Power of Film as a Medium

Video has quickly become one of the favorite mediums to complete the communication process with audiences whether they be large in size, distance, or any combination therein.  In this article, Brian Ott analyzes the affects that cinema has on the viewer as a form of communication.  Ott looks to the 2006 film, V for Vendetta has his example of film having the ability to “…enlist and mobilize viewers at a visceral level…” 

Ott states that when analyzing the rhetoric of any message being presented, it is the type of medium chosen to send the message that either makes or breaks the communication process.  Film has the unique ability to not only appeal to our visual and auditory senses, it appeals to our humanity and deep into our emotions.  Ott describes this phenomena as “Because of its hybridized mode of expression involving music, sound, speech, and moving images, cinema is among the most figural and thus sensual of the arts.”  By using sound effects, soundtracks, and brilliantly planned camera angles, film makers can manipulate the feelings and perceptions of their audience and make them feel like they are walking around the scene and viewing it firsthand.  This type of integration with audience is not possible with any other means of communication.  If you saw a guy walking up on stage and delivering a speech with sound effects, visual effects, and a soundtrack, you would have a hard time believing anything that he had to say because it was so out of the ordinary.  In the cinema world however, this over-stimulation of the senses allows the audience to feel like they are interacting with the story.

Ott, B. L. (2010). The visceral politics of V for Vendetta: On political affect in cinema. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 27(1), pp. 39-54.  

Zuckerberg vs. Obama... Who Wins the Buzz Award?

Two “first” events  occurred yesterday afternoon within an hour of each other in the online world.  First, Facebook creator, Mark Zuckerberg took the online stage (via a live streamed webcast on the site) in order to announce the newest product to join the social networking site, video chat supported by Skype.  While many had been waiting and expecting this announcement to occur, it still incurred a lot of buzz. 

An hour later, President Obama held the first live streaming town hall meeting via Twitter.  Twitter users could ask the president questions by using a specific hashtag in their posts and Obama would tweet his answer back to them. 

Both events had a huge amount of publicity about them leading up to the start of each event.  So who was out-tweeted?  Surprisingly, it was the president.  Jive Social Media Engagement conducted the buzz analysis and determined that Zuckerberg received over three times as much buzz for his expected (and leaked) announcement than the president did in attempt to connect with Americans individually.

These results made me step back and think for a moment.  Why do we care more about the ability to video chat with our friends over Skype than we do with getting our thoughts, opinions, and questions about the state of our country and economy answered by the man in charge?  Perhaps everyone who has a real interest in politics was too busy watching the live feed of the Casey Anthony trial online and forgot the tweet-along.  Even she got more online buzz than the president.  Do we not care that much about politics, or do we just care a little more to see if a woman suspected of killing her child will get the shock of her life?  Perhaps, it is just a reflection of which social site we prefer.  Facebook outweighs Twitter significantly in the user numbers, so maybe people just didn’t want to sign up for Twitter to have their voice heard. 

Kessler, S. (2011, July 7). Obama vs. Zuckerberg: Who Won the Battle of the Buzz? [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2011/07/07/obama-vs-zuckerberg-who-won-the-battle-of-the-buzz/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable%2FSocialMedia+%28Mashable+%C2%BB+Social+Media+Feed%29

A College Unfriends its Social-Networking President

After reading so many success stories and tales of the glories of social media recently, it was interesting to read a more honest view of what someone untrained in social media can really accomplish.  Some of these articles that I had read previously made promises that rivaled most old-school chain letters.  Where once we were promised years of success if we just forwarded this message to ten of our friends, today it seems that we are promised a lifetime of success and wealth if we only set up a Twitter account. 

In the article, “A College Unfriends Its Social-Networking President”, the author gives the background of how one man rises to the top of the academic ladder at a college in Rhode Island without stepping up the normal rungs of the ladder.  Instead, he got the job through a head hunter.  When he had his interview, he was extremely late, but was still able to impress the committee and land the job by showing that he was cutting edge and a visionary. 

Once he had landed the position of president of the college, he quickly stepped up and joined the ranks of the most tech savvy presidents in the country.  Between speeches delivered regularly via YouTube, blog posts, and over 175 thousend Twitter followers, according to the faculty, he spent more time working the social media than actually working with the college.  The faculty began to feel neglected and believed all the promises made by the new president to be broken before they could ever be followed through with.  Overall, while his vision for social media was successful, he was unable to fulfill his duties as president to the fullest because of his obsession with the social media. 

Young, J. R. (2011). A college unfriends its social-networking president. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 57(35).

Higher Education Migrates to YouTube and Social Networks

In the article, Higher Education Migrates to YouTube and Social Networks, the author quotes Heather Mansfield who owns a consulting firm that focuses on helping colleges and universities step on to the social media scene. Mansfield considers this step an absolute necessity stating, “The thing with higher ed and social media is that colleges really don’t understand that they have no choice whether they want to use social media.” In Mansfield’s mind, this does is not completed by simply having a school page on Facebook. Instead, she suggests different pages for alumni, admissions, academic departments, etc. allowing a different page for each interest or need. Mansfield also states that “If colleges don’t start profiles for their school on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc., then an alum or current student will do it for them. And by waiting or mis-thinking it is a fad, they run the risk of losing complete control of their brand online. It is very common.” 

Many schools have been hesitant to jump completely aboard the social media train as Mansfield and Gilroy have suggested. Instead they have stuck with one overarching page on a social media site or two believing that to be sufficient. But, I have to agree with Mansfield when she says, “Higher ed in general has been entirely too cautious, and they probably don’t realized the damage they are doing to themselves.” Social media is not the future of recruiting, it is today’s recruiting.

Gilroy, M. (2010). Higher Education Migrates to YouTube and Social Networks. The Education Digest 75(7), 18-22. Retrieved fromhttp://ezproxy.arbor.edu:80/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/ezproxy.arbor.edu/docview/218188936?accountid=13998

Using Social Media "Smartly" in the Admissions Process

Parrot and Tipton offer a very practical set of suggestions to college admissions offices in regards to implementing social media sites in their article, Using Social Media “Smartly” in the Admissions Process.  The authors offer three main reasons that today there is an increased need for colleges to have a social media presence.  First, the frequency with which traditional college prospects use social media outlets has drastically increased over the past few years.  Second, there are already many pages on social media outlets that are not sponsored by the colleges that allow the general public to talk about their experiences with the college.  Third, school sponsored pages on social media outlets allow recently accepted students a way to connect before classes start.

According to the survey that Parrot and Tipton conducted of five hundred freshman college students, only eighteen percent of the students listed school sponsored social media pages to be “’one of the most important’ or ‘very important’ sources of information in their application decision.”  However, when deciding on which school to actually attend after the application process, twenty six percent of students listed social media outlets as information sources. 

The solution for colleges, get a social media presence regardless of how small.  Then as technology and culture relies on social media more, so should your advertising and recruiting efforts.

Parrot, T. V., & Tipton, S. (2010, September 28).  Using Social Media “Smartly” in the Admissions Process. College and University, 86(1), 51-53. 

Online Portfolios for Future Employers

Patrick Lyons has many of his own students complete an online portfolio project at St. John’s University.  Lyons  states that there are actually three types of online portfolios: learning, showcase, and structured.  With showcase portfolios, the structure comes to the portfolio after the project is started.  It is a more go with the flow method of putting things together.  The structured portfolios are the complete opposite from the showcase since they are characterized by extremely detailed designs well in advance of the project actually starting.  The learning style is a mix of both showcase and structured as the design and organization of the project develops with the documentation that is being added to the project.

While portfolios have been used by colleges for several years now as a tool to help students build a collection of evidence of their strengths both academically and professionally, Lyons takes it to the next level by having his students put this collection online.  He believes that by placing the contents of a traditional portfolio online, it gives the students an advantage over other students with portfolios.  The first reason being that it shown how tech savvy the student is, which is becoming an important trait in the eyes of employers.  The second reason is based on the simplicity of sharing the portfolio with potential employers.  All a student needs to do in order to put his/her portfolio into the hands of a prospective employer is give them a link via e-mail, or even as a line item on their resume.  

Lyons, P.. (2008). Student Portfolio Web Sites: Valuable Communication Aids to Future Employers. Review of Business, 28(3), 33-43.  Retrieved June 7, 2011, from Research Library. (Document ID: 1698822271). Retrieved from  http://proquest.umi.com.libproxy.bryan.edu/pqdweb?index=18&did=1698822271&SrchMode=1&sid=3&Fmt=6&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1307467483&clientId=7744

Educational Value of Online Portfolios

Traditional portfolios have been used as a tool to analyze a student's writing abilities since the early 1980's.  As technology has advanced over the past twenty years, and society has adapted these new technologies into everyday life, education has also adapted its learning style.  While printed portfolios have been extremely popular in academia over the years, there are two major issues that simply cannot be overcome by traditional portfolios: the difficulty to store them, and the lack of motivation on the part of the student to complete the project.  Part of the beauty of online portfolios is that it offers solutions to not one, but both of the issues caused by traditional portfolios.  Since online portfolios are completely digital, they are extremely simple to share.  All it takes is to copy and paste a link into an e-mail, or even have it listed as a line item on a resume, and the information is shared.  Plus, since the online portfolio is live on the internet from the beginning of the project, anyone can track the progress of that page.  So it is quite possible and probable that someone will view the website while it is still being build, so the student is seen as putting forth an incomplete project.  This is great motivation for a student to finish the project quickly. 

Johnson, C.S..  (2006). The Analytic Assessment of Online Portfolios in Undergraduate Technical Communication: A Model. Journal of Engineering Education, 95(4), 279-287.  Retrieved June 9, 2011, from http://proquest.umi.com.libproxy.bryan.edu/pqdweb?index=18&did=1698822271&SrchMode=1&sid=3&Fmt=6&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1307467483&clientId=7744