ICOM: Intro To The Digital World Summary

Another eight/nine weeks have pissed since my mid-semester review… It would be naïve of my to say that nothing has changed since then. In class, we’ve covered topics from the importance of daydreaming and storytelling to the state of the music industry. While outside of class, the world has seen the power of, not only traditional media, but online media in the Joe Paterno/Jerry Sandusky scandal, and how, with the help of Twitter, The Collegiate Times at Virginia Tech were able to provide timely updates on the shootings that occurred in early December. Before we delve into the serious topics, let’s begin with the importance of daydreaming, and how our interactions with media can stimulate our own personal daydreams, where we escape from reality.

I look at daydreaming as a unique ability that humans have – The ability to mentally remove ourselves from everyday activities which require our undivided mental/physical attention. Everyone can daydream, but in order to tap into our creative abilities, humans need to be aware during the “mind-wandering process” to recognize, hey, that’s a creative idea that popped into my mind. When it comes to a challenging task, allowing our minds to wander often serves as an outlet to create solutions for the aforementioned challenging tasks. In addition to aiding in the problem/solution process, when we allow ourselves to daydream, we get to be the center of our own universe. When our minds wander, as they drift towards no specific goal, is when our “default network” becomes more active, as we often try to relieve stress built up caused by reality.

But like any good thing, there is another side we normally don’t hear about. Those diagnosed with schizophrenia and depression have been recorded as experiencing malfunctions in the default network. At the other end of the spectrum, we have those who are unable to remove themselves from the daydream (I can’t stop thinking about Inception as I compose this and I’m refraining from dropping quotes left and right). Thee people who rehash past events, constantly analyze their causes ad consequences have extreme difficulty turning these thoughts off, and it begins to resemble that of an addiction. The question now, is how can we create online content that not only incites a daydream and allows users to escape from reality, but also has a lasting impact with the individual that they will think about later on in the day/week/month/year. Facebook is a great example of how users can not only escape from the physical reality, but also go back in time as they are able to view photos and conversations from the past – Which will become even more simplified and accessible upon the release of Facebook Timeline, which allows users to “share and highlight your most memorable posts, photos, and life events on your timeline. Where you can tell your story from beginning to end.” When beginning to bring an idea to life, I think it’s essential to create a product that will allow users to escape from reality, create a lasting impact, and also ignite the same creative ideas that caused the creator to develop said content/service.

(http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=6&hid=9&sid=55b9f6c7-7e74-4d8a-bef1710a86d1a051%40sessionmgr12&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=59264840)

(http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=9&sid=55b9f6c7-7e74-4d8a-bef1710a86d1a051%40sessionmgr12&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=59787407)

(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204449804577068850652682904.html?KEYWORDS=music+industry#articleTabs%3Darticle)

Moving from daydreaming and the importance of creating content with a lasting mental impact, we turn to the music industry, which is facing competition from online music streaming services and online music stores from Google, Amazon, and Apple, all of which are shaking up an industry which has resisted and battled change for the longest time. However, even Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group has an alternate take on the current situation… “I’m not part of the past, I’m part of the future. There’s a new philosophy, there is a new way of thinking.” Grainge is certainly correct about one thing… There IS a new way of thinking. This positive attitude and outlook on the future of the music industry has no doubt been spurred on by the numerous music streaming sites such as Spotify, Turntable.fm, Rdio, Pandora Online Radio, and MOG.

Sites like these are places where users can go to listen to music all they want, usually for a monthly fee, which depends on whether or not users are complacent with listening/seeing advertisements. The music industry has seen a decline of profits, with CDs on the downward spiral; the industry has decided that the prerecorded music path, while still viable, simply is not the way to make a profit. Even artists recognize that touring has become an integral, if not the foundation for their income as well as a profit for the record label they operate under. When musicians give away free music that leaves fans with extra cash in their pocket to spend on merchandise and concert tickets. While pre-recorded music may start to become more of a promotional tour, musicians must realize that in order to turn a profit, you must be touring constantly, until you reach a point in your career where you’re established as a reputable band/producer and have more leeway when it comes to releasing new material or announcing a multi-country tour. It’s become a massive investment to become a recognized musical act and may turn into a lifelong investment. I’m talking touring 300 some days out of the year, doing after-shows, writing, recording, and releasing new material from the road.

You now have to live and breathe the music – But it doesn’t have to be as difficult as I’m making it sound. Why, musicians can jump on Twitter, on Facebook to say, “I’m releasing a new track midnight, it will be free for the first 24 hours, then you can purchase it at iTunes.” Especially on the two previously states social media platforms, self-promotion has become even more simple, more personal, and more relevant. Fans don’t need to go to a musician’s website as much, nor do they need to access it directly. Fans can subscribe to updates from Twitter, Facebook, or SongKick (A service which maps out a musician’s tour schedule and can notify when said musician is touring in your local area). These services allow you to stay updated anywhere you are, regardless if you’re in front of your computer or not. Innovations in the online music streaming industry have contributed to the new methods musicians and the music industry employs.

With Spotify planning to offer Facebook style applications that incorporate additional features and functions to its service – it’s imperative that employees (musicians) of the music industry continue to have an active presence on social sites where they can unveil new music/tour dates/merchandise to an extensive audience. The next step, to match these online music streaming sites will be to create a mobile application that either offers the same content found on the individual’s website or a simplified version of that with a music streaming feature, a merchandise store, or links to other musicians on the individual’s record label.  Sites like Turntable, Rdio, Pandora, MOG, and Spotify are beneficial to the music industry because they up the ante; they are responsible for spurring on competition, which causes the music industry to be more creative, adopt new outlooks, and employ new techniques in order to continually make money and provide customers with new, profitable, and lasting musical acts.

http://www.economist.com/node/9443082

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/10/ff_music/all/1

As mentioned earlier, it’s important for musicians to utilize a mobile application, for Smartphone usage is on the rise. Smartphones and mobile devices are going to be the next place advertisers must turn in order to accommodate the consumer’s desire for exposure to new products. By 2014 alone, it has been projected that that U.S. mobile market will expand from a one billion-dollar industry to a $2.5 billion-dollar industry. In 2011, 23% of the phone population was devoted to Smartphones and they will represent 43% by 2015. In addition to mobile, there has been a surge for tablets in 2011, with mobile manufacturers like HTC, Blackberry, and Samsung all releasing respective tablets to compete with iPad. So, the data clearly suggests that the tablet/mobile market will by THE platform to advertise on. Instead of placing advertisements on sites/apps and waiting for people to see them, advertisers need to take a more active method of delivering advertisements through text messages. More and more of the mobile population uses text messages. Advertisers have an untapped medium to work with here. Simple ads with 140 characters or less sent to our mobile devices can prove to be efficient, inexpensive, and integral for consumers who are looking to save money during this recession.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/31/business/media/ad-companies-face-a-wideningtalentgap.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2&sq=mobile%20marketing&st=cse&scp=57

https://webmail.bsu.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=37beb221bb1c4cea9e11351c0def20d4&URL=http%3a%2f%2fsmallbiztrends.com%2f2009%2f12%2ffive-cant-miss-mobile-marketing-trends-for-2010.html

http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/20034/8-Key-Mobile-Marketing-Trends.aspx

The month of November saw the Joe Paterno/Jerry Sandusky scandal, which rocked the nation. While Paterno and Sandusky remained focal points of the developing story, the media focused on Penn State’s response to the situation. Penn State’s Public Relations department was unprepared and seemed to give all the wrong answers. Penn State’s inability to address the situation, while instead, they focused on protecting the image and the Penn State brand, as the situation exploded around them. It’s partly due to news media that this situation became addressed as soon as it did (rightly so). The, literally up to the minute coverage on television news, social networking (including accounts from CNN Breaking News to The New York Times), and traditional word of mouth proved to escalate the story at a rate at which Penn State PR could not keep up.

However, there were more forces involved than just constant media coverage. As a news-consuming nation, there’s something to be said about our ability, and desire to build someone up in the public eye (to superhuman status), and then revel in and cling to the news coverage of their downfall. News media is a business, and a business is responsible for generating revenue. News media will cover, expose, and promote stories that will garner a massive amount of attention from the American and worldwide population. Despite this, news media plays a vital role in delivering relevant and appropriate information and it has become even easier for consumers to access it through Smartphones, applications, and updates from social networking sites. It was because of news media, through the form of Twitter, that The Collegiate times at Virginia Tech University was able to publish real-time updates, which they were not able to do in 2007, when a gunman killed 33 people. While The Collegiate Times tweeted from the Twitter account, their followers increased by about 2,000 users – Which exemplifies the magnitude of a single tweet (How far it can spread in such a short span of time). For students at Virginia Tech, and students around the nation, more often than not, checking Twitter is the quickest and most subtle way to receive and share information. When breaking news occurs, Twitter continually proves to be the single most consistent and effective way to disperse news.

http://www.whptv.com/news/local/story/Penn-States-handling-of-Sandusky-sex-scandal-has/HI6Dpa_-C0yRYNCPY6t9pg.cspx

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/11/09/2494564/morality-takes-back-seat-to-sports.html

http://www.blackshoediaries.com/2011/11/9/2548981/penn-state-scandal-jerry-sandusky-paterno-narrative-lazy-media

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/08/using-twitter-virginia-techs-college-newspaper-kept-on-publishing/?scp=4&sq=virginia%20tech&st=cse

Other topics covered over the past 8 weeks of class included Interaction Design and Augmented Reality, two subjects with which I had no preexisting knowledge. Interaction Design is integral to the functionality of a website. Users need to, first and foremost, feel comfortable with the initial design and layout of the page. Users need to know, that when they click on a link, they know where it will take them. Interaction Design has one goal main goal it has to meet – As the name would suggest, it must be interactive for the user! The user must be visually involved in the site. An impressive user interface that is attractive and easy to manipulate will drive users to the site and have them returning regularly. Augmented Reality turns your Smartphone into a massive collection of reference points based on your location. While Augmented Reality is still gaining momentum, it is certainly here to stay. As I mentioned earlier, Smartphone usage is only going to increase from here on out, and Augmented Reality users will increase as more and more users contribute to public reference points, ultimately resulting in an ever-increasing collection. Augmented Reality will prove to be beneficial as people use it for their individual reference needs.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/big-idea/14/augmented-reality

http://blogs.wsj.com/tech-europe/2011/09/20/dutch-augmented-reality-start-up-ready-to-disrupt-business/?KEYWORDS=augmented+reality

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/09/29/app-watch-getting-the-history-of-your-location/?KEYWORDS=augmented+reality

Finally, we discussed the future of television – Becoming more interactive and more intelligent. Televisions are on the verge of becoming more insightful as to what viewers want, based solely on voice commands, which Microsoft’s Xbox console unveiled mid-December, which allows users to talk to their televisions through the Xbox. With Apple’s voice command software, Siri, and plans to expand to an Apple-branded television, competition to create smarter television sets has increased. Microsoft has stimulated the competition with this Xbox update. Soon, every little motion we make will be digitally recognized as we give commands to our personal technologies Voice technology is paving a way for a new experience with our devices and can inspire a whole new level of productivity for businesses and individuals living day to day lives.

Microsoft also plans on adding social features to the Xbox… From voting on sporting events, to letting your friends know you’re playing a multiplayer game. The future of television will allow people to access content on a different platform and will change how we view content. For example, it will be more efficient to have two windows open on your TV screen as you watch live content and tweet your thoughts with your friends on Twitter in the second window. The future of television is heavily invested in the use of “social television”, where audiences take to social networking platforms to discuss what they’re viewing on television. This has a monumental impact on how television producers and programmers will create and distribute content based on how audiences respond to content via social networking sites, where they express feedback.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/disruptions-a-tv-that-can-read-me/

http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/05/tech/gaming-gadgets/xbox-upgrades-microsoft/index.html

In summation, it’s been a busy semester… And so much has happened on the digital media front in the past 16 weeks. In addition to other courses, staying up to date and informed on the topic of emerging media was a constant game of catch up. However, it’s imperative to be knowledgeable and well-versed in emerging medias in order to diversify one’s skill set, which makes one an invaluable asset to employers. Emerging digital media’s reach is extensive and regardless of what extent it affects your life, there is no doubt that it has, and will continue to redefine and set the standard for how digital content is created, distributed, and consumed.

Semester-Long Twitter Wrap Up

Difficult to believe that it was the beginning of September when I first posted about the three new additions to my “Following” list on Twitter. Well, my list has expanded since then… From WSJ Tech Columnsit Walt Mossberg, Founder and CEO of Mashable Pete Cashmore, and Lead Technology Reporter for The New York Times “Bits Blog”, Nick Bilton… My @sprentice28/media list now follows @rdio, online music streaming service based in San Francisco, California, @mashablesocialmedia – The Twitter account for all of Mashable’s news on social media, @sparker – The Twitter account for Sean Parker, founder of Napster and investor of Facebook and Spotify, @turntablefm – The Twitter account for Turntable.fm, which is an up and coming platform where users can play music from their personal collections for other users in chatroom-style rooms, @mashableapple, @mashableentertain, and @cnntech.

It’s been challenging to stay up to date with each Twitter account, my hand was forced to make a list once I began following over 400 different accounts. If there is one thing I learned from this experience, it’s that all technology/media changes at an unimaginable rate… Or that’s what it seemed like to me! Mashable’s Twitter accounts in particular were constantly inundating my Twitter Timeline with Tweets ranging from “Why Businesses Should Adopt A Multi-Channel Messaging Strategy” to “Online Piracy Act: Would It Help Business or Kill Innovation?”. The rate at which the Tweets would come in was simply overwhelming, and more often than not, I would find myself adding certain Tweets to my “favorites” so I could read them in depth later on in the day. Rdio and Turntable.fm’s Twitter accounts that I took an active interest in. Both accounts were used not only for self-promotion, but also used regularly to keep in touch with users and musicians. Rdio would tweet about new music added to the public collection, such as Ryan Stout’s debut comedy while Turntable.fm would communicate with up and coming musicians planning to play their personal music in the chatrooms for other audiences.

While companies like Mashable and CNN Tech have already established themselves as legitimate, credible sources for news and information, Twitter is an ideal medium to quickly share and spread news to millions and millions of people. However, companies like Turntable.fm and Rdio see Twitter as a platform to increase the visibility of their brand and actually create a name for themselves – And why not over Twitter? It’s free, it’s quick, and within seconds, you can reach nearly half a billion people.

Turntable.fm – Detrimental to The Radio Industry or Groundbreaking Innovation Here to Stay

Launched in May of 2011, Turntable.fm hasn’t been on the online music sharing “scene” for too long, yet it already has garnered over 500,000 users. I’m sure I’ve mentioned Turntable.fm earlier on – But it is an innovation that seems to have staying power. Some people would argue that Turntable.fm (along with the rest of the online music streaming industry) is nothing but detrimental to the traditional radio industry. Logically, yes, music streaming sites are taking audiences (and advertisers) away from traditional radio. Why, that’s half a million people that may have tuned into their personal radios for at least 15 minutes to increase a station’s AQH. Why would people listen to Turntable.fm? There is no live personality to keep you company! Wouldn’t it get boring quickly? With the radio, you have a live personality to keep you company and introduce you to new music.

However, I feel that Turntable.fm’s contribution to the online music streaming world far outweighs its detractions. Turntable.fm is making listening to music a social experience again. Turntable.fm is comprised of numerous chat rooms, all with a different theme of music that is being played in that room. When you enter that room, you expect just to be listening to whatever is playing, but it’s much more than that. Upon entering the room, you see 5 DJ positions (occupied or either waiting to be occupied), and a large floor where users’ avatars can gather and listen to the music that the DJ, or DJs are spinning for the patrons of the room. But that’s not all – There is also a small chat window in the corner of the screen so users can talk to each other about the music they are hearing and also provide feed back (or simply trash talk) the DJ current choosing music. In addition, users can also vote on the DJ’s song selection, which can earn them points, which gives them more power when on the DJ stand and on the floor as well.

Imagine if you will, dear readers, a living room with the fireplace lit, with a family gathered around an old-timey radio listening to Sherlock Holmes on the radio. Although some people would still be interested gathering around a radio today and listening to the Top 40 countdown (or whatever it may be), the ability to have access to music and content on our computers has made listening to music a rather solitary experience. Turntable.fm is making listening to music a social experience again, except now it’s online! This is nothing to scoff upon, rather, it’s something to embrace. We listen to music, day-to-day, off our iPod, with our headphones on, or in our rooms with Pandora on. With Turntable.fm, users can listen to the kind of music they want, because there’s a chat room for it – And if there isn’t, then grab another user and get one going! Turntable.fm gives the users the power to play what they want, the audiences the power to hear what they want, all together on the Internet.

My Thoughts on Interactive Design

Interactive Design is creation of interactive environments, tools and products on the digital platform, and ICOM 101 was fortunate enough to discuss this practice for an entire class earlier this week. This was my first immersive learning experience regarding Interactive Design, and I’ll be sure to get the terminology and concepts correct. Interactive Design does not simply enhance how consumers perceive a product on the digital platform, it also incorporates the use of psychology as well. For example, in order to design a webpage that attracts the viewers eye, Interactive Designers can use studies utilizing the ability to track human eye movement across a page on the Internet.

Another aspect of Interactive Design that I found fascinating was the use of augmented reality, or “reality on steroids”, as our guest speaker accurately worded it. What augmented reality essentially is, is the fusion of computer generated information, and a projection of that into reality. Augmented reality changes the way we see the world through the use of our personal technology. The most relevant example would be the use of augmented reality to display information about our surrounding by the use of a camera on our phones.

Finally, Interactive Design is the reason consumers are able to pick up our electronic technology without hesitation and carry out whatever task that we had in mind. The applications on an iPhone are attractive, user friendly, and allow for easy productivity and maneuvering through the information we have stored there. We’re able to jump on a website and know that certain links will take us to our desired location, thanks to Interactive Design. The placement and shape of user interface buttons allow for easy navigation on any website, specifically Pandora Internet Radio. Pandora redesigned their site this September, and made it even easier for users to play/pause, share, like/dislike, and access your profile and music feed (two new features that came with “New Pandora” this September).

The Music Industry…

Moby had a few choice words on the direction the music industry is going, and his thoughts on how today’s artists should proceed making music…

There needs to be a DIY approach to making music – Self reliance. Record companies may not be around in the next five years, and learning to do the recording, promoting, and touring process yourself is extremely important.

The demise of the record business is because of the record companies themselves. The record companies began signing bands with no loyalty, and remained popular for short periods of time. Bands must be able to provide lasting value.

There’s an overall higher quality of music that must become an industry standard.

The second video offered suggestions on how to fix the music industry…

The consumer knows what they want. They’re always right.

You can’t afford to have bad tracks on albums. If you have a radio hit, you could sell a million units. It has to change to where albums are 12 tracks of greatness.

Consumers want to engage and interact with social mediums. Radio is the most prepared for this.

Radio was the first interactive medium by which people listened to and were introduced to music.

Major labels need to revert to their old model, and find only the best acts. They found the good acts. Radio was the filter, MTV was the filter, and now there is no filter.

Must take a creative risk. They go to peer to peer networks, because young people do not trust major labels to find good acts.

Lynda Course 2 – Avid’s Pro Tools 9

After talking to a few professionals in the industry, I determined Avid’s Pro Tools is the industry standard for audio editing

Creative Project Outline

The issue I want to focus on is obesity in the United States – specifically, obesity in a young demographic. In the past twenty years, there’s been an alarming increase in obesity in the United States. In 2010 alone, every state had at least 20% of the population as obese. 36 states had a prevalence of 25% or more, while 12 of these states had a prevalence of 30% or more. The leading cause of death in the United States for the past few years is heart disease, which is directly linked to obesity and lack of physical activity. More and more children are starting to show signs of obesity, which will lead to serious health complications earlier in life. My targeted audience is young… People age 8-18. It’s critical to stress the importance of daily physical exercise as well as proper diet to avoid obesity and the health complications associated with obesity.

With more and more young children and teenagers spending obscene amounts of time in front of a screen with Internet capabilities, I would like to focus on a series of radio-style and visual advertisements and public service announcements geared toward educating this young demographic on the importance of daily physical activity, healthy eating habits as well as statistics pertaining to overweight, obesity, and obesity-related deaths in the United States. The trend of being in front of screens with Internet capabilities is starting at a young adage… 46% of children under 8 years old are on the computer more than once a week, while 50% of children under 8 had access to a mobile device like a smartphone, iPad or other tablet. With young children As “apps” become increasingly popular, application based advertising is going to be key in this endeavor. Ads in popular free games such as Words With Friends, Angry Birds and Reckless Getaway are being seen by more and more audiences everyday. In addition to popular gaming applications, music streaming applications are increasingly popular as well. Advertisements on music streaming applications like Pandora, Spotify and iheartradio, where users are normally required to pay for noncommercial accounts, will make money for the companies, as well as serve an educating purpose for this young demographic.

With more young people on smartphones playing with applications and spending more time on the Internet, they’re more likely to be exposed to these advertisements. In terms of the gaming applications, in order for their game to continue, the users will either need to listen to the advertisement/PSA or read the statistics displayed on the screen before their game to continue. They will be locked on the screen with this advertisement for at least ten seconds before they can continue to ensure that the advertisement is being seen. By postponing the advancement in the game, the user has nothing to do but be exposed to the advertisement. In terms of the music streaming applications, Pandora and Spotify both offer free accounts paid for by advertising, however they have a limit on how long you can listen for daily and how many songs you can skip over in the suggested playlist. One way to keep users coming back is to display advertisements similar to those in gaming applications and at the end of an hour, provide a brief quiz with information from the advertisements. If the user answers the questions correctly, then they are rewarded by an additional 15 minutes listening time, or the ability to skip over an extra song during the next hour they listen. This requires the user to be involved with the advertisement and ensure the retention of the information contained in the advertisement.

I plan on creating a total of nine PSA/Advertisements for this project in a radio-style advertisement format. Three dedicated to the importance of daily physical activity, three dedicated to making healthy eating choices, and three dedicated to obesity and overweight statistics in the United States.

Sources:

http://mashable.com/2011/03/09/technology-kids-learning/

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/us/screen-time-higher-than-ever-for-children-study-finds.html?scp=1&sq=children&st=cse

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths.htm

http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/obesityprevention/index.html

http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=14367

http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/

Animation In Advertising

Animated commercials are a form of advertising that have the potential to capture the attention of audiences more successfully than your standard, run-of-the-mill advertising commercials.

The first advertisement I found that I believe to be an effective way to entertain the audience is the animated spot for the recent release, The Thing. This is a successful commercial but you don’t know what it’s for, until, BAM! “THE THING”! It adds an element of surprise as well as mystery to the short commercial, which stick with you after the commercial is over.

The second animation I found is from the 2011 SuperBowl.

This animation is successful because of the quick-talking, constantly moving and ever belligerent Eminem. He establishes why he doesn’t do commercials and quickly informs the audience why Brisk is different, which increases the audience’s interest in the product. He does this all while remaining the classic Eminem that audience recognizes him as.

The final animation which is successful in educating the audience is…

This LG commercial educates and informs the audience about the environmental and nutritional benefits of the product at hand. Seeing all the animals interact positively with the products stresses the importance of the products being environmentally friendly, which is a popular trend to rely upon.

Mid-Semester Review

The past eight (or so) weeks have been nothing but constant learning in ICOM… Every class is a series of humbling discoveries pertaining to social/online media. In this post, I would like to discuss the monumental effects that social media, and advancements in online technology have had on life as we know it.

First up – Small companies and normal people with BIG ideas turning to social media. With the Internet becoming more accessible to people and businesses, it’s time they took to online social media platforms to share and develop their ideas and expand their business. I’ll start with a few young entrepreneurs in Egypt. After the uprising, several young Egyptians began their respective contributions the ever-growing digital world.

(http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/business/global/egypts-entrepreneurs-look-beyond-the-revolution.html?pagewanted=all)

One woman, Yasmin El-Mahairy started up SuperMama, an Arabic-language website for women. Marwan Roushdy, a student the American University of Cairo is developing an application that allows users to locate any hospital in the world. Whereas, two other Egyptians, Mohamed Rafea and Ali Rafea created an application that warns users, and allows users to warn others about congested traffic routes. What’s remarkable about this is the sudden flourish of creativity amidst a massive political revolution, as well as the fact that there are tools on the Internet that allow these creative minds to create such innovations.

http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/11/small-businesses-that-understand-social-media/)

(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/business/smallbusiness/23twitter.html)

Small businesses have also (and still are) utilized social media to grow their businesses and have achieved much success. Curtis Kimball, owner of a crème brulee cart in San Francisco took to Twitter to post his daily location as well as his daily flavors. His Twitter account currently has over 20,000 followers. Another small business, Melrose Jewelers in Los Angeles, sells luxury watches, has introduced a Facebook page, YouTube account and blog. All three tools help the business build credibility and allow potential customers more information about the watches.

(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304066504576349331437407542.html?KEYWORDS=naked+pizza)

In this additional WSJ article, Naked Pizza (An all-natural restaurant chain) owners Robbie Vitrano and Jeff Leach posted entertaining Tweets to Twitter for the past five years… And in the past year and a half, have received over 8,000 investment inquiries due to their online presence. Naked Pizza hit it big when private equity firm Kraft Group helped expand from one outlet to 20 locations worldwide, with more than 450 on the way. Social media is an unbelievably beneficial tool for small businesses as well as independent entrepreneurs who are looking to start up.

(http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/04/business/media/promoting-products-using-social-media-advertising.html)

Moving from small business to large scale companies and household brands, who have taken to the Internet, not to promote products, but to direct customers to their respective Facebook and Twitter accounts. Companies and brands are creating advertisements with real time updates from the company or brand’s Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube accounts. As long as you scroll over one of these miniature web sites, you don’t have to leave the page. These advertisements are more customer-friendly and more interactive, in a less distracting way. Before these advertisements, an ad could consumer the entire page and could be disruptive to whatever you were engaging in originally. For example, Ritz crackers wanted to attract attention to a promotion with Glee, which is composed of a sweepstakes to win a trip to meet the cast of Glee on set in Los Angeles. Ritz paid for words like “Glee” and any character’s name to be highlighted and any user who hovered their mouse over the word would be directed to an advertisement in a separate window, which went into further detail about the contest and had a link to the Facebook page.

(http://socialtimes.com/would-you-like-fries-and-coke-with-that-farmville_b25045)

McDonald’s also took to social media through the popular game Farmville. For a day McDonald’s was a neighbor farm where Farmville users were able to visit and interact with the McDonald’s farm. What McDonald’s has done changed the way advertising is received by the consumer. McDonald’s advertising for a day on Farmville is an example of how companies and brands need to find a way to reach audiences in a relevant way. This specific type of advertisement is an innovative and successful one. What makes it so, is that McDonald’s is advertising on a social media site where millions of people go daily, and spend obscene amounts of time there. Companies and brands must create ads geared toward being consumer-friendly and strategically place them on sites where people visit and regularly interact with the site. What is more relevant than social media platforms, and how can companies and brands take an active role in Internet advertising?

(http://www.businessinsider.com/internet-next-big-thing-2011-10)

They can begin with personalizing advertisements towards social media consumers based on individual Internet history. Also, they can’t ignore trends of human behavior. For example, begin to design advertisements that run on Smartphone applications. Adopting a mobile presence can benefit the company greatly, since more and more people access the Internet and social media from their phone. Social media platforms have provided fertile land for companies and brands to begin laying down roots and begin reaching audiences through unique advertisements geared toward the brand’s or company’s social networking pages.

http://www.searchmarketinggurus.com/search_marketing_gurus/2008/11/barack-obama-the-first-social-media-president.html

Social media is not merely affecting businesses and young entrepreneurs, but its reach has extended into the realm of politics as well. President Obama’s victory in the 2008 election proved how important having an active presence is on the Internet, especially on social networking platforms. Obama’s campaign team diversified his reach across the Internet and were able to recognize the power of fundraising and designed sites where voters would continually return and donate. Obama’s Internet reach spanned from blogs derived from Obama’s website (where supports could communicate, blog and share information/opinions), to the campaigns Flickr account, which was constantly being updated with photos from rallies and tours. It was Obama’s YouTube channel that garnered attention with Will.I.Am’s “Yes We Can” music video. All of these tools were fundamental in spreading the importance of voting, as well as informing the people who to vote for by allowing them to become active in the election process.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/20/us/politics/20social.html

The Republican party has since recognized the importance of having an active online presence and has begun creating their own tools. Former Digital Advisor to President Bush, Tim Pawlenty introduced an interactive social game, taking traits from Farmville and Foursquare, where supporters are awarded points and badges for adding personal social media sites to the game, as well as inviting a friend to the game. Facebook is still a useful tool and campaigns can gain access depending on the user’s privacy settings, where they can see e-mail addresses, hometowns and other people in your network.

http://mashable.com/2011/10/03/election-digital-platforms/

There are three sites that will have an impact on the social media aspect of the 2012 election. The first site is Multply. Similar to Mr. Pawlenty’s contribution, Multiply asks users to do tasks, from sharing a story on Facebook, to donating money. As a reward, Multiply awards badges, points and exclusive rewards to these participants. The second site is Ruck.us… Which allows users to work directly on the issues that matter to them with other users who are concerned with similar topics. Finally, Salsa Labs allows users to create apps and manage mass e-mails, which users can send to networks containing voting information or donating information. A social platform will be essential in the online portion of the election. Voters want to feel involved and active with their respective party, and as long as they can voice their opinions to other people who will listen and want to reach the same goals, they will play a large role as to who’s in the White House next November.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/business/10ping.html

Finally, social media has an effect on our daily lives… Specifically our day-to-day mental well-being. Social media platforms such as Facebook are known to offset “FOMO” – The fear of missing out. FOMO is the combination of anxiety, inadequacy and irritation that can surface will searching sites such as (but not limited to), Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare. Being able to see what your friends are doing without you, in real time, can create quite the depressing mood for the rest of the day. It’s compared to missing a plane by two minutes… It’s so close, you could’ve imagined how things would have been different.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/tracking-u-s-mood-through-twitter/

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/using-twitter-as-a-collective-mood-ring/

Our relationship with social media is a stressed relationship indeed. And the interesting part is, users keep coming back to social media despite “FOMO” for the sole purpose of seeing what everyone else is doing. There have been studies conducted that don’t simply focus on the negative side of our relationship with social media. Twitter is being used to track the nation’s mood throughout the week. As you would expect, people’s peak happiness is during the weekends (Saturday night/Sunday morning). In addition to gauging the nation’s emotions, Twitter also measures what the nation is interested in, in real-time. By looking for trends in descriptive words and phrases, and by analyzing nearly 1,00 Tweets per minute, statisticians can accurately get a feel for the nation’s mood as well as what’s “trending”. Social media has the ability to bring out emotions in us that we normally do not feel on a regular basis. Social media also is an outlet for us to channel these emotions. When actual life isn’t going our way, we jump on social networks to make ourselves feel better, by Tweeting, blogging or removing someone as a friend on Facebook.

Lynda.Com – Adobe Audition 2.0

Adobe Audition is a digital audio editing platform primarily for Windows and Mac OSX Leopard users. I have been fortunate enough to have some minor experience with the platform formerly known as Cool Edit Pro, however, I have spoken to professionals (the GM of my high school station as well as Production Director at IPR) who have told me that both Audition and Pro Tools (my next Lynda course), are the editing platforms used in a majority of professional settings.

Before I begin talking about the different features on Adobe Audition I want to state simply what I learned from this Lynda course. I learned that each digital waveform of audio is comprised of thousands of dots (Samples)… Now, for every second of audio you capture, there are 44,100 samples! In terms of recording channels, the human voice is meant to be recorded in mono channel, however, if you choose to record it in stereo, you’re taking up twice as much hard disk space, for no benefit.

A cool feature that I’ve never used in Cool Edit Pro that I noticed in Adobe Audition is the “work spaces” function. Audition allows you change the screen layout anyway you want it to look. On top of this, you can have multiple work spaces, each with a different layout if you choose, with different panels for each work space. Panels may be the volume adjustment, or the tone control, or the multiple track view button.

Another neat feature that I learned existed through this Lynda course was the ability to do a timed record versus an instant record. Normally, when you hit the record button, sound begins being recorded. However, with a timed record, you can set a timer to record after 00:03 of pressing record, or actually set a time limit on what you’re recording. Say, if you wanted to record a :10 radio clip, you could set your time limit and ensure that your audio will end at :10 precisely. By entering XMP information, you’re able to enter and see all the information about your specific file. When it was created, when it was modified as well as what has been  done with it.

Overall, I took several pages worth of notes that I now have to look back upon if I ever question my next step, or am just looking to increase my knowledge about the layout and functionality of both Cool Edit Pro and Adobe Audition.