Offensive Gregg’s logo debacle: what are the lessons for other retailers?

Title: Offensive Gregg’s logo debacle: what are the lessons for other retailers?

http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2014/aug/20/offensive-greggs-logo-lessons-retailers

This article is about how; a botched version (as shown above) of the Greggs logo had appeared. In this article shows how Greggs manage to rectify the situation by playfully offering Google a bribe in order to correct the mistake. Also there are several paragraphs on how it became viral, being pro-active and reinstalling trust in the customers.

In my opinion, this article shows how two different producers were able to use social media to resolve a problem.  The article gives tips which assist small businesses

Microsoft 'in talks to buy Minecraft creator for $2bn'

Title: Microsoft 'in talks to buy Minecraft creator for $2bn'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/digital-media/11086117/Microsoft-in-talks-to-buy-Minecraft-creator-for-2bn.html

This article is very short, but it explains a lot about how Microsoft is rumoured to be negotiating the purchase of Mine craft for more than $2billion. There is a bit of background given on the creator of Mine craft previously working for the British game maker king digital entertainment. There is a brief on the concept of Mine craft.

Fact:

-Microsoft is in talks to buy the Swedish company behind the hit video game Mine craft for more than $2bn (£1.2bn)

-Mine craft, which has sold more than 50m copies since its release five years ago, an exclusive title on its Xbox gaming system.

-The Japanese company revealed last month that it has sold 10m PS4s globally, while Microsoft said in April that it had sold 5m units of its Xbox One console worldwide.

-Mine craft earned Mojang more than $100m in profits last year 

The Emma Watson nude photos hoax shames our ‘news’ culture.

Title: The Emma Watson nude photos hoax shames our ‘news’ culture.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/24/emma-watson-nude-pictures-hoax-news-culture 

The article begins stating “The internet is eating itself” with addressing the reader about Emma Watson’s speech about feminism which was to the United Nations; this had then gone viral after a threat of her nudes that were taken from the recent iCloud hacked images. They were threatened to be revealed on 4chan. Further on the article goes on to inform the reader about how there is confusion in the actual source of the threat, as well as the validity of the images and whether they are real or fake. A question was raised whether it was actually a PR stunt, as it did make her feminism video more popular. As we go on to read they make it evident that the global news agenda is regularly held hostage by a group of tech-savvy idiots and that these “arseholes” are swarming our cultural coverage and news agenda. The article ends with “we risk merely shifting from the agenda of elite editors to that of elite trolls”

Ø  On Tuesday, President Obama set out his reasons for beginning what could become another prolonged conflict in the Middle East.

Ø  In the UK, Ed Miliband set out his party’s vision for next year’s election and beyond.

In my opinion, this article picks up on a lot of significant points that reflect the transition of culture in the last 10 years. The fact that newer forms of media have emerged and developed our methods of voicing our opinions, making the media more pluralistic and not a simple model of absorbing information we are fed. The article highlights how we have become so addicted to the media that we believe almost anything we read online that it can cause a global news frenzy that becomes viral instantaneously.

Essay Feedback

Mr Bush Feedback 

WWW- some good examples, well researched/revised 

EBI - Needs to be stronger on audience empowerment- give more examples of UGC etc

Learner response

Personally, I was able to include a few examples such as the Snowdon case, where the NSA was revealed to have been hacking in to Google's servers and monitoring us to prevent crimes happening in the first place and the inclusion of major institutions like Disney and News corp. i was also able to incorporate media theories like dependency theory and media theorists like Pareto and Andre Keen. Although I was able to argue the audiences not being empowered but being puppets of major institutions, I wasn't able to effectively argue how audiences were empowered by new developments in the media, as well as give more examples of User generated content along with explaining what they are.

Audiences are empowered by developments in digital media with the introduction of new platforms of user generated content. the first example of user generated content are blogs, These are platforms to which audiences are able to express their views and ideologies on topics that they can choose, without being censored by major institutions, like News Corp. Furthermore their are the social networks which are User-generated content, like Twitter, where the users are able to present their view on and social, political, cultural or controversial affairs. Twitter is a social media platform with approximatly 232 million users worldwide, that have the ability to send out their perspective to the world via tweets. This gives audiences a voice that cannot be controlled by a major institution. For example Google monitoring g-mail users emails in order to find any incriminating evidence for the authorities, in turn violating privacy. Facebook is also another platform to which audiences are able to voice their opinions, as they can comment and like on different pages.  

Privacy technology everyone can use would make us all more secure.

Title: Privacy technology everyone can use would make us all more secure.

This article is about internet privacy and the introduction of a new app called simply secure. The article explains the problems with privacy, like getting hacked and losing all personal information to hackers and having it used against you. Then it explains how the app will protect all information will be protected.

Ø  From the Snowden revelations to the daily parade of internet security horrors around the world

Ø  Syrian and Egyptian checkpoints where your Facebook logins are required in order to weigh your political allegiances (sometimes with fatal consequences) 

Personally, the topic of privacy is very controversial in modern times due to the Snowden revelations, the apple icloud incident and the general uncertainty in using the internet makes it harder for them to use. This article to some extent is like ray of hope for internet users as they may be able to keep their internet history. 

iOS 8 causes bandwidth spikes nationwide, despite slow uptake.

Title: iOS 8 causes bandwidth spikes nationwide, despite slow uptake.

This article is about how the iOS 8 update for apple products had created a spike in internet gigabits as soon it was released. Also, the article goes over the size of the download not coping on devices with a memory of lower than 2GB. The iOS 8 update has not been as downloaded as the previous 5 updates.

Ø  iOS 8 updates peaked at 70 gigabits a second – 60% increase from the previous day

Ø  The size of the download for iPad users peaked at 2 GB.

Ø  The iOS 8 uptake is slower than iOS 7

Ø  Only 6.6% are using the new operating system, compared to the 15.5% who were using iOS 7 the same period after launch

In my opinion, I believe that the USP for apple’s software is failing to match the aesthetic pleasures of owning the latest iphone, even though iPhones are popular, there operating systems cannot stand a chance against the operating systems of Android. 

Facebook wants to be better at putting breaking new in your feed

Title: Facebook wants to be better at putting breaking new in your feed

This article is about the changes that Facebook is making in its news feeds in order to make Breaking news appear more frequently and at the right time of when it’s initially relevant, rather than present it when it’s no longer in the news.  They as a company want to give breaking news more priority. For example the protests in the US city Ferguson, after the fatal shooting of Michel Brown by police were a massive trending topic on Twitter but not as evident on Facebook. With Facebook’s filtration of news feeds has sparked controversy, for example the manipulation of 700,000 users news feeds. Also, Facebook has also been accused of deliberately running down “organic reach” in order to make more page owners pay for ads. 

Ø  In August 2013, Facebook announced that when its average user logs in, there are 1,500 potential stories that they could see in its news feed, with its algorithm about 300 of them.

Ø  Facebook manipulated 700,000 users news feeds.     

In my opinion, this is a very important thing to do on Facebook’s part to actually take a lead amongst social network sites like Twitter. Facebook has already added the trending charts to Facebook however; personally I don’t believe that it’s as effective as Twitter, nowadays Facebook is simply used to watch vines and look at memes.  

Essay Plan

Essay Title: Developments in new and digital media mean that audiences can now have access to a greater variety of views and values. To what extent are audiences empowered by these developments?

Introduction:  Re-write the question in my own words and give my judgement on it.

Paragraph 1: this paragraph will be a major extent about it being a major empowerment of the audiences in these developments. First point is about twitter- how it gives freedom to audiences in terms of giving them freedom of speech where they are able to formulate and present their opinion. I can mention the 2 step flow theory in this paragraph, I can also mention pluralism and how there isn’t just one opinion that is believed but everyone has their choice to choose what they say and do, and this empowers them in things they want to.

Paragraph 2: this paragraph carries on from the previous paragraph where freedom is evident in the creation of websites and blogs, where these two are major examples of User-Generated content, which is also known as ‘We-media’ as it is created by users, who are able to create and present their own opinion is the way they chose to.

Paragraph 3: Facebook revolutions –the ‘Arab springs’, Egypt/Tunisia/Libya, these are all examples of how the internet cannot be censored.

Paragraph 4: This is the first point arguing to the fact that the audience hasn't been empowered but are forced to believe the dominant ideologies of the main media giants. For example, Google is a major media institution, which is associated with the internet and being deep rooted in it with advertising throughout Google. In terms of Paretto’s Law, which states ‘the majority is controlled is controlled by the minority’, is quite accurate as major institutions like Google, Disney, news corporation are in control of most parts of the media.

Paragraph 5: In this paragraph mention Andrew Keen and his book “How the Internet is killing our culture”.à This book presents that the major institutions have kept control and given a choice to audiences but they all follow their beliefs and ideologies. For example, Rupert Murdoch and his beliefs are consistent through his companies and their mediums.

Judgement/conclusion: conclude and summarise all the points and give final judgement.

Title: Facebook under fire from drag queens over ‘real name’ rule

Title: Facebook under fire from drag queens over ‘real name’ rule

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/13/facebook-under-fire-drag-queens-real-name-rule

This article is about an issue with Facebook amongst the drag queen community, where they need to use their real names in order to create a Facebook account instead of using their alias. This article skims the controversy of how harmful it may be to victims of abuse or activists. The arguments on the other side are portrayed effectively through a comment from Olivia La Grace a Seattle-based performer who states “we are not businesses selling products...”    

In my opinion, this article brings up the major issue of privacy online and whether we actually have it or are we being monitored 24/7. Also, the reasons on both sides have been justified, Facebook has to keep its users safe so they need them to provide real names and the drag queens are justified as they want to keep their private and professional life separate, so that they are not abused or anything online. 

The rise and rise of emoji social networks

Title: The rise and rise of emoji social networks

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/12/emoji-social-networks-app-emojli-emojicate-steven

The article begins by explaining the dramatic change in the social networking world, where we have stopped using actual words and started using emojis in order to communicate; shortening the amount we have to say further than slang. The article then goes on to talk about the release of an app called “Emojicate”. This app is an all emoji app, where it has created custom emojis rather than using the built in emojis. The article goes on to explain how the app works. Then it mentions the Emojili- UK app-was announced before but release after the Emojicate app.     

In my opinion this article highlights the change in communication over the recent years from proper English to short forms of words to slang and now to all out emojis. Personally it’s a dramatic change in terms of the elder generations, who have little or no comprehension of emojis and how they are used. 

Five reasons why the Apple watch won’t take off

Title:  Five reasons why the Apple watch won’t take off

http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2014/sep/11/apple-watch-wearable-technology-price

To summarise this article it is in basic a summary of the Apple watch and presents the reader with the quite obvious flaws that have been found prior to it even being purchased. As the writer puts it that he is “disappointed” with many others who were considering buying one. The first issue that is raised is the Apple watch has packed in too much with any real use. There is a tweet used to emphasise the writers point (below). There have been comparisons to the Moto 360.  The next issue is that there are so many applications packed in that there will be more notifications and apple failing to further its developments in the Do Not Disturb system from Iphone. Furthermore, the size is really big and clunky so it has quite a bit of weight on it due to the large screen. The fourth issue is that you need an Iphone in order for it to work, so this increases the chance of you being robbed as you are carrying “at least £1000 in valuables”. The final issue is that Apple hasn’t pushed the boundaries of touch screen.

In my opinion, Apples attempts at trying to get ahead of the game in the technology industry with the latest Iphone and Apple watch has become a mix of success and failure. The Iphone 6 is able to live up to the hype and buzz created, however the Apple watches attempt at living up to the expectations  may have taken a wrong turn as it looks like Apple rushed and put a hell of a lot of crap in to the watch and has become pretty useless. Personally i believe the Apple watch should go back in to Research and development.

Snapchat’s $10bn valuation: inside the billion-dollar bubble

Title: Snapchat’s $10bn valuation: inside the billion-dollar bubble

http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2014/sep/04/snapchat-message-valuation-technology-bubble

This article first talks about how snapchat is a unique app available on iTunes and the apple app store has now become worth $10 billion, in a recent valuation of technology. The article then talks about the promotion of sexting on snapchat, and whether it is safe to use snapchat as they may not have deleted the images but just hidden them where the user cannot see. Then the article mentions that for a new app to become big they need to be innovative in order to outlast the tech giants. There are also three paragraphs on the irrational valuations of applications.

Fact:

Ø  The $19bn (£11.5bn) acquisition of Whatsapp by Facebook valued the messenger app higher than American Airlines, Ralph Lauren and Harley Davidson.

Ø  Snapchat was valued at $10 billion

Ø  Facebook, a 10-year-old company, has been valued at $192bn; that’s 128 times its profits and higher than Coca-Cola, Toyota and Bank of America.

Ø   Google acquired YouTube for $1.6bn (in 2006) there was plenty of bubble-talk already

Ø  last year YouTube’s revenues were $3.6bn and Fortune valued the company at $15bn–$21bn

Ø   43% of all advertising money ($18.4bn) is now spent on search

Ø  Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon have acquired more than 300 companies; their two older rivals, Microsoft and Yahoo, over 250. Let’s not forget that we are supposedly talking about some of the most innovative companies in the world.

This article brings up many good points in regards to privacy online, as it states that there are privacy issues when it comes to major tech giants. In regards to snapchat the concern is that the snaps haven’t actually been deleted but saved in a private area. In my opinion, it’s a violation of privacy and should be dealt with to keep all our information private.