, tripping up stairs at university. Just the other day I walked into a glass door at Melbourne Central thinking it was automatic.  Honestly, most of my unfortunate incidents can largely be attributed to my lack of coordination, however, I have realised that some can be attributed to poor design.

source: <https://www.funnyordie.com/2014/6/3/17741414/we-re-giving-you-animals-what-you-want-22-gifs-of-people-falling-down-stairs>

The term affordances considers the relations between an object and the person interacting with it. It ‘refers to the perceived and actual properties that determine just how the thing could possibly be used’ (Norman 1998), and consider literally any possible action one could do with an object. For example, an affordance of a book is that one can read it, but one can also throw it at someone, both of which are affordances. Perceived affordances, on the other hand, refer to what the user perceives to be possible when utilising an object (Norman 1999).

In his book ‘The design of everyday things’ Norman (1998) asserts that the concept of affordances can be utilised in the field of design in order to better convey the uses of a specific object. So, back to my incoordination problems, perhaps if the glass door at Melbourne Central was designed with the concept of affordances in mind it might have better conveyed that it would not, in fact, open automatically when I walked near it.

Bringing this concept back to the context of this course, affordances is a key aspect of the prompt that is guiding our learning throughout the semester.

How do the affordances of Instagram affect the way photos and videos are authored, published and distributed in the network?

I got Instagram for the first time when I was around fifteen, shortly after I downloaded Snapchat. I soon became absolutely addicted to Snapchat, something about the lack of permanence (unless you’re betrayed by screenshotters) and it feeling a bit more personal. When Instagram introduced its story feature my first thought was why would anyone use that, now I pretty much only use Instagram.

When all these apps were first introduced, their interfaces were much more simplistic. Moreover, each app had more of a separate function. As each of these social networking apps have developed they became more complex, I do not have much trouble using them but I know for a fact that someone who has not used social media to the extent I have may have trouble with understanding the affordances of the app. I have a friend who doesn’t use Instagram, and she was on my phone stalking people and accidentally liked a photo. She thought double tapping would zoom in on the photo but it actually resulted in ‘liking’ the photo. Reflecting back, there’s no design feature that indicates that the action of double tapping the photo affords ‘liking’ the photo.

source: <http://www.lovethispic.com/image/329283/when-you-accidentally-like-someone%27s-instagram-pic-from-47-weeks-ago>

I imagine my ability to utilise Instagram comes from previous experiences with other apps and software where similar actions result in similar outcomes but also just through use over time. One of my grandmas can’t use a brick phone and the other is addicted to her iPad and somehow has two Facebook accounts, so I suppose there’s a multitude of factors that contribute to technology literacy and understanding the perceived affordances of social media.
References:

Norman, D 1998, The design of everyday things, Basic Book, New York

Norman, D 1999, ‘Affordance, conventions and design (Part 2)’, Nielsen Norman Group, viewed 20 March 2019, http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/affordance_conv.html

 

‘It’s going to be a part of everyday life- creating and sharing media will be a thing that normal people will do all the time, every day, and it doesn’t seem strange.’ – Jimmy Wales (List, M et al 2009)

It’s not really debatable that most people of my generation are fairly addicted to the internet and social media. I myself am constantly checking my phone and utilising the social networking sites available to me to connect to other people. I would not say that I am addicted, however I do think that the internet has become a part of my everyday life and routine. Reflecting on the fact that producing and sharing media is such a thoughtless part of my day, I decided to check the screen time application on my phone. This application allows you to see the total hours per day you spends on your phone and also the categories of applications you are utilising. Unsurprisingly my most utilised app was Instagram. However, what did surprise me was the fact that I spend more than double the amount of time on Instagram compared to any other application.

In ‘New media: A critical introduction’ (List, M et al 2009), the authors assert assert that networked media developed through the need for communication alongside the pressures for commercialisation, ‘the tension between culture and commerce’. A major aspect of this is the way in which new media has flipped the concept of consumer and producer on its head, through allowing the consumer to become the producer. Personally, while I have previously analysed the implications of user generated content, particularly on the traditional media sector, I have never pondered the commercial aspect of it. How this kind of autonomy could have been created through commercial interests or how user created content could contribute to commercial gain for the company. The notion of certain use of the internet to be considered ‘free labour’ (List, M et al 2009), I found particularly disturbing solely because I’d never considered this. As while the internet has created this landscape where new media platforms are flourishing and two way content creation and sharing is easily facilitated, the author argues that these platforms have an ‘economic and material basis’ (List, M et al 2009). The internet marries both commercial and individual creative interests.

In light of the recent horrific tragedy that shook the world; the terrorist attack in New Zealand, I have been utilising social networking sites in order to obtain information. Social networking has allowed for personalised understanding of cultural events as media production becomes two way and consumers are able to produce media. For example, I was first made aware of the tragedy through Instagram as my cousin posted on his story. I am half kiwi and therefore feel quite personally connected to the tragedy and social networking allowed me to connect with family members in New Zealand. Later in the day many people were posting personal opinions, condolences but also sharing traditional news articles and broadcasts. This aspect of the content production made me realise how traditional and new media can work together but also the commercial aspect of user involvement in networked media. Nonetheless, I think that user generated content was integral in my understanding of the New Zealand terrorist attack and new media allows for easily accessible up to date information.

Reference:

Lister, M et al 2009, New Media: A Critical Introduction, Routledge, 2009

 

I am definitely not the most avid social media poster, while I do use social media regularly I am not one to post weekly or even monthly. However, when I do choose to post a photo on Instagram I definitely analyse the image and its relevance.

My most recent post is a photo of me in a rock pool in New South Wales. Now that I think about it, an extensive amount of consideration went into choosing to upload this photo in particular. For example, I wanted to show the people that follow me that I am back in Australia as I have just been travelling overseas for six months. I want the photo to appear natural, not posed. The location was also a consideration as I wanted it to go with my other Instagram photos so that my feed was more cohesive.

The effort that goes into a social media post is typically about reach and relevance. An aspect of the class discussion on Monday was considering the impact of a particular post on social media. One can publish anything they like on social media, however, that does not necessarily mean that people will be receptive to it. The networked aspect of social media can allow for greater reach through relevance. For example, if I wanted my rock pool photo to gain further reach I could have used a variety of hashtags in order to group it within specific categories of photos. Moreover, this would allow to reach specific audiences within the network. I could also share the same post on Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr to generate further reach.

In his article ‘Networked Images’ (2018) Niederer asserts that we need to consider images as ‘networked content’ through tagging, sharing, liking or commenting. As such Niederer (2018) urges one to treat images not as a ‘solitary object, but rather as a part of a network of other images, users and platforms’. The internet has created a landscape where media artefacts exist within a network. Particularly in the context of Instagram, this kind of thinking becomes relevant as each image that is chosen to be uploaded exists within an individual and broader network both within and beyond the specific social media platform.

The above images are an example of how users can take advantage of the networked nature of Instagram. The account @minimalistbaker, networked her post across platforms as well as utilising hashtags to network her photo with other photos. This example displays how images can rest within network of other images tagged with #plantbased.

Niederer (2018) also suggests that visual content is ‘much more likely to be engaged with in social media today’ and that users are increasingly sharing and engaging with visual content as platforms facilitate it. Personally, I find Instagram, which is a predominantly image driven platform, to be more popular within my demographic than any other social media platform. Moreover, I definitely put a significant amount more effort into an Instagram post than I would for any other platform.

Image sources:

https://www.instagram.com/tarasrego/?hl=en

https://www.facebook.com/MinimalistBaker/

https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/plantbased/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/minimalistbaker/?hl=en

References:

Niederer, S 2018, ‘Networked Images: Visual methodologies for the digital age’, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Eburon Academic Publishers, Delft

 

In order to get to the point at the end of semester wherein I have learned what I set out to learn, I have to work.

I want to understand what I am creating and why, in relation to everything I have learned throughout the semester. In order to achieve that I have to understand what exactly I have learned and how to apply that. Sounds simple. However, I know myself and the procrastinating nuisance I can be. Leaving things to the last minute and producing work that I have not thought all too much about is something I do only too often. I want to create aspects of the work earlier this time, and refine it in the following weeks.

A major aspect of what I want to develop by the end of semester are my skills as an editor. In order to develop those skills I need to do the work early. Which is difficult considering I have multiple assignments due in each of the following weeks. However, it is achievable. If I set out time otherwise dedicated to Netflix then I will be able to achieve what I want to.

In addition to refining my editing skills, I would like to deepen my understandings of the readings by the end of semester. This would involve rereading the readings, or at least the significant points and my notes on them. I would like to understand what I understand from the readings. This is relevant to the final project, as I would like to visually depict my understandings of the theoretical aspects of the course. I would like the piece of work to be a representation of all that I have learned and all that I understand in completing this course.

This weekend I decided to go to the National Gallery of Victoria, and managed to stumble across the Patrick Pound Exhibition. To be honest, I was extremely sceptical at first. How could a random expansive collection of things be art, how could this be interesting. It turned out to be on of the most interesting art exhibitions I have been to.

Basically the gallery exhibits Patrick Pound’s personal collection of things. His collections are expansive yet small, random yet particular, interrelated yet not at all. Certain collections operate within a constraint, such as a specific word, order or colour. The collections that were developed with a constraint were inspired by the Oulipo group of writers and mathematicians which formed in 1960 France, specifically, Georges Perec. The idea that restrictions and constraint can encourage new forms, patterns and structures. The process of this can end up unintentionally projecting ideas. One of the collections sparked my particular interest because of the seemingly random aspect of it. The collection 26 Brown Things involved him purchasing 26 brown things from the one shop on the one day.

“you can look at a piece of puzzle for three whole days, you can believe that you know all there is to know about its colouring and shape, and be no further than when you started. The only thing that counts is the ability to link this piece to other pieces.”
– Georges Perec, Life: A User’s Manual

Another part of the exhibition had a focus on relationality and connections between things. This is inherently extremely applicable to the art of noticing. The room featuring this aspect of the exhibition contained numerous collections which all interrelated in one way or another. The room was described as a ‘vast diagrammatic network of intersections’ (NGV, 2017). It reflected one of the core ideas behind the exhibition, which is to find patterns and connections across things and ideas. Moreover, it is also a reflection of one of Pound’s perspectives of the internet, how through algorithms the internet moves from one subject or thing to another and how this can be applied to the real world in Pound’s way of ‘thinking through things’ (Pound, 2016).

I found that the exhibition had an inherent focus on the connection between things, rather than the things themselves. Instead of concentrating on what the things were, I wanted to know what connected them to the things beside them, and the things on the opposite walls. There was no focus on the specific meaning of the things, rather what they inherently were and how they related to the things around them.

The exhibition made me think about the way people collect, and our own personal constraints put in place when collecting. What is a collection? Numerous things somehow connected by a singular aspect? If so all the objects I own could be considered a collection, all connected by one unifying things, me.

 

So apparently all my blog titles consist of randomly made up names. What’s new.

There has been a relatively large lapse in posting on this blog. Yes. I am acknowledging it. I am not proud. I am not going to sit around making excuses, I am just going to move on.

Easter break was absolutely chaotic, however, I managed to read through ‘Rethinking the Animate, Reanimating Thought’ by Tim Ingold a fair few times. The first time I read it I feel as though absolutely nothing resonated with me, albeit I honestly was not in the mindset to understand anything at that time. The second time I read it, the content started to make more sense. While I am still unsure I completely understand everything Ingold t postulates, it has made me think. A lot.

As we were required to complete a list of 20 questions from the text, I found myself questioning everything. I would then attempt to answer my own questions, of which I was sometimes successful in doing so. Otherwise, they would be added to the list. I actually liked the process, it helped my to think about things further than I normally would.

So, this is my attempt at getting back into blogging. Let’s hope I continue.

I am going to be honest here, I have not done a great deal in the past week with regards to this subject. Life got in the way. Being the queen of procrastination, I found myself having to complete other assignments I’d left to the last minute.

However, I did manage to complete the third chapter of Alien Phenomenology. Claps all around. I even highlighted quotes within the chapter to heighten my understanding. Albeit, I still do not understand that much of it, I believe my avid highlighting did aid me even in the smallest of ways. Normally I would write notes on the chapter in addition to the highlighting, however I did not find the time to do so in this past week.

Summarily, I am not overly satisfied with my participation this week but I am also not overly disappointed either. I did not completely neglect this subject but I also did not do as much as I would have liked. In the following week, I intend to:

• Write notes on the Bogost reading
• Do any other reading required of me
• Write blog posts
• Work on video track and complete it