Final: "The Long Tail"

When mass media arrived on the scene, there were, and still are, several problems with it. Mass media reaches a large dis-aggregated audience that can give little feedback to what is distributed. There were large uniform effects (or Mass Effects) on the audience. The result was like-minded people clustering together to listen to the same music hits and watch the same summer blockbusters.

However, not everyone is as like-minded as it seems. Cantrill found that intervening variables like how educated someone is or their cultural values shape how the audience reacts to mass media. These intervening variables make us individuals that have different preferences when it comes to the media.

In "The Long Tail," Chris Anderson blames the fact that people have clustered together on inefficient distribution. He writes, "For too long we've been suffering the tyranny of lowest-common-denominator fare, subjected to brain-dead summer blockbusters and manufactured pop. Why? Economics. Many of our assumptions about popular taste are actually artifacts of poor response to inefficient distribution." He claims that due to poorly distributed media, audiences are only introduced to certain movies and music that will make big bucks. There is a limited selection to choose from, and therefore people cluster around the popular mass media.

The introduction of websites like Amazon.com might be changing this trend. Amazon.com and iTunes have an unlimited selection of media. I have been able to find music on iTunes that is not mainstream and dvds on Amazon.com like the Royal Shakespeare Company's version of Macbeth, which I couldn't find anywhere else. I love Amazon.com because I can find whatever I want and am not limited to what's on the shelves in a store. Electronic distribution used to be limited, but now it's expanding. iTunes used to have all the hits, and most people just downloaded those. Now I use iTunes to discover more indie and unknown bands, and also to download some classic films like On the Waterfront.

By looking at the buying and downloading trends on sites like these, it becomes obvious that people are digging through the endless lists of media to find items suitable for their specific tastes. People don't have to necessarily follow mainstream media, because they can find alternatives elsewhere. Netflix also is making money by offering more media. The business is aggregating "dispersed audiences," as Anderson says.

When consumers are pulled "down the tail" it is usually because of lower prices. Blockbuster has become more expensive so many people started to give their business to Netflix, which offers a different monthly rate for the amount of movies you can receive.

So it seems that sometimes offering the products that were deemed unprofitable, can actually be good for business and consumers that want something different.

Final: Electronically mediated relationships

When radio was established, people thought that it was going to unify the country. However, the basic programming was designed to attract housewives. The programs were there for women at home to listen to while doing their daily house chores. It became a medium for advertising as well, because it updated these housewives on new cleaning and house products that they could use to make their lives easier.

Mary Dyck was one of those housewives that listened to the radio daily. She was secluded for most of the day and therefore formed a strong parasocial relationship with the broadcasters, who became her "friends". These radio personalities became a very large part of her life to the extent that she felt like she really knew them. Parasocial relationships enhanced radio's commercialization because the radio personalities kept the housewives listening to the product ads.

The idea of having parasocial relationships has now been transferred from radio to the online medium. Sites like Facebook and Twitter have brought it to a whole other level. With Facebook, people can comment on each other's walls and see pictures of friends. This enhances the parasocial relationship because people can use the information they find on a person's account to form a bond with that person. The visuals only help in forming this relationship. Also, one can start to feel like they are beginning to have a parasocial relationship with their internet self, like I did during our media deprivation assignment.

Biz Stone of Twitter stated in New York Magazine that tweeting can bring about a new form of human communication. I agree with journalist Will Leitch that this may be a bit ambitious; however, I do think that it can enhance parasocial relationships. Users can go on to anyone's page (including celebrities and politicians) and get a sense of who they are without ever meeting or talking to them. Fans of John Mayer or Miley Cyrus can follow their tweets and have a cyber relationship with their favorite artists. However, celebrities do not answer back. This relationship is very one-sided.

Average people no longer have to look in the newspapers to find out what a candidate believes in or proposes to do if elected. Anyone can join Barack Obama's Facebook or Twitter page. Politicians used Facebook and Twitter to establish a relationship with potential voters. Obama especially used this technique and it helped spread his popularity amongst young people. Advertisers can even get celebrities to endorse products on their Twitter pages. Any celebrity could say, "Hey, I used Garnier Fructise shampoo this morning and my hair smells great!" Fans of that celebrity would then think that they should use the shampoo too because their favorite "friend" uses it. It also helps celebrities gain a larger audience and fan base because now anyone and everyone can be a "part" of their lives.

People also have parasocial relationships with TV characters. For instance, when the class examined The Simpsons, we saw that even though the characters are cartoons people can identify with them. They are not the perfect family. Bart is constantly in trouble, Lisa is a know-it-all, Homer is a bad father, and Marge is the housewife. With parasocial relationships it's all about identifying with someone else through electronic media.

Final: Technology transformed by users

The theory of technological determinism states that technology drives social change. For
example, Facebook drives people to be connected online. The criticism of Facebook is that it causes people to substitute their real life relationships with online ones. This was not the purpose of the social media network. The purpose was to allow people to stay connected no matter where they are. The users of this communication medium transformed the technology to fit their lives. Users needed a fast and easy way to communicate with friends, family, and business associates so they shaped Facebook's purpose.

When cell phones were created they were meant to help people communicate, these days it seems like a necessity for every day life. Even though our dependency on cell phones is great for the industries such as AT&T and Verizon, cell phones at first were a luxury and have now developed into one of the most important technologies we use. The New York Times and onthemedia.org both publicized the fact that people all over the world are using their cell phones to get the cash value of air time. The "Dialing for Dollars" podcast even discussed how doctors in Kenya can text their patients when they have to take their medicine. This was not the original purpose of the cell phone, but people have shaped its use into something very productive and helpful. The cell phone is definitely a transformational technology.

Personally, I use my cell phone to fill up my time when I'm bored in the doctor's office or on the train. I usually look at all of my old text messages, which are usually just jokes between my friends and myself. It entertains me. Some people download games, music, and TV shows to their cell phones and this transforms the phone into something more than just a means of communication; it becomes a form of entertainment.

Radio is also a large medium that was changed by social circumstances. During the Vietnam War, young protestors needed a medium to voice their outrage and radio become that resource for them. The social climate of the times helped develop a freer form of radio broadcasts on FM. The need and want for radio stations that play personalized music even brought about the development of web radio sites like Pandora. Some people get tired of the same ten songs played over and over again on commercialized radio stations, so Pandora was really shaped by people's desire for something different that's more personal.

In terms of advertising, it seems like the more versatile a product or technology is, the more in demand it will be. Facebook can be used in several ways and now has over 350 million users. To put that in perspective, there approximately 308 million people in the United States. Also, it is very hard to find anyone who doesn't have a cell phone anymore. If people can transform technology to meet their needs, then the technology becomes beneficial for society and can be used by a broader range of people.

Final: Off-loading intelligence

It used to be easy to remember certain information like a telephone number or directions to a friend's house, but as technology becomes more prevalent in everyday life the more we seem to departmentalize our lives and information. The use of cell phones, emails, and Facebook have allowed us to store certain parts of our lives or information on technological devices. Now, is this something that will be beneficial for us, or are our brains going to be so dependent on technology that our thought process is going to completely change?

In the Atlantic Monthly article, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" Billout points out that he has noticed a change in his thinking. His mind starts to drift after reading a couple pages from a book, when before he was able to peruse voluminous novels with complete focus. Even though he admits that the internet is very beneficial because of the wide variety of information available, it seems to have consequences on our minds.

Billout wrote, "'As we are drained of our 'inner repertory of dense cultural inheritance,' Foreman concluded, we risk turning into ‘pancake people’—spread wide and thin as we connect with that vast network of information accessed by the mere touch of a button."

This quote points out that if we keep off-loading information into devices, there won't be much of anything left in our brains. I definitely think that off-loading information might have a negative affect on us all, and I have noticed a change in the way I think as well, but I know plenty of people who use technology to off-load their memory and they definitely have not turned into 'pancake people.' My one friend Chris inputs all of his assignments, appointments, and class times in his cell phone's calender. For him, it is beneficial because it allows him to concentrate on the important things while the cell phone does the busy work. He sort of sees it as a Nanny that people can use to organize their busy lives.

This correlates with my theory of iExist. We are using technology and communication mediums to off-load and catalog certain parts of our lives. Our existence and sometimes well being becomes dependent on these devices and mediums. We start to have a presence not only on the web, but also in these technological tools. Society seems to be embedding certain parts of existence into technology.

Personally, I find that my cell phone and my gmail and Facebook accounts help me the most. I don't have to memorize my friends' numbers because I have it in the palm of my hand. My gmail calender sends me an email when something is due or I have an important event to go to (it came in handy with my finals schedule as well). I have to admit that it is very hard to remember all of my friends' birthdays, so Facebook really helps with that because it alerts me before hand; I can't miss a thing with Facebook. Although, this can at times be negative. For instance, my mom cannot remember my dad's cell phone number without looking it up in her cell. We can sometimes forget or push certain important information out of our minds because we can depend on other technologies to remember for us.

As far as audience goes, everyone can use these technologies. It can be extremely beneficial, especially for college students that work, go to five classes, and try to balance a social life in there too.There haven't really been any other communication mediums that allow people to do this in the past; this is something new. Newspapers, radio, and television would give information not store it for people's everyday use. However, this does remind me or the parasocial relationship and the Mass Effects theory. Our devices now store our memories and are a part of us so much that we have relationships with them, or we have a relationship with ourselves in a different format. The Mass Effects theory states that media will have uniform effects on society, and it's clear that off-loading our memories are causing us to think differently. It really depends on the extent that we off-load our memory to devices like cell phones and organizers. How we use these technologies and how we allow them to affect us, will determine the result on our thought processes.

Final: Privacy in the age of Google

On the "Privacy in the age of Google" podcast, they claim that people with a gmail account can see all of the information that Google has on them. They want us to be "comfortable" with Google having and protecting our information. However, information can always be compromised and Marissa Meyer from Google admits that there is no guarantee of complete privacy. Personal data can be linked to certain people even though it's supposed to be anonymous, but not everything can be anonymized with the vast amount of information out there on the web. People have to learn to control and personalize their privacy on whatever account and browser they use.

Information used to be found in newspapers. Radio news programs and televised news were also key tools for people to stay informed. However, now a large majority of people in the US are online and use the internet to find info. Web browsing (specifically Google) has become such a large part of our lives to the extent that it's a colloquialism in society. The terms "Googled" or "Google it" have infiltrated our every day speech.

These days, most young people have a presence online. The idea that people catalog their lives on the internet is something that I like to call iExist, which will be discussed in some other blog posts. Since there is so much personal information that we upload onto our email accounts and many different corporations and hackers out there that want either our business or identities, it's hard to keep things private. It's so easy to find someone online.

For example, when I worked for a church updating their member information, I had to quickly double check and find some people's addresses and phone numbers. It was easy to type their names into Google and find their information on yellowpages.com. Recently, I needed to find a friend's address; instead of calling her or emailing her, I decided to get an instant answer and I googled her name. Several pages immediately came up including her Facebook page, and other websites linked to the school district she works for. I could instantly find out where she lives and works. This may have been convenient for me, but it's a little scary to actually experience how easy it is to find someone on Google. If someone exists online, you can find them.

Google can know our preferences by examining our web browsing and companies may want to use the information for advertising and evaluating demographics. We cannot assume that Google's privacy settings are going to protect us all. People need to be educated on how to protect themselves because in the age of Google, privacy does not exist.