Soundcloud

I wanted to write my last and final blog on something I know a little about and want to learn more, so I chose something I see on my social media accounts frequently; it is an application called Soundcloud. Soundcloud allows individuals of all walks of life to express themselves through the creation of their own music. According to Soundcloud.com, “SoundCloud is the world’s leading social sound platform where anyone can listen to or create sounds and share them everywhere” which has lead to the creation of famous artists, and the demise of not so famous artists.

Darren J. Reed of the University of York, United Kingdom wrote a peer-reviewed scholarly journal titled “Performance and interaction on Soundcloud: Social remix and the fundamental techniques of conversation” (2017) for ScienceDirect highlighting the ways the application has created a platform for music sharing and conversation. Reed explains that Soundcloud has the ability to “act as immediate and spontaneous responses to the music” by allowing users to critique artists musical performances through online comments. Reed’s purpose in writing “Performance and interaction on Soundcloud: Social remix and fundamental techniques of conversation” is to explain how people interact with one another based on comments, whether positive or negative. I feel the intended audience of Darren J. Reed’s article are people who are curious as to why or how someone or something becomes popular. I feel the article is important because it identifys the ways Soundcloud has the ablity to either make or break someone based on others opinions.  Is that not essentially what popular culture is all about?

Social remix as defined by Reed is the way society changes things to better fit themselves. Soundcloud allows society to change sounds and lyrics to better fit themselves which has created a very popular application. Soundcloud “originally intended to allow musicians to collaborate by facilitating the sharing and discussion of recordings, but later transformed into a publishing tool for music distribution” (2009). I find Soundcloud to be defined as an artistic platform which allows people to be unique and individual in their own ways based on what their idea of art is. Soundcloud being accessible to everyone across the globe, has although, created some problems. Recorded private conversations have been released on Soundcloud in multiple different instances resulting in the application being blocked in some countries. Also, users of Soundcloud have been accused of copyright infringements in which the company has to pull the users from the platform, resulting in harsh criticisms of a music application.

Through my research, I’ve found Soundcloud to be used for multiple different mediums of popular culture from music to podcasts. The ability Soundcloud has to reach people all over the globe allows for mass circulation of media and the creation of popular genres.

Here is a list of people I found to have their rise to fame through Soundcloud:

 Kehlani

Song to Stardom: “ANTISUMMERLUV“

Kehlani made a buzz back in 2013 with the release of her first SoundCloud track, ANTISUMMERLUV. Nick Cannon called her after hearing the song, and set her up with some studio time in Los Angeles.

Post Malone

Song to Stardom: “White Iverson”

The New York native posted his song, “White Iverson,” on SoundCloud on February 2015.

Bryson Tiller

Song to Stardom: “Don’t”

In 2014, he gained recognition with the release of his debut single, “Don’t,” on his SoundCloud page. It was commercially released as a single in 2015 and made it to the top 13 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

In addition to these Soundcloud made famous individuals, I’d also like to mention a few of my friends who are on currently on Soundcloud trying to make it. I graduated with Lil Boii Kantu and D-Gravez. Here is some of their work:

 

Sources:

Eliot Van Buskirk (6 July 2009). “SoundCloud Threatens MySpace as Music Destination for Twitter Era”. Wired.

http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.humboldt.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=d251b14f-7d11-49bc-9088-335159c71913%40sessionmgr4007&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=123405579&db=aph

https://soundcloudreviews.org/5-big-artists-started-on-soundcloud/

 

 

 

Art: to Me

My professor Deidre Pike instructed us to write a blog on our own artistic expression and followed by “if you absolutely feel you have no artistic expression to contribute, please share the public work of an independent artist, musician or writer that you know”. Personally, I would like to first argue that if you have a Facebook or Instagram, you indeed express an artistic side whether you see it or not. Facebook and Instagram are both platforms that allow individual’s of the world to create posts that they feel suit them. I also think having a WordPress blog, whether for class or for fun is an artistic expression of language. Therefore, with my argument stated…I hope you hopeless creatives find inspiration somewhere!

For me, art is about the simplicity behind complexity. To break that down a bit, I like to look for the mundane within the sacred. I prefer the way gold is smelted rather than worn. I feel everything in life has a purpose and it’s most beautiful purpose may not be to be worn as a fashion statement! With that said, I would like to state I am a beginner (and I mean very very beginning) holistic farmer. I have been doing research for quite sometime now, on marijuana cultivation and farming. Not to mention, my senior thesis and sixty source annotated bibliography is going to be on Humboldt County marijuana cultivation and environmental effects! I find the history behind the cultivation of marijuana to be fascinating and intriguing as we have an ever-growing commercial industry rising before our eyes.

I began growing marijuana last semester for the first time and found that it is not as easy as many would think. You cannot just drop a seed in some soil and smoke some marijuana. Cultivating marijuana involves a lot of patience, and attention to detail. There are hundreds of books, videos, articles, etc. on what individual’s think are the best ways to grow marijuana. Personally, I think growing marijuana is going to be different for every seed. Just like babies, not every baby requires the same nutrients or care, the same goes for marijuana plants.

I think growing marijuana is an art form because everyone does it differently. I also think the end result of how the marijuana comes out can be considered an art form as people look for bright trichomes and crystallized flower buds. I have made growing marijuana a cultural art form for myself as I grow it with purpose. The purpose I have in growing marijuana is to examine how different nutrients create different effects, much like how an inkblot test as known as a Rorschach test never produces the same image. I find it fascinating how different chemical and water levels effect the size of the leaf structure, and flower bud density. Although I am just beginning, I have learned some helpful tips and tricks through popular media sources like WeedMaps.com on what nutrients to buy and how much to use.

I chronicle my growth through a series of photographs on Instagram which serves as my platform to show the world my art. I follow a list 30 different growers who also do the same. We exchange likes and comments, and express how we support one another through sharing these photographs. I feel art can be just about anything someone sees purpose behind. Does that make life, art? I guess only you can decide that! For me, I find a sense of relaxation in tending to my plants daily which is why I feel growing marijuana has purpose in my life. What do you do that makes you feel some sort of emotive? Do you consider that to be an art form? Is it not interesting how daily activities can be seen as art forms?

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Incredibles 2

I’m going to start with just plain honesty. I have not quite seen either the Incredible’s 2 or Coco, only parts of both. So do not worry, there are no spoilers here! I did however read a few articles on both animations and found they incorporate main controversial ideas. The Incredible’s 2 features Helen Super, the Incredible’s mom as the problem solving, bread winning character which stirs up quite a controversy. Coco, on the other hands, main character is a 12-year-old boy named Miguel who has to make a detrimental decision between his music and his life.

  Coco by Pixar, in my opinion, is about a boy who’s culture ultimately consumes him. In Coco, main character Miguel accidentally gets stuck in the Land of the Dead.  Upon entering the Land of the Dead, Miguel meets another character named Hector who helps Miguel along his way in the Land of the Dead. It is not until later within the story that Hector is revealed to be a very important figure in the past makings of Miguel (no spoilers). I found the bits and pieces of Coco in which I watched to be heart warming and very expressive of Mexican heritage.

Kenneth Turan’s article ‘Incredibles 2’ is the superhero family saga we need right now” (2018) written for the Los Angeles Times, highlights the ways both mother and father figures can provide for the children through the script of Incredibles 2. Turan explains how Elastagirl (Helen) makes the bold decision to leave the children at home with Mr. Super in order to save the world. Elastagirl in the Incredibles often makes it a point to express how males are not only the ones capable of saving the world in stating “leave the saving of the world to men? I don’t think so” which expresses a feminist perspective. I believe Turan’s purpose in writing this article is to describe the ways in which times are changing and women are becoming the front runners for many things. I feel the intended audience is anyone with curiosity as to what Incredible’s 2 has to offer and hide within the context of the dialogue. I find this article to be very exciting as superheroes were mainly male with female counterparts and now the importance is on how the women can support the family.

I think the controversy behind the Incredible’s 2 is within the way Helen becomes the main character rather than Mr. Super. Not often in mainstream culture do we see the strong female portrayed for who and what she is. I truly loved the way the Disney finally (yes, finally) made a female character the bread winner! I feel popular culture within movies is ever-changing and the importance of strong women empowerment will continue!

Fortnite

If you have not heard of Epic Gaming’s newer release Fortnite, are you middle aged or do you live under a rock? According to GameSpot’s YouTube video, “What makes Fortnite so popular?” (2018) over 45-50 million people partake in playing the free beta.

 

GameSpot’s YouTube video, “What Makes Fortnite So Popular” (2018) describes the reasons and the ways Fortnite through Epic Gaming has won the hearts of hundreds of thousands of video gamers. GameSpot explains that Fortnite’s popularity has come from the battle royale option of game play which enables limited time modes (skins, gun styles, emotes), craft and build, and first-person gun fights. GameSpot’s purpose in publishing “What Makes Fortnite So Popular” (2018) is to evaluate how the game is similar and different to other games like PUBG (Players Unknown Battlegrounds), and Rainbow 6. I feel the intended audience of GameSpot’s YouTube channel is gamers of all types (PC, PlayStation, Xbox, etc.) and anyone interested in what makes video games popular. I found this video to be exciting and interesting because I have had my hand in a few Fortnite matches and can agree that the craft and build part of the game is epic (guess that’s how the company got their name)!

     Fortnite can be played by virtually anyone with access to the internet and the game, no matter their location in the world! Fortnite is not like a tactical shooter where boots on the ground is necessary, rather an arena shooter in which strategy is required.  I’m going to be quite honest in writing this post. Rather than playing a video game ‘mindfully’ for 30 minutes, I’d like to admit I have played Fortnite for over 24 hours (at different times, not all together!) and I enjoy the way that even though the map never changes, every match is different. I choose to write about Fortnite’s popularity because I previously have written a little on my favorite game Call of Duty in my popular media blog.

     Call of Duty on the other hand, I have played (according to game statistics) for a combined total of 6 days and 1 hour. Call of Duty is a first person shooter, in which constant movement is required or people will find and kill you. While playing Call of Duty, I do feel I get a bit angry because I am very competitive and want to be the best! According to ScienceDaily’s article “Violent video games found not to affect empathy” (2017) “Call of Duty has not been found to affect the gamers aggression or empathy” so I question what makes people scream and yell at one another on the game? Is it their desire to win, like mine? Or are they just plain assholes? I personally would like to disagree with ScienceDaily’s article because I think first person shooters increase people’s adrenaline which psychological can affect emotion.

Overall, I feel both Fortnite and Call of Duty are popular because of the ablity to play against other competitors online. Both games offer high speed matches in which the winners and losers are determined within a few minutes rather than spending hours on objective based missions. In your opinion, what makes Call of Duty, or Fortnite popular too you?

 

The Onion: certainly does reak!

With all of the media coverage things receive now-a-days, who is to say what news is real and what news is fake? Factual news sources seem to be even harder and harder to find today among the influx of the internet. New study from theonion.com “finds ‘the onion’ has never been more popular, more beloved, or more respected”, however The Onion publishes satire news.

Satire news “is a type of parody presented in a format typical of mainstream journalism, and called a satire because of its content” which relies on dry humor. The Onion, quoted America’s Finest News Source creates some of the most popular fake news articles around. The American based digital media company then disturbs these news articles on an international, national, and local news level allowing for mass dialect and conversation pertaining to a false premise. The Onion‘s articles cover current events, both real and fictional, “satirizing the tone and format of traditional news organizations with stories, editorials, op-ed pieces, and man-in-the-street interviews using a traditional news website layout and an editorial voice modeled after that of the Associated Press” (1999). The publication’s humor often depends on presenting mundane, everyday events as “newsworthy, surreal, or alarming (such as “Rotation of Earth Throws Entire North American Continent into Darkness”)” (1999) which often cause mass painic. In 1999, comedian Bob Odenkirk praised the publication stating, “It’s the best comedy writing in the country, and it has been since it started” (1999) which gave The Onion a lot more attention. Please take a few minutes to watch “How to Spot Fake News” before continuing through this post!

NPR reporters article, “Area Man Realizes He’s Been Reading Fake News For 25 Years” (2013) published on NPR.org, draws on how a satire news source was presumed to be true news by an area man for over 25 years! The NPR reporters notify their audience about The Onion, which is a parody news source that creates articles that make “people uncomfortable” by making something serious, funny. The reporters use headlines from theonion.com as examples of the dry humor. The purpose of the article is to inform the audience that not all news is real! I think the audience of “Area Man Realizes He’s Been Reading Fake News For 25 Years” (2013) are politically engaged individuals because NPR.org is not for everyone. I personally enjoy reading articles from The Onion, because although they are not always completely factual, they provide a slight sense of comic relief from the normal tragic news report.

So next time you are scrolling through Facebook or InstaGram and see a news article titled “Advanced Alien Civilization Discovers Uninhabitable Planet”, please do your research and figure out if the news you are reading is real or fake! Fact check, fact check, and fact check again! Happy news!

Sources:

Dionne, Alexandria (January 8, 1999). “The Onion moves to the Internet”. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 21, 2018.

https://www.npr.org/2013/08/29/216439725/area-man-realizes-hes-been-reading-fake-news-for-25-years

https://www.theonion.com/

 

“Total Divas” Total Drama

“Total Divas” first premiered on July 28, 2013 on E! channel. The American based reality TV show follows the lives of female WWE wrestling superstars like the astonishing Bella twins, Natalya Reinhart (she’s a beast, and let’s not forget a legend), Eva Marie, and a few others through their wrestling career’s and personal lives. The show does a great job capturing what seems like genuine relationships between the producers and directors of the WWE, including the way contests and story-lines are decided based on crowd response.

In addition to covering the Divas lifestyles on WWE, “Total Divas” also follows the women’s personal lives. Exposing America to the hardships, determination, and motivation each and every Diva superstar needs in order to be successful within their business and maintain interpersonal relationships with family, friends, husbands, and boyfriends allows “Total Divas” total drama!

The tension covered in “Total Divas” is felt by not only the wrestlers and their significant others, but also the audience while tuning in, making “Total Divas” intriguing. The show reminds me of a bad train-wreck,  nobody really wants to watch it (except for maybe nosey celebrity fans) but once it is in front of you, you can’t look away. “The History of Television” on Modern Marvels devotes about forty-five minutes to explaining how television had come about and how early television stars were created. The documentary describes how “stars were created overnight, some made it and some didn’t”, just like some of the divas. “Total Divas” has now been on the air for over seven total drama, total binge-worthy seasons covering WWE contests ups and downs, injuries, marriages, pet losses (We all still miss you, Gizzy!) and more. So, let us ask ourselves why the television shows, or movies we watch are so entertaining?

According to Youtuber, The Audiopedia “What is Reality Television? What Does Reality Television Mean? Reality Television Meaning” (2017)  “reality television is a genre of programming that documents supposedly unscripted real-life situations” in which the audience can relate and reproduce the same experiences. For example, while watching Brie Bella struggle to help Bryan Danielson cope with his wrestling injury, I compared his sadness to mine when I tore my ACL/MCL playing college basketball and could no longer perform. The experiences the audience watch the superstars go through on television become reality for the audience as well. While watching Natalya and her husband TJ suffer over the loss of their precious boy Gizmo, I felt the emotions they both felt. I believe reality television is success because of the way the audience feels connected to the television stars, almost like they could watch through your front door at any moment!

Aurelie Corinthios’ article, “Total Divas Renewed for 2 More Seasons After Nikki Bella Splits from John Cena” (2018) published by PEOPLE TV Watch, describes how a little bit of relationship drama has gotten Total Divas an addition two seasons on channel E!. Corinthios explains to her audience how WWE Diva Nikki Bella’s desire to have children ultimately created chaos for herself and WWE Superstar John Cena. Corinthios purpose in writing this article, in my opinion, is to express how a little bit of drama can attract a lot of attention or in this case media coverage. Considering the fact that PEOPLE magazine is a tabloid magazine, I feel the intended audience of this article is celebrity following fans and WWE supporters, as well. Personally, I find this article to be really exciting as I recently have fallen in love with the lives of the Divas and WWE Superstars. A lot of hardwork, time, and dedication go into performing a WWE contest, making Total Divas a binge-worthy television reality drama.

Side-note, I also feel that interviews like the one above for PEOPLE allow for reality television stars and shows to promote and advertise to audiences their successes and struggles of stardom that the original series does not reach. Talk about mass media advertisements! Also, shout-out to my girlfriend Cheyenne for showing me this stupid show!

“Orange Is The New Black”, isn’t that a microaggression?

Let’s take a journey through popular Netflix original series “Orange Is The New Black” shall we? Netflix advertises “Orange is the New Black” as a series about “a privileged New Yorker who ends up in a women’s prison when a past crime catches up with her in this Emmy-winning series from the creator of “Weeds” (2017), however Netflix fails to include that the privileged New Yorker is a white women known as Piper Chapman. I choose to ask if the title “Orange is the New Black” is a microagression because I think of the orange symbolizing prison, and orange becoming the new black, to me, defines slavery within the prison industrial complex. If Piper Chapman is the star of the show, and she is white, why is the show not named “Orange is the New White”? Think about that as you read through the following paragraphs.

Suzanne M. Enck and Megan E. Morrisseys’ peer-reviewed scholarly journal, “If Orange Is the New Black, I Must Be Color Blind: Comic Framings of Post-Racism in the Prison-Industrial Complex” published in Critical Studies in Media Communication (2016) describes how color blindness and comic framing allows for whitewashed colorblind media. Enck and Morrissey evaluate prisons, whiteness, and colorblind racism through comic fool Piper Chapman, star of the show “Orange Is The New Black”. The authors “argue that the first season of OITNB encourages white audience identification primarily through the show’s protagonist who, by providing a comic frame, also enables critiques of post-racial fantasies that so frequently reify existing U.S. social relations” become relatable with white experiences. The clip above from YouTube does a wonderful job representing how Piper Chapman does indeed have relatable white experiences, most prisoners of color do not.

Suzanne M. Enck and Megan E. Morrisseys’ use multiple reliable sources such as PCARE (2007)­ and The Sentencing Project https://www.sentencingproject.org (2014) to explain how television programming often creates “a fictional colorless world in which the ideology of the American dream dictates that anyone can succeed with hard work, and as such promotes the idea that racial inequalities have no structural or institutional origin or solution” resulting in colorblind media. Colorblind media does not accurately depict the struggles of all races, “colorblindness does not deny the existence of race but denies the claim that race is responsible for alleged injustices that reproduce group inequalities, privilege Whites, and negatively impacts on economic mobility, the possession of social resources, and the acquisition of political power”. Piper Chapman’s “race and class privilege position her as a “good (white) girl”—a status she is able to achieve by acquiescing to and complicity reproducing the authority of whiteness” while being the protagonist of a television show representing low income and minority races and race relations seems to be quite colorblind, in my opinion.

The purpose of “If Orange Is the New Black, I Must Be Color Blind: Comic Framings of Post-Racism in the Prison-Industrial Complex” is to explain how the media does not accurately represent people of color. “As audiences relate to Piper and come to sympathize with other women of color, they are led to question some especially harsh realities that stem from systemic racial/class discrimination and that are protected within powerful discourses of color blindness”. The piece is used to help readers evaluate the level of under-representation that takes place within social hierarchy’s and institutions.

“If Orange Is the New Black, I Must Be Color Blind: Comic Framings of Post-Racism in the Prison-Industrial Complex” is written for an audience with access to scholarly journals. I purpose this piece is written to inform academics, scholars, and the educated masses about the unequal representation of all races on television through the portrayal of Piper Chapman. I believe the audience also needs access to some sort of platform to watch “Orange Is the New Black” to adequately understand what the author is trying to explain and identify within comic framing.

I found this piece to be highly informative. The piece identified how Piper Chapman lessens the harsh realities of the PIC by being a ‘gateway drug’ “implying that her sanitized, upper-class whiteness is one mode of identification (albeit problematic and limited) for many viewers who may not otherwise even be exposed to alternate racial realities”. However, the piece also stated that if Piper Chapman was not the protagonist, the story-line would not have been so success, which I truly believe to be correct.

With popular media being more and more about the division of race and race relation identities, I feel popular culture reinforces racial tense. For example, “Fresh Off the Boat” is a television series that “takes a humorous look at the lives of immigrants in America”. I feel “Fresh Off the Boat” highlights some very important issues immigrants do come to face but the reality is, the television series makes light of these important issues. Although many claim “Orange is the New Black” and “Fresh Off the Boat” as series that “expanded racial divides” by providing women and people of color with significant leading roles, the roles are often limited and restricted by what is considered to be popular at the time. If you are having a hard time remember what makes something popular, I suggest going back to my earlier blog posts and rereading! Popular culture is about a lot more than what is just popular. I believe the reason “Orange is the New Black” and “Fresh Off the Boat” are popular are because they address social problems in which their audiences can relate.  Eddie Huang does an awesome job explaining how “Fresh Off the Boat” brings experiences to mainstream television that have not been so easily accessible in his VICE Podcast below!

Act One, Act Two, Act Three: Radio

Pirate radio? Ever heard of it? Do you know where the things you hear on the radio are broadcasting from? With hundreds of different radio stations to choose from, how do you know what is factual, legal, and reliable?

Act one, action! According to the This American Life, the story of the radio can be told in three parts; illegal radio stations, talk show radio stations (like Howard Stern), and popular radio. Illegal radio stations, also known as pirate radio stations “keep appearing and disappearing and appearing again” (1998) providing their listeners with unregulated conversations and music. Pirate radio stations are “exciting” as they leave much mystery in where they broadcast from and who the broadcasters are. Talk show radio, unlike illegal radio stations are regulated in what they can say. Unlike any other station on the radio, Howard Stern decides what he is going to talk about everyday, usually local news. Originally, talk show radio was a service provided for the reading impaired. Men would read the newspaper for people who could not read the paper themselves. “Every story would end with a touch of banter” (1998) which the audience found intriguing. People cannot turn talk show radio off which leads to popular radio. Popular radio is used by multiple generations. The “radio has the largest reach with Generation X (ages 35-54), with 80.5 million listeners tuning during an average month (97% of the Gen X population). This is followed by Millennials (18-34 year olds), with 71.6 million listeners tuning in monthly (95% of the Millennial population). Meanwhile, radio reaches 41.2 million monthly listeners among Baby Boomers (ages 55-64), representing 98% of the Baby Boomer population” (Nielson, 2018). Popular radio is a “science”.

“Each week, more Americans tune to AM/FM radio than any other platform” (Nielson, 2018) to access news, music, and upcoming events. Popular radio allows for radio volunteers and radio users to take surveys based on how the radio is doing considering song choice. “Once you get a record on the air, you have to know when to take it off, because there is nothing that will drive a person away more than a song they are tired of” (1998) resulting in a playback formula. The more listeners who tune into a specific song, the more the song is played, the less listeners, the less plays.

Act two, action! In my life, I’ve realized that I hardly listen to the radio due to the simple fact that the same song is repeated multiple times a day with advertisements between every song. I prefer listening to Spotify, as with a paid subscription advertisements are no longer a disturbance. If and when I absolutely have to listen to the radio, I prefer listening to stations like KRFH (Radio Free Humboldt) which is student ran. Student ran article “About KRFH” (2018), published on http://www.krfh.net/about/ describes how two professors and a few students got together to run KFRH 105.1 FM. The students explain how the radio was originally only a local broadcast station, but through donations and support, KRFH was able to upgrade to a larger transmitter. The student’s purpose behind KRFH is to share and distribute music they personally enjoy with others, the disc jockeys or DJs have “many unique personalities and formats hitting our airwaves every day, it’s hard to foresee what you’ll hear next on KRFH unless you check out the schedule here on our website, which is precisely why KRFH is great.” The radio station does not care so much for the influences of outside society, rather they allow the students to be creative and unique. With the station being ran by students, there are often flaws and mistakes which the common listener can relate too. With popular radio, everything seems so structured. Song, song break, commercial. That is the way popular radio works.

Act three, action! I predict the future of the radio to be dynamic and changing as broadcasters are able to transmit virtually anything to anyone. I believe that the radio is the most accessible type of transmitting technology that the world currently has. I wish the future of the radio would follow the footsteps made by KRFH in making broadcasts about community rather than profit. I feel that radio is all about profits and making singer/songwriters famous rather than focusing on what the community prefers or desires. What steps should we take to regain interpersonal radio control? I would love to be able to tune in to someone I personally know rather than a mass media radio DJ!

Sources: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/100/radio

http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2018/how-america-listens-the-american-audio-landscape.html

http://www.krfh.net/about/

 

Thank you for reading another post!

Social Thieves: The World Behind Social Media

Let me first begin by asking a simple question, how many of you have or have heard of the app thisisyourdigitallife? “Thisisyourdigitallife was originally an application used to complete a good survey for academic purposes” as explained by the creator Aleksandr Kogan, who later sold the application to Cambridge Analytic. For the most part, if you have a Facebook, I’m assuming you’ve heard of the drama behind what Cambridge Analytic is said to have manipulated and influenced within Trump’s 2016 campaign.

Kevin Granville’s article  “Facebook and Cambridge Analytica: What You Need to Know as Fallout Widens” (2018) published in the New York Times, describes the way information was illegally sold to Cambridge Analytica via Facebook during Trump’s 2016 election campaign. According to Granville, “researchers in 2014 asked users to take a personality survey and download an app, which scraped some private information from their profiles and those of their friends, activity that Facebook permitted at the time and has since banned”, which allowed for over 50 million Facebook users personal information to be accessed to alter advertisements and target people based on personal likes. The purpose of this article is to explain and debunk the ways Cambridge Analytica data harvested Facebook. I feel the article is geared towards any individual using any type of social media platform, not only just Facebook, with the ultimate goal of explaining how to protect your identity on such platforms. I found this article intriguing and also extremely terrifying as many people do not see where their personal information goes once they enter it within the internet. Which leads me to my next question? Do you know what you are sharing on the internet? How protected are you?

I, myself, have multiple social media accounts ranging from Instagram all the way to PlayStation Network. To be completely honest with my readers, I only know about 1/3 of the privacy settings tips and tricks to secure my personal information. After learning about how Facebook “inappropriately” shared over 50 million users personal information, I did some research of my own. How many sites are set to mine and sell personal information? According to CBS News “The Data Brokers: Selling Your Personal Information” (2014) there are various companies in place to collect, analyze, and sell social media users personal information. These companies are referred to as data brokers. The task of these “data brokers are to collect, analyze and package some of our most sensitive personal information and sell it as a commodity…to each other, to advertisers, even the government, often without our direct knowledge” (2014) seeming like much of an intrusion.

I feel it is safe to assume most people have no idea what happens to the information they enter online, like their birth dates, social security numbers, telephone numbers, addresses, and even their credit card numbers! How many of you have an Amazon account active with a credit card or debit card on file? I know I do! Now let us think for a moment, what happens if and or when Amazon is hacked and all of that personal information is leaked? I fear for the day something along those lines happens. With my presence on social media, I’ve found over the years that people are targeted by what they post. I feel social media platforms have influenced me in such a way that sharing an experience is simplified and easily expressible.

When I am online, I try to leave my personal information as bleak as possible. I hardly include my address, phone number, or birth date unless I know the people I am sharing it with. Even then, after the information is shared I often wonder where it will end up and with who. Social media in my opinion is used as a tool to manipulate the masses of people within them. Advertisements on individual social media accounts are a result of data brokers harvesting information like, likes and shares.  So how are we to prevent another Facebook Cambridge Analytic data breach? Drop a comment for me below with how you think we might prevent another personal information scare!

Thank you again for reading my post!

Lauren

Sources:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-data-brokers-selling-your-personal-information/

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/04/10/601163176/how-to-check-if-your-facebook-data-was-used-by-cambridge-analytica

 

 

“Chasing Ice”

Have you seen any thought-provoking documentaries lately? Documentary films offer an in-depth look at the world in many different aspects. Documentaries provide an opportunity to understand and connect with the world, they are also a great way to gather together with friends to watch and engage around the important issues of our times. Watching more documentaries is important, but talking about them together in person is equally important. The dialect brought about by many documentaries is often controversial because they remind us of the real people on the opposite side of an issue, the complexity and nuances of the different conditions in which we live, and the importance of honest and earnest discussions.

 

Recently, I got the chance to watch the documentary Chasing Ice. The documentary  shows the breath-taking ways global warming is affecting glaciers in the Arctic. “In the spring of 2005, acclaimed environmental photographer James Balog headed to the Arctic on a tricky assignment for National Geographic: to capture images to help tell the story of the Earth’s changing climate. Even with a scientific upbringing, Balog had been a skeptic about climate change. But that first trip north opened his eyes to the biggest story in human history and sparked a challenge within him that would put his career and his very well-being at risk” (2018), Balog realized he had more than just a documentary here.

The importance of Balog’s environmental photography captures the way the Earth’s climate is warming up, resulting in glaciers melting and our ocean’s water volume increasing. Chasing Ice is the story of one man’s mission to change the tide of history by gathering undeniable evidence of our changing planet. Within months of that first trip to Iceland, the photographer conceived the boldest expedition of his life: The Extreme Ice Survey. With a band of young adventurers in tow, Balog began deploying revolutionary time-lapse cameras across the brutal Arctic to capture a multi-year record of the world’s changing glaciers.

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As the debate polarizes America and the intensity of natural disasters ramps up globally, Balog finds himself at the end of his tether. Battling untested technology in subzero conditions, he comes face to face with his own mortality. It takes years for Balog to see the fruits of his labor. His hauntingly beautiful videos compress years into seconds and capture ancient mountains of ice in motion as they disappear at a breathtaking rate. Chasing Ice “depicts a photographer trying to deliver evidence and hope to our carbon-powered planet” (2018) that change is needed in order to preserve what is left of our planet. “Chasing Ice has screened the film around the world in over 172 countries, 70 universities, over 75 film festivals, the White House and even the United Nations. Creating a film is only half the process. Our team believes it is of equal responsibility for film makers to actively share the film as publicly and to as many diverse audiences as possible” (2018) allowing for huge conversations and mass dialects on the way the planet is reacting to human evolution.

Documentaries are, in my opinion, a tool of knowledge. Through documentaries, we are able to connect to the globe, and to engage in activities that may influence our collective future. After watching Chasing Ice, I am more conscious of when and where I need to drive my car as the carbon emissions gasoline burn-off creates harms the planet. Chasing Ice has successfully opened a platform for conversation on climate change. With over 54 contributors listed on their “About: Chasing Ice” website page, I’d like to think Jason Balog’s boldest expedition was more than worth it!

With over 54 million views on YouTube, I’d like to think Chasing Ice has reached mass media. This documentary is considered a part of popular media as millions of individual’s have generated a very serious conversation about the concerns of global warming. This documentary, no matter how many times I watch it, I get the chills. Well worth the time taken to be watched!

Sources:

https://chasingice.com/ourimpact/

 

Stick Figure: Honest, Independent, and Productive.

When you listen to music, what is the first genre you run too? Is it full of ambient noise? Is it lyrical? Is it loud, or soft? Do you prefer music with a lot of bass? How about music that resonates? Whatever timbre you prefer, recorded music has it all! According to Deidre Pike’s chapter Don’t Stop Believing written in “Media Literacy: Seeking Honesty, Independence, and Productivity in Today’s Mass Messages. (2014)” “music has the power to provide audiences with a new perspective, Franti told an interviewer. “We can’t change foreign policy or fix global warming, but music has the power to provide a different perspective of how people view the world.” For me, the reggae group “Stick Figure” has done just that!

Jeff Woodruff’s article “About Stick Figure” (2017), published on www.stickfiguremusic.com, describes how my favorite band “Stick Figure” rose to fame as a reggae roots dub band. Jeff Woodruff, brother of lead singer, song writer, and musician Scott Woodruff of “Stick Figure” explains that the group is “built on the hypnotic rhythms and the instantly singable choruses that are Stick Figure trademarks”.  Woodruff’s purpose is to define and distinguish between the different structures of “Stick Figure” music which have given the band their rise to fame as an honest, independent, and productive music group. Considering the fact that www.stickfiguremusic.com is a dedicated advertisement page for the band, I purpose the intended audience is for everyone with access to their page. I found the information provided by Woodruff to be very intriguing as I did not know the groups mascot, Cocoa was a rescue pup! According to Jeff Woodruff, “with (Brother Scott) Woodruff as the genial on-stage figurehead, Stick Figure concerts are gatherings distinguished by extended improvisational interludes, the mind-manifesting hues of a light show, and the much-anticipated entrance of the band’s canine mascot, a rescued Australian Shepherd, Cocoa The Tour Dog.” Stick Figure concerts express an honest earth loving theme with songs like “Choice is Yours”, “Hawaii Song”, and “In This Love”. With over 118k followers on Spotify, I feel “Stick Figure” is accepted and approved by the masses. “Honesty? The role of a recording artist in contemporary times is a complex one. Make art – and fame and money” (Pike, 2014), “Stick Figure” has successfully made art, fame and money without compromising there overall mission “to create authentic artistry from the foundation of roots-dub reggae” (Woodruff, 2017).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rebelution, The Green + J Boog, Stick Figure, Through the Roots at SB Bowl 160813

“What a life I’ve been living in”, a line taken straight from their famous song “Smokin’ Love” describes how the group founded by Scott Woodruff has created something from nothing, resulting in complete record independence. “Ruffwood Records, also founded by Scott Woodruff releases all of Woodruff’s albums to date” (Woodruff, 2017) allowing the group to be as inclusive as they desire. On December 11, 2007, Woodruff released his first album The Sound of My Addiction under Ruffwood Records (Woodruff, 2017). I personally support Stick Figure as an independent music group because I feel I am not contributing to an industry but rather devoted and talented artists who are passionate about making music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ruffwood Studios

Santa Cruz, CA

Stick Figure’s music produces physical and emotional feelings for me, and I’m assuming the 118k other followers who enjoy listening to the groups “vibrant sonic soundscape”. When I feel like I am having a bad day, I often turn to Stick Figure for words of inspiration. I feel like Stick Figure has a song with specific lyrics for every feeling I have which makes them by far my favorite band. “Recorded music can be a productive social force that simply reassures listeners that others share our hopes, fears, and joys” (Pike, 2014) like Stick Figure’s song “Weight of Sound” does when I listen to the lyric “it’s just love, there’s nothing else more real”. I feel other share my feelings when I hear “it’s just love, there’s nothing else more real” because I’ve found that love gets people farther than hate! Therefore, I’ll end my WordPress tonight here, on another Stick Figure lyric, “where there is love, there is life, there’s a hope and a dream, this is the place for you and me” (Fire on the Horizon-Stick Figure).

 

 

 

“Have a little faith, everything will be just fine” – Stick Figure “Easy Runaway”

 

 

This music video does an awesome job showing off their recording studio in Santa Cruz!!! I absolutely love the details they put into their music videos, I guess having your own record label helps in that aspect. No one to tell you what you can and can’t have in your music videos.

“When the world does you wrong, listen to that song, like the birds they listen to the trees” – Stick Figure “Fire on the Horizon”

 

Please, if interested, check out https://www.stickfiguremusic.com/

Sources:

Pike, Deidre: Media Literacy: Seeking Honesty, Independence, and Productivity in Today’s Mass Messages. (2014)

Woodruff, Jeff: www.stickfiguremusic.com