Tasha Blog

*** What was the origin of the negative groundswell?

*** Did anyone enter into a digital death spiral because of the negative groundswell?     If so, who? Include a meme, tweet, photo, GIF, or image that lead to the     digital death spiral

*** Explain how the groundswell against the NFL passed the technology test (pages 36–37 in your textbook)

1.  *** “If you work for a media company, look out. Advertisers are shifting more and more of their money online.  The groundswell is creating its own news sites (like Google News or Digg). The very idea of news is changing, as bloggers jostle with journalists for scoops.  People take entertainment properties like TV shows and movies, rip them off the airwaves and DVDs, hack them, and repost new versions on YouTube or Dailymotion.”

(page 12, from Li and Bernoff’s Groundswell: winning in a world transformed by social technologies.)

John Stewart’s Daily Show eclipsed most of the News reporting from CNN.  Hours of cable coverage was always half the value of what the Daily Show offered.  I wouldn’t even know about news, until the Daily Show revealed the blundering misrepresentation of the Establishment’s media.  

The origin of the negative groundswell, in terms of the Internet, the Innernette, the #digitalimmigrant World Wide Web, it was a blistering storm.  The underground Internet multiplies the avenues for imprudent  and amoral paparazzi to display their daggers of indecencies, secrets, tabloids, crimes, violence and murder.

2. *** O.J. and Monica Lewinsky were groundswell forerunners.  The white Bronco reel rode the groundswell as television channels rebroadcast the footage and Youtube streamed it.

Monica Lewinsky speaks eloquently about the price of shame.  She dealt with the earliest versions of the groundswell.

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NFL and the Technological Test

**3. If you can’t beat ‘em…

“Amazingly, some businesses aren’t eroding away, trying to fight the groundswell … Things happen rapidly.  But the first step to understanding the groundswell is to dip a toe in it.” (Groundswell page 13)

“And once you’ve done that, you can begin to see where your company can, potentially, gain some advantage.” (Groundswell page 14)

3.*** The groundswell against the NFL passed the technology test because it connected people together in new ways, via social networking.People were able to express their immediate opinions as fast as a text through mobile phones.  Effortlessly, people can sign up for Twitter and mirror every positive NFL post with an equally negative anti-fan commentary.  The power is shifted from the institutions, and the institutions are thus required to address concerns that they had not intended.  Regarding the NFL, movies have been made (regarding football hazards and safety concerns) and those health hazard awareness has stirred football, from professional to young Varsity players.  The content is sustained by fans, critics, gossip seekers, fantasy league gamblers, and professionals involved with nothing but NFL life.    But there’s hope.  The NFL can evolve its branding, and having social and worldly concerns can only benefit more people.  The impact of small tragedies can spread multitudes of dollars and interests, whichever is more important.  The dollar.  Or a human’s sports-entertained human interest.

I believe I, like most millennials, fall under the category of Digital Native (though I think most of us likely have some elements of both). Having been born in 1992 (which makes me 23), computers, technology, and social media have been an important part of my life from a relatively young age. Beginning with Myspace back in the mid-2000s, I have been using social media in various forms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Snapchat, etc.) since I was 13. Even before that, I would play online games (like NeoPets and World of Warcraft), where users could interact to some extent.

Talking to my parents and other Digital Immigrants, I get the impression that new technologies and digital platforms can feel a bit overwhelming, or even intimidating, at first. For me, I have always enjoyed exploring and learning the ins and outs of new social media sites, apps, games, and other digital platforms. I suppose it’s not intimidating to me because I grew up with it. To me, these technologies represent opportunity and advancement; they have opened up the world in complicated, yet transformative and remarkable ways.