February | 2015 | loginwithlauren

Advertising- Let’s talk it out

Posted on February 27, 2015 by lware1994

The Cluetrain Manifesto by Rick Levine, Chris Locke, Doc Searls, and David Weinberger is a document written from the point of view of consumers both ecstatic and overwhelmed with technologies and platforms promoting mass communication with peers. The Cluetrain Manifesto famously quotes, “Markets are conversations,” in regards to our up and coming widespread modes to communicate with both consumers and corporations, ultimately changing the world of advertising.

Nowadays we don’t simply read up on a product in a magazine or newspaper clipping and proceed to head to the store and purchase that particular product. We are now exposed to advertisements at all times, especially online. With the internet promoting open and free discussion, we are engaging in live chat rooms, instant customer online reviews and ratings, shared links to better investments, blogs, and much more. In other words, with the emergence of the internet and widespread communication, the marketplace and consumption has ultimately turned into a conversation. We as consumers want to know everything from all perspectives about what we are buying and what is being sold to us because of how instantaneous this information to us is. From sites like Forever21 to Amazon.com we are bombarded with customer reviews and ratings. Its not only the consumers that are talking though, the corporations are talking back too

What The Cluetrain Manifesto didn’t mention were blogs. Nowadays blogs are becoming primary sources when it comes to what to invest in and why. Blogs serve as the personal testimonies, the opinions, the links to better products, better trials, better advice, and more. The difficult part today though is how do we make sure corporations aren’t drastically interfering with consumer online discussion. Major corporations have been infiltrating the blog sphere promoting themselves, and promoting consumer discussion. Much of our cherished editorial content has become manipulated by larger corporations sponsoring themselves. I think our transition into this era of “conversation” is groundbreakingly awesome, but I do think that we need to keep a watchful eye on the larger corporations that may manipulate our consumer discussion

Q&A

Posted on February 24, 2015 by lware1994

In this post I will be responding to numerous questions proposed today in class discussion.

Whats the difference between news and globalization?

News and the distribution of news has transformed tremendously over the last century primarily through globalization. There were times where we used to receive news via monthly newspaper distribution, local community radio broadcasts, or maybe just a small dose of the morning and nightly television news broadcasts. The horizons at which we can distribute news has increasingly expanded from where they began. We are now connected to virtually every part of the world through all means of media platforms. We can instantly receive CNN updates on our mobile devices, share links to worldwide news articles, re-tweet news clips, record all news broadcasts, tap into all-topic podcasts, and so much more. Globalization has helped to transform news, how we receive it, and how many people we can interact with via news distribution.

What is more important , to be entertained or informed, what do people gravitate towards?

Because of the immediacy and accessibility of news nowadays we as news consumers are quickly distracted, lack patience when it comes to news distribution, and are easily captivated by media entertainment rather than straight forward news. To get out attention we need creative news stories, short articles, brief yet innovative videos, pretty blogs, funny buzzfeeds, and more. Sadly our generation has begun to gravitate more towards entertainment over credible news sources. However this gravitation has inspired news platforms to be more imaginative and creative in the distribution of news and scholarly information.

How do we promote educated and useful discussion rather than just the sharing of baby and puppy photos?

I think the best way to promote educated and useful discussion on online platforms specifically is to link discussion with “fun” media. In other words I think that more sites that usually associate with funny distracting information should include news platforms amongst the entertaining media. Buzzfeed has served as an incredible example of this.

Is buzzfeed going to be one of those social media platforms that “saves us?”

Buzzfeed has become an instant sensation in terms of its fusion of news and entertainment. Not only is Buzzfeed known for its funny and captivating meme based lists and its mass-social media sharing but also for it’s strong, up and coming news section. Buzzfeed may be the social media platform that “saves us” or at least pushes us in the right direction to tackling the much needed adaptation to our technologically distracted minds by combining news and entertainment.

Buzzfeed and The New York Times

Posted on February 17, 2015 by lware1994

taylor swift animated GIF newspaper animated GIF

Is this site journalism? Is it both?

The New Yorks times is mainly journalism but also has an opinion page which can be defined as journalistic in some aspects and not journalistic in others. Buzzfeed, like the New York Times incorporates journalism in their news section but has other areas of the site that are much more community oriented and less journalistic.

Opinon Page- The New York Times

BuzzFeed News

BuzzFeed Home Page

How does the site incorporate “citizen journalism?”

Both sites provide a platform for readers to comment and share the articles, which promotes discussion and incorporates “citizen journalism”. In addition, both sites provide an area for the reader to create their own content, the “opinion” page on the New York Times and on the home page for Buzzfeed.

How do these sites source their info?

There’s a variety of areas through which Buzzfeed sources it’s info, most of which can be found throughout the article or at the end of it. For the New York Times, correspondents collect their own information and present it in a more professional manner than Buzzfeed.

What is the writing style?

Buzzfeed is more of a casual writing style to entertain the audience where the New York Times is more information based and seems to care more about getting the facts across rather than entertaining the audience. Additionally, the New York Times is marketed towards an older audience.

How does the site establish credibility?

Since the New York Times began as a print publication, the credibility was established with older generations years ago. Buzzfeed, which is aimed towards a younger audience, doesn’t have as much credibility but this is generally not a factor that bothers the audience that reads it.

How does the site make money? Advertising?

The New York Times makes money through advertisement and subscriptions. Buzzfeed makes money through advertisement and advertisement paid articles and lists. We see more advertisements on Buzzfeed’s site in comparison to The New York Times home page.

How often does the site update?

With the new technological era that we live in, the New York Times and Buzzfeed are constantly being updated with new material. Buzzfeed actually sends out notifications each time a new story or Buzzfeed list is released on their site, these notifications happen all throughout the day. The New York Times is updated on more of a day to day basis rather than hourly.

How is multimedia used? Visuals? Graphics? How are stories packaged?

Buzzfeed uses a variety of multimedia outlets including visuals, graphics, and video. Stories are packaged to entertain and draw in a younger audience. The New York Times uses visuals and graphics as well as photos to convey the story in a more serious manner but also to draw the audience in. While the New York times is less entertaining to people of our age group, it is more informational and caters to its audience.

Buzzfeed is incredibly entertaining and provides a variety of outlets to enjoy media. The New York Times is less entertaining but more informational. Buzzfeed, while entertaining has tendency to be considered less credible. The New York Times, while more professional, can be biased in some articles and less entertaining to the audience that they should be trying to inform most, our generation.

Let’s Go Viral

Posted on February 3, 2015 by lware1994

The Virologist

“I realized that influence was inextricably linked to impact—the more influence you had, the more impact you could create. . . . The ability to make things go viral felt like the closest that we could get to having a human superpower.”

-Emerson Spartz

Internet media entrepreneur Emerson Spartz stresses the importance and the influence of information, apps, technology, and more going viral. Spartz believes that trends and viral information are major components in what becomes successful, what turns elections, what alters opinions, and ultimately what persuades the masses.“I realized that influence was inextricably linked to impact—the more influence you had, the more impact you could create. . . . The ability to make things go viral felt like the closest that we could get to having a human superpower,” said Spartz.

Making most of his capital from the development and maintenance of a multitude of Websites, apps, and the advertisements that go along with them, Spartz is the master of catchy yet searchable headlines, instant Facebook pop-ups, and what he calls “disrupting the disrupters.” Spartz states that, “If you want to build a successful virus, you can start by trying to engineer the DNA from scratch—or, much more efficient, you take a virus that you already know is potent, mutate it a tiny bit, and expose it to a new cluster of people.” One of his major claims to fame are the sites and apps he has created that simply put an interesting and alluring twist to major viral internet sites and apps such as BuzzFeed, Tinder, and even the latest games such as Cards Against Humanity.

“The Internet has created a huge megaphone,” he said. “That’s great, but it often creates so much noise that the people on the receiving end can’t hear anything.” Spartz acknowledges the overwhelming amounts of information circulating throughout the web but also highlights how to navigate around it. It’s not necessarily the most intriguing information that goes viral via the web, but it’s the way and where the information is presented to us. Nowadays social media outlets sit at the forefront of what goes viral through the instant sharing, comments, likes, retweets, and favorites.

In a way, our generation is in control of what goes viral, what becomes controversial, and what sparks the most actions set in motion. Advertisers and larger corporations are consistently waiting for our next let’s-go-viral move hoping to commercialize and profit from the work and interests of our ever-growing online community.