Social Media and Politics

        Social media is a perfect way to reach a younger audience to influence and inform about politics.  Without social media, many people that do not watch the news to get informed would know very little about elections.  Like myself, I do not know a great deal about politics but with social media, I am able to learn more about what campaigns are involved in the election and what each of those campaigns has to offer.  I may watch television enough to view commercials of different campaigns and possibly see a glimpse of the debates but am still not fully informed with every political view.  With social media, I am able to learn more about politics in a way that grasps my attention and can read other peoples perspective o political information.  

        Social media is an ideal way for Americans to get their political information because, for one, it is an easy way to be more selective with the information one wants to access.  Instead of turning on the television and watching every ad, every debate, every speech, the internet can allow one to choose just what they are wanting to view, instead of siting through every single minute of the entire election season.  

        "President Obama was the first candidate to announce his White House run via Web video and his vice presidential pick by text message."  This shows that things are certainly changing due to social media within politics.  This is something that never would have happened as recent as a few years ago.

       Within the entertainment world, most people recognize election time when there is a constant stream of political ads on television.  With social media rising in popularity with the public, politicians should be looking into integrating social media campaigning into their original campaign plans.  The candidates that use advertising in television, radio, mail, internet, etc. and add social media to this list will reach an even greater audience than before. Keep the original ways of communication advertising, but add social media.   
        
        With social media, staying connected with the public is much easier than before.  With the help of social media, campaigns can easily "tweet" or "update their status" regarding information about events and demonstrations.  This is much more convenient for political organizers than standing on a street corner to pass out fliers.

       There are now even political apps to make staying connected even more convenient.  These apps include, The White House which allows one to stay connected directly from the administration at the white house, Parity Politics which delivers real time polling updates without any bias toward a certain political party, and the Super PAC App allows one to find out information about political television advertisements just by holding up your iPhone while the commercial is being played. This will tell who is behind the ad, how much money was spent on the ad and more.

  
 With social media, staying connected and informed in the political world has never been so easy.  This is very good for America because the more Americans are informed and educated about politics and the United States, the better.   

http://www.sheknows.com/living/articles/969537/best-political-apps-for-the-iphone
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2010/02/04/5-ways-new-media-are-changing-politics?page=2
http://www.localvictory.com/communications/political-social-media.html

Crowdsourcing in Entertainment

     First I would like to define Crowdsourcing.  Crowdsourcing is defined as "the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people and especially from the online community rather than from traditional employees or suppliers".  It is all about collaboration with viewers or fans. Crowdsourcing has both a good and bad impact within the entertainment industry.

     In the movie making world, a filmmakers community has become a very good resource. Films today are now using crowdsourcing to fund the making of their projects.  The film making process can now be collaborative between filmmaker and the fans.  One example of this is the Veronica Mars movie.  The creator, Rob Thomas, along with the cast, which includes Kristen Bell, started a crowd funding project on the website, kickstarter.com.  This project included a pledge from fans of $2m to help fund the movie.  "The kickstarter project page promises fans that the higher the funds raised, the bolder the movie will be."  Including the fans in the making of the film is a positive aspect of crowdsourcing and an easy way of making sure the filmmakers are giving the public what they want out of the project.

     Another example of crowdsourcing in the movie business comes from James Franco and how he used crowdsourcing to help young filmmakers raise money ($500,000) to adapt "Palo Alto", a collection of stories that focuses on teenagers from California that have troubled backgrounds.  

     Crowdsourcing is something that helps form what we want to view within our entertainment. Strike.tv, an internet television website that was created during the strike in 2007 and 2008 is helpful to filmmakers looking for assistance in distribution.  It is useful to people in the entertainment industry (directors, writers, actors) to keep producing work through the time of the strike.

     One problem that comes with crowdsourcing and the entertainment business is that with the final product, those that are contributing may not be representative of the viewers. "A lot of money goes into setting up an environment that is reactive enough to incorporate suggestions from the public and that data is further skewed by the fact that those providing the suggestions may not be representative of the viewing population as a whole."

     Crowdsourcing makes it possible for those who wish to produce a film and financially need help funding the project.  Greenlightcrowdfunding.com, a site for creative arts projects makes this a possibility.  Anyone can help make a creative project fundable.  Crowdsourcing has just recently begun and is something that can make someones dreams of starting a film career a possibility!

http://www.kpmg.com/UK/en/services/Advisory/management-consulting/Pages/crowd-connection-crowdsourcing-movies.aspx

http://blog.hootsuite.com/crowdsourcing-film-industry/

http://cultureandcommunication.org/f09/tdm/tag/crowdsourcing-and-entertainment/

http://www.strike.tv/home/

http://www.greenlightcrowdfunding.com

Social Media and Online Relationships

    Today more than ever, people are participating in online relationships.  Whether that be business relationships, romantic relationships, or friendships, relationships are being made with social media.  Connecting with others has become such an incredibly easy thing to do with so many social networking sites on the web.  In both my professional life involving school and work, and my everyday life involving friends and family, I find myself forming relationships with social media.  I communicate with professors, coworkers, friends and family with different social networking sites.  I communicate with professors and get information about school through Twitter and sometimes even Facebook.  Same goes with my family and friends.  I communicate and form relationships with my family and friends through social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  With Facebook, anyone can easily connect and build a relationship with friends and family, or in some cases, complete strangers.  Facebook even asks what users relationship status is. 
    
    With a professional network such as LinkedIn, users can connect and build relationships with others that have interest in the same field as themselves.  LinkedIn is a a social network that is business oriented so it can be a good tool to use when the time comes for one  to look for a new job.  There are also social networking sites used for meeting people on a romantic level, like eHarmony.  Dating sites have become a very popular way for meeting and seeking a significant other.  I recently came across a social networking site I had never heard of before in relation with music entertainment.  Musicdating.com is where people that have a love for music and at the same time, looking to be in a relationship, can go to meet people with the same interest in music genre. Interesting.

   One thing that helps build relationships online (and offline) is common interests.  One aspect of social media is the use of hashtags. Whether on twitter or an application like instagram where users become instant photographers and can share their creative work with followers, hashtags allow common pieces of work to categorize together.  We are now even seeing more use of hashtags on television.  For example, on the E! Network, during each program, a hashtag of the show that is airing is displayed in the bottom right corner of the screen.  This is meant for viewers to see and be able to go onto their social network of choice (twitter, instagram) and use the hashtag to let others know that they are watching or referencing to the program.  This can form relationships with users of the networking site that all have that common interest.  Just click on the hashtag and see every post from every user involved.

    Another area of communicating and forming a relationship in connection with the entertainment industry is a website like IMDb, the Internet Movie Database. Not necessarily a social network, still a source of communication between people with a common interest, therefore forming relationships. We are given just about all the information we would ever want about any film, television program, etc. all in one website.  This site allows people to discuss their opinions and feelings on each program with message boards and user reviews. This could be good as a source of information in educating people about the topic, or it could turn into a negative concept in causing conflict between those that disagree on the reviews regarding the films.  This aspect of social media relationships is important because people tend to have very strong opinions when discussing something like movies.  Everyone turns into a critic.  

   When it comes to movies, music, video games or anything entertainment, forming relationships is very important.  The more advertised, the more discussed and the more the product is put out to the public, the better chance it has of being successful. Participating in social media can strengthen relationships in the entertainment industry because it is an additional way of communicating.  Communication is key to any type of relationship. When communicating with social media, we are ultimately developing some type of relationship. Not many people go onto Facebook to post photos, write their opinion on something controversial, or even state that they are having a bad day and not anticipate a response from somebody else.  If you are taking part in social media, chances are you are forming many relationships.