Wednesday, 19 March 2014

Feminism: Butler and McRobbie

Feminism: McRobbie / JudithButler - Gender as performance

Broadcast
Traditional-female 


This advert is very traditional as it is a make up advert and the audience will know that they are going to see a female character on their as the product is a mascara. This advert does not challenge the gender performance is reinforces it because it has the right character with the right product.

Alternative female




This advert of women's fitness suggests that gender is only a performance, that chan be challenged. This advert is a fitness advert and the audience would normally suggests that it would have male characters on it, but in this case we have females. This challenges the Butlers theory that gender is a performance as we have women doing something which a male dominant will do.
 Traditional - Male 




This advert is fully traditional because we would normally see a male character of an fitness advert because they want to show the strong and macho men. This why the use a male character to fully the gender performance because if they had a female on their no male character would watch it and it would have been a alternative advert.

Alternative- male


This advert challenges the gender performance as it has a male character using a domestic product. This advert is showing a male character using a domestic cleaning product which challenges the gender performance because people would normally associate a female character using this product.

E-media

 traditional-female
http://www.girlgamesxl.net/romper-barbie.html
This game is an traditional game as it reinforces the gender performance as it has all the colours which associate with females. This game has colours like pink and yellow on them as they want it to realate to a female. This is why this advert reinforces the gender performance and it suggests that gender is a performance and everyone does follow it.

-alternative-female
http://www.games2girls.com/p/fitnessrush
This game is very alternative because it challenges the gender performance as they have females fitness game. Normally men will be associated with fitness in this case we have a female, which is why this challenges the gender perfoamcne and it suggests that we dont have to follow the gnder performance. Nowdays any one can do anything, this is why this game is very challengable.

traditional- male
http://www.addictinggames.com/action-games/electricman2.jsp
This game reinforces the gender performance as we have a fighting game which normally represents men as they are very aggressive and are ready to fight at any time. This is why this game follows the gender perfomance and it does not challenege it. So it suggests that gender is a performance.

alternative- male
http://www.clubpenguin.com/
I think that this game challenges the gender performance as male characters have been seen playing it. The reason why this game challenges the gender performance because its a female game as females would use to to cut time. They will use it to meet friends and do all the girly things, but in this case we also have men playing this game. This means that gender is not a performance as any one can do anything. 


Print

Alternative


This example of Bend It Like Beckham reinforces Butlers theory that gender is a performance. It follows his theory that gender is a performance. This poster follows his theory as we have a female dressed up in a football kit. This poster represents the female character in the poster as a tomboy. This challenges Butlers theory.

Traditional
This Barbie Magazine front cover follows its traditions as it has a girl and all the colours which a girl will like so mostly pink and some yellow. All these colours reinforces the gender performance of females and how it relates to them. if this same front cover had girls on with dull colours or more to a male side then it wouldn't have been accepted in society, as they are not the colours which match the feminine side. 

Alternative

This magazine front cover which has David Beckham on it challenges Butlers theory because as a male character has been appeared on a female magazine. The fact that David Beckham is been seen on a fashion magazine suggests that he doesn't mind being touched by the feminist side. The fact that he is seen on an Fashion magazine challenges that eh is taking a different gender performance. 

Traditional


This print advert of Chanel is very traditional as we would want to see or assume that as it is a mens perfume a male character will be advertising it. This poster has a male character which is very traditional because thats what the audience will think of as well. If the poster had a female on their then it would have been an alternative as it will not follow the gender performance. 


Tuesday, 18 March 2014

Case Study: Smart phone


.

My case study will be based on smart phones and how social networking sites such as Twitter are effecting our interaction/communication between people in our everyday life and how this has changed our way of living. I will be looking specifically at how smart phones gives power to its audience and the impact this has on other institution. Moreover, i will be analyzing both advantage and drawbacks of social networking sites. 

Trends

NDM weekly story

Daily Mail and Guardian digital 'minnows', says News UK chief



Summary of story : This article focuses on the issue of whether advertising or paywalls are better in generating revenues. According to News UK chief executive Mike Darcey, he refers the Daily Mail and the Guardian as "digital minnows". This is because, they focus on advertising to generate revenue which could lead to problems in the future. As a result, Darcey favours paywalls as free online "undermines the incentive for people to pay for print editions". 

Key info:
  • monthly online readership of almost 300 million

My view: In my opinion, i disagree with the Darcey's view that the Guardian and Daily Mail are digital minnow, because if companies included paywalls this could decrease their readership. Although there would be problems if the companies reply on online advertising as their revenue streaming, this may not effect their readership if they do not include paywalls.

Jasmine Gardner: News travels fast in cyberspace but can we trust it?



Summary of the story:This article focuses on the issue of whether people can rely on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook on social issues. According to this article, in the US a third of adults under the age 30 receive the news through social media and half of them are Twitter uses. This clearly establishes the development of new media has impacted individuals' lives, as they no longer need to receive the news by watching terrestrial channels but through social networking sites. As stated in a survey for last year, "

Moreover, he states: "I might trust my colleague enough to share her gossip about David Moyes but if she got the information second hand from someone in her “circle of trust”, then I can only half believe it". It is clear that people cannot trust Facebook or Twitter as a reliable source of information, especially when a school boy called Sam Gardiner fooled Twitter  into believing that he was Samuel Rhodes. Significantly, according to a football journalist: "“With technology, when people chose to be dishonest they can do it at scale". To add, Twitter has become the primarily "place for wannabe influencers" and vitally among the public only "15% get their information from it. 

Key info:
  • Twitter is now an everyday news source for 55% of opinion formers

My view: In my opinion,  I agree to a great extent that Twitter and Facebook cannot be trusted as a reliable source of news for the public. This is because, online there are many perspectives on a specific issue and therefore it  would not provide individuals with valid information on a topic. 

Sunday, 9 March 2014

Mock Exam Feedback and Learners response

16 Marks 
Grade D

WWW: Applied theory in every question, and used example to support answer

EBI:  short answers, try and add another  paragraph for each question

LR:  Question 1, Enigma code

Enigma was created by setting up two opposing sides, Strauss’s binary opposites,
positioning the audience with one side. Audiences were encouraged to watch to the
film to enjoy the dramatic conflict and find out who won. Also the changes in the vampire genre meant there wasn’t a traditional.  human vs. vampire/good vs. evil binary. The use of costume emphasised the
opposites, seen in the colours of costumes, the snow white setting in Let the Right
One In and pale faces. Sophisticated answers argued that many of the Eclipse
audience would already know the ending so they watched for the pleasure of a
narrative resolution they could predict or to see how the predictable ending was
achieved.

Question 2,  popular genre 

Audience knowledge that the outsider will succeed in the end. Also people will wonder whether the ending was for them to be accepted as they were and  stay different or if they had to conform to achieve a happy ending. Sophisticated answers also discussed whether this communicated a positive value of it being ok to 
be different or because the resolution was often that the outsider was absorbed back 
in to society, they were actually socially conservative rather than a celebration of 
difference. In addition some answers also said outsider narratives could offer a 
‘happy ever after’ or at least a resolution not always possible in real life. 

Question 3, unofficial website 

Official websites could offer audiences interactive features that made them feel more 
involved with a film, which could be a profitable way of sustaining the success of a 
franchise. Sophisticated answers debated how real this involvement was and were 
critical of the impression given of personal involvement. 
More ever, Unofficial websites could also provide links to download the film illegally, damaging 
the films profits and the film industry in general. Higher level answers developed this 
point further by discussing other industries such as music

NDM weekly story

Weekly NDM

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2538488/SMS-takes-seat-IM-number-texts-sent-Britain-falls-time.html


The number of SMS messages sent is predicted to make a steady decline, while the number of instant messages sent is set to increase dramatically. Factors are thought to be both financial and generational

Number of text messages being sent falls for the first time ever as more people turn to Whatsapp and iMessage. 

The number of texts sent in Britain peaked at 39.7billion in 2011, having sparked the new language of text speak, from OMG (Oh My God) to LOL (Laugh Out Loud) and XOXO, meaning hugs and kisses. However, this year the number is predicted to fall to 21billion, less than half the 50billion ‘instant messages’ that will be sent.

The number of texts that are being sent has fallen due to the fact that there are other ways of contacting people, for example, whatsapp and iMessage and other apps. There are so many new apps that allow people to contact each other that texts are becoming irrelevant. People are no longer paying for texts, they are paying for more internet so that they can use the apps. I agree with this story, as I don't use texts any more and I hardly know anyone who use texts to contact someone. There are other ways such as calling, through Whatsapp and other apps. 

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/feb/21/whatsapp-facebook-messaging-apps-viber-kik

What's next after WhatsApp: a guide to the future of messaging apps


The Facebook and WhatsApp applications' icons.

Facebook’s $19bn deal points to the internet’s future, but from Viber’s domination to upstart Kik, WhatsApp is hardly unique


Messaging is enticing for a few reasons. For one, it’s a medium used by people all over the world. For another, it’s quieter; messages deliver a stream of photos, video or simple text direct fromloved ones, without the added noise of everyone else on the internet. Messages provide for thefastest way for people to connect or find each other in a crowd. And messages allow people to buy stuff – lots and lots of stuff – in an almost criminally seamless manner.


Consider the following a 101 guide to some of the messaging apps you may not have heard about, including a brief refresher on WhatsApp. These apps provide services that WhatsApp/Facebook may hope to emulate in the race to make money and literally monopolize the world’s attention. (And if that sounds creepy, that’s because it sort of is. The Guardian’s Dan Gilmor takes a look at a world where Zuckerberg, not phone service providers, dominate communication.)


Short attention span version: Born and bred in Silicon Valley by two ex-Yahoo employees, this app registers one million new users per day, and 450m users per month use the service to send text, photo and video. And now it’s worth a lot of money.


Where it’s popular: Europe – up to 80% market penetration in countries including Brazil, Germany, Portugal and Spain – and Latin America, India

Numbers: $19bm is the only number anyone’s paying attention to at the moment

Why it’s worth watching: See above. Also, WhatsApp’s revenue strategy ($1 after a year of free use) looks especially sluggish compared to other apps offering similar services.

More reading: Dominic Rushe’s breaking story on the acquisition also has great background onfounders’ visions for the tool – and more numbers, if you need them.


Whatsapp has been brought by Facebook, whatsapp is a popular way people talk to each other and catch up with each other, it is popular in Europe - up to 80% market penetration in countries including Brazil, Germany, Portugal and Spain - and Latin Amercia and India. This shows is a something that is used around the world and it is really popular.

Sunday, 2 March 2014

4 NDM story ; Feb half term

New and digital media article 12: Sky's internet service mistakenly blocks web-critical plugin

This story is about how Sky had accidentally blocked a plugin that helps the operations of thousands of websites. The plugin and access to the code.jquery.com website was blocked by Sky's content filter, it was listed as being "malware and phishining." The site hosts code for jQuery, which is used by over three-quaters of the top ten-thousand websites to ease the burden of creating responsive websites. Which means that sites such as google and the guardian weren't able to deliver a quick instant response which most users expected. The code required to enable those instant responses is usually hosted on one of three "content delivery networks", run by Google, Microsoft and jQuery itself. The Guardian believes that the best explanation for this mistake is that an actual malware site was using the code hosted on jQuery and was found by Skys filters and therefore incorrectly categorised the plugin.


I believe that the Guardian are potentially correct in stating that it's possible that an actual malware site caused the incorrect categorisation of the plugin. This could have potentially damaged sky's brand image as they would have upset a lot of customers and received a lot of complaints and had left customers feeling frustrated.


Americans can't live without the web – but social media is a different story

New Pew study shows US an increasingly digital society, but Americans view social media and the internet very differently
Pew
Summary of story 
The survey shows that Americans may still view participating in social media, accessing the internet and using email as entirely different experiences. That’s an interesting distinction, if not an entirely new one. For example, when people talk about “digital detoxing”, the internet as a means of consuming information isn’t on the receiving end of the vitriol – just the parts of it that serve as a means to communicate with others. But, paradoxically, communicating with others is what Americans appear to enjoy most about the internet.
Key information

  • 10 US adults say they use computers somewhere in their daily lives, and nine out of 10 use cell phones to get on the internet
  • With its 25th birthday coming up in March, the internet is the most popular millennial in American
  • We don’t look up. Adult ownership of cell phones has risen from 53% in Pew’s first survey on this topic in 2000 to 90% now.
  • We think positive. Americans think that the internet has been positive for individuals (90%) and for society in general (76%).
My view
In my opinion, i think that the I rely on the Internet on a daily basis, and can barely function without it these days. but social media ? no one really takes seriously. 

Breast cancer isn't sexy. Nipnominate's cleavage shots trivialise a devastating illness

Pictures of healthy women in push-up bras may raise money, but they offer sufferers no support – unlike the powerful images of Beth Whaanga
nipnominate buchanan
Summary of story 
This artical talks about the  images Beth Whaanga posted after she underwent a double mastectomy'show us that women’s bodies can represent their strength and personal power'. 

Key information

  •  Michelle Kent, the founder, has already raised £2,500.
My view
It seams a strange attitude to take. Should women be ashamed of their breasts? Covering up for breast cancer makes the fundraising just as much about the breasts as flaunting them. Indeed by your logic it says that anyone with their breasts on show cannot be valued for who they are. I disagree.

NDM article 14: @Future of Journalism: Hans Rosling on the case for data

The article states that Hans Rosling believes that we need to make news more interesting and we need to bring data alive to the world and allow everyone to easily understand and enjoy it. He states that well made videos are some of the ways of making data come more alive and become more appealing to audiences instead of just having one person talking and staring blankly into a single static camera, the BBC do well with animation but it's all for branding and not enough for making data come alive. He believes that this is where newspapers and their websites are failing.