#robynprins

I recently discovered that three of the shows I’ve been watching are going to be cancelled by The CW, The Carrie Diaries, The Tomorrow People, and Star Crossed. In watching these shows I’ve become attached to the characters. I still want to know if Carrie and Sebastian can ever make it work on The Carrie Diaries. But alas, I’ll never know. However, in Siegel’s reading he investigated predictive technology and the ways in which it was possible due to big data. In the entertainment industry this predictive technology is used in order to, predict the success of a film or TV series, the audience it will resonate with, and how much revenue it will draw. In order for content to be made this predictive technology would have indicated a success. So, if success was predicted, why did my shows get cancelled? 

Due to Web 2.0 significant changes have already occurred within the film and TV industry. Producers of content are relying more upon audience opinions. Big data gives these producers access to these opinions and thus allows them to make decisions based upon what the audience wants to watch. In some cases, as with House of Cards, the producers have used comments and responses from other shows to create original content which embodies the themes, ideas and concepts which have garnered a positive response (IndieWire 2014). The correlation of big data further allows producers to learn what specific scenes people are looking at. They can use this information in future projects to combine the strong ideas and create content which further speaks to their audience. The big data allows the production companies to see where and who their audience is. This again, enables them to better target their audience (Sinz 2013). Finally, multi-screen entertainment is becoming more popular. Whilst watching TV an individual will most likely have a second screen in front of them. Production companies are aware of this change and so encourage individuals to interact with the content across these different screens. Big Brother is an example of this as people are encouraged to tweet whilst they watch the show. Therefore they are interacting with both the televised show and the online twitter conversations (IndieWire 2014). 

With all this information available to producers it makes it easier for them to see which types of shows and films will become successful. “That’s right, Hollywood is using big data to determine the best way to market, cast, and produce creative films and series that appeal to the masses.” (Idea to Screen 2014) When new content surfaces the predictive technology, which Siegel spoke about, has been used to determine whether audiences will respond to it. If it has been produced, then the research based upon big data has predicted it will be successful. Despite these predictions however, many shows are cancelled after a few episodes and many films still bomb at the box office. Siegel (10) explains that this is due to the fact that these predictions are just that, predictions. We have no real way to see what will actually happen in the future. Therefore, it happens quite often that shows or films will not deliver what was expected of them due to the inaccuracy of these predictions. 

References: 

Idea To Screen. 2014. “Big Data: Hollywood’s New Rising Star Is Influencing Creative Decisions.” Accessed May 11, 2014. http://www.ideatoscreen.com/big-data-hollywoods-new-rising-star/ 

IndieWire. 2014. “Infographic: Here’s How Big Data Is Revolutionising the Movie (and Music) Business.” Accessed May 11, 2014. http://www.indiewire.com/article/infographic-heres-how-big-data-is-revolutionizing-the-movie-and-music-business 

Siegel, Eric. 2013. “Introduction - The Prediction Effect.” In Predictive Analytics, 1-16. Hoboken, NJ:John Wiley and Sons Inc. 

Yes They Can

I first heard of Barack Obama during an English class when my teacher showed us the music video of Obama’s speech ‘Yes We Can’.  It is this speech in fact which many believe greatly contributed to his election win in 2008. It became a viral hit, and to date has over 50 million views (Edgar 2013). The more this video spread the more the public learnt about Obama and his political vision. 

The reading by Gladwell explains that political movements use social networking as a way to generate change within a political system. Gladwell states that, “The Internet lets us exploit the power of distant connections with marvellous efficiency.” Basically, the internet provides individuals with the ability to interact with a large amount of people online. This has provided politicians with the tools to successfully campaign their candidacy.  

Jerpi (2014) made the statement, “Creating a social media strategy for use during political campaigns has become an essential part of every candidate’s plan to get into office.” This is a notion which many politicians are aware of as more and more of them are using these new media tools to promote themselves and their ideals. (Top 5 Politicians on Instagram) Social media is a great way to do this as it helps to stimulate citizen engagement in political life. Politicians use social media as a way to communicate their policies to their potential voters. The way in which the internet works allows these messages to reach a larger audience at a faster rate. The participatory fashion of the Internet allows them to see reactions, feedback, conversations and debates around their policies, feedback which could strengthen their campaigns. The use of social networking also allows politicians to personalise themselves and reveal more about their individual personality. It is more likely for a person to vote for a candidate if they feel like they know them on a more personal level. (EPRS 2014) Finally, social media specifically involves the younger generations who would otherwise be uneducated on political happenings. 

Obama is a perfect example of a political figure using new media to promote himself, his polices and his vision for his country. His 2008 campaign was digitally driven, and since his election he has maintained his online presence. During his reelection campaign he joined Reddit and hosted an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session where he answered the public’s questions about his campaign. He appeared on Jimmy Fallon where the pair created a music video entitled Slow Jam the News which  further promoted his campaign. He’s shared personal photos online, involved his White House staff in a dupstep commercial  and has enlisted YouTube celebrities to promote his political policies (Luckerson 2014).  

In this new media age, social media sites would generate more traffic than an official campaign website. Obama understood this and integrated himself within new media technologies in order to garner more positive results from our digitally driven society. Looking to the success of Obama one wonders; if politicians used social media tools could they too reach a similar level of success? Well, in a rewording of the man himself, yes they can.

Reference List: 

Edgar, David. 2013. “Yes we can’ - Barack Obama’s lesson in American rhetoric.” Accessed May 4, 2014. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/04/barack-obama-lesson-american-rhetoric 

EPRS (European Parliamentary Research Service). 2014. “The role played by social media in political participation and electoral campaigns.” Accessed May 4, 2014.  http://epthinktank.eu/2014/02/12/the-role-played-by-social-media-in-political-participation-and-electoral-campaigns/ 

Gladwell, Malcom. 2010. “Small Change: Why the Revolution will not be Tweeted.” The New Yorker, October 4. Accessed May 3, 2014. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/04/101004fa_fact_gladwell?currentPage=all 

Jerpi, Laura. 2014. “Political Campaigns and Social Media - Tweeting Their way into Office.” Accessed May 4, 2014. http://source.southuniversity.edu/political-campaigns-and-social-media-tweeting-their-way-into-office-106986.aspx 

Who Reaps the Rewards of Your Success? 

In 2008 the video entitled Beached Whale was uploaded to YouTube by three Australian filmmakers. It quickly became popular receiving over 8 million views. The success of this video launched merchandise sales and spawned its own cartoon TV series on the ABC entitled Beached Az. (SunriseOn7 YouTube video 2010.) Without Web 2.0 these opportunities would not have been available to the creators of Beached Whale. The user-generated system of Web 2.0 makes it easy for individuals to publish their content and has lead to the success of various new media users. It can be said that Web 2.0 is there to purely benefit the individual.  

However, this week’s reading by Fuchs suggests that the large corporations offering these platforms for content publication are the ones really profiting from the success of an individual’s work. He likens Web 2.0 to that of a capitalist regime stating, “Users facilitate an ideology that celebrates capitalism and does not see how capitalist interests predominantly shape the Internet” (2013, 102). In order to understand this claim one needs to understand capitalism. The World Socialist Movement (2013) defines capitalism as a governmental system in which a country’s trade industry are controlled by private owners for profit rather than by the state. These private owners are known as ‘capitalists’ and they control the means for producing and distributing goods and services. Everyone else, the ‘working class,’ sell their ability to work in return for wages. The capitalists are essentially exploiting the working class much like, Fuchs suggests, the multimedia corporations are exploiting internet users. (2013, 102) 

Anyone who publishes their content on new media platforms are expressing their ideas for free. This can be likened to the capitalist system as internet users are ‘selling’ their work in order to receive the exposure new media companies can provide. However, Fuchs claims that even when content becomes popular it is still these companies that bring in the highest profit. This idea is especially evident in the way advertising revenue is distributed. Advertisers pay not the creator, but the company that allows the content to be distributed for advertising space. (Catherall 2013) The majority of the money made from advertising will go to the advertising or new media companies whilst only a small portion goes to the creator. Just like in a capitalist system the users are selling their abilities, whilst the ‘capitalists’ are earning the greatest profit. 

Most believe that Web 2.0 is a system which greatly benefits its users. However, Fuchs argues that Web 2.0 is a capitalist system that benefits solely the companies creating these portals for users to publish their content. So which argument is true? Quite simply, neither of them are. Yes, the new media companies make a larger collective profit from the successful content. However, individual users also draw in a personal profit from their successful content. Psy became internationally famous when his video for Gangnam style went viral, Jenna Marbles has a net worth of 2.5 million dollars (Celebrity Networth 2013), and YouTube user Lucas Cruikshank’s successful videos of ‘Fred,’ have landed him his own Nickelodeon show.  The users and corporations are both essentially working together in order to reap the rewards from the Web 2.0 system. Without one another, the other would be obsolete.

Reference List:

Catherall, Sarah. 2013. “How to make money from YouTube.” The Sydney Morning Herald. Fenruary 5. Accessed March 29, 2014. http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/how-to-make-money-from-youtube-20130205-2dv8l.html 

Celebrity Networth. 2013. “Jenna Marbles Net Worth.” Accessed March 30, 2014. http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-businessmen/producers/jenna-marbles-net-worth/ 

Fuchs, Christian. 2013. Chapter 5: The Power and Political Economy of Social Media. London: Sage Publications. 

Graham, Jefferson. 2005. “Video websites pop up, invite postings.” Accessed March 30, 2014. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2005-11-21-video-websites_x.htm  

SunriseOn7. 2010. “Makers of Beached Az tell all to Sunrise.” YouTube video, posted November 7. Accessed March 30, 2014. http://www.citewrite.qut.edu.au/cite/qutcite.jsp#harvard-online-video