Global Media News

Rape Victims Use Social Media To Tell Their Stories

Global Media News Webcast #12: December 12, 2013

From OWWR's New Media Newsroom:

Global Media News for Thursday, December 12, 2013

Global Media News is a weekly webcast covering new media news from around the world.  GMN is a production of  Media Studies students from the SUNY College @ Old Westbury. 

This week on Global Media News: 

• Catfish Media? From Documentary to Reality Show
• Skype Recorder:  New Tool for Journalists?
• Holiday Shopping with Social Media
• YouTube Comments Restricted: Google + Required
• Oreo's Take Over of Social Media: Social Marketing for Cookies
• Do You Want to Sympathize on Facebook?  Like it?
• After You're Dead:  Your Profile Lives On . . .

This is our final webcast of this season.  We will be back live from the New Media Newsroom on Thursday, Janurary  30, 2014 @ 11am EST.

Can't listen live? Our next webcast of the season will be posted by 2:00pm, Thursday, January 31, 2014.

Follow our New Media News feed:  @OWWRGMN

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Is Social Media Dumbing Down The World ?

Social media has reduced our attention span to the lowest levels. We find it so difficult to be creative when every second of your day is influenced by social media. Social Media is now one of the main sources of news today and I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. When one of the world's greatest leaders passes away and is mistaken for a actor makes lean more towards it's a bad thing. Read more about it in my storify .......

YouTube Starts New Comments Powered by Google+

YouTube comments can be a mess, so we have been really looking forward to this. It’s been a long wait since this was announced in September, but now Google is ready to roll the new commenting system to their.The typical top YouTube comments on a popular video are typically humorous, wildly offensive, or just flat out  stupid. The current YouTube comment  platform also isn’t good at developing genuine conversation about a video — especially with friends, coworkers, or others that follow your commentary online. It’s no wonder that YouTube is ready to chuck the old system out the window for something that’s hopefully better.

 

The new system basically takes all of the commenting on Google+ and applies it to YouTube videos. That means you’ll not only get threaded conversations, but you’ll also have much more control over who sees your YouTube comments. Much like Google+, the new comment system will allow you to specify which of your social circles get to see a conversation. Also, you’ll be able to moderate comments that you start by blocking certain words or requiring that all comments get approved prior to anyone seeing them.For an example is someone would comment "thats gay" the publisher of the video can change that phrase to anything they like. YouTube explained that three main factors determine which comments are more relevant: community engagement by the commenter, up-votes for a particular comment, and commenter reputation. If you've been flagged for spam or abuse, don't be surprised to find your comments buried, but that also means that celebrities who have strong Google+ reputations will be boosted above others.

The only problem with the new commenting system is that you will need a Google+ account before you start commenting. This might not actually be much of an issue since Google has already pushed the majority of Youtubers to combine there account with google. 

China Censoring its Internet is a Global matter

The internet is oen of the most free and valuable resources in the world. A number of countries believe it should be free and open but China believes otherwise. 

Smarty Rings Looks to be the New Thing in Social Media and Notifications

Smarty rings looks to be the new method of keeping up with your phone applications and notifications, all with on finger

Facebook Considering Change in the "Like" Button?

 

    Facebook is at it again, this time it’s changing the “like” button. It’s interesting how a single “like” can summarize a whole post that someone puts up. By posting numerous “likes” on a picture or post it could actually make it more viral.

But according to the Huffington Post, Facebook has been playing around with and even testing a "Sympathize" button to better capture people's reactions to tragedies and sad life events. That would be a nice start, but there are certainly a number of other emotions we'd like to see captured with simple one-click buttons.

ABC news has come up with some possible new features Facebook can add to the most popular social network site. Some can be “dislike”, “seriously”, “meh”, “want” and “love”. They ideas aren’t official but they could be some potential candidates that Facebook will be adding. According to Joanna Stern of ABC News.

 

 

Here is my Storify on this topic: http://storify.com/ERICHOPPE1/facebook-considering-change

 

Pantene Ad Tackles How Women in the Workplace Are Labeled

In a recently published article by AdWeek , Pantene Philippines has launched a powerful campaign which zeros in on the fact that identical behavior amongst the sexes often earns men and women different labels in the workplace. The message of the video criticizes gender stereotypes and focuses on the different labels that are placed on men and women, regardless of the fact that both genders are doing the same work.

In the ad, each scene displays a double-standard in a working environment. A man is viewed as the "boss" while the woman is "bossy." A man could be labeled "persuasive" while his female counterpart is "pushy." He's "neat", yet she's "vain."  The ad wraps with, "Don't let labels hold you back. Be strong and shine”.

                  

The video delivers without a doubt, and the #whipit campaign has inspired discussion not only on the YouTube comment section, but Facebook as well...

Senate Approves Legislation Protecting Journalists

Recently, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation giving journalists greater protection against fines or imprisonment when it comes to revealing confidential sources.

The legislation is known as the Free Flow of Information Act of 2013 and was approved last week by the committee by a vote of 13-5.  

Another aspect of the legislation is that it defined who qualifies as a journalist.  Supporters of the legislation said it was important to establish guidelines for the media as the justice department deals with leak cases.  Meanwhile opponents said, that it didn't protect national security interests and not only that but it unconstitutionally allowed the government to decide who was a journalist.

According to the LA Times, when speaking about the bill Senator Charles Schumar from NY said, "We're closer then we've ever been before to passing a strong and tough media shield bill."  Meanwhile, on the need to distinguish who exactly the bill applies to Senator Dianne Feinstein from California said, "I can't support it if everyone who has a blog has a special privledge...or if Edward Snowden were to sit down and write this stuff, he would have a privledge.  I'm not going to go there."

Below you will find discussion of this legislation as part of a news broadcast.

 

Aftermath of "Catfish"

      Whether it's out of revenge, loneiless, curiosity, or boredom, an emerging class of internet predators are finding excuses and ways to scam their way into relationships online with people who unknowingly fall for it unexpectantly.

 

     The fabricated life stories and photographs that these scammer's, or "Catfish", put together online often contain the experiences, friends, resumes and job titles that they wish were their own, providing a complete window into how these scammers want the world to see them, which is often times vastly different from their real lives.

 

     The emergence of such elaborate social schemes online was brought to light in a shocking way in the 2010 documentary "Catfish" which turned into the TV show "Catfish". (which has been previously explained). More recently, Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick used the term "catfish" to describe a hoax that his star linebacker, Manti Te'o apparently fell for.

 

     The "Catfish" phenomenon is becoming more prevelant with the tricks of technology and the publicity and "fame" that can potentially come with being a catfish or being catfished. It has become a genre all it's own is taking the internet and unsuspecting fools by storm.