Tag Archives: networked media

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Update on final group project!

  By samanthabeniacbrooks • May 20, 2016

In regards to my last post for the final group project, Annie, India, Sally and I have decided to put together a hypermedia story surrounding the notion of adopting dogs rather than buying them from pet stores.

Taken from our groups google doc shared with our tutor Hannah; “as per discussed in the initial planning stages our group hopes to design a narrative cemented around the idea of adopt not shop in regard to puppies. Tracing the story of India’s dog we are hoping through the website to craft a “choose your own adventure” styled narrative where the audience is viewing the site from the perspective of the dog and the various choices which they make are relative to how the story or adventure ends.
Through creating a website like this – we hope to also create a site that sheds some light on Lakia the Russian space dog that got sent into space.”

In today’s tutorial, we sat down with Hannah and explained where the group was up to in regards to the project. The link to the site can be found here.

So far we have included an adventure like beginning, with a simple question and a yes or no answer. Already, any user can simply choose whether they wish to go on the adventure or not which shows great interactivity. We plan on creating an entirely interactive space that will teach audiences to adopt not shop.

We have already outlined what the story will be based around and for each yes or no option, there will be either blog posts or original content audio/interviews to teach people about the topic.

India and I are planning two phone interviews next week, that will hopefully address the issues in which we want to portray and raise awareness about. I am very excited about these interviews as I recently joined SYN’s Panorama team, where I get to interview several different people each week regarding recent news stories.

Our audience that we are aiming to target are dog lovers or those who are looking to adopt a dog and in regards to crew roles, we are aiming to try and split the project evenly amongst the four of us. We are going to ensure that there is an equal share of roles; I’ll be working on particular blog posts (topics within our topic) as well as the phone interviews with India.

I am looking forward to seeing where this project goes!

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Searching da web for dogz

  By samanthabeniacbrooks • May 16, 2016

As part of my final group project, I’ve decided to look around the interwebz for some inspiration. I did a google search for ‘why you shouldn’t buy dogs at pet stores’ and the first link to come up was this.

It’s interesting how this website doesn’t have much interactivity. It means well, yet I reckon listing 8 points as to why you shouldn’t buy dogs from pet stores isn’t the best idea, as people will most likely skim through, or click away.

Perhaps if they had made a more interactive space with a Q&A so that people could learn a thing or two, or even just having some images that click through to the treatment of animals in both breeding places and pet stores, so that people can face the facts.

Screenshot 16 May 2016

Screenshot of dot point 3 as to why you shouldn’t buy dogs from pet stores with links (hypertext).

However, they have provided a few links in some of their points as seen in the image above, yet it appears that they only have this for definitions, in case you are unsure as to what i.e. ‘purebred’ means. It’s a start, but the inclusion of more images or sound as mentioned above would definitely make this more appealing to people and would certainly make me more invested in the topic.

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Group Project + Week 4 = Ideas boom!

  By samanthabeniacbrooks • May 16, 2016

I am one of those people that half start an idea and then completely forget about it. I think it’s just that I’m easily distracted.

Looking through my draft posts on this blog, I found a post in regards to the reading in Week 4. The ideas raised in the Week 4 readings are to be reflected in our hypermedia stories created as a group.

Hypermedia is a nonlinear medium that allows for the use of audio, video and even image to provide information to users.

It’s interesting to think of ways in which this blog is an example of a hypertext/hypermedia especially as I have included a blogroll, categories and an RSS enabling any audience to explore my blog in a way they choose. These options allow for participation that can alter the duration as well as the journey that the texts offer. Every time I post, I am altering the physical structure of my blog. Adding a link to a blog changes the structure of the text as you are guiding the user somewhere else.

My group is planning on creating a hypermedia text that leaves a message about adopting dogs rather than buying them from pet stores. Through various forms of media i.e. audio, text and images, we plan to raise awareness whilst creating a space where people can ‘choose their own adventure’ and become aware of the way animals come into danger when being sold in pet stores.

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Last try…

  By samanthabeniacbrooks • May 8, 2016

As this assessment comes to a close, I have made a last minute attempt to get more of a following within my community. I just posted this on Facebook, and I hope that I’ll get a reply from SOMEONE. It’s relevant to the TV Week Logies happening this evening, which is certainly exciting for the community due to the fact that two actors from the show and the show itself have been nominated for some awards!

Screenshot of my Facebook Post within the Wentworth Group.

Screenshot of my Facebook Post within the Wentworth Group.

#GOWENTWORTH.

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Pros and Cons of being in a community that’s a TV Show…

  By samanthabeniacbrooks • May 4, 2016

OK so, as the final few days arise and the due date for this community assessment comes into sight, I wanted to address some of the pros and cons of using a TV show community as my assessment piece.

Before I begin, I must make it clear that Wentworth does not commence until May 10th, 1 day after the assessment is due.

Pros:

  • Part of the cast last night joined various audience members for a special Q&A shown on SoHo AU at 8:30pm. Various questions were asked and answered to all members of the cast, giving the fans of this wonderful community even more to talk about!
  • https://www.facebook.com/BeaSmith/videos/1230778160280723/
  • Here I was thinking, the show won’t even start again until the assessment is over, why have I chosen to become more involved within this community. Little did I think about the fact that whilst the show isn’t on, there are always events on whether that be awards shows or Q&A sessions with the cast. The Logies are this Sunday the 8th of May (which is also Mother’s Day so get prepping kiddies), and Wentworth cast members, Celia Ireland and Pamela Rabe are both up for awards on the evening. There is quite a lot of hype around the fact that either of the actors could win an award, which would be incredibly exciting for the whole cast.

  • Logies Nominations

    Screenshot of SoHoTVAU Facebook Post regarding Logies Nominations for Wentworth cast and creatives.

  • And of course with the regular trailers being released, especially the more in depth trailer shown at the end of the Q&A show on Tuesday evening, there are always questions/comments being raised about what everyone wants/thinks will happen in the new season.

    Discussion with members of the Wentworth Community (including my comment below).

    Discussion with members of the Wentworth Community (including my comment below).

Cons:

  • So as stated earlier, the show doesn’t commence until May 10th and so the whole community is only hyping around short 1 minute trailers released every couple of weeks. This means that if you aren’t the ‘first’ to see trailers/images etc., you most certainly will not be able to get much of a following around what you post. I have attempted to comment on various posts with no reply.
  • Because I have always followed the show from a different aspect to the way in which I am for this assessment, I am finding it very difficult to break into the community. I have always been fascinated by the actors and have always wanted to support all of their works, not just the work they do on Wentworth. This means that trying to spark conversation with new people so soon can be difficult as there is definitely a sense of hierarchy within the community. Both groups have around 10,000+ members, yet I would say about 1000 are probably active avid fans.
  • I have also joined groups that I probably wouldn’t have joined if it weren’t for this assessment. I tend to steer clear of large fanbases as from past experience, sometimes other people can get in the way from the enjoyment of the person/thing you are a fan of. For example, I have always really loved Jessie J and followed her very closely. However I find that often there are a lot of horrible comments/posts between fans about other fans or even Jessie and sometimes that can be hard to deal with. Twitter has always been my ‘go to’ as I enjoy being part of a community space where the talent is actually able to interact as well. With these Facebook groups, it is purely just the fans, so getting comments from the actors/writers etc. is not possible.
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Moderation in moderation

  By samanthabeniacbrooks • May 1, 2016

In reference to my last post, I would like to raise the issue surrounding Online Privacy in regards to my community. As stated in my last post, I mentioned the fact that Facebook groups were the main space I used to interact with fellow Wentworth Fans.

The Facebook group has a few admins, meaning that a lot of what is posted is moderated. This also means that if you want to get into the group, you must be accepted by one of these further up the hierarchy people.  It’s interesting to think about the way in which communities are an attempt to create a space where everyone who has similar interests/likes the same things are welcome, yet there is a need for ‘acceptance’ into a group.

“I declare that I am an avid Wentworth fan”.

I think it’s important that there is an aspect of moderation as it can stop arguments/comments arising that may not be wanted. However I think it’s also important that we allow some sort of ‘freedom of speech’ within these groups. I know that there are characters in Wentworth that I don’t particularly agree with, but I feel that if I were to raise this, I would most likely cause some sort of prison-like riot, whether online or in real life.

In one of the groups that I am a part of for Wentworth, one moderator recently had a go at all the viewers from the United Kingdom, who seem to flood the group with queries regarding when Season 4 will be released over there. I can understand why the moderators would be angry as the group seems to be flooded with these queries, however I don’t like that there are people who think they can tell people what to do in such a large community, as it makes them seem as if they are better than everyone else… #justathought #newsflashtheyaren’t.

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Am I lazy?

  By samanthabeniacbrooks • April 4, 2016

I’ve never understood to the extent how lazy I really am. I mean, are there levels of laziness? Is there a laziscale?

So I’ve just done a Google Search for ‘Lazy Scale’ and this is what has come up. (Yes I did click something already but it’s only because I’m eager).

Google Search - https://www.google.com.au/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=Lazy+Scale

Google Search  – https://www.google.com.au/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=Lazy+Scale, accessed 4th April 2016.

Alright so it looks like the ‘Laziscale’ hasn’t been created yet. But let’s take a look at ‘How lazy are you on a 1-10 scale’ and see what comes up.

Ok so far all I can gather is that it’s a forum based on asking people how lazy they are. Two relatable comments to me right now from this forum are probably these two:

Iam3green - http://www.giantbomb.com/forums/off-topic-31/how-lazy-are-you-on-a-1-10-scale-414551/

Screenshot of comment by user iam3green – http://www.giantbomb.com/forums/off-topic-31/how-lazy-are-you-on-a-1-10-scale-414551/, accessed 4th April 2016.

Screen Shot 2016-04-04 at 1.21.05 pm

Screenshot of comment by user ArchScabby – http://www.giantbomb.com/forums/off-topic-31/how-lazy-are-you-on-a-1-10-scale-414551/, accessed 4th April 2016.

I’m pretty motivated most of the time, but sometimes I have days where I’ll do a whole heap of homework but will be too lazy to get up and make myself a coffee. The problem is, other days I’ll be more than happy to go to the pantry, but too lazy to plug in my dying computer whilst writing a 2000 word essay.

Right now, I feel too lazy to even outline what the Laziscale levels would consist of exactly… but I’m thinking in short maybe levels ranging from 1 to 5; 1 being fully motivated to do whatever comes at you, and 5 being; I have been needing the bathroom for 8 hours now but I’m too lazy to move.

So now that the Laziscale has been established, let’s chat about how I feel in this exact moment, and maybe you can tell me where you rate on the Laziscale and why in the comments below.

It’s the beginning of Week 5. I’ve just moved into a new family home 4 days ago with mum and my brothers and the oven isn’t working. A guy will arrive soon to fix it. FOR ONCE, I actually got up and got dressed and was ready for the day ahead, at 9am. However, I’ve spent 4 hours since then, on the phone to Qantas Cash, AMIST, HostPlus, my mother and a guy recording my Voice Over demo’s. Ok, so that’s not exactly lazy, but in between those calls, I have been stuck on good ol’ Facebook – in this case it’s BAD ol’ Facebook though. I probably should have done a little more work at this stage considering I have an Essay Plan and readings due next week for Music in Pop Culture, a Networked Media Assignment and readings due next week and readings for my Media studio, It’s Alive.

I guess you could say I’m a number 2 on the Laziness scale right now, fully motivated to do everything BUT university work, and that includes making multiple trips to the pantry to find that there is STILL no food from when I checked 10 minutes ago.

So this has been a pretty pointless post, but I guess it’s good that I’m blogging at all. After all, I’m always TOO lazy to blog.

Catch ya folks’!

 

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Reading Week 3 – Copyright and Creative Commons

  By samanthabeniacbrooks • March 15, 2016

I think it’s very important to distinguish the difference between Creative Commons and Copyright. They both work in different ways and effect us as online content creators.

Copyright has a wonderful way of automatically protecting your work once you place it out to the world. Most definitely not a bad thing, right?

The issue is, copyright often places some pretty hefty laws around those that want to use your work or just share it. This means that when you write that fabulous post that gets everyone talking, you’ll have Aunty Jan, Uncle Pat, Cousin Fan, Great Grandma Robin and even Step Mother February asking if they can all share your work. I mean, if we can avoid having the internet turn into a Grandpa’s 90th birthday, why don’t we use all that we’ve got?

This is where Creative Commons comes into play. The not-for-profit organisation allows anyone in the world wide web to structure their own license for their own work. Not only does this save your precious time from licensing every piece of your work, I mean, “ain’t nobody got time fo’ dat” but Aunty Jan, Uncle Pat, Cousin Fan, Great Grandma Robin and even Step Mother February, can now share your work, without having to ask for your permission. So now, we can avoid the slobbery kisses on the cheek and the questioning about where your boyfriend or girlfriend is.

So if we break Creative Commons down a little more, we can understand that it doesn’t counter copyright, but works along side it, making the sharing process between the author and reader, a little swifter.

Screen Shot 2016-03-15 at 4.54.43 pm

 

Screenshot image of text taken directly from: Creative Commons Australia: Licensed CC BY 4.0.

As we can comprehend from the above image, one must attribute the original owner of the work, even when they are transforming the original copy. Authors can select a Creative Commons license that either agrees or disagrees to their work being used for commercial purposes and whether or not someone can modify their work.

The Creative Commons license gives the author a lot of flexibility in terms of how their work is used once it is posted. For example, for this Media Factory blog, I added a Creative Commons license in the right sidebar of my blog, outlining that I have chosen the option of allowing my work to be shared and adapted, even for commercial purposes.

In all honesty, I am looking for people to credit my work if they are going to use or share it and this is why the Creative Commons license is important.

I think that because I now have the Creative Commons license on my blog, I feel a lot safer about the work that I do. I want to become more network literate and to be able to have an open opinion on particular topics that I like, whilst not feeling like someone is going to come along and rip me off. It also means now that I will take greater care when sharing others work, as I now understand how important copyright and licensing is to a creator.

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Reading Week 2 – Network Literacy

  By samanthabeniacbrooks • March 7, 2016

The reading for Week 2 in Networked Media made me really consider the way the world is changing. Because of the fact that we are becoming more technological than ever before, we can begin to compare the old ways of finding a categorised book in a library to finding information on blogs and being able to categorise information.

It fascinates me that there is this term ‘network literacy‘. You would think that it means that one is literate in computers (understanding the functions of a computer). But in actual fact, network literacy is the ability to participate in various networks that we can share knowledge through. It’s an understanding of the “logics or protocols of these networks” (Miles, pg. 26). It includes a basic comprehension of network identities, privacy settings and communities.

This idea reminds me of Twitter and the ability to use hashtags. I am a huge user of Twitter and I find that I have definitely been able to voice my opinions over the years with hashtags. I’ve even had photos posted and retweeted several hundred times, as my opinion is shared by many. Screen Shot 2016-03-11 at 12.19.20 PM

Hashtags allow any user within the network to comment on a particular topic, allowing any type of person to comment on something. These people don’t necessarily have to be professors in the area but just need some sort of opinion on a topic.

In order for me to become more network literate, I have decided that I want to further comprehend information filters within various networks. This will enable me to assess and interpret the quality of various information I find more efficiently, allowing my blog posts to become a lot more concise and to the point.

Often it is easy to trust any site that you Google, but I think it’s important to use my resources through university, my fellow peers or preferred blogs as often their ideas will be more precise, or more creative.

As Adrian Miles states, it’s important to use tags to catalogue different works. This makes it very easy for others to roam through your blog to find information they are after and also makes a blog become a part of a wider community of users who also tag posts of similarity. This allows you to become a part of a broader community of users.

Week 2 Reading: Miles, Adrian. Network Literacy: The New Path to Knowledge [online]. Screen Education, No. 45, 2007: 24-30.

Featured Image from: https://blogs.extension.org/militaryfamilies/files/2011/09/netlit_wordcloud.png

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Reading Week 1 – Why do we blog?

  By samanthabeniacbrooks • March 7, 2016

After a bit of printing and highlighting I have now been able to understand why the use of blog’s at RMIT is so important to my studies.

Blogs can be used like a journal or diary as an educational tool that allows us to reflect on ideas or to record progress in certain activities or creation exercises.

I think that it is so important that I continue to use my media blog throughout my degree as it is a public document that showcases my folio of work. It also enables me to become a part of the “larger community” (Miles, pg. 67) whenever I contribute/others comment on my work.

Blogs allow for anyone to become the “publisher” (Miles, pg. 66) rather than an “author of a single or even a series of web pages”. It allows me to have a public space where I can write whatever I want within reason, having a balance between a scholarly and conversational voice.

It’s vital that in this day and age, we are taught about using online spaces like blogs. We are moving towards an incredibly technological age where nearly everything is now online. Keeping a blog allows me to develop my online media skills and potentially gives me a leg up against those who don’t have the same skill set as me.

I am not 100% sure as to the direction that I want this blogroll to go in as I am interested in a lot of things. I absolutely love music, theatre and travel to name a few things, so I am hoping that my blog will head in this direction. I am also heavily involved in social media, so I will be writing a little bit about my experiences online as they will relate to my Networked Media class.

Week 1 Reading: Miles, Adrian. Blogs in Media Education: A Beginning [online]. Screen Education, No. 43, 2006: 66-69.