What I look most about my newfound media literacy is my ability to use Adobe products. Before this class, I had never used any, but I now dabble in Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash. Photoshop is by far my favorite, and I believe it is a useful tool worth purchasing. Flash was a royal pain at first, but I’m glad I was able to work out the kinks and eventually create an animation, as simple as it was.
Secondly, I now look at the news and question its integrity a bit more. We are consumers of a product, information, and we don’t have to tolerate garbage 24/7. I’m not concerned with Miley Cyrus or Roger Clemens. However, I do care about what is going on in Iraq and the global food shortage. I need substance in my news, and this is why I have turned to the internet to get it.
Finally, I have learned how media has become such a part of our culture. It was revolutionized in the mid 20th century with the advent of the televsion; however, I believe we are currently seeing another revolution with Web 2.0. This class has even got us involved in it with the use of blogging. Look at us, we are in a class, posting answers to our final exam on the internet, for the world to see. Yet, I didn’t even have to get dressed this morning! We are in an exciting time, and it took some media literacy to be able to realize this.
There is a really interesting video here. http://www.calacanis.com/2008/04/30/clay-shirky-cognitive-surplus-talk-at-web-2-0/
It is a lecture by Clay Shirky about how web 2.0 is changing our lives. He discusses that at the advent of television, people began wasting hours of their lives everyday. It was not until web 2.0 started that we as a society have begun to reclaim our lives…we started using our cognitive surplus. He cites Wikipedia as an example. People are going out of their way to compile information for the use of others. It is really incredible. With television, we are just consumers and nothing more. However, with the internet we have control and input. Clay Shirky believes this is a paradigm shift of our generation, and he makes some really interesting points.
After watching the beginning of Idiocracy, it has crept its way near the top of my to-see movie list. The idea that natural selection may become meaningless and we could end up ‘devolving’ has actually come across my mind before. Science has enabled us to live through and with all sorts of ailments, and these genes can be passed on now. The movie plays on the idea that lower class society tends to have a greater number of children than the upper class, and this will result in a ‘trailer park’ society in the future. It is a scary thought, but I wouldn’t be suprised to see Gatorade fountains in the near future.
Call me a cynic, but I do not believe for one second the stories the media is telling us about what happened to Deborah Jeane Palfrey. Supposedly she hung herself on May 1st, and foul play is not suspected. However, I believe she was murdered. She was even quoted saying that she had no intention to kill herself. It is scary that because of her knowledge, the government would silence her in this way. It is even scarier that the media is not questioning anything, that they are taking it all as fact.
On April 24th, Nintendo will be doing a little bit of viral marketing in New York City. To celebrate the launch of one of the company’s most anticipated titles this year, MarioKart Wii, Nintendo will be giving away free cab rides. Mario, the face of Nintendo, will be hailing cabs for several hours throughout the day. This is a great way to raise awareness about the video game title. People love free stuff, especially something as useful as a free trip somewhere. With gas prices as high as they are today, taxi fares are most likely climbing higher and higher. Many people will be taking up this offer by Nintendo and also telling their friends about it. The message will become viral, and I believe this will help sell a few copies of MarioKart Wii.
Source: http://wii.ign.com/articles/868/868573p1.html
