Working in New Media

As I've entered the third year of my degree in Marketing and Digital Media, I have begun to be faced with the prospects of finding (and keeping) work once I finish.Which is all good, until I begin to realise, I have no idea how to find and keep work in New Media.

Although limited research has been conducted on the burgeoning industry of New Media, it is noted as being a rewarding, demanding, and dynamic industry. In a 2007 study, Rosalie Gill conducted multiple interviews with several New Media practitioners from varying types of New Media work. The report that she released noted the vastly different areas that New Media practitioners work in, as well as the hugely constrasting work conditions.

This is pretty interesting, and kind of frightening. One of the major aspects of the work that interviewers noted was the extreme hours worked, as well as the minimal pay. Neither of these things are particularly attractive. However, what is appealing, and exciting is the ability to engage in new and innovative tasks; creating value not only for myself, but society on a whole.

All in all, it seems to be the case that New Media work, more then any other, is reliant on informal networks. Which means I guess I'll have to get out and about to meet some people.

References:
Gill, R. 2007. Technobohemians of the New Cyberteriat. Amsterdam: Institue of Network Cultures

Health

At the beginning of 2011 I had the chance to spend five weeks in South Korea. It was a fantastic experience.

Towards the end of my trip I found myself on the slopes of ‘Phoenix Park’, one of Korea’s leading ski resorts, with a couple of friends and a snowboard. Which was great… up until the point where I broke my collarbone.

Just so it’s clear. I can’t speak Korean, and pretty much all the staff in the ski medical center couldn’t speak English. Which posed a bit of a problem.

Somewhere in the midst of pointing at my shoulder and trying to indicate ‘broken’ with my remaining good hand I had a thought.

I pulled out my iPhone and typed into Google – “broken collarbone”.

I soon figured out that my injury was a ‘broken clavicle’ and that the only real treatment was a sling and rest. The kind gentleman in the medical centre provided the sling, and I was on my way back to Seoul.

Lewis (2006) discusses the information revolution in regards to Medical science. Noting both the practical benefits as well as the professional concerns regarding authenticity.

Personally, I think people have the ability to recognise when a health problem is so severe a doctor should be seen; and in extreme situations it’s much better to be able to research for yourself then just leave the problem untouched.

References:

Cluet, J. 2005. Broken Collarbone. Last Modified November 25, 2005. http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/brokenbones/a/collarbone.htm

Eclansky. 2009. "Skiing @ Phoenix Park outside Seoul." Youtube Video, posted January 17. Accessed April 10, 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Enra2m-nhoE&feature=related

Lewis, T. 2006. Seeking Health Information on the Internet: Lifestyle Choice or Bad Attack of Cyberchondria. In Media, Culture and Society. 28: 521

What Media?

Amongst a myriad of academic hyperbole, Deuze (2011), in his recent exploration of media theory raises some pretty fascinating points.

He suggests that "as media becomes pervasive and ubiquitous, forming the building blocks for our constant remix of the categories of everyday life (the public and the private, the local and the global, the individual and the collective), they become invisible." (Deuze 2011)

Ultimately, he suggests that Media is becoming invisible.

I personally struggled with this thought at first, but the more I contemplate it the more it seems to make sense.

In 1572, the greatest University library of the world (Queens College at Cambridge), had a mere 199 books in its entire catalog. Compare this to over 300,000 books being published every year today (Beck & Davenport 2001).

Printed literature is now such an everyday part of our lives, it's hard to imagine a time when books were hard to come by. In fact we really just take their existence for granted.

Essentially, the media that we now consume is becoming such an integral part of our everyday lives that it's becoming harder and harder to say that either could exist without the other. I barely even notice when I check my facebook on my iPhone these days. As time goes on, who knows? Maybe media really will be so deeply ingrained in our lives that it is invisible.


For some more thoughts on the topic check out Platform Nine and Three Quarters


References:
Beck, J. & Davenport, H. 2001. The Attention Economy: Understanding the New Currency of Business. Boston: Harvard Business School Press

Deuze, M. 2011. Media Life in Media, Culture & Society. 2011 33: 137. DOI: 10.1177/0163443710386518

Lies 2.0

For the majority of my life, I have had an online presence of some sort. I think I first got started around 2000, using message boards to share essential shortcuts for Mario Kart with the rest of the world.

Then in 2005, things got really serious. I got my first myspace page, which was pretty exciting.

Things continue to progress, and these days I can't imagine what I would do without my facebook page, which aids my social life in numerous ways (from being a simple communication tool to remembering my friends birthdays for me).

As peoples lives are continually becoming more and more intertwined with their online-presence we have to wonder though; are they really accurately representing themselves?

When people have such a great level of control over the information people can and can't see on their personal profiles, the chance for misleading information to surface increases exponentially (Hamelink 2006). But, is this such a big issue?

It is important to realise that being completely open with your personal information online is also probably not preferable.

Realistically, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle... As long as we treat information gleaned from the Internet with a bit of caution, things will probably be alright.

References:
Hamelink, C. J. 2006. The Ethics of the Internet : Can We Cope With Lies and Deceit on The
Net? In: Ideologies of the Internet. New Jersey: Hampton Press Inc.

Guilty Pleasures and Playlists

In my final year of high school, I developed a bit of a bad habit...

I'm still not sure if I'm proud of this, and every now and then I seem to slip back into it.

I've tried to shake it a few times, putting myself through various rehabilitation processes, but ultimately it keeps on coming back...

I admit it. I actually like pop music. Dirty, dirty pop music. Every inch of musical sensibility inside of me screams to stop listening, but I can't, no matter how much I try.

It comes in waves... some weeks I'll completely abstain. Taking nothing but my audiophile-esque i-Phone for the 2 hour train ride from the Sunshine Coast to Brisbane and back. But on the odd occasion, the old ipod classic (complete with my entire music library) comes out, and all hell breaks loose.

To give you a bit of an idea of my issues, here's a selection of my Itunes 'Purchased' playlist...



Jack Ladder, Yeasayer, Ryan Adams - I can work with that.
Agnes Baltsa - bit of a classic
Mitzi - Keep it local
Advantage Lucy - some relatively obscure J-Pop (Japanese Pop - for the less informed)
Then BAM! It hits you out of nowhere. Lil Jon & LMFAO... Really? Like... Really?

Yeah, really.

As I hear lately, an iTunes library is apparently an incriminating reflection of a persons phsycological state (Levy, 2006). Which has got me wondering, nay, worrying about what my personal library says about me.

Is it time to bite the bullet and purge our hard-drive of these aural fallacies, or should we ride it out, hoping no-one notices?

The choice is really up to you, but if you do choose to engage in some of life's more incriminating guilty pleasures, just make sure you steer clear of the 'L Train'.





References:
Levy, S. 2006. The perfect thing: How the iPod shuffles commerce, culture and coolness. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks

Social Media and Identity

With a never before seen level of prominence, Social media has, over (roughly) the last decade, become a fascinating means of observing and understanding peoples identities. The enormous role that it plays in peoples lives today provides new insight into both the ways people are connected, and the way they present themselves to the outside world.

So, what does it mean for us as avid participators and spectators of social networking?

Interestingly, some of the most important questions that have arisen from social media pertain to much older questions. Namely, how people identify and present themselves in relation to the world around them (Donath, Boyd 2004). Under this consideration, a remarkable metaphor arises. Goffman (1959), proposes that peoples identities are in-fact, performances, on a stage of sorts. Pearson (2009), extrapolates on the metaphor further, suggesting that there are front-stages and back-stages in our everyday life (which are symbolic of the nature of the various social encounters we have daily). She suggests that a significant amount of our true identity is lost in the new platform of online social transactions.

If it is true that our identities online “are represented by the language of (our) avatars” (Pearson 2009). We, as users of such platforms, must then recognise the limitations of this form of communication. By being aware of the possibility for abuse, we can truly benefit from these communication tools.

References:

Donath, J. and boyd, d. 2004. Public displays of connection. BT Technology Journal, volume 22 (4): 71-82.

Goffman, E. 1959. The presentation of self in everyday life. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday.

Pearson, E. 2009. All the World Wide Web’s a stage: the Performance of Identity in Online Social Networks. First Monday, volume 14, Number 3.