Author: erinbliss333

Over the last few weeks, I reached out to many people on Twitter. Unfortunately, out of 7 tweets to people i follow and respect….only 1 returned my tweet and I have to say, I was a bit disappointed in the reply. I am asking people in the digital media community for book recommendations because I love to read. I thought Chirag would have an interesting recommendation but nope…not so much. I reached out to Donald Trump about student loans and Gary Vaynerchuk about digital media marketing but they only liked my tweet and did not respond. Next time I will take Brooke’s advice and try Instagram.

 

In a previous class, a few weeks ago, we were asked to guess what news would look like in the future. I was thinking that news will be more like virtual reality. While I was checking out TED.com today, the first video that popped up was “The Future of News? Virtual Reality”!!!! Virtual Reality has several interesting implications for journalists and news outlets to share their stories with the world. A users can actually be at the scene of a murder or, even more intense,…feel what it is like to be in a bombing in Syria!!! Check out the video!!

Fingers have been pointed at Facebook for helping Trump win the election. Actually, Facebook served as a fundraising headquarters for the Trump campaign which raked in $250 million dollars!! Trump’s use of twitter as a “bully pulpit” garnered him loads of attention and sparked many interesting conversations. And a little something to be excited about…he plans to keep voicing his boisterous opinions on Twitter as president. This should be an interesting 4 years y’all!!!

Here’s How Facebook Actually Won Trump the Presidency

Now that Trump is prez, Bezos may have some serious tax issues. Even with the dip in Amazon stock, investors do not seem to be shaken.
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-trump-presidency-will-affect-amazon-2016-11

I found this awesome program for data mining FB, Twitter and other social media sites….I have been using it for my thesis data collection this semester and want to share it with you guys. Don’t worry about writing those pesky Python codes now! They offer it free if you provide proof that you are writing a thesis!!
https://www.quintly.com

Fortunately I was able to attend a few panels for Mass Comm week but my favorite was “Everybody’s Surfing Now: Digital Advertising and Social Media.” The panel members were recent graduates from Texas State within the last two years and they have just begun their careers in the field. Some of the other panels were made up of older graduate students who have been through many careers already.

My main takeaway from the panels that I attended is that no one really knows what they are doing in the field of Mass Comm. Whether it be professors, those who have just recently began their careers or those who have been in the field for ten years, no one knows exactly what they are doing or where this field is going. Modes of communication, advertising and journalism are evolving rapidly and it is difficult, or better, impossible to get ahead of the technological boom of our generation.

I think that more than a few of us in this graduate program have had anxiety about being prepared for the “real” world and a career. I learned that we have to be comfortable that we will not know everything and be open to learning new things constantly. We must be humble and never stop learning because that is what makes this field so exiting!!

A study found that women’s coding suggestions were accepted at a higher rate than mens as long as gender was not revealed.

http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2016/02/18/study-shows-women-are-better-coders-but-only-when-gender-is-hidden

Im sure most of you tuned in for the big debate last night ….or maybe streamed it online. Last nights debate was the most tweeted debate in history.

Q1: Did any of you tweet in?

Last week in class we talked about how people are more “vocal” about politics online than face to face due to the barriers of the screen.

Q2:Does the screen barrier allow you to be more “vocal”? Do you post comments online that you would or would not say face to face?

Here are some of the best Tweets of the debate in case you missed it….

Presenting the Best Tweets of the First Presidential Debate

 

And of course the Snapchat filters……the millennials and gen Z dominate snapchat…how are they using the platform in relation to the election and political participation? It looks like it is mostly just for silliness so one would think they are not taking the election seriously but, that does not seem to be the case…take a look at the infographic below…

Snapchat Filters Used on Trump and Clinton During Debate

http://genhq.com/igen-gen-z-stance-on-politics-infograph

Trump developed a snap chat filter for the debate…

http://thenextweb.com/apps/2016/09/26/trump-attacks-clinton-first-nationwide-snapchat-filter-election/#gref

Q3: Do you feel like this hurts or helps his campaign with the younger generations who use snap chat?

Q4: How do you feel that social media (especially FB and Twitter) has changed politics and voting? Do you feel that is is for the better or detrimental to the process?

Think about how the election process has evolved over the years from print to television and now social media….it is interesting to think about what is next…

Clinton mass selfie, here

When reading the article “Does Artifacts Have Politics?”, I immediately thought of this incident. The article I have posted here is a little old but I feel like this is a good example of technology being used for political reasons. If things like this were happening so long ago, just think, what in the world they are spraying on us now?….

http://www.businessinsider.com/army-sprayed-st-louis-with-toxic-dust-2012-10

When the research is done, it’s time to have fun!!! #Ritasafterresearch