Convergence and Creative Engagement

The author’s understanding of convergence culture is about how the way people receive information through media is changing. Everyone can see this in our day to day lives. There are many different technological, industrial, cultural, and social changes happening all the time. These have impacted the way media circulates in our culture. People used to hear about things by word of mouth. Then by newspaper articles, and now people get connected through social media and the internet. That is the main way that media circulates now. The three different types of convergence are technology, media, and economic. Technology convergence has to do with availability. Media convergence has to do with users. Economic convergence has to do with money. Amazon is a website that is a good example of showing all three of these different types of convergence. Convergence is where old and new media collide. Creative engagement is how you get people engaged in the new types of media. It is hard for people to change the ways they receive their information. By using creativity, it make the transition easier for everyone. The internet uses interactivity, in a creative way, on websites to get people involved and online. Now we have to come up with creative ways to get people engaged in convergence, and understand how old and new media are colliding.

The Six Online Consuming Segments and Online Consuming Behavior

The six online consuming segments are peer-to-peer, freemium, long tail, cross-subsides, zero marginal cost, and gift economy. The Long Tail Theory was very interesting to me. Websites like Amazon.com fall under this theory. It is where you have large amounts of more obscure items. This theory is about items that are sold, but they are not all popular items. These items are cheaper, widely available, newer items, and handmade goods. There is a high number of goods and a low cost of reaching markets. It is a way to tailor to personal taste. An example of the Long Tail Theory would be my cupcake website I created. It is a way for me to sell handmade goods to a wide variety of people. It makes what I am selling widely available. Some of the effects of the Long Tail Theory are democratization of the means of production, democratization of the means of distribution, and greatly reduced cost of connecting suppliers and consumers. The different online consuming behaviors are simplifiers, surfers, connecters, bargainers, routiners, and sportsters. I would consider my own online consuming behavior as a simplifier. I like convenience when I go online or when I do anything. Websites that are quick and easy, like Amazon.com, are the ones I use. I do not like pop-up windows or unsolicited emails either.  I think the simplifier online consuming behavior relates to the cross-subsidies consuming segment. Cross-subsidies are any product that entices you to pay for something else. One way or another, everyone is willing to pay eventually. Since I am a simplifier, this happens to me when I upgrade my cell phone. They phone company makes it seem really simple and easy.  It also appears to be cheaper at the time, but I always end up paying more money somehow.

New Media and Technology

New media and new technology is everywhere and every day something new is being invented. When I was watching the news today at the gym they were talking about a new flying car. It really caught my attention and I could not believe what I was watching. This is the most up to date new car technology. This article is from CNN about the new flying car. I really recommend this article, because these cars are supposed to be on the roads by 2017. That’s pretty soon for something so new. There is now a race to see who can make the best flying car first. This relates to Internet communication, because all the information about this new technology is being spread through the Internet. People are sharing these articles on social media websites and it is going viral in different places around the world.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/14/tech/innovation/tomorrow-transformed-race-to-build-flying-car/

Information and Networks

The three network laws are Sarnoff’s Law, Metcalfe’s Law, and Reed’s Law. Sarnoff’s Law has to do more with ratings and shares. It is when the value of the network increases linearly with the number of people on it. This applies to traditional broadcasting like television and radio. Metcalfe’s Law has to do with communication networks. It is where a communications network has “n” members and each member can make “n-1” connections. They subtract one, because you cannot count yourself. For this law the value of a communication network increases roughly by “n^2.” The bad things about this law is that the value isn’t defined and it assumes all connections are equal. Reed’s Law has to do with social network affiliations. It claims that utility of a network with “n” members increases exponentially or “2^n.” This explains the power of social networks and various groups that form because of network affiliations. I agree mostly with Reed’s Law, because it applies to what is going on in today’s society with Social Networking. Also Sarnoff’s Law just focuses on traditional media and does not include online networks and Metcalfe’s Law assumes all connections are equal when they are not. I think those are two huge disadvantages to those laws. Five years from now I think people will get their information by searching for it on their devices. I think that everything electronic will be able to connect to the internet, including televisions. Even now, gaming systems can connect to the internet to play other gamers across the world and you can tell when you friends are “online.” Right now everything is going digital. Books are being published online and readers can just download all their favorite books to their kindle. That’s just one of the many devices that can hold tons of information and you can also search anything you want from the device. I think as time progresses our society will become almost completely digital.

Why We Blog

Blogging has never been something that has interested me and this is my first time blogging. I’ve always wondered why people blog and this reading really helped me better understand. Some blogs get more views than others and I’ve never understood why. Reading this helped me realize that through friends or colleagues and links or posts, blogs are found. Then the more a blog is shared, the more popularity it gains. It is interesting to learn that some, but not all, bloggers post every day. I always thought of blogs as an online daily diary, but some people only post once a month. It was nice to find out that not all blogs are just like a daily diary. Some are about things like AIDS and heart disease. I never thought about bloggers using personal codes of ethics for what they post. This could possibly be one of the reasons that readers keep coming back to the same blogs, because they know exactly what to expect from each blogger. There is a lot more thought put into blogs than I originally expected and I was surprised to learn that there are five major motivations for blogging. Documenting one’s life is when a blogger uses their personal experiences.  Other blogs can provide comments and opinions. Some express deeply felt emotions. While another might articulate ideas through writing. Another type of blog might form and maintain community forms. Blogs can be used as much more than I originally thought and there are so many different motivations for blogging.