CONVERGENCE | Jenkins

                Jenkins understands the convergence culture as something that is inevitable. Convergence culture is a process in which technological, industrial, cultural, and social relationships evolve and change the way each interacts with the other. He says, “Convergence alters the relationship between existing technologies, industries, markets, genres, and audiences. Convergence alters the logic by which media industries operate and by which media consumers process news and entertainment.” Convergence is something that happens over time as people come up with new relationships between technologies, new trends, and new media outlets. These interactions cause a snowball effect and influence the way corporations and businesses market to their consumers and how consumers react to advertising and marketing campaigns over all types of media outlets.

                Creative engagement has to do with getting more people involved in the convergence. When convergence occurs, it merges old and new media. When a new media is created, it takes a while for everyone to get used to it. Creative engagement is a tool used by companies to keep their membership and customer loyalty. 

Long Tail Theory & Surfing the Net

My understanding of the Long Tail theory is exemplified perfectly by the rare breed of “hipsters”. Chris Anderson’s Long Tail Theory states that our culture and economy is shifting away from mainstream products that are located on the head of the long tail curve, but instead to the exponential downward slope of niche products. Abercrombie, American Eagle, Forever 21, etc, for example are placed in the head. The mainstream popularity is strong, but there are limited amount of available products. Hipsters would not be caught dead in something so mainstream (unless it’s like, totally vintage Abercrombie). Instead there is a growing popularity in the products that may be widely available, but not as mainstream. Thrift Stores, expensive boutiques in New York, Etsy shops from Timbuktu and your grandma’s closet are better example of markets located in the tail. The availability of old Hawaiian shirts or handmade necklaces may be very high in these markets, but the demand is not that strong (unless you are a hipster, that is).

Call me Kelly Slater or Bethany Hamilton—because I’m a surfer. It happens all too often that think of something that I would like to purchase, be it a bathing suit, a camera, a pair of shoes, so I go to an online retailer and see what they have. It’s not long before I realize that I have been on that website for thirty minutes and wasn’t even looking for what I came for in the first place! I get side tracked, I look at the sale section, the new arrivals, the accessories, for what exactly? I’ll never know. I could browse the internet for hours and not even realize time has passed. I hate to admit that this is not a onetime thing—oh no. I go back to said website ever season so see what’s on sale, what’s new, and what the new trends are. I’m a surfer and I’ve wasted way too much time surfing the net. 

Interactivity:

Recently traveling by airplane for spring break, I was surrounded by children lulled by iPads and iPhones. I remember the days when my brother and sister and I had to play Go-Fish and I Spy in long car and airplane rides, but now young children are entertained by phones, movies, and interactive games and websites. I found an article about a study conducted by Boston University about the good, the bad and the unknown impacts on children due to interactive media. 

The study found that although interactive learning games and Apps available on iPhones and iPads can be useful for educating children, but the way parents are using this media and devices to distract children and take them out of reality. I thought it was interesting to think about that now-a-days, children are so dependent on computers and media and games for entertainment that they are less inclined to turn to actual humans for entertainment.

You can find the article here and see if  you agree or disagree or are going to take that iPhone from your baby's hand right now... or is it too late? 

SARNOFF'S LAW & the future of communication

Of the three laws discussed in class (Sarnoff’s , Metcalfe’s, and Reed’s Law) the law that makes the most sense and I agree with most is Sarnoff’s. While all three laws discuss different ideas of how networks increase in value with the more number of members, Sarnoff’s Law states that the value of a network increases linearly with the number of people on it. This law is typical in traditional broadcasting while discussing TV or radio network’s broadcasting system.

            To me, this law makes the most sense. It means that a network can say that they have increased in value if their members have doubled. This is valuable information when it comes to advertising. If, for example, I work at CBS and know that my network on Super Bowl Sunday has 111 million viewers, I can market this as a prime time to advertise. If, for example, I work for Budweiser and know that there are 111 million people watching CBS’s network and not even close to that many viewers on a network like TLC, then I will definitely want to advertise on CBS because my commercial will reach the eyes of so many more viewers.

            However, this value can also be thought of from a viewer’s perspective. If, for example, I am looking to join a social network to stay in contact with friends then I would want to join the network that has more people. I would not want to join Myspace at this point in time because the network of active users on Facebook is much larger. That means for me I can communicate with more people on Facebook, making it more valuable to me.

            I do not think that too much will change in terms of communication in just five years. There was nearly 100 years between the time the telephone was invented and the internet was invented. Although I think the forms of social media that will be invented will change. I foresee one of the big companies like Facebook or Google purchasing up smaller companies and combining them. Similarly to how on Snapchat you can now view the news and send “snapcash”, I predict that Facebook will create Instagram filters, image messaging that disappears in seconds, etc. combining Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat so you don’t have to use all three.  

WHY WE BLOG: Nardi, Schiano, Gumbrecht & Swartz | summary and thoughts

Why We Blog is an article based off of a study of a sample of bloggers to explore the drive behind this “grassroots form of journalism” and a way to share thoughts, talents, and ideas. The article, which was published in 2004 focuses on a diverse group of bloggers from in and around Sanford University and explains the different motivations behind why we blog.


 The study showed that there were five main motivations for blogging. They found that blogs are used to document one’s life, providing commentary and opinions, expressing deeply felt emotions, articulating ideas through writing, and forming and maintaining community forums. Before reading this article, I mainly thought that people used blogs as “web-diaries” or a way to share pictures, recipes, and crafts. However, I was excited to see that blogs are used as much more than that. It’s not all whiny people complaining about something I have little to no interest in.


 My favorite use for blogs that I learned about from this article was that blogs are used as a community forum, like how we are using this in class. I thought it was very innovative for a professor to be using them even in 2004. These days, where nearly everything is computerized, it’s important to acknowledge and incorporate the use of the internet and technology into the curriculum and schooling system.

 This article has opened up my eyes to the various motivations for blogging that I had never thought about before. They are more than an online diary; they’re a way for people to share their words, pictures, poems, thoughts, opinions, ups and downs with whoever is willing to listen. I wonder though, would this open-admittance to the mind even be necessary if we were less inclined to type away our feelings? If we were to actually share in person, attend community forums, participate in debates, and talk to real people? For now though, when we live in a world where we touch more plastic a day than we touch human beings, blogs serve as a good way to stay connected and share thoughts and ideas all over the world.

Trial & Error