Monthly Archives: June 2016
Introduction and Ch.1 on ‘Theoretical Frameworks’
Murphy, A., & Potts, J. (2002), Culture and Technology. Palgrave MacMillan. — Introduction and Ch.1 on ‘Theoretical Frameworks’
On page 27 the author makes an interesting point regarding the neutrality of technologies, using guns as an example. He argues that the “gun creates the precondition for extreme harm”, and thus refutes the “claim that the technology is in itself neutral” – even though the gun proved to be a vital means of survival for many people throughout the past century and has played a pivotal role in history, both good and bad depending on one’s perspective. Perhaps when arguing about the effect the presence of a gun in an otherwise non-fatal fight, guns are not a neutral tool: in this situation, the goal of the gun’s presence is to cause harm, but that is not a fault of the technology as a whole. Regulation is important because in modern times the gun has proven to be increasingly used in such situations, but casting the blame on technology is going a step too far. This mentality has become dangerous in issues like the so-called “dark web”, which like a gun is merely a tool – yet simply because it has become frequently used to facilitate a number of illegal activities, the blame has been thrown onto the technology, and by extension, many other forms of secure, private communications.
Course Reflection
I’ve always known that I wanted to do a media course like the way you know about a good melon. Before starting the course I thought that I’d be super behind and unprepared for everything that was about to come, but that was more to do with pre- uni jitters. As it turns out, I was only half right. Yay! I’ve gained a lot more insight now but in doing so I’ve realised that there is so much more to learn than I could have understood before hand.
This course has helped me immensely in finding more things that I am interested in. Blogging (somewhat) consistently has encouraged me to look out for how my studies can apply to real life when I’m taking in media around me.
In this post I closely observed people actively consuming media in front of me. I didn’t try to interact with anyone, I just quietly observed.
Then after a few weeks I become more confident in blogging and went out to seek things to write about.
In the past I’ve had a serious problem with getting my work out because of my fear of criticism. But with the blogging process I’ve been gradually more comfortable with sharing ideas and opinions. Getting feedback is hard sometimes but I knew I’d have to face these hurdles if I wanted to “follow my passion” and become a media practitioner.
This first ever blog where I was able to explicitly express a strong opinion of mine was about feminism and why it has received such a bad name. https://www.mediafactory.org.au/vanessa-wong/2016/04/12/week-6-lectorial/ I felt quite snazzy after that post and it lead me on to a stream of other posts. That post got me thinking about why the internet is so effective in spreading the word about movements and exposing initially “radical” opinions.
After talking about the irrelevance of accuracy and how bias will always exist, I’ve felt like I’ve become more free in creating media stuff. This post was what a lot of my work stemmed from afterwards, as I now had the idea that all perspectives are worth expressing, even if its for the sake of diversity. Growing up I was told a lot of thing that I don’t dare to believe now; many of which are to do with sexuality and gender. I have friends and family members who strongly disagree with my rather left wing approach. That’s why I really wanted to created something that I really believe in for PB3.
Having something I’d worked on myself shown in class was the most daunting thing to me. But everyone was very respectful and positive, especially when giving feedback. Although it may not seem like much, the feedback process was a huge step forward for me in my professionalism and helped my improve my ability to give and receive constructive criticism. For the first time I felt like I could watch my own work and pick out parts to improve on without being touchy. The experience of making content that had an effect on an audience member has encouraged me to want to make more.
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My weakest point by far would have to be keeping up to date with readings and understand complex concepts. At the beginning from week 1-4 I thought that I could get away with not doing the readings as no one was checking up on me. But then I realised that by missing out on readings I was missing out on understanding the so called “fun stuff” too. After receiving an inadequate grade for my reading blogs I thought it was time for a change..
Working in a group for our last project was helped me see what I might be doing in the future. The great thing about the media industry from what I can see is that you get to work with people all the time so I’ll eventually shake off my hermit tendencies. But on the flip side Rachel said in our lectorial that:
“You don’t have to be an extrovert”
This shattered my view of being a good communicator as the persona of a excellent team mate to me was, in my head, a confident, outspoken leader. Going over the importance of work ethic and how to be a good team member for the first time helped me realise that I have traits that I’ve probably overlooked and I also have things to improve on. Some times that stuck with me are here:
Looking through my old blog posts has bad me realise that I’ve already begun my process improving my work, but I have a lot to work on. This semester has gone by too fast and I feel like I haven’t done enough reflecting and analysis of my own work.
Introduction and Ch.1 on ‘Theoretical Frameworks’ pt 2
Murphy, A., & Potts, J. (2002), Culture and Technology. Palgrave MacMillan. — Introduction and Ch.1 on ‘Theoretical Frameworks’
Introduction and Ch.1 on ‘Theoretical Frameworks’ pt 2
Advancements of technology can alter our social culture significantly; the introduction of smart phones and mobile data caused a disruption in common behaviour, where people would much rather stare at their phones and browse social media, instead of taking the apparently meaningless moments of their day to do other tasks. Although the use of mobile devices in moments those moments may be understandable, there are still plenty of people who use their phones where inappropriate and unnecessary, fuelling their online popularity through uploads of attractive photos to advertise the excitement of their lives, among other things such as communicating with others via text. Phones are now integrated in daily life for the exchange of media: Facebook is used to entertain oneself with images and videos shared by pages hand-picked by the user, opinions and thoughts are voiced on Twitter, and self-affirmation is built with the help of Instagram and Tinder. The tailoring of media to bring the consumer back to the piece of technology, through a range of applications and functions, a person’s brand-spanking, new phone can phase out most other physical forms of media, taking first place as the hub of all information and being one of the most prized possessions to a person. The formerly popular commuter’s newspaper, the mX was phased out as a medium of media, as mobile devices had become a superior base for information, which brings about the idea that the progressive development of technology will further change our “culture” in society.