Website

My website for this class is megbecker.com.

Convergence Culture

Convergence culture is the combining of different forms of media into one, creating an experience that is seamless rather than separate, where every part is necessary and is viewed as a whole rather than individual pieces. We don’t consciously think about going to the internet now; it’s just a part of our lives and it just happens. While the most active participant of convergence culture is white males from 18-34 with a disposable income, Jenkins is researching how this convergence culture will continue to expand outward from his initial understanding.

 Jenkins says, “consumption has become a creative process”, meaning that as we each take in media individually, we collect and are drawn to different fragments of the whole. Then as we discuss and communicate together, we build and combine these fragments to reinterpret the media and culture around us. Additionally, the Internet has given us ways to talk back and shape our culture, instead of just reading the newspaper and accepting what it says. That has translated into how companies are interacting with customers, causing them to reach out, listen, and engage instead of just using traditional marketing. Additionally, the more traditional aspects of marketing now draw attention to the interactive ones, as they all lead to the same place but are becoming increasingly integrated for successful campaigns.

Online Consumer Behavior

Yesterday I was procrastinating on Facebook, and I came across an article about American Girl dolls and the products that have gone “extinct”. The dolls that they don’t make any more are the historical characters and with specific storylines; now, a young girl would rather get a “look-alike” doll instead. This was really interesting to me, seeing how the toy market (and pretty much every market, clothes, tv, etc) is becoming more and more about customizing to the user, instead of mass-creating. Instead of being like everyone else, society is changing to celebrate differences, creating new niche markets every day. This is perfectly reflected in the Long Tail Theory.

My online consumer behavior definitely falls under “bargainer”. I always buy in bulk to get free shipping, and only if I can return items for free if they don’t fit or work. I rarely buy full price, and I also wait 24 hours before buying something to see if I really want it. The downfall is that sometimes I buy something even if I don't need it just because it's a good deal. A bit of being over compulsive sometimes costs me more in the end.

New Technologies Article

While researching for this assignment, I came across this article on Medium and I was instantly intrigued.

https://medium.com/@Aaron.Sempf/death-of-the-internet-ee5316b32101

Paul Butler was a Facebook intern in 2010, and offers an in-depth explanation of how and why the internet works and will soon be replaced. He also how this change is going to effect us and how we are actually causing it. It was such an interesting article to me because of the concept of "flooding" that he proposes will soon replace the Internet. "Flooding" allows faster, safer, and more efficient data transfer, particularly between multiple devices. This, he says, is soon going to replace the internet, allowing us to become even more effortlessly connected. While much of this article is technical, it is still an important read to gain practical insight into how our technology, and in turn, our communication works, because without understanding that, we can't understand the core of our communication across these platforms.

Blog Post 2

I agree with Metcalfe's Law the most out of the laws we studied in class on Tuesday. Metcalfe's Law states that the value of a telecommunication's network is proportional to the square of the number of connected users of a system. This means that with every new member of a network, the connections are multiplied dramatically. While this was originally formulated for devices rather than people and the formula does not take into account differences between people and levels of contact, I think it is a good law. Even if the connections made between people are as simple as being introduced, these networks are useful when applied to social networks such as LinkedIn, and are better than never having made the contact at all. I have also found that initial connections tend to grow and become more meaningful, and this law is a black and white foreshadowing of that process.

In five years, I think communication will continue to integrate. In the final season of Parks & Rec, the producers poked fun at this idea with holographic touch-screen phones, tablets, and watches. While I think this might be a little extreme for five years down the road, I definitely think that technology and its roles will continue to merge and be all connected, making communication even faster and even more of a constant. I think this will happen with social media platforms as well so that instead of having so many separate ones we will just rely on a few all-purpose methods.

Reading 1

Reading this article gave me a significant case of deja vu. I made my first blog when I was in middle school, a technology-savvy version of a journal. But the creation of the blog wasn’t just for me, it was to keep up and create a network with my friends who had a similar idea. While Myspace existed at this time, a blog was a more personal way for us to keep in contact and share our thoughts rather than just viewing each other’s profiles.Now, I’ve had ten different blogs - some personal, some for school.

I agree with everything the reading is saying about the benefit of blogs. They allow an outlet to share thoughts, recipes, experiences, whatever. The beauty is that you can get your thoughts out there for others to relate to, or just yourself. Either way, the gratification of publishing is there, and you can view it anywhere at anytime. And so can everyone else, bringing people from all over the world together over a common interest.  

The article does an excellent job of highlighting the everyday nature of blogs and their contents. Most blogs are relatable because they aren’t written by the rich and famous, they’re written by the “Average Joe”. And the Average Joe writes because he loves it or has a thought, and that thought influences someone else, and then the cycle continues, inspiring people to write about their lives or specific subjects. Blogging also gives people like Jack, Evan, Alan, and Vivian (examples from the reading) a place to practice their writing skills, giving them an interest and possible future writing for magazines. However, blogs don’t often function as interactive social media, because even if someone does comment on a blog, it tends to be one-sided. Rather, they have created their own niche in the internet world, filling the need to communicate and just express thoughts without expectations or need for anyone to respond. 

Regardless of why the blog is created or what the topic is, blogs are excellent ways of communicating and sharing thoughts and have many personal and social benefits.

First Post

This is a test for my Internet Communication blog!