A Period for this Blog Assignment

Among all the assignments I've had, this blog is the most pleasurable one to do. Not only I can write but also read others' thoughts on new media. Their writings are nice leisure readings covering a wide spectrum of fascinating topics (so click a few links at the blogroll on the right and take a look at them!). Indeed, for this course name being "Writing for New Media", this blog offers me a few hands-on experiences in writing one of the many genres of new media - blog.

Writing blog helps me realize the importance of interactivity in new media. As a blogger, I definitely want people to check out my blog and comment on my posts. To fulfill my ambitious desires, choosing the right topics is essential. To make my blog fun, informative as well as original, I've tried to find examples that local readers tend not be very familiar with, such as Urban Dictionary. How the entries should be composed is another matter: how long should the entries be, what degree of formality should it be, how academic or casual my posts can be etc.. Although this blogging assignment's primary tone is analytic, I've tried not to make it sound too complicated and boring (the last thing I'd try to do in this blog is to intimidate my readers with complex ideas and lengthy texts). By incorporating relevant hyperlinks, images and video, I aim to help my readers to understand my messages better and wish they'd find them fun to look at and watch.

However, the use of the external resources above must be nicely controlled. You may have already discovered that I didn't include many hyperlinks, images or videos in my entries. Even though these resources give posts extra information, too many of them possibly confuse readers. A blogger is like a novelist; you want your piece of writing to be read from the beginning to the end, top to bottom. If numerous hyperlinks, images and videos are incorporated into the entries, seldom is the chance of the readers being determined to read through the whole piece of writing. Where should they be presented in the posts is another important issue to note. By putting them too early, readers' attentions are diverted; too late may render them lose the interest in the posts as there is nothing to refresh their minds.

 

This blogging experience helps me to understand better what've been covered in the course. As the entries have to relate to various themes learnt, before composing the posts, I researched different genres of new media texts and analyse them. This practice assists me to get familiar with the ideas related to new media writing, collaborative and participatory Internet culture, for example (which I always find fascinating as the culture encourages creativity).  Indeed, this blog's also an example of collaborative and participatory new media writing, since blogging emphasizes interactions within the blogger's community; through the processes of others commenting on the posts and me replying others' comments, I know what my readers want to read and know, and therefore I can produce tailor-made texts in the future.  

 

To make this blogging experience so beneficial to me, I'd like to thank those who've read through my posts and commented on my thoughts. I hope the posts fascinate and offer you more interesting information on new media. I treasure your comments and I take them seriously. I really enjoy interacting with you through commenting. Your comments've surely broaden the ground for discussion on respective topics.

(from creativewriting-prompts.com)

 

 

Sample post to be evaluated in detail:

Urban Dictionary - Collaborative Creativity by New Media

 

Comments made on others' blogs:

Skype (Marques Fields) 

My Feeling to Blogging, Online Game, a Space?!, Multimodality boosts credibility?! (Vivian Lai) 

My digital life 4 (Chan Chi Hin)

Facebook - a new era (Connie Wong)

 

 

How Does Collaborative New Media Influence Journalism?

With most of us possessing devices which can connect to the Internet, we can share our thoughts, photos and videos wherever we go. This circumstance gives rise to a new type of journalism called "citizen journalism". Unlike any conventional journalism, citizen journalism makes good use of the great surge of information every day to build news stories. The idea of this type of journalism is that everyone in the society can be a journalist who witness, record and share events that mean something to him or her, with the fact that digital products and media empower individuals. Journalism is therefore not the same as that in the old days.

 

The line distingusting who audiences and journalists are is thinner than that in citizen journalism. In traditional journalistic practice, these two roles are well-defined. Conventionally, journalists refer to people who engage in the profession. Within this context, the journalist-audience relationship and information flow tend to be one-way-top-down. Unless an audience is a witness of the event that a journalist wants to cover, never can he or she participate in the news production.

 

On the contrary, citizen journalism encourages collaborative and participatory production of news stories; the journalist-audience relationship in this case is an interactive and dynamic one. This kind of journalism utilizes not merely official sources but also social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to write news stories. Social media platforms are rich sources for journalists because we tend to put everything we think is worth sharing onto them. Yet, what journalists try to yield are not our statuses but visual evidence related to the events which cannot be captured on the site or is banned from distribution by the local governments. A journalist called Paul Lewis makes remarks on the pros of citizen journalism in the YouTube video below. Using murder cases as examples, he suggests social media effectively allows journalists and the society to form a relatively more complete reality.

 

  "TEDxThessaloniki - Paul Lewis - Citizen Journalism" from YouTube

 

Last year's Egyptian Revolution is a paradigmatic example of new media facilitating news reporting in autocratic countries. Even though the Egyptian government limited greatly on its freedom of press, the incident was still well-known internationally because the Egyptian protesters and  citizen journalists used Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and blogs to share the news primarily between various local protest groups and, in turn, to the world. Photos and videos uploaded by the activists were used in news reports worldwide. From this case, the power of such collaborative and participatory journalistic practice is highly manifested.

 

From a journalistic perspective, the presence of citizen journalists is beneficial to the society. For journalists, the content of the news stories is more reliable and trustworthy because news sources are now more diverse; news is reported based on fact and evidence from vaious perspectives. As everyone of us can be a citizen journalist, freedom of press is not easily limited by the government. We can therefore use our empowered agency to fight against injustice in our society. 

 

What we gained from the advent of new media is that we can have our say in this world, so essentially we should use new media as constructive and beneficial as possible to others and the society.

Internet Privacy: Think before You Post

Our social life has already been "digitalized" since the universalization of computer. Nowadays, we can engage in social activities without any temporal and locational constraints; with our smartphones and available wifi network, we can literally have a 24/7 social life. However, while the digital social platforms come in handy, they create problems in terms of privacy. Indeed, technology merges our social and personal lives into one. Privacy can no longer be kept secret but widespread.

With social media, we are exposed to the public. (Illustration from Cagle Cartoons)



The rise of social media has made individual’s voice to be heard. Admit it or not, we all like our voice to be heard. And social media is not just the platforms but also our mic and spotlight as well as amplifier; with high social permeability of Facebook, Twitter and the like, our thoughts can reach a vast amount of audiences and be highlighted on people’s homepage. Our friends may then share or retweet the posts, thus amplifying the message. Yet, while social media enables us to spread the news more efficiently, we lack the control power on the scope and rate of the spread.
 

We are never short of examples to illustrate how devastating social media can be for private life. In 2008, we have Edison Chen photo scandal, where the obscene photos were madly posted and re-posted onto Hong Kong major forums; in 2012, we have Kanye West’s sex tape leak and the photo scandals of Prince Henry and Catherine Middleton. Hence, Internet is never as safe as we have thought.

To draw daily experiences to exemplify, let’s look at Facebook. Many people treat Facebook as their own diaries. First of all, they share their personal information in detail. Secondly, they check-in wherever they are. Thirdly, they write status whenever they like or dislike something or someone. Their identity, daily activities and thoughts are exposed to others, be that friends, acquaintances or strangers. They never know how far-reaching their information and message can be, as social media fosters the atmosphere of sharing and encourages us to express. 

 

On the other hand, when private jokes are exposed in the virtual world, they may constitute Internet decency issue. In 2006, a man invited people on a forum to join a "flash mob rape" and blow up Hong Kong Disneyland. The post was shared and forwarded by netizens and became so widespread that even the police force took action. The case was brought to court and became a legal matter. We can see how an insider joke can lead to so much a trouble to individuals.

Inarguably, detaching ourselves from social media is impossible. Even I can’t imagine myself not using social media for only 3 days because it is so good a tool to help me keep in touch with my friends. Nevertheless, we have to bear in mind that these platforms are beyond our control, so we have to beware of what we write and post onto them (at least the posts are within our control). We all know the saying “think before you speak”, and within the social media context, the saying should be “think before you post”.

This post is inspired by 1st episode of “Privacy beyond Price”, produced by RTHK. Check this out if you want to learn more (available only in Cantonese Chinese).

 

Urban Dictionary - Collaborative Creativity by New Media

The rise of Information Age dawns after the advent of the Internet. What follows the invention is not merely the surge of factual data but also the influx of creative texts. Indisputably, Internet is a space for netizens to express themselves. And very often, it involves plenty of collaborations and participations among the community.

 

Having the same editing mechanism as in Wikipedia, Urban Dictionary is a good example in showing how new media facilitates creative flows. Don't be fooled by its name, Urban Dictionary is never a formal teaching tool for any kind of schools; it is a dictionary "defining" (you will see why I double-quoted it if you read further) an ever-expanding amount of slang words and phrases. Perhaps for the academia, Urban Dictionary does not have much linguistic value for reference, but as long as new media writing is concerned, this website has a high research value.

Urban Dictionary sheds light on the part where new media writing is often collaborative and interactive. Apart from searching slangs through its search bar, people can add new entries (valid email address required), edit existing texts and delete posts which are against the Dictionary's guidelines. Such functions construct the website as a whole. And to add a bit of the interactivity to the Dictionary, the webpage designer has allowed people to "thumb-up" or "thumb-down" entries, to determine how nicely- and poorly-written they are. The more thumb-ups the entry has, the higher its rank and more likely for it to be read. Needless to say, people can share their favourite posts via Facebook and Twitter. Collaboration and interaction are what keep this website operating.

 

People can vote on whether the definition should be published.

 

At this point, you may ask, "How about the entries' quality control?" Well, Urban Dictionary doesn't seem to fuss over this issue. Regardless of the word "Dictionary" suggests, this website isn't for education but fun; it provides little useful information. Indeed, it needn't to because it is a platform for Internet users to bring forth their creativity. It is a wall for graffiti lovers to express their perspectives and appreciate or criticize others' works. Besides, the democratic thumb-up/thumb-down and add/edit/delete entries functions are fair enough to monitor the quality of the posts. Just like Wikipedia, the improvement of entries is made among Internet users but not by authority. Because of the absence of hierarchical website management structure, Urban Dictionary encourages people to express their creativity.

Being a slang library, it also encourages the creation and spread of the casual language. A number of new entries are posted every day. The entries first inform others of the existence of the expressions. People may then pick up those words or phrases which they see cool to use, making them become popular. As long as communication doesn't cease, new slangs will be formed, and the processes keep going on as long as people put the expressions onto the Dictionary. What Urban Dictionary does is to speed up the process of meaning formation and public recognition.

 

A humble recommendation: Next time when you have nothing to do in front of the computer, find some leisure readings from Urban Dictionary (explicit descriptions alert!)

 

My New-media-oriented Life

The recent emergence of new media is groundbreaking in the study of communication. Besides providing us more ways to connect with others (friends, acquaintances, business partners, or even the unknown), these media encourage a more interactive, casual and instant mode of communication.

I remember when I was young (say, 8 years old), whenever I wanted to reach friends, I either phoned them or met them in person. After I got a desktop at 9, finding friends has been much easier: ICQ, MSN, facebook and twitter. And now, with smartphones at hand, not only can you call and text them but also see them on your mobile's screen and "whatsapp" to a group of friends. Internet-connecting computers and smartphones make lives in 21st century more convenient.

Digital media also entertains our lives. Apart from following juicy news posted on facebook and twitter, YouTube is my window to the latest music, film, animation and fashion trends. I enjoy watching viral videos on this platform and share anything seems interesting to others to facebook. My "friends" may comment on my sharing and I can start conversations with them. Indeed, facebook maintains my social life; I can reach my "friends" whenever and wherever I can access the internet.

reblog from gunes in wonderland

Speaking of sharing, this blog is not merely for you to read my thoughts and comment on them but also for me to experiment new media writing, since I am taking a course called Writing for New Media in my university. Hopefully, I will know the dynamics of writing blogs (with your help) and more about social media marketing.

New Onboard

Hi guys! Welcome to my world of thoughts!