For my digital essay, I began with the idea that I might like to do something on journalism in the digital age, which is quite meta if you think about it. I started with the topic and began to gather data from there. In an attempt to match my project, I decided the medium would be an iBook. However, rather late in the process, I decided to change the medium to infographic for a couple of reason. 1. I thought the medium was more appropriate to the topic, and as it turns out, I think it worked quite well. 2. I’m also making an iBook for my capstone, and I’m quite okay not using anymore iBooks Author right now. 3. I really love graphics and design, and particularly enjoyed making ties for my little person.

So upon the decision to change my medium, I began to reformulate the data that I had collected. I needed more numbers now. Conveniently, I had found an article only the day before on NPR reviewing the State of the Media Report for 2012. It had all the numbers I needed, and so I decided to make it my main resource for data.

Then I started crunching numbers and began to think about the best way to present each little fact, particularly when there were lots of written sentences to be included, ones which I could not put in number form. Hence I created the little butler figure, who wears a bowtie, because he’s helpful. He tells you things you wouldn’t know otherwise.

I’m not sure what else to say. This was harder and much more time-consuming than I had imagined, but now it’s done, and I’m really happy with the result.

Enjoy!!

Also, a thank you and a citation to ThinkDesign Blog for the creation of the vectors that I used. Here they are http://thinkdesignblog.com/.

Well as it turns out, none of that is true. As this article on NPR states, some research by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism suggests that we (as a society of course) may be reading more news because we can read news all the time. As it turns out, “adults” actually use smartphones and tablets more for news than for Zynga. This research has the ability to both support and deny common myths about the effects of technology on our news consumption.

I think this article is important in a discussion about digital media, because it shows the importance of digital interfaces in accessing the news. Laptop and desktop computers are the most used for accessing news, but smart phones and tablets follow closely. Also, as it turns out, very few people actually go to Facebook or Twitter for news. These sources tend to supplement other news sources more than replace them.

My only question is about their definition of an “adult” for which they never state the age range. It would alter the impact of this data to know whether or not it includes college students. We probably do use more Zynga than news apps (hah, I really have no idea about that).

Here’s a blurb:

Speaking of class, that’s what I really wanted to talk about. I am offended when we are discluded from the group of Asians because it is just an unfair distinction. We work just as hard, achieve just as much, and are disliked just as sincerely for it! We will be your doctors and engineers one day. We will do your taxes. Yeah, sure, some of us will also be driving your taxis and working the night shift at the local Seven Eleven but hey, who better to get that slushie from?!

It was actually difficult to choose which section of this to highlight, but I finally decided. The snark and blatant use of stereotypes are just too good. The inclusion of the crazy asian mother video was also great, because I haven’t see it since high school. Turning brown asians in B-sians, which just encompasses a whole slew of jokes, is both memorable and funny. And India is indubitably in Asia.

The second notable post also concerns social criticism, but in a rather focused manner. Jabari’s blog focuses on stereotypes, inequality, and other such social injustices in his blog, “Who’s in the Fridge?” His writings include a lot of excellent points and observations about women in video games and comic books in particular. This is both something I’ve noticed and something I’ve read about and studied. I thought the post called “Pants are Overrated” was great.

Again, a blurb:

As a gamer and a nerd, it took all of my will power to remain in my chair instead of rolling around on the floor. If you have played a video game, looked at any video game art, or read a comic in the last few decades, you’ve probably seen this scenario play out. If the game or the comic is coerced, trying to appeal to its hormonal male fanbase, progressive enough to include a female character, she is automatically turned into a sex object. But this isn’t a new phenomenon; objectification is an ancient pastime. What makes the sexualizing of female characters more horrendous is the weak justifications the creators concoct to explain the need for every heroine to wear a thong or a push-up bra.

Jabari includes an entertaining clip that satirizes women’s clothing in video games and such. He talks about the visible problem at hand, but he goes further to talk about the really annoying thing that creators do: they lamely justify why women are so scantily clad. The real reason is sexual objectification, but they cite speed and agility. I particularly like the point he makes that The Flash and Spiderman are incredibly fast but wear full body suits. Really excellent.

Subject and slant: What do you want to write about? What argument do you want to make about, or perspective do you want to bring to, this topic?

I want to write about the role of journalism in light of digital media, the Internet, and changing perceptions of what a journalist does and who can become a journalist. My perspective will be that of a student about to graduate college and enter journalism school in pursuit of a Master’s degree. Without fully researching the topic, I do not know what my slant will be, but I think now that though anyone has the capacity to become a journalist, that not everyone has the ability to become a journalist. The Internet has increased accessibility, allowing people to more easily publish their work, but I do not think that every blog post, video, or photograph on the Internet warrants the designation of journalism.

Format: What will be the final form of your work? (Tumblr site, Prezi, YouTube video, iBook Author, etc.) Why is this an apt format for the kind of text you want to produce?

Right now, I’m leaning toward using an iBook for my project. I’ve been working with iBook for my capstone project as well, so I’m familiar with the program. I’m not totally set on this however, I think I’ll let the material I gather influence the medium.

Materials: What sort of research will your essay be based on? (Personal experiences, field notes, interviews, other texts?) Try to list at least four or five texts, persons, or events you know you will draw on.

I think my research will based on numerous things including: personal experiences, interviews, articles and other texts, and compiled data. I wrote an essay for my journalism school app to Northwestern addressing this issue, which I am planning to expand in this essay. I will use those sources, other articles I have collected on the issue. I also plan to interview people currently working in journalism. I will take info from bloggers as well as newspapers and online news sources to provide opinions in the field on the future of journalism.

Questions: How can I help you at this point?

Umm, not that I can think of at the moment. If I have a question, I’ll be sure to ask.

In a small coincidence, I got an iPhone 4S over spring break. I only specify type because it means I have Siri. I also, in yet another coincidence, asked Siri today, “Where are you?” Her oh-so-clever-and-witty response, which makes me and I have no doubt numerous other users wonder how she was programmed, was “Wherever you are, that’s where I am.” I think this response is the perfect example of what Gitlin’s article is about: nomadicity. Gitlin, referencing the pioneer of the concept, describes nomadicity as meaning “that wherever and whenever we move around, the underlying system always know who we are, where we are, and what services we need.” Siri, part of the underlying system, caters to our services and as she says, she is always with me. We can now ask our phones to cater to us in ways not possible before October 4, 2011 (her release date).

Gitlin wrote this article not too long ago, but it was before every phone had a built-in GPS, before Google and Facebook tracked our every move on the internet in order to specialize the ads we see and to guess our demographics (Google thinks I’m a 25-34 year old male), and before we had phones that could do the following: call, text, play games such as Words with Friends, Scramble, and Angry Birds, watch tv/video/games/etc, be a calculator and a compass and a calendar and a clock, play music, store photos, take photos, receive and send emails, take notes, remind us of to-dos, give us the news, tell us the weather, be a map, read books, video chat, and talk to you if you get lonely or lost. There are of course many more functions I could name, but who even cares at this point. If the iPhone, Siri and all, isn’t the perfect example and exemplification, in fact the total fruition of nomadicity, then I’m not sure what is.

Someone today told me to enjoy my iPhone, but to be careful. I was told, “It’s really just a toy.” Have we convinced ourselves of the necessity of all these gadgets simply to amuse ourselves? Is the iPhone really just a toy? Or do I need all those functions, wherever and whenever I move around? What is the utility of being able to play scrabble with 12 of my closest friends, my mother, and a variety of strangers at any time of the day anyway?

His test for this idea he had that we were more scrutinous was ridiculous though; is there any reason this guy would know Angelina Jolie? And does this prove that we’re more scrutinous, because the younger generation didn’t believe such nonsense.

I was however impressed by Tapscott. Given how much he talked about his children, I expected him to be clueless about the NetGen’s grasp on the world, but for the most part he’s right. He’s much more in tune than much of this book is anyway.

My questions are whether or not we see ourselves as increasingly scrutinizing? Do professors (Professor Harris?) see us this way? If yes, then why? What is it about the world that makes us such doubters? Is it just photoshop and all the lies people can easily spread on the internet? Or is there more to this idea?

One good example is the iBook program. Apple has recently released iBook Author as well, which is like app development for their iBook app. The download is currently free because they need people to create a database. These programs don’t make use of the web so much as digital technologies in general. You can watch a video of the program in action here, and I can show you a nifty one about The Beatle’s Yellow Submarine in class if you’d like.

More in accord with the assignment, I found something called Scalar which is a platform for presenting scholarly papers with multimedia tied in. I found these pretty interesting set of essays that were created using this platform. They incorporate photos and mostly videos the enhance the scholarly article experience.

1. Are we, the generation of digital natives, somehow sacrificing every single sociable skill humanity has developed by being digital natives?

It seems to me that each of the digital immigrants (as they were all immigrants) writing these essays believed that the younger generation was going to morph into a society of people who live by themselves and only communicate through abbreviated text message language. I suppose the exception to this would be online dating sites, which may find any one of us a companion of our choice. No one seems to remember that we, and those younger than us, still share the same basic instinct that makes people want to be together, to need other people around them. Sure, we text while we’re together in the same room, but usually only as a convenient way to not say something out loud. I am rather curious as to what my peers think on this subject because though I have no reference for comparison, I think we’re becoming more social considering that we are constantly in communication with one another.

I think this issue of social skills arose most in the last essay, “Your Brain is Evolving Right Now.”

2. My generation, the students in this class, what are we?

I think we’re digital natives, but also not really. In Prensky’s first essay, “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants,” I think we fall into the category of digital natives because we do things like immediately refer to google for the answer to all questions. On the other hand, I have some friends who don’t do that. I also prefer to print out my readings and read hard copies whereas my same friend who doesn’t immediately go to google (though he has an iphone and an ipad) reads all his texts digitally. We are both in and out of the digital natives definition in oddly personal and quirky ways, yes?

I posted a short comment in which I just shared my thoughts about the story. One being that lard is unhealthy and only contribution to America’s obesity problem. The second was that I don’t think lard as an ingredient is going to come back strongly because of the growing prevalence of vegetarians and vegans. I tried to use Johnson’s voice to “keep it simple” and “be clear” when writing my comment. I read a lot of news stories online, and I find that if the comment is too long, I won’t read it, even if it could be interesting. My comment was also recommended by two other readers, which is not a lot, but it heightened my awareness that people had read what I had written.

The first, “Mute Gingrich,” is quite a wonderful example of choosing the right word, which I think includes the use of literary devices such as punning. Since puns are probably my favorite literary device, I was hooked, even though I’m tired of reading about Newt, Mitt, Rick, and Ron. As it turns out the article heavily discusses the ethics of Romney’s campaign and the effects it has had on Gingrich’s bid in Florida, not that you would gather as much from the title. I suppose in this case, Johnson’s point of “Be Clear” seems to conflict with using ambiguity.

The second headline, “Is Polygamy Really So Awful?,” actually turned out to be about polygamy being nothing other than awful. According to research by the University of British Columbia, society has evolved away from polygamy because it has social repercussions. Apparently one man having three wives doesn’t actually work. Back to the point however,  the title of this article aims to push buttons by taking a delicate and normally frowned-upon social issue and insinuating that it could be acceptable. That pushes button and ambiguously presents the content of the article. Most notably, this headline is the perfect example of “Say the Wrong Thing.” Touchy, uncomfortable issue as perfectly acceptable societal choice = wrong thing.

Considering that I am personally in love with the type of witty headlines and one-liners Slate uses to introduce and begin articles, I think I will try to take these exact methods and use them in my own writing. My first blog post is called “Have you have had a burrito that was chubby?” I could have said the wrong thing more blatantly, but didn’t want to offend. I happened to have a lot of material to work with, given that the name of the restaurant I visited was Chubby’s Tacos. Either way, I used ambiguity in naming my post, and thank you to the owners, but I think chubby was a nicely chosen word.