Twitter Topic Research

Over the weekend, expand the initial work you have done related to tweets surrounding an internet culture topic. Using the in-class experience in your group and the whole class discussion of the topics, identify a topic you would like to explore further. 

Next, conduct two kinds of research:

1. Find at least two examples on the Internet that represent aspects of the topic you have chosen. If you have selected memes, for instance, find some examples that seem particularly interesting or significant.

2. Find at least two articles either on the net or through the library that analyze or discuss the topic.

Before class on monday, respond to this posting by adding a comment. In your comment, do two things: 1.) add links to the topic examples you have discovered, and 2.) write a paragraph synthesizing the articles you have discovered and your own impressions of the topic.

Comments

 

My topic, ironically enough, is the impact of social media. More specifically, how social media can be best utilized by buinesses.

     The first article I read is http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/227046 ..

     This article talks about using foursquare to utilize location-based marketing. There are a few ways that companies have done this, albeit counterintuitive. Corcoran, a real estate firm in NYC, uses foursquare in order that they might further spread their name. When they post "townie" tips, people see the name Corcoran and think about them in a positive light, in addition to the "stickiness factor" here, which is Corcoran getting people to hear their name so often that they think about Corcoran when they think about real estate. They also talk about how certain business such as ESPN offer tips about venues. Foursquare has such a self-selected audience, that it feels more personal when a company like ESPN leaves tips for readers to see. Finally, foursquare users seek out information on specific topics, so rather then having users them come to you, your information is more easily seen by those who seek it.

The second article I read is http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/225436 ...

     This article is about the sharp recent rise in location-based marketing. The first specific concept that is touched upon is that of indoor GPS. Companies can now use LED light to track where in a building you are, and offering coupons and ideas based upon your in-store location enhances the probability of the customer actually buying something. The second idea, which I find the least interesting of the three, is that of coampnies using the locations of their buyers and who buys what in what place to determine where there is the most loyalty, product specificity, etc, and use that information to spin their advertising to market to those people. The third idea is that of marketing through a mobile wallet. Now that many people have all of their card, tickets, and passes on their phones, companies can target similar events happening in nearby locatiions. For example, if someone is incessantly hitting NYC clubs, they may be interested in the fact that Avicii (an EDM artist) is coming to Pier 94 in a few weeks. All of these ideas allot companies the luxury of having their clientele come to them rather than having to seek out the right people. It is definitely time for all business to implement social media in their marketing agendas. 

I talked specifically about how news has been impacted by social media. This is more about how we receive news, accessibility, and how different social media sites determine which news articles are more prevalent.

The two main examples are twitter and facebook. However other sites like Reddit and Tumblr also act as examples of how social media is changing the way we get news.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/5/2/nieman-marathon-media/

    This article was written shortly after the Boston bombings and explained how several journalists basically used twitter to shape their coverage of the horrible event. Another point in this story was how twitter made the story become so real due to the minute by minute tweeting of the event. For instance, Boston Globe reporter David Abel said he used twitter as a way to report in third-person and that the story was shaped through his tweets. These journalists also explained how they had to be careful to avoid false reporting, as it would automatically ruin credibility of different news outlets and institutions. The use of twitter for news is explained as a bitter sweet outlet, because it can also help journalists become more credible through transparency of the whole news reporting process. This article seemed to hit all the major ideas I had about twitter as a news outlet. While yes, you may not always get the full picture due to the 140 character limit, it's a great way to give a small and quick excerpt of what is happening compared to a long news article. Twitter has shown to easily help journalist credentials while also hurting them just as easily. If you're the first to release a breaking story with correct information than you'll likely become a revered and credible source. However, releasing a tweet that isn't correct can completely shatter your credibility if you're a big institution or news outlet.

http://suwanee.patch.com/groups/business-news/p/the-effects-of-social-me...

This article centers around how all social media has changed the way we view news. While "it's still about getting the attention", social media now adds a way where we can share content with different groups of people we associate with. A major point in this article described the shift from a one to one relationship in traditional subscription and how social media makes the relationship an everyone to everyone relationship. Subscriptions are one to one because you buy it from a magazine or newspaper and you don't usually share it because you pay money for it. The rise of social media has changed this as news is basically free online. The transition of digital journalism has resulted in a decline of print circulation as well. While I agree with all points of this article, what was most interesting to me was how we consumers have also become marketers for news agencies. Whether it be sharing articles, liking them on facebook, retweeting them on twitter or commenting on them, we act as a way for more readers to get access to these articles. It was a viewpoint I had not really considered when researching this topic, but one that is extremely relevant to the rise of social media as a news outlet.
 

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I have briefly researched memes and the impact they have on the internet and society. The links for the articles can be found here:

http://tinyurl.com/3c8dwp6

http://tinyurl.com/muka2nl

Memes, derived from evolutionary biologist and scientific rockstar Richard Dawkins, is a term that is meant to discuss the spread of different principles, ideas, and cultural phenomena. This term was originally for discussion on evolutionary and biological topics but has since been more widely recognized as different pictures spread across the internet depicting things like grammatically challenged cats or penguins who can't talk to girls. The articles in question detail that although many internet memes are for humor and entertainment many can have very negative or positive affects depending on how they are used. Many different companies have resorted to using different types of memes as a way of marketing and promotion for their products. A great example that was given in one of the articles was Oreo's response to the Super Bowl blackout. They posted one picture with one line ("You can still dunk in the dark") on their twitter account and the simple advertisement spread throughout all the different social media outlets. This simple meme cost Oreo virtually nothing but was spread around everywhere. This shows how simple memes are so powerful and when combined with social media they can be extremely beneficial for many companies in regards to advertising and marketing.

However in many cases they could have very negative affects too. Beyonce's Super Bowl fiasco is an instance where this is made very clear. No one remembers the Super Bowl show now. Most people remember was what happened afterward when a plethora of horrible pictures of Beyonce were released and spread across the internet. An attempt by her PR team to remove the pictures from the internet ended up backfiring and simply fueling the spread. The pictures spread very quickly across all sorts of media outlets and social media sites. These pictures were extremely unflattering and could be considered awful for her image. However on the other hand there is no such thing as bad publicity. This event simply had a release of a few bad pictures that many people were able to laugh at, while at the same time generating a lot of traffic and publicity for Beyonce.

 

 

Music Insiders Tell Us How Social Media Drives Album Sales and Revenue

http://sproutsocial.com/insights/2013/02/social-media-music-industry/

Emerging Trends in Social Media and How They'll Impact the Music Industry

http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/4-emerging-trends-in-social-media-how-theyll-impact-the-musi.html

Social media is changing the music business. It is allowing music to be shared, evaluated, and marketed very quickly. Social networks that revolve around music can account for the rapid spread of a musician’s work and fame, sometimes before a musician’s album is even released. The Twitter accounts of musicians are among the top followed Twitter accounts. Artist’s names and music are spread through fans’ newsfeeds on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Some social networks are primarily concerned with music, such as the new Myspace, which was recently purchased for $35 million by Justin Timberlake and Specific Media Group, and restructured around music, allowing fans to check for concerts and stream music from their favorite artists. Mobile music apps have become the second fastest-growing category of apps, being very popular and important for mobile music downloads and music streaming. Music is obtainable and can be downloaded on many types of devices, anytime, and almost anywhere. The music industry and social networks have formed a symbiotic relationship. Social networks provide advertising, sales, recognition, and discovery to the music industry, while the social media depends on the music industry for a big part of their business and participation. Everyone wins with this arrangement.

 

Hi! 

For my twitter project I want to explore how the internet builds communities.  Specifically the interconnectedness of internet communities to "real world" communities and mainstream media.  I want to do this by looking at Sherlock Holmes media and fandom and their levels of interconnectivity and communication.  The Sherlock community is pretty active so that's part of why I picked it.

This article shows various Sherlock BBC actors/producers etc reaction to some of the online fan communities productions
http://www.geeksugar.com/Sherlock-Benedict-Cumberbatch-Interview-23065782

In response to Benedict Cumberbatch's dislike of certain members of his fanbase using the term "Cumberbitches" this tumblr used the term "Cumbercollective" (2nd link is youtube vid with Cumberbatch expressing his opinion on the term)

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/cumbercollective

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoGEUUcGW6E

As for articles this first is from a Sherlockian publication The Baker Street Journal

http://gateway.proquest.com.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/openurl?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2003&xri:pqil:res_ver=0.2&res_id=xri:lion-us&rft_id=xri:lion:ft:abell:R04754190:0

This article talks about how to bridge the gap between the older generation (of an admittedly very old fandom) that was based upon real world contact, focused on the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and generally seen as more serious and the younger generation that might have joined in from TV/Movie adaptions, write fanfiction, create fanart, are generally seen as silly, and are primarily internet based.  The author points out the common interests in Sherlock and the common community created not only online but also in the real world through fanbased activities similar to "Zombies v Humans" like "The Great Game" which attempted to clear up inconsistencies in Conan Doyle's writings as though Sherlock was a real person and "IBelieveinSherlockHolmes" in which supporters put up fliers/graffiti declaring their support for Sherlock as though they were part of the TV show.  Both of these old and new community activities bring Sherlock Holmes into the arena of the real world and are  based on a mutual appreciation of the Sherlock world.  The article points out on and offline interaction between internet fans and actors such as Sue Vertue (producer of Sherlock BBC) that indicate an overlap and interconnectivity between internet fans and mainstream media in Sherlock fandom. 

My second article is from this book  http://unc.summon.serialssolutions.com.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/document/show?id=FETCHMERGED-LOGICAL-a15965-77a7e2a8aa18cfa7fcdc14dba775007e4d2ddc7a93e6ba3d962a3edbe1b6d9a61&spellcheck=true&t.TitleCombined=Sherlock%27s+Epistemological+Economy+and+the+Value+of+%22Fan%22+Knowledge

Sherlock and Transmedia Fandom - The article "Sherlock's Epistemological Economy and the Value of "Fan" Knowledge"  Talks about how the BBC Sherlock plays with ideas of "fidelity" and "heresy".  By remaining true to the spirit of Conan Doyle's book and Sherlock as a "modern man" who used all the tools at his disposal (including his intellect) to crack the case, Moffat's interpretation claims validity as a Sherlock story and superiority over other interpretations that "focused on the trappings".  On the other hand Moffat's reimagining is transformative, creating an entirely new world of  Sherlock in which blogs, the internet, and gps are part of his arsenal (a clear break from Victorian England Sherlock).  In this Moffat claims creativity and a fresh interpretation.  Both of these aspects, remaining true to the canon and creating transformative entirely new scenarios are aspects of fandom and fanfiction.  The BBC Sherlock uses that newness to it's advantage while placing itself above "fanboys" and fan fictions/interpretations (all terms that could arguably be given to Moffat and BBC Sherlock) by claiming a fidelity with the core essence of the original text.  BBC Sherlock capitlizes on at once seeming open to it's internet savvy fanbase while also maintaining an air of authority and definitiveness over these fan communities.  The author also discusses the meaning of transtextual/transmedia works where on the one hand Sherlock Holmes is transtextual and transmedia because it is not, as some works like Doctor Who or Star Trek, corporately-owned by one conglomerate but rather interpreted by many different actors while on the other Sherlock may not be transtextual/transmedial so much as "fractured" due to a lack of a "center". 

Twitter's inclusion of a database of geotagged tweets is a useful feature for determining the spatial distribution of internet culture among residents within the real world.  Sometimes, these cultural aspects of certain populations manifest themselves in less desirable ways; for example, a study by Dr. Monica Stephens of Humboldt State University that aimed to aggregate the number of tweets specifically including homophobic slurs produced a heatmap of U.S. counties normalized by population to show geographic regions that have high rates of internet-sourced hatred.  The study used county-wide percentages of tweets to determine the rate of hate speech occurring on twitter; therefore, the heat map is able to minimize the effect of increased populations on the increased rate of hate speech (since more tweets would probably equate to more hate speech, by virtue of numbers).  Because of the separation of population and “hate-rate”, researchers are able to pose questions such as whether internet-sourced hatred can be traced to urban or rural centers of populations.
 
In a less scientific sense, the database of geotagged tweets can be used to inspire graphic-designers with the ability to produce images of a more abstract nature that may or may not include the subject matter of the tweet in its spatial representation on the map.  Therefore, twitter exists as both a tool for researchers and artists to visualize the spatial relationships of internet phenomena. I feel that this is a very important and useful aspect of a social media service that so often seems to be "grounded in the cloud", with little connection to the real world except through the very humans that use it.  
 
I feel that an opportunity exists to research the idea of UNC Chapel Hill as a "global research institution", and whether this phrase holds true for UNC's presence on the internet through the analysis of subject matter and spatial distribution of tweets that include the hashtag #UNC.
 

Photography VS Videography on the Internet. Which is better?

The first link is to a great Youtube Channel discussing the various aspects of photography and videography, as well as techniques to perfect the art with upsides and downfalls of each. The second link is to a photostream that outlines the differences of photos and videos as an impact to viewers. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOLh76QhZkY&list=PLRr3CyYX0EdBO0OFUwxaWX7qTKh_OtZTJ

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pagedooley/4608430237/

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My first article is about the battle of Instagram and Vine now that Instagram has added video to their app. Instagram and Vine used to not fall within the same social spheres due to Instagram being the picture central app and Vine the video central, however, with this new addition, people have been pondering as to whether one will die out. This is an interesting topic as it very much pertains to photography VS videography as well as Twitter and Facebook for Twitter owns Vine and Facebook owns Instagram. The stats as to popularity and functions within each program are listed in the article, and so far, Instagram is winning the people's vote with the addition of video. It would appear that pictures AND video together are a spot on combination. But on the other hand, before Instagram added video, it was still the choice app for sharing media. Pictures overall seem to be taking the cake. 

http://siliconangle.com/blog/2013/06/21/vine-vs-instagram-the-downside-to-15-second-video-filters/

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Because pictures were the highlight of the first article, this second article shows the value of video from a marketing standpoint. It shows the importance of video in daily life as well as on the internet as far as "reaching" people and making a impact. This article solidifies video's role in social media. 

http://www.artisantalent.com/blog/post/the-importance-of-good-videography-top-video-marketing-myths.aspx

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Lastly, my thoughts on the matter lean slightly towards photography while I do recognize video's benefits. Photos are still, but people's eyes have the opportunity to zoom in and focus on the details of the art in front of them. They are older than videos and capture more history. Also, they can be mounted on the walls of a house and easily taken to the four corners of the Earth and viewed.  But for videos, technology is key in viewing and enjoying the art. More material is available to viewers with more frames of information. Furthermore, the average person watches about 4 hours of TV a day, and what is viewed on the screen is considered video. So yes, while the TV industry is vast, photos also reach through TV but to a lesser degree. Overall, the benefits and downfalls of both types of media have combated each other for the last 50 years, however, photography seems to be the key to media. 

The advent and popularity of social media has changed what people do during their leisure time and it negatively affects their work prospects.  Job seekers, especially young people, are not cognitive that most human resource departments will seek out their online identity and look for clues to their reputation.  Since many Millennials are comfortable with sharing many intimate aspects of their live via social media, oftentimes there is a lot of questionable material that can be perceived unfavorably and hamper their opportunities of landing and keeping a job.  

 

Even for those who are older and seasoned workers, snafus caused by a comment or photo can lead to shattered reputation and/or a loss of their position.  There have been cases where teachers have posted private, and sometimes revealing, pictures and thoughts that somehow find their way into the open.  In most of these cases the teachers are fired and when it’s a public servant their reputation is maligned where it’s hard to overcome and be elected or re-elected.  For example, Anthony Weiner sent sexual pictures to various women, and the resultant scandals ultimately resulted in his resignation of office.  As another example, in Israel female soldiers posted sexy and provocative pictures of themselves and posted it to Facebook and faced undisclosed sanctions by their commanding officers.  Although social media has given people the power to reach a wide audience, it should also be taken seriously because once something is submitted it no longer belongs to the user and can potentially backfire.

Sources:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/yes-for-the-last-time-your-potential-employers-are-judging-you-by-what-you-put-on-facebook/

http://www.nea.org/home/38324.htm

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Examples:

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/350423/anthony-weiners-sexting-michelle-malkin

http://gawker.com/gaza-strip-you-gotta-love-the-sun-while-simultaneous-511044344

For my topic on internet culture I have chosen to explore the issue of privacy, and what the line is, if there is one. This is particularly on my mind as I progress in my academic and collegiate career. What type of footprint am I leaving exactly on social media?

Previously, I viewed social media through the lens of personal expression and free speech, in the sense that the activity I maintained online was for myself and those whom I knew personally. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc. were all venues in which  I ensured this with privacy settings and other safeguards (and still for the most part do).

However, my viewpoint has begun to change recently. instead of the neutral balancing act I have carefully cultivated. I am starting to view social media as something that can explicitly be used to my advantage in marketing myself to future employers, friends, companies, etc.

Although I still believe that many things should remain private, social media should provide a snapshot into your life. What do you like to do? What are you interested in? What are your dreams or aspirations? 

With all of this said, what rights do employers have to pry into our personal lives, even if they are on the internet? I see both sides of this issue. If you post something on the internet, it is out there forever, if the content is negative or offensive, should that necessarily be held against you? Did you post it when you were 14? Are you more mature now? Have you changed? Are you different than who you once were? 

 

Here are a few articles that explore this issue: 

 

 

http://www.ibtimes.com/facebook-google-or-yahoo-which-internet-companies...

 

This article provides explains the privacy rankings from different companies and how easy it is to obtain date from them. 

 

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/06/02/nh-bill-shields-personal-social-me...

This article discusses the possibility that New Hampshire might pass a law protecting future employees from handing over unrestricted access to their PERSONAL social media accounts.

"In their effort to vet job applicants, some companies and government agencies have started asking for passwords to log into a prospective employee’s accounts on social media sites. Critics call it an invasion of privacy akin to handing over the keys to the person’s house"

http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/07/tech/web/nsa-internet-privacy/

This article discusses the current controversary with the NSA and the battle between protecting privacy and security.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/06/23/surviving-your-childs-post-col...

This article, ironically enough, discusses social media and its affect on the job search process.

 

Social Media Image Editing/Photo Editing Over the Internet

Communication over the internet allows pictures, drawings, breaking news, celebrities or current movies to be instantly shared.   Google has an android app   http://disq.us/8dqmk4  relating to hash tags, location features and also current photo editing for the existing user's photo gallery library. 

Images can be re-created using various editing tools for marketing, advertising with captions and modified for websites to convey a current trend. Various genres of music and pop culture movie theme songs have been popular in creating Internet memes. Creations appear to be used for entertainment and are usually comedic, sarcastic and jokingly produced in Internet forums.

During my research I like the videography which appears to be a popular trending meme.  I know some image edits may seem funny to me and it might not be the case to others. The Mona Lisa portrait has been a picture as far back as I can remember which has been edited in so many different ways.  Take a look http://memebase.cheezburger.com/tag/mona-lisa

Staying informed about what is trending or current keeps communication open transcending all age groups to know whats up! In 2008 Image editing was very popular and according to my second article this social media is regaining it's popularity view: http://bit.ly/13zdp2r via @DailyMailUS

 

The boundaries of my topic are a bit fuzzy. The intial idea, as I mulled it over for several days, seemed to permeate other spheres as well as spark more questions, all branching out from a common source. Ironically, this idiosyncratic way of thinking in fact mimics the topic itself - how branches of communication are re-molded and twisted by the spread of technology, particularly by Twitter. Overall, the consensus seems to be that Twitter is a tool that connects people. When one encounters a like-minded Internet Dweller, nested & tweeting with one's favorite hashtag, the urge to communicate and connect seems to transcend normal barriers to physical communication like socioeconomic class, ethnic or cultural cleavage, or even geography.

Those who champion Twitter as not a destroyer of all that is natural and pure, but a purveyor of human connection might be surprised to learn that a map of the "geography of Twitter" - that is, using the approximately 1/3 of tweets whose origin can be pinpointed to chart the intensity of Twitter activity across the globe - looks literally identical (no, seriously - not a stretch or hyperbole: identical) to a map of urbanization. A newly released study lends credence to the notion that when more developed urban infrastructures are present, there are more active tweeters. Now, think of countries that have *not* urbanized, or at least not to a considerable degree - parts of Africa, the Middle East, etc. These countries' GDPs get progressively lower the less urbanized they are.Thus, it can be reasonably extrapolated that the usage of Twitter is, in fact, directly proportional to the level of socioeconomic prosperity within a given area. Despite how simple the syllogism may seem, this is kind of big. Furthermore, the evidence from the study is that 15% of tweeters do 85% of tweeting - does this sound familiar at all? Maybe tweets are a form of currency, and maybe Twitter is its own little society, chock full of socioeconomic inequality. This all begs the question: Does Twitter really promote human connection at all, or does it serve to indirectly fortify class lines? 

Link to study: http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/4366/3654

Second, I researched successful Twitter connections among individuals that may not have otherwise communicated at all - aka, people tweeting at each other from a considerable distance or across oceans. It turns out that communications traversing countries are usually about international events or other pieces of news - well, if "The Onion" counts as news. In any case, most locations concerned with news stories discussed amongst these users occur more than 100 miles away, with many occurring over 600 miles away. This evidence suggests that Twitter is causing people to not only discuss domestic & international events in their own personal community, but in many far-reaching communities, creating a new form of communication that forges more links among more people.

Source: http://www.theatlanticcities.com/technology/2013/05/how-twitter-changing...

Emoticons have impacted internet culture drastically since it's first appearance in 1982. It changed how people view the internet and changed how they use it as well. 

http://goo.gl/XzyYW

http://goo.gl/ZoFmh

http://goo.gl/J5PCh

In 1982, the emoticon was first created by Professor Scott Fahlman which is widely used today. Emoticons have become increasingly more important as more people are starting to use those to express emotion and put a face to their feelings. They have become important enough for social networking sites to include updates that give users the opportunity to use emoticons. Recently, Facebook has added an update that allows users to not only post statuses, but to also update their mood or apply a mood to that status. But emoticons are not always seen as a good thing. When using emoticons you have to exercise extreme caution just like you would when posting anything online because the meaning behind the emoticon can be misconstrued and have some negative effects resulting from that. There is also the age-old debate as to which is better: Apple's emoji, which can only be seen by Apple users and the occasional Android user, or the standard emoticon which can generally be seen by all. 

Second Life, an online virtual world, was launched in 2003. Like Facebook, it was intended to serve as a platform for people and businesses to interact online, giving its users extensive control over the environments in which they gathered and the avatars they used to present themselves to others. Like Facebook, it was massively hyped by the media, with major corporations like American Apparel, Dell, and Reebok constructing stores online to advertise and sell virtual products. But today, Second Life receives one million logins a month and Facebook receives five hundred million. Why?

In a piece published in Slate, Chip and Dan Heath argue that Second Life failed what they call the "milkshake test": it didn't provide any clear, useful function. All of the interactions it facilitated, such as transmitting speech and images, were more efficiently handled by existing technologies like email and message boards. Most people use the internet to enhance and extend real-life communication; Second Life sought to replace it.

Though Second Life fell short of the predictions, it remains profitable, and its 1-million-a-month login count has remained steady since its peak in the mid-2000s. While it may have lacked broad, mainstream appeal, it maintains a small but dedicated userbase. Today, Second Life is used largely by members of online subcultures such as anime fans and "otherkin" (believe they possess animal souls trapped in human bodies) and by sexual fetish communities such as pedophiles and "furries" (attracted to anthropomorphic animals.) The unifying factor between these communities is their unreality. Their interests are impossible to actualize in the real world, often for legal, ethical, and social reasons. "Second Life is the ideal place for people... who want to live out a fantasy that is totally unfeasible in the real world, and it gives them their fantasy in a magical, often breathtaking way" (Clendaniel.) Second Life's users have constructed a tenuous, technically constrained alternate world to escape into, and as long as it doesn't perform a clear, useful function, an "escape" is all it can be. Time will tell whether that's a good thing or not.

http://i.imgur.com/PjvPgG6.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/pUXOdmF.jpg

http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2011/11/why_second_life_failed_how_the_milkshake_test_helps_predict_which_ultra_hyped_technology_will_succeed_and_which_won_t_.html

http://www.good.is/posts/get-a-life

examples of twitter's impact:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/23/hack-attack-on-asso...

http://info.brandprotect.com/Blog/bid/74416/Financial-Institutions-Capitalize-on-Twitter-Marketing-Opportunities?goback=%2Egde_3258194_member_108716790

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/04/23/17880184-wall-street-watche...?lite

http://www.optionstradingiq.com/top-25-traders-on-twitter/

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articles  that analyze or discuss the topic:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0aacf78c-a801-11e2-b031-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2X8QLSef3

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/apr/23/twitter-first-source-investment-news

http://www.policymic.com/articles/13879/can-impact-investing-lift-the-wo...

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Social media as a whole, specifically twitter, has allowed businesses of all sizes to target a specific markets that were previously too far away logistically, or were unknown/untapped market places. Many people have studied the use of social media in marketing and advertising, but I plan on looking at the effect on the investment world. The articles I posted above talk specifically about the "twitter effect" on investors. The financial Times article looks into the proper level of embeddedness in social media among traders. The second article emphasizes the use of twitter by traders, and many others in the investment industry. The last article expands upon twitters use to talks about "impact investing" with impact taking the place of impulse. Money never slept as it was before twitter, but not the information moves as quickly as the money. Investing has always been about risk and reward, but as the global market place equilibrates, many investors are looking for an edge, and that edge can be speed, which ultimately can be facilitated by twitter.

“According to a new report, Twitter is a breeding ground for terrorism and hate speech”
http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/online-hate-statistics-up-by-3...
“The Dark Side of Social Media: Review of Online Terrorism”
http://go.galegroup.com.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/ps/i.do?action=interpret&id...
While I have not conducted an in depth research of the topic, a basic search on google and the UNC library articles search engines shows that there is, in fact, use of twitter by terrorist organizations. To what extent terrorist use twitter is somewhat unclear; however, there is evidence that shows they use it for: posting links to their extremist websites, recruiting, and during real time terrorist attacks to advise each other of police actions; one article points to the Mumbai attacks for practical use. It appears there are three main topic areas that can be further analyzed surrounding the culture of terrorists on twitter: how are terrorist utilizing it to wage war against the west, ways in which the west can minimize the damaging effects of terrorist use of twitter, and how does freedom of the press and censorship of terrorist related tweets balance each other out. Both articles point to its realism and try to offer legitimate and useful responses to it.

My own impression of the topic, which I view from a national security standpoint, is that tweets with terrorism related material should be studied by intelligence agencies. Banning these types of tweets would shut intelligence agencies off from studying the adversary. I do believe there is a link between social media and some terrorist acts and/or terrorist organizations. They are like any other business that uses twitter to widely disseminate their product or recruit consumers for their product. It just so happens, unfortunately, their products is something deadly and harmful to peaceful living.

My topic is the effect of government on the internet and its culture

Spying

The first article speaks on how the NSA scandal has had unintended foreign consequences. It shows the impact of US governance over “internet freedom” to other foreign powers. The NSA over sees internet based threats and terrorist plans to protect US citizens. But now the security of American citizens has overlapped with economic and foreign policies. Corporations like Facebook, Twitter, and Google are forced against their shareholders will to allow complete web and corporate access to the NSA. This affects foreign markets and their interests in American internet based companies. The article talks on what can and can’t be seen by the NSA but talks on how they have over stepped their bounds many times. It then shows how this negatively affects things like speculations and democratic relations.

Spying 2

     This article is deals with the response by internet firms to the Snowden scandal. They are requesting that the government release all information on internet spying. This is to help with speculation and provide people with information and what can be seen and used against you on public networking. The control of information flow from the internet is now a huge topic and how it can affect courtroom siturations.

Below are links to the two articles I will refer to:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703583404576080392163051376.html

http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/the-problem-with-film-criticism

The internet has created a completely new way for people to communicate about their interests, as well as creating a significant amount of new, younger journalists. Film criticism, and the way in which various internet-based communities discuss films, works in sharp contrast to the way in which dialogue about film used to be published, when print-based media dominated any other media forms. The first link posted above contains the film critic Roger Ebert’s thoughts on this new form of film criticism, which he views as a mostly positive development. He praises the unprecedented amount of writing there is on film today, because of the internet, which he says involves a greater amount of quality writing about film than ever before. Ebert also describes the fact that internet writers are taking advantage of all the technological aspects of this unique outlet, by incorporating videos, screencaps, and and “endless threads of comments” into their work. redlettermedia.com is an example of a website that utilizes both videos and comment threads to facilitate dialogue about film. I think that these types of comment threads attached to film reviews are effective ways of providing a check on the factual accuracy of film reviews, as well as providing the critics with a “pulse” on what aspects of film the masses are interested in, and therefore become better able to judge what the masses would respond well to in a film. The second article, by Charles Taylor, is largely about the downside of internet-based film criticism. Taylor describes how firstly, it is easier than ever before for someone to become a “journalist”, if they are using the web as their outlet. This allegedly leads to a much younger, less skilled group of writers creating film criticism, who spend too much time trying to sound excessively knowledgeable about film history, rather than really getting at the heart of why people might enjoy a film. Taylor also explains how websites receive advertisement revenue based on the amount of time people view their web pages, leading to web-based journalists often creating content based on grabbing the biggest audience’s attention, rather than trying to bring attention to unpopular films that might be well-liked if they got a little more attention. Although I think this is a legitimate problem, there are also web-based communities, like reddit.com/r/truefilm, in which average people who are largely not journalists, but still often very knowledgeable about film,  can discuss their reaction to films without being beholden to the need to please advertisers.

1. Two internet examples:

2. Two articles:

Vine is a mobile app that allows users to upload and share 6 seconds of video that can be cut down and is looped. In the wake of Instagram launching it's own Vine-like features, these articles talk about impact and usage of Vine and the short video fad as a whole. The Wired article interviews the three founders of Vine about Vine's origins, defining features (such as looping or 6 seconds of video), rise in popularity, and uses today. The CNN article talks more about the general short video fad and why people are drawn to services like Vine and Viddy (a similar service to Vine, but with 30 second videos).

I personally like Vine. The reason why I have been drawn to Twitter over the past year is because it is quick, quirky, and can be done anywhere. Whether I'm waiting for class to start, on the bus, or just feeling all alone I can wipe out my phone and be on Twitter engaging my friends or finding out whats happening in the world in a minute. I believe that Vine has the same appeal. The two Vines I posted above were quick things that I found funny while waiting 5 minutes for the shower to be available. 

Hillel Price

Although the popularity of Social Media as a means of communicating and integrating with friends, colleagues and peers is becoming harde to dispute, its influence as a political resource has only emerged in the past five years. This has become especially clear in the fight against oppressive and despotic regimes.

In 2010, Many countries in the mediterranean and North Africa rose up and overthrew their governments. Faced by harsh censorship and oppression against public speaking, these revolutions were able to begin only with the help of facebook and twitter as means of information dissemination. These online spaces had the capacity to create decentralized, unrestricted means to plan, organize, and propogate revolutionary uprisings and protests without an expensive communications framework that is almost universally available. As a result, large ground movements and protests corrolated strongly with large spikes in social media usage and twitter activity.

In response to the internet censorship that began to be implemented during the Arab Springs, a controversial "hacktivist" political vigilante group called "Anonymous" began attacking websites and network infrastructure belonging to the oppressive government regimes. With the help of this group, which is comprised mostly of affluent, educated individuals living in developed countires, the revolutionaries involved in Arab Springs were able to successfully circumvent, and then overthrow the rulers who had led with immutable power previously.

The events in Arab Spring mark an important turning point in the course of Human political history. For the first time, internet tools designed for the purpose of social networking were wielded with enough power and motivation to overthrow established political power. Unlike previous revolutions, these uprisings did not have superior technology or weaponry. Their only advantages were anger and drive on the part of the revolting peoples and the ability to quickly, efficiently, and freely reach out to the people around them. The power inherent in such tools is now impossible to ignore, as it is clear that in the right hands tools like Twitter and Facebook are capable of political turmoil on a continental scale.

 

Links:

http://www.albanyassociates.com/notebook/2012/03/the-arab-spring-and-the-impact-of-social-media/

http://www.dw.de/international-hacktivists-help-syrian-citizens-circumvent-internet-censorship/a-15324784

"If you think about it, sports -- real-time events with undetermined outcomes and passionate followers -- is a space singularly well-suited for social media."

How Twitter Is Impacting Professional Athletes and Their Sports

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1546676-how-twitter-is-impacting-prof...

Twitter Is Now A Permanent Part of The Sports Firmament

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/jon_wertheim/06/29/twitter...



Both articles analyze the effect of professional athletes' tweets on the world of sports. For the most part, Twitter is criticzed for feuling unnecessary controversy and providing athletes with an unprotected outlet to express their emotions and opinions. Controversies range from bashing fans and criticizing referrees to blatantly racist tweets and tweeting during games. The best recent example I can think of is Kobe Bryant's live Twitter updating and virtual coaching during the Lakers' April 21st game against the Spurs. It received a lot of media attention, even prompting a pseudo-apology tweet from Bryant himself. 

But at the same time, Twitter is hailed for its positive contributions to the world of sports. It provides a unique way for fans to connect with the athletes and teams, it can be utlized for fundraising and other philanthropic efforts and it provides a useful business tool for athletes in terms of branding and advertising. 

 

http://taragraham.com/fist-pump/

This first article discusses the origins of the Electronic Dance Music, also known as EDM.  The first stlye of this ever growing and highly popular music genre was found in the underground music worlds of Chicago and New York. This style was focused more on the disco and funk side of the genre which Daft Punk has made popular over the past 20 years.  The true reason for EDM overtaking the western world is the UK and European effect that streams in constantly over radio shows and in massive music festivals today.  Europe has conquered the EDM scene with its numerous high profile djs from Sweden, Belgium, France, and Spain. 

http://www.metro.us/newyork/entertainment/2013/05/21/why-is-daft-punk-so...

This second article discusses the continuos popularity of Daft Punk that has been maintained for nearly two decades across the world.  Daft Punk came out of hiding to say the least for its latest album Random Access Memories that was released last month.  The album is there first studio album in more than 5 years.  The soundtrack they scored for the hit movie Tron:Legacy (must see) continued they're reign over the funk and disco genre of EDM.  So even though the music itself has spread from underground clubs in Chicago to the massive multiple day festivals today.  EDM has implanted itself in our culture and we may as well let it stay and have fun for a while.