Participation #5

Overall I would rate this class a 9/10 as the course material was interesting and relatable. Since the web 2.0 environment and the progression of social networking has allowed a new way of enhancing communication. I enjoyed the presentation and how people gathered information on social media sites that i have never heard of before. I find that this class is very realistic and how i actually learned something that i can use on a daily basis. I will highly recommend this course to other Brock University students. 

Previous to this class i was not aware of the use of social bookmarking. Social Bookmarking allows users to save websites online for a different viewing time. I am now a user of delicious and have used it for saving research for my final papers. Social bookmarking had helped me manage my time management skills and will hopefully encourage me to be more organized online. 

Since Social media is something that i am fully addicted to i enjoyed the selfies and the Twitter lecture. I use Twitter and Instagram frequently but it was fun being able to take pictures and tweet during class for participation. ( my followers will always mention to me how they wish their classes were more interactive like ours online #comm2p91) Personally i am doing a research project in COMM 3p15 about the selfie craze and how it influences its users. And for the insight on Twitter throughout the course it was always awesome to learn new tricks. 

Personal Media Reflection- Kony 2012

Kony 2012 was a video released in the incentive to raise awareness of the LRA leader Joseph Kony and the actions that has been taken. By raising awareness it became an internet interest and global campaign. "Humanities greatest desire is to belong and connect, and now we see each other, we hear each other, we share what we love and it remind us what we have in common." That quote was shared at the beginning of the documentary and i believe that online Kony 2012 campaign relates perfectly to this course. This awareness turned into action when it was able to be viral when released on YouTube. The plan was to make him famous for his crimes and to make it possible to find him and make the arrest. 

The Kony 2012 is an informative video clip that was placed on the web for anyone to watch and share amongst networks. The video is evidence that social media has the impact to effect global change. The video has over 99 million views and was influenced on Facebook and Twitter as well. 

One of the benefits i found this video has was that the Director Jason used his son Gavin to tell the story of Joseph Kony and the invisible children. People on Youtube love small young cute children and i believe that helped increase the emotional impact in the video. I think they should have made a shorter version because that was the reason i didn't originally watch it when it came out. 

The Zuckerman article discusses positive and negative critical aspects of the Kony 2012 incentive. As the campaign gained popularity it also received some negative criticism. The Visible Children tumblr points out that Invisible Children spends less than a third of the money they’ve raised on direct services in northern Uganda and bordering areas. The majority of their funding is focused on advocacy, filmmaking and fundraising. This suggests that the strategy may not be as effective as it could have been. 

Overall I believe that the social media contribution to the campaign is what make it extremely popular. The search for Josephy Kony is still in motion and vision to save the Invisible Children. 

Bonus Participation- The Story of the Hacktivists

Previous to this lecture I was not aware of “The Story of the Hactivists” and the power the Internet has against individuals and the government. The hacker culture originally started as humerous pranks and wanted to make a statement on how to treat information. Since the tragedies of 911 there has been extreme measures in increasing technology for security and privacy. Hackers feel that everyone has the right to information and that the government should not hide details from people. Hackers feel as if they need to take that power and equal the level playing field. The term Anonoymous is a shared unkown identity who post images and comments on the board of 4chan. Anonoymous oppose internet censorship and control, and the majority of their actions target governments, organizations, and corporations that they accuse of censorship. As a group these people formed the first Internet activist group. Most of these people thought they were alone but now they have the power online and offline.

Being Anonoymous allowed for these people’s voices to be heard and therefore changing the future of protesting. With the rise of the 2.0 environment it is sometimes important to remain anonymity because your opinion online can get you killed or harassed. Anonymity is extremely effective in promoting freedom of expression. Anonymity is beneficial because it gives people an outlet for their opinions, even controversial ones. I believe that people should have the freedom of expression online because it enhances online communities and knowledge. But I think that people need to be respectful and aware of the effect that online communication has on society. Internet is now a huge role in our culture and who ever controls it can enable a lot of power. 

Participation #4 - Consuming the Social

Relationship Between Consumer and Corporation

In today’s society anyone can Google an organization thus providing means of endless information. The organization can post contact information, products, company history, pictures, etc. The web 2.0 has created a 2-way flow of communication between the consumer and the organization to meet the needs of both parties. Most organizations have invested an app to provide all the proper information and reviews about the product/ service. Before the web when people wanted information they had to go the direct source, which may have been a convenience or they would have to rely on word of mouth. 

  Social Media

Social Media allows a business to connect on a personal level with its target market. A company can use social media to post current news and respond to customer complaints or praises to create a deeper connection. I had experienced this on Twitter when I decided to tweet about my experience at Joe Fetas. I went to Joe Fetas in St Catharines because I saw it on You Gotta Eat Here. I tweeted at them because I had enjoyed my experience and they had replied to me quickly thanking me for coming.

  Gammification

Organizations use gammification on social media, as it is free publicity that reaches a large audience. Many organizations hold contests on Twitter and Facebook that enables people to like and share the message to other users. I have participated in contests that involve RT messages or answering the answer first on a tweet. Recently I signed up for a trip the Greek Islands if I liked and shared the message on Twitter.

User Reviews

User reviews allows users to give and receive feedback on products and services over the web. An organization will leave out the negative aspects of a product therefore user reviews come in handy. Users can post their personal opinions and experiences with a product and can help other people out. An example of this would be Etsy or Ebay where users sell items and can review other products.  People can analyze these reviews to see if they still want the product or not.

  Challenge or Reinforce

Overall I believe that social media has helped reinforce culture as it engages communication between customers and businesses.  Companies have to listen to customers because if they post enough negative reviews it can hurt the brand image. Organizations now have social media teams that are in charge of monitoring the web to maintain positive reputation. 

Participation # 3 - Who are you on the Internet ?

I have tried previously googling myself but there was not many hits but overtime my usage of social media has increased and so have my doppelgängers. My name is not the common way of spelling "Kelsy vs Kelsey" therefore that is why there are not as common hits. The most popular one on google was Kelsey Rogers a runway model that works at Marilyn Agency in New York. You could find any information about her and most of the photos under images were of her. 

Self-Branding is the concept of people marketing themselves as brands. Self-branding can be defined as an individuals body, clothing, speech, home, car, job, etc. and thus can be expressed over social media. Since the creation of the web 2.0 environment it has allowed the creation of sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Tumblr and more. These social media platforms have allowed people to express who they are throughout the world. These sites allow others to view you as a brand as you identify your interests, what you look like, and what you are currently doings.The danger with online is that anyone can publish information worldwide and that can tarnish your brand reputation.In today’s society it is nearly impossible to stay offline. Whether you post information about yourself or others do, you are considered to have an online brand. 

My social media use definitely defines me as i use it frequently on a daily basis. My top sites that i would say i personal brand with are Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr as it displays more visual content about what i love. I follow and reblog multiple blogs that i am interested in and this allows me to brand.  Brands make up people's identity therefore it is good to monitor what you post and what others are posting about you. 

Please take a moment to fill out our survey for class! Participation is voluntary, you must be 18 or older  Thank you for you time

http://fluidsurveys.com/surveys/jwylde1238/he-selfie-phenomenon/

Personal Media Reflection #3 - Wikipedia

For this reflection i decided to analyze the The Top Animated Featured Film Disney's Frozen

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frozen_(2013_film)

The Wikipedia article on this webpage seems to be generally positive as most of the tone of the article is informative. The article includes the plot, cast members, production, release and reception. The article posted a critical response which had good reviews about how successful the movie had been so far. Since the oscars aired last night Wikipedia had updated that Frozen had won Best Featured Film and Best Original song " let it go". 

Talk 

On wikipedia we typically do not judge the information that is being posted as anyone can edit and comment on the site. For this article i believe that most information is true as the movie has an outstanding cast and has won multiple awards. This article starts from the main idea and plot of the movie and how the characters were portrayed. The main controversy in this article is that people found Disney could have portrayed the female emotions differently. Personally i would not listen to that part of the article as the Director Jennifer Lee stated after that working with animation is difficult and especially working with male vs female. People believe that Elsa looks like a different angry than when Anna when she is angry. Overall other than that people loved the movie and there were great reviews. Most of the people commenting in this article had participated in the production of Frozen therefore the information is legit. 

View History 

Disney's Frozen was released November 19 2013 and known and respected on a global level. The article provides information in a chronological order as the movie was developed. The article first explains the idea, plot , cast, development, and then focus on the production release and reception. The end of the article shows the success of the movie in detail and how it has touched many people. 

General 

I LOVE WIKIPEDIA as i find it as a simple easy source to find quick information. I typically go to wikipedia first or i will cross check it with my other sources. It is a great way to search for topics or if you forget something and it is really bothering you search it on wikipedia. I use wikipedia in the early stages of a project as it gives you great tips and ideas that you can build off of. I do not use wikipedia as a contributer but solely as a reader. I feel like one day maybe i would add information to wikipedia or another source but currently i have found no reason. I probably use wikipedia on a daily basis, but it has now become a routine where it has become part of my norm ! 

Bonus Participation - Social Bookmarking

Social bookmarking sites allow its users the ability to bookmark or save websites under tags for a different viewing time on multiple devices. These bookmarks are separated under categories, for easy access as they are organized in an efficient way . I decided to become a member of "delicious" as explained in class the multiple benefits so i wanted to check it out myself. Delicious is on of the most popular social bookmarking websites and its free! Users can tag their bookmarks therefore making it  possible to view bookmarks added by other users. When signing up for delicious it offered you to sign up with Twitter, FaceBook, and Google+, so i connected it through my Twitter account and all of my tweets and previous tags were visible. 

At first i found it difficult to understand the website but after it is fairly simple. I just had to change the setting on my computer for it to allow me to save bookmarks using the delicious icon. Delicious is used to organize the content that you come across on a daily basis that you want for future use. Once you save a bookmark, you can edit it , give it a title, notes and tags. I realized that this would be a great tool for educational use when you have a project and you do not want to loose your valuable sources. I found that this social site may be perfect for me because i love to research recipes online, sometimes when i am on StumbleUpon i see something i like but the website is then gone now i bookmark it !!!!

Overall my social bookmarking experience on Delicious was positive :) i found uses for it now in my daily life when i want to save something it is now quick and social. 

i thought this looked pretty cool !

Social Media is like Ancient Egypt: writing things on walls and worshiping cats

George Takei  (via matisonmedia)

Instagram has published a hardcopy handbook that teaches brands how to “inspire and engage” their audience on the popular photo-sharing app.  Titled ‘The Instagram Handbook For Brands’, the book profiles eleven top brands on Instagram that “post incredibly engaging content”, such as @disneyland, @patagonia and @chobani.  The book also features Instagram’s own brand values and ten popular hashtags that “highlight the collaborative creativity within the Instagram community”, like #chasinglight and #thingsorganizedneatly.  “When it comes to brands and businesses, our goal is to help companies reach their respective audiences through captivating imagery in a rich, visual environment,” said Instagram in a blog post . “One way we can do this is providing new resources and tools to educate and inspire marketers.” 

Check out the video below

Facebook adds custom gender options for transgender members

(Photo via Facebook)

Facebook announced on Thursday that it will offer a custom gender option for its transgender members in the United States, as well as increased privacy settings.

Continue reading

Participation #2 - Micro Blogging Reflection ( Twitter )

Twitter is a popular social networking site designed for instant communication, news and entertainment. As a micro blog, Twitter users are allowed to post any information they find relevant and post it for the world to see. Not everything that you read on the Internet is true, so why would tweets or other comments on social media be the same as well. Twitter limits users to 140 characters which creates only a brief overview of the story which may leave out important information. For example this happened to me when my boyfriend has told me that Paris Hilton has Tweeted - 

This tweet was being shared on twitter on this memorial day as a prank as Nelson Mandela did not present that speech. This tweet happened to look suspicious to me so i decided to research it before i sent a message back to my boyfriend. As i typed this trending topic in on twitter and google, it results showed that it has been a fake account. Paris Hilton was disguised and appalled that someone would shame Nelson Mandela on her behalf. I am happy that i decided to research as i know that not everything you and see on the internet is true. 

I follow 198 people on Twitter, theses users range from close friends, popular accounts, news, sports, and basically anything i may  find interesting. I constantly check my timeline on Twitter as i always need to be on phone. I wish there were more tweets that i could be entertained at all times of the day. The WORST is when there is no new tweets. I mainly just skim tweets and read my friends or reliable accounts more in depth as i can trust the information. People can relate to one another over twitter and this is why the social media site is AWESOME. There is humour and sarcasm is most tweets thus promoting people to follow you and creating awareness.  

Personal Media Reflection #2 - Twitter

Since previously admitting to being a social media addict, I LOVE TWITTER. My twitter handle is @krogs and i have been a user for approximately 4 years and i use it on a daily basis. I use twitter to connect to my friends, to find information on current events and the fact that is a a source of information. Even though i use twitter constantly i do not express my own tweets as much as i do retweeting and lurking. I find Twitter very useful because i follow certain accounts such as CP24 and Brock University which tweets about currents events happening. Most of my close friends also use twitter so it allows me to connect to them on this media platform as well. All the people that I followed and connected with throughout the week are people that I either know or that I am interested in. Twitter differs from traditional media as it is an instant informant of news, allowing any user to get notifications on their desktop, laptop and even smartphone. I connect with social media the most frequent on my iphone as i have a icon folder where all my social media is located. 

This week the #BellLetsTalk was a trending topic i decided to research as i participated in the ongoing event on Twitter. Bell Lets Talk day is a charitable program dedicated to the awareness of mental health. Bell would donate 5 cents for every tweet with the #bellletstalk, or facebook share , text messages and calling.There was more than 3 million tweets made Bell Let’s Talk the #1 Twitter trend in Canada and #3 worldwide. There were 109,451,718 tweets, texts, calls and shares on Bell Let’s Talk Day 2014 which ended in a total of $5,472,585.90 to Canadian mental health programs.Talking is the best way to start breaking down the barriers associated with mental illness. Bell succeed in their mission as people were talking all day on twitter about them and the issues around mental health. It was great to see people on my twitter feed tweeting and including the #bellletstalk as the more tweets being sent the more money was being raised. This trending topic is a interesting to analyze as maybe more organizations will do this in the future. Social media is designed for people to connect and share their experiences and this is exactly what this program was designed to do. 

Overall i always have a positive experience on twitter as it has now become part of my daily routine. Every morning once i wake up i check my twitter feed as it is constantly updating and is a simple source of entertainment. As i have previously mentioned twitter has many benefits but the only constraints would be the message limit and that you cannot edit a post once its been tweeted.