New Age Entertainment

I can still remember a time when I actually had to get up to turn my television channels.  Hopefully that is not disclosing how old I am but my children seriously asked me if there were color tv's in my day.  New millennium youths can't relate to the four channel, non-remote, non-streaming tv of the past.  YouTube is the go-to for the majority of my kids entertainment.  I have not invested in the nice quality digital tv's (DTV) that are now so popular but I do consume my entertainment differently then I did when I was an adolescent.  The technology advancements in mass media has changed the way society accesses their entertainment.

My walk-man has been updated to an ipod, I listen to Pandora rather then the radio and I use my ROKU (on-demand programming) to view my favorite shows and movies.  I can participate on social media through my phone and I use my laptop for work.  These new elements of communication have conveniently changed the way Americans consume entertainment (Curtis, 2012).  There are new platforms that are emerging such as more use in cloud computing, multimedia 3D entertainment and IoT connectivity (IEEE, 2013).  The cultural shifts of today are motivated by new technologies and new age entertainment will continue to form innovative creators who utilize all available platforms.

References:
Curtis, A. (2012).  Mass media influence on society.  Mass Communication Department.
University of North Carolina at Pembroke 910.521.6616
http://www2.uncp.edu/home/acurtis/Courses/ResourcesForCourses/Media&Society/MassMediaInfluenceOnSociety.html

IEEE Computer Society.  (2012).  13 Technology Trends for 2013.  Retrieved from http://www.computer.org/portal/web/pressroom/IEEE-Computer-Society-Announces-13-Technology-Trends-for-2013

Images:
http://www.onlinemarketing-trends.com/search/label/media%20trends

How Technological Advances Contribute to Societal and Cultural Shifts

With changing times we see changing technologies, societal shifts and cultural shaping.  All are intertwined and help feed each other.  The 2008 election showed how new technology developed a societal shift towards acceptance and has laid a new foundation to youths of the limitless potential being an American citizen can achieve.  Obama's campaign chose to communicate with younger voters who were increasingly using mobile devices for social media correspondence, the campaign used the fairly new platform of social media as a window to pour unsolicited information to a mass audience (Carr, 2008).

The American culture had changed to cell phones, laptops and tablets as the major medium in consuming music, media and news (Curtis, 2012).  These new avenues of communication were directly related to the technological advances that software and hardware companies were developing.  Citizens simply utilized the new technologies and now we use them in most aspects of our lives.  We have our ipads, iphones and ipods that are used daily and now our kids and grand-kids can't imagine a time before the existed.




References:
Carr, D. (2008). How obama tapped into social networks' power.  Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/business/media/10carr.html?_r=0

Curtis, A. (2012).  Mass media influence on society.  Mass Communication Department.
University of North Carolina at Pembroke 910.521.6616
http://www2.uncp.edu/home/acurtis/Courses/ResourcesForCourses/Media&Society/MassMediaInfluenceOnSociety.html

Images:
http://www.mobify.com/insights/55-of-cell-owners-go-online-using-phone/
http://www.philapark.org/2013/08/changing-times/

Communication Professional Job Requirement #3: Utilize Web Optimization

Communication professionals of the 21st century will have to be adaptable to new technologies, have the ability to write engaging and informative content and possess a strategic understanding on how search engines work.  This knowledge is needed to be a successful and sought after writer within the communication industry.  Basic understanding of computer programming language is crucial to manipulate successful results on the web (Reid, 2012).  Web optimization or search engine optimization can take a company's website from obscurity to the front page of a search engine.

References:

Reid, B.  (2012).  The 10 skills modern communicators have (or need to get).  Retrieved from http://blog.wcgworld.com/2012/05/the-10-skills-modern-communicators-have-or-need-to-get

image: http://www.collegeofmarketing.com/seo-guide/search-engine-usage/

Communication Professional Job Requirement #2: Keep me interested

The role of a communication professional entails engagement.  In attempting to engage with the public interesting content must be created.  To gain an audience you must utilize the tools on social media platforms to construct an effective outreach model.  Online communication conceptualizes human uses of the Internet by examining what people are doing with technology, socially and communicatively (Cairncross, 2001).  Using Google Analytics and other tracking software to rate your engagement campaigns will give you greater insight on what is keeping your readers interested.

Using trending hashtags and commenting on other interesting post will highlight your effort to interact (Reid, 2012).   Audiences repost and share comments that are funny and interesting the most (Roger, 2013) so it is important for communication professionals to stay aware of what is going on in society as well as how people are sharing interesting news.  Take risk and try new styles of marketing that are innovative and ethically sound.  These risk are a gamble but one post could go viral so putting in the effort could definitely pay off.

References:

Cairncross, F. (2001).  The death of distance: how the communications revolution is changing our lives - distance isn't what it used to be.  Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=brOQAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=culture+and+communication+changes+with+technology&ots=b8Lz83PqiN&sig=gLwZaOfUE0EUA5c3orIlCEBtOww#v=onepage&q=culture%20and%20communication%20changes%20with%20technology&f=false

Reid, B. (2012).  The 10 skills modern communicators have (or need to get).  Retrieved from     http://blog.wcgworld.com/2012/05/the-10-skills-modern-communicators-have-or-need-to-get

Roger, K. (2013, February 19). Integration of push marketing campaigns into social media.     Social Media Today.  Retrieved from     http://socialmediatoday.com/freelancewriter/1247226/squeezing-pull-marketing-    campaigns-social-media.

Communication Professional Job Requirement #1: Ability to Adapt

The one thing constant is change.  It is apparent in the field of communications with the advances in technology and how information is being distributed.  With new communication devices and multiple internet platforms being developed several times a year, professionals in the information industry must possess a basic understanding of new technologies.  Without the ability to adapt to the onslaught of new industry practices some companies may fall by the wayside.  Among companies currently facing or anticipating a skills shortage, 66 percent anticipate a loss of business to competitors, 64 percent face a loss of revenue, 59 percent face eroding customer satisfaction and 53 percent say they will face a delay in developing new products or services (Accenture, 2013).

Communicators must be proactive in their careers by participating in new media.  Companies will review how active a social media specialist claims to be by browsing their current profiles.  Without a cyber footprint communication professionals will more then likely be lost in the shuffle of other ordinary candidates.  New technologies need to be tested, they are essential for productivity and must be utilized properly because the technology themselves are specific to information and communication endeavors (Hare, n.d.).  Technology has changed the way we communicate and we as professional communicators must have the ability to adapt with these changes.

References:

Accenture.  (2013).  Accenture 2013 Skills and Employment Trends Survey: Perspectives on         Training.  Retrieved from     http://www.accenture.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/PDF/Accenture-2013-Skills-And-    Employment-Trends-Survey-Perspectives-On-Training.pdf

Hare, C.  ().  New technologies and the education of information professionals.  Retrieved from http://campus.usal.es/~teoriaeducacion/rev_numero_02/n2_art_hare.htm#Destino_06

Images: http://www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/education/data/acs/infographics/communications.html

Opitimizing Your Website with Multimedia

Multimedia has enhanced websites by adding a number of techniques to content, these devices help make websites more interesting and interactive.  Traditional reading in educational books and manuals have applied pictures and graphs for additional imagery to help better understand the text but interactive correspondence was not applicable.  Now most reading is done on mobile devices and websites have come to use visuals to optimize their content and Google rankings.  There are three main cognitive learning styles: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. All have been utilized to teach and advertise information in the online environment.

Visuals

 

A common saying in the culinary field is that "the eye eats first."  This means that if we like what we see we'll give it our attention.  With a huge variety of websites to choose from a webmaster must have their website stand-out from the rest to get noticed. Eye-catching visuals helps keep visitors on your webpage and it will make your site more memorable for future visits.  Embedding video's or audio podcast help visitor's grasp the content quickly for an easy user experience.

Audio

Hearing what you need to know works well when using mobile devices.  You can be hands-free and still get the just of what you were looking for without viewing a monitor.  Texting and driving is a nationwide campaign that is gaining momentum so the thought of going to a website and listening to ads and content adds a safety element to the hundred of thousands mobile device users.  This form of multimedia is used more for displaying music but adding your voice to a podcast is relatively easy to produce and distribute.

Kinesthetic

Interactivity is the most used technique for websites.  There are clickable links, pictures and content that prompt the user to take action and communicate through interactive techniques.  Now with touch screens and voice activated technology, interaction between IoT objects and human users is daily.  Multimedia has enhanced communications by using all of the cognitive learning styles.  Each style used properly will create a specific experience and if the experience is enjoyed by the website visitor, they will return. 

Specifying which technique is best would depend on the learning style of the individual website visitor, whatever style of learning works best for them is the form of multimedia they will prefer.  Best practice is to use all 3 techniques within your website.  Most importantly though, create an awesome website.

Best Practices for Serious Blogging -- To Blog or Not To Blog

You can research the12 Steps to Launch a Successful Blog or view The 100 Best, Most Interesting Blogs and Websites of 2014 but the information you find there won't encompass the best practices for writing a blog.  Guidelines, I guess, aren't the first thing you think of when you want to spout-off at the mouth.  OK, not all people create blogs to just spout-off personal opinions but we do have to consider them when analyzing a code of ethics for blogs.  These are the folks who drive the debate although they do not participate in the debate.  Mainly because they are not convicted to hold themselves to any accountability of what they publish.  They insist that blogging is free -- i.e. a free-flow medium and not a journalistic endeavor. (Webb, 2013)

Blogging to many is only thought of as an online diary/journal.  Discussing daily interactions and personal opinions, the new element and main difference from original diary's and journals is that the world is your potential audience.  This new factor of having a mass audience adds on an implicated responsibility of understanding professional writing ethics.  Although not widely accepted or even widely practiced there are blogging code of ethics that have been proposed.  I chose to analyze a blog to see if best practices for writers are being used, observing its form, function and substance.

Whowhatwhy.com was my choice, it is recognized as being one of the best blogs of 2013, it has a number of contributing writers and regularly receives comments from readers.  It has a news platform with a professional appearance, its function is to distribute current event articles and the content is well-written with cited sources.  Best practices are being used which allows this site to be viewed as having integrity and a resourceful and reliable source for news. 

I believe a code of ethics clause should be accepted before allowing a person access to a blog.  No rights are being restricted only codes of conduct being stated.  Therefore no blog can be distributed without a writer taking responsibility for the content on their site.  I do agree with the blogging code of ethics but I believe the traditional SPJ Code of Ethics needs to be merged into the bloggers ethics as well.  There will always be a comment that offends but with best practices in place the offense will be from a disagreement not defamation of character.