Contemporary Digital Culture

Contemporary digital culture influence varies on individuals. Participatory culture is opposite to a consumer culture. In consumer culture we are acting as consumers in contrast digital culture we are produsers both consumers and producers. We are now able to buy and sell goods and service to global consumer via the web. The enhancement in recent technologies mainly of computers, cellphones and gadgets has helped world become a very small and within in reach of our palms. The increase access of web globally has helped individuals display their talents to the world via online communication, which has played important part of participatory culture worldwide. Recently, YouTube a digital platform online helped Justin Bieber RnB singer reach stardom. He was an average individual with a lot of singing talent and use to post his song recordings on this outlet which helped him get recognized and get a break through record deal. They refer to Justin Bieber as YouTube sensation. He’s a prime example of the latest advancement of the web 3.0 which has made social networking and media& information sharing easier for global users.  However, everyone has different level of digital participation whether it’s because of limited web access in the lesser developed part of the world, lack of interest or online addiction. However, participation within contemporary digital culture can be described as one with low barriers to artistic expression and civic management, strong support for creating and sharing information or displaying talent with others via online platforms such as YouTube. As certain amount views to individual’s video post would get him or her certain amount of money by YouTube and future stardom. As stated by Levison, “the beauty of YouTube is that it is not controlled by any government.  (Levison,63)

I perceive myself to be a participant in regards to education and social entertainment purpose to the digital world. I use social media platforms such as twitter, Facebook, instagram etc… I use these online outlets on daily basis to stay connected with friends and family locally and globally. I also use it to share information via blogs, watch documentaries on various topics on YouTube, research on various global issues on the web and share pictures and thoughts via social networking sites. I also use it for educational purposes as our brocku portal is online to access our course content on Isaak, the web also has lot of source which are really help for course work and assignments. For information on any topic which you do not understand in lecture or certain course could be further researched upon online to get a better understanding off. Also, we are able to participate as much we want within guidelines of social networking outlets and other online platforms. As twitter only allows us to tweet up to 140 characters and Facebook does not have a dislike button etc…Likewise, if the information you shared online has the following content that is considered to be obscene, inappropriate, or offensive would be removed by these platform moderators if it offends any one in anyway. Overall, this course has helped me express my thoughts more freely via blogs and twitter as it was my first using these outlets to share information in a positive manner as a global citizen.

Digital use has been rising over the last few years and has become a norm of the modern society of today. We use it in our personal everyday lives and had enhanced the business world globally to conduct business online and reach a bigger market on a global scale. It has also helped them raise awareness by online marketing and social media outlets which has brought enormous profits for corporate businesses worldwide. The traditional media outlets which were only ran by the wealthy class worldwide but now due to the rise of web it has let the unheard average class citizens of the world be heard as a part of the participatory media where nothing can be hidden.  This allowed every participant to have an equal chance to participate expressively. But as Levinson stated regarding YouTube, “Millions of people are able to view the video and it can spread faster than any other mean… (Levison,52)As the above example show that trade off exist to digital participation. As well, in case of political campaigning as a politician lies in his speeches to get votes whose videos get uploaded to YouTube where it will stay forever. This in future will make or break his identity as people can always refer to that video if he did not deliver on his prior promises.

 

Techno Trash- Harming Our Environment

I believe personal technologies are certainly political. As stated in this week’s articles that High-Tec companies and technology industry on the whole are not environmentally friendly and ethical while conducting their operations. However, we are technology dependent generation who cannot live without the online world. High-Tec companies like Apple, Samsung make billions in profits as society has formed brand loyalty with their brand. These companies keep innovating and satisfying their target markets needs and wants but ignoring the environmental norms and harming society’s well-being by causing major pollution. As stated in the article by James Glanz, “Silicon Valley where headquarters of most High-Tec companies are located is where most date centres appear on State governments Toxic Air contaminant inventory, is an area of the top stationery diesel polluter in the America. Also, most electronic waste produced by our society will only increase rapidly with growing demand for latest devices by society which is technology dependent. In Green the media article, it’s stated that go above and beyond the green agendas imposed by the rich nations and western NGOs. This is a political statement as seen by the current by major western High-Tec companies which outsourcing their production in the lesser developed parts of the world where the political government is weak and corrupt and does not implement strong environmental and labors laws. To further support my argument that technologies are political, I highlight this fact I got out of the same article stated above that 49 million tons of waste are dumped into countries like China, Ghana and Pakistan due to weak and corrupt political system instated in these nations. The choices us consumers make by buying these technologies have enormous repercussions beyond our personal use and control as we are harming our environment by letting out toxics which is causing major diseases, problems in reproduction of plants and animals, and overall well-being of the society. In the long run, we can save our environment by personally recycling our digital devices and not replacing them just because of our generation’s technological trend of buying the latest devices which keeping coming out on seasonal basis.

The light bulb conspiracy is the concept where companies formed a plan of obsolescence for their products. Manufactures’ shorten the span of light bulbs used by their devices to 1000 hours in order to create future consumer demand for their upcoming products. As time passed, most major companies like Apple improved their planned obsolescence agenda to guarantee that every few months or a year a new product with new features and development will come out which will be superior to their last product to extend their product line and create the want for their products within consumers so they form the concept of brand loyalty to their product and brand in the long run. A prime example of dictating this agenda is Apple which perfected it by coming out with extension to their product line of phones, gadgets and other hand held devices which include Apple: iPhone, iPod, iPad, IMac… for all these products they got a product line and kept coming out with a newer product to their line every six months to a year with some features added to their previous product of their product line as they moved from IPhone 1, 2,3,4,5 to IPhone 6 which is coming out this September. It was Bernard London who came up with an idea of planned obsolescence in 1929 due to crash of stock market in 1929 for bringing back prosperity into the economy by labor and capital for the unemployed and companies. However, his idea of planned obsolescence was not enforced till the last decade when technology boom struck the world. In early 2000’s  Apple pitched this planned and hit it perfectly in the years after by extending their product line and reaching a target market who formed brand loyalty to their products and other major companies followed on. Other major companies who followed a similar agenda include: Blackberry, Samsung, Android, Google, and LG. These companies like Apple created a want among users and kept fulfilling it by further development of their digital devices, which turned this generation into a technological savvy generation who are always eyeing on and waiting for their favorite brand’s next product to come out regardless of its price and heavy marketing specially digital marketing is the catch for their global success.

 

 

My Personal Reflection

My introduction to computers and internet came early in my childhood. I moved to the States in grade two, that’s when my family purchased their first CPU. It was a Compaq computer system, which we primarily used to go on MSN messenger and have video conversations with family and friends around the world. However, I also used it to play online games on various websites. When I first used the internet I was really amazed how it worked and was astonished what it can do.  Also, we were learning to use computers in elementary school  which helped me get familiar with the web content. I was amazed as a kid how the web made the world smaller place, how I was still in touch with friends and family back home via MSN as I recently moved to the America that time. However, back than there was dial-up internet  that connected through your home phone which meant you cannot use your home phone while you’re connected to the web which was a major problem. My dad also purchased us a Gateway laptop while I was young so I got familiar every with technology at a very early age. My online practice of web has really evolved over time. As, I got older usage of internet became a social norm to do your homework and socialize with others. Besides, know you can do everything on your smart phones which you before needed a computer for. Likewise, dial up internet is not a problem anymore because of the emergence of wireless internet and Wi-Fi. Furthermore, I even purchased my first car a 2003 Ford Mustang via Kajiji for a great deal. Recently I even found my 1^st house which is being built right know by the help of internet.  As you can see my transition of usage of internet from socializing with family online, to school work, to even purchasing my first car and home via help of internet. Hence, internet is the greatest invention since the industrial revolution.

MEME ILLUSION

To me Memes are someone’s perspective on a current issue economically, politically, culturally, socially, and they put it out online by adding a bit of humor to catch people’s attention by creative graphics and texts messages on it.  Memes are basically message with an image on it on the mentioned issues above. But overall, it’s a unit of cultural information that represents a basic idea that can be transferred from one individual to another, and subjected to mutation, crossover and adaption. Rintel (2014) argues that meme happen through, “variation, mutation, competition, and inheritance are factors that contributes to meme’s reproductive success.” I personally like memes regarding  politics, celebrities and current trends as they are really funny. I share memes on the web via twitter and Facebook with my friends and family. On internet memes are displayed as images, hyperlinks, videos,  and on various websites, etc… Hence, anyone on the web holds the ability to make a meme with a few clicks and share it with the online world.

 

I agree with Kendzior’s argument that today’s memes are particularly internet memes, so people in less developed part of the world cannot access them due to no access to the web. As some memes maybe hard to understand, so the intended message of the meme might be incorrectly perceived by the users .  As Kendzior (2012 ) states, “Memes tell us more about the people creating and spreading then they do about topics they address.” I agree with his argument because memeplexes work together and co-adapt. Also, Kendzior specified, “Memes create the illusion of participation in a political system from which people feel increasingly disaffected, a system ran on wealth is inexplicable to a normal person (Kendzior, 2012). As I mentioned above people in the less developed part of the world cannot have access to memes and corporation are more interested in their marketing promotional tool via social media outlets  rather than people’s topic being discussed in meme. So I agree with Kendzior statement about memes are creating illusion of participation of people in a political system as it’s only benefiting corporations monetarily overall. However, meme are great source of tools for advertisement and promotion purposes by the elite for their product and services. Memes are also powerful source for communication by users for awareness of important global issues.

The cultural value of a meme is the simplicity of itself. It’s a picture with a specified message on the various issues mentioned above which can be shared online by anyone. The meaning of the meme can vary depending on the users or readers perception. Memes allows people to connect worldwide with one another in the simplest form by the message being portrayed by the meme with a bit of humor. From politics feud memes to celebrity gossip memes, memes are great way of communicating with one another by adding a bit of humor to it , so people like us can enjoy and have a little laugh!

Shift from social media Consumers to social media Producers

The blog for week three stood an interesting debate about how social media platforms predetermines how we participate and how people formerly known as the audience are becoming “produsers.” In my opinion, in today’s new media era we users are far too engaged in these practices in our everyday lives. Social platforms determine how we participate because it sets particular ways for us to use social networking sites by setting general guidelines and restrictions for the users. However, on the brighter side citizens can now take full advantage of our fundamental rights as stated in the Canadian charter of right. Through various social media outlets such as twitter, Facebook, instragram, Youtube users can now express their beliefs, opinions, and expressions as freely as ever online. But, when comparing to decade ago as discussed by Bird (2011) we are on a whole new playing field, becoming producers in our digital worlds.” As we are merging the consumers and the producers to develop an audience that is part of production (Bird, pg502). I believe digital media outlets have provided us with countless tools to participate online freely but still being in control of what we are sharing. As social networking sites are created so a user like me can be fully in control of what I share. Like I mentioned in my last blog, we really need to thank the advancement of the Web 2.0 which is the major contributor of online “socialization”, as it made information sharing easier online.

Rosen’s piece proves is that the audience is no longer sidelined or a silent listener. As Rosen(2012) main argument is stating that what was once in the hand of big corporations is now under our control, we have gained access to tools that were once entirely were held by media personals. As Rosen stated, “The people formerly known as the audience are the simply the public made realer, less fictional, more able and less predictable (Rosen, p.15). Social media outlets online have made the world a much smaller place as users can interact with others at will and also can buy and sell products much easier worldwide. However the two of the biggest online social media outlets have some restrictions set by its makers. For example, Facebook presets the style of your profile page which can be manually changed, and it has many user friendly changes that can be made by the user for instance blocking people, not following people feeds, etc.., so users can be more in control of their interactions with others. Also, twitter only allows users to tweet with a maximum limit of 140 characters. These both are the biggest online social outlets allows users to share huge amount of information and lets products and major breaking news find us as I mention in my previous blogs.

Online social media outlets give people as much freedom they ever had in world history, it has allowed many revolutionary movements take place throughout Middle East. As people had that power to unify for a noble cause of bringing down dictators from Egypt to Libya due to help of Facebook groups, twitter, YouTube, etc.. These media outlets helped provide nationals from these countries to bring to the limelight the injustice brought to them by these brutal dictators to the world. The events that took  place above proved  Bird and Rosen’s concept of people formerly known as the audience becoming as powerful as ever on social platforms to bring revolutionary movements worldwide in this case.

Bird’s article this week discusses the shift from social media consumer to social media producer, which is the vibrant force of today. He also elaborates that we have to not just consider our online practices but also our influences in our offline world. The changes that start on social media outlets need to be put in perspective our offline world also. The online web today provides users worldwide the freedom to alter, update, and convey their message, which users should take advantage of to bring a positive change in the world.  Now online users have a chance to evolve in the world market place by bringing out creative products and services to offer to the world with a few clicks regardless of users geographic location.

Technology Dependent Society

As stated in Mirko Schafer’s book he writes, “About 73% of American teenagers and young adults use social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace.”( Schafer,pg10) By 2010, 96% of generation Y has joined an online networking site based on a video source posted on YouTube. (1800EnterprisesLLC, 2014) Out of all media outlets Facebook was the quickest to reach 100 million plus users in just nine months from its launch date in 2004. It took traditional media outlets like radio 38 years and 13 years for TV to reach 50 million active users based on the YouTube source. (1800EnterprisesLLC, 2014) In contract, it only took Facebook 9 months to reach a hundred million active users as of its launch in 2004 based on the same source mentioned above. Furthermore, in 2013 Facebook had 1 billion active users based of the same YouTube source since its launch in 2004. (Moore, 2014)Technology has really evolved from a decade ago from physical form of communication to digital mass media means. Based on Andrew Blum’s YouTube video posted on Isaak, “Internet sets protocols from physical traditional means to digital means such as online shopping, dating, and social networking sites to interact with others regardless where they are around the world instantly. Social media is biggest revolution since the industrial revolution in my opinion, its economy driven.

Additionally, for further development of internet we really need to thank the latest development in World Wide Web (WWW) which is a handy tool for communication, entertainment, and leisure activities.  This helps world users to connect to media outlets such as internet. As discussed by Schafer’, “The latest development of web 2.0  by Tim’O Riley in 2005 AJAN(Java&XML), these softwares  made publishing things online easier as it enhanced establishment of social network sites.( Schafer,pg10) This latest development started the trend of socialization  and creation of user generated content (UGC) as stated by him. (Schafer,pg.10)  I also think online websites help users navigate the web efficiently and effectively for context such as educational institutions for online courses, religious organization and promotion & marketing of events hosted by given brands, celebrities, or organizations on the users convenience.  A prime example of this would be US presidential elections as I strongly believe online Social Network outlets were the primary force, which lead Obama to achieve victory over his rival McCain.  Due to help of online Social Networking Sites such as Facebook you can create online groups to endorse people with niche interests of various type such as gaming, shopping, music artists, etc. Also, did you know 80% of companies are using LinkedIn as their tool for finding employees based on a YouTube source. (1800EnterprisesLLC, 2014)

I myself participate in everyday in digital practices. Every morning I wake up, the very first thing I do is check up on Facebook on my phone.  The very 1^st social networking site that I participated in was Hi5 which was similar to Facebook. My very 1^st cell phone was a normal flip phone than I started getting every blackberry smartphone that came out as the features advanced. I used these smartphone to check my email, visit social network sites such as Facebook, surf the net and for instant messaging.  Also I use instant texting apps on my phone such as BBM and WhatsApp to stay connected with my friends and relatives regardless of their geographic location. It has become a habit over time to use these means of mass media outlets as I’m a young bread of the dotcom era. We are constantly participating by posting or sharing pictures, videos, ideas on Facebook with our mutual friends as physical form of communication is greatly fading away. These social network outlets are really addictive as they have become part of everyone’s daily life so they can stay connected.

I completely agree with Schafer where he states, “online social networks gain control over cultural production and intellectual property in a manner very similar to monopolistic media corporation of 20^th century.( Schafer,pg.11)  I completely agree how social networking has become a powerful cultural production force as majority of the world’s population in developing and developed parts  of the world are active users of social networking sites. Now days you don’t have to search the news or world events its comes to you via Facebook, twitter, etc… He further elaborates how web users are now granted new possibilities for cultural production that previously was inaccessible to consumers of industrially produced goods and mass media. (Schafer, pg.11) As now online media outlets can be produced published, distributed by anyone on global scale without consent. Some prime online distributing goods outlet includes Kijiji and Ebay. Also, anyone can edit enclyodia Wikipedia based on their beliefs. This proves his point that Internet has also become a platform for discussion and political debate as people are free to upload any information they want based on their opinion. News media outlets vary on their views. Similarly, American news channel Fox news has Republican views and NBC has Democratic views. Also, major players in the market dictate heavy say in what’s brought out to the general public as majority of the news is altered. People are trusting news less and less in my opinion.

Now even TV’s have latest digital development of Smart TV’s where an individual can surf the web via WIFI which is a part of the cultural production of today’s new media era. You can stream shows online, watch live online TV, movies and it comes with wireless keyboard and keypad. Today’s society is technology dependent as everything can be purchased, advertised within a matter of few clicks online. Technology is one of the main functions of today’s civilized society. Social networking sites also helped corporate companies greatly as they were able to market and advertise their products and services through different media social networking outlets online. Instead of consumers searching for products now products come to the consumers via social networking sites. Major players like Facebook and Google are using its user’s information to generate revenues for advertising by selling its collected information to corporations for money. There is way too much information online, which is distorted by people’s view and the internet assisted people to get a better view on certain global topics. Corporations have a huge interest in new media outlet networks since everything is business and money is the main motive. New media only empowers the ones on the top of pyramid, however it gives users great convenience. Overall, internet is a greatest creation ever made so it’s up to consumers how they use it and smart users with strong morals and values will avoid technological determinism.

Works Cited

1800EnterprisesLLC. (2014, May 13). Social Media 2014. Retrieved from Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pahLo5TTy4

Moore, A. (2014, May 12). youtube. Retrieved from How Social Networks Have Changed The World: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trH4iuebjjI

Schafer, M. T. (2014, May 14). Bastard Culture. Retrieved from Brocku: https://lms.brocku.ca/access/content/group/COMM-FILM-PCUL2F00D01SP2014MAIN/W2%20Schaefer.pdf

Who is Mughanum?

Hello Ms. ZEFFIRO   ,

My names Mughanum Butt and # 4580361. I’m 23 years old and  a 4th year BBA student. I have three other sibling  and one of them also goes to BrockU. Some of my hobbies include surfing the net, reading , learning new things and playing and watching sports. I also like going to sports bars, movies, hanging out with friends,  and  traveling.  I hope on becoming a CGA after I’m done Brock U.