Social Media Addiction and Relationships: A Crude Animation

My crude animation on social media addiction and relationships.

Week 6 – Com 597 Storytelling – YouTube Takes Over Web Search

Lately I have been thinking a lot about the future of TV and where digital media communications are going. Last night when we spoke about Hulu and the future of TV I was somewhat shocked to learn that 25% of all online searches are now YouTube videos. I mean, I knew it was up there, but 25% is significant. I can’t help but wonder if the targeted advertising of online content has a role in the reduced searches for other media, or if it is simply that online video is taking over the digital world. Maybe it’s a bit of both.

I recognize that I use search engines less in 2010 than ever before because it seems as though the content I used to search for now comes to me. It seems as though every website I visit has suggestions for alternate media channels that I may enjoy, and, in turn, these targeted yet seemingly serendipitous selections of media take up so much of my time I don’t even touch Google.

The Future of Mainstream Media on the Web. Com 597 Video Log.

It almost seems as though 90 seconds wasn’t long enough to express everything I wanted to for this project! The future of mainstream media is the internet. People want their news short-hand (preferably 140 characters or less), real time, and on demand. How many of us get our news by simply reading the headlines and captions on the MSN front page? Now whether today’s society is busier or simply lazier is up for debate; but regardless of the reason for this shift we have to recognize the fact that people don’t want to pursue news anymore, and pretty soon, they won’t want to pursue entertainment either. We want these media to come to us. We are no longer the consumer, we have the power to let these outlets know what we want and how we want it. And finally, they’re listening. We are the future of mainstream media.

“Where the Hell is Matt” and Narrativity

“Where the Hell is Matt” is a short video series by Matt Harding that takes a look at locales around the world and features people of all different races, cultures, demographics, etc. coming together in a somewhat organized dance. In relation to the work of Marie-Laure Ryan, author of Narratives and Digital Media there are many factors in Matt’s videos that make them effective narratives.

Ryan states that a narrative is a sign with a signifier or discourse. Now typically when we think of discourse we think of some sort of dialog, conversation, or really any use of actual language – but in her book Ryan states that the signifier can manifest in many different ways, including that of gestures performed by featured characters. In Matt’s videos these gestures are expressed through dance. The cultural differences among his audiences would make typical, language-confining dialog ineffective, therefore his story is illustrated through mimetic or dramatic narration that is universally comprehendible.

Night One: Digital Distribution And The Story 9/30/10

Tonight I couldn’t help but think of Marshall McLuhan’s “The Medium is the Message” and how the way we experience a story greatly relies on the medium in which it is delivered. A perfect example of this is Avatar. In the theater the 3-D imagery was somewhat astonishing when partnered with such realistic CGI and needless to say – I was sucked in… but on a tv or mobile device the experience relates to that of when I watched Ferngully in middle school. My main question after class this evening is how do we optimize the content we put on the web to create the same kind of emotional engagement we may see in a theater or even a live scenario? If the medium is the message what is the impact the internet is having on how our media is experienced and how do we make it better?