Agriculture using "live activism" aka social media

Last weeks class discussion about how social media may or may not be a form of live activism triggered my thoughts about a real good example. But first I believe it is important to know where I stand in the grand scheme of things. For me, I agree with the Biz Stone way of thinking and that there is not a division between social media and activism. However, it is more of an evolution from traditional activism or “keeping up with the times.” Live activism is great stuff and we like it even more because it is happening instantly.

About a week or two ago Yahoo! published a pretty controversial article titled: College Majors That Are Useless. The article states the #1 useless degree being Agriculture. When I first read it I had to refresh the page to make sure I was reading it correctly. For me this was a big slap in the face and I was certainly irate within a matter of .30 seconds. Prior to Ball State I acquired my Associates Degree in Agricultural Business from Morrisville State College of New York. I am very passionate about American Agriculture especially it has been in my family roots for as long as we can trace back. YOU should care about this issue because without Agriculture you wouldn't have the food you probably just ate, or the clothes you are wearing, or better yet that cup of coffee sitting next to you. Agriculture should be the #1 most U S E F U L degree and to read more check out the links to the articles throughout this blog post. 

By the time I read the end of the Yahoo! article I had already shared it on Facebook, Twitter, and emailed it to several of my friends and texted thirty friends on my smartphone about it. I then begin to read my Facebook stream and found out I wasn’t alone…many of my friends had already started commenting and the media was buzzing!

Within a day hundreds of Agricultural related business’ and Universities began chiming in trying to reverse the bad PR for Agriculture. For example Purdue University put of some great press. Even the Government had positive things to say about the importance of Agriculture education.

In my opinion this is an excellent example of live activism. Those involved in the industry (which should be every human) began advocating for Agriculture education from a lousy, and rather embarrassing article written by some ignorant, uneducated, city guy in an office copywriter who has never even set foot on a farm is just trying to reach his or her word count so they can get paid for an article like this. This is probably partially to blame on the fact that sites like Yahoo! don't curate their content–they just want page views. 

Check out some of the articles, blogs, and vlogs in response to the awful article Yahoo! published:

The Importance of Agriculture

An Open Letter to Terence Loose on the Future of Agriculture Careers

Yahoo's 'College Majors That Are Useless...Really?

Commentary: Yahoo, please don’t mess with the goat ropers

No limits to the value of an agriculture degree

        

Friends + Money

I love watching Friends, and the series is one of the first examples I thought of when reading about the Marxist perspective when analyzing texts. As Dr. McCaulliff pointed out in class, we see the cast of Friends living in “kick-ass” apartments in New York City; however in reality, people with the jobs that they have would be close to roughing it and would not be able to live like our Friends do. We usually find them with lots of downtime hanging out at Central Perk or in each other’s apartments, whereas in reality, these guys would barely have anytime in between the numerous jobs they would have to hold just to afford their rent. Granted, almost all of the casts’ jobs leave room for advancement. For example, Rachel gets a job as a buyer for Ralph Lauren, and then gets an offer for a job in Paris. Maybe then Rachel would be able to actually afford her Friends lifestyle in real life.

While Friends may enable us as the viewers to assume that their lifestyle is typical, they have acknowledged the Marxist perspective outright. In the fifth episode of Season two, Chandler organizes Ross’ birthday. Part of the celebration includes tickets to a Hootie and the Blowfish concert. Rachel, Joey and Pheobe who don’t make enough money to spend $62 each on Ross’ birthday get frustrated when the rest of the gang wants to go out and spend money on fancy dinners and concerts. I would say that Friends usually follows the preferred Marxist perspective because they rarely talk of class. However, I think that this particular episode could be considered inflected oppositional because it touches upon the issue of money and material possessions, but is still a little off in their portrayal of class. I may be wrong about this classification. 

Embedding was disabled, but this link shows the discussion between Rachel, Pheobe and Joey about being able to afford Ross’ birthday. I apologize for the subtitles. :)  

Have We Become the Anti-Neighbor?

In the spirit of discussing avoiding human interaction by an array of means, via cell phone, music, etc. I have made the connection between not only people who are exposed to these means daily, but how it affects us at home and in our neighborhoods. I remember a time growing up where I knew my neighbors names, birth dates, hobbies, even the pass-code to their garage opener; we were that close. Growing up the neighbors around me served as possible guardians, friends and people that we shared our daily lives with just because we lived next door. Since my parents have divorced, they have moved to separate houses, and I along with them have also moved. With this move, I couldn't help but notice how neither one of my parents knew anyone that lived next door to them. When I asked them, "well did you meet the neighbors?" They both replied with, "No, I was too busy to do that." How could this be? Have they let the 'hustle and bustle' of their work and personal lives get in the way of being a neighbor or a friend to someone who lives just a few short feet away? This sparked my interest and to my surprise, I was not alone in this thought. A study done by two students at Syracuse University have discovered that social media has indeed replaced the need to act neighborly towards people. With the growth of social media, people have taken advantage of the convenience  of having anyone they have ever known, and by extension wish to know, on their social media devices. It is a sad, but quickly evolving truth that we are losing the ability to act as a neighbor. It pains me to think that one day people may actually watch shows like "The Flintstones" or "Home Improvement" and think, Wow! People actually used to talk to each other in person.

Study Guide--Exam One

Hey Folks!  You can find a (traditional) copy of this document on blackboard but here is the study guide for exam one. Feel free to put any questions you may have over Twitter--be sure to use the hashtag #bsupop! Happy studying!

COMM 322

Study Guide: Exam One

·         The tension in being “addicted” to a popular culture artifact

·         Rhetoric’s bad rap

·         History of rhetoric

·         Rhetorical criticism

o   Definition

o   Explanation of your job as critics

·         What is popular culture and how do we study it

o   Assumptions of scholars who study popular culture

·         Key vocabulary words

o   Ideology/hegemony

o   Rhetoric

o   Rhetorical criticism

o   Rhetorical situation

o   Culture

o   Mediated Popular Culture

o   Text

·         Rhetorical perspectives/methods

o   New-Aristotelian

o   Narrative

o   Dramatist

o   Marxist

o   Feminist

§  You should be able to tell the difference among these perspectives

§  You should be able to analyze a text through each of these perspectives and know what types of things the perspective would attune to

·         Media

o   Assumptions of scholars who study media

o   What does it mean to say the media is a site of struggle

o   Difference in mediums

o   Media-centered perspective

o   Parasocial Relationship

o   Media Logic

o   Cultivation Theory

·         Social Media

o   Choice between “live” activism and online activism (feminist politics and other examples)

o   Difference between Gladwell and Stone’s feelings about activism and how that links (or does not link) to social media

§  Your opinion (based in our readings) about who is right and for what reasons

o   Difference between social and alternative media and traditional/industrial media

§  You should be able to provide examples

§  EX—Japan coverage (and others)

o   Alternative media

§  Definition

§  Assumptions

o   Impact of social media on interpersonal relationships and critical thinking skills

§  Good and bad

§  Roiphe and Moore and Harmon (who argues what)

§  Texting

§  Social networking and intimacy and friendship

§  Short term thinking vs. long term thinking

o   The Power of Many

§  Changes that the internet has made on advertising

§  Examples listed in the article and your own

o   Twitter

§  Hashtags

§  Options

§  Pros/cons

§  Tie to general ideas about activism

§  Trending ideas

·         In general, a good way to study is to know the basic, definitional information about each concept and be able to provide your own examples to illustrate.  The test will ask you to provide examples AND identify examples. 

·         I WILL PULL EXAMPLES FROM THE CLASS BLOG so you would be wise to be caught up on your blog reading

·         I will provide a full breakdown of the test when we review in class but expect the test to be a blend of multiple choice, short answer, and at least one essay.  

Commodification of Apple products

So today in class, we discussed commodification. This is one of those things, to me, that everyone knows about, but we never really knew the correct term for it. Product placement = Commodification. Now we know. That being said, one thing popped into my mind when we started discussing this theory: Apple.

Now... I tend to be a product placement junkie, if you will. This, sadly enough, is one of my popculture obsessions. I will sit in a movie theater, and as soon as I see a product's brand name, I will lean over to whoever happens to be accompanying me and tell them that, Pepsi, let's say, was just displayed. Now that you all know about my obsession, there is something that everyone should know. Apple products, particularly Macbooks, are taking over in the product placement world. I can honestly say that in the past two/three years, I have MAYBE seen a dell or some other brand once or twice in a movie.

To me, this kind of relates back to the Marxist theory as well. Everyone and their mother, in film, have a Macbook and of course an Ipod. As much as I would like to believe that to be true, I know that most working class or middle class families can't afford to have pricey Apple products, much less for their whole family. I guess to wrap it up, I think that media logic, and specifically commodification, correlates directly with Marxist rhetorical perspective. And - I challenge you to watch a few movies and check out what brand their computer is!

Commodification in Sports

As I walked out of class on Tuesday, I wondered what I could write about in my first blog entry. I read Chapter 9, and as I strolled through the cold winter air on my way to the Arts and Journalism Building, it hit me. In less than a month, one of the biggest examples of commodification will start up once again. I am a huge sports fan. One of my favorite sports is auto racing, and for ten months out of the year, racecars take to racecourses all across America. I know what you’re probably thinking. I’m a redneck, right? Well at least hear me out for the next 250 words or so. Sponsors pay teams to put their name on the cars. This enables them to get their product advertised, both during the race and while the broadcast goes too commercial. For example, one may see a NAPA car on the track, and then, thirty seconds later, see a commercial for NAPA. This is also true of the IZOD IndyCar Series. There is even sponsorship in that series’ name.

Look at this picture and tell me how many examples of commodification you see?



I see 21 examples.


What about this picture?



You can see about 11 or so examples before the smoke starts to blur things out.
So in just two pictures, you can see 32 different company names. Imagine seeing a complete field of cars, with 30-40 company names going around the track for three hours during a race. There is a lot of commodification in sports, but no sport has more examples than auto racing.

Here are the links to the NASCAR picture and the IZOD IndyCar photo.

Impractical Jokers

My roommates and I have recently become addicted to truTv's new show Impractical Joker's. The show takes you into the wacky world of four middle aged dudes and their quest to complete some of the most hilarious jokes I have ever seen on television. Each episode offers four practical jokes that are often pulled on complete strangers in public areas and one final joke that must be performed by the character who performed worst in the other jokes. The characters are often told to say awkward things to unsuspecting victims via headset. Included below is a sample of what you may enjoy if you choose to turn into a new episode which airs each Thursday at 10p.m.

I was thinking about this show as I read chapter 9 in our reading packet. I realized that this show has many great examples of some unfamiliar concepts. First, commodification which I had always referred to as product placement is rampant in this show. The characters all are found using their Iphones and wearing Nike T-shirts. More obviously in the example above the characters are posing as workers at a White Castle. I usually despise commodification, as it generally appears tacky and intentional, but I think this show does a nice job of  slightly introducing products. Finally, this show has created a parasocial relationship between my friends and the characters on the show. We have all picked favorites, refer to them by first name, and sometimes even talk about the characters after the show. This is a new phenomenon for me considering I rarely watch television series. I hope you all have a chance to laugh your tail off when you see Impractical Jokers.

SDSU Basketball

So I have been thinking a lot lately about college basketball. My dad likes to send me links to things that are going on with SDSU which is the main team in college that I follow. The reason I follow a team that is rarely on TV here is because of the fact that both of my parents attended San Diego State University and I was born in San Diego, where I lived for 6 years. This background has a major effect on me and the sports teams I enjoy watching. One of the relationships I have with my dad involves sports and talking about them therefore it is a subject matter that I have loved since I was young. I was recently send a quote about the Aztecs by Andy Katz a sports analyst on ESPN.com - “I have said this before but it is worth repeating: I cannot get over the transformation at San Diego State. I’m not sure I’ve seen a program come from such depths to becoming a consistent national winner in front of a frenzied crowd that simply didn’t exist. The atmosphere at Viejas Arena for a big game screams through the television, and when in person is quite a sight to see. Steve Fisher will be challenged to get quality non-conference games once the Aztecs go to the Big West. The odds of a ranked conference team coming into Viejas will diminish once UNLV and New Mexico are no longer common opponents. But SDSU is attractive enough to command a national schedule now.” This makes me really proud of the team that use to be a non-competitor team from a no name school. Many people may not have even heard of SDSU but due to their evolving sports prowess they are becoming more widely know at least in the college sports world. 


I just recently watched an Aztec's game on TV last week against UNLV. This was a really big game that came down to a buzzer beater at the end. The feel from the players and the crowd at Viejas arena was one of extreme pride and love for the team and the school. In fact one of the players on the Aztec's created a rap for the season that aired before the game last week. Tim Shelton created the rap that not only showed off his skills as a rapper but also his knowledge of his school and teammates. The video featured the players on the Aztecs as well as members of the "Show" which is the student section at Viejas arena. 


http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger-college-basketball-blog/tim-shelton-shows-off-rap-skills-aztec-motto-204521802.html




The rap is not only written well but the production that had to go into creating the video was almost professional looking. Tim Shelton could have been done playing for the Aztec's since he graduated last spring but instead he decided to come back and play another season for the team he loved. Having a player so dedicated to his team shows the younger members what they should live up to. The rap video was created with a lot of help from fan's and other players. If it wasn't for the fans and players who helped make this video it wouldn't have been nearly as good as it was because it would have felt detached without the visual presence of the players mentioned in the rap. The dunking scenes were impressive as they involved skill and matched up to the words pretty well. One of the things I did not like about the video was the changing of colors at the beginning and within the video. It makes sense with the words but distracts me from what is actually going on. Something I think is impressive about Shelton is the fact that last season he also created a rap for his team. It was pretty good but not as good as the one for this season which means he is improving his rap skills. 

Examples of Good Blog Posts

I'll be passing out a couple exemplar blog posts in class.  But I also wanted to link you to a couple that use a lot of media that are better seen online.

Example One

Example Two

These are good examples due to the relationship to class material, the introduction of new ideas, and the mediated nature of the posts.  Please let me know if you have any questions!  Remember, we'll be doing a blog tutorial in class next week!

Happy Blogging!

Welcome!

Welcome to the class blog for the Spring 2012 COMM 322 course.

Each student is required to post 5 times throughout the semester.  Please don't forget to label your posts with your user name!  We'll discuss the blog in more detail during a class session.