A maximum of 140 characters for a single post on Twitter, referred to as a tweet, has some feeling a bit limited. Condensing information to answer "What are you doing" for a social networking site can be overwhelming. Yet it's Twitter's purpose to simplify internet clutter to bite-size chunks.
By restricting status updates to short blurbs all in one central place, Twitter helps facilitate the summarization of messages coming in from friends, bloggers, news stations, companies, celebrities, etc. Instead of reading and writing lengthy entries like on a blog, Twitter emphasizes to-the-point posts called microblogging.
A general rule for many written works is to keep everything brief cutting out any wordiness. Going on and on concerning a single topic can be dull and repetitive. The 140 character limitation for Twitter posts forces its users to ultimately practice trimming down sentences to the bare essentials.
As an individual willing and eager to share my thoughts to the world, I associate with numerous social networks constantly looking for the next new way to communicate. Although I am a member of Facebook, Tumblr, among other sites, none have challenged my writing abilities as much as Twitter. Being an active member of Twitter, I have gained a better sense of what needs to be said in contrast to what can be said. Reworking sentences to fit in the space provided is, in a sense, training me to come up with creative ways of wording phrases.
Admittedly, my experience isn't the one everyone shares. Many Twitter users resort to abbreviating words such as "u" in place of "you" or "gr8" instead of "great." This sort of perversion of the English language is quite common on the internet referred to as "txtspk" (text speak). Similar to Twitter, texting, where most of the txtspk language came from, is limited to only 160 characters per message. In order to save money on the cell phone bill people utilized txtspk to cram as much information into a single SMS message as possible. Since Twitter is proud to offer the feature of using SMS to update one's status on-the-go, the practice was passed on to the microblogging site as a means to save followers from the annoyance of receiving multiple tweets.
Despite those members who do not use proper spelling and grammar, Twitter can be a unique learning tool for anyone seeking some encouragement to explore various syntax. My writing has certainly improved in precision thanks to Twitter's ingenious system of quick occasional posts.
I can't deny that attending Comm 439 was a great experience, but it wasn't always easy. Getting my feet wet, so to speak, was my biggest challenge. I had high expectations for my video as a self-proclaimed tech guy that I essentially made myself too nervous to even start. I wanted there to be a great story with lots of amazing visuals that would rival any professional video news report. I soon realized, however, that even though I wanted to show off my technological know-how my initial plan wasn't practical.
I wanted to get started filming some of my interviews but the deadline seemed so far away in the beginning that procrastination sounded so much better. I wish there were clearly outlined checkpoints along the way so that I could have made steady progress instead wait until the entire project was due in two weeks. A check list from the get-go would have also helped me visualize what step in the individual story process I should do next. I'm all for the freedom to choose not to follow these guidelines, which is why I would be against having the drafts graded, but for those who are new to journalism it would be nice to have a kind of cheat sheet made by someone with experience.
Another considerable downfall of mine was not having much time in my schedule for meetings with Professor Warner. Having a solid block of classes and work from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. along with other events in the evenings nearly everyday made it difficult to find the time to even contact her let alone find a meeting time that worked for both of us. Yet I was glad to have Erica and Geoff, two Knight-Wallace Fellows, working with me on our group video story. Having them on our team made it convenient to ask questions and receive advice. Even with them, I am still having problems with just getting to the editing portion.
I suppose my shortcomings are mostly to blame on my own faults, but I wish I would have had a check list early on. The deadline isn't going to be pushed back so I just have to make the time to finish up my interviews, edit, and submit.
I wanted to get started filming some of my interviews but the deadline seemed so far away in the beginning that procrastination sounded so much better. I wish there were clearly outlined checkpoints along the way so that I could have made steady progress instead wait until the entire project was due in two weeks. A check list from the get-go would have also helped me visualize what step in the individual story process I should do next. I'm all for the freedom to choose not to follow these guidelines, which is why I would be against having the drafts graded, but for those who are new to journalism it would be nice to have a kind of cheat sheet made by someone with experience.
Another considerable downfall of mine was not having much time in my schedule for meetings with Professor Warner. Having a solid block of classes and work from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. along with other events in the evenings nearly everyday made it difficult to find the time to even contact her let alone find a meeting time that worked for both of us. Yet I was glad to have Erica and Geoff, two Knight-Wallace Fellows, working with me on our group video story. Having them on our team made it convenient to ask questions and receive advice. Even with them, I am still having problems with just getting to the editing portion.
I suppose my shortcomings are mostly to blame on my own faults, but I wish I would have had a check list early on. The deadline isn't going to be pushed back so I just have to make the time to finish up my interviews, edit, and submit.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Writing a news article is a completely new experience for me despite having written essays, research papers, blog posts, and fictional stories. My biggest issue now is where to begin with my individual story and how to introduce my audience to the overall argument of the piece.
I'm so used to easing the reader into my essays through background information or putting my own personal spin on a story on my other blog that going straight to the point in a news article is a totally different style that I must master. I thought just reading news articles would inspire me and tell me everything I would need to know but in practice I still fall into my old writing habits.
As someone who Twitters on a regular basis, I also find it rather difficult to give so much detail. Whenever I write anything now I'm always conscious of my character limit trying to keep everything under 140 just like on Twitter. Using Twitter has certainly helped me condense information but I need to work on more descriptions to create an effective and engaging news story.
My only sources so far are my roommate, a high-ranking Guitar Hero player, and Dave Carter, coordinator of the Duderstadt's Computer and Video Game Archive. I initially thought that talking to these two would lead too more interviewees but none have come up so far. I've been meaning to camp-out at the Comptuer and Video Game Archive asking for on-the-spot interviews, however, I haven't had the time available just yet. I plan on doing so on Thursday and, hopefully, my story will develope even more so that my question, where do U of M gamers play, will have a clear direction for a written and video news story.
I'm so used to easing the reader into my essays through background information or putting my own personal spin on a story on my other blog that going straight to the point in a news article is a totally different style that I must master. I thought just reading news articles would inspire me and tell me everything I would need to know but in practice I still fall into my old writing habits.
As someone who Twitters on a regular basis, I also find it rather difficult to give so much detail. Whenever I write anything now I'm always conscious of my character limit trying to keep everything under 140 just like on Twitter. Using Twitter has certainly helped me condense information but I need to work on more descriptions to create an effective and engaging news story.
My only sources so far are my roommate, a high-ranking Guitar Hero player, and Dave Carter, coordinator of the Duderstadt's Computer and Video Game Archive. I initially thought that talking to these two would lead too more interviewees but none have come up so far. I've been meaning to camp-out at the Comptuer and Video Game Archive asking for on-the-spot interviews, however, I haven't had the time available just yet. I plan on doing so on Thursday and, hopefully, my story will develope even more so that my question, where do U of M gamers play, will have a clear direction for a written and video news story.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
This is how I envision my video story on U of M gamers:
I start off by stating that there are no clubs or organizations at Umich dedicated to gaming. I'll list some other random activities that were formed into clubs to indicate the wide variety of groups one can join, yet video gamers are left out. I'll then remind my audience that video games are indeed popular and are most certainly played at U of M, but ask where are they?
I'll begin my quest by asking my roommate some questions about games, the ones who play them, the University, and how they interconnect if at all. He will act as my transition to the Computer & Video Game Archive (CVGA) at the Duderstadt on North Campus. I will then travel there and speak with the main coordinator, David Carter. I'll inquire about why there was even a need for the CVGA and why was it created now as opposed to when the video game boom occured in the late 70s and into the early 80s. I'll ask him why there isn't a club at U of M for gamers and how that speaks to the gamer culture, American culture, and global culture. Are times changing? Are video games that prominent? Do students need an entire room for video games? I'll shift over to the future aspect and ask where he sees the CVGA in the next year, five years, 10, 20 years.
With time permitting, I may also travel to local video game stores in Ann Arbor to gauge what kind of insight they can give me. The Michigan Daily now has a whole section on their website for video game news so I can ask how that's going.
My underlyying point would concern finding how video games is affecting U of M, America, and the world by taking into account all of these recent changes at the University.
I start off by stating that there are no clubs or organizations at Umich dedicated to gaming. I'll list some other random activities that were formed into clubs to indicate the wide variety of groups one can join, yet video gamers are left out. I'll then remind my audience that video games are indeed popular and are most certainly played at U of M, but ask where are they?
I'll begin my quest by asking my roommate some questions about games, the ones who play them, the University, and how they interconnect if at all. He will act as my transition to the Computer & Video Game Archive (CVGA) at the Duderstadt on North Campus. I will then travel there and speak with the main coordinator, David Carter. I'll inquire about why there was even a need for the CVGA and why was it created now as opposed to when the video game boom occured in the late 70s and into the early 80s. I'll ask him why there isn't a club at U of M for gamers and how that speaks to the gamer culture, American culture, and global culture. Are times changing? Are video games that prominent? Do students need an entire room for video games? I'll shift over to the future aspect and ask where he sees the CVGA in the next year, five years, 10, 20 years.
With time permitting, I may also travel to local video game stores in Ann Arbor to gauge what kind of insight they can give me. The Michigan Daily now has a whole section on their website for video game news so I can ask how that's going.
My underlyying point would concern finding how video games is affecting U of M, America, and the world by taking into account all of these recent changes at the University.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Up until I read Tuned Out by David Mindich, I felt that I kept up with current events pretty well. Jimmyr.com is a favorite news and entertainment aggregator I visit once and a while to see what's been abuzz on the internet that day. I would occasionally come across hot topics of discussion while surfing the 'net and at least knew a good majority of the important goings on around the world. Through my experience, I know this is more than what most of my friends do to know what's happening beyond their own bedrooms.
Before the 2008 Presidential Election, I explained to one of my University of Michigan friends that I was really hoping for Dennis Kucinich or Ron Paul to win because I shared many ideals with them. She asks me, "Who?" As if she just asked me who Mary Sue Coleman was, I couldn't believe her ignorance toward our Presidential hopefuls. In an attempt to have a serious political dialogue, I went to go see some other friends around campus only to be more disappointed with the realization that I, with only a basic comprehension of domestic and worldly affairs, was more politically inclined than my friends were. This discovery was one of my latest major encounters with “tuned out” persons. Yet my entire strategy for staying in know is that when I find something particularly intriguing, which is usually a hit or miss scenario, I'll actually actively seek out more information. But, admittedly, I won't have the patience to sit and read a lengthy article on a single matter.
As I was reading what I thought would be a refresher of the facts I'm familiar with regarding a lack of political knowledge among youths, I discovered something quite disheartening about myself, my generation, and future generations. Mindich asked young adults about certain basic facts about politics. Sure I knew a few as I was bound to since I considered myself fairly knowledgeable, but I quickly wised up that I barely knew a fraction of what he was asking. I couldn't believe the facts that completely stumped me like naming the Supreme Court Justices or the officials in cabinet positions. I could only name a couple – and I'm going easy on myself by saying that. I felt like I didn't know anything.
I read on about the statistical results from these surveys. They were beyond appalling; they were alarming. How could people not know practically anything? Why wouldn't someone care to look in to where their tax dollars were going? What about the future for their kids or at least for themselves? Do people not want to know about the atrocities happening in parts of the globe? In their country? Their neighborhood? I suppose that’s how it has always been.
I found it fascinating that when Mindich pointed out that some of us don't even know what we don't know. At times, people were mistaken when it comes to who tunes out and why. While some said young people moved to watching television to get their news, others claimed the internet was the ultimate source of where kids became informed. Yet there is a decline in readership among all age groups as years go by in all forms of media. There also seemed to be a general misunderstanding among generations of young people and how tuned in they were to the news. One professor felt like he was “watering the vegetables every day” (Mindich, 5) while Mindich mentioned that, although standardized tests scores have been dropping, he is “constantly impressed with the thoughtfulness and intelligence of young people” (Mindich, 5). A teacher for over 30 years debunks the popular belief that teenagers are getting any less intelligent through the generations and rather stated that information is spread differently now with a focus on the entertainment aspect.
After reading those misconceptions and results on young adult political competence, I self-reflect on my news proficiency and I can't blame people for giving up trying to educate themselves causing the decline in the politically informed. The rising popularity in television stations such as MTV and VH1 with teenagers would, not surprisingly, distract them from news channels. In an effort to attract more young viewers, news broadcasters like Fox, CNN, and MSNBC became more entertainment oriented where the big story of the day wouldn’t be the excessively over-priced war in Iraq/Iran but instead on who the father was of Anna Nicole Smith's baby. I can understand committing an hour or two spread throughout a few days to a week on a “trendy” issue but celebrity scandals can go on for hours each day for weeks. It’s understandable that some viewers would simply stop following altogether just to avoid the idiocy. I am a strong proponent of balance and it’s better to keep gossip and celebrity entertainment news separate from local, national, and world news. That way the line between entertainment and news won’t be so blurred which could result in dedicated followers in both rather than a decrease in viewership when they are combined.
Although it may be compelling and grabs a person’s attention, entertainment news is not what people should be aware of when there are more important matters that should – no – need to be brought to our focus. Perhaps the reason why so many of us, including my friends, tune out is because of the near impossibility of finding what we’re looking for without the extra “fluff” always distracting us. As many have asserted, there are more resources available to us than ever before to become aware of current events, but with so much entertainment polluting them all, it becomes difficult and often unpleasant to get cut-and-dry news. I just wish news stations would stick to the real news and not cater to those audience members who only care about celebrity gossip.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
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