Online Documentaries

Getting funding from documentaries is a hard task, and only a select few become hits and make reasonable profits. Super Size Me made a grossed a total of $20, 641, 054, and this is the 11th most successful documentary to date. Websites such as youtube have offered opportunities for many armature documentaries relating to special interest such as the one below. It also offers an outlet to individuals who feel their voices aren't being heard and want to express themselves. Many people have experience their 15 minutes of fame through posting a video blog, skit, or documentary on youtube. The large man dancing to Beyonce's Single Ladies actually made his way onto the Tyra Banks show, and even performed live on stage at Beyonce's concert. And even more recently Justin Bieber was discovered by Usher online and now he is a teen heart throb.

One of the more bizarre cases would be Chris Crocker who became famous for his 'leave Britany alone' video which defended Britany Spear's VMA comeback performance. This was played on many talk shows including fox news, Maury Povich, and the Jimmy Kimmel show. He has now recorded and sells songs on itunes and is hired to endorse products that relate to Britany. Youtube offers people an outlet to voice their opinions for free. It almost puts a new meaning to freedom of speech.

Documentaries and video blogs offer knowledge. It may be one persons point of view that they have recorded on their iPhone in their bedroom, or a social activist like Michael Moore opening the eyes of viewers to a social, environmental, but most of the time a political issue. The more information that is out there the better it is for the consumer. They are able to take in as much as they can and form an educated decision.

My Mobile Phone is an Extention of my Body

I don't know that i could live without my mobile phone. Well, obviously i would physically survive, but I think I would have pretty severe withdrawal symptoms. My life is in my mobile phone, all of my friends contacts, a calender reminding me of peoples birthdays and events I have commited to, the internet if i ever need to look something up on the go, and when I forget to put on my watch in the morning, I rely on it to tell me the time.

More and more mobile phones are becoming a necessity. If you have a mobile phone, you are expected to be available around the clock.

Since mobile phones came out they have been used as an accessory. Business men and women used to place their mobile phone on the table when they went out to lunch to show their important status. I remeber when my mum came home with her first mobile phone and we were so impressed with the size of it; "Oh my god! its like the size of a Mars Bar!"

Since then, phones became smaller and smaller. The smaller your phone was, the more important you were seen to be. Now with the inroduction of the internet on mobile phones, they need for a bigger screen had increased the size of the phone once again. When they were first introduced, mobile phones were used for business purposes, now they are a social necessity.

Mobile phones are even being used to make micromovies. These micromovies are scripted with paied actors and consumers pay money to download and watch them. As of yet this phoenomonem has not taken off, although there are many interesting clips available online. Another advantage of being able to film from your mobile phone is to make use of the footage as evidence. There have been recent cases where school bullying that has extended to physical altercations has been filmed and been used as evidence in the prosocution process.

The video below shows how adicitve mobile phones can me. One interviewee describes loosing his phone as the equilavent to loosing an arm. Although there are psoitives to all the uses of a mobile phone, such as needing to keep in contact in emergency situations there are many negatives aswell. Face to face communication has be drastically reduced with the growing dominance of the mobile phone as the primary source of communication. More and more the mobile phone is becoming the most used piece of technology today. According to Ruston and Stein (2005) “Coupled with the near-ubiquity of the mobile phone, this capability of the phone as conduit for multiple connections and perspectives in any given space positions it as a catalyst or potential vehicle for the simultaneously interactive and immersive media experience.”

Politics and YouTube

YouTube can be used effectively by political parties and politicians. However, there is also the danger of political figures being subjected to ridicule through satire and parody. What are the benefits and risks of utilising YouTube for political gain?

In recent years political parties have been using social media sites such as Facebook and YouTube to promote themselves and their campaign. Their aim is to relate more to the younger generations such as Gen Y, known for using new technologies and social media. Although this method of gaining followers has worked for Barack Obama, it is yet to be as effective for other political parties. Jiohn Edwards announced his candicy on his political website whitch only saw 166,000 views in the 2 years leading up to the election. Current president Barack Obama posted a political video 'Robots Attack' on YouTube and recieved the same number of views in 24 hours.

At the end of this clip it says 'On January 14th the Democratic primary will begin, and you will see why 2008 won't be like "1984". This may be relevant to people who were adults in 1984, but the younger generations may be less aware of what the advertisment is talking about. And the whole clip looks as though it is promoting Hilary Clinton.

Social media can be used to promote political parties, but also used as a culture jamming technique to tarnish the oppositions name as shown in the video below which portrays Kevin Rudd as a crazy, unintelligent leader of Australia.


Facebook groups have also priovided a platform for political candidates, however some have proven to be more successful than others. The Barack Obama Facebook group has 8,251,217 members as opposed to teh Kevin Rudd Facebook group which has 33,211 members. I believe the younger generations are more accepting of Barack Obama because he supports people that are important to younger generations, such as Beyonce, who sung at his daughters birthday.

Origional or Reproduced? Produsage.

I am driving home from university listening to the radio in my car. A song comes on that draws my attention and I want to see the video clip. So when I get home I jump on the computer and type in youtube.com. I search the artist and song name and countless altered clips pop up; aniture remixes and home made video clips. Anyone who has access to the internet has the ability to consume media, change it slightly, and reproduce it.




Culture jamming is a perfect example of produsage. Adbusters take existing, well known advertisments and alter them slightly to change the message, but the addressee still associates the advertisment with the big name brand. Their aim in this process is to tranish the big brand name such as McDonalds or Absolute Vodka. However, it may be agrued that by culture jamming these brands, they are also providing some free advertising for them. As they say, any publicity is good publicity.

There is money to be made out of produsage; rapper and produser Kanye West is the perfect example of this. In songs such as 'gold digger' and 'stronger' he has taken a popular hook from a song, changed it slightly and "prodused' hit songs. About 2 years ago i attended a Kanye West concert and before playing gold digger, he palyed the Ray Charls origional. I think i was the only one in the audience singing the oriogional song at the top of my lungs, everyone else looked confused.

The process of produsage could be argued as others building on an idea to make it better. Although i dont know weather the origional produser would apprecte it. I dont know wheather I would call produsage creative, but i think is it definatly a smart thing to do. If you know something works, why not benifit?

Cybersex

Please note that this blog may contain material that some may find offensive

The other day my mum and i were talking about pornography on the internet. She recalled helping me with a 'miniature project' on eyes when i was in grade 3. We went on the computer together and put in what we thought were appropriate key words into google to research the topic. Immediately links to pornography sites popped up. At the time I did not notice as my mother quickly navigated me away from the pages, but it is quite evident that when using the internet, it is very difficult to avoid sexually explicit material.

I believe engaging in cybersex through chat sites is perfectly fine if it is consensual and both parties are of age. However there are problems. How do you know who you are engaging in cybersex with? You may think you are chatting with Tracy the hot supermodel, when in fact, Donald the 50 year old overweight nerd who doesn't hold hygiene as a high priority is on the other end on the line.

Second Life is known for its online sex activity. The only 'no no' in Second life is creating child avatars to engage in sexual acts with. Censorship is a major issue. Ultimately I believe it is the person who is providing the access to the information on the internet that is responsible. For example, if a teenager is accessing pornography on their home computer, then it is the care givers responsibility to censor the information available to them.

Digital representations of people engaging in cybersex are very unrealistic of the average man or woman and typically represent a porn star image. People who engage in cybersex may have more of a sense of confidence and security because they can portray themselves the exact way they want to be perceived. There are no excess body hair or dimply thighs.

We have all heard of people being addicted to sex, and cybersex is no different. In fact the internet just provides another outlet for people addicted to sex to satisfy their cravings. But if you are married and engaging in cybersex with strangers, are you cheating? I would argue yes. A sexual act is a sexual act weather it involves physical contact with another person or not.

There are serious risks with cybersex and pornography, like sex offenders taking advantage of children, or simply children stumbling across inappropriate material. However, there are some people who are cashing in. There are online prostitutes in communities such as Second Life who engage in virtual sexual activities in exchange for money.

In summary, i believe there is nothing wrong with cybersex or online pornography, if it does not contain any illegal activity, is properly censored, contains the appropriate warnings and is accessed by adults. However, it is very difficult to enforce these rules.

Posthuman

By definition the ‘posthuman’ starts out as has a human mind but through the extensions of technology, becomes something that is no longer human. Some believe it is the prototype for the future body, but really, this is not so far fetched. With today’s technology we are able to minimise the possibility of passing on genetic diseases to our children by eliminating certain genes and changing others. The sex of a baby no longer must be left up to chance, parents can now choose weather they want a boy or a girl before the mother is pregnant. The possibilities are endless, from chameleon like skin to beings that do not age. The posthuman could potentially become like a car, with regular servicing and replacing worn out parts.

Where do you draw the line from human to posthuman? Those that participate in the online community of second life could be termed as posthuman. There is a human mind behind the virtual being you see on your screen. Video games allow people to become posthuman. They can be the hero in a video game and save the damsel in distress when their real life job may be much less fulfilling such as working at the drive through at McDonalds. One of the reasons online communities and people who participate in posthuman activity are able to portray their ideal self. They can alter their image, make their waist a bit smaller or their muscles a bit bigger. They can live out their wildest fantasies without while still remaining relatively anonymous, in fact second life is known for being a place where people can come together and have virtual sex with complete strangers. People may be driven to posthuman activities because they are not satisfied with their life in the real world. They may not be sexually fulfilled or not happy with their body image. With a simple click of a button, that can all change in second life. People can be whoever they want to be.

But why would you want to? The 'ideal' woman is fed to the public through the media and what society considers desirable. Would you alter the genes of your children in order for them to fit this 'posthuman' stereotype? I would argue that our differences and 'flaws' are what make the world an interesting place. To quote a popular Groove Armada song, 'If everybody looked the same, we'd get tired of looking at each other'