Final Theme 2

Theme 2
Explain Meyrowitz's theory as it applies to relationships enabled by electronic media, and trace the evolution of such mediated relationships from Mary Dyck to twitter, including discussion of parasocial interaction, ambient awareness, 'hook-ups" through IM-ing, and other examples you see as relevant.

Meyrowitz argues in his medium theory that there once existed, before electronic media, a physical interaction for a social relationship. With the interference of electronic media, that physical space has disappeared. It is no longer necessary (or common!) for one to have a social relationship outside of cyberspace. Instant communication through some electronic device is quicker, less expensive and less formal. It is easier for most people to express themselves through text than it would be in a physical interaction. It’s easier to stay connected and has become more personal through the years as the advances in internet connectivity and webcam usage has increased. Instead of sending employees on expensive business trips, conferences can now be held in the offices or at home via Webcam. Families and friends now can “physically” see each other and it becomes more personal.

Mary Dyck was a Kansas farm wife who based her routine off of her favorite radio programs in the 1930’s. Mary was quite obsessed with her radio programs; they were her only escape from reality. As she listened, she felt the need to write down all her thoughts and feelings down in her diary. The diary was recovered and published. “The Diary of Mary Dyck” described the parasocial relationship that Mary grew with the characters of her programs. She related to the characters and savored any form of intimate or romantic scene. This parasocial relationship may have been unhealthy, but there would be no sense of rejection or shame since there was no physical relationship with these fictional characters.

Society today is so infatuated with following celebrity fan pages just as Mary was with her fictional characters. Celebrity Facebook, Twitter, Blogs and other forms of social network pages are followed each day. It gets to the extent that people follow celebrity pages on their iPhone, Blackberry and other SmartPhones just to stay in touch with that particular person. A customer I came in contact with at Best Buy had a very close “relationship” with Adam Lambert. This customer spoke as if she personally knew him or was even related to him. As I asked how she was affiliated with him, I was astonished to hear that she knows so much about him because she follows his Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. This customer even received Google News updates on him as well. Her parasocial relationship with Adam was strong that she knew his likes, dislikes and general interests. Just as Mary Dyck was in her journal, society today does still follow a parasocial trend.

Final Theme 1

Theme 1
The early electronic media led to the idea that the audience would be an undifferentiated mass. Trace thinking about audience from mass to "the long tail”. Include discussion( And illustration) of how demographics and media genres created media audiences ,and the ways in which social media can create, in theory , an audience of 1 for many media experiences.

Once electronic media became public and affordable, a fear was instilled that the individuality of the audience would soon be pieced together to form an undifferentiated mass. As Radio, Television and Films were introduced, they were commonly created to feed one audience instead of each individual member of that audience. It was the productive and profitable and its main intention was not only to entertain and express art but to categorize and group people into target audiences. This allowed advertisers to find which products appealed to the mass, not to the individual and which programs broadcasters should air.
Stemming from radio, demographics were known about which programs were being listened to and at which times. These numbers allowed for a plethora of profitable opportunities for advertisers. Normal programs that homemakers would listen to started slowing becoming known as “Soap Operas”. As the chores were being done, the radio was a way for one to pass the time. During those morning and early afternoon hours, advertisers found out which programs were more widely listened to. Those programs now started having advertisements for soap and other household cleaning products thus leading to the nickname of “Soap Operas”. Once it was noticed which programs had more listeners, a strategically timed program aired in the late 1930’s by Orson Wells. War of the Worlds was a program that Wells aired that caused a mass havoc. The program described an alien invasion and created a chaotic scene with widespread panic. Much of the audience was truly convinced of the program and acted against it looking for places to hide.

Unlike it was when electronic media first appeared, today’s electronic media gives the audience a more personal experience. With new social networking, and other media related websites, it takes the individual away from the “norm” and suggests possible interests in music, movies or even friends! In Chris Anderson’s “The Long Tail”, he describes how the new social electronic media doesn’t cluster the audience into one group but into numerous groups based on genres, interests and general likes and dislikes. For example, Netflix gathers general information about movies that you may rent and travels you down a “long tail” by offering other movies that you may be interested in. These titles may not be mainstream or popular but may be a possible interest of yours. Pandora internet radio is another “long-tail” search engine that offers your other soundtracks that may not be contemporary or from the same artist but are from the same genre. These programs or search engines are boosting the sales of different media, not only has what had the most advertising. These new forms of electronic media are opposite from any mass audience theory and make entertainment more personal for the individual and not solely for the mass.

Final Theme 3

Theme 3
Every form of technology that's become digital has also been transformed by its users/audience.Explain how at least three "old" media ( Books, tv, film, radio, newspapers) have adapted to new digital media forms, and how they have been changed by the process of becoming digital. Also describe the ways people use and change digitized media as consumers. Show some examples on your blog. Which "old" media do you think have promising futures in digital form, and which do you expect will die out soon? Support your answer with good arguments.

As Marshall MacLuhan would say, this “old” media is cold. As our society technologically advances each day, we crave for a bigger, better, clearer and most importantly - easier way to receive information. The convenience of having everything digitized makes receiving information much faster and more convenient. Instead of ordering a book online and waiting for it to ship to your house – download it. Instead of buying the entire CD or waiting for that ONE song to play on the radio – download it. Instead of having to run out to buy the newspaper to get the news…. You get my point. Society today is so used to getting what they need by clicking away on their laptop – it may seem pointless and inconvenient using “old” media.
Imagine carrying around 350 books. Imagine carrying around something as small as one book that weighs less and has 350 books stored inside of it. Which would you rather do? Whether it be flipping through pages or scrolling through them, words are being read. Books are an “old” media which is now rapidly becoming universally digitized. With technologies such as the Amazon Kindle, Sony E-Reader, iPad and now the Nook – carrying around a book is almost a hassle. All these devices can just as easily display text as a book can but they are more convenient in size, weight, portability and clarity. With some of these devices, you can make the reading experience more personal by altering text size, screen brightness etc. The information is the same; it’s the medium and the experience that is altered. Electronic, digitized books are a hot media that has a promising future.

Another “old” media that is digitized is television and film. If you missed your favorite television program and you forgot to DVR it, there is always another way to watch it. Most shows are now available online once the episode is aired. Specific websites like Hulu.com along with regular station websites like ABC.com air television programs and stream them directly from their website. One would think that this may negatively affect advertisers since live programs aren’t being watched, but there are still advertisements on the digital form as well. As of now the convenience of logging on to the station’s website to access your favorite program is fantastic, it also negatively affects the industry as well. The new digitized shows can be ripped directly off of the website thus losing online sales and DVD sales. If every episode is available with a few clicks, what is the point of purchasing past seasons on DVD or Blu Ray? The industry has a promising future UNTIL these companies notice a steady drop in sales.

One last soon to be “old” media that is getting digitized is magazines. Instead of having to run out and purchase the latest issue of US weekly, it can be downloaded straight to your iPad. With a beautiful 10x8in high definition screen size, you can still view all that is offered in a magazine at your fingertips as long as you have some WiFi internet access. Signing up for a subscription to your favorite magazine and having it automatically download and save to your iPad is going to flourish. Flipping or scrolling through the pages is even more convenient and this might even leave an opportunity to view videos and click on links alongside the pictures to give a more flashy entertaining experience. Once the iPad becomes more affordable (and in stock!) it will be the best way for magazines to be purchased in subscription or single issue form.

An issue that is possible with digitized media is possibility to change the media.
If one can change the words to a novel, what good would the novel be if it displayed false information? Another issue with digitized media is the accessibility. Instead of purchasing a song or video off of iTunes, you can either torrent or rip it. Copies can be made and profits will drop. Besides that, the convenience of digitizing media will only improve the quality and ease of use.