Relearning Who We Are

“HOOTIE? HOO!” Anyone who watches Bravo’s hit reality show “Top Chef” knows what and who I’m talking about. This reality show throws talented chefs together into a kitchen to whip up delicious meals under both ridiculous ingredient and time restraints. Basically, if you like food and a healthy dose of survivor-like competition, tune in. Carla Hall, one of the breakout contestants on the show has garnered a somewhat cult-like following because of her bubbly, warm-hearted personality, and a to-die-for chicken potpie recipe that I’m sure tastes just as good as it looks on the television screen. If you take a look at the video above, you can put a face to the name and get a sense of who it is I’m talking about. Carla’s that contestant on a reality competition show that is talented, not malicious, and a little bit kooky; basically everybody loves her.

            This season, contestant’s spouses and family members made guest appearances, and Top Chef viewers and Carla-fans (like myself) finally got to meet her husband. Carla and the man who inspired the “Hootie Hoo” chant, that has become her signature slogan, seemed like a perfect fit and so in love. When it was revealed that they met on www.match.com I was shocked. Carla on a dating site? How is that possible? How could people as normal and real like Carla and her husband have met online? People like that meet in real life!

There is something that irks me about online relationships and people who have met from an online dating website. I always question the validity of the relationship, how genuine it is, if it’s real. I wonder if people who have met online can ever truly say their relationship is genuine because I suppose that I am not yet used to the idea that relationships can form from social media tools like dating websites, Facebook, and even Twitter. As silly as it sounds, it didn’t truly occur to me that online dating sites do actually result, many times, in real, long-lasting, and loving relationships until Carla revealed how she and her husband had met.

Now I mention Carla Hall and her online relationship because in Cognitive Surplus, author Clay Shirky discusses changing times and new media tools that have emerged, creating new spaces through which people can pursue their interests and passions. Older media forms like television, print newspapers, radio, and early Internet websites created “consumers” who passively ingested information created and shaped by certain people, or gatekeepers. Nowadays however, new media tools allow for participation. Throughout the semester we have learned how these new tools allow consumers to turn into participants, or the “former audience.” No longer are we fed information, but we can question it, discuss it with others, and even produce it ourselves. New media tools have and are resulting in great changes in business-profit models and corporate structure, the journalism and news industry, and the way political or interest/hobby groups form and communicate with one another.

Shirky talks about how these great changes really force us to relearn what the world can mean. This requires a restructuring of what we’re used to, and the process is already quickly underway. That means we have to restructure businesses so that more transparency and better customer-relations can fuel more growth. We learned in The Cluetrain Manifesto that CEOs can no longer sit in their offices satisfied with their work, they must monitor and listen to their customer’s needs if they hope to withstand message boards and social networking sites that can quickly and easily give a company a bad rep. Professional journalists and news networks must now compete with mobile camera and smart phones, blogs, and the “citizen journalists” who can report a story faster and more easily than ever before. Political candidates have to tap into and use these tools in order to get more votes than their competition, and most importantly to our class in particular, group-formation and means of communication when working on social change initiatives can now involve people across the country and around the world much quicker and easier, which brings the potential to great change at the forefront.

So we are facing a great change both in what media can mean, and in that sense, how society and the world is structured. It means that previous gatekeepers must restructure how they function, because previous consumers are now capturing their role as participants. Everyone is “relearning” his or her role in society and what had been deemed normal for years. As I watched Carla Hall, a seemingly normal (actually great) individual reveal that her marriage was the result of a relationship formed from an online dating site, I had to relearn what relationships and how they form meant. 1 in 4 relationships now start online and that number is steadily growing. Old-fashioned dating rules are out the window thanks to these new media tools, and while these new relationships seem to be less “real” than others, who can really gauge what “real” is? The old view of online as a separate space is now over. Nowadays, our social media tools aren’t an alternative to real life, they are part of it. Shirky says that in particular, they are “increasingly coordinating tools for events in the physical world” (pg. 37). So while online dating may seem weird and somewhat fake, these relationships are very real, and mine and many others’s hesitation in believing so is because we have not yet “relearned.”

One of Shirky’s points that resonated most to me while I read was, “…the use of social technology is much less determined by the tool itself; when we use a network, the most important asset we get is access to one another” (pg. 14). New media is all about social change that is coming along with it. It is forcing us to communicate with each other in different ways, gives access to many more people, and has forced great changes to the gatekeepers in society and their role in controlling flows of information. I guess it took a reality show star to teach me to rethink how a relationship can form, whether online or in person, but this relearning is inevitable and I’m excited to see what’s next. 

The #HashtagRevolution

We have discussed in class and read about these gatekeepers of information in society. They control the media and therefore can control the information we have access to. They can shape and frame events to tell a certain story, whether it is true or not. Most importantly, they have that control and power to affect the way we view each other and ourselves. In The Gutenberg Revolution by John Man, we learn about the historical context and events leading up to the invention of the printing press and how much it affected society. The printing press allowed for the rapid spread of information to occur over 550 years ago, which led to an entire breakdown of gatekeepers and the influx of new thinkers on the scene. The printing press provided the access, and the people took hold of it-and ran.

            From history classes and COMM 100 last semester I felt that I got a good grasp on the impact the printing press truly had on the people, and reading it now, I understand that it is simply not a historical book. Sure, I can read it and learn about a certain slot of time, but it’s important to read the book, learn the history, and apply it to today, to our projects, and to our own lives.  

            It seems that throughout history, there are always these inventions, wars, agreements and other events that lead to great societal changes. Often though, while in the midst of a great change spurred by a certain occurrence, it takes years to truly understand the impact. It seems that while it’s happening we can’t really grasp our fingers around it. I’m sure Gutenberg thought his printing press was pretty nifty when he made it, but who would have thought we would be talking about it today? I’m curious because in classes like this one, where we study the impact of these new social media tools, we’re on the brink of what seems to be the next great change. If the printing press broke down gates, these new tools can break down stonewalls that were built solidly into the ground. What gatekeepers will be left to breakdown? Will we have a breakdown of government? Will we be able to police ourselves?

            Not to get too dramatic or anything, I want to look into a certain phenomenon that seems that be taking over, in large part due to Twitter. Nowadays I see and hear it everywhere. I see phrases, with no spaces in between the words, and yet somehow they make sense grammatically because of the hash tag symbol placed right before it. #Icouldbasicallywritethisentiresentenceanditwouldmakeitokay. That one was a bit too long, but you get the idea. On the Twitter sidebar trending topics you will usually see a hashtagged phrase on the list. It can be as simple as #itiswhatitis, #help, and #sidechickgifts. When you click on them, and read what people all over the world are saying, you get opened up to new ideas, things that make you laugh, and even assistance after a frantic “#help my itunes got deleted” tweet is published. Yes, that did happen. My whole itunes library was wiped out with no explanation, and when I tweeted about it with that hash tag, I was able to fix my problem and not get depressed over having to rebuild an entire music library. Things like that never could have happened before the hash tag, and twitter for that matter existed. It’s a little thing that is having a huge impact. We’re getting information quicker, we’re learning new things, and it’s for free.

One of my friends from high school before creating a Twitter, was honestly living under a rock when it came to current events and happenings of the world around her. Whether she was disinterested or not, her lack of awareness was really starting to get on my nerves. How could someone just not know ANYTHING about what is going on? Twitter changed her. I laugh saying that now, but as I write about her, I realize how important a new technology can be to people. Nowadays, she knows what’s going on in the world and seems like a regular person. Without Twitter’s approachable and easy-to-use interface with access to tons of information, I don’t think she ever would have caught on. Television, newspapers, and online publication by themselves weren’t doing it- she needed a tool to do so. Gutenberg’s printing press made a huge impact, and now we’re really learning about the impact social media tools like Twitter are having.

            Looking back earlier into the semester as the riots in Egypt carried on, we saw how Facebook and Twitter mobilized thousands to march and protest against a government they felt was not serving the people. These Egyptian protesters were not satisfied by what these gatekeepers were feeding them, and with the help of these new technologies, revolution happened. It almost seems that everyone is now in this giant network that is open, informative, and approachable. Will this completely change hierarchical structures of power everywhere?

            It seems simple, the # symbol. Who knows what the creators of Twitter thought would happen with that tool. Did they think governments could be overthrown? Probably not, but it happened. Gutenberg created something and although he may have had an idea of what he wanted the printing press to do, he could not have guessed how impactful it would really be.  People throughout history have been thrown into events, wars, agreements, and with emerging technologies, reactions and actions change. Gatekeepers can no longer just expect people to eat up whatever is served on the platter. Nowadays people are seeing what’s served, heading back into the kitchen if something isn’t to their liking, and getting what they want. Who knows what else will happen with the # symbol, but #icantwaittosee.

Who Here Hates Vevo?

I remember watching music videos on YouTube and it not being a hassle. I would type in the search box what I wanted, clicked the first result and BAM my music video. YouTube was and is great in that sense. You get instant and quick video content, can search for new things, discover different interests you may have, and communicate with others. Nowadays though, I find music video viewing via YouTube to be a far cry from what it used to be. Before I can even watch the video I want, I get hit with advertisements lasting between 10-30 seconds, with or without the option to skip. Some company called “Vevo” also hosts videos and its logo and ads takes over the sidebars and background to promote other musical artists and songs. I know, I know, I sound like I’m complaining, but in all honesty, can’t a person just once when accessing some sort of media not be hit with a blatant ad for sneakers, Gatorade, or cleaning supplies? However, this isn’t my only concern with the rise of advertisements on YouTube. It’s not even so much that that extra 30 seconds I have to wait to watch an HD music video is not worth it, but it’s the commercialization of what used to be a free and open video-sharing website that concerns me.

According to their Wikipedia page Vevo is a music video and entertainment website owned by SONY, Universal Music Group and Abu Dahbi Media Company. The Vevo service launched in 2009 and YouTube provided the hosting, with Google and Vevo sharing the advertising and revenue. The premise of the whole website is that it’s supposed to be a hulu for music videos, with the goal being to attract more high-end advertisers. The Vevo music channel has more views than any other channel on YouTube at  3.5 billion and therefore its traffic is heavily sought after by advertisers. Over my YouTube viewing years, I have noticed more and more music videos being hosted by Vevo. Even when I try to escape the lunacy of short ads before any video view by clicking on an alternate link, BAM, there goes Vevo again. When will it ever stop?

In Taking on the System: Rules For Change in a Digital Era by Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, we run into some similar themes we have discussed thus far in class. We have learned about the changes businesses need to make to be more successful in this day and age. We have learned how blogs have allowed for the growth of citizen-journalism causing changes in the news industry.  We have also learned how social networking and other media tools have allowed for great social upheavals and changes. Zuniga describes his frustration with the government in the post 9/11-era in which government officials were being unclear about foreign threats and dangers, and how we spiraled into a war that today, is commonly referred to as a mistake. He was,” unsatisfied being a passive consumer.” He wanted to do his part to improve the world, but didn’t know how. That’s where blogging came in for him and other political-saavy folk who had an alternative opinion from what was being presented by the current media system. Their use of social networking and new media tools created change and today, although still a fresh concept, is now being more readily used by people and now, as we have learned from The Cluetrain Manifesto, corporations.

Zuniga breaks down one of the most successful and recent uses of social networking for change: the Obama presidential campaign. Campaign managers and strategists used social networking to reach new audiences, rally support beyond that of traditional media, and more importantly, outfox the competition. Zuniga describes how the comfortable and established are more invested in holding their positions of privilege than in risking new ways of writing, thinking, innovating, exploring, and governing.  He goes on and explores how these new tools have and will allow people to literally take on the system. So now, these new ways of writing, thinking, innovating, and exploring can take place. So what happens now? We have made changes, changes are in progress, but now it seems that all the “bad guys” are onto our strategy. What do we do now when the tools we used to make changes can now be put into the wrong hands and create bad changes? If Vevo continues hosting more and more content on YouTube, it could become the only place on the web that can legally play or allow other sites to embed their content.  So basically, the concept of a free and open video-sharing website would essentially be gone. It would become just like the regular tube.

This all harks back to a theme we have lightly touched upon so far in class; the idea that while these tools can be used for good, they can also be used for bad. Companies, government officials, candidates, and other groups can and will catch on, they will learn about these tools and create, like the music industry has with Vevo, a way to get profit in the end. They have a chance of winning and making a change just like the rest of us. YouTube has allowed for great talents and musical artists to be discovered, but it has also allowed the Rebecca Black’s to slip through the cracks. Bigots like Alexandra Wallace can rant on about Asians at the library. So we have to be careful because now that we all know how to “take on the system”, what’s stopping the system from reorganizing and reverting back to how things used to be? Couldn’t they then make things worse than before? Zuniga  does a great job of outlining how to take on the system in 2008, but now, I’m just worried about years to come- what’s next?