Twitter and Poetry

This Monday, March 21st, the fifth anniversary of the first tweet. The trend has caught on tremendously since then and now, people are using tweets as a creative outlet, rather than updating their every move or the latest celebrity gossip. With one message being limited to 140 characters, many are using it as a challenge. Writers, especially, have been having fun with this feature. One in particular is John Wray, who tweets as a character named Citizen, and a trend of posting a haiku, or "twaiku" has been a popular movement. Recently,Week in Review asked four poets were asked to write a poem in the 140 character bracket of the twitter message including the hashtag, #poetweet.

Take A Vacation From Your Smart Phone

Reboot, a Jewish organization, has created a new app for smartphones that allows you to "check out" for a while. With the new app, called Sabbath Manifesto, Reboot encourages a one-day break from technology to remember our values and our family and friends that are around us. They plan to have a "National Day of Unplugging" on March 4th, 2011. Currently, the app is available for Android and Blackberry phones, and Reboot is awaiting approval for iPhone. After you download Sabbath Manifesto, you can send out a text and message to your Facebook and Twitter, notifying others that you are temporarily unavailable. While the group realizes the irony of "unplugging" by using an app, but the ability to send out a message to all your followers that you will be unavailable may encourage the "unplugging" trend. The group hopes this second annual day off from technology will catch on. While the group is not against technology, but they believe a break is needed to focus on the environment around and real interaction with real people.

Closing the Gap Between Social Media and TV

An article in the New York Times points out that TV viewers are often simultaneously connected to a social media outlet. While watching a show, viewers are discussing it on Twitter and Facebook. The exposure of the show on the internet increases ratings for show that are already popular, and can also bring attention to smaller shows. This interaction during the television shows gives viewers the effect that they are all there, in the same room, watching the show together. This may even make people want to watch the show again next time. Networks are also enjoying the new trend because they can tell if a show is a hit or not by how much it is mentioned on the social network sites, specifically Twitter.

With the Academy Awards approaching and this information about consumers' "two-screen behavior," the television network has developed a corresponding website for the award show. The website will feature live streaming video of the show's behind the scene footage. Viewers can watch Oscar winners receive their award on stage on the television network, then follow them backstage on the live feed on the website.   

Autobiography

Hi! My name is Jerian. I am a senior at St. John's University and I will be graduating in May. I have a major in advertising and a minor in public relations. I'm not sure what I want to do once I graduate, but eventually, I would like to be involved in event planning and the fashion/beauty industry. I am Vice President of the fashion club on campus and I have been part of the executive board for the past four years. It's something I really enjoy being a part of and I am looking forward to our 5th Annual Fashion Show. When I am not at school or involved in extracurricular activities, I like to spend time with my friends and family. I also like shopping, fashion, music, traveling, doing new things and meeting new people, and just having fun.

Media News Update, 2/14: Web-Based E-mail Losing Popularity

Studies have shown that the number of people using web-based e-mail addresses has declined between 2009 and 2010. It is recorded that the amount has decreased 5.9 percent and it is believed that the cause of this decrease is because of the rise in e-mail on mobile devices. It has become more convenient for people to check their e-mail and communicate through e-mail directly from their mobile device, rather than logging onto a web-site linking to an e-mail account. The amount of people using their mobile e-mail has increased by 40 percent. In fact, young internet users are beginning to dismiss e-mail altogether. There has been a 24 percent decrease of young internet users, between the ages of 12 and 17, using e-mail. This trend is due to the various social media networks available to them, making e-mail an unecessary media outlet for them.

Media News Update, 2/7: Digital vs. Print Magazines

New York Times reporter, Nick Bilton, decided to try an experiment to see if digital media wasa really more convenient. He used his iPad and purchased the digital version of Wired magazine. Once the download began, he got in his car, drove a few blocks to the nearest magazine store and purchased the print version of Wired magazine. When he returned home, the download of the digital copy still had not finished downloading. The reason digital magazines take so long to download, is because the file is the entire print version, including the advertising and  an identical page-by-page copy of the actual magazine. These files are equivilent to the size of a 30 minute television episode and the download times can range from 15-40 minutes. Apparently the magazine industry is aware of this and plans to improve downloading time and condense file sizes.

It is said that in this coming year the number of tablets available to consumers will rise. Many companies are working on a tablet of their own with unique features. With this rise in the tablet and as more and more people decide to own one, it would be wise of the magazine industry to create a more compact version of their digital magazine so that tablet owners will subscribe to or buy their magazine in the digital version.

Media News Update, 2/7: Super Bowl Ads

 

 

Of all the Super Bowl Ads, I really like the Doritos "House-Sitter" Commercial. In the commerical, a guy leaves his friend to housep-sit for him and before he leaves, he asks his friend to make sure he wanters the plant and feeds the fish. A week later, the friend is in the same position. Realizing his friend will be back soon, the house-sitter throws some Doritos in the fish tank and the fish tank becomes instantly clean and the fish is joyfully swimming aorund. Then he sprinkles some Doritos on the limp plant and it perks right up. As he begins cleaning the rest of the house he accidentally knocks over an ern and the ashes scatter on the floor. When the friend returns home, his grandfather is sitting with his house-sitter friend eating Doritos. This, implying that the Doritos brought his grandfather back to life.

 

I really liked this commercial. It was really funny and made me laugh. Doritos are already a well-known brand, so their advertising doesn't need to persuade people to start eating them, it is meant to remind them of the brand. This commercial does that and is memorable becuase of the dramatic exaggeration of how good Doritos are.