An Awesome Blog [Media Meditation 4]

For spring break, I travelled to Nicaragua with a group of 5 classmates for a service trip. Everyone in the group has great attitudes. A positive bunch, because attitude gets you a long way in life. Being back in the United States, we like to share with each other things we "StumbleUpon" that are positive, or quotes, or even cute pictures of kittens. Basically, anything that will make the others smile, we will send along.

Last week, my friend Dave sent the group this link with the following message, "So I stumbled upon this the other day and I thought you would all really appreciate it. Thanks for being amazing guys, every one of you!" The link is of a children's book that you can read online called An Awesome Book of Thanks! by Dallas Clayton.

An Awesome Book of Thanks is truly awesome. Everything about it is wonderful, from the art to the message. I love it so much that I want to analyze it for a media mediation.

First, I suggest that you read the book. Second, I suggest you watch this video that the author, Dallas Clayton put on YouTube.



I am going to base my observations off from the book, when I dive into the power tools.

Brain:
The limbic brain is definitely engaged. The book is full of colorful, unique pictures. It takes a while to soak in all that is on each page.

The neocortex is also engaged while reading the text.

Shifts:
This is an aesthetic shift. The book can be read online AND purchased online.

It is also a personal shift. Because this can be read online, people have the opportunity to share it with others, like my friend Dave did. I am now sharing it with you. It is no longer a single item novelty, that in book form, I would have to pass around to my friends.




Principles:
Production Techniques were used in the web-showing of the book. It scrolled horizontal instead of vertically, which made it seem like you were flipping the pages of the book, instead of reading it on the Internet. Another production technique was the cohesive art and font for the book. They all went well together, and each page you could tell that they came from the same book.

"Reality" Construction/Trade-offs were also used in this book. A line in the book says, "because thank you's are what make this whole world keep spinning." This makes me think of the ideals of the world- that there are a lot of bad things that happen, but because of the good things, we keep moving along.

Emotional transfer is a large part of this book. The images invoke a certain emotion, because of the cute-childish characters. It is a children's book, but I think it appeals to an adult aspect as well. The book reminds us of the simple things in life and of times that were simpler, like our childhood.

Persuasive Techniques:
Repetition. The first few pages of the book the line's start off as "there didn't use to be..."

Flattery. "and friendly folks in every state, thanks to them they're all so great." Makes everyone in the United States feel important, and great. Another line that uses flattery is, "I say "thank you" to you just for being yourself. Yourself's as important as anything else."



Warm Fuzzies: The animals and the furry creatures.

LaLa Land [Media Meditation 3]

I like blogging about blogs. One of my favorite blogs is StoolLaLa, written by a worker named Jenna from Barstool Sports.

The blog is a compilation of everything wonderful about the Internet. StoolLaLa mainly contains YouTube videos that have gone viral, or go viral because of the blog. Under each YouTube video, Jenna writes her own personal reaction to the video. She is sarcastic, straight forward, and hilarious.

She also creates her own YouTube videos each Wednesday, and has a vlog channel.

Here are three of my favorite videos she has created:







Now, to dive into the Power Tools...

The Brain:
This blog appeals to the limbic brain because of all the videos. It's a very visual based blog. It also appeals to the neocortex because of how Jenna analyzes the videos.

Shifts:
StoolLaLa uses several different shifts. First, it is an aesthetic shift. The blog is a perfect example of convergence on the Internet. It takes outside items, like YouTube videos, and puts them all onto one place. The website also represents the company Barstool Sports, and has all the Barstool information on the blog.

It is also a personal shift. Personal shifts are about a medium going from personal to participatory. The blog is very interactive. Jenna actively recruites people to send her any tips about things on the Internet that need to be shared. You can reach her on her Twitter account, Facebook fan page, and through tips@stoollala.com.

This is also a technological shift. The blog is on the Internet, using videos from the Internet, connecting with people on the Internet.

Principles:

This definitely touches on individual meaning. It is from the perspective of one girl, but there is also a spot for people to comment on what they think. Not everyone is going to like a video, or analyze it the same way as the writer, Jenna, but they have a place to express their thoughts on the blog.

It is also an emotional transfer. The blog is very geared towards the limbic brain, and it is trying to get people to engage their emotions. Most of the videos are funny, or cute, so they make people laugh.

Persuasive Techniques:

Humor is the main persuasive technique used here. The blog text written about the videos are normally sarcastic and meant to be funny. The videos are almost always funny.

Beautiful people is also used. The girl who writes the blog also is a dancer and models.

In contrast, plain folk is also constantly used for this blog. Jenna has her masters degree, and is completely broke from paying off student loans. She makes this clear on an everyday basis. She also has a UStream on her blog, where you are essentially "hanging out" with her. On the UStream she does normal Friday night things, like playing drinking games with her friends. It makes her easy to identify with.



Photo Source

Project Censored: Is This Blog Safe?

Internet Privacy and Personal Access at Risk, a section in the book Censored 2011, talks about cyber security over the Internet.


Photo Source

Some of the initial facts that I learned from this section are:

-->Senate Bill 733, which is the Cybersecurity Act of 2009, allows the president to completely shut down the Internet in the state of a national emergency. It also gives him the power to "declare a cyber security emergency with respect to private computer networks, and to do with these networks what it deems necessary to diffuse the attack" (26).

-->“The 1008 FISA amendments also require electronic communication service providers such as AT&T and Verizon to “immediately provide the Government with all information, facilities, or assistance necessary to accomplish the [intelligence] acquisition,” while granting these companies retroactive and prospective immunity against civil suits, state investigations, and criminal prosecution” (27). The government does not need a warrant for this surveillance.

-->“In April 2009, the Obama Justice Department invoked the “state secrets privilege” to bar American citizens from suing the US government for illegally spying on them. It also went even further than the Bush administration by arguing that the US government is completely immune from litigation for illegal spying and can never be sued for surveillance that violates federal privacy laws” (27).



-->“As part of an effort to gather more “open source intelligence,” the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is investing in Visible Technologies, a data-mining company that analyzes the content of social media Web sites. Visible Technologies, which has offices in New York, Seattle, and Boston, was created in 2005, and in 2006 it developed a partnership with WPP, a worldwide communications firm. This company has the capacity to examine over half a million sites per day.” 28



-->“On January 30, 2009, IndyMedia, an alternative online news source, received a subpoena from the Southern District of Indiana Federal Court for the “IP addresses, times, and any other identifying information” of all the site’s visitors on June 25, 2008. IndyMedia was then prohibited from notifying visitors of this release of otherwise private and protected information because disclosure “would impede the investigation being conducted and thereby interfere with the enforcement of the law'”(28).

-->“The Obama administration is also currently working with a group of UN nations on the development of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), “a new intellectual property enforcement treaty” to prevent illegal downloading and copying of songs, movies, pictures, and other legally protected Web content. The new law is being developed in secrecy and might allow government access to personal content on hard drives thought to be in breach of copyright” (28).


Photo Source

-->“Company-issued laptops are also being monitored. Companies usually permit their employees to use such computers for personal purposes as well as for business. However, unbeknownst to the employees, all their private files (such as e-mails, photographs, and financial records_ are being inspected by company techs when the computers are brought in for upgrades or repairs. Consequently, anything the techs deem questionable can be disclosed to management. Further, if the company-issued laptop has a webcam, the employer can use it to eavesdrop on the employee, even if he or she is in the bathroom” (29).

There have also been cases of teachers and school administrators spying on children using school computers via webcam.