Week 2 Assignment

Hi class....here is what I came up with for week 2's assignment. I left my title and reference page off the blog as I did not think it was necessary (we all know what class, subject, and instructor!) Hope I did ok!

The world is filled with many media technology sources, you will find yourself using many of them on a daily basis. As a matter of fact, it is very difficult to avoid the many sources for media technology that are out there today. Many of the media technologies that are out there are very convenient and we have become quite dependent upon them. A few examples of these often used media technology sources are blogs, social networking, iTunes, and YouTube. Many people use these media technologies during day to stay up to date on what is going on in the world and with their family and friends. This category of media can be used for entertainment, staying connected, or for education purposes.

A blog is a discussion panel or an online journal that is published by an individual in which this individual who published the blog is free to discuss whatever they want. Blogs can be used as informational pieces in which the publisher or “blogger” can discuss a certain topic that they are familiar with. The forum really is wide open; the blogger can discuss and share their knowledge of science and the universe. They discuss sports and the dynamics of sports and how it affects the world. Blogs can also be used for various forms of personal issues, opinions, or beliefs. A good example is that this being an election year for our country, a person may create a blog that contains their political viewpoints and opinions while educating their audience about their candidate and party of choice. Blogs can also simply be journal style entries that showcase a person’s life; day to day situations or rituals. Just a very simple, ‘here is what my life is like’ type of forum. The nice about blogs is that it doesn’t have to be a heavy subject blog to be effective; it is what the publisher makes it.

The internet took in the late 1990’s with blogs beginning to surface, but blogs gained their massive appeal and popularity in as we entered the 2000’s. The internet itself took on a whole new life form at this time since its birth in 1992. As the technology advanced, blogs were utilized more and more and where we are now in 2012, blogs are used for just about anything for professional, educational, and personal usage or preference. Setting up a blog is a very easy process making the use of blogs something that everyone who can turn on a computer an easy thing to do.

Another media technology that is widely used on a daily basis is social networking. Social networking is way of communicating and staying update on all things social and regarding around our society. The social networking sites started with the idea of people being able to stay connected to one another; it allowed people to update their life right on the web and anyone who they would allow to be their friend on these sites could see what their friends have been up to. MySpace which started in 2003 started the whole social networking frenzy; about a year later Facebook hit the scene and charged the whole social media scene. Whereas Facebook started off with the intentions of friends and family being able to stay connected, it turned into something so much more. Business began advertising on Facebook, movie stars and athletes started Facebook accounts so their fans could stay up to date on what they were doing (new movies and sport teams updates). Now, just about every person or business has a Facebook account.

Facebook, although a great way to keep up on social events and to stay connected with friends and families does have some draw backs. Facebook is easily hacked so any personal information that you have on there is readily available to hackers. Facebook can also make you vulnrable; people have their address, phone numbers, photographs, job location on their making it easy for predators to keep tabs on you at all times. Even for people who have their Facebook marked private and don’t put personal information on the site are subject to their Facebook friends to unknowingly have their personal information there. There are other forms of social networking such as Twitter but Facebook has become the most popular; not just by but by name notary.

ITunes is another form of media technology that has taken the entertainment business by storm. It used to be that when musicians put music out you had to wait until it was released in music stores to get their albums. With the take-off of the internet there were things like Napster that allowed people to download music however it was illegal and cheated musicians out of royalties for their music. In April of 2004, along with technology pieces such as MP3’s players, iTunes allowed people to purchase and download music right from their site to a person’s computer and device. This was such an innovative way to sell music; audio tapes have long been discontinued and cd’s are making their rapid exist. ITunes which took less than five years to become the most popular way to get music drastically changed the way music is sold, purchased, and marketed. As more devices such as Apple IPods and IPads continue to be introduced, the more items that iTunes can offer.

ITunes expanded its products to movies, online books, and games. With a click of your computer, you not only have the soundtrack of your favorite in your music library, you also can have the movie and the book that it was based off of. ITunes has become a faster, better, and more cost efficient way to obtain your entertainment needs. It has eliminated having to go to store, wait in lines, pay high prices, and run the risk of having your favorite title unavailable at the store you chose to shop at. For people who really enjoy music and the technology advances that are made, iTunes has set the bar very high for convenience, excellence, and customer service in the media world.

A fourth media technology that has been introduced is YouTube. This is a forum where people who become “users” can post themselves doing pretty much whatever they want. Of course, there are some guidelines for acts of violence or those of a sexual nature, though these types of videos do appear. YouTube, which has become very popular in gaining for than twenty million users, can be used for so many different types of things. It always seemed a place where people go upload videos of themselves singing, playing guitars, ranting on about a subject, really there is nothing that is off the table with YouTube. Even corporations such as HBO and Showtime utilize this forum by posting trailers for their original TV shows such as Dexter. Also posted on YouTube are full televisions shows such as Criminal Minds as well as live musical performances being posted; sometimes by the musician themselves and sometimes by fans who caught it from the audience.

YouTube is a fun form of media which allows people to follow stars just as other forms of media technology such as Facebook. Along with Facebook, YouTube comes along with its own set of dangers. All adult content is blocked meaning you have to register as an adult to view mature videos but that cannot stop young children from creating their fake account. YouTube, much like Facebook, can make people vulnerable to predators that are accessing this forum. YouTube is open to anyone to view so kids who are exposing themselves in anyway on through video on YouTube are setting themselves up for potential dangers. Over all, in the last twelve years, media technology has taken off into all directions; some are exciting and some not so exciting. In any case, it is very exciting to see what great new media technology will be invented next.