weekly news articles

Snapchat 'will be bigger than Twitter, Yahoo and AOL with advertisers' (57)

This article discusses the potential of Snapchat becoming a direct competitor in the advertising world due to advertisers targeting the youth audience. The advertising industry is currently dominated by Facebook and Google, which have recently come in for heavy criticism for their advertising practices as they currently dominant the industry by accounting for 58% of the $141bn global mobile ad market. Cathy Boyle, principal analyst at eMarketer, which produced the global mobile ad forecast suggests that“If there can be a third or fourth player they are interested in spreading the wealth beyond the duopoly.” However, the article also highlights the threats that Snapchat may face. Facebook, which dominates social media with 1.2 billion daily users and owns Snapchat’s most direct competitor, Instagram. Instagram had recently introduced a new function called stories, which is similar to Snapchat’s own story feature. Instagram Stories has already achieved 150 million daily active users. Also, snapchat's growth has seemed to slow down. The number of Snapchat users grew by 14% and 17% in the first two quarters of last year. Following the launch of Instagram Stories, Snapchat’s growth slumped to 7% and just 3.2% in the final two quarters of 2016. Overall, Snapchat has great potential for success in the advertising industry especially due to its young audience demographics.

• More than half (51%) of video users on Snapchat are under 24, compared with 23% for Facebook and 17% for Google’s YouTube, according to Ampere Analysis.
• The average daily user visits the app 18 times a day, spending an average of 25 to 30 minutes a day sending snaps and watching messages from their friends, celebrities and advertising brands.

I agree with the article in terms of the fact that the mobile advertising industry should take advantage of Snapchats target audience as there is great potential for Snapchat to be successful and take over the dominating space of large social media sites such as Facebook. However they should be wary of the tactics used by their competition and their slowing growth.  

Go fullscreen: can Hollywood fight back against Netflix? (58)

This article discusses how streaming sites such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, iTunes and Mubi represent a threat to cinema. According to the article, the National Association of Theatre Owners condemned Netflix’s decision to bypass the long-established “theatrical window”. This is demonstrated through Netflix releasing a war thriller, The Siege of Jadotville, online the same day it premiered in US cinemas. The theatrical release ensured that the film was eligible for awards, while the digital release on Netflix was ultimately for Netflix’s commercial interest. Streaming services such as Netflix have ultimately led to falling box office revenue. However the article does highlight some advantages for film makers. For example, Netflix does not disclose viewing figures which in some form liberates creative minds from box-office anxiety, taking the pressure off production budgets and also make audiences more likely to watch their films. The rise in popularity for streaming services have also led to TV growing  in quality. Series that are for niche audiences, such as Orange is the New Black, now have a platform. Despite this, the article reaches the conclusion that cinema is different. Watching a film on a Samsung Galaxy will always be different to watching it in cinema in term of quality,and that we should preserve our cinemas

I agree with this article because traditional forms of media such as the cinema will always guarantee greater quality as films are intended for cinemas, and not TV screens.  

Case study research

Media factsheets

‘We Media’ and Democracy

• This factsheet goes on to highlight how the demographic of Twitter users goes some way to explaining why it has had such an impact upon the news which is an important aspect of the political world.

• The site attracts a wide age range, with 76% of users being between 18 and 49 

• 60% of Twitter users have been educated to University level. 

• This highlight how users are more likely to be politically aware and interested in debate.

Social Media and the News Agenda

• Twitter has become increasingly influential on the news agenda as it is both a source of information and of audience discussion. 

• Information and events are often first reported on Twitter and so mainstream news uses it to source information. 

• Much hard news is sourced from more traditional outlets but global and unexpected events are more likely to be mentioned first on Twitter. 

Politics and Persuasion - with a new media focus

• In the past audiences were more passive in their consumption of media and thus more easily persuaded by those in positions of power. Individuals had little hope of getting their own personal opinions heard. But this has changed as a result of social networking sites such as Twitter. This demonstrates the shift in the powers of the audience. 

• However, despite the democratising effect of social media, it can be argued that social media sites such as Twitter have become an echo chamber for shared values as opposed to dissenting arguments. 

• Also, social media isn’t always the go to for information, as people still tune into the mainstream televised debates. This shows that even though social media is often feted as the new wave of democratization, in fact it is still the mainstream technologies that appear to dominate in terms of reach when targeting across all demographics

• ‘tribe-wired’ generation are influenced by and use new media as a way to find and utilize their political voice

Politics and the Media: An Introduction

• Some media institutions identify with specific political parties. Newspapers have always been partisan, which means they are aligned to one party. They report the news in ways that shows their chosen party in the best light. Traditionally The Times, The Express, The Telegraph and The Mail have supported the right wing of British Politics with The Guardian taking the centre-left position and The Mirror being more left wing. 

• Audiences have particular ideological expectations of these papers and are often accessing them because of the political views they hold. Uses and gratifications theory identifies that audiences like to see their own values reflected back to them in the media.

• This demonstrates the differences between new forms of media, and traditional forms of media. Audiences can come across various political ideas on Twitter, which does not represent any political party.

Media and Audiences -The Effects Debate

• Two-Step Theory (Katz and Lagerfield)

• Whatever our experience of the media, we are likely to discuss it with others. If we respect their opinion (the theory calls these people opinion leaders), the chances are that we may be affected by the opinion leaders’ responses as well as by the text itself. Opinion leaders can come in the form of reviewers, presenters on television or people from groups we admire such as religious leaders, politicians etc. as well as from our family or social groups.

• Twitter allows for audiences to come into contact with various opinion leaders, who are often verified. Users then partake in these communities, which represent their views and beliefs from Black Lives Matter (Black twitter) to extreme right wing Twitter which has characters such as Kate Hopkins. 

Media magazine

• Since 2009 Google has tailored our search enquiries based on our search histories. Its algorithm predicts which sources of information we’re most likely to be interested in, so we might miss out on material that challenges our existing worldview. 

• Internet activist and Aavaz co-founder Eli Pariser has described this as a ‘filter bubble’. An example of how the internet is no longer an independent medium but corporate-controlled.

• it is clear that the net’s existence has created more problems in the production of news than it has solved. Social media is argued to have impacted the US general elections and also Brexit result. 

• Last year the Reuters Institute reported that 28% of 18-24 year-olds used social media as their main source of news with Facebook their main source. In Galtung and Ruge’s terms, Facebook is now acting as a ‘gatekeeper’ for news. 

MM58: Social Media and Black Identity

Henry Jenkins - Jenkins believes that social media is a platform where "participatory cultures" can be established in which members can creatively channel the skills they gain online into political activism and the voicing of marginalised viewpoints. This is represented through "Black Twitter" which is evolved to become a socially-constructed community that actively challenges negative representations of black identity in the mass media and wider society while also reinforcing positive views of black identity through humour, art, activism, and education. Jenkins suggests that this has the power to influence politics and to positively shape the world around them such as social campaign BlackLivesMatter had done.

MM30: Is reality becoming more real? The rise and rise of UGC. Sara Mills evaluates the power of the citizen journalist and user-generated content.

• The case of Rodney King, who was a victim of police brutality. The event was filmed by an onlooker from their apartment window and made it to prime-time news, and led to the charges of four police officers.
• The natural disaster of the Asian Tsunami on December 26th 2004 is another example. Much of the early footage of events was provided from citizen journalists
• who provided on-the-spot witness accounts of events as they unfolded.
• The London bombings, the people who were caught up in this attack provided the majority of footage from this event
• The Hudson river plane crash made it into the news due to a twitpic of the plane crash
• Most news organisations now include formats for participation such as message boards, chat rooms, Q&A, polls, have your says, and blogs with comments enabled. Social media sites are also built around UGC.
• The role of the gatekeeper has changed due to the audience's becoming producers of the news, leading to a smaller amount of gatekeepers to process UGC. Additionally, bigger institutions have been buying up social networking sites for the last few years, meaning they can have access to UGC content more easily, making the use of gatekeepers almost irrelevant.

MM39: Social Networking and Citizen Journalism: Participating in The Arab Spring

• The Arab Spring was a series of revolutions, which began in January 2011 and went on to rock the Arab world. They started in Tunisia in January and moved rapidly on to include Egypt, Libya and Syria. Major demonstrations and unrest also occurred in Jordan, Bahrain, Yemen and Morocco.
• Social networking is a modern phenomenon whereby millions of people keep up with friends, arrange their lives and publicise their news online. Facebook and Twitter are clearly the two premium brands at the moment dictators. 
• One of the key tools for a dictator, other than the willingness to use extreme violence, is the need to keep information away from the population they want to control. The Egyptian government tried to shut down internet access during the uprising.
• The social networks (Twitter/Facebook) became a tool for the publicising of ordinary peoples’ hatred of their government and desire for change.
• The use of social networks for political purposes is nothing new. Barack Obama, in his bid for the U.S. Presidency in 2008, was one of the first major political leaders to use social networking to organise his supporters, raise money and galvanise his voters.
• These technologies, which have enabled the spread of ideas and given a voice to ordinary people, have, for good or ill, clearly made a significant difference to recent events. Information is gathered and spread far faster than would otherwise have been possible and totalitarian regimes have found it harder to hide their crimes.
• Social networking provide an expression of human wants and desires. They are tools.

Other articles

• Twitter can set the agenda for what journalists are covering 
• Example: Trump’s tweets have, over the course of the past six months, set the agenda,” according to John Parmelee, author of Politics and the Twitter Revolution. “Twitter’s basically used by politicians to influence other influencers. It’s a very small universe of people, but it’s people who can move an agenda. It’s like the practice of lobbying – people might say, ‘How can that be effective when you’re talking to such a small group of people?’ But they’re the group that’s making legislation.”
• Arguments on twitter would once have been held only within a very tightly closed circle. But now the drama unfolds in plain sight, raw and unfiltered on social media amongst politicians
• Trump has been reliant on saying ever more incendiary things to keep his name in the news it is ultimately a form of free publicity
• Political movements built via social media can grow extremely fast. They tend to be chaotic and unpredictable. The term for this is ‘leadership without leaders’. If things go wrong, there’s no one to blame.


Independent NDM case study: Up-to-the-minute web research


Twitter and the US Election

• The leading candidates for America's presidency used Twitter to energize their supporters and draw citizens who wouldn't otherwise follow political discourse. Twitter's simple and personal messages resonate in a way that more traditional means of communication 
• The presidential candidate's rise and Twitter's significance on the political stage are linked. "Twitter was taken to a new level this year because of Donald Trump," says Barry Burden, political science professor at the University of Wisconsin "His aggressive and unconventional use of the platform generated news" for many days throughout the campaign, even when Trump's tweets "violated standard norms of campaigns by being uncivil, conspiratorial or offensive."
• Laurie Rice, associate professor of political science at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville "Twitter is also a useful form of two-way communication between candidates and campaigns and voters," she says. "Candidates and campaigns can gauge reactions to their messages in real time, voters can easily share their views, and campaigns can track and respond to voters' evolving views over the course of the campaign." 
• Political messaging now caters to social media to some degree, and consultants have turned heavily to Twitter to push their candidates' agendas. E.g. Trump is particularly using simple language to share his unfiltered views on Twitter in a way that matches his campaign branding
• A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found that social media fuels widespread polarization and biased hatred.
• Political content is as prevalent on Facebook (where users mostly follow people they know personally) as it is on Twitter (where users tend to follow a wider mix of connections)
• Social media enables conversations that never would have happened without it. But the unfiltered aspect of social media has also led, on some platforms, to some very toxic exchanges
• Social media can enable the easy, fast and widespread dissemination of misinformation.
• Twitter makes political discourse more accessible, but the 140-character limit also means it's virtually impossible to share in-depth policy proposals on the service. This oversimplifies the context of campaign discourse and makes it difficult for people to get a greater understanding of the candidates' ideas
• · The current election also reinforces the idea that Twitter is becoming less of a social network and more of a news-making medium with a social bent
• · “Twitter ended up creating an important platform for political expression that has helped people find their voices."

Politics vs. Social media

• Digital technologies make it far easier than it has ever been to find out what people want – their likes and dislikes
• For now, though, the Silicon Valley worldview remains a minority one. Politicians still have weapons at their disposal that Google and Facebook can’t match: armies, currencies, taxes.
• Some argue that the hopes of a new era of democratic empowerment remain unfulfilled. Intolerance appears to be on the rise. Governments have proved more adept at using this technology to keep an eye on us than we have been at keeping an eye on them.
• “Digital technologies are the box in which we all increasingly live. Are we trapped? Or does politics still offer a way out? It’s easy enough to despair, or else to think that only time will tell. The real challenge is to figure out the answers before it’s too late.”

Trash talk: how Twitter is shaping the new politics

• Twitter can set the agenda for what journalists are covering – just think about the ways Trump’s tweets have, over the course of the past six months, set the agenda,” says John Parmelee, author of Politics and the Twitter Revolution. “Twitter’s basically used by politicians to influence other influencers.”
• To get free media, he has to say stuff that’s reportable, and the level of extreme language is directly linked back to that. They took a conscious decision to make a remark about Mexicans being rapists for his launch to throw a spanner in the works of the other launches. I suspect he doesn’t even particularly have a worldview; it’s driven by a need to feed this publicity machine.”
•  While political movements built via social media can grow extremely fast, they tend to be chaotic and unpredictable “leadership, without leaders”

Twitter and the transformation of democracy

• Although Twitter and Facebook are categorised as social networking services, they are different
• Of the two, Twitter is more important in one respect: its impact on the arena in which societies discuss their political issues.
• Twitter has become the de facto newswire for the planet. And, unlike the recognised newswires (Reuters, AP etc), it is available to everyone, which is why even governments sometimes now use it to release news before they give it to mainstream media

Arab Spring

• Often categorised as part of the "Twitter revolutions" or inspired by Facebook.
• The instantaneous nature of how social media communicate self-broadcast ideas, unlimited by publication deadlines and broadcast news slots, explains in part the speed at which these revolutions have unravelled, their almost viral spread across a region. It explains, too, the often loose and non-hierarchical organisation of the protest movements unconsciously modelled on the networks of the web.
• Rosen - "Revolutionary hype is social change analysis on the cheap. Debunking is techno-realism on the cheap. Neither one tells us much about our world."
• Despite the claims of Tunisia being a Twitter revolution – or inspired by WikiLeaks – neither played much of a part. In Tunisia, pre-revolution, only around 200 active tweeters existed out of around 2,000 with registered accounts

Twitter and terrorism

• Beginning in the mid-2000s, al-Qaeda has been organizing online through bulletin-board forums, which were largely password protected and sometimes required special contacts to gain access. In contrast, Twitter is something of a digital town square—a free megaphone to reach a mass audience, easily accessible on smartphones and largely unmonitored.
• There are around 30 key players, according to analysts who study global extremism online—who tweeted about territorial gains, posting photographic proof of their conquests. They also softened their hard-edged image by sprinkling in common humanizing touches, like pictures of meals and cute cat photos. And they set about trying to recruit more conscripts—including Westerners—to the cause.
•  It is impossible to scrub all pro-ISIS sentiment from Twitter, but U.S. analysts are trying to use the service to piece together a better understanding of the terrorist group's dynamics. Twitter's decision to silence some accounts but not all is fine, McCants says, and watching the group latch onto a new account when a big one is blocked can be instructive.

The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter emerges: Social activism on Twitter

• The #BlackLivesMatter hashtag has been used frequently in support of the broader social movement or to flag general racial issues, occasionally as a form of criticism
• From its first appearance in mid-2013, Twitter users have utilized the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag for a range of purposes. Supportive or positive references to the broader movement are among the most common. But in some cases, people included #BlackLivesMatter in tweets to criticize the movement – or simply identify the subject matter of their posts and attach them to the broader discussion occurring around racial issues.
•  #BLACKLIVESMATTER becamde a hashtag in the summer of 2013, when an Oakland, California, labor organizer named Alicia Garza responded on her Facebook page to the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the man who gunned down Trayvon Martin. Since then it has become the banner under which dozens of disparate organizations, new and old, and millions of individuals, loosely and tightly related, press for change.
•  Tweets using the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag that are generally supportive of the movement are much more common than those opposing it. Over the period studied, 38% of the tweets that included #BlackLivesMatter were supportive or made positive reference to the social movement.
• Slightly more than half of those, representing 21% of all the tweets using the hashtag, offered broad support for racial equality and opposition to police brutality.

Echo chambers

• 
  
• Twitter for political engagement with other users are really in fact part of an echo chamber of tweets and views. 
• According to a study, 2,000 Twitter users who publicly identified as either Labour, Tory, Ukip or SNP supporters were found to be more likely to interact with others from the same party and to share articles from publications that match their views. 
• The research was carried out by the thinktank Demos, which looked at the tweets sent between May and August last year by 2,000 people who have publicly stated their political allegiance on their profiles. 
• According to Krasodomski-Jones, the behaviour of these users were amplified by niche media outlets who used their polarised viewpoints to attract audiences. The rising popularity of alternative news is something that attracts specific groups, suggesting that these users are ideologically driven rather than for the news. 

New York plane crash: Twitter breaks the news, again

• When dozens of New York-based Twitter users started sending 'tweets' about a possible plane crash in the city, the news spread like wildfire across the Twitterverse.
• Twitter user and iPhone owner Janis Krums was on one of the New York commuter ferries diverted to pick up the stranded airline passengers. He used his mobile phone to take a dramatic snap of the downed plane, and uploaded it to TwitPic, a service that enables Twitter users to instantly share their snaps over Twitter.
• As in countless previous disasters, from the China earthquakes to the Mumbai terrorist attacks, the social media has been at the forefront of breaking and disemminating news. It provides and invaluable real-time running commentary on events, which, when taken together with the factual accuracy, analysis and commentary of the mainstream media, provides a fascinating and rich account of major incidents.

Impact of the Globalization of Social Media

• Currently, the use of social media is being used to implement change. The effectiveness of using social media as a dominate form of activism is discussed by many. Malcolm Gladwell, critiques the use of social media activism in his essay “Small Change.” He believes that social media is an effective tool to use for activism, but that it cannot make a revolutionary change, like that of traditional activism. 
• Social media activism may have many limitations, according to some, but these drawbacks will not keep it from evolving. As technology advances and becomes a resource worldwide, global connections will expand and be used as a key tool for social media activism.
• Social media makes activism easy to start as exemplified with Euromaidan. Euromaidan is a social movement currently happening in Ukraine. The protestors are actively fighting for their human rights, democracy, and freedom because the Ukraine-EU association agreement, a treaty between the European Union and Ukraine that establishes political establishment between the two parties, was not signed. The forefront to their movement is expressed through social media, mainly Twitter and Facebook. Previously in Ukraine, Twitter was not widely used until the protests began.
• Twitter is essential for the Ukraine protest because it provides the connection to further their protest by spreading information and gaining participants. In the country, its main use is to gather protesters and release events, but worldwide, it is used as a source of information to outsiders.
• Social media itself is built on weak ties because the information is not concrete, therefore, social media activism is built on weak ties. However these weak ties make it possible for information to be spread rapidly, worldwide.
• Social media activism is held back by its inability to fulfill a movement because there is no organization in charge to implement the change desired by the protestors. 

'I need peace': seven-year-old Bana tweets her life in besieged Aleppo

• Bana and her mother have used social media to chronicle their life under siege. On their Twitter account, @alabedbana, which now has more than 4,000 followers since they began tweeting on 24 September with the singular message: “I need peace,” Bana and Fatemah offer snippets of life under the bombs, and images of the carnage in their city interspersed with videos of Bana drawing with her friends or learning English.

Weekly news articles

Schools should teach pupils how to spot 'fake news' (55)

This article discusses the calls for schools to discuss the issue of fake news with children, and how this topic would be coming up in the international pisa tests in the near future. The director for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's education has stated that he wants teenagers to look beyond the social media "echo chamber", where they are more likely to come across and hear views like their own thus preventing them from interacting with other viewpoints. According to the article schools need to equip young people with the skills needed to navigate the digital world, with an increase in unreliable claims on social media and falsified news. Things have changed greatly from the past, people would usually go to encyclopedias for information but in the present day instead go to Facebook or news websites which requires the skill of being able to evaluate what is reliable. Referring to Facebook, the director also argues how algorithms tend to relate people to people who are similar, rather than creating spaces for people to discuss debate and find common ground. 

I agree with the view held by the director as even adults are prone to fall for fake news, which is a growing issue. Alongside the issue of fake news, many people are using the internet more and more to get information which can mean more are at risk of coming across false information. I believe more people should be made aware of this whether it is through education or other means. 

Internet firms must do more to tackle online extremism, says No 10 (56)

This article discusses the calls from Downing street for social media sites such as Facebook to do more on tackling extremist content online. The prime minister’s spokesman has stated that firms such as Facebook and Google should do more to remove inflammatory material from the web and that it was up to them to respond to public concern.  The spokesman told journalists that  “Social media companies have a responsibility when it comes to making sure this material is not disseminated and we have been clear repeatedly that we think that they can and must do more,”. Some could argue highlights the governments view that it should actually be the firms who tackle issues online, rather than the government themselves. After the recent London attacks there has been increasing concern about the easy access towards extremist and dangerous content online which can have an impact on the vulnerable. 

I believe that more should be done by these firms as they are unfortunately often the source of extremist and dangerous content that can be a threat to the public. The fact that so many people also use Facebook emphasises on the fact that anyone can simply be radicalised. However, I disagree with the fact that the government is fully implementing the responsibility towards social media companies, as they also should attempt to ensure that going online is safe for all rather than just blaming the internet and websites such as Facebook. 

MEST3 Independent case study: New/Digital Media

Your chosen industry: Social Media

Your chosen case study (i.e. text/institution etc.): Twitter

Audience

1) How has new and digital media changed the audience experience in your chosen industry?

As new and digital media continues to grow in dominance and popularity across the globe, more audiences are using social media as a way of communicating and gaining information. Social media in particular sites such as my chosen text, Twitter, have a dominant presence in the world of social networking. Majority of users use twitter as a form of pleasure and entertainment, while some use it as a political platform and a way of coming into contact with various information and perspectives.

2) Has new and digital media changed the way the audience consume your chosen product?

New and digital media has changed the way in audiences use social networking sites such as Twitter. As traditional forms of media continue to move onto the internet, convergence takes place. Audiences can now not only get entertainment from twitter but also get news first hand. Audiences can also participate in politics by voicing their opinions and challenging the status quo. Twitter has also seen the surge in audiences engaging in citizen journalism.

3) Has the size of the audience changed as a result of new and digital media?

Yes, audiences who would have once stuck to traditional forms of media are now using social media even more. Sites such as Twitter allow for various communities to form. It is now not surprising to see politicians using Twitter, alongside with the older middle-class and the educated as a platform for politics and news/journalism. There is ultimately a presence of the ABC1 demographics aswell on twitter, as opposed to only the younger audiences. Younger audiences are now not only using Twitter for entertainment but also as a platform for their grievances and opinions on the state of society.

4) What are the positive changes new and digital media have brought to the audience of your case study? (E.g. greater choice, easier access etc.)

New and digital media has allowed for the audience of social networking sites such as Twitter to form communities and identify themselves with others. Also, Twitter has essentially grown to become a new, digital platform for audiences to make use of their freedoms of speech, as represented through the various movements that have grown on the site. Twitter has also allowed for easier access to information and the news as it unfolds.

5) What are the negative changes new and digital media have had on your chosen audience? (E.g. quality of product etc.)

The growth of Twitter as a platform, which lacks gatekeepers highlights how it can be an unreliable platform. Users are also able to take advantage of their speech to incite hate crimes and also promote dangerous ideologies. Terrorists have taken advantage of the site to recruit the vulnerable. Twitters power is known for impacting politics, as represented by the US general election and even Brexit. False information can easily have an impact on the masses, as a result effecting the outcomes of various situations.

6) What about audience pleasures - have these changed as a result of new and digital media? 

 As Twitter is a result of new and digital media, it is suggested that audience pleasures over the decades have changed. Twitter has provided a platform for users to interact around the globe. Twitter continues to transform, and as represented by the US General Election, more users are engaging politically with Twitter (Surveillance/Personal identification). Politicians on twitter therefore have gained some audience pleasures for themselves aswell, as they can push forward their agendas while also staying aware of what their voters want etc.

7) What is the target audience for your chosen case study? Write a demographic/psychographic profile.

Twitter has a vast target audience, particularly young adults and the middle-aged.  Most users of twitter are in the ABC1C2 range, which is unsurprising as there is always a community on Twitter for each individual regardless of age, gender or class. As represented through the statistics I have posted further down, there is a relatively equal amount of male and female users and a vast range between education, which highlights that Twitter is initially a platform for all.

Institution

1) How has new and digital media had an impact on ownership or control in your chosen industry?

2) What impact has new and digital media had on ownership in your chosen case study?

3) How has new and digital media changed the way institutions produce texts?

Twitter has changed how traditional news institutions and sectors in society produce texts. News has essentially adapted to cater for its users on Twitter through creating profiles which constantly tweet updates. Politicians have also moved to Twitter to campaign their views. There is greater interaction between audiences and institutions overall.

4) How has new and digital media changed the way institutions distribute their product?

Sites such as Twitter have resulted in institutions diverting their products to social media sites. For example, more advertisers opt for Twitter and other social media sites to get their products to a mass audience, campaigns by politicians have also taken place on social media and they have a great significance during election seasons e.g. snapchat and filters, Twitter and vote updates

5) How might new and digital media threaten your chosen industry?

The lack of gatekeepers on social media sites makes it easier for dangerous and fake information to reach the masses, therefore new and digital media such as Twitter can be a threat to society if used in the wrong manner.

6) How has new and digital media changed the way your chosen industry is regulated? 

As social media differs from traditional institutions such as news, there is a lack of gatekeeping meaning that audiences may come into contact with fabricated content or dangerous content. There is however some form of regulation where hate crimes and so on can be reported, but it is not unlikely to come across fake news.

UGC

1) What examples of user-generated content can you find in your case study?

United Airlines incident

The video of the man dragged out of the United Airlines plane circulated on social media, if it was not for this video the incident may have been unheard of or given little priority.

Hudson plane crash

Twitter users broke the news of the incident around 15 minutes before the mainstream media alerted viewers and readers to the crash. Twitter user and iPhone owner Janis Krums was on one of the New York commuter ferries diverted to pick up the stranded airline passengers. He used his mobile phone to take a dramatic snap of the downed plane, and uploaded it to TwitPic, a service that enables Twitter users to instantly share their snaps over Twitter. "There's a plane in the Hudson,"

BlackLivesMatter

What started as a hashtag, a form of UGC on twitter, turned into a widescale movement which advocates for black lives in the USA

2) How has UGC changed things for audiences or institutions in your chosen case study?

 Social media sites are built around UGC. Twitter has initially always been a platform where users generate their own content through tweeting and hash-tagging. Content posted by users such as videos and photos which gain popularity “trend”, topics that trend often end up on prime-time news if they are of significance. 

Marxism, Pluralism and Hegemony

1) What would be a Marxist perspective of the impact of new and digital media on your chosen case study?

A Marxist would initially see the advantage of Twitter for providing a platform for audiences to enforce their freedoms in a revolutionary manner. However, a Marxist would still be wary of a site such as Twitter, as it is still initially a large company which takes advantage of users the profit motive and can be easily manipulated to maintain social divides by influential users.

2) How would a pluralist view the impact of new and digital media in your chosen industry?

A pluralist would view Twitter similarly a platform which audiences can enforce their freedoms as they perceive audiences as capable of manipulating the media. In contrast to a Marxist, a pluralist would argue that although Twitter is a business, it is in the hands of the elite who allow a considerate degree of flexibility to the audience’s advantage.

3) Are there any examples of hegemony in your chosen industry or case study?

It can be argued that Twitter provides a platform for hegemonisation to occur, as audiences come into contact with various opinions and views which can easily be enforced by the elite or powerful individuals on the site which results in audiences accepting these views as “common sense”. Twitter can essentially be used as a tool

to control the masses, as it is owned by the elite.

Globalisation

1) How has globalisation impacted on your chosen industry or case study?

The availability to use social media, in particular platforms such as Twitter, have allowed for there to be global connections. These global connections make it possible for countries to express new and old concerns. Audiences can express their views, and connect other views around the world. Globalisation has essentially allowed for social activism to take place more easily (e.g. arab spring, Ukraine movement)

2) In your opinion, has globalisation had a positive or negative impact on your chosen industry and case study? Why?

Personally, I believe that globalisation has in this case had a positive impact as it is easier to interconnect from across the globe on Twitter. Users who are oppressed can speak out on social media, as represented by the Arab Spring which saw the rise of social media revolutions and movements across the world.

3) Can you find examples of cultural imperialism in your case study or industry? (The 'Americanisation' of the world)

Although twitter is used across the globe in various countries, American culture is predominant on the social media site. This similarly occurs on other sites such as Facebook and so on, and can be argued to leading to the Americanisation of the world.

Social media

1) How has your industry or case study used social media to promote its products?

Social media has been used by politicians to promote their views on certain topics and to appeal to potential voters. These politicians are often verified. Similarly, important figures and journalists have taken advantage of social media to share their opinion and engage with audiences.

2) Provide examples of how your case study has used social media and explain the impact this would have on audiences.

Donald Trump has taken advantage of Twitter to create hysteria, which has inevitably brought more attention to his campaign. Despite the various controversial tweets, he has incited, it has undeniably fuelled support from some and allowed him to enforce his campaign on the masses as his name gained popularity (for all the wrong reasons).

3) Is social media an opportunity or a threat to your industry and case study?

It could be argued that social media is an opportunity for politicians to engage with their younger audiences and to also get more users who were once not interested in politics to instead get engaged with politics as it is more widely accessible in first-hand perspective on social media. However, it could be argued that social media is a threat to politics as it is reducing it to a joke, the feuds between Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton could be argued to have taken away the gravity of the elections, instead making it amusing.

Statistics

1)

·         82% Active users on mobile

·         79% Accounts outside the U.S.

·         313M Monthly active users

·         On the day of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Twitter proved to be the largest source of breaking news, with 40 million election-related tweets sent by 10 p.m. that day.

USA (Pew study)

Statistics on age:

• 36% of 18–29 year olds use Twitter.
• 23% of 30–49 year olds use Twitter.
• 21% of 50–64 year olds use Twitter.
• 10% of 65+ year olds use Twitter.

Statistics on gender:

• 25% of online women use Twitter.
• 24% of online men use Twitter.

Statistics on education:

• 29% of adults who graduated college use Twitter.
• 25% of adults with some college experience use Twitter.
• 20% adults with a high school diploma or less use Twitter.

UK

• Twitter has over 15 million active users in the UK 
• 65% of these users are under the age of 34.
• Over 80% of the 15 million active users access the social network from their mobile with a further 29% checking their Twitter feed multiple times during the day.
• Just like Facebook, Twitter is relatively even with 49% males and 51% female in regards to user demographic. 
• There are over 400 million tweets sent daily, and close to 75% of users are following less than 50 twitter accounts.
• Twitter usage has dropped slightly, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel as 37.5% of UK Social Media users, actively use Twitter. 81% of millennials check Twitter at least once per day which shows that daily usage from millennials is still high.

2) Looking at these statistics, what impact has new/digital media had on institutions in your chosen industry? 

Twitter has allowed more people to engage with politics and the news as represented by the statistics. A diverse range of individuals use Twitter, meaning that its easier to come into contact with a variety of views.

3) What has the impact been for audiences? These may be positive and negative.

As represented from the statistics, Twitter is widely popular with many regardless of age, gender, class/education. It seems as though however that Twitter is more popular with millennials

Theories

1) What media theories can you apply to your chosen industry and case study? Select THREE media theories and explain how they are relevant to your case study. Note: these can be ANY of the theories we have learned over the whole of Year 12 and 13.

1.Uses and gratifications – Users can get various gratifications from Twitter from surveillance to personal identification

2.Two step model theory – Audiences are influenced by opinion leaders, in this case those who have some sort of power or popularity on Twitter

3.Braudillard Simulacra and simulation – Twitter has essentially blurred the lines between reality and the representations of reality in the media. Politics on twitter do not reflect the complications that come with politics (audiences are stuck in an echo chamber)

Issues/debates

1) What media issues and debates can you apply to your chosen industry and case study? Select THREE media issues/debates and explain how they are relevant to your case study.

1.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20782257 - As represented through these cases, the law can intervene on Twitter as many users are unaware of the social media site can easily be misused.

2.The effect of globalisation on the media – Globalisation has allowed for Twitter to become a platform for users to interconnect with those around the globe

3. Media effects – Social media sites such as Twitter can easily be manipulated to have mass effects on audiences,

Wider examples and secondary texts

1) What other texts or institutions are also relevant to your case study? What would be good secondary texts or examples to use to support the findings of your independent case study?

Facebook

Facebook has similarly had a significant impact as Twitter in the political world and also society. The US General Election has been connected to the rise of fake news, which has plagued Facebook in particular. Governments have threatened to interfere if social media companies did not tackle the issue of fake news. This highlights the growing influence of social media in the political world, as the two are rapidly interconnecting. 

weekly news articles

BBC interview hijacked by children prompts social media debate (53)

This article discusses the BBC interview which has been "hijacked" by Prof Robert Kelly's two children. The video has gained popularity on social media due to its comedic elements, however some have started to read into the representations of the video, as many on Twitter and Facebook have come to the conclusion that the panicked Asian woman, who rushed in to drag out the children, was a nanny. Alongside users of social media sites, some media outlets have similarly made the same mistake. This response to the video had raised some questions on what some would argue to be the systematic racism within society, Jen McGuire on Romper.com had questioned whether we are still "openly stereotyping". Some have pointed out on the impact that stereotyping is having on certain identities as many people assumed that Miss Kim, his wife, was a helper due to racial stereotypes about the roles played by Asian women as being passive and fulfilling some kind of service role.

Personally, I have also mistaken the mother as the nanny and I believe this goes to show the predominant nature of stereotypes in our society. Medhurts theory on shorthand stereotypes can be applied to this, as the mothers ethnicity immediately contributed as a factor for the audience to identify her role in society, unfortunately in this case as the nanny.

Despots are embracing Donald Trump's 'war on the media' with open arms (54)

This article discusses how Donald Trumps "war on the media" has allowed other world leaders to follow in suit to criticise media outlets and bar them without facing any consequences.According to the article Venezuela took out CNN from their airwaves, claiming, that CNN’s reports “defame and distort the truth.”. This is similar to Trumps actions in which the White House in late February barred several news outlets, including the New York Times from attending a routine briefing. The article compares this to George Bush’s ‘war on terror’ which allowed despots from China, Turkey and Russia to carry out violent crackdowns of minority groups seeking greater freedoms by re-casting them as ‘terrorists’. Also in February, Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs website launched a page featuring foreign media reporting that it claims contains false information. The writer of the article suggests that these responses to the media by despots two main purposes. They intimidate the media, and strive to ingratiate the country’s government with Trump. 

I am not surprised by other world leaders following the lead of Trump in regards of limiting certain media outlets as it is simply an opportunity for them to silence and prevent any form of political opposition. The fact that the American president is openly accusing the media and degrading the industry ultimately suggests to the wider world that doing so is okay, and that one cannot face consequences for it.

Section A practice

Question 1

Evaluate how the two trailers use the narrative technique of enigma to encourage the target audience to watch the films

The two trailers use various narrative techniques of enigma to encourage their target audiences to watch the films. Product 1 uses fast paced editing techniques to induce enigma. The rapid cuts between various scenes in the trailer hint at the narrative, in particular its climaxes to evoke excitement and curiosity from the audience which in result encourages the audience to watch the film. This is further emphasized through the dramatic music, which parallels both scenes in the trailers in terms of their climaxes.The editing techniques used are in parallel to Barthes enigma codes, as the trailer portrays a mystery in which the audience can only solve by watching the film. This similarly takes place in product 2, only much more slowly to create more suspense due to its horror genre. The lack of dialogue is another aspect of both trailers which emphasizes on the enigma of the trailers. Product 1 for example starts with a question "what are you doing", which immediately represents the use of enigma, similarly product 2 sees the protagonist asking the supposed vampire if she is a "vampire" only to receive a vague answer, this reinforces the sense of tension and also suspense which is typical of horror genres. The target audiences of product 1 and product 2 are encouraged to watch the films through the referral of the genres of romance and horror which are predominant in each trailer, such as the scenes of unexplained events and danger in product 2 and the vampire battle in product 1. Lastly, both trailers end on a disequilibrium (Todorov), thus encouraging the audience to watch the films to discover the new equilibrium that is found.  

Question 2

Why are media products that represent outsiders, such as vampire films, so popular? You may also refer to other media products to support your answer

Media products that represent outsiders tend to appeal to a particular audience thus resulting in their popularity. The term outsiders can be interpreted to be either marginalized groups but also niche audiences. In regards to marginalized groups, films that relate to them through the representation of their identities for example black ethnic groups tend to be popular amongst them as it creates a sense of personal identification (Uses and Gratifications, Katz and Blumler). This can be presented through the film "Gone too far" which explores the Nigerian identity and the problems a young teenager of Nigerian background may face in terms of cultural clashes with the West. As a result, a film such as this would tend to be popular with the Nigerian youth demographics as it represents the issue they may face. "Gone too far" also incorporates the genre of comedy to create a humorous tone, which can be argued to have aided the film in reaching its popularity. Ill Manors is another example of a media product that represents outsiders, the youth, which had reached great popularity due to its representation of growing up in London as a teenager and young adult. The youth, who are also a marginalized group gain audience pleasures from watching a film not only targeted at them but one that also represents them. Both films can also be argued to be popular not only because they allow for audiences to identify with the characters and narrative, but because they give an insight into the lives of outsiders. Middle class and older audiences may enjoy films such as these about outsiders due to the insight it gives them into the lives of the working class or of those from ethnic minority groups. In regards to media product 1, vampire films that represent outsiders may be popular because they allow for there to be a community created within the niche audience, as franchise films tend to provide platforms on social media for their audiences to engage which as a result increase their popularity.

Question 3

Do you think official and unofficial websites contribute to a films box office success? You should refer to other media products to support your answer. 

Both official and unofficial websites can be argued to contribute to a films box office success to an extent, as the changes in the ways audience consume products have changed over the years. Official websites would usually contribute to a films box office success, as websites would act as a platform for audiences to engage with the media product. For example, the film Ill Manors website had exclusive videos and content only accessible through the website similarly to A Field in England's website, which had content on the making of the film. These aspects of the website would create a sense of speculation resulting in interest with the film, but as we have moved along in time there has been a steady decrease in there being official websites made to accompany a film as we have now shifted to the age of social media. Nearly all films that are created have a social media page whether its on Instagram or Twitter to provide a platform for users to engage with fellow enthusiasts and also the film itself. It is now more common to see a film trailer on Twitter rather than on TV, as audiences tend to use the internet more over traditional forms of media. Although there has been a decline in official websites, there is no reason that unofficial websites should be doubted as it can be argued that they contribute to a films box offices success due to the incredibly large audiences there are on social media. Other unofficial websites such as Rotten tomatoes and IMBD also have an impact to a films box office success, as positive reviews tend to encourage audiences to go and watch a film whereas a negative review or an excess of negative reviews can hinder a films box office success. Overall, websites still to this day continue to contribute to film box office successes, as films tend to all have platforms created for them to engage with audiences and gain popularity.