There’s A Long Road Ahead.

(http://www.breathofoptimism.com/carnival-positive-thinking-always-moving-forward-edition/)

Dr. Suess once wrote:

                “Today, you are you. That is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.”

This quote is my lifeline. Be yourself, and you can never lose.  I am myself. An 18-year-old girl, obsessed with money, diamonds, the colour purple, Chris Hemsworth and shopping, and if someone were to ask me how my life is at this particular moment, I would say that I am right where I need to be. I’m content with life and feel pleased that I can honestly say I did not make a mistake when I decided I wanted to go to University to study Communication and Media Studies.

The media is one tangled web of mischief and chaos. There are so many angles and twists and turns that it’s kind of hard to keep up. I find myself fascinated with how everything works in the world of media production and throughout these past few weeks I have enjoyed learning new things about various aspects of the media and rediscovering knowledge I forgot that I had.

Though I was never really an ‘active’ user of Twitter, I have admittedly come to enjoy sharing my thoughts and ideas via the social networking website as well as reading the updates of my fellow BCM students.  Admittedly, I have also used Twitter to stalk my favourite celebrities. And I don’t feel lame at all…Okay, maybe a little…

Society’s developments amaze me, and it has been interesting finding out so much of how the media can or may implicate an individual’s perceptions, beliefs or views. Technology has allowed for society to become more connected than ever. With these new found connections people can communicate effectively and pass on media content across borders and oceans with whoever they desire. I love that there are so many possibilities and so many ways to stay connected.

At first, I was weary and questioned whether or not I would ever succeed in an area so different from what people ‘expect’ of me. I asked myself, ‘what if’? What if I don’t get a job or I fail or get lazy and give up? Then I realised that it is entirely up to me.

I have been told in the past to ‘do what you love’ and that this is the key to happiness, and happiness is the key to success. Introduction to Communication and Media Studies has reinforced my love of writing and communicating, and has taught various things in such a short space of time that I am eager to continue with my studies as soon as possible.

 

Love Beth.

xx

Life Is Full of Little Interruptions.

Wikipedia defines the ‘Public Sphere’ as ‘an area in social life where individuals can come together to freely discuss and identify societal problems, and through that discussion influence political action‘.

The media is a place full of controversial and ‘newsworthy’ content, and thanks to the Internet and technological advancements people can share their thoughts and ideologies about a certain aspect of media material with one another, often sparking debate within the Public Sphere.

In 2009, Taylor Swift accepted the award for Best Female Video at the MTV Video Music Awards. Miss Swift graced the stage to retrieve her award when during her very thankful and humble words to her fans, Kanye West, the ruthless and well-known ‘drama king’ of Hollywood interrupted the starlet. West carried on stating that in fact, Beyoncé had ‘one of the best videos of all time’. 

The incident caused an outburst of online drama and endless hate toward the rap superstar. Fans, as well as celebrities, rose to Swift’s side, defending her right of winning the award as well as sharing a mutual dislike for Kanye West and his almost “bratty” behaviour. 

In response to West’s interruption, Taylor Swift wrote a song, titled ‘Innocent’ in which she sings the lines ’32 and still growing up, now. Who you are is not what you did…’, indicating her ideas of West’s actions.

Here are some celebrity tweets regarding Kanye’s scene-stealing moment:

1. Katy Perry: “F*** you Kanye. It’s like [you] stepped on a kitten.”
2. P. Diddy: “I’m gonna say this, we should always have respect for each other! End of discussion.”
3. Elizabeth Banks: “I actually teared up on behalf of that tall Taylor Swift. She’s a kid living her dream! She looked like a beanstalk to Kanye’s mushroom.”
4. Spencer Pratt: “Taylor Swift deserved that award, damnit. It is what THE PEOPLE voted! My heart broke for her, she looked so sad at the end of that moment.”

Love Beth x

 

---

 

Sources:

http://www.examiner.com/article/celebrities-respond-to-kanye-west-s-interruption-of-taylor-swift-s-vma-acceptance-video 

http://www.metrolyrics.com/innocent-lyrics-taylor-swift.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_sphere 

Controversy In Images

In today’s day and age, the Internet is our go-to source for various reasons. Whether you want to connect with peers via social media or shop for anything and everything, the World Wide Web seems to have endless uses. With the influx of social media outlets over the past decade, users of the Internet have been granted the ability to become more socially involved in producing content for fellow ‘prosumers’. We can upload images and videos and express our opinions “freely” as we wish. Unfortunately, not everyone has the same ideals as the next, and often this causes a little bit a whole lot of drama.

Controversial material is forever being uploaded to the internet. People, no matter what, will always is some way be offended by someone or something, somewhere online. Which really isn’t surprising.

Maria Kang, a mother of three and former beauty pageant and fitness competitor, experienced the backlash of the online world after uploading this image to her Facebook page just last year.

At first look, it seems Kang is attempting to ‘motivate’ or ‘inspire’ women to exercise and eat healthy. Perhaps her intentions were good.The image itself was not so much the cause of drama, as was the slogan ‘What’s Your Excuse?’ which had a lot of people (mainly women) with their ‘knickers in a twist’ claiming the image was derogatory and demeaning to women who struggle with weight and health issues.Some even accused the self-confessed ‘fitness enthusiast’ of being a “bully”.

Ms. Kang made an appearance on ‘The Kelly File’ shortly after the image was released where she expressed her intentions.

Kang has since uploaded another controversial image.

---

 

Sources:

http://www.motive.co.nz/glossary/prosumer.php?ref

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQnunBPoKNM

http://allfacebook.com/hot-mom-maria-kang-solo-photo_b130002

Content Control

Have you ever wondered about the power of the media and who in fact controls the content we consume in every day life? It’s hard to determine the validity of the information being produced in today’s day and age via various media outlets. Nowadays, we are not limited to reading newspapers or magazines for our daily source of information. We are able to connect to the Internet and find the news we want to read from various websites, such as Ninemsn or Reddit, as well as social media platforms, like Facebook and Twitter. But how reliable are these sources in producing factual and trustworthy news?

In Australia there are a number of people who control various aspects of the media. The most well known being Rupert Murdoch, who controls News Limited, the number one news source in the country, as well as newspapers such as the Daily Telegraph and the Sunday Telegraph. With just one person having so much power over what we hear, see or read, how do we know we trust the media?

The Murdoch press has seen controversy on various occasions, the most recent being the Federal Elections of 2013, when their anti-Labor attitude was made very clear in numerous articles. It seemed Murdoch was aiming to implicate the public’s decision of who would become the new Prime Minister of Australia, mainly publishing controversial and defamatory stories about Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party, and promoting the causes of Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party.

Pluralism is important when it comes to media ownership. In order for the public to feel as if they are receiving unbiased news, we need to be sure that we are consuming information from more than one source. The Internet is a prominent source in society today. It is where we get the majority of our information from. Other than the standard news sites, such as ninemsn and Reddit, there is also social media.

Social Media is now more popular than ever, as we find ourselves immersed in an online world of connectivity and endless information sources. Facebook and Twitter are two media platforms, which can be used to exemplify the power of the people in relation to media ownership. In some cases, the media content can be controlled to some extent by the one’s who consume it.

Facebook, founded by Mark Zuckerburg, is the most popular social networking site in the world. The website has various functions to help people connect with one another and also provides a means of finding out all kinds of information. The biggest issue with this is that anyone can control what is put out to the world via social media websites.

With so many different forms of media outlets in the world today, we are able to find pretty much anything we want some way or another. But we must be careful of the content we consume and question whether or not this information is fact and fiction.

Love Beth

xx

---

Sources:

http://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2013/09/murdoch-press-steps-up-anti-labor-bias/screenhunter_27-sep-02-14-40/

http://www.afr.com/p/national/clashes_with_beattie_water_off_duck_6X8fI6HQHfIK0Er8Nn84LN

Our Technological Companions

Media technologies are forever developing and evolving. There seems to be no end to the possibilities that have been bestowed upon society today, due to how advanced the media world has become.

Strength in media devices has been secured with the concept of ‘media convergence’. According to Wikipedia, media convergence ‘refers to the merging of both old and new media and can be seen as a product, a system or a process’. Mobile phones, in particular, are perfect examples of converged media devices. They are small, yet diverse instruments complete with numerous other technologies, especially the types we see in the market today. These newly developed phones consist of various devices, and are not limited to just making calls and sending text messages. Other technologies which may be found incorporated into mobile phones today include clocks, calculators, MP3 players, video recorders, cameras, GPS systems, documenting software and most recently finger scanning devices, as seen as a feature of the new iPhone 5s. Smart phone users can also retrieve apps, which add extra content to their devices. These extensions allow numerous possibilities and turn a simple mobile device into something far more intricate and developed.

The internet is also something now accessible on our mobile phones. We can research and browse, just like we do on computers and laptops, from our phones, as well as access our social media profiles on websites such as Twitter and Facebook. Social media has become a major part in society today, and mobile phones make it possible to stay connected nearly all of the time.

We no longer need to buy several technologies, as they are all available on one device. This is convenient and efficient for today’s society. People are drawn-in by the latest gadgets, and our busy lives require some sort of assistance. We use our phones to manage our schedules, lighten workloads, keep track of time and plan events. These abilities are necessary in everyday life and with the constant developments within the world of media technologies, we can expect great things from the future.

Love Beth

xx

 

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_convergence

http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-technological-convergence.htm

 

An Apple A Day…

The world is roaring with the billions of dollars worth of technology products now available on the market. There are Smart phone’s, smart TV’s, gaming consoles, portable music players, laptops and computer. I bet you would not be able to find one person today who does not own at least one of these things. It’s incredible the abilities society has been granted due to the developments in technology over the past decade.

People love to be connected. And what better way is there to stay connected, than with the wonderful technological advancements we are showered with within the world today? In this day and age, it’s kind of strange if you don’t have some sort of fancy gadget glued to your side all of the time.

Mobile phones are EVERYWHERE. They’re our little digital companions that we just cannot live without. I know that my phone is like a child to me. If I lost/broke it, I would most probably cry, curl up in a fetal position in the corner of a dark room and rock back and forth for eternity…or until I got a new one of course…

I use my phone for nearly everything; obviously for the standard calls and text messages, but also to compose my blog notes, listen to music, take adorable pictures of my dog and access my Twitter and Facebook accounts. This is media convergence at its finest. My phone incorporates numerous other technologies into one incredibly smart device. There are so many possibilities and different ways to connect with my friends and family with a simple, yet complex, mobile phone. I can be in a hundred places at once, and that is a pretty cool idea.

One problem with the constant changes in media technology is the rapid rate each “new” and “improved” model of a product is introduced. We are obsessed with having the best, or at least what we think is the best, of whatever new gadget is available. for purchase. A great example of this is Apple and how the company is constantly developing the next and best version of the iPhone.

Image from http://blog.fidmdigitalarts.com/

There seems to be no end to this string of mobile phones, as well as the millions of people, including myself, who love to indulge on Apple gadgets. It’s a tad hard to keep track of the various editions to the iPhone family, and to me, each version is not much different from the last. I mean, are there really any major differences between the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 5s? Not really.

Our gadgets have become extensions of ourselves. Maybe we don’t “need” them, but we would be incredibly lost if they were no longer available to us.

Love Beth

xx

Follow my blog

Follow me on Twitter – @BethanyRayton

Read ‘102 Amazing Apple Statistics’ to get some information on the Apple company; how their products are marketed globally, what it costs to produce an iPhone and how much we pay.

 

---

Sources:

http://blog.fidmdigitalarts.com/fidm-alumni-design-logos-for-no-doubt-contest-ebay-updates-its-logo-apple-releases-iphone-5/

http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/10/4714586/iphone-5s-5c-compared-best-smartphones-galaxy-s4-htc-one-lumia-1020

 

‘Celebritweets’

Twitter is a wonderful online world where fans can communicate on a more personal level with their favourite celebrities. Seems crazy to think that we are now able to ask our idols directly, pretty much anything we want, like what they had for breakfast, what their plans are for the holidays or whether or not they like cheese. I don’t know. Whatever…

Fans love to interact with celebs. I know I would die if I finally, after all my hard work tweeting, got a reply from Miley Cyrus (I just want to know a good twerking technique). Not everyone is lucky enough to have a member of one direction or ‘the’ Lady Gaga respond personally via Twitter.Some people will try just about ANYTHING to get even the smallest acknowledgment from the famous. Some people are kind, and tweet words of encouragement and praise. Others, well, they’re just plain mean.

Take a look at the segment ‘Celebs Read Mean Tweets’ from ‘Jimmy Kimmel’. It cracks me up every time…

We may use Twitter, not only to express our love for a celeb, but also to completely ridicule and criticise them. Social networking is a powerful weapon and words can cut like knives. People tend to forget the fact that celebrities are normal people (kind of) and they have feelings, just like the rest of us. Twitter is the perfect place to let a certain famous face know exactly how you feel about them or something they’ve done.

I would love to be that person who encourages others to be kind via social media, and in most cases I am. But some things are just way too funny.

But, we should still be nice to each other…

Twitter has opened up so many doors of communication and has provided a whole world of possibilities. A large world suddenly doesn’t seem as such when we have social networking websites, such as Twitter and Facebook to engage across oceans. I love this idea and the fact that there is a chance, even if it is as small as a pin head, that we may get to talk to someone has fabulous as Kim Kardashian, or as nutty as Charlie Sheen. Maybe one day, I will even get a reply from Miley.

Follow me on Twitter – @BethanyRayton

#Twitter

There seems to be no shortage of social media outlets in the world today. There’s something for everyone. You can share images over Instagram; post video’s to YouTube; stay connected with friends and the larger community on Facebook and let people know your likes, hobbies and skills on Pinterest. These outlets are innovated and allow for users to be creative and express themselves on various levels, whether it be through photographs and memes or simple status updates. One social media platform I haven’t mentioned in the list above is Twitter, now appropriately deemed the second most popular social networking site today.

Since 2009, the name Twitter has become globally known and accepted as a large, popular outlet for people who wish to communicate their idols, one-on-one. 

Founded by Jack Dorsey (@Jack), Evan Williams, Noah Glass and Biz Stone, Twitter began as a small idea in the year 2006 and has since grown into a global platform, and brought with its popularity a whole new language of Twitter jargon as well as ways of communicating easier with others on the website. Terms such as ‘tweeting’ and ‘hashtaging’ are used, almost on a daily basis. The ‘@’ symbol was added as a function of the media platform upon the increase in users who, to make communicating with one another easier, began to use the symbol before usernames. Hashtags (#) were introduced in this same way. Now, there is a hashtag for just about everything. #seriously

Celebrities, journalists, politicians and other public figures have established significant followings on Twitter and use the site as a way of broadcasting news to the world. It is a fun new way of communication for people around the globe, and it’s rapid growth over the last few years and increasing popularity is, to me at least, no real shock.

Love Beth x

 

Follow me on Twitter – @BethanyRayton

 

Sources:

http://twitter.about.com/od/Twitter-Basics/a/The-Real-History-Of-Twitter-In-Brief.htm

http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/social-networking-websites

http://mashable.com/category/twitter/

©

What is Copyright? This tricky subject seems to be infringed upon every tiny aspect of our lives. Did you know that the song ‘Happy Birthday’ is copyrighted? I bet you didn’t. It’s kind of strange to think that so many things we say, write or sing in our every day lives could be breaching the law. 

Copyright is defined, by the Oxford Dictionary, as ‘the exclusive and assignable legal right, given to the originator for a fixed number of years, to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material’. In other words, a person or perhaps a group or organisation could choose to ‘copyright’ a piece of material of there’s, such as a brand name, a company logo or maybe a commercial jingle. A person may even have a phrase copyrighted. For example, Paris Hilton owns the phrase ‘That’s Hot!’. If you use something of somebody else, without their permission, you may be punished under the Copyright Act 1968, which sets out the steps which must be followed ‘in order for a copyright owner to protect their rights if counterfeit goods have been seized’.

http://memeshare.net/meme/Unlucky_Brian_Strikes_Again/1678.html – © memeshare.net 2013

It is so easy to be caught, or accused of breaching copyright laws, even more so when you’re within the public eye. There have been numerous celebrity court cases involving infringement of copyright, such as ‘X17 v. Perez Hilton’. Celebrities are constant targets for Copyright Infringement accusations, for the reason that they are famous. Their work is know globally, and therefore, if they produce something that is not entirely their own, they can be caught and penalised, usually by fine.

So, be careful the next time you write a school paper, a blog post, a piece of music, say a popular phrase or even when you’re singing Happy Birthday, because you may in fact be breaking the law.

Love always, Beth.

xx

Sources:

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2009/08/31/thats-hot-paris-hilton-wins-hallmark-decision-at-ninth-circuit/ 

http://www.copyright.org.au/

http://www.davies.com.au/content/37/iplaw/copyright-infringement

http://www.blogherald.com/2007/10/01/copyright-cases-to-watch-x17-v-perez-hilton/

Don’t Blame It on the Good Times, blame It on The Media.

In this day and age, the media is our primary source for information. It seems that we live and breath for the scandals played out on favourite television shows; we save the money we make working long hours just to buy the latest iPhone or MacBook and we spend the majority of our lives surfing the internet, ‘googling’ pointless things and browsing the news-feeds of our Facebook and twitter pages. These things are accessible to us, now more than ever. We can interact with a global community, exercise our views creatively over the web and be up-to-date with the latest of news and global affairs. However, the positive effects of the Media are somewhat overshadowed by the constant scrutiny it is under, and all the negatives that it is said to have inferred upon society.

In this blog post I aim to shed some light upon obesity and body-image issues in relation to the media. How are we personally affected by television shows, advertisements or magazine articles?

In her article, ‘Reining in advertisers to curb Australia’s body image distortion’, Nives Zubcevic-Basic states that ‘In a community sample of Australian adults, 47% and 24% of healthy weight women and men respectively believed themselves to be overweight’. This highlights the effects of the media on personal wealth and well-being. Woman, as well as men, are affected by the pressure to look good within society. Magazines falsify images of men and women. These images are edited and distorted to sell products and influence the public. People are vulnerable to the effects of media and the unfair expectations of society can have lasting effects on young people.

 There is a growing concern that the population is becoming more and more inactive with the introduction of new media outlets. We have gaming consoles, laptops and computers and television screens to prevent us from going outside or spending time with friends.The question of ‘does the media make you fat?’ is prominent. However, should we blame the media for the increase in obesity within society, or should we blame this on the consumers of the media? In a scene from Disney/Pixar’s, Wall-E, the concerns for our future are made evident. This scene is a subtle warning, suggesting the dangers of spending too much time invested in technology. 

Are the Media causing our obesity as well as inflicting us with internal demons?
I’ll leave it up to you to decide.

Love Beth.

Sources:

http://www.dailysource.org/about/problems#.UyUCUPmSyHh

http://theconversation.com/reining-in-advertisers-to-curb-australias-body-image-distortion-10387 

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/reality-check/2013/oct/24/does-watching-tv-make-you-fat

http://hoodcenter.dartmouth.edu/research-programs/obesity/media_influences.html