Internet memes is a very interesting topic and have been around since the late 90’s. “Web citizens use the term in its loosest form meaning an "Internet phenomenon" where something-an idea, art, person, joke, even advertising-goes from unknown to extremely popular very quickly” (Bulik and Kerwin, 2006). The video service web site called Youtube allows for it’s users to post their own videos. Once the video is posted anyone who has an internet connection will be able to view it. With this widespread access a single video could be viewed thousands of times in a very short instant. This allows for these memes to be created very quickly and then bleed through to other parts of our culture; outside of the internet.
50 Internet Memes in 100 Seconds:
I am fascinated how videos on Youtube can become an overnight hit. Something else that interests me is how Youtube has almost its own culture. If you are not apart of this culture you may not understand references made in videos or references made by your friends in every day conversation. If I were to do a study on Internet Memes I would hope to figure out how Youtube makes it easier to spread these Internet memes. In addition, I would like to find out to what extent Youtube Internet Memes penetrates our everyday lives outside of the internet. What I expect to find out is that Youtube is not the main contributor to the spread of Internet Memes. It is a place for these memes to be created and hosted but the real place where they spread happens on social networking sites. When I look further into Youtube culture I expect to find that it does exist. Also, I think I will find that the members that are the most deeply entrenched into this Youtube culture are the ones that first start the spread of the videos before they become Memes. When looking at how these memes affect parts of our lives that are not connected to the internet I think we will find it in advertising or places where they are looking for profit.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
Facebook Me
Facebook over the past few years has gone over many changes. It had a humble beginning as a social networking site for Harvard. It slowly started to incorporate more colleges and universities as it expanded. Now as it stands anyone over the age of 13 can create a Facebook profile.
Facebook is a site that has had many critiques but I think it is a service that many can use to keep in touch with others that they would have not otherwise. In my mind user that are still in High School cannot use this service to the full extent or purpose. Many students in college have many people from high school that they may want to keep in touch with and without Facebook the relationship would diminish. Once a person is out of college I think this tool could be used to it's full extent. This site allows for a person to post photo's and keep other updated on what is going on in their lives.
Several months ago my mother decided to make a Facebook account. The reason for this is so that she can stay up on what is going on with family members. I also have four other siblings and often times when we are around her we refer to pictures that we say on Facebook and she wanted to be apart of that experience because she felt like she was missing out. I think that is often a sensation that many feel now that a large portion of the population has Facebook. They want to hop on the bandwagon and not get left behind. Even while I am at home both of my parents are starting to adopt language used by regular Facebook users; which is very amusing. Almost as amusing as when my mother was rapping to Eminem but that is another story.
Even though some users could use Facebook to a more full extent I think depending on what stage of your life you are in you use Facebook differently. If anything users of different generations have different reasons for using Facebook. Facebook can be a very useful tool to keep up-to-date with "friends" but it can also in some people's minds be to personal. Sometimes it may show people information that you don't care for them to know. A person with Facebook often times has a more public life because of this tool.
Facebook is a site that has had many critiques but I think it is a service that many can use to keep in touch with others that they would have not otherwise. In my mind user that are still in High School cannot use this service to the full extent or purpose. Many students in college have many people from high school that they may want to keep in touch with and without Facebook the relationship would diminish. Once a person is out of college I think this tool could be used to it's full extent. This site allows for a person to post photo's and keep other updated on what is going on in their lives.
Several months ago my mother decided to make a Facebook account. The reason for this is so that she can stay up on what is going on with family members. I also have four other siblings and often times when we are around her we refer to pictures that we say on Facebook and she wanted to be apart of that experience because she felt like she was missing out. I think that is often a sensation that many feel now that a large portion of the population has Facebook. They want to hop on the bandwagon and not get left behind. Even while I am at home both of my parents are starting to adopt language used by regular Facebook users; which is very amusing. Almost as amusing as when my mother was rapping to Eminem but that is another story.
Even though some users could use Facebook to a more full extent I think depending on what stage of your life you are in you use Facebook differently. If anything users of different generations have different reasons for using Facebook. Facebook can be a very useful tool to keep up-to-date with "friends" but it can also in some people's minds be to personal. Sometimes it may show people information that you don't care for them to know. A person with Facebook often times has a more public life because of this tool.
Examining the Influence of Telepresence on Spectator and Player Processing of Real and Fictitious Brands in a Computer Game
1) Research topic and researcher(s):
Examining the Influence of Telepresence on Spectator and Player Processing of Real and Fictitious Brands in a Computer Game, by Nelson, Yaros and Keum. Journal of Advertising, (winter 2006), pp. 87-99.
2) Rationale of the study:
Advertisers have noticed that they have not been effective at reaching the male population with their advertising on TV. This study takes a look at how real and fictitious brands are recalled by both players and spectators.
3) Literature review:
• In the past there have been studies that have shown how media context influences individual, subjective mental states of embedded commercial messages.
• Past research has yielded results of a positive relationship between telepresence and advertising effectiveness.
• The definition of telepresence is: The impression of being present at a location remote from one's own immediate environment. “Transported into a virtual mediated environment.”
• Telepresence is measured by six things – social richness, realism, transportation, immersion, social actor, and medium as a social actor.
• The two parts of telepresence includes: departure and arrival.
• Interaction is the greatest way to create telepresence; however, all media can create it.
• Because of the interaction level it is important to look at games. It allows for a greater interaction than a movie or a television show. The game allows a person to control perception by controlling point of view.
4) Research method:
These researchers created a case study using a racing video game. They also analyzed the recall of both the player of spectator of real and fictitious brands using a questionnaire.
5) Subject of the study:
This study included 63 video game players which consisted of 45 males, 14 females, and 4 people left their gender undisclosed. These participants were ranging in age from 18-30. All in all this study was about real and fictitious brands and how players and watchers were able to recall the brands.
6) Research finding:
During this research it was found that the spectator recalled more of the fictitious brands than the player. However, this was a very limited study because it only focused on racing games. More genres need to be tested to see if these results are constant or if they only apply to racing games. Also, the researchers could have tried to have a more consistent exposure time; they did not record the number of laps that each player completed. This was a good starting point but more needs to be done.
7) My position on this scholarly essay
This article is somewhat clumsy and at times can be hard to read. It is hard to take this study as a good example because of the lack of participants. I feel as if they could have included more people into this study and it would have made the results more concrete. Also, this study was only limited to one genre of games and it was a racing game. It would have been interesting to see other genres studied because there are many choices for consumers. In addition to the one genre they did not even keep track of how many laps each player completed. Therefore, you will have different exposure times for all the players and spectators which gives less validity to the varied results of peoples ability to recall the ads. Over, all it was a good start but I think there are many things that can be improved upon in further research that takes several aspects into further depth.
YouTube a New Medium
YouTube has been a thriving site for the past few years and was recently bought by Google. Using YouTube a person or a company can create something that millions of users will be able to see. YouTube is now an environment where T.V. shows can now release videos. An example of this cross over would be the Muppets. The Muppet Show was once a TV show that was made around different Muppet sketches. Now, users of YouTube can check out the Muppet Studio's Channel which has many skits that users can watch when ever they feel. This will give the audience a chance to view the skits when ever they would like without having to wait for a specific episode to air on TV. Also, these videos can be spread to others who have never experienced the Muppet Show. An example of how these videos could be spread is through Facebook. I had posted a video from the Muppet Studio Channel on my Facebook page which I thought others would like to see.
An example of a person creating a show on YouTube would be Philip DeFranco. He has gained a following of viewers by expressing his opinion on current news. Often times his view is skewed and one sided but it does provide entertainment. DeFranco is only one of many that have become popular through using Facebook as a medium. DeFranco and a few others have now come together with a company and now get paid to work on the VLOG's (Video Blogs).
An example of a person creating a show on YouTube would be Philip DeFranco. He has gained a following of viewers by expressing his opinion on current news. Often times his view is skewed and one sided but it does provide entertainment. DeFranco is only one of many that have become popular through using Facebook as a medium. DeFranco and a few others have now come together with a company and now get paid to work on the VLOG's (Video Blogs).
Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG)
There are many games that have been created within the last 10 years that create an environment where thousands of players can work together to achieve objectives and goals. This new environment is a place where people can forge new friendships. These are people that have often times never met each other in the real world. When looking at a game such as WoW (World of Warcraft), which is now one of the most popular MMORPG, the relationships that are created can often times transcend the gaming community. I know personally people who play the game who have met up with other members of their clan. A clan is a group of people who get together because of common goals or ideas. It gives a user a sense of community while playing the game and in some cases may make the game easier. It is hard for me to talk about WoW because I am not a user of the game.
A game which is considered a MMOG, that I play, is Ikariam. It is a civilization game that allows you to build new cities, gather resources, trade, and attack other players. In this game you can either do things by yourself or with the help of an alliance. An alliance in this game is equivalent to a clan in WoW. I have chosen the route of joining an Alliance. Not only did I join an alliance I decided to create an alliance. This alliance has 20 members and we are ranked 32 out of several hundred alliances. In this alliance relationships are not only made with members of our own alliance but also the other players of the game. There are several thousand players on the server that I play on. This Massively Multiplayer Game gives you the chance to meet and interact with thousands of players. The relationships created in this game may not be seen as valid to others. However, the relationships made in this game are just as real as a relationships which you might make with a classmate.
A game which is considered a MMOG, that I play, is Ikariam. It is a civilization game that allows you to build new cities, gather resources, trade, and attack other players. In this game you can either do things by yourself or with the help of an alliance. An alliance in this game is equivalent to a clan in WoW. I have chosen the route of joining an Alliance. Not only did I join an alliance I decided to create an alliance. This alliance has 20 members and we are ranked 32 out of several hundred alliances. In this alliance relationships are not only made with members of our own alliance but also the other players of the game. There are several thousand players on the server that I play on. This Massively Multiplayer Game gives you the chance to meet and interact with thousands of players. The relationships created in this game may not be seen as valid to others. However, the relationships made in this game are just as real as a relationships which you might make with a classmate.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)