Critical questions about the Internet

Where does one start to list all the critical issues or questions involving the Internet?

Here's my short list. We'll be focusing on these very soon in MCOM 101.

The Internet: Critical Issues

1. Online dating websites (Connecting with your future spouse or partner). Frequency of use. Popularity. Differences between the various online dating websites. Commonalities. Pluses and minuses. Testimonials. Horror stories. Happy endings.

2. Using Facebook as a tool for reporting a story when something big breaks and you are under a strict deadline to get the story written. Ethical? Legal? Recommended? Often used? Examples of how journalists have turned to Facebook to find out something.

3. “I’m afraid my employer will Google my name and see your story. Can you take this information (about me) down from the Internet, please?” Requests for the media to “unpublish” information that is embarrassing or hurtful or damaging. Examples of what has been done. What can be done and what cannot be done with such requests.

4. Texting while driving. Laws? Guidelines? Do laws vary from state to state? Consequences. Real-life examples of what has actually happened to those who text while they drive. Your personal take on texting while driving.

5. Touch technology (upper left hand corner of page 199 of our textbook). Using the Internet to enhance your five senses. What are some of the latest developments regarding touch technology? What does the future hold? Is touch technology already here? Practical uses of touch technology. Fun uses. Strange uses.

6. Policing or controlling or censoring the content of a website. Examples of what has been done in this regard. Filtering software and how it works. Control of the content of a website a good thing? Bad thing?

7. Intellectual property rights (copyright) and the Internet. Are the copyright rules the same, since the invention of the Internet, as they’ve always been? What are some common misconceptions about “borrowing” or sharing material (words, pictures, videos, podcasts) found on the Internet?

8. What’s all the fuss about “Net Neutrality”? (See page 195 in our textbook and do some additional research). What’s the latest development (in 2016) with Internet Neutrality? Should the common ordinary person become informed about this issue? Explain.

9. The “Digital Divide”—a big critical issue in 2016 or has it been overblown/exaggerated? What exactly is it? What can be done to remedy it? What currently is being done, if anything? What’s your personal take on the “Digital Divide”?

10. What’s the latest development with Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)? Page 199 of our texbook. Do some research and find exactly what these are, whether they are being signed up for, what people think about them. Tell us about a few examples. Any drawbacks to taking a MOOC? Are they a good thing? Bad thing?

11. Increasingly, a growing number of divorces are attributed to Facebook. Someone has said that Facebook is a divorce lawyer’s best friend or tool. Do some research and explain with a few concrete examples.

12. “Citizen journalism” and the Internet. Do some research and find out what this is exactly, how it works, what people think about it. Track down some examples of outstanding or excellent “citizen journalism.” What are some of its pluses? Minuses? Is there a controversy about it?

13. What exactly are Internet “hackers” up to? What, for that matter, is an Internet hacker? What is a recent example or two of a serious Internet hacking scandal? What are the legal penalities, if any, that a hacker faces? Do hackers ever perform a positive community or business service? Explain.

14. In countries that don’t have freedom of the press (as the U.S. knows it), what are bloggers doing to help the citizens of these countries? Give some examples. What risks (legal or otherwise) do dissident bloggers take? Have dissident bloggers ever really made a difference in such countries?

15. Are search engines such as Google and Yahoo tracking our buying or consumer or lifestyle habits? How can a search engine learn so much about us—and especially how and where we spend our money? What should we as consumers do to protect our privacy—when it comes to search engines or any other aspect of the Internet? Examples.

Okay, enough for now. Here's a short clip on a couple of hackers and what they did to a Jeep Cherokee. Glad I have a Subaru Outback!

Be smart about the Internet

How much do you REALLY know about the Internet?

Quick Snappy Test of Your Knowledge of the Internet
MCOM 101/April 2016

1. What is the shortened name for a Weblog?

2. True or False? Teens spend more time texting than talking on their phones.

3. Name the software or website designed to let people communicate with their friends, family and coworkers using messages no longer than 140 characters.

4. The ________________ is a diverse set of independent networks, interlinked to provide its users the appearance of a single, uniform network.

5. In terms of the Internet, what is IP? What does it stand for?

6. Name the man who invented the World Wide Web.

7. What is the world's largest social media network/website?

8. ____________ (hint: 3 initials) is the address of content placed on the Web. An example is www.larrytimbs.blogspot.com

9. _______________ (3 words) is the programming language used to create Web pages.

10. Why is broadband Internet service more desirable than narrowband service?

11. Aggregator sites, such as ___________ attempt to bring order to the inherently unorganized Web. (Hint: these aggregator sites are also known as search engines).

12. What is a Zine?

13. True or False: Half the world’s populatin has yet to make a phone call, much less log on to the Internet.

14. In terms of the Internet, what are cookies?

15. Name the best known wiki.

16. What is touch technology?

17. With regard to the Internet, why is the issue of protection of intellectual property rights so important? Explain.

18. What is a podcast?

19. Name the computer genious who said this in his commencement speech (shortly before he died) to the graduating class of Stanford University: “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.”

20. Name the world’s biggest international online store.

Quiz/presentation on chap. 9 from Kayla and Raven

Thanks to Kayla and Raven for creating the following quiz and presentation on chapter 9. Good, helpful guide in our study of this chapter!

(And some questions on a test or quiz from me might be taken from their work).

Tips on capturing video

Some of you might choose to create a short video clip of the minority who is featured in your profile. The video is an OPTIONAL component of the minority profile writing assignment.

REPEAT: The video is optional. It does NOT replace the required minority profile writing assignment.

But if you do choose to create a short video of your minority interviewee (and then post it on YouTube and email the link to me) strive for QUALITY OF PICTURE AND SOUND.

Nothing’s worse than a video that viewers have trouble seeing or hearing.

Here are a few quick tips on shooting video:

1. Get in close, VERY CLOSE, to the person you are filming. This is so we all can see and hear him/her clearly when we play your video in class.

2. Hold your camera (or smart phone) steady. Make a tripod with your hands/arms to steady yourself while you shoot. Or steady yourself, your hands (and your camera) against a solid object while you shoot.

2 a. Very important to frame the shot carefully before you press the Record button to start shooting. Frame your interviewee—very closeup is best! Then freeze solid. Then press the Record button.

3. It’s okay for you (the interviewer) to talk a little, but refrain from talking or interrupting while your subject is speaking.

4. Look for a hook in your interview with your minority—something catchy, unusual, unexpected or visually interesting. Try to capture this with your camera. Your clip is going to be very short. Make it count!

5. Try to avoid capturing, in video, something that is boring, dull or predictable. You don’t want to make your viewers/listeners yawn. Perhaps the best way to avoid boring material is to first interview your minority—without turning on your camera. Take notes. Anything stand out as striking or interesting or unusual to you? If so, turn your camera on and ask your interviewee to repeat that segment of the interview.

6. Limit your video to 60-120 seconds. We’re not interested here in a long, drawn out video which will bore us to death! A short video clip is much more effective.

7. Lighting—Nothing spoils a video shoot as much as poor lighting. Best to shoot video with the light source behind you, shining on the subject. An example is an outdoor shot where the sun is shining. Make sure the sun shines on your subject and not on your camera lens.

Likewise, if shooting indoors, experiment with the lighting before you actually train your camera on the subject.

8. Be conscious of sound! BEST TO SHOOT A VERY CLOSE-UP VIDEO OF YOUR SUBJECT WITH THE SOUND OR VOLUME ON YOUR SMART PHONE OR CAMERA TURNED ALL THE WAY UP. In addition, a “close-up video clip” provides a sense of physical intimacy; it gives insight into the emotional state of your interviewee.

Not experienced with shooting video that has good sound quality? Practice on your roommate or friend or whoever. Play it back and have a listen.

Good luck!

Minority profile writing assignment

Hello everyone in my MCOM 101 class.

Over the next few days, we’ll be focusing on chapter 9 “Digital Media: Widening the Web.”

But for this blog post, I want to share with you guidelines for a writing assignment that will be due at the start of our class on Wednesday, April 13. I will be going over these guidelines in class but here they are in writing just in case…

You will be researching and writing a Minority Profile.

This assignment is consistent with the language in our syllabus that: “The course emphasizes that the most effective mass media entities express diversity of thought and opinion through their workforces and their messages…”

Our course syllabus also notes: “Some assignments in MCOM 101 will focus on the connection between mass media messages and racial or ethnic minorities. A sampling of writing or presentation assignments will focus on diversity and global awareness—embracing the broadest possible range of people and perspectives.”

You might recall that recently we noted in class that the mass media (especially the movie industry, but not limited to movies) has come under fire for lacking racial and ethnic diversity. Newspapers, magazines and television have also been recently criticized for NOT reflecting the diversity and composition of the American population. Television, for example, has been attacked by some for not having a sufficient number of African-Americans or Latinos as main characters for entertainment (or news anchors or on-air reporters for news progams).

In general, these same critics condemn many branches of the mass media of communications in the U.S. for falling short of reaching out to non-whites (or to the non-mainstream segment of the American population) in a meaningful way.

So all this is the background for this assignment—which you will be working on for the next few days.

(Incidentally, WE WILL NOT MEET AS A CLASS ON FRIDAY, APRIL 8. USE THIS TIME WISELY TO WORK ON YOUR MINORITY PROFILE).

Deadline: Due at the start of our class on Wednesday, April 13.

Length: 2-3 pages, typed, double-spaced, 14-point font size for type.

What you will do: You will be writing a minority profile. Select and interview a person who is a minority on campus.

What do we mean by a minority? He or she could be a member of an ethnic minority; racial minority; religious minority; sexual preference/lifestyle minority; person with a disability (mental or physical)…
Be sure to include in your minority profile whom you interviewed and what qualifies him/her as a member of a minority group. 

Need to weave your interviewee's full name, age, and hometown and home state/country into your writing assignment.  (If a student, include his/her year in school and major and hometown and state.)  If not a student, include full name, age, and hometown and home state/country and his/her occupation. YOU MUST HAVE A NAME FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT. If a minority will not give you his/her name, then find one who will.

Focus in your interview on these questions:
What’s your opinion of how minorities (such as yourself or others) are portrayed in the mass media? Explain.
Related to #1, what do you think of the criticism by some people that the mass media of communication has NOT done a very good job of reflecting the composition and diversity of the American population?
Have you ever been covered in a news or feature story by the mass media (newspaper, magazine, TV, radio…?) If so, were you covered accurately and adequately? Was your experience good or bad? Explain.
What advice would you give media professionals on how better to portray or cover minorites?
Do you ever think of yourself or fellow members of your minority as being unfairly stereotyped? Explain.
How do you prefer to be addressed in normal, everyday life? Have you ever experienced insensitivity or prejudice because you are a minority? Explain.
In addition, for purposes of this assignment, describe briefly what it was like for you to interview your selected minority person. Positive experience? Negative? Was the interviewee cooperative? Did anything he/she said surprise you?

TIP: ENGAGE your interviewee in a conversation.  Avoid asking questions that can be answered simply with yes or no. Put him/her at ease. Get the person to talk about the assigned subject.

What I'll take into account when I evaluate your minority profile assignment:

A. How well your interview-based minority profile writing assignment compares with those of your fellow students in terms of quality (Does it catch and hold my attention? Did you follow the guidelines for the interview? Address all the above questions? Did you seem to get him/her to open up with you about the assigned topic?)

B. How much attention and care you paid to mechanics--spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, sentence structure and graph structure (short graphs are best). Get all gremlins out of your writing before submitting your assignment into me.

OPTIONAL: Do you really want to go the extra mile and enhance your minority profile writing assignment? Create a 1-2-minute video of your profiled minority (maybe featuring him or her answering a few of those above questions.

PAY ATTENTION TO THE PICTURE QUALITY AND SOUND QUALITY. PLUS, READ CLOSELY MY ACCOMPANYING BLOG POST ON TIPS FOR SHOOTING VIDEO. IF WE PLAY YOUR VIDEO IN CLASS, WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO SEE AND HEAR IT!

Post your video to YouTube and email me the link by 6 p.m., Tuesday, April 12, and I’ll take a look/listen. BE SURE, BEFORE YOU EMAIL THE VIDEO TO ME, THAT YOU TEST IT OUT FIRST AND THAT THE SOUND AND VISUAL QUALITY ARE GOOD. ALSO BE SURE, BEFORE EMAILING THE LINK TO ME, THAT OTHERS (NOT JUST YOURSELF) CAN OPEN AND HEAR/SEE YOUR VIDEO.

The video is NOT a required component of this minority profile writing assignment. Nor does it replaced the required minority profile writing assignment. But if you want to impress the old blogster (and perhaps boost your grade on this assigment just a tad) go for it!

Larry Timbs



Webby world

Happy Monday (April 4) to all in my MCOM 101 class.

Please get started, if you haven’t already done so, with your study and reading of chapter 9 “Digital Media: Widening the Web.”

Here are some notes/comments related to that chapter. 

The man who invented the World Wide Web, widely known as the eighth major mass medium of communication, keeps a pretty low profile. Some have described British physicist Tim Berners-Lee as a kind of geeky genious.  Bet few if any of you had ever heard about him before taking our course. Nevertheless, know who he is and what his motives were for inventing this revolutionary new mass medium of communication. 

The inventor of the World Wide Web, in my opinion, deserves as many plaudits as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell or the Wright brothers.  But for Berners-Lee, you wouldn’t be reading this message from me right now!

If you’re Web savvy, and I presume that many of you are, you’ll become reacquainted (through reading chapter 9) with such important terms as HTML, HTTP, convergence, links, public domain, SMS, social network, podcast, blog, Net neutrality, intellectual property rights, file sharing, cloud computing, data compression and touch technology.

Other important material/areas covered in this chapter are noted in the list of “Key Terms” at the bottom of page 202 and at the top of page 203.

Be sure, too, to be able to answer the “Critical Questions” at the end of this chapter on pg. 201.

Providing a technological framework for the World Wide Web have been: Media convergence and how miniaturization and digitization technology came together; fiber optic cables; and broadband (high speed) online service.

Important public policy issues connected with the World Wide Web include: 1) whether the government should guarantee everyone has Web access; 2) whether the Web should be policed/filtered for objectionable content; 3) whether the Web crosses the line between the public’s right to know and the individual’s right to privacy; 4) creating a false sense of intimacy and interaction among users. Some also refer to this as high-tech/low touch society or culture: and 5)copyright/intellectual property rights (Time permitting, we may briefly discuss these crucial public policy issues during class.)

No one really knows where the Web is going and/or what it might morph into in the coming years.  Some scientists are hard at work on digitizing sense of touch or smell or tactile sensation (see discussion of Touch Technology on page 199.) What of the possibilities concerning slipping into some sort of special garment, hooking our garment-dressed selves to a Web-connected computer and then . . .?  This is not pie in the sky stuff.  It’s already under development. 

Oh, by the way, notice how “Web” is always capitalized. Make sure you always capitalize this important medium of mass communication. 

How many of you use social media? Here's a brief clip of how social media have rapidly evolved on the Internet:



Enough for now.

More about the Web in another post from me. Keep checking my blog.

Larry Timbs

EHC-TV

Our "Mass Media and Society" class took a short field trip to EHC-TV a few days ago. Teresa Keller general manager of the station, gave us the ins and outs of what EHC-TV is all about.

Here are a few scenes from our visit:

One of the interesting things that EHC-TV does is allow students to have a Rant. Some of the Rants are posted on YouTube. Here's one from a few years back. Accompanying the rant was this:

EHC-TV presents the Rant. Chris Sills rants this week about loud music in the dorms. The program was originally broadcast on October 26 and 27, 2011 on Comcast Cable Channels 70 and 95. EHC-TV is a product of the Mass Communications Department at Emory & Henry College.