Lauren C's EME 6414 Blog

For this week, one of the articles I read was Lingel & Naaman's "You Should Have Been There Man: Live Music, DIY Content and Online Communities. I chose this article because I've always been a fan of music and have some experience in the DIY underground music scene, albeit many years ago. One of the discoveries made by the authors was that people who document live shows, often miss out on much of the experience; it is hard to concentrate and enjoy yourself when you're essentially doing a job, even if it's one you enjoy doing. The benefits, however, while typically non-monetary, include an increase in social capital from other music fans that could not attend the show for a variety of reasons. So, essentially there is a trade-off between enjoyment of the moment and producing a document for others to enjoy innumerable times in the future. My question is: what considerations would need to be present to justify the loss of enjoyment? Some of the interviewees mentio...

So, if you're like me, you've never been a big social media contributor. As a passive user, I've engaged with several platforms over the years, mostly FaceBook, Twitter (although I did not have an account until this class), YouTube - I'm a big music fan and I like to watch videos that would be difficult to find elsewhere; I also like to read the comments attached to videos - you can learn so much - (PLN?). However, I've never really felt the urge to contribute and, thanks to this class,  I've recently been asking myself why. What are my motivations for remaining a passive user? In examining this question, I've come up with a couple of possible answers: (1) I may feel like others are covering topics that I would, and possibly in a more comprehensive and erudite manner; (2) I'm (mostly) opposed to commenter anonymity because I think it often hinders civility and productive discourse; and (3) most embarrassingly, when I have attempted to participate in the ...

One of the readings for this week quoted the old axiom "it's not what you know, but who you know" in reference to the power of social medial to foster relationships that can push careers or personal interests further. As someone who does not have a large social media presence, I began to wonder what the real effects of that choice are, at least in terms of career advancement. I found several interesting articles that lay out the pros and cons (I've linked a couple below); some of the most interesting points are: Cons of social media usage: 1. Social media provides those that don't know you an impression that may not be accurate. I think everyone agrees it is important to monitor your online reputation, but that may be difficult, especially if others post to your page or otherwise tag or connect you to content you did not approve for public display. 2. You may need multiple platforms which can be difficult to manage. For 'serious' career-related postings ma...

 Hi all,  When researching the concept of "produsage" this week, it occurred to me that if one intends to contribute in an ethical manner, then that carries with it certain responsibilities to ensure that what you contribute is grounded in truth and contextual integrity. A good example of this would be the relatively new phenomenon of the citizen journalist. In recent years we have all become familiar with the term "fake news." This term has been applied to both well-established news organizations that have wide distribution as well as individuals with limited reach and whose only platform is social media. Unlike news organizations that are businesses at heart, and thus accountable to shareholders and the public (hence the use of retractions for false or mistaken content) citizen journalists have few accountability mechanisms. For example, when reposting a story, added commentary can sometimes be mistaken for verifiable facts. Make no mistake, commentary facilitates...

 One of the distinct advantages of Web 2.0 is that it has helped not only in democratizing art but also facilitating its creation. As a (former) musician, I adore that people now have the technology to create music irrespective of temporospatial boundaries and without onerous financial investments. Musicians can now live in disparate parts of the country or world and still make music together thanks to file-sharing and reasonably-priced software. Another outgrowth of this phenomenon is the culture of mash-ups. To give a brief bit of background, mash-ups are essentially additions to or the manipulation of previously recorded material.  One of the earliest and most notable examples of mash-ups was known as 'The Grey Album," which was released by an artist named Dangermouse in 2004. The Grey Album combined previously recorded music by the Beatles and Jay-Z. Predictably, EMI, the owner of the Beatles recording copyrights balked and distributors of the Grey Album were sent Cease an...

One of our readings for this week touched on the topic of multi-tasking and how much of the time the term is an inaccurate descriptor of what the writer means. Taken literally, multi-tasking refers to the ability to engage in two or more tasks concurrently; an ability that few can master perfectly. But as explained by Kirschner & De Bruyckere, when people refer to 'multi-tasking,' the meaning likely meant by writers is the ability to quickly and seamlessly transition between a series of different tasks. A key difference is the time order - simultaneously versus sequentially. What strikes me as most important about this distinction is the effect the misconception may have on young graduates entering the workforce. If you take the time to look at employment ads, many will invariably use the phrase "ability to multi-task." When I see this phrase I interpret it to mean the latter definition, but it makes me wonder if employers have a genuine misconception about people...

So, one of our discussion topics this week relates to communities versus networks. Instinctively, I felt that communities are bonded through some type of shared belief or long-standing bond whereas networks are much looser and come together through shared interests. In the offline world, a comparison might be made between one's membership in a religious organization versus a connection made with others through work or other social endeavors (like a PTA) that could be more aptly characterized as a network.  Likewise, in the world of social media, perhaps belonging to a closed group based on past affiliation or friendship such as a FaceBook group for high school and college friends which, due to presumed close and/or longstanding relationships could be a community. Conversely, an example of an online network could be a professional listserv. From my own experience, during my Master's program at FSU, it was recommended that I join the PUBYAC listserv (Public Young Adult and Childr...

So, one of our readings this week relayed the story of Trudy and Peter Johnson-Lenz and how they used social media networking to request help following an accident that necessitated Trudy's admission to the hospital for a head injury and subsequent medical care. The part of the story that struck me most was Peter's admission that he and his wife were not much for 'schmoozing and socializing' therefore the help that they could receive from their local community was limited. Consequently, (and partly due to their careers) they were instead able to reach out to their online community to get the help they needed.  The Johnson-Lenz' situation made me think about other groups of people that may not be able to obtain help locally, and how social media networking can offer a suitable substitute. The first group that came to mind was introverts because introverts, especially those in small-town or rural areas, may benefit from enhanced social networking skills to find like-m...

History of the Blogosphere circa 2007 Whenever I start a new endeavor I like to learn the history of what's been done before because it provides perspective on what has been successful. Given that one of the articles touched on the beginnings of blogging, I thought the attached article from NPR would be a good companion piece. Although it is dated now (from 2007) there are some interesting findings such as the first recognized blog being started in the early 1980's - I thought they emerged much later than that!