Storify

The main reason I have chosen to write about the environment is because it is a dissipating issues that many people ignore. Although we have tried to reduce our own carbon footprints we need to put forward this effort on a larger scale the best way to do this is by producing greener form of energy like wind power,  hydro power, solar energy , biofuel these are just a few ways in which we can produce renewable energy.

The ways in which we can use these renewable sources of energy is by one using windpower to generate homes. Wind turbines can generate mass amounts of energy to power houses, building, hospitals and light sources. This is the simplest way to renew energy and is done by a wind mill as the wind speeds pick up as does the generator energy is created by the constant motion of the wind turbine. A negative effect for these turbine are land spaces and the fact that mother nature is an issue in this process because we have to rely on wind to power these turbines without wind we are unable to produce power.

Another efficient way of producing power is to use Hydropower the energy in water can be harnessed and used because of its density it is able to flow and generate through energy turbine through motion. This is reserved for a much high scale of power and relies on large bodies of flowing water in order to be wide spread but this is one of many ways from which we conserve energy by using natural recyclable resources.

Lastly and one of my favorite sources of renewable energy is solar power this source of energy can be installed into any home of any size and can help reduce the amount of energy  being wasted from our electricity bills and can positively affect our earth in the long run .

So now, knowing about reusable energy there are other ways in which we can personally contribute to benefitting the environment by buying recyclable bags, and lower wattage lightbulbs that lets us do our part in preserving the environment.  Also another tip is to reduce the amount of energy we use by turning off the lights when we leave a room and shortening the lengths of our shower and switching to low-flow toilets every last thing counts when it comes to reducing our carbon footprint on our earths soil. 

Storify

Podcast Not So Environmentally Friendly

Module 6: Summative blog post

Citizen journalism is in interesting topic and deserves attention to become familiar with the subject.  Many people around the world participate in citizen journalism whether they are creating it or consuming it.  The thing that people have to remember is that not every opinion, like, picture, is the truth when it is posted online and we access it though social media networks like facebook or twitter.  For example when the Rob Ford scandal was a hot topic on the news people were posting pictures, videos and articles with their own opinions included in their online citizen journalism.  However many allegations that were made against the Mayor were not true and were people who were reporting on the matter without having any proof.  For example a YouTuber created a video that appeared to be the Mayor smoking from a crack pipe, however it was a video that was edited and not the real thing.  When people got a hold of this fake video, citizen journalists decided to expose the fake video of the mayor and with enough shares the video went viral.  This is just an example how not everything that appears on social media is the truth.  Articles, pictures, and videos can be manipulated to fit the beliefs of the citizen journalists and with the power of editing we are able to create anything we want. 

I would like to participate more frequently in citizen journalism, however I don’t know what I would post about.  This class has opened up a lot of opportunities to learn and understand the numerous opportunities that the internet along with social media has to offer.  I will continue supporting citizen journalism and appreciate the people that do and learn how to do it myself.

Module 6: citizen journalism

Technology, such as the internet has created a new world in which a person is able to communicate, share ideas and opinions, as well as provide themselves with entertainment.  It is a popular medium which provides people with numerous channels for information, as well as entertainment (Bruns, 1).   With these new emerging technologies more and more people are beginning to create their own type of media coverage that shares their ideas and opinions on media coverage. We are now seeing a decline in sales of news-paper companies and an increase in citizen journalism (Bruns, 2).  The internet and social media websites like Twitter, Facebook, and various blog webpage’s have opened up a new world for citizen journalism.  For the first time in history people are now able to share media coverage and provide a different spin on the news by giving their opinions and thoughts, while sharing this information with their follows or potentially the rest of the world.  We are in an information age and newspapers and broadcasting stations are not providing enough information to the public.  There are all types of people out there, left-winged people and right winged people, and all the people in between.  Media coverage by journalists and broadcasting stations often take a bias when providing media coverage to the public.  However with citizen journalism we are now seeing a shift in these biases because we are able to access information from all standpoints written by a variety of people.  Social media as Hermida claims is a social awareness stream, where we are able to be constantly updated through links, photos as well as videos (Hermida, 660). With these constant updates being produced the idea of journalism is now disintegrating, because we are now seeing a mixture of professional journalism mixed in with non-professional journalism, otherwise known as citizen journalism (Hermida, 660).

I believe that citizen journalism is a positive thing; however I cannot say that I participate in it very often.  I am not an avid user of social media nor do I have the time to sit down find articles share them with my Facebook friends.  However I guess the only citizen journalism that I do participate in would be tweeting about hockey trades and issues surrounding the NHL.  However I appreciate people that do participate in citizen journalism, because often when I am scrolling through Twitter or Facebook  I am updated about events occurring through links and pictures that people share.  One primary example of this was the Toronto flood that just occurred.  If you were not updated on the events that took place in Toronto you wouldn’t miss much seeing as people on Facebook and Twitter were giving constant updates about the city’s condition.  People were sharing articles, posting photos and videos to participate in citizen journalism.

Refernces

Bruns, A. & T. Highfield. (2012). Blogs, Twitter, and breaking news: The produsage of citizen journalism. pre-publication draft on personal site [Snurb.info]. Published in: Lind, R. A. ed. (2012). Produsing Theory in a Digital World: The Intersection of Audiences and Production. New York: Peter Lang. p15-32.

Hermida, A. (2012). TWEETS AND TRUTH: Journalism as a discipline of collaborative verification. Journalism Practice. 6:5-6, p659-668.

Short Web Video: Clear Cutting

Here is a link to my YouTube channel where you can watch my video about clear cutting.

Clear Cutting-Click Here

Wiki-Op Ed: Global Warming

Global warming is a concerning topic that is often brought up in today’s environmental concerns around the world.  Many people are concerned with the earth’s temperature that is continually rising and the possible effects that global warming could have in years to come on our earth.  Many people try and eliminate their carbon footprint as much as possible by participating in numerous activities to try and “save the earth”. When finding sufficient information on the topic of global warming there are many places to search for information, however because it is such a controversial topic that many people are very passionate about it is difficult to pull the information out that matters and is accurate.  The topic of global warming is so substantial that there are numerous studies, conspiracy theories, videos, facts and opinions that it is difficult to filter out what is reliable and unreliable.   If you are a person that is looking for information about the issue, facts, and studies surrounding global warming I do not suggest Wikipedia to be your first stop for information regarding the topic.  Wikipedia is not a reliable source of information and this can be seen by looking at the talk page that shows the Wikipedia information that people have corrected that may be false, outdated, or not coming from a credible source.

When retrieving information the first place that people think to look is the search engine Wikipedia.  To many this search engine provides the basic information that is required in order to gain sufficient knowledge about a topic area.  This does not seem unnatural seeing as Wikipedia is a free search engine that provides over one million articles on all topic areas (Royal, 140).  However the information that is posted on Wikipedia is often criticized for not being credible because it is written not by professionals however it is posted by its users.  It is a site that is not credible for gaining accurate information because of its lack of authority, because anyone can edit the content within the page and should therefore not be used in order to gain insight, facts or opinions on the topic of global warming (Jensen, 1166).

I do not believe or recommend Wikipedia as a credible source for gaining insight, facts or general information about the topic of global warming because its page holds so much information that deals with scientific facts that do not come from credible sources and facts are false.  In our academic lives we have constantly been reminded not to use Wikipedia as a source for information because it is unreliable, so if you are searching for such a important topic like global warming it is important to gain accurate information possibly from academic journals or research web sites. 

On the “talk” page located on Wikipedia’s global warming page it is proof that Wikipedia is not a reliable source for information as it does not use credible sources when writing its content.  For example the global warming Wikipedia pages provides the information to its readers that greenhouse gases in 2010 reached a record high and these gases will linger in the atmosphere for years to come.  However a user states that this information did not come from a credible academic source and however came from a popular magazine.  So when people are trying to gain information about global warming and stumble upon this type of information they may take it as the truth, not looking at where the information originated from. 

Also mentioned on the Wikipedia global warming talk page that proves that Wikipedia is not a reliable source of information is the lack of experimentation or percentages to back up facts and/or opinions that are stated.  For example on the global warming page it is mentioned that humans are the root cause of global warming because of their activity.  However there is no experimentation or percentages to say how much humans are contributing to global warming because obviously there are other causes than humans for global warming like natural solar events. 

Although Wikipedia does provide a lot of information on the topic of global warming I believe that it should be taken with a grain of salt.  It is a great place to begin research however it should not be the ending point.  In order to gain sufficient, accurate information about global warming it is important to make sure that the information comes from a reliable academic source, especially if you are looking for information when writing a paper.   

Check out some other interesting blogs

Deforestation

Rights to Animals

Global Warming

References

Royal, C. & Kapila, D. (2009). What's on Wikipedia, and What's Not . . . ?: Assessing Completeness of Information. Social Science Computer Review. 27, 1. pp 138-148.

Jensen, R. (2012). Military History on the Electronic Frontier: Wikipedia Fights the War of 1812. Journal of Military History. 76, 1. pp 1165-1182

Module 4 Summative Blog Post

What I found interesting about this article is Tony Millers Quote that  social medias are a new Economy, Creativity and consumption Symposium.” This best described the whole topic Manovich point for Mass Consumption to a mass culture.  We as a consumer consume mass culture and in this specific example we are talking about the progression of social media’s. For an example when we use Facebook we are socially promoting ourselves on a social network and creating and identity on these websites we reveal things about ourselves that we would like other people to know about ourselves we shared music and video and we do this within groups sharing certain genres of music these things shape our online profile and our personal identities. Whereas websites like twitter allow us to share information of our current events of information that we find interesting or relevant to ongoing events, we interact with our followers which are not particularly our friends but others within our community that have similar interests.

Which bring me to YouTube once a social media website now controlled by corporations looking for more views on titles much like what MCGIP said “that the culture industry is an industry and it’s all about making money. I believe that is one of the problems. Companies are mainly focused on making money and will do anything in order to make some profit.” YouTube has certainly fulfilled there goal on this one posting advertisements on videos to promote other companies that have created these videos to share with others has become totally corporate. The Best example I can think of that reflects this Treyarchs Call Of Duty Black Ops 2, they created a YouTube Video that was live action to promote their game within a few hours the game had received over sixty-five-million views this represent how this form of social media has become commercialized reinforcing MCGIP point that companies are profit driven and will do anything to maintain their audiences and promote profit

Lastly I agree with these theories because of the way they describe our current society as commercialized and profit driven , and these ads work because I myself have found myself susceptible to these ads and have found myself indulging in these social media activities 

Module 4 Initial Post

Social media has become a practice of everyday life it has been said that a person checks their phone over one-hundred and fifty times a day with access to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and other media like snap chat.  People are constantly connected through conversation and media through their phones. Manovich says ‘Instead, we moved from media to social media (Manovich,1), this outlines our current society because instead of local news  we as a mass culture have adopted the electronic era of information. All of our news sources are digital, we receive constant updates through social media sources like Twitter. Users follow celebrities and political figures so that we have a constant feed of information from these sources so we are enhancing our view points and increasing our media diet from several perspectives.

This shift occurred in the 2000’s it increasingly became a user medium communication was created through several sources posts, comments, reviews, rating, votes links, photos and videos(Manovich 2) User have gradually become more and more responsive to these social media sources Facebook is available in nearly every country and connects its users through friending posts and comments. Another Example from Manovich claims that from 2007 2.2 billion people have mobile phones this stat is most likely outdated based on the amount of smartphones released within the last two years with the creation of the iPhone, Android, HTC, Nexus. Cell phones have become a dominate market through which people are lining up to purchase. This is relevant because the more people purchasing cell phone the more people are involved in generating views and members within the social media applications.

Which bring me to YouTube “has become the go-to website for finding topical and obscure streaming videos” (Hilderbrand, 48), Miller describes this as the “New Economy, Creativity and Consumption Symposium.” This can be related directly to myself because within the last year I have been a direct consumer of YouTube I have viewed and shared viral videos or simply videos I have found amusing to share with my friends who share the same sense of humor. Personally I have consumed hundreds of YouTube videos but have failed to create my own although I have recently become a member of nearly three new social media websites including Twitter, Stumbleupon, and Instagram I have join these sits based on the amount of friends familiar with the website and sharing capabilities of these social media websites. I Stongly believe that we as a society have switched to social media as a main type of communication because of the vast amount of users associated with these websites.   

   Miller, T. (2004) A view from a fossil. International Journal Of Cultural Studies, 7(1), 55-65. 

Manovich, l. (2008) The Practice of Everyday (Media) Life: From Mass Consumption to Mass 

Cultural Production

Hilderbrand, L. (2007). Youtube: Where Cultural Memory and Copyright Converge. Film          Quarterly. Vol. 61, No. 1,  48-57.

Module 2 Summative Post

Based on Lev Manovich’s I agree that we have shifted media towards social media. Only because when it comes to recent events, we are no longer seeking newspaper articles or waiting for our local new station to broadcast the event. We are now receiving information much faster than before based on eye witness accounts from Twitter, Facebook the information is vastly spread and instantly connects members of these social media websites. Another example of the switch from media to social media is YouTube members have the potential to be paid to broadcast videos based on the amount of views that they receive and members rely on these videos for the latest events that are occurring both in the world and within the personal lives of these members.  So it is clear a vast majority relies on these social medias for the latest information.    

Another Example that media has switched to social media are business advertisements companies such as Nike, Bauer, Coke, Pepsi.  Basically all major companies have been promoting their brand and logo on these social media websites by interacting with individual users because social media is so wide spread ads they are able to reach millions of viewers in less time because of the sharing of videos for example if someone makes a successful YouTube video within hours the video has received millions of views. This is described as going viral because of the amount of people these ads are affecting this is a perfect example of today’s world because within hours everyone is talking about the most recet video from popular YouTube channels. An example where this has occurred is Treyarch’s most recent video game Call of Duty Black Ops 2 they created a live action commercial that generated sixty-five-million views within a few hours because of the amount of avid fans of the game and the rate at which they viewed and shared videos. Social Medias have shared a Mass Culture because these applications are connected to cell phones, iPads, and all kinds of electronic devices that are accessible by a large amount of people. Hence why society has shifted to social media      

Module 2: Initial Blog Post

Individuals create systems of communication Research has shown that the meanings of social networks site practices and features differs across sites and individuals (Boyd, 361). Using Mediais to develop and maintain social networks which is an established practices (Kendal (362) This first article outlines YouTube users’; these users post videos clips of themselves or current events which they find interesting in hope that others YouTube users will also find interesting by befriending other accounts of liking and sharing videos. By sharing videos people are creating associated identities based on the videos that they are viewing. This type of social networking allows people to virtually communicate through ones profile whether it is private, public or semi-public these profiles communicate meaning with other members of the website. This not only exists within the YouTube website but across all types of social networking Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pintrest. People are constantly sharing information of current events and constant updates of events occurring in their lives by befriending and sharing information with people connected to their personal Social Medias.

   What criteria do you use when you decide to share information I base the information that I am revealing about myself based on the privacy of the website and example would be Facebook because only your friends are allowed to access your information so I reveal my name the school I am attending and updated posts of the things I am doing or planning on doing. When I decide to present myself I present myself in a manner as if I was to be having a face-to-face conversation with the other person not leaving anything out about myself that other may or may not already know. Although in a discrete manner because it allows others to create perception of the type of individual that I am, the social medias that I am apart of include Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google plus these social media sources allow me to be able to express myself in a social manner that allows friends and followers to be a part of current life milestones and current events.

Knowing that Social Media are always under surveillance searching for trends in patterns within human communication it help me to be aware of the things that I am posting and also not to be to revealing of things I am sharing within my community of friends. These social media websites allow me to shape my social image.   

Lange, P. (2007) "Publicly private and privately public: Social networking on YouTube". Journal Of Computer-Mediated Communication. 13, 1

Albrechtslund, A. (2008) "Online Social Networking as Participatory Surveillance." First Monday. 13,3

Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship  danah m. boyd Nicole B. Ellison Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication Volume 13, Issue 1, pages 210–230, October 2007