Atavism means; a recurrence of or reversion to a past style, manner, outlook, approach, or activity.
I find this word fitting for this blog post because I realize that I have to start posting in this blog again or my media teacher will have it in for me. So I am going to reverse back into the habit of making ridiculous blog posts a regular occurrence again :/ Lucky you.
But no, the real reason for this blog post is to answer these questions;
What is my idea? What form does it take? What conventions will it use? How will it target my audience? How will my campaign be launched? What do I need to plan for?
Truth is I have no idea dudes. I just go with the flow to be honest and hope whatever I do just 'happens' and it 'happens' right the first time, but hey I'll give it ago.
My idea is to create a campaign that brings awareness to social network users, primarily teenagers, and communicates that what they post is their responsibility. It will take the form of a print based campaign and will also include a webpage relating to this message. The conventions that will be included is having the message we are trying to communicate in each print-based advertisement and it will target my audience because it will make the message memorable. I NEED to plan for planning (because I am terrible at that) and will also plan how my campaign will be launched.
So far from my research I have learn the background on social networking and what I need to include in my campaign. Firstly I need to create initial ideas for designing my campaign and pick the best one out of my designs with my partner, and then follow the steps of schedule on my brief (that I have posted beforehand.) - staying safe online and the dangers of Internet safety.
We had to analyse adverts that were centred around internet safety and social networking which was really interesting..... (insert sarcasim) I had LOTS of fun.
Lol jk, I did actually enjoy it the adverts were hilarious. The first advert I watched was an advert called 'think before you post'.
In the video, there are people who are walking through the school
corridor and see this photo of a girl she posted of herself on the board. People start to take the photo and pass it
around the school discussing it; the girl is unaware of who is taking the
pictures and when she attempts to take the photo down off the board she cannot
because they just don’t stop multiplying. It was like the photos became
Gremlins and someone had thrown some water on ‘em or something. Then some
really weird dude, the school janitor (so typical, I mean he is the school
janitor for a reason right?) takes one of the photo gremlin things that won’t
ever come down and smiles really creepily. Then the message of the
advertisement appears.
Audience
The main targeted audience I think was teenage girls as the girl portrayed was a young teenage female in what I think is a high school, a time when people use the internet and social networking most often.
Message and purpose
The purpose of this advert was to make the targeted audience aware of
what material they put online and that anyone can see it even people you don’t know
thus the massage of the advert was ’’think before you post online’’. This advert
was effective at communicating it to the audience because people tend to post
things without thinking because they cannot see the immediate threat of doing
so (out of sight out of mind as they say) but by putting it in a way that they can
actually visually see other people taking there pictures or posts, talking
about them and adjusting them, they realise that social networking and the
internet is just like a post it board where there is no protection or
limitation as to who can see it.
Tuesday, 18 September 2012
Social networking mistakes;
1.People don’t Google there own names to see what
everyone else see’s to protect their privacy. This is what came up when I put
my name in (not me)
2.People forget to check out Facebook privacy
settings. Then...
3.People post without thinking leading to
embarrassing stuff. Example;
4.People ‘like’ things without knowing the full
details of what it is or whether it will save your information.
5.People post intimate details of themselves
online without thinking who could be looking at it (ie; Boss and get themselves
fired) example would be;
6.People add other people that they don’t even
know. I mean there’s no way anyone knows 4,736 personally.
7.People post their location or address on their
social networking. You could be robbed.
I conducted an internet search about myself to see what came up and to see if I was really 'safe'. Turns out I am! Because I could not actually find anything about myself on; Google search, Yahoo search or Bing search. Instead this is what came up.
When I searched images;
Search image Results
This guy also came up on my web search of myself. Maybe because I share my name with a famous WWE wrestler I couldn't find myself on the net. I think its a good thing that I do because it keeps me moderately safe from prying eyes I suppose.
A website that allows
someone to use the Internet without leaving any sign of who they are
Brochure site
A simple website,
often consisting of just one page, that advertises a company’s products and
gives general information about the company
Content provider
A website that
contains mostly news or information, or a business that provides the
information for that website
Discussion list
A website where
people can discuss a particular subject
Electronic mall
A website that sells
the products and services of different companies
E-network
A website where
people can exchange ideas about business and other subjects, especially one
that you have to pay to use
Forum
A website, newspaper, television programme etc where people
can express their ideas and opinions
Ghost site
An old website that
you can still look at
Listening post
A website on the
Internet where you can listen to music
Mashup
A website or piece of software making use of information
from more than one website, for example using photographs from one website and
text from another
Mirror site
An exact copy of a busy website that is created to reduce
the number of people visiting the main website
Moblog
A weblog (a website that frequently has new personal
information added to it) that contains mainly photographs from mobile phones or
pdas
Portal
An Internet site (place)
that has links (connections) to other places
Rogue site
A website that people
go to because it has a name that is similar to that of a popular website
Search directory
A website that
contains links to other websites, organized according to subject and in
alphabetical order
Social networking site
A website such as Facebook or MySpace that allows you to
communicate with friends and make new friends
SoNet site
A social networking website
Splog
A website that copies the style of a weblog as a joke
Storefront
A website that is
similar to a shop because it provides product information and you can buy goods
from it
Vlog
A weblog (=a personal
website that frequently has new information added to it) that contains mainly
video
Walled garden
A website that you
need a username and password to use or that limits what you can look at
Being an introvert, I am naturally quiet and choose to withdraw from large social groups, so you'd think that social networks would be a haven for me. But I don't use social networking sites very much, I actually forgot both my email and password for Facebook about two years ago as I just wasn't using it. From my own personal experience with social networks, I saw social networks be taken over by extroverts and was probably why I stopped using them as often. But lately I was wondering if people just act as extroverts on line because the anxiety of face-to-face conversation is removed. I mean, its not a stupid question to ask is it? In fact, many people could be labelled as an offline introvert, on-line extrovert. And it would explain why so many people who are usually very guarded with personal information or opinions in the real world, to then post all this private information without even thinking.
I take it this person wasn't thinking when he posted this
'You just put into words what I was thinking! Social media gave those of us that 30 years ago would have had jobs in a back room somewhere a way to communicate with confidence. But like you said, the problem arises when we step back into the real world and don’t live up to expectations of being the person we’ve allowed everyone to see on line.
(I could never say what I just said in a room full of people)'
Is this why social networks are so popular now-a-days? As they appeal to people who prefer to be alone to communicate in a way that suits them? I mean if your going to create an invention that promotes social interactions and communication of course extroverts are going to be all over it, they don't even need something to talk about to talk (as by definition) just give them the tools to do so and they will get at it. But introverts prefer to be alone then to socialise with a bunch of acquaintances whom they don't know very well (as it gets quite exhausting after a while), so social networking sites actually remove the exhausting element of socialising because you don't have to make the effort to open your mouth and make words come out, making social networks convenient for introverts as well as extroverts. Which explains the popularity of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter because they appeal to such a wide audience.
'1 in 5 divorce petitions processed cite Facebook'
'20% of all divorce petitions have references to Facebook'
'Computer firms are now cashing in by creating software
programs for people to spy on their spouses'
A woman of 28 years of age divorced her husband after discovering her husband was having a virtual affair with a woman whom he had never met. Whilst another woman of 35 even discovered her husband was divorcing her via Facebook. I would of hated to be their divorce attorneys!
Here is an unfortunate example of a relationship gone sour because of social networking related issues on the Jeremy Kyle show USA. The fact that a relationship can break down without someone physically saying or doing something to another person to cause a break-up is something of a new reality to us. Before, say 10 years ago, the most common reason for divorce was financial difficulties and abuse from a partner. Now its because of social networking posts, pictures and flirty messages sent to people many of the senders haven't actually met. Quite like the little grey bloke explained on my previous post.
'facebook dating - for those wiht no socail skills! who cant talk to a woman in REAL LIFE face to face!'
-Youtube User (2 years ago)
Although I don't totally agree with this statement made by a fellow Youtube user, I do kinda agree that there are no social skills included in talking to people on social networks. I don't know about you (although I probably could know everything about you just by typing your name into Google) but have you ever met someone in real life that you have only ever spoke to on line? Awkward isn't it? Of course not all the time as many people met there spouses or partners on social networking sites, in fact, its the third most common way in which people met there partners according to a survey by match.com. Remember back in the 90's where everybody thought of Internet dating as a last resort as it was widely thought that Internet dater's were the social rejects of society? (Well, I don't because I wasn't born then, but hopefully you do.) Well it turns out all those Internet daters in the late 90s weren't social rejects after all; they were just a few years ahead of the digital Zeitgeist. So I guess that social networking sites aren't all bad as demonstrated in a working paper presented at the 2010 American Sociological Association meeting showing that 25% of new marriages originated from on line meetings. So social networking can be described as the root of both destruction and creation in some relationships, not all remember, and the amount of relationships originating from social networking sites I predict will rise (but please note I am not an Internet expert and also wrong in most of my predictions of the future, but the thing is with social networking sites is that they are unpredictable, some fail some are overnight success's). Let me leave you with a statistic from this source http://cp.match.com/cppp/media/CMB_Study.pdf .
15 years ago (that's 1997 people) Social networking sites accounted for 0% of marriages.
Fast forward 15 years (that's 2012) Social networking sites account for 17% of marriages.
In the last year, more than twice as many marriages occurred between people who met on an on line dating site than met in bars, at clubs and other social events combined.
1 out of 5 single people have dated someone they met on an on line dating site.
1 out of 5 people in a new committed relationship (including marriage) met their significant other on an on line dating site.
I'll see you on match.com!
What about friendships?
I think we can all relate to this picture...
Of course not all relationships are between a couple, we all have friends (Hopefully you do, but if you don't, well then this is just really awkward), but does social networking stunt friendship growth? Many good friendships bloom on networking sites and last for years, but on the flip side, how many friendships between BBF's (again if you don't have one of these then I have just rubbed salt in your wound) have ended because of something related to these networks?
'As the Internet and online social networks continue to grow so does cyber bullying.'
Megan Meier was a pretty, 13 year old girl who killed herself due to online bullying and was a well known case back in 2007. This was writtten by the telegraph newspaper.
'Cyber bullying victims are more likely to have low self esteem and to consider suicide.'
-Cyberbullying Research Center, "Summary of our cyberbullying research from 2004-2010" [online]
Bullying victims are 2 to 9 times more likely to commit suicide.
The CDC states that bullying victims are 2 to 9 times more likely to commit suicide or attempt it than those who do not experience bullying. This is not just true for the victims of bullies, but it is also true for the bullies themselves. Bullies are often the product of an abusive environment and are likely to be victims of bullying themselves. These specific numbers come from the 2011 Mortality and Morbidity report that the CDC issued. In the report, CDC professionals cite a correlation between bullying and higher suicide rates.
This was a chart created in 2008 (hopefully you can see it)
Over the past week or so, I've tried to gather some research of my own by going out and about with a friend of mine asking people what were their thoughts about social networking, and let me tell you now you'd be surprised at how fast people can run when they see someone with a clipboard!
Although, I probably shouldn't of then ran after them :/
The people who didn't want to answer
my questionnaire and a red
dude.
Anyway, although I couldn't get any results, I took the time to read the book The Facebook Effect. The book talked about the growth and impact of Facebook and how it has made an irreversible impact on society, marketing and politics -- even facilitating political protests around the world in countries such as Colombia and Iran. I hadn't been able to read the entire book, but I was able to get an overall sense of Facebook and be able to get to know the social network better, and look forward to reading the rest.
Of course I cant copy the entire book onto this blog. Because I'm just lazy like that and there would probably be a copyright issue. But I did find this video on youtube for you related to it...
In this video Mark Zukerberg says ''Facebook is just a platform and the content is created by its members.''
This quote made me think up that maybe social networking has no negative or positives, maybe the negatives and positives are created by the people that utilise this media, but that then brings up the question of does this still make social networks responsible? As it is giving the people the tools, in some cases the murder weapon, to make something either really great or really disastrous. Although I'm mostly likely wrong and thinking too deeply about it :/
''I think that there is something to be pointed out here. These things may be true but they aren't in anyway facebook's fault. Thats the way that people chose to use the service thats provided to them. Nothing more.'' -Youtube user (0 likes)
''Facebook Is The place where people add you as a friend & walk past you in the street. Where relationships are perfect, affairs are started, & liars believe they are telling the truth. Your enemies visit your profile the most, yet your friends & family block you, &… even though you write what you are really thinking, someone always takes it the wrong way, & people think your status is about them...repost if you agree..... AHH sheeit ' thats SOOOOO true .''
- Youtube user (34 likes)
The Facebook effect. If you've read all of my very dull posts on this blog in order to understand social networking better (Lol good luck) well then I suggest you look at this video. This little bloke explains it all...
And whilst he was at it, Twitter too...
'Now FB has 800 million users, 300 million more than when this was posted. This FB nonsense has got to stop somewhere. It may be that one day, you can ONLY get hired if you're on FB, and what's on there pleases somebody. That's way to demonic for me to handle.'
-Youtube User (25 likes) 2 months ago
The Faceook effect.
A good book you could read.
Whilst researching Youtube for videos to learn from about social networking as only a good and dedicated media student does, I came across the above comment and it got me thinking about the new reality about being a person that society has now come across thanks to the social networking revolution. 'I am on Facebook, therefore I am.' Whether this is actually the new reality or not doesn't matter, what does matter is that many people believe this is the new reality, and many employers do now-a-days check an employee's social networks profiles and in some cases can lead to employee's being fired because of posts or pictures put up by that person. Hopefully, the power of social networking will never get so far as to someone ONLY getting hired because of how many friends they have on their facebook page, but in this video above 'The facebook effect' Mark Zukerberg couldn't say what Facebook would be like in 40 years. I thought it quite funny that Mark Zukerberg, the creator of Facebook, couldn't say what his social network would be like in 40 years but neither can any of us. I had a very hard time even defining social networking in my previous post let only even comprehend the power of social networking in the future and knowing that the overnight success Facebook creator couldn't either didn't exactly give me much hope or optimism. But you never know whether people will only get hired because of how many Facebook friends they have or whether they will only get hired because of how good there Farmville on Facebook is (which I must admit, mine is very impressive) as we just can't predict what the impact that social networking will have on us in even 5 years. But social networking has already played a part in political movements in such countries as Iran, Egypt and Columbia. Such a big impact that Egyptian citizens are now calling there children 'Facebook' to commemorate the role it played in the revolution.(And I thought my name was weird). I think this naming children after social networking just demonstrates how powerful they really are, although I think they shouldn't let the naming get out of hand though, I’d hate for little “Facebook” to have to share a classroom with a little “AOL,” or even worse a little “Yahoo.”
I mean who would've thought a Egyptian president for 40+ years would resign over a 2-week protest using the Internet? The internet, social networks in particular, are a pretty powerful tool if you ask me.
For most people, using a social network is enjoyable and useful, however if the potential pitfalls are ignored, an individual could find themselves languishing in the negative effects of social networks such as; Facebook, twitter etc. The keys to having a successful experience on the network is to be attentive to the disadvantages, and educate and protect yourself by using the tools Facebook provides. Combining these with common sense can help mitigate some of the problematic issues generally associated with being a social network member. Sometimes we may think think that we are aware of the negative impacts of social networking, but maybe not as aware as we may like to think we are, as any of us can be the victims of:
Identity theft/fraud
Cyberbullying (Ex; threatening,harassing,humiliating,stalking,sexually exploiting a targeted person.)
Breakdown of 'in person' relationships due to social networking.
Misinterpretation of 'posts'
Can be used as a way for illegal activity to commence( ie; Drug deals made, rioting etc.)
Less time to do things in the real world
Loss of privacy
Addiction to checking your profile/s
The list of negatives is endless just as the positives are! But we are going to focus on the negatives as I am just in that kind of pessimistic mood.
This particular post has links or references to the negative impacts of social networking. All sources are reasonably reliable sources of information.
Mainly when people talk about the negative impacts of social networking they refer to cyberbullying, identify theft and computer viruses. But many do not mention how it impacts our daily interactions with other people or our 'in person' social network (referring to the previous post) which is what this article is centralised on.
This particular newspaper article is interesting as it involves a case of a 45 year old woman being bullied online via a fake Facebook account created in her name portraying her as a paedophile and a Drug dealer. This article is interesting because tend to usually in the media hear of only young victims of cyberbullying whereas this article is written about an elder victim. This demonstrates that not only young people are perpetrators or victims of the negative impacts of social networking.
Alike to the New York times article at the top, it mentions the unproductive health impacts of constant social networking usage, which is very interesting as it has several quotes included in the text.
Watch Charlie Chaplins speech. Although at first glance it doesn't seem relevant it does have some relation to technology today and is also quite poignant.
I found this graph below quite interesting as the results show that cyberbullying cases have actually decreased, which was opposite to what I thought it would be as I would have guessed that as the Internet has grown so would the cases of cyberbullying, but instead the results contradict that. These results show that in February 2010 the cases of cyberbullying have decreased by 19.8% from June 2004. And the even stranger part is in Feb 2010 they had a larger sample size of 4441 people compared to in June 2004 when they had a small sample size of 370 people. The reasons that these results could of been produced could be because either cyberbullying cases have actually gone done which is a great thing, or the people asked could of been giving untruthful answers as to whether they had experienced cyberbullying which could be a possibility as according to statistics by the i-SAFE foundation'Well over half of young people do not tell their parents when cyber bullying occurs'and'More than 1 in 3 young people have experienced cyberthreats online.'
Cyberbullying statistics dating from June 2004 to February 2010
To be able to understand what social networking is we must first understand what is meant by 'social network' that is not involved with computer usage.
Social network: (In person)
A network of friends, colleagues, and other personal contacts: Strong social networks can encourage healthy behaviours.
Wikipedia: A social network is a set of social actors (e.g. people, organisations, communities, nations) and a set of social relationships (e.g. friendship/affect, communication, economic transactions, interactions, kinship, authority/hierarchy, trust, social support, diffusion, contagion, shared memberships) among them.
From these definitions shown, you can gather that the general term defining an 'in person' social network is personal relationships between two or more people.
Wikipedia: The use of a dedicated Web site to communicate informally with other members of the site, by posting messages, photographs, etc.
Dictionary.com: a.an online community of people with a common interest who use a Web site or other technologies to communicate with each other and share information, resources, etc.: a business-oriented social network.
b. a Web site or online service that facilitates this communication.
From these definitions shown, you can gather the general term defining social networking is an online organisation that allows communication between people on a larger scale and is a way of advertising for companies on a broader scale.
From the variety of these definitions we can pinpoint that an in person social networking are the networks in which we communicate with people on a daily basis such as; Family, friends, co-workers etc. and what social networking is, is simular to an in peron network and embodies the same characteristics but allows for this 'network' of people in whom you interact with to be on a wider scale such as; People you met on the bus one time, distant family, acquaintance's, friends of friends, ex-friends, ex-partners etc. That fact that online social networking allows you to communicate with people you may not really know, or may not even of met in person at all, raises both positive and negative reactions in people which we will soon explore.
I am very scared of this brief. No way am I gonna do even satisfactory on this unit.
:/
- This is my worried face...
Anyway
For this unit of work I will need to be able to get a variety of definations from different reliable sources to define what everyone thinks social networking is. I will also need to research and select what sources and information I will need to post on this blog and which information is the most suitable. I will also need to reference the sources I use and make sure there content is diverse and all together touches all aspects of social networking.
Background Many people now live a significant amount of their lives online, using the internet in a positive manner as a source of information, as a social platform and as a forum for collaborative thinking and creativity. Recent reports show that the majority of people now have a Facebook or other social netwroking account, and many people have a smartphone giving instant access to the internet. However, a number of organisations and studies are concerned with the potential risks of such behaviour. Issues include identity theft, cyberbullying, hacking and the impact of computer viruses as well as fears that people are particularly vulnerable to misinformation on the internet.
Life Online: Submissions Sought Life online is a new organisation set up to highlight both the dangers and the advantages off online technologies. As a student aware of the pro's and con's of online media, we want you to contribute to our growing campaign focussed on promoting understanding and awareness of safe and positive internet usage. Together we can use the whole varietyof local and national media to explore life online in the 21st century.
To be part of our campaign, you will need to investigate the issues surrounding putting your life online. You will also need to research the specific ways in which people in your local region, area or community are involved in this issue. As part of your research, you will need to use some of your findings to identify and justify your choice of target audience. You will then need to develop your own idea's for promoting through the local or national media the danger's or advantage's of putting your life online.
You will need to plan and produce an intergrated campaign using two of the following media forms:
Print and Electronic Publishing, including newspapers, comics, magazines.#
Moving Image, Including television, film and video.
Radio, including commercial, network, public broadcasting, community, etc.
Web-based Technologies/New Media, including websites, podcasts and gaming.
Your teacher has been asked to act as an agent for 'Life Online' in order to collect your responses and is fully committed to this initiative. Your teacher will set you a strict deadline which you must observe.
’’think before you post online’’. This advert
was effective at communicating it to the audience because people tend to post
things without thinking because they cannot see the immediate threat of doing
so (out of sight out of mind as they say) but by putting it in a way that they can
actually visually see other people taking there pictures or posts, talking
about them and adjusting them, they realise that social networking and the
internet is just like a post it board where there is no protection or
limitation as to who can see it.
