Movie Critics

Patrick Harrington

Hannah Stephenson

4 March 2011

Blog Post Audience

Movie critics have a growing and monumental impact on the movie industry. These impacts can include an unexpected lapse or increase in ticket sales, a predetermined audience opinion, or an inaccurate and underdeveloped viewer consensus. These impacts are unacceptable and need to be discontinued. RottenTomatoes.com is a website that compares critic ratings to viewer ratings on any motion picture. Through this website, one is able to conclude that viewers are persuaded and motivated to concur with the ratings of professional movie critics. This often occurs unknowingly before the audience member views the movie.

Research studies show that movies with high early ratings receive higher movie revenues. This shows that critics have an overwhelming influence on ticket sales and revenue. These studies epitomize the importance of a movie receiving outstanding critic ratings early on in its premier stages. It is likely that without these good ratings, the movie would not be a financial success. These ratings being present and well advertised are what gives the “powerhouse” movies and best pictures their shine.

A movie is given both professional critic ratings and audience ratings. In order for the audience ratings to be respectively positive, the movie must be well advertised and ratings well by critics. The critics giving poor reviews will make the ticket revenue fall along with the related audience reviews. These relationships are essential to the movie industry so that upcoming movie productions may understand the importance of critic reviews.

RottenTomatoes.com and other similar websites have an increasingly influential impact on the movie market because of viewers trust in the websites. Audience members want to believe that these critics are all knowing and trustworthy. They do not however take into account any times that they did not agree with the critics. Critics rave about a movie and give it astronomically high ratings and then a viewer decides that the movie was anywhere from adequate to great, and it’s a success. However if the critics vote that a movie was bad, and the viewer enjoys it, the viewer does not take into account that the critics had a different view because they are distracted by the movie they enjoyed. For this reason, professional movie critics have an overwhelming impact on the movie industry.

Fmylife.com and Pessimism together? By Tyler Hooghe

Tyler Hooghe
Hannah Stephenson
MWF 2:30 p.m.-3:48 p.m.
3/9/11

Does pessimism on fml.com really attract its audiences and bring humor to the site? Many people believe that that is the case involving fml.com. We know fmylife.com as a blog site that shows the negativity of the struggles of someone who is down on their luck. Created by Maxime Valette, fmylife.com appears to many audiences no matter what age or sex. How fmylife.com works is that people will post their stories to the site by going to the submit tab at the top of the screen. The submitter will then type their story in the post box and hit post after they are done. Now after a story has been submitted, viewers are allowed to comment on post and give the submitter feed back or point fun at him. The other things you can do to the posts is click on one of two buttons. The buttons say “I agree, your life sucks!” or “You totally deserved that.”
But what is it about fmylife.com that attracts us to the site? The negativity of what people have to say and how the outcome turns out in each post is a main reason why people love the website. People definitely seem to enjoy the different categories fmylife.com has to offer, but most people enjoy the intimacy category because of how edgy and wild the posts. Despite the fact that there were thoughts that in the beginning stages of fmylife.com that the site would not fair well and not get much traffic or subscribers. Even the creator of the site didn’t believe that this site would become what it is today. This originally was just created for kicks and now has turned out to be one of the most well known and popular sites on the web today. The negativity and pessimism in the site had really put fmylife.com on the map and everybody loves it. Fmylife.com recieves more than 2 million hits on the website everyday. Much better than when the site was new to the internet and only getting around 10,000 hits a day. Its remarkable that a site that was unknown became a huge hit and sensation basically overnight and now has become on of the most recognizable websites in the world.
Fmylife.com has many other attributes that make it a popular site. One of the most important reasons that fmylife.com is so popular is because its free for everyone. People find it as a cheap form of entertainment to most and knowing that you never have to pay for the website keeps people coming back and enjoying the site. Also, it is not mandatory to sign up to the site and give up email information so they can send you annoying emails and spam. Although, if you want to to publish your own post you have to create a user name and password but giving up but fmylife.com will not ask for any type of personal information. These features are small and simple but they really are what makes the website worthwhile
People now wonder if fmylife.com is a negative impact on our children and their still developing minds. The reason why this is an issue is because the posts on fmylife.com contain some graphic situations and also includes some graphic language in the posts as well. The other fear is the imitations of certain posts and how the negativity can affect a young persons mind. I think there is nothing wrong with the site because they do censor certain posts on fmylife.com and censor certain words as well. The censorship is believed to be unnecessary because people still roughly know what the word or phrase that is being said. Censorship on the site is believed to be a big draw back for the website because people believe that it takes away from the real life situations and makes the posts not as intense and dealing with real life.
The biggest question is whether or not fmylife.com will eventually lose popularity with people? Fmylife.com reels in over 200,000 new viewers each year and that number is continuing to grow. Only time can tell whether or not that that will happen but from the looks of it fmylife.com is not going anywhere anytime soon.

Celebrity Gossip - Chelsea Strapp

Gossip has been around forever. Thanks to the internet, gossiping has been made even more effortless and universal. Many people around the world are able to follow and even contribute to gossip blogs at any given day. Celebrity gossip blogs seem to be especially intriguing to people around the world because the topics revolve around someone famous that everybody is familiar with. Gossip blogs are certainly addictive, but the malicious, evil posts are sending the wrong types of messages to their readers. Sure celebrity gossip blogs are entertaining, fascinating and basically just a bunch of fun, but is that fact alone enough to cover up all the cruel posts and negative behavior found on every page?

The trashy rumors and scandals found on celebrity gossip blogs are completely glamorized. It’s not only the glamorization of the bad behavior surrounding celebrities sending negative messages to the readers of these blogs; it’s also the abundance of the bad behavior. These types of blogs show nothing but bad behavior! The blogs literally show so many screw ups and so much bad behavior, it’s hard to believe there is anything else going on out there. Celebrity gossip blogs are ultimately a place that a young girl can go to catch up on the life of her favorite celebrity or even role model and find a summary of that same celebrity’s scandalous behavior.

The most compelling part of celebrity gossip blogs is the “bitch persona” which the writer inevitably takes on. Every celebrity has had a condescending post about them on some gossip blog. The “bitch persona” which unavoidably can be found on any gossip blogs also shows readers a negative message. The posts on these gossip blogs lead addicted readers to believe that disdainful language is acceptable.

A good example of the perfected “bitch persona” is the self-proclaimed Queen of All Media, Perez Hilton. So many celebrities have become the victim of Hilton’s spiteful remarks. One of Hilton’s favorite targets seems to be Miley Cyrus, the stare of The Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana. From referring to Cyrus as “Slutty Cyrus” to placing bets on whether or not the currently 17 year old Cyrus’s boyfriend would “knock her up before she turns 18”, Cyrus has certainly been the center of a lot of nasty remarks. And what exactly are these remarks showing these blogs’ readers? They’re saying that it is perfectly fine to talk trash about people. Who care’s about other people’s feelings, right? Why not just be wicked like the gossip blog authors?

There are many negative effects of gossip blogs, but the most drastic so far comes from a young girl at a private school in Australia. According to Sophie Elsworth’s article “Teen Pawns in Ugly Game of Cyber Scorn – Net Bully Taps Private Schools for Scandal in Youth Gossip Blog”, the elementary school aged student has “taken cyber bulling to new heights with a website that is terrorizing students”. This young girl literally started her own gossip blog. Instead of gossiping about well known celebrities, the gossip on this blog revolved around this girl’s own peers. Elsworth goes on to explain what the gossip entails. The girl posts details regarding her classmate’s “sexual orientation, drug problems, love lives and health woes”. This makes clear that celebrity gossip sites attract users of many different ages, and there are definitely resulting consequences. Grade school gossip has transitioned from writing on the walls of the bathroom stalls and can now be found on the internet for the whole world to see.

Celebrity gossip blogs are popular. Since so many people read these blogs, there is a large number of people who are influenced by them. Celebrity gossip blogs are very easy to find and are regularly viewed by many different people around the world. There are many negative effects of both reading celebrity gossip blogs as well as being the subject of these blogs. The writers of these celebrity gossip blogs often show no compassion for the celebrities which they are spreading rumors about. Not only are the frequent readers of these blogs susceptible to the bad behavior of the celebrities which they are researching, these readers also learn to have no concern for people’s feelings as they go on to gossip about the people in their own lives, as they inevitably will do. It’s obvious that celebrity gossip blogs are addictive, but that might not be such a good thing.

The Reality of Jersey Shore- Kylie Duhl

Jersey Shore, a popular reality show choice for drama seeking, Guido loving people, is one of the most commonly watched television shows today. The show displays the lives of eight supposedly Italian people living on the Jersey Shore in a house together showing us the “normal” lives that Guidos live everyday. Partying, smooshing, grenade whistles, GTL (gym, tan, laundry), clubbing, lots of drinking, and sex is some of what you would see in any episode of Jersey Shore. Showing these peoples lives on television in a light that negatively portrays them doesn’t seem to really bother the cast, but then again they are getting paid for it. But is this really how these Guidos and Guidettes live when they are off of the shore and the cameras are turned off? I am not quite convinced this is true. Jersey Shore cast members are acting out what we, as an audience, would like to see happen and have alternate persona’s for their television characters that continuously keep people like me and you entertained.

According to writer, Adam Sternbergh, the lives of these Jersey Shore icons is purely made up for the entertainment of the viewers and to keep people watching over and over again. Reality TV isn’t exactly what the show Jersey Shore is, so why label it that way? Characters are given a persona to maintain and “act out” while the cameras are rolling. The so called Jersey lifestyle doesn’t really continue when the cameras turn off. Samantha, Jenni (J-Wow), Nicole (Snuki), Deana, Pauley D, Mike (The Situation), Vinny, and Ronnie return to their regular lives at home once the cameras shut off and become more like you and me. Well, for the most part that is. They still have crazy fans and autographs to sign, but overall, the Guido and Guidette persona is just an act for our own pleasure, entertainment, and amusement.

Yes, we may prefer the Jersey Shore cast on television, rather than “real” life, because on TV they can act out in crazy drunkenness, joke around, and live the party life. Sometimes its nice to see whats real and what a true Jersey girl or Jersey guy lives like, but that doesn’t get views or keep the ratings up. However, crazy scenes, sex, jokes, drinking, and violence do. When we see Nicole drunk right next to the beach running around asking people where the beach is while falling all over the place, we don’t really know if Nicole was actually in this situation. Although, it was extremely entertaining to watch and hilarious to see. Mike the Situation may not really “get girls” like it shows in the episodes, he may have no game at all. The scenes can be changed and altered to make anyone in the show seem like something they really may not be. From what I can see this is the whole point of reality TV, the audience entertainment factor, which works. I keep watching!

When you watch Jersey Shore you associate the characters with the persona they have been asked to display. I have noticed almost all of the cast members have been given a nik name in which they have come to be known as in and outside of the show. This just backs up my point that they are continuing an act that gets them attention from their audience and paid. For example, Mike will now always be known as, Mike The Situation. He has to keep up this personality that goes with his knew name and in episodes he now refers to things as being “a situation”. Deana, the new girl, got her nik name from being “the walking holiday”. She now has to maintain this character of being fun an exciting throughout the rest of the season and seasons to come. As an watching audience we have all come to know and love the personality’s of the characters in the show but what we don’t know is, is who really is behind this persona? What is Jenni, Nicole, Sam, Mike, Deana, Pauly, Vinny, and Ronnie really like when the show ends and the cameras stop rolling? We may never actually know, but what we see on TV is what we associate them with and thats what keeps us entertained and watching.

The iPhone and Why You Need It - Alex Hall

As a consumer, the task of finding the perfect new phone can be a daunting task. That is, until one has tried out the iPhone 4. Between the beauty of its slim, glass design and the fluid software, there is a world of magic awaiting you. What is definitely one of the more remarkable and appealing mobile devices to ever be released, the iPhone 4 will transcend your life into the modern age. Mobile is where the world is heading and the iPhone makes your every day simpler and more genius. Apple is one of the great innovative companies of our time and with the iPhone 4, they have set the bar for what a consumer comes to expect out of their smart phone.
The original iPhone introduced and/or perfected numerous features that many consumers have come to expect out of their mobile devices nowadays. These features include large, sensitive touchscreens, a full, rich internet browsing experience, simplicity and synchronicity between hardware and software, and, of course, the amazing possibilities that can only be found in an app store. With the iPhone 4, Apple has raised the bar significantly with dual cameras (one front-facing, one on the back), video calling, super high-resolution retina display, and a sexy, tight state of the art design.
Everyone has heard of the iPhone, but not everyone has used one. Many new smartphone customers will settle for devices running Google’s Android software. Now don’t get me wrong, Android is great software if you like inconsistent firmware updates, confusing user interfaces, a much smaller app store, and an overall lacking experience that leaves one asking “shouldn’t all of this just work?”
The answer to that question is yes. Apple knows this.
Arguably, one of the most rewarding feelings of using an iPhone 4 is the ease of use you will experience. As cliché as it sounds (thanks to Apple’s Mac tagline), everything just works. And it works beautifully. The operating system and software run extremely smoothly. Switching between apps, scrolling, pinching to zoom, and everything in between just flows like running water. Apple builds the hardware and software. This makes for consistency throughout the product, reliability, and reassurance that the software and the hardware will work together wonderfully. Out of all the numerous Android devices, only one has hardware that is built by Google. Even when Google builds the hardware as well as the software for a device, it hardly compares to the sophistication of Apple’s iPhone 4 that uses a combination of metallic alloys and gorilla glass (on the front and back) to make a strong, yet dazzling device.
Now, hardware and operating system software are always extremely important in creating a great mobile device. It’s how the original iPhone and the iPhone 3G sold so well. All big name companies such as Apple and Google know that with great mobile devices must come great responsibility – the responsibility to build an ecosystem of apps that create an immersive world of creativity, productivity, leisure activity, and retentivity of a user base. Out of all the smart phone companies competing, Apple easily has the largest and most dominant App Store on the market. With hundreds of thousands of apps, Apple gives the strongest selection of apps, and with a strict approval process, Apple also sets the stage for developers to create reliable apps. Google, on the other hand, has no approval policy for apps and many of the apps on the Android markets don’t have the same quality or backing by developers as most the Apple’s App Store apps.
So if you’re getting ready for an upgrade or are just looking to buy a smartphone for the first time, let this article set you on the path of enlightenment. The iPhone will take the best parts of your life and connect them, making sure you never are unprepared for any situation. With the iPhone, you will hold a piece of pride in the mobile community.

Nicki Minaj: Here to Stay

Since Nicki Minaj first exploded into the world of music, it had people wondering whether she’d be here to stay or if she was just a phase like past female rappers. Past female rappers have struggled to survive in the music industry, but Nicki Minaj is willing to take the challenge; creating her own way through the rap game with her eclectic image and different personalities. Being critiqued and questioned on everything she does is something she’s going to have to deal with throughout her career, but proving herself along the way is something she’s already doing.

Nicki Minaj had first started out as an underground artist like most rappers do; she released three mix tapes during that time, which created loyal fans before she even became known to most of the world. The first time I ever heard Nicki Minaj was at a Lil Wayne concert in fall of 2009, when she was still underground. I had no clue who she was when she came out on stage, but she immediately intrigued me when she started rapping. The next day I downloaded every song I could possibly find of hers, and I think that’s what a true artist should do.

Being noticed was something she was from the very beginning. Before she even released her first album, she was appearing on songs with artist like Usher, Trey Songz and Mariah Carrey. She was even recommended by Jay-Z to Robin Thicke for his song “Shakin it for Daddy” and eventually got to appear in Kanye West’s song “Monster” with Jay-Z and Rick Ross. Even though she was clearly the underdog in the song “Monster” it was her verse that stole the spotlight and had people talking.

Her exotic outfits, colorful hair, and multiple personalities keeps people guessing what she’ll be doing next. Even though some of her outfits are considered pretty crazy and out there by some people, she gets props for doing her own thing and being unique. She says that’s something she does have an advantage on over male rappers is that she gets to change up her looks and bring something new to the table. And changing up her looks she does. Like at the 2010 American Music Awards in her “skeleton dress” or at the 2011 Grammy’s in her “cheetah” apparel. In her interview with Elaine Welteroth for Ebony magazine, she said she likes to give people a show and the eye candy that makes them sit in anticipation at the edge of their seat. Even if people don’t always love what she wears, she always makes sure they’ve noticed it and will talk about it.

Not only does she catch peoples’ attention with her outfits, but also her wacky face expressions or quirky catchphrases in different voices. From her wide eyed and fake “Barbie” smile face to her crazed and lip puckered face, she’s making people look. She even has a page on facebook about her different facial expressions. Her alter-egos become apparent through her music: in her lyrics, during her performances, and in her music videos. The music videos she’s in show perfectly her different personalities and how she uses her face expressions and her different voices. Ludacris’s music video “My Chick Bad” featuring Nicki Minaj portrays all her craziness in one. She has a pink wig on, black lipstick, and Freddy Krueger claws on. She’s constantly making different faces and part of her lyrics are, “Tuck yourself in you better hold onto your teddy/ it’s nightmare on Elm Street and guess who’s playing Freddy” rapped in a deep voice.

Nicki Minaj may be just at the beginning of her career, but doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. Keeping everything around her fresh and exciting, is something Nicki Minaj continues to do. With her first album Pink Friday already going platinum, she’s showing no signs of slowing down. Even though female rappers have never had long careers, Nicki Minaj is on the right track to ensuring she does.

Now Broadcasting YouTube Zechariah Thompson

One cannot determine the impact that a certain creation or invention will have on its generation or on future generations. Newspapers, radio, and television have all been successful mediums for communication and getting what is popular or noteworthy to the public. Our generation’s television is of course YouTube. One cannot deny that it is the site of choice among many demographics in America and throughout the world. So it is not surprising that many television networks, to stay with the current times, are conforming to the interests of our generation.

Television clip-shows are indeed making a comeback, in previous shows, like America’s Funniest Home videos, the host shows a funny video, makes a joke, and the audience laughs. Shows like The Soup and Tosh.0, as well as several others in the making, are taking these YouTube videos and turning it into television that is structured much like that of these already tried shows. The host stands in front of a green screen, and shows homemade Internet videos, gathered by researchers who comb the Internet for the most popular or the most peculiar videos out there. Now the idea that these shows deliver to their audiences what is occurring in popular culture seems quite apparent, however it does not seem like the most important of tasks.

Despite thoughts that these shows wouldn’t be popular, because they merely report what is going on in the media and what is popular amongst various Internet groups, the fact is that they are indeed being watched, and by multitudes of people. Tosh.0 has always had a steady following in terms of viewers, however through the first five episodes of its third season, the show never dipped below three million viewers. The Soup is also popular as over one million viewers regularly watched the new episodes. So one can see that millions of people are actually tuning in to watch these shows and they continue to come back for more.

There are several reasons why these shows are popular amongst viewers and also amongst television networks. For starters, they are extremely cheap to make. The pilot of a normal television show costs around one million dollars to produce. Some even cost upwards of ten million dollars for major dramas. These clip-shows run at about one-fifth of the cost that normal television programming runs. Their sets are extremely cheap, only a green screen and a few cameras are necessary. They also assert fair use laws to show almost all video clips for free. Television executives have taken notice and as a result they have put forth the effort to create them as cheap ways to entertain and make money.

For viewers these shows act as mediums that communicate to audiences things that are happening in popular culture. But that is not the reason why these shows are extremely popular. Tosh.0 in particular not only aims to entertain their viewers, but they also aim to make people feel connected. The witty host Daniel Tosh not only launches commentary and jokes at the videos, he also tweets with his followers throughout the show. This is only one way in which he interacts with his audience. He has a Facebook page with over four million Likes and his Twitter stream is followed by almost a million and a half people. These are huge numbers that are following him and it does not stop there. He also plays a role in updating the blog for his show, in case people cannot get enough of his show various viral videos and pictures are posted so people can comment. These are all smart, and successful attempts at making people feel connected to the show and to him as well.

It is apparent that shows like Tosh.0 are popular, the question most would ask is, is this just a fad? Or is this going to be an established genre that will continue to hold the attention of viewers? If you look at television ratings now and the overall following of these shows it seems as if they would. However as technology changes and advancements are made no one can really tell if these shows will continue to be popular. Only time will tell if these shows will last but for our generation, it seems like these shows will stick around for quite some time.

ITunes Reviving Or Killing The Music Industry Zach Campbell

Zach Campbell

English 110

Hannah Stephenson

ITunes Reviving Or Killing The Music Industry

Music is one thing that everyone has in common. Not that everyone has the same taste, but just that everyone likes music in general. You also hear music almost everywhere you go. You go to the store and music is playing, you drive somewhere and music is on the radio, you go for a walk and you bring your iPod to listen to. The music industry is not at its peak but more people are listening to music than ever before. This is due to new technology and the accessibility to get music.

Everyone wants to keep up with the newest music. This is sometimes hard. I know when I listen to the radio I am sometimes lost with who sings the song. One thing that helps me find out who sings the songs I love is iTunes. The program is free to download like most downloaders, but charges a small price for each song you want to download. It makes it easy to find popular songs and I am confident that the information is correct because iTunes has licenses to the songs. ITunes doesn’t make a bunch of money off of the downloads. Most of the money goes to the record labels and artists which is another reason to use them. Other downloaders are illegal if they are free to download and they don’t have licenses. These are the ones that are bad for the music industry because the artist don’t get paid. You could use other music downloaders but be careful. These are not legitimate and you are at risk of getting a virus. I wouldn’t recommend you use these. Risking your computer isn’t worth saving a few bucks. You also don’t have to deal with annoying ads in the middle of songs either.

ITunes helps fans all over the world find new artist and keep up with the latest hits from their favorite musicians. People including myself find new artist on iTunes by using Genius. It is one of the newest features on iTunes. It is easy to use. All you do is choose to use it and it analyzes your music and video library on your iTunes and it finds songs similar to your artists. This allows for small bands that no one has heard of a chance to get noticed. This is a big up for the music industry.

A lot of people including myself thought that mp3s and file sharing would be the end of the music industry. I thought how the industry will make money when you can download songs for free or a percentage of the price of a cd. A study done back in 2002 showed that the sales of these mp3s barely affected the sales of albums. This research was done to show the record companies that this technology could help the industry and instead of fighting it they should embrace it. The research was dismissed by the record label companies though.

Mp3s and file sharing are not bad for the music industry just bad for the label companies. Recording companies are responsible for distributing the music and with new technology and with higher quality audio music being easier to make artist see no reason to sign with a record label. They hold off seeing if there is a better deal.

The music industry was already falling before the use of iTunes. There was no avoiding the fall of the industry. The digital revolution has changed all media industries. Some bad things came out of the revolution but overall the music industry was helped out a lot. Music industry is about making money but it is more about entertaining. The celebrities do it for the fans. ITunes and online file sharing has opened so many opportunities for artist and the industry. ITunes has helped create new fans for artist and keep existing fans up to date with music. Mp3 and other file sharing technologies were just building blocks for the music industry to further entertain their fans. ITunes really isn’t the rise or the fall of the music industry. It helped bring great things to an already diminishing industry. In my opinion it helped the industry but we have just seen the beginning of it and hopefully artist still strive and succeed.

 

Art in Social Media

Many people feel that social media is the demise of contemporary art. Through my research I have found that social media actually develops art in ways that are not possible otherwise. Art online has become an increasingly popular activity; for buyer, seller, or anyone who appreciates art. The use of social networking alone has exploded in recent years. It’s not often you meet someone who doesn’t have a facebook. Technology and social interaction have banded together to create a new world of peer to peer conversation, content exchange, and influence in the realm of art. The reality is, if you are not utilizing social networking sites, you are falling behind.

In today’s society, an artist no longer has to physically go to a gallery or make flyers to post on the street corner; they can simply join a gallery online. The ways to promote art work on the internet have expanded and are more effective than ever before. There are significantly better ways for an artist to advertise and elevate work with the use of social media and networking, allowing the circulation and appreciation of art to develop further. Social media and networking allows anyone searching or studying art to have easy and vast access, expanding the circulation and appreciation of art all across the world.

The way the art work is viewed and searched for has completely changed. It is cheaper and more convenient for today’s entrepreneur or student. It has also changed the way people are educated about art and how they can study art. Anyone can view the art work in the comfort of their own home; with the click of a button. The product is available to anyone who has internet access, and the user can search according to what they are specifically looking for. I have experienced in my art education class, the main way we study and respond about art is online. Our teacher emails us a link with directions. This is the future of studying art. An artist can promote their product through a variety of social networking sites, like blogging sites, forums, online portfolios and galleries, photo sharing sites and newsletters. There are easy ways to further chances of success when selling, with the variety of sites that are available to help. An artist can go deeper into social networking by blogging or using forums such as deviantART or ArtNewsBlog. Using these tools and others like them, sharing work is simple and effective.

Before the surge of the use of social media, an artist may have been confined to flyers, ads, physical galleries, and word of mouth to promote their work. And the customer was also confined to the same aspects when buying or studying artwork. Now, with social networking so widely used, there are significantly more ways to promote, advertise, view and share work. There are over 500 million users on Facebook today. More than 30 billion pieces of content (including web links, news stories, blog posts, notes and photo albums) are shared each month. Statistics show that Facebook is a great place for a beginning artist to start promoting their work. On Facebook, an artist can create groups, events, and blogs. Endless photographs of work can be uploaded for the world to see.

Using different social media sites are very helpful to me when I create artwork. I often need inspiration and ideas. I can view a vast amount of work on the internet, which inspires me and helps me to be creative. I also use social media sites to learn about famous artists. It is so much more convenient because I don’t have to go the library to look at books or articles. I can work in the comfort of my home.

Art has vastly changed because of social media and networking. The expansion of art appreciation has occurred due to the use of online tools. The aspects that make art in social media so efficient are the availability, convenience, and variety of new ways to communicate. The way people interact may be what really makes the difference. Communication is most important in all aspects of human life. Humans thrive on social interactions and the relationships they have with others. I am not to say that traditional forms of art display are over, because we all like to see things in person and feel them, but social media and networking allows artists and students alike to communicate and share with each other in ways they never could before.

"Teen Mom" Frowns Upon Teen Pregnancy - Samantha Martin

MTV has always been the popular source of drama when it comes to television. Teens turn to MTV to hear the latest celebrity gossip and learn about the newest tunes. Other than keeping up with the 411, what else is MTV useful for?

Learning about teen pregnancy.

16 & Pregnant, a recent hit series on MTV, stars pregnant teenagers and shows the burdens that are put on these adolescents. The show became outrageously popular, having approximately 2.1 million viewers. Soon after, MTV decided to produce a second show called Teen Mom, which follows four mothers from the original season of 16 & Pregnant and focuses on their stories of life after their child is born. This series was even more popular than 16 & Pregnant, having approximately 3.4 million viewers. These teen mothers are everywhere; covers of tabloids, talk shows and radios. Some say that these teen mothers are being embellished, but let’s look at the facts.

Over half of the scenes in MTV’s two series are negative. Every episode contains a combination of violence, tears and stress. From broken hearts to custody battles, these teens don’t have it easy and MTV makes certain that the viewer understands that. Adolescents watching the show are learning just how strenuous it is to raise a child. Viewers enjoy seeing these real-life consequences because it teaches them to learn from others’ mistakes and allows them to observe reality’s challenges. Through these episodes, young people are taught exactly how not to act, and parents are able to use the show as a gateway to talking about sex with their children. According to Teen Mom and 16 & Pregnant, the life of a teenage parent is not appealing.

We’ve all heard about Juno, the award-winning film starring a sarcastic sixteen year-old girl. Juno had it easy; no job with supportive friends and family. This film does the opposite of what MTV’s series’ do. Juno paints a picture of how life might be for a lucky pregnant teenager. She gives her baby up for adoption, which according to a study done by The National Campaign for Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, less than two percent of young parents give their babies up. Juno is a faulty example for young teens, showing basically the opposite of what might happen in most situations. The other two shows are totally different; they show real-life circumstances that are relatable to many viewers. A recent survey showed that eighty-two percent of the teens who watch 16 & Pregnant say the show helps them better understand the challenges of teen pregnancy and parenthood – and why they should avoid it. When teenagers view these struggles on television, the response is different than an adult’s response. When a teenager watches the shows, empathy kicks in. They feel for the parents, and also think to themselves, “I’m glad it’s not me”. Whereas some adults watching the show are more likely to think, “They shouldn’t have had sex”. The two dissimilar responses are what cause so much controversy on this topic. Younger generations are more adapted to change than older generations; they understand the message that MTV is attempting to get through to the viewers.

Since these shows have been on television, the United States teen birthrate fell dramatically in 2009 after a five percent increase from 2005 to 2007. The network’s 16 & Pregnant documentary series cause many teens to open their eyes to the consequences of unprotected sex and early parenthood. When airing this series, the idea was to “address the problem of teen pregnancy and to do something about it”, MTV stated. That is the exact outcome of these two reality shows.

Carly, a young mother from Teen Mom, desires to share her story with high schools all around. She claims that she doesn’t want others to make the same mistakes she made. The reason she agreed to do the show was not to become the next person to be on US Weekly, but to prevent future mistakes of young adolescents.

Is so horrible that pregnant teen moms are the “new thing”?

No. These young men and women are all over the media, but not because they were picked up for a DUI or decided to shave their hair off. These girls are not celebrities, just young mothers trying to make a difference. According to the studies and pregnancy rates, the girls have indeed made a difference. They made a mistake, they’re dealing with it, and they’re teaching fellow teenagers what not to do.

Final on 4chan by Dino Celli

A new underground group has formed and you may have heard or seen it without even realizing it. The groups name is Anonymous and the members are known as Anons. No one knows who is a part of Anonymous because it's not organized and doesn’t have any official members. Anonymous has been known to be made fun of for being a group of foul immature teens and hackers. Although Anonymous is not just a “Nerd Brigade” as Stephen Colbert put it. Anonymous was originally created on a image-board site known called 4chan. 4chan a site for people to go, post pictures and discuss topics and interests is most commonly associated with its board random known as /b/. 4chan is unconventional in that it has no sign up or any sort of identification when you enter the website. When people go on and talk no knows who is writing any comments. This creates an unbiased opinion from the reader’s perspective. Nothing is known of the author so the reader must decipher what the message really means and why it was written. Anything and everything is posted and there are absolutely no rules when it comes to posting.

Anonymous and /b/ are tied together as one. When one talks about /b/ they talk about Anonymous and vice versa. Anonymous is unpredictable in its action. When an Anon wants to attack or raid a specific site it does so by posting on /b/ and asking others to help. When Anons agrees to raid it usually is because it had been provoked or saw something it didn’t like.
Recently WiKi Leaks claimed that they had information on a major U.S. bank regarding corporate malfeasance but never directly specifying who. Bank of America became worried that it was them and hired a counter hacker by the name of Aaron Barr. Aaron Barr said that he would begin to attack WiKiLeaks credibility by falsifying documents so WikiLeaks would look unreliable and “Cyber attacks against their infrastructure”. The group Anonymous had been known to protect WiKiLeaks so Aaron Barr had also issued a threat against them. Anonymous retaliated by hacking Aaron Barr’s email account, took down his website, and remotely wiped his Ipad. After hacking his email account Anonymous began posting his controversial tactics of hacking as well as many personal emails including one where his wife told him she was filing for divorce. This was seen as a great success for anonymous protecting WikiLeaks from a corrupt corporation for trying to expose them.

This group “Anonymous” does not only defend WiKiLeaks specifically though. It defends or attacks whatever it feels like. Sometimes it attacks websites or groups for the simple reason of “For the Lulz”.”For the Lulz” is another way of saying just because or for fun. This begins to worry people because there is no real purpose or set goals involved in the way this group acts. Almost like a super hero without the moral compass, it is unpredictable and has no name or set person and it cannot be questioned or punished.

When Anonymous attacks one of its most common methods is a Dos attack. A Dos stands for denial of service, it’s where a group of people or person crash a certain website forcing the site to shut down denying access to the people who would actually use it. They used this method when Anonymous had declared war on Scientology. In 2008 Scientologist removed and banned the playing of a humiliating interview of tom cruise anywhere. Outraged by this censorship Anonymous declared war on Scientology. Using the Dos attack they shut down the website many times to annoy and agitate scientologists.

For the cases of attacking Scientology and Defending WiKiLeaks Anonymous feels like it is contributing to society and making it better. However many groups despise Anonymous. Anonymous receives much criticism being called a cyber terrorist group or just antisocial nerds not having anything better to do. Most of Anonymous actions are not different from standing outside of a building and protesting. It’s just a special way of doing it through the internet. Occasionally, Anonymous has been known to fight for something substantial. This however is masked by how it does what it feels like and pranks random sites for no reason.

"Stumbling" vs. "Digging"--Megan Sherrod

As a bored college student, I have tirelessly looked for sites to aid me in my procrastination of schoolwork. Throughout my search for wasting time, I have come across two websites that meet my qualifications. The two sites are Stumbleupon.com and Digg.com. Both of these webpages are very similar but are also very unique to the services that they provide. Basically, Stumbleupon and Digg are web-based searches with a focus on entertainment. As an avid user of both of these sites, I have come to the conclusion that because of Stumbleupon’s setup and ease of use, it is more popular than Digg.

To understand why I believe Stumbleupon is superior to Digg, it is useful to analyze the differences between the two sites to see why this is so. Upon visiting Stumbleupon, the audience is refreshed with a simple and organized layout that is easy for any mediocre person to navigate. Once you make your account, which takes no more than five minutes, you are prompted with a list of topics that you are to choose from that reflect your interests. After hitting the “stumble” button you are taken to a site that in some way or another, reflects the interests that you just indicated. If you get bored with the site then you are just a “stumble” away from viewing a different site. A feature that interests a lot of its users is the ability of Stumbleupon to connect with the popular social sites Facebook and Twitter. Overall, Stumbleupon permits its users to waste their time and allows them to view an array of websites with just a quick click of the mouse.

Unfortunately for the users of Digg, a little more work is needed to find useful and interesting sites. Like Stumbleupon, it is necessary to make an account to fully utilize the webpage. Something worth considering when it comes to Digg is the similarity it shares with the websites Facebook and Twitter. At first glance, one could mistake Digg for Facebook because of its layout, color scheme, and font. At the top there is a blue border with “Digg” in white letters and the login box is to the right. Sound familiar? On the left hand side of the webpage there is a list of suggested topics that you are to choose from, and once you have done that Digg brings up a list of profiles/websites that fall into the topics you have chosen. The process of “following” on Digg resembles that of the popular site Twitter. Once you are “following” a particular site, you are free to navigate through the page. Instead of being able to just click a button to view the next site like Stumbleupon, you have to “digg” through a list of webpages to see which one might interest you.

So now you are probably wondering, what do these differences have to do with Stumbleupon being better than Digg? A study was done in 2007 to discover which site is used more by people of the internet, and the results are pretty convincing. Researchers came up with an article whose topic has no relevance to the study, and posted it on both Stumbleupon.com and Digg.com. What were the results? Well, during the three day period that was observed, Stumbleupon saw traffic of almost three times the size of Digg.com. Not convinced? Why don’t we take a look at the number of registered users on each site? As of 2009, Stumbleupon had 5 million users whereas Digg have around 2.7 million users. This fact alone, supports my view of Stumbleupon’s superiority. I do, however, have a few explanations for why these very similar websites are used very differently. For starters, Stumbleupon is a completely new concept and has a very simple layout that attracts its users. Digg uses the best ideas of other existing sites like Facebook and Twitter when it comes to its setup and layout, but seems very cluttered and distracting. The biggest difference I have noticed as a user of both sites is the ease of use on Stumbleupon. All that is required of you in viewing these webpages is a click of the mouse. Digg, however, involves actively searching for sites to view. I believe this speaks to the needs and wants of users of the Internet. The public wants information at the tips of their fingers and if there is a site that offers that kind of exposure, they too can profit from it like Stumbleupon has.

Female Celebrities’ Images Send Wrong Message to Young Girls-- By Lydia Jolly

Female Celebrities’ Images Send Wrong Message to Young Girls

Young girls throughout the United States look up to famous female celebrities while finding their “places” in this world. Female celebrities have a great deal of impact on the lives of many young girls today. Some celebrities take this responsibility seriously while, unfortunately, others do not. Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, and Ke$ha, are some of today’s most popular female entertainers who often, unknowingly, can occasionally set negative examples, potentially contributing the influences on young girls’ decisions and actions.

Miley Cyrus is currently eighteen years. In 2006, she landed the lead role as Miley Stewart, on Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana. Because her role on the show was that of a super star, she sang in her shows. Her super ego became so popular to young girls, she started recording actual music. Ultimately, she created an album and even went on tour to promote it. Because of her extreme and fast success, she instantly became an idol to young girls everywhere. Although Miley has been caught with drugs, risqué photo shoots, and questionable performance moves, she is still looked up to. Miley spends her down time working on her fashion line for young girls. She makes sure that all clothing with her label on it is appropriate. Miley is passionate to giving back and charity work, as well. Girls everywhere are looking up to Miley Cyrus and use her ideas as inspiration for themselves, whether it being her positive examples, or sometimes, even negative.

Although Katy Perry is clean-cut and stands up for what she believes, she also is known for wearing “sexy and revealing” clothing and having inappropriate song lyrics. Of course, Katy is known to have a style of her own but sometimes her outfits convey the wrong message. Katy Perry is an upcoming celebrity, toping billboards all around the world. She is known for her outgoing and bubbly personality. While Katy is known for making sexual references in her lyrics, she tries her best to cover them up, making it difficult for young girls to understand what she actually means. Agreeing that she is not 100% what her image is suggesting, she admits, "I'm kind of a good girl - and I'm not. I'm a good girl because I really believe in love, integrity and respect. I'm a bad girl because I like to tease. I know that I have sex appeal in my deck of cards. But I like to get people thinking. That's what the stories in my music do." (Renshaw, 2010) Although she admits it is somewhat an act, it still can give young girls the idea that they, too, should follow in her footsteps.

Throughout the United States, Ke$ha is known for her ridiculous song lyrics. She exemplifies the image of a carefree, party girl with no rules. Sending the message that it is okay to do what you want, her songs are based around partying and living a crazy lifestyle. “Tik Tok,” her first single, is a song about getting drunk and going out to clubs. Wrongfully, she is sending off a racy message about sexual encounters. Not only do Ke$ha’s song lyrics show that she is carefree, but her outrageous appearance solidifies this as well. During her interview with Seventeen Magazine, she was asked how she describes her style. Ke$ha responded by saying, “Garbage can chic? I like vintage a lot. I like not trying — I think girls need someone to look up to who's not in high heels and a push-up bra.” (Meet "Tik Tok" Singer Ke$ha, 2010) She encourages girls to wear what they want and to be themselves. Ke$ha tries her best to promote individuality and to never take life too seriously. “I think people need to have fun with whatever they're doing — makeup, their clothes, music, live shows — anything you don't need to take too seriously, don't take too seriously.” (Meet “Tik Tok” Singer Ke$ha, 2010) Her projected image is complete with glitter, Goodwill clothing, and tangled hair- a look teen girls everywhere are beginning to emulate.

Current celebrities must acknowledge their responsibilities to set a positive image for young girls in today’s society. Unfortunately, there are times when female celebrities have a great deal of impact on the lives of many young girls today. Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, and Ke$ha, are some of today’s most popular female entertainers who at times, unknowingly, set negative examples, potentially leading young girls in the wrong direction.

Is the Rhetoric Really Violent? by Brad Valentine

Is The Rhetoric Really Violent?

Glenn Beck is often accused of inciting violence with a certain violent rhetoric. How can someone make such accusations when Beck often says things such as, “I denounce those from the Left, the Right or middle, who call for riots and violence as an opportunity to bring down and reconstruct our system.” (http://www.glennbeck.com/2011/01/10/glenns-letter-to-the-american-people-politicians-and-media/). By boldly questioning and researching these accusations, one can easily find the truth and see there is nothing concrete about these false accusations.

Looking at who is actually affected by violent rhetoric, is important in learning how one could use it to incite violence. Only five percent of the population has a severe enough psychological disorder to be affected by violent rhetoric. ““After a lot of laboratory research, we believe that a person must be psychologically unbalanced for hateful or violent messages to motivate violent behavior.” (http://star.txstate.edu/content/violent-rhetoric-affects-those-already-prone-violent-acts). Five percent of the population is a very small amount, and not all of them listen to Glenn Beck. However Glenn Beck is still accused of inciting violence in his listeners.

“What constitutes violent political rhetoric is subjective. What constitutes political violence is more clear-cut,” Says Daniel Flynn. So if violent rhetoric is subjective then, anything could be interpreted as inciting violence, by anyone. I think it would be easier to measure how many violent acts Glenn Beck has committed, which is none by the way. There is the saying that “actions speak louder than words,” let’s follow that when analyzing Glenn Beck.

Glenn Beck often challenges his viewership by quoting Thomas Jefferson, “Question with boldness, even the very existence of God.” So why don’t we use his words and ask why would someone accuse Glenn Beck of inciting violence? Maybe it could be that they are from a liberal background, but that couldn’t be because Beck will often times critique people from both sides of the political spectrum, in an appearance on the television show The View, Beck explained to the women that he criticized Bill Clinton when he was in office and also criticized George W. Bush when he was in office.

Don’t get me wrong if you really don’t agree with the guy then that is fine, but he has every right to say what he wants.

Furthering the questioning, maybe Beck is just wrong about what he is telling his viewers? That may be true, but consider that Glenn Beck has been telling his viewers to have a dynamic investment portfolio. Specifically he has told his viewership to invest in gold. Looking at the prices of gold per ounce in the last five years, the price has doubled. Glenn Beck told his viewers that this would happen.

When the protests broke out in the middle east, Glenn Beck displayed a map on his television show, on this map he highlighted the countries that he theorized that the protests would spread. When he came out with this map he was called crazy. Then a few days later, many of the news stations came out with a map that was very similar. (Beck’s map: YouTube - Glenn Beck-01/31/11-B)(CNN’s Map: Unrest in the Middle East and Africa - Special Coverage on CNN.com) That’s two very important things to be right about, so your motive behind critiquing him can’t be because he is wrong.

Glenn Beck calls himself a “Paul Revere” like person, because he is just trying to make people realize what is going on in America. Glenn Beck is an effective speaker. He organized “Restoring Honor Rally” on August 8, 2010. In the rally he told the crowd to have faith in America. Glenn Beck is a caring individual, he often will donate to charity; he is known for crying on the air because he is very passionate for what he does. Maybe instead of tearing down his integrity as a person, we can debate him. I strongly believe that when people civilly debate something, we can learn from each other. Let’s not waste time by making false accusations and use our time productively by finding our own truth.

Jersey Shore And The Messages It Conveys To Teens - - Ashley Conrad

Jersey Shore And The Messages It Conveys To Teens - - Ashley Conrad

The popular MTV show, Jersey Shore, can send mixed messages to young teens. Jersey Shore negatively affects teen’s behavior by portraying violence and aggression with little to no consequences. Young teens are at that age where they learn from what they watch on television. It has been proven that aggression is more often seen rather than physical violence on reality television. In regards to Jersey Shore, aggression and violence are definitely a major part of the show. “Over the long term, heavy exposure to violent media may shape and strengthen an individual’s cognitive scripts relating to aggression; in effect shaping the way the individual interprets the world…”

What causes men to be violent toward women? Psychological problems, unbearable life pressures, or some instinctive urge toward aggression are some problems that can cause men to be violent toward women. In the second episode of Jersey Shore, Snooki was punched in the face while at the club. Snooki’s attacker was Brad Ferro, a gym teacher at North Queens Community High School. Ferro tried to take Snooki’s cocktail, and when she denied him, he punched her in the face. This abuse was all because of his careless drunkenness. This could all have been prevented if he would have made more responsible choices. In result to his senseless attitude, Ferro was arrested and charged with assault and fined five-hundred dollars. Teens watching Jersey Shore are going to see all this violence and think it is acceptable behavior because it is coming from these “stars”.

Researchers have surveyed parents to see how often their kids were watching television. Researchers then found television plays a big part in encouraging childhood aggression. If a child is flipping through the channel and comes across Jersey Shore, he or she is not going to learn anything positive to make him or her a better individual. Do not get me wrong, there are television shows out there that teach your children good morals. Finding those positive television shows and encouraging your kids to watch them is the key. “Violence is one of the major worldwide concerns today in all segments of society”. Something that usually goes along with violent or aggressive behavior is consequences. A key concept that stands out the most while watching Jersey Shore is not only the intense arguments, but the fact there are no consequences for their destructive behavior.

The aggressive and violent fights that take place on Jersey Shore have a fascinating theme. One major component that stands out while watching the show, is when girls fight other girls, for example, Snooki and Angelina it is taken more as a joke. It is unclear to me as to why they want to portray aggression and violence as a joke. I feel they want it portrayed as a joke, because leading up to the fight they take out there earrings, trash talk, take off their shoes; then they show the aftermath which consists of nails all over the floor, hair extensions falling out, and makeup smeared all over their face. On the other hand, when there are fights between two guys, they are taken more seriously. For example, if you think back to season 1, when Ronnie was on the board walk and some drunken guy was trash talking him, they got into an intense fist fight. The man was trying to impress his girlfriend and kept aggravating Ronnie in an effort to start a fight. They were broken up by the cops and Ronnie left with a black eye. The outcome of that fight was entirely different than with Sammi and Jenni or Snooki and Angelina. Fights between men often seem to be taken more seriously and there is more physical violence done.Aggression and violence is not something to joke about. Why would they air a show on television that is portraying aggression and violence as a joke? Our world is suffering enough as it is from dangerous acts of violence.

Not all violence and aggression is necessarily a bad influence on teens, but when there are no consequences for their negative actions, that is where the show is going wrong. Jersey Shore is sending the message that it is acceptable to make bad choices and you will not get punished for doing them. When in fact, we all know in the real world making bad decisions leads to having to face consequences. Teens are at the age where what they see on television is how they want to act. Jersey Shore is a good show to watch, as long as kids watching it know what is going on is not right and not something they should model after.