MediaMe

Editorial by Thinking about doing 'Media and Collective

Alexander Identity' or 'Contemporary Media
Whitcombe Regulation'? Look at page ten for an article
What you’re holding in your where Natalie Nicoll explores whether the
hands is a copy of MediaMe, internet 'micro-blogging' site Twitter has
a newspaper written by students This newspaper will cover several topics changed the way we communicate forever.
that will arise in the OCR A2 Media Studies
on the Creative and Media If you're looking to base your exam answer
exam, ʻCritical Perspectives In Mediaʼ.
Advanced Diploma at Long Road Reading it will give you information that you on 'Postmodernism' then you will want to
Sixth Form College in Cambridge, will be able to apply to your exam answers look at our 'Zeitgeist Forecast' on page
and designed to help you revise for to get you a better mark. eleven for in depth information on how our
media consumption is being recycled
your OCR A2 Media Studies exam. repeatedly.
If you want to read up on help with Section
A of the exam, then check out the article
featuring ... 'Question 1a' on page two. Maybe you're This newspaper is really just here to give
you some information, hints and tips in an
more interested in section B of the exam.
Want to read about information on Media in interesting and amusing way for when you
the Online Age? Flick to page three to look take your A2 exam
Time To Turn at the article 'Time To Turn Off Your TV For
Along the top of every page youʼll find
Good?'.
Off Your TV some useful links to media theorists and
people who have some resources for you
More interested in ''We Media and
For Good? Democracy' or 'Global Media'? Turn to to use which can give you the edge in the
exam. Exam tips can be found along the
pages four and five to read the article
'From Spike Jonze to Telephones' which footer of each article, so don't forget to
page 3 questions whether Wikipedia is an online read them! Hopefully, everyone will find
blessing, or an affliction on information something of use to apply in the exam.
distribution, and for some interesting
activities to practice your media Additional material and more articles can
From Spike knowledge. Otherwise turn straight to page be found online at:
twelve to check out the article on 'Online
Jonze to Gaming Communities'. www.slideshare.net/mediame

Telephones Our centre page spread contains a

The newspaper was made
wonderful reconstruction of the London
collectively by Kirk Kemp,
page 4 Underground map where Tim Hodson has
Alexander Whitcombe, Tara Cox,
replaced the name of every station with
interlinking websites to bring a fascinating Mike Shaw, Matt Leonowicz,
study piece to the newspaper. Philippa Price, Tim Hodson, Sam
Chappell-Winnington, James
Web 2.0 Tube More fun mind stimulating activities on Walker, David Pinchen, Hayden
pages eight and nine where there is an Martin, Natalie Nicoll, Laurence
Map article on an amusing Wikipedia game that Smith, Ash Atherton
can be applied to exam related learning. and Matthew Hornby.
Special thanks to Jenny Grahame,
pages 6 - 7
editor of Media Magazine, for all her Produced with assistance from
help with MediaMe.

Has Twitter
changed
communication?
The Newspaper Club is a service that
helps people and communities make
their own newspapers. If youʼre
page 10 interested, please visit:
www.newspaperclub.co.uk
MediaMe Name: David Gauntlett Occupation: Professor of Media and Communications Location: University of Westminster

Question 1a
Step by step guidance through the first part of the A2 exam

The first question in the A2 media * creativity as !personal expression" which while answering the question, you can see
exam is worth 25 marks out of the is the idea that it comes from within in front of you clearly what you did and
because you"ve already thought about how
overall 100. The question at hand * creativity as simply !making something", to answer the question, you won"t go off
isn’t complex but it’s easy to get whether it is good or bad topic. This is good practice and I
misled and shy away from what recommend it.
How much personal expression were you
you need to include to get those
able to bring to each task within the defined Example of an introduction to the
crucial marks. brief you were given? Although I had to question.
look closely at conventions of real music
Question 1A videos for my A2 project, I did feel that !Before the course I didn"t have access to
what I made came from my own ideas. But digital technology, apart from my digital
How did my production skills develop when I worked in groups on projects, I had camera and a very basic editing program
throughout the course? to compromise with others which might be called Windows Movie Maker on my PC. It
seen as less creative; but there were times was only when I joined the course that I
One or two of the following aspects will when working with others meant that what was able to further my skill in editing and
appear in the question: came out was perhaps more creative as camerawork by using Final Cut and HD
we fed off each others" ideas- such as cameras such as the Sony HDV 1080i.
* Creativity
when we made a microseries for the web. Before I started any of the projects, I had
* Digital technology some time to play around with the
Research and Planning is quite a technology available to me by doing
straightforward one if that comes up, but do preliminary tasks such as making lego
* Research and planning
remember to talk about all aspects of animations and non-assessed tasks like re-
* Post-production planning as well as research; what we creating a scene from a film.
learn from basic stuff going wrong, such as
* how you used conventions of real not planning locations, shotlists, props and To find out about Question 1b and more
media texts use of equipment is important in making useful information in regards to the exam,
our subsequent projects better. go on our website,
In order to be fully prepared for the exam, n www.slideshare.net/mediame
you need to be able to adapt to whichever
of these areas comes up. You need to be
!make sure you explain
clear on what they mean and you need to
be able to explain how they applied in your
what your skills were
work and how you developed across the like before the course Action Cards
two years of the course. For instance if If you are not too keen
you talk about digital technology, make and how you on practice questions,
sure you explain what your skills were like this is a good way to
before the course and how you progressed" help your understanding
progressed. of the question. It"s
Post production basically means everything basically Top Trumps in
For example, before I started my course, I after the shoot in video making and the form of revision.
had used editing software before but not everything after gathering material for print Create cards featuring a
screengrab from your
Final Cut. For my early practical work, I work, so you need to talk about how putting
projects alongside the 5
was just learning the basics of the program your material into the program- Photoshop,
areas that come up in
but then later on, after I felt more Publisher, Premiere, whatever you use- the exam. Then write a
comfortable using it, I began to experiment affects it and changes it and how you learnt little about how each
more and try new effects out. From the from that. applied in the project.
preliminary continuity task through the film You can award it a
opening and on to the music video, as I You can probably see that there is quite a number like top trumps
look back on my work I can see my lot of overlap between the five aspects, so does! It"s a great
confidence growing and my understanding you should be able to adapt your material exercise and helps give
of editing deepening. whatever comes up in the exam! you some great
examples ready for the
Creativity, because it is a more abstract Practice task: exam.
concept, is by far the most difficult to
explain. Perhaps the best way to approach Choose one of those areas from the
this question is by trying to remember what question and have a go at answering it
you thought creativity meant before you yourself. Before you do this however, I
started the course. Then think about what choose two big projects that you"ve done in Written by James
that means to you now. What changed? and be ready to additionally refer to the Walker
What made you think about creativity little projects (like the AS preliminary task)
differently? There are many versions of as well. List as many examples of what you
creativity which might be worth did in those projects that made you feel
consideration. Two of relevance here are: that you developed your skills. This way,

2 MediaMe ... revise with visuals and mindmaps, not just words on a page ...
MediaMe Power: Online videos about Web2.0 URL: http://www.youtube.com/user/davidgauntlett01 Twitter Feed: http://twitter.com/davidgauntlett MediaMe

Time To Turn Off TV For Good?

Internet TV craze storms the nation
Watching TV at home could Television at home. Nonetheless, even Future possibilities?
become meaningless due to web sporting events may now have their rights
sold to the web: !On the 10th of October
2.0. Step forward new TV streaming 2009 the first time an English World Cup
Perhaps in the future, the online age will
mean a TV is not necessary in the
sites, BBC iPlayer, ITV player, 4oD Qualifying game was shown exclusively household. According to a BBC article
and TV Catchup – these sites could online - showing the shift towards written last year, !Freesat will be the first
eradicate the need for a TV in the endusers willing to pay premium to free-to-air service to launch the ITV
watch sports content on their
home. Convenient TV at no set time Player, allowing viewers to watch on-
computers". demand programming via their TV set
or date, no need for a TV or
rather than a computer." With increasing
licensing fees? Don’t mind if we New competitors extension plans, we can estimate that
do... media in the online age has made
considerable changes to the way we live
Addressing the aspect of Media in the A strong leader for the
our lives, and will continue doing so. No
Online Age, has this begun a definite online streaming craze is
longer will TV need to be watched at a
media revolution? Also, is the internet the growing popular website
certain time, or even on a TV. !The Freesat
changing the way we view our media? Are TV Catchup. This was
iPlayer offering will provide 450 hours
there future possibilities of a growth in the thought up by a group of
of BBC on-demand programming per
internet as a TV source? Example exam friends who thought
week."
questions could be; !To what extent have watching TV on the internet
the distribution and consumption of would be a quite good to do! Exam preparation
media been transformed by the internet" This was three years ago
and, !The impact of the internet is (2007) and since then the site You could think about the following key
revolutionary. Discuss." has grown; the latest figures were 758,000 topics.
members. In January, 1 million viewers a
Competitors for TV week streamed a total of 2 petabytes of live • Has the arrival of internet and web 2.0
TV over TV Catchup. !That"s the made an impact?
equivalent of 40 million four-draw filing
From the use of the internet, media has cabinets filled with text". That"s a lot of • How has the internet and evolutions in
evolved more than we ever thought it TV, !the equivalent of 26.6 years of HD- web 2.0 changed the way people interact
could. One example is that we are now TV Video watching". and show their work? Has it made a
able to watch television at no set time, or at difference to small scale media pioneers,
a more convenient date to the consumer – or people trying to gain a career in
referred to as !time shifting". Legal issues media?
For example, Sky+ allows the viewer to But is this way of watching TV legal? The • Is there definite competition from online
time shift, by recording programs to watch TV distributors (TV Catchup, BBC
media revolution has resulted in illegal
later, pausing, and rewinding live TV. iPlayer) as opposed to watching
benefiting the viewer to create their own streaming and downloading of films, music
and programmes. Legality of these television at home, and will this technical
schedule. Online TV program streamers, revolution eliminate TV as a necessity in
such as BBC iPlayer, (launched Christmas websites has meant that for students, TV
the home?
day 2007), 4oD (launched on 6th Catchup"s form of live web streaming
December 2006), and ITVplayer which doesn"t need a TV license if !Your out-of- • In the future, TV could be watched purely
launched 8th December 2008, also allows term address is covered by a TV online, what if every channel had an
the viewer to time shift. License" TV Catchup is totally different to internet website streaming the same
just watching films online, but TV Catchup programs?
Media faces competition in the online age follows the same licensing rules as TV; you
due to TV streaming websites providing a can be caught easily if you do not have a • Could everything eventually be
challenge to television. Despite the fact digitalised? Or does the fact people still
valid license.
they are not taking the television audience prefer a physical object (such as DVD
away, they are diverting the audience to an box sets, TV sets etc) stop this from
online method of watching TV. This could !Tv license"s outdated legislation only happening?
create a problem for television in general - covers live broadcasts. for things like
no longer necessary. However, not BBC iPlayer, you don"t need a licence – Good luck in your exam!
everybody owns a computer and therefore a point made by the BBC." These TV
could prefer watching TV on a physical streaming websites may be legal due to the By Matt Leonowicz and Tara Cox
fact they are not live TV, but controversy
has arisen in the claims that streaming
Key Links
websites are overloading the internet. !The
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer
sucess of the BBC"s iPlayer is putting www.tvcatchup.com
the internet under severe strain, internet www.itv.com/itvplayer
service providers claim." Viewers are www.channel4.com/4od
now watching more than 1 million BBC
programmes online each week.
Photos taken by the Authors

... use the weblinks in this paper to help you prepare ... MediaMe 3
MediaMe Name: Michael Wesch Occupation: Professor of Cultural anthropology Location: Kansas State University

From Spike Jonze

To Telephones
Is Wikipedia an online blessing or an
internet flop?
I’m sure by now you’re familiar The way it works is if you post something
with Wikipedia. it’s unlimited on the site, if that post ever gets changed
by another user, then youʼll be notified. You
reserves of information makes it a then have the option to revert the article or Other ways to research.
‘Go To’ site when researching. But leave it if you think it is an improvement.
is valuable enough to not need to Eventually people who post incorrect data There are so many other ways to research
or vandalise entries will give up and so all presides going on Wikipedia. Depending
search elsewhere? on the type of learner you are, you might
that remains is the correct information on
the specific topic. Therefore, Iʼd say that a find that watching videos about a certain
What is Wikipedia? topic is a better way at researching simply
considerable amount of Wikipedia is true.
However, you must also bear in mind the because you remember it better. For one of
Fundamentally, Wikipedia is an online my projects I had to research a creative
encyclopaedia full of information on pretty fact that most of the content is highly
opinionated so looking elsewhere for practitioner. I used Wikipedia as a starting
much any topic or subject you can think of. point but in the end i found many video
According to Wikipedia, their goal is to information isnʼt a bad idea.
interviews that were useful. I watched them
make the sum of human knowledge on YouTube and then wrote them out so I
available to everyone on the planet at no Should it be the ʻGo Toʼ site?
could reference them later. When
cost. Considering 580 million people have I wonʼt lie, most of the time when Iʼm researching, itʼs always best to do too
access to the internet and Wikipedia is in researching I go straight on Wikipedia, but much. Read articles, look at photos, watch
250 different languages, their goal is well it shouldnʼt be the only site you go on. videos. You remember what libraries are
met (all statistics that are on the Wikipedia There are a number of reasons for this. for? Use them because all these sources
homepage). It isnʼt paid professional The information might not be accurate so are here to help you. Use them to your
journalists or authors who write the content therefore you need to verify that what you advantage.
however, any average Joe can write are reading is right. The information might
something and upload it to Wikipedia. Itʼs a be truthful but it might not be detailed Is Wikipedia good for research then?
completely user-generated site written by enough, meaning youʼd only get basic
ordinary people as well as experts and knowledge. Basic knowledge doesnʼt help Wikipedia is a valuable source of online
there are well over 15 million articles on the you learn, but it does help you get a broad information because itʼs a good starting
site now. Just think of all that accessible overview of a subject. point for research, no matter what topic.
information. Before Wikipedia there wasnʼt After youʼve looked at Wikipedia though,
a website that had the sheer amount of
accessible information at no cost to the ʻWikipedia provides the comparing the information to another
source is best because youʼll then be able
user. Wikipedia has revolutionized the web.
It isnʼt the only online encyclopaedia, there first stop down the to determine itʼs accuracy. Research is all
about finding out the most you possibly can
are many similar sites such as Britannica
that share the same format, but it is the
rabbit hole of a about something. Not everything is on
Wikipedia. Looking into books and articles
most widely used and most recognized.
According to lovetoknow.com, Wikipedia is
complex topicʼ is a good way of finding out other
information. If youʼre doing something
the 8th most visited site on the web. Aleks After doing a questionnaire on how about film, look on imdb.com for links to
Krotoski, presenter of the BBCʼs Virtual studentʼs carry out research I found out statistics and interesting articles. You
Revolution stated that, ʻWikipedia provides that 8 in 10 people only used Wikipedia should always conduct your own primary
the first stop down the rabbit hole of a when they were doing research. It might research, carrying out questionnaires and
complex topicʼ. not necessarily be the ʻGo Toʼ site but itʼs interviews yourself. YouTube is another
certainly used like one. When doing great place to search for information,
How accurate is Wikipedia? research you should use other kinds of interviews and clips from documentaries on
research as well. Itʼs hard to ignore many topics. The more research you do
The usefulness of the information the better. All these sites were made to be
Wikipedia. Whatever you type in on a
contained in Wikipedia, like all such sites, used, so use them for what they were
Google search itʼs bound to be one of the
depends on the knowledge or the ability of intended for. Donʼt ignore them purely
first links that comes up. In my opinion I
the person who wrote it. Some information because staying on Wikipedia is easier.
think itʼs best to scroll down at some point
isnʼt as accurate as it could be, but when
because even if you donʼt get more
this occurs someone else can edit the
information from another site, youʼll be able
article in order for it to be more precise.
to compare. There are other sites than Written by James
There are mistakes but these are usually
Wikipedia, they do exist! Walker
corrected in a short time. There are people
who devote hours of their own free time to
correcting mistakes and ensuring articles
are accurate.

4 MediaMe ... bring more than one pen to the exam ...
 MediaMe Power: Interesting videos about YouTube Url: http://www.youtube.com/user/mwesch Twitter Feed: http://www.twitter.com/mwesch MediaMe

Celebrating its 20th birthday this year, We have our own Youth Dance Company and Youth
The Junction was the first youth arts venue to Theatre Company and work in partnership with
Cambridgeshire County Council and Inspire Arts to
be built in the UK
provide an arts workshop group for disabled young
people called ʻTotal Artsʼ.
Over the years we have grown, expanded and knitted
ourselves into the cultural life of the Eastern Region.
For those aged 7 – 15 we have
With an exciting
a weekly theatre group called
programme of
ʻTotal Theatreʼ with our
music, comedy,
associate artists Gomito
theatre, dance
Productions.
and club nights
The Junction is
We plan to give more
one of the most
workshops and, building on
diverse and
our successful youth band
busy venues in
event, ʻThe Fiverʼ, we intend to
the county for
include more of young people in our programming
young people aged 13 –
and development plans.
30. But we do not want to
stop there…
If you would like to find out how to get
involved in The Junction please
Over the coming year we want to work more closely
contact Simon Bates, Head of
with young people through our Young Ambassadors
Learning and Access by emailing
Scheme and will give young people a yearly ʻTakeoverʼ
getinvolved@junction.co.uk.
event at The Junction

... check in advance whether it is an am or pm exam ... MediaMe 5

MediaMe Name: Julian McDougall Occupation: Principal Examiner Location: Birmingham

8 MediaMe ... spread your time wisely: 30 mins for each 25 mark question, 60 mins for the 50 mark question ...
 MediaMe Power: Writes the questions for your exam! Twitter Feed: http://twitter.com/julianmcdougall MediaMe

Wiki World Tour

Seven Degrees of Wikipedia
Wiki World Tour is a game that is not While Steve Jobs wasnʼt directly involved
only ridiculously fun, but also quite a with the Dark River film, you can connect
good educational tool. The game is them through other things.
simple. All you need is access to the
Previously on ... the internet!
Internet. You start up Wikipedia “an
online source of abundant
Back in 2000, before Wikipedia was
encyclopaedic knowledge; a modern
launched, people would have to search
encyclopaedia”1, go to the homepage through hundreds of articles and
and click ‘Random Article’. The aim of searches to find the same information.
the game is to get to a chosen topic Many of them would never make the
which could be a creative same links between topics that this game
practitioner or general information allows you to. If you have to spend your
about a media topic. The trick is you time looking through magazines and
newspapers and books and videos and
can only navigate from within
encyclopaedias, inevitably, you are going
Wikipedia using the hyperlinks in to get bored and stop. The Wikipedia
your first article as your starting World Tour is an easier way to do it, and
point. allows you to compete with other students
which should help concentration. You can
This game is very entertaining and research anything you want, and
manages to show that all different things Wikipedia gives you the references it
have common links and how you can get uses so you can track back to see where
from one thing to the next by exploring the information comes from. It is also an
different connections. The more unrelated example of WeMedia in the sense that it
the target appears from the start, the has taken the idea of an expert
more interesting the game becomes as encyclopaedia, such as Britannica, but
you really have to try and think about what opened it up online to allow anyone to
they might have in common and how you edit and update articles at their own
could link them. This can be used as a leisure.
good research tool, because you go
through each page, and have to read it As we enter the online age, our
carefully to find the next useful hyperlink. generation is more and more
knowledgeable about computers and
Seven Degrees of Stephen Fry technology. Many of us find it easier to do
research and work on computers than to
write it, because we have more
So, say you wanted to find Stephen Fry; experience with computers. Itʼs just
you would have to think about how you easier. Several places have tried to bring
need to get to his wikipedia entry from in an outright ban on Wikipedia use in
your random starting point. For example essays and coursework, but teachers
he hosts QI, was in Blackadder and was would be better off explaining to students
one half of A Bit of Fry and Laurie. These how to use Wikipedia as a resource, while
programmes were all shown on the BBC, using it in conjunction with other sources
so you could get to it by going through TV to verify facts.
or broadcasting.
As Wikipedia has been tested and proved
The image shows another example of to be about as accurate as Encyclopaedia
how you could find your way from one Britannica2, you can be sure that what
subject to another, in this case Dark River, you are learning has as much chance of
a 1990 British Film to Steve Jobs, co- being true than any other website. It is
founder of Apple; two seemingly totally truly amazing the amount you can learn
unrelated subjects that can be connected from this game, and providing you clarify
using only the visible links on the first anything with other sources before trying
page. to use it in exams or essays, it can really
help.
There are usually many ways to get from
the start point to whatever it is you are
trying to find. The activity allows people to
think differently about how things are By Tim Hodson
connected.
Image made by Tim Hodson
Post-it background creative commons license:
http://ironmantriathlontips.com/wp-content/
1 http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wikipedia

2 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4530930.stm
... back everything up with examples ... MediaMe 9
MediaMe Name: Bill Thompson Occupation: Online Journalist Location: Digital Planet MediaMe Power: Cutting edge commentary on new media

Twitter
Uses of Twitter

Although many people may view Twitter

as a site full of people writing
pointless things that no one really cares
Changed Communication? about, it is being used as a valuable
source of communication in many
areas of business and education. Some
Blogging is a large part of online social Jeremiah Owyand, an analyst studying educational establishments are even using
social media, has said that unlike a lot of Twitter as a way for students to
networking but in recent years
other social networking sites the communicate with each other and
microblogging has formed and express their views in class discussions.
demographic of twitter consists mostly of
become extremely popular. Businesses are now using Twitter,
older adults. Comscore.com, a company
Microblogs consist of much smaller that provides marketing data to whether large or small, for publicity and
blogs. The most popular micro- many popular internet businesses, to survey opinions and feedback. Twitter is
blogging site at the moment is a site has said that only 11% of the people also known to be used in campaigns,
called ‘Twitter’. Jack Dorsey, an using Twitter are between the ages of 12 politics and within the last year- space
and 17. Owyand suggests that !adults mission news. In May of 2009, Mike
American software architect, created
are just catching up to what teens have Massimino, an astronaut from NASA, used
Twitter in 2006 along with co-founders Twitter to send updates to people on Earth
been doing for years.’ Twitter was
Evan Williams and Biz Stone. relatively unheard of until around the while in space on a mission to repair the
beginning of 2009, when celebrities and Hubble Space Telescope.
How does Twitter work? well- known people joined the site. This Twitter features a !Trending Topics" list,
resulted in a 1000% increase of users which is a list of the top mentioned things
Twitter allows its users to post updates within 2009 alone. in !tweets", and recently Twitter updated
up to 140 characters long, known on this service so that users can change the
Twitter as !tweets". Users can !follow" !Trending Topics" list to countries or cities
anyone else on twitter, although some !Half the budget of a film they are from or interested in; this not only
users set their profiles to private – helps users see other countries most
which means in order to !follow" them is spent on trying to reach talked about issues and people, but adds
they have to give you permission. By the potential audience. an element of collective identity as people
following other users, their !tweets" will can be kept up-to-date with topics of
appear on your homepage. !Tweets" I can do it for free by conversation in the area of the world they
can also be linked to other users by are from. Within the past year Twitter has
!tweeting" with - @username to send it pushing a button." become a site which celebrities use to
to someone or #tag which enables voice their opinions and update their fans
people to search that and find what about things. Celebrities can also use their
you"ve !tweeted". Users can also send large fan bases on Twitter as a way of
Using Twitter on Mobile Phones
Direct Messages to one another, which publicity. Actor and prolific tweeter Ashton
are private. Pictures can also be posted Twitter, along with many other social Kutcher says: !Half the budget of a film is
in a !tweet" by using one of the many networking sites, has changed the way spent on marketing and basically trying to
third party Twitter sites that are for many people communicate with others by reach the potential audience of that movie.
the use of pictures, such as !twitpic". offering a service in which users can link I can do it for free by pushing a button."
Twitter is one of the only social their mobile phone devices with Twitter. In
networking sites that uses separate the UK, users on the mobile phone Future of Twitter?
websites to upload pictures, whereas most networks, Vodafone, O2 and Orange can
sites such as Facebook and Myspace have send text messages from their phone What does the future hold for Twitter?
this feature on the actual site itself. directly to Twitter. The text message is New services and features will develop.
then added as a !tweet". Users can also According to reports, Twitter is
Privacy on Twitter have other users !tweets" sent to their developing a service, Twitpay, a
phone. This makes communication with payment system similar to Paypal. Twitter
Most users let anyone see what they are developing these kinds of systems may
other users easier as you do not need
doing on Twitter, although there are options lead to other social networking sites
access to the Internet to !tweet". Although
allowing users to set their profile and branching out. Will social networking
this is an advantage, texting Twitter does
tweets to private. There has also been a lot replace search engines?
cost money, as standard messaging cost
of speculation on whether Twitter should !Friends on social media are increasingly
applies to texting Twitter, whereas using it
include an age restriction; users would be becoming people"s trusted source of
online is free. Twitter can also be used on
asked their birth date when signing up to information, even more than search
mobile phones that either have Internet
check that they are 13 years old. The engines" says Soren Gordhamer on
access or phones that provide applications
reason for social networking sites to mashable.com, an Internet news blog.
such as the iPhone and Blackberry can
impose an age limit is because the Internet Although nobody knows what the future
download many of the Twitter applications
can be a dangerous place for young holds for social networking sites such as
that are offered for such phones. This way
people, as they may be exposed to Twitter, it is for sure that the sites will
of communication is a large change
inappropriate content. Some would argue continue to develop and change the ways
from previous ways of communication,
that this is still not enough, as anyone can people communicate. New services and
before the use of social networking
lie about their age online. features will develop until communication
became popular; people"s only way of
communicating was either face-to- face eventually moves away from social
Statistics of Twitter networking onto
or talking on the phone. There are
many opinions about using social something differently
Twitter is currently ranked as the 12th entirely.
networking sites as a communication
most popular website worldwide by
tool, as it may take some of the
Alexa"s Web Traffic Analysis. Some of
personal element away from
the sites ahead of Twitter in the rankings
communication.
are: Google, Facebook, and Youtube. By Natalie Nicoll
10 MediaMe ... use media terminology accurately throughout ...
 Url: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8544935.stm Twitter Feed: http://twitter.com/billt MediaMe

Zeit!geist

Today s Zeitgeist
–noun German.

The spirit of the time; general

trend of thought or feeling
characteristic of a particular Soon we"ll Revisit the Noughties
period of time.

You may have heard of this term before, is Douster"s music video for his track The !Formula" of a zeitgeist:
mentioned around fashion- a term to !Triassic" the epitome of this afro/dinosaur
describe a trend in aesthetic or lifestyle imagery. Or the increasing popularity of Right now, our formula seems to have us
choices. These days, the zeitgeist is often Rainbow Arabia, an afro-beat/dub taking visual and/or lifestyle aspects from
a force created by a hive-mind styled form collective that are really reviving the spirit approximately 15 years ago. Meaning,
of communication from many forms of found in a lot of Leftfield songs (circa "95) around 2004, we were bringing back
media, often web 2.0 (like blogs and via a lot of African inspired vocals or aspects found in !84 to !89 – as we"ve
image-hosting sites where the content is instruments. They re-utilize beats and progressed 6 years (until the present day)
classed as !we-media"). breaks that have since become unpopular so had the retro styles we were going crazy
in the mainstream too, usually found in old for. But, along the line we"ve moved into
The current zeitgeist, or, !spirit of the acid-house and rave tracks, for example, the next decade – meaning exactly 15
times" we"re going through right now, is the often sampled James Brown breaks. years ago, we were in "95, the years of
a transition from revamped visual Tupac and his movie, Juice, acid-wash
revivals from the 1980"s, to the 1990"s. The blend is highly post-modern. All jeans and The Spice Girls" sportswear
appreciated aspects of previous times are gaudiness.
We can see this, as our recent craze for all simply recycled in an effort to create
things 80"s between 2004 and 2009 has something new and aesthetically pleasing -
begun to fade - Instead of a lot of it may not be pictured this way if you are
underground imagery such as album art talking about politics following a zeitgeist,
work, video and graphic design using but when you picture it as media following
imagery inspired by the likes of Miami Vice, a zeitgeist, you"ll see how elements have
Tron and Ferris Bueller!s Day Off, they"ve been copied and pasted from then to now,
started moving on to more 1990"s based sometimes customized on the way with the
aesthetics, focusing more on popular flare of something else. Screen-grab from, Juice - 1992 Island World
visuals from the time such as Terminator 2, Productions
Jurassic Park and Back to the Future 3. The transition in music is
definitely showing, most Remember this though, the pattern
A good example would be the !off-the-radar" clearly in fact. About 3 allows for movement between the 15
craze of remixing films for music videos, as years ago, within year window, so, you don"t have to
seen in Ratatat!s video for their song underground electronic precisely move on in time, instead, you
!Mirando", !mashing" up footage from music, the favored can take on a post-modern approach
Predator to a tribal beat. Video mashing is tempo was around 120 and blend aesthetic values together in
Rainbow Arabia"s,
an often illegal form of video art created by beats per minute, giving “Kabukimono” - whichever way you feel is affective.
hijacking copyright video on youtube and the sound a very 2009 Minimal Vinyl
editing it to different music. After this video, typically 1980"s Records Only the youth seems to have the tightest
a new scene was introduced, different to !whoompf" to the grasp on the zeitgeist - it appears to be that
the commercial craze of geometric visuals drumming that really their use of the internet is the most creative
and neon lit text like Daft Punk"s stage works well on the dance-floor. This was via the use of web 2.0 where they can
imagery and M.I.A."s music videos, that especially visible with the clubbers drug of share media among each other, thus
instead takes on far more organic forms, choice at the time which was speed and spreading the spirit faster than ever. The
such as African patterns and tropical ecstasy. In the past 2 years, the tempo has speed at which it spreads nowadays is so
wildlife. This seems like an ironic take on been put up to a choppier and punchier much faster than, say, 10 years ago as the
childhood Disney films such The Lion King speed reminiscent more of Prodigy"s early collective identity of young people is now
and Tarzan. It could however be more one of the most targeted things of the
accurately a depiction of hip hop imagery media - magazines like Vice, Pop and
from the time such as Afrika Bambaata"s or SuperSuper all persuade the readers to
A Tribe Called Quest!s. This transformation send in their own interesting material e.g.
in our present zeitgeist is a very strange photos, art, clothes and music, knowing
thing to try and bring across in a literary that the next issue"s readers will still be on
form, but one of the best examples around the same wavelength and won"t dismiss
what has been sent in.

You could also call this self-publicizing

material at around 140 BPM, almost medium of media “we-media” in which
reviving the first decade of amphetamines instead of having a zone with only your
with the now (il)legal mephedrone which is teams work, you have one which is full of
everybody"s (some of which will be even
stirring even more controversy due to it"s
more !in-there" than others, promoting the
unknown side-effects. It seems like an
ascent of the zeitgeist to a new level).
entirely modern take on acid-house culture.

Daft Punk"s, “Alive” album artwork

- 2007 Virgin Records By Hayden Martin

... maybe do the 50 mark question first ... MediaMe 11

 Gaming Life
Online Communities, Games & Movies
The Internet has evolved in many The forum
ways and has changed our lives of Face Punch
Console Life Studios has grown
drastically. Information is easily
accessible and so are pictures, much larger community than Garry
Newman, the original developer of
movies and video games. People Playstation Network (PSN) is growing Garryʼs Mod, had ever anticipated.
have also become friends through rapidly all the time, it first started of as a From simply starting off playing around
the communities born online. We place where you would see what your with some of the settings in the Half
shall discuss how some companies friends were playing and download Life 2 Source Modification Engine, he
some themes, demos and add‐ons for
have used the advances in Internet has now become someone known
your own favourite games. Now you are around the world for his game and
technology to digitally distribute able to download entire games and
media such as games and movies. making money from the sale of his
transfer them to your PSP (Playstation game through the Steam Community.
Portable). You can also download Garry is running a much larger forum
entire movies, as either a complete online and keeping his community alive
purchase or as a rental purchase, in every day with a team of moderators
Life for the PC
standard definition and in High and developers that watch over the
Definition and transfer them all to your forums and keep everything in check.
PSP to watch later wherever you are. Currently with over 25,000 active
Valve is one of the largest companies PSN has over 800 movie titles on its members Face Punch is an internet
in digital distribution and is said by its database, but instead of either community that caters for all of the
competitors to control an estimated streaming or downloading movies in the most popular games online now, having
70% of the digital distribution market. normal way (waiting for the download to sub-forums for Call of Duty and
Only recently have you been been able complete before being able to play), Battlefield.
to download the newest games on the Sony have merged the two together
shelves. Previously you would have to processes together. You can start These communities have brought
go down to your nearest retailer and watching the movie as soon as it starts people together, being one game
purchase the game there. Since downloading, so you are watching as it based, showing stats and information
Internet speeds have increased and downloads. about a gamer, or they can be based
more people are connected, it is now on a style of gaming. Bringing people
possible to download your most wanted together around their common interests
games in a matter of hours. and allowing them to play one another
at what they are best at. Other
Valve currently has over 1000 games communities, however, have broken
within its library, including highly falling out with other members of the
popular games such as Half Life 2, Left online community.
The green areas is where PSN is available
4 Dead, Mass Effect and many others.
It also boasts over 25 million active To regulate what content you download An idea suggested by the new US
accounts. With Steam you are able to PSN check your age by what you put drama Caprica, is that people will
have a friends list and chat with them, your date of birth to be when signing eventually be able to go into a virtual
you are also able to join them in their up. Of course this is easily bypassed by world playing as avatars that are
game sessions and access the Steam changing your date of birth, but you do perfect replicas of themselves, The
community and talk to your friends need to have a debit card to purchase virtual world becomes a place people
whilst you are playing. any films or games from the store. go to escape reality, to become who
they want to be, like advanced versions
of Second Life today. This could be
Communities something that evolves in the future of
online communities; a new style of
gathering people together around
shared collective interests.
People start new online communities
every day, but some of the most
popular communities are ones that
have spawned around groups
playing single games.

By Ashley Atherton & David Pinchen

12 MediaMe ... good luck with your exam ...