I really enjoyed our class discussion especially with the online edition. But, class discussion was about creating story worlds that play out across multiple media platforms. There were more pro than cons because true fans enjoy have another outlet to their favorite show or movie. It also fit in today’s era because the internet play a big role in how people watch movies and television shows. Everyone these days are watching shows online, tablets, and smartphones. But there could be some cons to this too like people getting less information. For instance, if you liked the Walking Dead and were watching the webisodes or other shows and didn’t watch season 1 then you may not know everything that’s going on. Another con could be more money/funding needed up front. Also, will need to find co-collaborators/authors/ etc. But, I feel the pros outweigh the cons because when there are loyal fans of a show or movie, having the money or support wouldn’t be a problem. I feel that transmedia will and has been more common than in a niche. Simply because everything is always dealing with the internet. Maybe in the near future it will be in the niche and something better will take over.

Over the years mainstream  media outlets have had a major influence over political elections. You can basically tell which candidate or political party a network supports by the number of positive and negative ads that are run for each candidate, by the type political talk shows that they air ,and the by number of negative stories they present for each candidate. These media outlets are suppose to stay neutral but their programming tells a different side.

Four years ago television and cable networks and major newspapers served as my information station to politics. I  viewed each major news station and read many articles about the different candidates in order to educate myself on each individual.  I watched  the debates, when I chose my candidates I received emails, joined their social websites. I stayed glued to the television on election night. when ever I  However, this election I was too busy to keep up with my normal avenues.

Most of my information came from twitter and facebook feeds.  I  occassionally watched the news.  I saw clips from the debates and I read a lot of political blogs.  I pretty much had my mind made up on who I was voting for before the candidates were announced. I preferred not to listen to the normal battery that candidates put the potential voters through.

I did meet a lot of new voters who used social media to gain information on the candidates. I noticed that there was a huge push to get people out to vote.  On just about every post on my news feed some one was posting about a candidate or a political party.  On the day of the election it seemed as if everyone was posting about the election. 

 One of the media outlets stated that social media was effecting the way people were voting. There were a lot of post urging people to stop posting about politics because their candidate appeared to be losing. At that point social media had no influence on the outcome because the voters had already made up there mind on who to vote for and had already voted.  

 People generally will vote how their parents vote. Social media has given new voters an opportunity to investigate and educate themselves  and make their own decisions.

I have missed A LOT of day of class. I was really skeptical about the guest speaker. I really enjoyed myself. Kerry Williams is over the I <3 Memphis blog.

This blog is her baby. She created this blog from scratch. I found it very interesting how much time goes into blogging. Even though, she spends majority of her time NOT IN HER OFFICE. It sounds like a pretty easy, funny job. I’ve heard about this blog before just word of mouth. I never really just took time and look at it. Its really an interesting site. I love the idea of every week she post
‘5 Things to Do Around Memphis’ . I live in Memphis, and everyday I’m trying to find something to get into. She has this formula of how she picks it:
1. Big Thing
2. Kid Friendly – all ages can enjoy
3. Music
4. Something people wouldn’t normally do
5. Something she wants to do.

She uses this free site called Google Analytical Metrics. It measures everything on the site. How cool is this? Surprisingly a lot of her traffic comes from New York. She lost a lot traffic when Hurricane Sandy and because of the election.
A lot of her traffic comes from (in order):

1. Google Search
2. Twitter
3. Facebook
4. Direct Traffic
5. Changes from corporate

– She’s starting to she a lot of traffic coming from traffic.

She offered some tips about starting a blog ABSOLUTELY  no politics, crime , or cursing. Be honest about places, not rude. There is a difference.

Politics are everywhere this time of year for better or worse.  Whether you are a political junkie or could care less it has been a big part of our lives over the past 3 or 4 months.  For me, where I have noticed the most political content in new media is on Twitter and Facebook. I think this is a good thing for democracy, even if some voices aren’t the most educated or politically correct.  Any way more voices can be heard it is a good thing in the advancement of democracy, and social media outlets offer that.  A good example of the way social media and pop culture can effect politics was the Arab Spring, when many ideas and experiences were shared through social media and lead to gatherings and protests which greatly affected the political landscape of the Middle East.  Overall I think pop culture and in particular social networks are a great way for us to all have a voice and for us to progress and try to give value to peoples points of view no matter if they are a part of real media or involved in government.

The 2008 election was a Facebook campaign and this year twitter and facebook played major roles in the presidential campaign of 2012. President Obama won and a statistic came out that his campaign out tweeted Governor Romney’s campaign by a ratio of 8 to 1. Ms. Markman showed us a chart and people at 30 and under age wise had the higher percentage of those who were participating in some way during the presidsential campaign on social media sites, the only percentage where young voters were not a higher percentage was verbally telling others to vote. I had to work on election day from 2pm-10pm and I was able to keep up with everything that was going on via facebook and twitter. From Romney’s early 19-3 lead to when President Obama began to surge and went up 244-193 and I believe I stopped after The President won Ohio. I tried to look at official websites, but Twitter and Facebook were the most accurate, so I didn’t miss a thing. I am sure people with phones far better than mine were able to use Fox News on their phones, but my facebook on my Cricket phone served me just fine. Social Media, I believe will be a major asset for presidential campaigns from now on, and I say that with much confidence.

Its seems this years election lacked in pop culture influence but definitely not in commericals. I have not had  time to watch much TV in the weeks that led up the election but I did notice that both candidates did not make as many television appearances as pervious candidates. From what i read Obama was on the both letterman and Jay leno and even late nite with Jimmy Fallon. He aslo made an appearance at an MTV Forum on the 26th of October. Romney made an appearance on live with kelly and Michael (which i forgot was still around) in September and cancelled his arrival with his wife Ann Romney to The View. Both Obama and Romney seem have appealed to somewhat random viewers. Obama appeals to more by being on both various late night talk show that range in age and Romney seems to appeal to who ever still watches live and kelly and Michael. I  didnt see the TV pazazz this year. Where were the SNL appearances? or Obama playing basketball? or Mitt Romney body boarding with big bird? I just didnt seen the usual use of tv appearances by political candidates.

The main outlets from which I receive my information on politics are Facebook, The Daily Show (which is not a terrible source if you’re a democrat), bits and pieces of debates and speeches I catch, and obnoxious rants I hear from my friends.  I guess I could say SNL, but they focus way more on exaggerating the flaws of politicians than presenting political matters.  SNL is more like the songified version of the first debate.  They are both purely for comedic purposes.  Although this election, SNL has seemed to hit Romney way harder than they did Obama.  From what I could tell, it seemed like every celebrity I saw that stated who they were supporting was supporting Obama.  I don’t really know what that means, but I just thought it was interesting.

When it comes to a person’s view on politics, I do not think anyone’s views will be easily swayed by anything they are exposed to unless they are starting out completely neutral.  I especially think any discussion about politics online or any exposure to political views and reasoning behind them online will not sway a person’s views because politics are very personal.  This is especially true with young people.  Whatever helps “you” the most is what you are going to be behind.  For most people who follow politics, it’s about what will help them in the long run instead of what is best for the country as a whole.  This is at least what I have noticed on Facebook and Twitter.  There are people who supported Obama because he is for student loans, and there are people who supported Romney so their tax money does not go to the healthcare of the jobless.  Both of these are relevant issues, but those are the main things that certain people look at.  Then there is the completely radical side where people are talking about leaving the country because Obama was elected again, and that we are going to be in a depression now even though we are already in one.  For me, politics on the internet is obnoxious to say the least.

The readings from this week have really made me think about new media’s role in politics. I actually thought about something we talked about in my other social media class earlier in the semester. We were basically questioning whether or not Twitter and other social media really lead to action for causes. In order to answer this question, though, I thought back to some basic principles that I learned in my advertising, marketing, and public relations courses. It is commonly taught that you can change a person’s awareness, attitude, and actions. However, making a person aware of something is a lot easier than changing or neutralizing a person’s attitude or getting him to actually do something. So taking that into consideration, I came to the conclusion that not everyone is going to be motivated enough to turn his online support into offline support. I do think some people convert their support for a cause online to offline, but I think that new media is best used for creating awareness of causes and potentially changing people’s attitudes. But achieving action is still going to be hard no matter what. I think this would hold true for the election as well. I mean, it’s one thing to like a candidate on Facebook or even tweet “#voteObama,” but unless you actually go out and vote, your support doesn’t convert from online to offline. The only thing that doing either of the two things above would possibly do is encourage someone else to vote either for or against Obama. One other reference that I thought about when reading this week was one of the papers that was presented at the social media conference I attended at Howard University. The paper looked social media in the 08 presidential election in relation to African American support online and offline. This study concluded that online support did not equal offline support. This was on a micro level though, so perhaps on a macro level it would. I haven’t ventured into any other research involving this, so I don’t know offhand. But regardless, I think new media is commonplace in politics now, but whether it is pivotal in motivating people to action is a different thing all itself.

Today’s discussion was very interesting. We discussed how the media plays a big role in politics and today’s election. As this being my first time voting, I didn’t keep up with the debate or any other information on the election. I used sources such as Facebook, Twitter,and other social networks to keep me informed. With my generation and social media being the voice of today, I believe pop culture has a lot to do with how to get people involved or get information out much quicker.

38% Twitter users “like” political or social issues and 35% social media users use to encourage people to vote. Every election differs and this is the year where pop culture and social networks play a huge role in the election. You hear rappers, actors, and other famous people endorsing someone and trying to persuade a person to vote for who they are electing. I feel you should inform yourself first before just electing somebody because Denzel Washington say so. You should exercise your right to vote whether you chose anybody or turn in a blank ballot.