Media 2.0 class synopsis and final post

Media 2.0 has been one my all-time favorite classes. It also has the distinction of one of my last classes, one of four I needed to graduate. It's been fun, but it's time to get out there and apply some of the knowledge I've been accumulating these past four years.

In this class I suppose the main thing I will be bringing away is a sense of having finally connected the dots. I have used computers since I was very young and have seen them advance from a novelty to an integral part of daily life. I suppose I never looked at the internet and the rise of sites like amazon or itunes in the perspective of the long tail. My understanding of the long tail theory is that in a marketplace where everything is available and all tastes are catered to that all the things available will eventually sell at least once. If we picture the sales of available items or songs as a graph that looks like a tail the most popular items will be at the top with the least popular dropping down and eventually going down to just one or two sales per year but never zero the tail continues to go on hence the "long tail".

I also got a more in depth look at new media artists or those that use social media, blogs, web sites, to improve their visibility or even create on the web. Artists are no longer relegated to the shadows with hard work and proper promotion success is possible.

The project on collaborative knowledge was quite informative in that it taught me firsthand what goes into making an entry on wikipedia and problems and advantages of that. I felt that there was a high barrier for entry into becoming a full-fledged contributor, but if one had a true desire to participate in online collaborative knowledge building that wikipedia is proving itself as good a place as any to do that.

I felt our final project was great for helping learn what goes into truly promoting something and sticking with it. I have learned to link all of the social media forms together and promote a cohesive message easily deliverable to a wide audience.

There were many more topics covered in class we went over new media in most of all its forms and truly learned about what goes into producing successful content in the age of new media.

Media 2.0 Project revealed!- Tn Economic Council On Women

Well, here it is!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx0IIJlBB-8&feature=share

Background:

As a non-profit public entity, the Tennessee Economic Council on Women has a very small budget each year to educate the public, conduct research on the economic status of women in Tennessee and assist in helping women gain economic autonomy. It is the sole purpose of the Women’s Economic Council Foundation to support the endeavors of the Council by providing resources for the Council to carry out its mission. One of the ways the Foundation is able to do this is through raising money through fund raising events. A scholarship fund has been available to traditional and non-traditional students for several years as one of the ways that the Council can make an impact on women’s lives. Scholarships are awarded to three traditional and three non-traditional students each year in hope to change the lives of these women. Over the years the supporters of this fund have decreased as have the contact with the scholarship recipients after the award is granted.

Objective:

This project is intended to gain the attention of new supporters (donations) and attract more qualified scholarship applicants. Considering there is two separate audiences I have proportioned the video piece for both of the scholarship recipients and the donors- leaning on the donor side since without them there is not a recipient side. Social Media (FB, Twitter) was used for our primary target market (Young women as high school students) and LinkedIn was used to target the networks of career women, Non-traditional women as college students.

Goal: My hope was that the piece would be used to promote the Ninth Annual Economic Summit for Women 2012 to show the success that has come from these scholarships to 300+ attendees and future contributors to the program. It has been approved for use for the Summit and future endeavors of the Council/Foundation- check mate!

Promotion:

In order to promote the video and program I have used the approved social media (through the Secretary of State) and my personal website (http://globalgirlbiz.wordpress.com/), (Posting later today 11/29/2011). TECW FaceBook page http://www.facebook.com/TNECW. “Tweeted” it on our TECW Twitter account https://twitter.com/#!/TECW.

Seeking Council Approval by vote, to do this week:

· LinkedIn

· TECW Org

· Foundation ORG

· Public Relations for press release

Please check it out and share your comments!

So, video did NOT kill the radio star…Let’s Talk Convergence

I have to say I am intrigued and on board with the concept and practical knowledge in Jenkins Convergence Culture. Jenkins has provided (in detail) the reason for my technology frustrations. It appears that video did NOT kill the radio star, the radio star simply migrated to television awaiting his/her debut for a new cyber venue gaining global Internet super stardom! I had not thought about television coexisting with radio and the Internet doing the same; meanwhile, radio and television evolving and redefining their purposes as a medium. In the past, radio was the primary source of entertainment. Currently, it is a talk radio and weather reporting device with a few commercials sprinkled around. In the not too far future, radio may be destined to digress into solely a government message delivery system reporting drastic inclimate weather warnings and traffic updates.

Jenkins also writes about, “divergence rather than convergence” which enlightened me further. Radio, TV, and other new new media co-exist in this perpetual undefined symbiotic relationship that is filling our lives with too many tools and unfulfilling choices. However, old and new media could provide us with harmony and happiness with a successful marriage. This would include a one-stop-shop device like a big black box that connects us to family via the Internet, offers video gaming, movie watching, and digital scrap booking with social media. I was sorry to read that Jenkins feels this will not happen (Unfortunately, I have to agree). The full product adoption process for new new technology moves quicker than new new media formats.

as the tail grows longer...

This class has been a breath of fresh air for me. I spend a large portion of my day online for business and personal communication. The "Longer Tail" has struck home on many different levels. I can relate personally to the discussion in class about how we have become a culture capable of filling the niche desires of even the most eccentric consumer. Our new web based economy reacts quickly to the new and even quicker at finding a way to market it.

I use the internet in my job as a Jeweler to source virtually everything we need for our clients. The way we do business today is virtually nothing like it was even ten years ago. Thanks to the rapidly expanding network of vendors around the world I can find the most obscure items in minutes if need be.

At home I use twitter, FB, google+, and reddit, to browse user created content and contribute my own thoughts and creations. Via these social vehicles I can promote the University of Memphis cycling club, stay in touch with freinds, and kill time in any number of ways. I can even make extra money selling my old belongings on ebay.

I like where the discussion in this class is going and hope to learn how to better integrate with the rapidly advancing online community.