IS a picture worth a thousand words... or one Internet video?

I know this is old news, but I wanted to make a point.

This has always been an ongoing argument (especially when UFOs become involved) but can we really believe our eyes? When things like Photoshop and Indesin come into the equation, how can we rely on the information we get from the Internet to be factual, honest and unchagned?

Although at first glance the pros outweigh the cons, using the Internet as a primary source for worldly information has the potential to be catastrophic. At least news papers can be held accountable for their tangible papers. Internet content changes so rapidly and rumours spread like wild fire.

I have some examples for you:
Rick Mercer has a television show and has a very funny website. He gets viewers involved by hosting a Photo Challenge.

Here are some examples:
Jack Layton, The Ballerina




















Harper and Bush.. in hookah we trust!


Obviously these picture are edited, but what about this one:




Dion getting in trouble.

How do you know which images are credible and which aren't?

How do you judge pictures you see on the Internet?

140 is not enough!

I was doing my homework the other day for a News Writing class. It’s a difficult task to write good news stories because in order for your story to be good, it must be/have:
• Accurate facts and details
• Be in chronological order
• Have context and perspective
• Good quotes
• And create a solid relationship between the people and events.

There’re many more rules and guidelines about news writing... but I’m not a teacher, and this is not a classroom.

I started thinking to myself, “blogs are really great because you can write a silly sentence and link one of the words to a web page and people will know exactly I’m talking about.”

And then I updated my livejournal. <3

But when I open my Twitter and try to update... I can’t figure out how anyone understands what I’m talking about. You only get 140 characters.

In General, you are supposed to answer the question “What are you doing right now,” but you can also post a link, express an opinion or reaction, or ask a question.

Twitter has a video on their website that gives a general overview of Twitter, how to use it and why it’s used.

They say it has the “potential to reach millions of users instantly, use it to Issues public safely alerts, broadcast real time news developments, inform constituents, or solicit feedback.”
This brings us back to the fact that you can’t only update 140 characters at a time. What are supposed to say in case of emergency? How would you feel if you found out about the World Trade Center tragedy through Twitter? 140 characters can't even come close.

I’m not the only one who feels like this. Read Tweets, Blogs And Brains.

I hope people realize how fruitless Twitter is and that it soon becomes obsolete.

New Left Media

Woot for Chase Whiteside (interviews) and Erick Stoll (camera).

These are two guys are doing something so constructive. This is the NEW LEFT MEDIA. This is what people want to see. After reading their blog, which can be found here, it's evident that these guys are raw and real. They aren't asking for anything except to share their videos and letting people come to their own conclusions.

It's so refreshing to watch a video on YouTube that doesn't involve a cat doing dog tricks or some lame spoof.

Although these two videos comprise the same format, the message is very different. I strongly suggest watching these.





There are so many implications on so many different levels here.

Social media is a delicate tool. It's still so new and amazing that we haven't collectively taken a step back to see the big picture. How will this affect us? How will these video's affect people around the world? How easily can these videos be toyed with to promote a certain angle?

Social media is a great tool to help people become informed, but how can we guarantee the quality of the message?

WORDS!

Hey everyone! Did you know it’s WORD OF THE YEAR time?

Neither did I.

But I was delighted when I read that it was on the Oxford University Press Blog.

What, you may ask, is the word of 2009? I’ll give you three hints:

#1 – book face

#2 – you get Facebook and add all your ‘friends’

#3 – something bad happens

And you ......... them! Click here to see the answer!

Can you believe it? Even though social media sites are overrated you can’t get upset about their choice. After all, the popular catch phrase D’OH made famous by Homer J. Simpson was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2001.

It makes perfect sense. If you can make someone your friend, or ‘friend’ them, then you should be able to unfriend them too! But using computer lingo in real life isn’t anything new. Who of us hasn’t been caught saying “lol,” or “brb,” or even “Hey Gurlz, what’s the GP for tonight?”

The worlds are merging and the lines are fading.

What’s next?

What do you think the word of 2010 will be?

You never know what you're gonna get...

I thought to myself, "I don't really know much about Social Media outside the classroom." So I dove into the dark and Googled: Social Media Blog!

I wanted to see what kind of new, great knowledge and theories are traveling through the Universe today, I mean, aren't we in the middle of an enormous technological paradigm shift? Like, isn't technology advancing at such a rate that in some parts of the world, social media is an inevitable part of daily lives, eh?

So I jumped... keyboard first, and this is what I found:

SMogger Social Media Blog

Ethical Use of Social Media for Business and Regular Folks

It was the second link from the top on the first results page.

I nearly fell off my chair. The second (therefore one of the most popular) link was so disappointing.

On my virgin voyage into social media seas, I saw:

• 8 Crazy Christmas Tunes in case I get bored of Michale Buble and Mariah Carey.
• To Cry or Not to Cry - That is the question. ( In case I'm at a party and don't know whether or not I should be crying.)
• Finally, a Postcast for Grannys

Hmm...

You can also watch this video



Dnimymgnisolmitihsyloh...

Sorry, my brain melted a little bit after watching that.

Not a good first impression.

Burn. Haha

Marketing Meets Augmented Reality = Marketing Meets Shut-ins Reality

From what I’ve heard, this year’s number of trick or treaters is the lowest yet. My dear friend Mr. Menser, a long time local Sudbury-an, told me this year he only had nine little goblins and ghouls come to his house on Halloween compared to almost 50 last year. And I’ve been hearing the same question from friends and family all over Ontario: where have all the trick-or-treaters gone?

Could it be that one of the most fun, carefree special days of the year is losing popularity amongst children (those of us who have the most wild, uninhibited imaginations)? I doubt it.

Something else is a miss…

Perhaps it has something to do with new developments in technology. I was reading about the ability to create a digital hologram on Strategic Public Relations's blog.

Apparently, “Meijer, a client of Empower MediaMarketing, had a “Be Transformed in 3-D” promotion: Having Fun with Masks. The microsite allows you to try on four different masks – using a web cam and augmented reality. You can record a 30 second video message using a voice to match each mask and send it to someone via email, share it via Twitter or post it to your Facebook profile.”

That’s a pretty cool concept. The blog goes on to say that this concept will become ‘a must have’ for retailers because people won’t even have to actually TRY on the clothes, they can use this 3D simulation technology to see what they would potentially look like in the clothes.
How do I make the connection between 3-D simulation technology and the declining number of children trick-or-treating?

This is my thought pattern:
People don’t even have to leave their house, let alone put on pants, to shop and “see” what it would look like if they had a mask on. Better yet, your friends don’t even have to leave their bedroom or computer rooms to see what you would look like if you were actually wearing a mask – in 3-D!

I’d say the trend here is that you spend less time outside and more time inside your home.
This leads to another point: Children are spending six hours a day in front of a screen.

THEREFORE: children spent so much time in front of their screens trying on virtual costumes, when Halloween came, they must have been trick-or-treating online in their virtual costumes, getting virtual candy!

There must be a really spooky website, so advanced it's responsible for the lack of vampires and ghosts roaming the streets on Halloween night.

If you know this website, for the love of pillowcases of candy, DON'T tell me about it!

I've always preferred a snack size Oh Henry I can eat, than a virtual one I can look at.

Do you NEED to be famous?

I just read 5 Social Media Lessons I Learned from Working with a Hollywood Actress by Laura Roeder. It probably should be called "5 Social Media lessons I TAUGHT a Hollywood Actress. Roeder is a social media consultant and the founder of Creating Fame, a website explaining how to make you and/or your business famous.

I have to admit; I'm a bit alarmed.

I have NO desire to have "a post going viral and getting hundreds of thousands of visitors? Or having tens of thousands of followers on Twitter who follow your every move? Or checking your email and having hundreds of messages from your adoring fans?"

By implementing her easy to follow steps:

• Lesson #1: Find your blog’s core purpose
• Lesson #2: Ditch the distractions
• Lesson #3: Streamline your social networking
• Lesson #4: Focus on your talents
• Lesson #5: Take advantage of your opportunities

You too can become virtually popular in a virtual world!

It grinds my gears when I hear about people striving to become famous on the Internet. The masses are begging to put more energy into Facebook, Twitter and Blogs than investing energy into relationships, the community, or their families. If you don't get what I'm sayin', and that is that striving for Internet fame is a waste of human potential, ponder this: if you spent as much time playing a real guitar as you did practicing Guitar Hero, you would actually be able to play a real guitar.

If you really want to be famous, do something important! Change the world for the better! Spend your time volunteering or picking up garbage. Being famous for posting videos on YouTube about the new shoes you bought is LAME.

If you choose this path, I predict a lonely, unfulfilled future ahead.

Sorry... :'(