Citizen Media Blog

Last Entry

2008-04-26T12:03:00.000-07:00

This is gonna be my last entry for the blog this semester. To be honest, I was really disappointed when I found out I was going to have to blog daily this semester. I though it was pointless at first and thought it would be very tedious. However, there were times when I thought it was useful and kinda important to get some of my thoughts written down. My view on blogs has changed substantially throughout the semester. I learned quite a bit about technology and how it affects people in great ways. The final project was cool because it forced us to work together and have everyone pitch in. Overall, it was a good class Thom.

peace,

Martin

Friday!?!?!?!

2008-04-25T19:18:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure that this is the first time I have ever studied on a Friday night. I am currently in the library studying for my German final. I was just here studying when my mind began to wander. I noticed that I was in fact studying on a Friday night. I started to think about my other final weeks, and I couldn't seem to recall any other time that I actually studied like this. I guess its' a good thing, and I know it will pay off. The way I see it, I'm plan on studying until Thursday at 7 PM. I don't really care about fatigue or sleep deprivation. I'm sure there'll be plenty of time to relax and sleep during Summer vacation, I started to type Sommer just now, which is the German spelling of Summer. I guess that's also good. I'm going to look over my part of the short speech for Sunday as well this weekend. Anyway...I'm out

peace,

Martin

Classes coming to an end

2008-04-24T18:14:00.001-07:00

I've been done with Astronomy class since last week, I'll be done with English tomorrow at 11 AM, I'm done with my Billiards class haha, and I'll be done with this class on Sunday. That leaves German and History. I'm writing this again because I just can't believe this semester is already coming to a close. I know this is what I keep writing about, but it's also what's been on my mind the most recently. I can't wait to be done for the semester and have a break from worrying about classes and such.

peace,

Martin

NO ASTRONOMY FINAL!!!

2008-04-23T11:07:00.000-07:00

So I just found out today that I don't have to take my Astronomy final. At the beginning of the course, he told us that we would have three tests and a final, and that we could drop the lowest of the three non-final tests. Today I got an OnCourse message that we could use the three previous test scores and drop the final grade. So I can skip the final and have a guaranteed a in the class. Now I only have two finals: German and History. And after Friday, when I have to turn in two papers, those are the only two classes I have to worry about.

peace,

Martin

Schedule revisited

2008-04-21T18:23:00.001-07:00

I still haven't secured my spots in these classes, but I slightly altered my schedule for next fall. I plan on taking a different geology class: G-105. I'm also not sure I'm going to try to avoid my intensive writing class until spring of 2009. I emailed this idea to my counselor and am waiting for a response, but it should work. This leaves me with one more class to fill my schedule with..... I'm not sure what I want, but I'd prefer an easy class to make up for the two very hard classes I'll have next semester: History and Lit. of the Holocaust.

peace,

Martin

Summer

2008-04-20T13:07:00.000-07:00

My last entry mentioned how finals were approaching way too fast. This remains true, but I decided to write about my plans after finals are done. I'm going to drive out to Philadelphia with my dad and my younger brother May 6th-12th. We'll visit family, and my dad has to play some recitals and teach some master classes. I'm excited for this trip because my best friend is coincidentally also going to be in Philly for a regatta (a rowing race). Also another good friend of mine goes to Bryn Mawr, which is near Philly. I'll get to see them which will be nice. Also seeing family is always fun. So this should be a good trip. Next on the agenda is going to Germany with my Dad for the first two or so weeks of June. I already talked about this trip a couple of posts ago, but I'm very excited and cannot wait. The next trip that is planned is going out to Seattle from June 29th-July 9th. This trip is for my cousin's wedding. I'll get to see the other side of my family, which I'm excited for. I've also never been west of Denver, so being in a beach house on the Pacific for a couple of days should be fun. Those are the three trips I have planned. I'm very excited for all of them, as they should make for a pretty eventful summer. I might also drive up to Chicago at some point in May with some friends and visit a friend who goes to DePaul and stay in his apartment right outside of Wrigleyville. Also, my sister is getting married on August 2nd, which I'm very excited about. I think I'm going to be an usher for the wedding, so that should be fun. Plus, weddings are one of my favorite things, actually the receptions are my favorite, but whatever. When I'm actually in town, I'm going to be working at a furniture store, which is never fun. But I know I shouldn't be complaining about my summer, as it should prove to be a lot of fun.

peace,

Martin

FINALS

2008-04-19T07:55:00.000-07:00

Finals are coming up way too fast. I'm probably gonna spend most, if not all of the nights this next week in the library studying. The finals I'm most concerned about are German and History. I also have two papers to write by the end of next week in History and English. It shouldn't be too bad if I don't procrastinate any more, which I have been doing for a week or so...I'm definitely excited for the summer, I just don't want to put in the work for finals for another semester. Hopefully I'll make the Dean's List again, but I'll have to wait and see on that one.....

peace,

Martin

Schedule

2008-04-17T21:21:00.001-07:00

I just looked at classes for next semester. It should be pretty good:

German 200

Hist-C387-ancient Greece

Hon-H303-literature of the Holocaust

Geology-G103-easy science credit hahaha

Intensive writing- apparently you need this for College of Arts + Science...whatever

15 credit hours... not bad

peace,

Martin

Germany

2008-04-16T17:16:00.000-07:00

So today was a very good day. I found out that I'm going to Germany for sure this June with my dad. I'm very excited for this trip, it's a business trip for my dad but not for me. He's working on a new trombone with an instrument maker in Germany. By summer I'll have finished the first year of German classes at IU. We'll be staying with friends most of the time. I'm a little nervous about how well my German will do, especially because I lived there for 9 years. I'm very excited though, can't wait.

peace,

Martin

Death

2008-04-14T18:22:00.000-07:00

Watch out, this entry might be too deep...hahaha. I was reading about Greek Philosophy today, more specifically about Epicurus. The one think that stood out to me was his stance on death. He argued that death is something not to be feared ever, because "it is not present to the living, and the dead no longer are". This made me think hard. That's kind of the purpose of this post: to make people think.

peace,

Martin

So yeah....

2008-04-13T13:38:00.001-07:00

Now that my first Little 500 experience is over, I can finally have real opinions on the whole deal. Some people think it's overhyped, I disagree. I thought the race was really fun, even with the atrocious weather, and the parties were good too. I think it's a little dumb that there were so many cops around, but I realize that they were only doing their job, so it's kinda hard to be look down on that. Overall, it was a really good time and I look forward to it next year. One thing that is really bad is all the people I saw on campus cleaning this morning. I'm told these are all the people who got caught by the police throughout the week with alcohol. That would put a serious damper on your weekend.

peace,

Martin

Bad Weather

2008-04-11T17:37:00.000-07:00

It looks like the weather isn't quite going to cooperate with the Little 500. The high for race day is 46 degrees with rain. I'm a little disappointed with that news. Anyways the World's Greatest College Weekend should still be a good and safe time. On a more positive note, I was eating Jimmy John's on Kirkwood today and, by chance, saw Barack Obama walking. It was pretty cool.

peace,

Martin

Brackets revisited

2008-04-10T13:58:00.000-07:00

So I posted a blog earlier about how my ncaa bracket wasn't doing well. As it turns out my roommate took first and I took second in our floor pool. Between the two of us we pulled in just over $70, unfortunately most of that was for him. I love the tournament, it's always fun to watch. Filling out a bracket always gives me someone to root for, and it gives me the opportunity to talk trash to my friends (assuming my bracket is better). Anyways....

peace,

Martin

Little 500

2008-04-08T17:30:00.000-07:00

So I'm pretty excited about little 5. It's been called the world's greatest college weekend, and the race has been praised by Lance Armstrong. It should be a good time. I have heard all kind's of things about how many cops are out and estimates as to how many people will get busted for alcohol related offenses. This is something that I think should be taken seriously by students, and people should stay out of trouble.

peace,

Martin

Video Camera

2008-04-07T13:12:00.000-07:00

So I've run into all kinds of problems with the video camera from the library. I went to pick the thing up last week, and planned on immediately starting interviews. When I asked the person at the library, I was told that I first had to fill out a project proposal. I did that, and it was finally approved on Sunday. I went to the library after my second class today, to get the camera and start on the interviews. I took the camera back to my dorm to start interviews. I went to record, and found that the library forgot to give me a tape to record onto. So I'm kind of stuck until I can get a tape.

peace,

Martin

Tricking the Big Media

2008-04-06T16:48:00.000-07:00

I thought that YouTube video of the guy who tricks news shows is hilarious. I don't know why I just thought of that, but it really made me laugh. I don't really know anything about him, I even forget his name. I just started to think about how many steps he would have to get through to land these interviews. It must be somewhat difficult, but he does a good job exposing big media, and other institutions. Very smart guy....

peace,

Martin

Mitch Hedberg

2008-04-03T16:39:00.000-07:00

This entry might seem really random, it's about Mitch Hedberg. Many people don't know who he was. He was a comedian who was different than any other comedian I have ever seen. He almost seemed awkward when on stage and had a very abrupt delivery on his jokes. Anyway, some people think it's the dumbest humor ever. I think it's hilarious. He just makes these funny observations about things that I never though of. such as....

I like escalators because an escalator can never break: it can only become stairs. You'll never see an Escalator Temporarily Out Of Order sign, just Escalator Temporarily Stairs. Sorry for the convenience. WE apologize that you can still get up there.

I realize that that may not seem that funny if you just read it, but his pot-head delivery of it makes it amazing. Anyways....

peace,

Martin

Dave Matthews

2008-04-02T22:05:00.001-07:00

This afternoon I found out that there is a Dave Matthews Band concert this sunday in Assembly Hall. The funny part about this is that I heard about it from a friend who had just heard about it himself. We immediately jumped in a car and started driving to where the tickets were being sold. On the way, my friend got a text from a friend in Syracuse about the concert. This was supposed to be a bit of a secret, but through cell phone networks somebody in New York found out about it before many students on campus did. This is a great example of citizen media and the power of cell phones and different networks. Pretty cool, eh?

peace,

Martin

Bill Clinton

2008-04-02T13:14:00.000-07:00

Bill Clinton came to IU today. I wish I could have seen him speak, but I had to go meet with my English teacher. On a lighter note, during the meeting I though about a funny impersonation of Bill Clinton and George Bush. It's from a stand up routine by Frank Caliendo. Check it out.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=XK1ekhovFeU

peace,

Martin

Tom Crean

2008-04-01T16:33:00.000-07:00

So IU Basketball named its new coach today, Tom Crean. I heard the story break on ESPN, and immediately began talking to friends and checking online forums to see if there was any more information out there. I found that IU was waiting for a signed letter from him before making the announcement. Shortly thereafter they said the exact same thing on ESPN. I don't know how someone online found out what the current situation was, but that person knew before ESPN did. Yeah, citizen media is pretty cool....

peace,
Martin

QUESTION AUTHORITY

2008-03-31T18:00:00.000-07:00

I have a friend I have known since 4th grade. In that time I have also become very close with his parents, who have become somewhat of a different set of parents to me. One thing though is that his mom and I always argue about whether to question authority or not. I think that it is essential to question authority, but not always act on it. If we become complacent and don't question authority, we would be subjected to anything the government would want to do. Those are just some thought, by the way, I always win these arguments.

peace,
Martin

Training again

2008-03-30T21:16:00.001-07:00

I had my training today, it was alright. The guy was really cool and it didn't take too long. He did say that to rent a camera you were actually supposed to make a program for cats. There are probably ways around that though, once I get the camera we should be good. Well, that went alright.

peace,
Martin

Training

2008-03-28T13:29:00.000-07:00

So I haven't been trained at the library yet. The guy wasn't there when I went on Wednesday. I signed up for the spot on Sunday, so it should be all set to go with interviews next week. I don't really know how to use flash to edit the interviews, but I'm not too worried about it though. It shouldn't be too hard though. I'm still optimistic about the whole nap iu campaign. It should do well, be funny, and raise a little awareness about sleep. I feel good about this.

peace,
Martin

My sister's getting married

2008-03-26T13:29:00.001-07:00

So my sister is getting married this summer, and it relates entirely to citizen media. The big project she's working on right now is the wedding web site. This will give guests a chance to rsvp among many other things. It also has a registry link, and information on hotels and the reception. This is a very practical usage of the internet and citizen media. Yeah, I think that's about it for this post.

peace,
Martin

The Beatles

2008-03-26T08:34:00.001-07:00

So The Beatles are my favorite band, and I probably listen to them way too much. The entire Abbey Road album is in my top 25 most played playlist. I read about them a lot, and can talk about them for hours. The band obviously has a massive following. Music clearly has an enormous affect on people, and can be used to do much good. I think I had a post similar to this one earlier in the semester, but I feel it needs restating. Listening to good music has a positive affect on my day. I feel that this is definitely citizen media. Although record companies own the rights to just about every song, Michael Jackson owns much of the Beatles' work, much of the music was created when the bands were still ordinary citizens. The point is that music is awesome, and people should listen to more good music.

peace,
Martin

Greeks

2008-03-24T17:43:00.000-07:00

Last week in my ancient Greek history class we talked about Greek parties. More or less, they revolved around getting really really drunk, drinking games, and orgies. This may come as a surprise to some, but it's funny how not much has changed in 2500 years. While the orgies are probably considered wrong by just about everyone, the other two hold true on every weekend on just about every college campus in the country. I think it's amazing that we've advanced so much in so many ways, but our idea of a good time really hasn't changed. I don't know, maybe this just struck me and no one else cares, but I think this is pretty funny.

peace,
Martin

Bracket

2008-03-23T12:53:00.000-07:00

My bracket for the ncaa did not turn out that well so far. I was 22 for 32 in the first round. However, I always love this tournament regardless of how bad my predictions were.

peace,
Martin

Blues Brothers

2008-03-20T22:43:00.000-07:00

So I haven't seen it in a while, the The Blues Brothers is my favorite movie of all time. There aren't that many laugh out loud moments, but something about the movie is perfect. It could be the number of amazing cameos, or the music strewn throughout. But something about the movie has struck me and several other people. It has somewhat of a cult following. This has worked with other advertisements too. Sometimes I can't identify what I like about a certain commercial, but it just works.

peace,
Martin

Video editing

2008-03-19T19:34:00.000-07:00

I really hope the whole group project thing works out. Apparently I'm recording and editing video clips. I hope that I can get this done and do it well. The one thing I'm the most concerned about is the nap tent. I really doubt that too many businesses will be willing to give money, especially because we aren't a 'legitimate' student association. But I'm hoping for the best, and think that the project can go well.

peace,
Martin

Spring Break

2008-03-17T21:24:00.000-07:00

I went to Orlando for spring break. It was fantastic, and this blog is very short. I'm getting back into the swing of things blog-wise. Until next time....

peace,
Martin

Naps

2008-03-05T14:30:00.000-08:00

I joined the nap group and I love naps. It is also a serious issue because sleep is required to succeed in school for any amount of time. I think we can go many directions with this, and that it will be a success. I like to take naps more or less everywhere and at any time. I like taking naps alone or with other people. I hope that this campaign really works, and that we get somewhat of a following.

peace,
Martin

Racism

2008-03-04T19:55:00.000-08:00

So I'm currently watching the movie "Mississippi Burning". It just started, so I don't know the ending, but it deals primarily with racism in the South. It is really quite disturbing, and I feel that this ties in with citizen media a lot. The movie takes place in 1964, and I feel that there is still too much racism today. Citizens should make more of an attempt to shut down racism. It is still around and simply does not need to be. It is extremely counterproductive and fosters hate. It simply does not belong anywhere in the world. If more people took action against it, it could probably be stopped.

peace,
Martin

Campaigns

2008-03-03T13:43:00.000-08:00

The campaigns today were pretty good, I thought. I especially liked the nap one. I there were two, one of them mine, about raising awareness about blood donation. Part of the reason I chose to do my campaign on this subject is my inability to donate blood. I have tried on multiple occasions, but apparently I have been in Germany for too long throughout my life to donate blood. This reason is laughable, because the Red Cross' reason for this is that there is a mad cow scare. There has never been a case of human mad cow disease in Germany. This reason is absurd, and I don't like it one bit.

peace,
Martin

Billboards revisited

2008-02-29T10:03:00.000-08:00

So last night I drove over 5 hours to Milwaukee to visit a friend. Along the way I obviously saw a ton of billboards. I don't think that these had much of an effect on me. I ignored virtually all of them, and probably couldn't explain any of them to you three of them. This leads me to think that, at least to me, billboards have lost some of their effectiveness. I wonder how much people pay for some of them, especially around Chicago. To me, they really seem like a wast of space. But it is very unrealistic to expect them gone too. whatever.

peace,
Martin

More Music

2008-02-27T23:27:00.000-08:00

I wonder how music can be used to actually make a difference. There are plenty of politically charged songs from long ago and recently. Most of these seem to be in the form of complaining though. I hope that songs come out with a positively charged message that will make a difference. These songs could raise awareness of issues. This awareness could make a huge difference. Music festivals can also raise a lot of money and awareness for various causes. This needs to happen.

peace,
Martin

Campaigns

2008-02-27T17:07:00.000-08:00

So I mentioned today that I am at a loss for what to base my campaign on. I just had an idea. It's going to be a campaign to promote giving blood. It's easy and most people can do it. It is also very necessary. I'll obviously bring more information on my campaign to class on monday.

peace,
Martin

Changes

2008-02-26T22:45:00.000-08:00

I think it is crazy just how much social standards have changed. It is laughable that Elvis was though of as provocative for swaying his hips. Also, that the Beatles were considered too sexual for some. These examples are so tame compared to today's MTV. This just makes me wonder what changes in social norms will change in my life time. It is kind of absurd to think of what could be though of as acceptable in the year 2050. crazy crazy stuff.

peace,
Martin

Billboards

2008-02-25T16:44:00.000-08:00

Many Bloomington natives know about the controversial billboards on the way out to highway 37. While people bicker about them an awful lot, they are interesting because of their citizen media potential. People have gotten up and graffiti'd various messages on them. Most recently, I saw some graffiti that opposed Mitch Daniels. I just think that a more or less empty billboard with a simple graffiti message will get many people's attention. At least these billboards are being put to some use.

peace,
Martin

School

2008-02-24T15:11:00.000-08:00

I'm starting to get really frustrated by school. I have so much work to do, and this is made exponentially worse when I put it off as long as possible. I like to tell myself that
IF YOU WAIT TILL THE LAST MINUTE TO DO SOMETHING, IT ONLY TAKES A MINUTE
This has made many Sunday nights this school year quite miserable. I am currently working on a five page paper and studying for a German midterm tomorrow. So I decided to vent via my blog, by doing so I am killing two birds with one stone. I am fulfilling my requirement to blog for class and venting.

peace,
Martin

Idealism

2008-02-22T11:42:00.000-08:00

Many people are told they are too idealistic. They're told that stuff will never work 'that' way, and that they are dreamers. What if everyone would dream, what if we were all idealistic. This might sound stupid, because it's written on a blog that nobody probably reads, but I'm just thinking via blogging. I think a lot more could get done, and people would be better off if there were more idealists. That was a little too deep for a blog....haha

peace,
Martin

Books

2008-02-21T14:35:00.000-08:00

So we have a book review due next week. We have talked in class about how few people still read books. I am in that ever decreasing number. I think that people should still be reading books, because there can often be centuries of knowledge contained in them. While TV and various other forms of media are a terrific way to get current news, it is still important to read. Reading increases vocabulary and I think it helps overall intelligence. That's about it for now, but I think it is ludicrous to dismiss reading books as obsolete.

peace,
Martin

Eclipse

2008-02-20T20:10:00.000-08:00

This post is going to have nothing to do with citizen media. Having said that, I watched the eclipse tonight, and it was, for lack of a better word, really really cool. I'm in astronomy class, and the explanation for what happens in an eclipse is not terribly exciting. However, watching it was rather fascinating. The moon got a slight red tint to it when the eclipse became total. That's about it, it was pretty spectacular.

peace,
Martin

School Shootings

2008-02-19T19:05:00.000-08:00

I already talked about the Northern Illinois shooting a few days ago, but I've been really bothered by that situation the last few days too. I don't have any proposed solutions, but we, as a society, are doing something wrong if this keeps happening. Students should go to college to learn without having to worry about such freak circumstances. Like I said, I don't know of any solution, all I know is that this is terrible and should never happen again. I can't stand such a worthless loss of life.

peace,
Martin

Music

2008-02-18T21:35:00.000-08:00

I think music is the most effective form of media. Granted most music isn't very good, but some music is nothing short of inspiring. I'm not talking about the concerts that raise all sorts of money for different causes, but rather individually inspiring. I've been listening to a lot of Billy Preston lately and his music blows me away, it is so soulful. Music communicates to me in ways nothing else has. There are songs which continually give me goose bumps, even after I've listened to them dozens upon dozens of times. For example, Billy Preston's live performance of "That's the way God planned it" from the Concert for Bangladesh always touches me. Also, Simon and Garfunkel's performance "America" in their Concert in the Park is unlike anything else when it hits the bridge. I could go on listing songs like Suite: Judy Blue Eyes by Crosby Stills and Nash or Apple Scruffs by George Harrison, but the list is endless. I realize that some of these are relatively old, but those are the songs that are among my favorites. I've seen current bands get popular for a few songs, and then disappear within a few years. This has clearly not happened to my favorite bands like the Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel and the Blues Brothers and once again I could go on. Anyway, music touches me like nothing else.

peace,
Martin

Smoking Ban

2008-02-18T16:45:00.000-08:00

I think that the smoking ban is ridiculous, and that if it starts to be enforced, that people should be outraged. It's such a petty thing to burden people with. IU should be worrying about how to effectively teach instead of spending resources to prevent people from smoking. To make things clear, I very rarely smoke, but I do enjoy my tobacco pipe every couple of weeks. I think that if IU begins to enforce the ban that people should take action against it.

peace,
Martin

Reliability please

2008-02-17T11:12:00.000-08:00

We talked about how wikis work, because of the opposing viewpoints. But I still question just how reliable blogs as a news source can really be. I know the big media can be unreliable at times too, but I feel that you can stumble upon so many biased blogs all over the web. There's not really much you can do about wrong information on the web, because people can write what they want. But when people begin to treat that as legitimate news, there can be many problems. Web blogs are definitely a good resource to tap into, but we cannot treat it all as legitimate news.

peace,
Martin

Northern Illinois

2008-02-14T14:58:00.000-08:00

So today I heard that there were shootings at Northern Illinois University. I found out almost immediately after it happened from a friend who has friends at the school. I went to cnn.com to get my information, but then began thinking about how citizen media affected it. I'm sure people within the lecture hall had, and very possibly used cell phones to alert authorities to the atrocities being undertaken. This is a completely different use of citizen media then what I initially thought to be the uses of it. It is good that such technology is being used in an effective manner.

peace,
Martin

Technology

2008-02-13T11:06:00.000-08:00

Technology has become such an integral part of our lives, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Today I woke up with my alarm playing "Morning has Broken" by Cat Stevens. Right there, technology has entered my day. As I walked to my first class, I was listening to my iPod. Throughout some of my classes I used my cell phone to check the time or to make a text. This morning, I also checked to weather on my computer, and checked my email. These things all make life easier or more enjoyable at times. However, they can also take my attention away from nature and other things including people who I might run into on the way to class. So, while technology can be extremely useful, it can also take our focus away from good things.

peace
Martin

Super Tuesday

2008-02-07T17:38:00.000-08:00

Today I started to think about the election some more, and I started to wonder again just how effective different types of media are. I wish I had stats on how much people used different forms of media. Also, how much people trusted these sources. I know that many of the people I have talked to feel that much of what they find on the internet is unreliable. I feel that people still trust big media more, especially newspapers and television. Like I said , I'm still just curious as to how much different people trust different media.

peace,
Martin

Super Bowl

2008-02-03T15:47:00.000-08:00

It's pretty impressive that companies hold competitions to see what commercial, made not by professionals, they will use in the super bowl. That just shows that the technology has evolved so that people like us can make professional quality videos. I think that this is great, because it once again shows that technology has become cheaper and more accessible.

peace,
Martin

Elections

2008-01-31T19:50:00.000-08:00

We read about it in the book, the fact that online blogs can become an imporant factor in upcoming elections. I'm not the most tech-savvy type of person, but I know that I don't check any online blogs for political information. It might just be that I don't really know how to look for such information online, but I never check blogs. I realize that many people use these blogs, but i know that not everyone uses them. They may have an effect on upcoming elections, but I know that there are still many voters who never check such sites.

peace
Martin

HAHAHA

2008-01-30T18:30:00.000-08:00

I just went to a couple of news sites to try to come up with something to blog about, but instead of finding anything I found myself bored by many of the artictles. I then discovered that I spend far more time on theonion.com than on any other news site. I thought that was pretty funny to begin with, but I wasn't sure if I should be worried about that. I like to think of myself as moderately informed when it comes to current issues, but I still spend more time reading fake news instead of real news. Someone has used citizen media in a truly comical way. Satirizing current issues is nothing new, but the onion is so funny in its presentation. Whether it be articles about everyday, mundane circumstances that are somehow turned into comical articles, or serious issues that are satirized, the onion always entertains me. Anyway, its funny and people should check it out. It's not citizen media at its finest or most useful, but it's really funny...

peace
Martin

Metallica Video

2008-01-29T21:48:00.000-08:00

I think that the Metallica video was really influential in starting a whole genre of online videos with a message. I mean, there are tons of these now. It's interesting that a 22 year old can start such a wide array of media. This led to all the other politically charged videos we watched in class. This post is kind of short, but I just thought it was cool that such a wide genre could be started by such a young man.

peace
Martin

What makes citizen media effective???

2008-01-28T12:15:00.000-08:00

I was wondering just what is it that can make some citizen media so effective, and some so inneffective that it just gets ignored. I think that there are two basic components: the message and the medium. The first chapter of our book discussed this, and it became quite apparent to me that the message really is the most important part of the media. No matter how flashy or well designed the medium is, I won't pay any attention to it if I disagree with or don't care about the message. If a poster tells me to vote, it does not really matter how good the poster itself is, because I already support the message. I feel that whether a company spends millions of dollars on an ad campaign, or whether I see something written in chalk on the sidewalk, I will only heed the message if I agree with it. However, if I'm undecided on an issue the media probably has an effect though.

peace
Martin

Graffiti...revisited

2008-01-27T18:37:00.000-08:00

I blogged earlier about graffiti and its uses, but I really like the video we watched in class about it also. I liked the fact that it was bona fide ar that was being displayed. I forget the artists name, but her work was so lifelike, and fitting for its location. I had never really thought of graffiti as serious art, but she really changed my mind on that subject. I used to think that graffiti was mostly done by regular people who had talent, but no real training. She, however, had obvious talent and what seemed like very intensive training in art. Graffiti can be seen in all big cities, and I'm sure that there is plenty of 'legitimate art' graffiti to be found too. I really like her work, and the fact that she chose a different medium to display it.

peace
Martin

New Citizen Media

2008-01-26T21:26:00.000-08:00

Today I was thinking about how new the phenomenon of citizen media is and how it will evolve in the future. It's obviously been around fro a while, but i feel that new technology has enabled an exponential growth in the effetiveness of it. And the book mentioned the new technology that is going to come out, such as everyone owning a phone wih video capabilities. This will enable more evil to be uncovered, such as police brutality and other violent crime. It will also be a preventative measure of petty crime. This technology will also make it harder to get away with anything too. I feel that people will also be paranoid over doing anything wrong. This just shows that you have to take the good with the bad as far as new technology goes. Anyways, that's about it, just me rambling again.

peace,
Martin

Too Much

2008-01-25T16:10:00.000-08:00

I often feel that I am bombarded by too much media and technology. Everywhere I go there is someone trying to sell me something or get me to do something. Some of it is good, like advising me against making poor choices. Some of it is bad, like trying to get me to buy something I don't need. Because there is so much stuff like this, many try to separate themselves from others by being louder or different. Of course, this opens up a pandoras box of me being bombarded by so much media. I wish it was possible to get away from this, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. Of course its possible to get away, but it takes effort to do so. I feel like it shouldn't.

peace
Martin

Discouragement

2008-01-24T22:47:00.000-08:00

First of all, let me begin by saying that I noticed the spelling error in the previous title immediately after I posted it. I felt pretty dumb. But anyways, I was a little discouraged today when I was thinking about the amount of citizen media out there, and how little of it gets put to good use. What I mean is that so many YouTube videos get famous, and so few of them are relevant to current issues. Most videos that get popular don't actually do any good. It's good to get lighthearted entertainment, but I feel that citizen media is not utilized in ways it could be.

peace
Martin

Freedom of the press.....for thos who own a press

2008-01-22T23:33:00.000-08:00

I had a class first semester in which we talked about the idea of freedom of the press. We touched on the point that this only affected those who owned a press. We also read about this in 'We the Media' last week. While this citizen media movement has tried to change the fact that not everybody's voice can be heard, it simply can't be realistically expected that everyone's voice can be heard. It is still a fact that having money is a great advantage in getting your voice heard. I don't think that we can expect this to change. However strong the citizen media movement gets, being wealthy will always give you an advantage. We can't change this.

peace
Martin

Demos and Kratos

2008-01-22T15:43:00.000-08:00

Today in my ancient Greek history class, we talked about the origins of democracy. Democracy is a word formed from two Greek words: demos and kratos. Demos means people, and kratos means power. In essence, democracy means power to the people. Our system of democracy is quite different though. Most people only participate in the democracy once every two years, or more if they are called to jury duty and actually do it. Once a politician is voted into office, he makes decisions without consulting the people who voted him in. That got me thinking today in class that through citizen media, some are able to participate in the government in ways even they probably don't fully understand. Just by having a message, be it something on the internet or any number of media, people are able to influence who gets elected (at least partially). These messages can turn into movements that can change what the government thinks/ does about an issue. In this way, regular people can have an effect on the government without being politicians. This is another way in which citizen media can have a profound effect on our current society.

peace
Martin

Vote or Die

2008-01-21T12:09:00.000-08:00

Last presidential election might be remembered by some as the Vote or Die election. P. Diddy's well covered mantra was trying to get the younger population more involved in the vote. At first I thought it was a corny little saying to get people to vote, and would not work very well. However I have read that in that election youth voting had gone way up. I don't know how much of that can be attributed to P. Diddy, but I'm sure he had an effect on how many people voted. The more I think about it, we need people like that to urge us to vote. However cheesy the slogan might be, if it works I'm all for it. THis is one of the more useful uses of citizen media. If you can use your social status, a.k.a. being really rich and able to get on television, to get more people to vote you are doing a good deed for America. I generally tend to look down upon many of the so-called flag waving patriots who only wave a flag. But it is truly patriotic if you try to get more people involved in deciding this country's fate. That is what I think of as real patriotism.

peace

Wikipedia

2008-01-17T17:45:00.000-08:00

Wikipedia is really cool. We talked about it in class yesterday and that's the main reason why I'm writing this. I've used this helpful tool for a number of years. It has been especially useful in writing papers. It has helped me do research for tons of homework, but I also use it daily to look up facts about many of my favorite musicians and various historical figures. I was looking up the different artists who performed in George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh when I realized that this would be a good subject to write my daily blog about. This is one of the facets of citizen media that has been the most helpful to me in academics and leisure. I think it is fascinating that such an eclectic site can be run by non-experts. I realize that it is not always perfect, but it does a great job in providing many people with accurate information.

peace
Martin

graffiti

2008-01-16T10:35:00.000-08:00

How powerful can writing on the side of buildings possibly be? I think it can be extremely powerful. It can portray a message that thousands of people can/will see. One of my favorite graffiti phase is the 'Clapton is God' phase that was seen all over the subway walls of England. This catapulted Eric Clapton's popularity, and made him more famous than he thought he would ever be. This is a great example of portraying your message with very limited means. All you needed was spray paint and a face of a building and you could spread the message about this musician. This example of citizen media is astounding because of its simplicity and effectiveness.

peace
Martin

YouTube

2008-01-14T22:16:00.000-08:00

It's pretty cool that people can gain so much exposure by simply posting videos on YouTube. I thought it was really interesting when we talked about FunTwo in class and how he was able to get so much exposure by simply video taping himself playing guitar. He was offered multiple record contracts as a result. People even tried to emulate him so that they could get a record contract posing as him. Also, the LonelyGirl15 videos gained huge popularity. These videos were started very simply by amateurs, and they led to the main character being on a television show. I just think that it's crazy that these two examples show just how significant the internet is and how big of an effect it has on people. These two examples got hundreds of thousands of hits online, because they were clearly loved by people. It's great that there is no need middleman, the professional media, in some instances.

peace

Getting Away

2008-01-09T22:02:00.000-08:00

Today I thought about just how relaxing it is to actually get away from all this new technology every once in a while. I know that this technology has definately enhanced many parts of our lives, this is unarguable. However, i was thinking back to this summer when I went backpacking for three days. It was very nice not to be worried about who sent you a text, email, or wrote on your wall. It is also discouraging that people become too dependant on these things. I'll try not to be hypocrytical, because sometimes I use media based technology excessively too, but so many people seem to cling to their blackberry or iPhone and constantly check different scores/news/facebook. I think it's good that these things are so easily available, but I wish that they wouldn't always distract us from noticing other people/things. I'm definately not against this new stuff, it's really practical, but we need to step away from it at times too.

peace

We feed the media

2008-01-08T14:40:00.000-08:00

Today I started to wonder why we, the American society, care so much about celebrities. We always have, but new technology allows us to follow these people even closer than we used to, and to a greater extent. I'm sure there are thousands of blogs that are online right now about many of these celebrities. Now I don't follow a lot of this pop culture stuff very closely, but it seems that Jessica Simpson and Britney Spears have done very little in the past couple of years as far as their 'careers' (singing) go. However, the media coverage of the two of them has been astounding. I don't watch that much news on tv, but the two of their names continually show up on ESPN. I am currently watching Pardon the Interruption, a sports show on ESPN, and it devoted a segment to Jessica Simpson's relationship with Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. I realize that the media continues to cover these topics because people are watching. This leaves me to believe that the media is actually quite smart, and the segment of the population that continues to watch/read/buy news cares way too much about frivolous celebrities. I really wish that the media could focus more on its job of being a watchdog, and less on celebrities who have yet to impress me with any kind of talent.

peace
Martin