Social Media and Web 2.0 Questions

1.  When we watch television and modern day commercials I am astonished over the quality and graphics of the video.  Instead, some companies are putting out commercials trying to look "homegrown."  I believe this homegrown approach fits some but not most situations for modern day advertising and media.  For example, I liked when they used it in the movie paranormal activity as it added to the authenticity of the movie.  Overall, I believe that there is a place for the "homegrown" approach, but I also believe proffesional production practices will continue to dominate the market.

2.  Personally, I find myself using facebook more than any other social media site.  It allows me to stay in touch with my friends and family around the world.  In addition, when I have a group assignment, I like to set up a message thread to make for easy communication between  the group members.  It allows all the group members the ability to brainstorm with each other online and delegate responsibilities.  I believe Facebook is so much more successful than Myspace because it was originally created for college students o socialize rather than for sharing music and what not.  I think Facebook will be here for the long term as long as there are tech savy college students.  And lets be honest, todays students are not becoming any less tech savy.

3.  Most mistakes made by social media companies are a result of astroturfing and transparency.  Astroturfing is used by both politicians and companies to in order to make the online user become a follower of the product or person.  In 2009, Facebook changed its privacy policy and reported that it owned all the content on their site including all pictures of the users. In addition, Facebook has been reported and accused of giving out users information to online advertisers.  Transparancy is a very important marketing and advertising tool but it must be used honestly and fairly. 

McLuhan Photoshop Final Post

My McLuhan Photo shop project illustrates McLuhan's ideas when he talks about the instantaneous/simultaneous information world as it relates to the modern medium that we all know as the iPhone.  The iPhone allows users to connect to many aspects of their life instantaneously as I have illustrated above.  It allows users to access information from work from anywhere in the world at the touch of their fingertips such as emails or reports they may need.  Many iPhone owners are young people or college students.  The iPhone allows these users to communicate with group members or roommates instantly.  In addition, the iPhone allows users to be in constant contact with their friends and family in both good times and bad.  The lightning on the screen represents the sheer power and endless possibilities of the iPhone which allows for google searches and instant gratification from the palm of your hand.

Photoshop Project Update

This is the first time I have ever used photo shop and a Mac computer so i have been struggling quite a bit with both of them.  After playing with photo shop for a few hours i seemed to have begun to understand the basics of the software.

Modern Mediums

American sign language is a medium used to convey a message just like any other medium. It allows for the deaf community to communicate a clear and specific message to one another using different hand and body gestures. The rules of the language allow deaf people to communicate as if they were using a written and spoken language.

The iPhone is one of the most modern and efficient mediums out there. It allows someone the ability to make a call, email, text, or even just surf the web at high speeds. Modern communication has the ability to instantly convey the message in a clear output. The iPhone/cell phones allow modern society to communicate at an instance from any part of the world.

Google has changed the way we view the internet and use the internet as a modern society. It has basically put the world and its information at our fingertips. We can instantly search for pictures, articles, journals, and basically anything you can fit into the search bar. This allows modern society to access information instantly that may have taken weeks or months to retrieve before google and the modern internet.