WHAT IS YOUR POLITICAL LANGUAGE? “A monologue or a conversation”

“The very technology that has transformed the global economy has transformed the campaign process as well, so that the race will be run as much on the World Wide Web as in union halls and town squares and on television. ”

From the introduction of “The First Campaign” , Garrett Graff

This statement explains why we have been facing with the First Campaign. It is quite hard to make further comment on the book because  The First Campaign pictures whole journey how technological and political developments emerged synchronously in the last decade.

Today we have been watching political debates on TV where politicians were asked various and spontaneous questions by people because of YouTube. Today also people are invited to vote almost for everything.

As we have been examining during our class online media tools; blogs, social networking platforms, online campaigning and many other ways on World Wide Web are vital as new communication channels to say your word to people not only in your neighborhood but also to the world. This is the biggest consequences of globalization and technological revolution in today’s world. The thousand, millions of people are brought together to demonstrate their voices with only one SMS massage today.

The people are not voting only for political candidates’ appearances on TV but also they consider how much candidates response their crucial manners in their conversation and how much let people to make contributions to the conversation. As a result of that politicians have been realizing the power of the conversational communication with the society. Therefore they turn their head towards online fund-raising campaigns.

We all are aware how Howard Dean’s fund-raising campaign had been successfully accomplished. Dean’s campaign has raised $ 50 million and funds came largely in small donations over the Internet, the average overall donation size was under $100. Suchlike fund-raising has happened first time ever in political campaigning in the US history. This is an ultimate example of how much internet can be efficient in even political campaigning.

“The First Campaign” gives us the very interesting evidences about how the way of social and political communication and sharing was transformed by maximum usage of technology. On the other hand I agree that using of new technologies is not the only indicator to determine whether you’ll be successful or not. The question is how your tune is while you are reaching people through technology. Are you allowing people to join the conversation or wanting only their votes? What is your language in this sense? Monologue or conversation?

According to “The First Campaign”:

*In the fifth-season finale of Fox TV’s American Idol talent show, more people voted for singer Taylor Hicks than have ever voted for a presidential candidate in any U.S election.

*The candidates have profile on Facebook.com, the social-networking website targeted at collage students. A Facebook group for Barack Obama swelled to a quarter million people in less than a month, and when Hillary Clinton went onto Yahoo!

*By the end of May 2007, ABCPAC, the conservative fund-raising site equivalent to the left’s ActBlue, had raised only $385 for all GOP field. Meanwhile, ActBlue which draws upon the larger more organized and powerful progressive blogosphere, had raised more than $3 million for John Edwards alone, and total of some $22 million in online donations since its 2004 lunch.

REAL-TIME WARS

 The Persian Gulf War was my first televised war. In January 17, 1991, CNN launched reporting from the Gulf. Meanwhile I was 12 years old and first time in my life I was witnessing the term of “Live War”. Every single day we were watching Peter Arnett and Bernard Shaw as others in all around the world. It was quite influential war for my generation because we had never seen the war before this much transparently.

Nearly 10 years later I wrote my graduation thesis on “The War on Journalism“. How about that? I always think that this is most crucial and uneasy part of journalism. Besides difficulties to gather information under the war conditions you put your life at risk to cover the story. What motives encourage journalist for doing this?

In the collage during my journalism classes what I was thought that there is no particularly Journalist for “War” because Journalists can not be part of the war.

They can’t support wars in order to get more “FAME” or “RATING“. They just report what they have seen and witnessed. However it is always hard to determine fine line between “Doing your job” and “Helping wounded people”.

Reporting America at War is a documentary where we can find chronological development of war reporting and also how the way of reporting has changed in the years. Moreover we can remind what were the most essential rules and characteristics of journalism in the era of war. 

16 years after first heavily-televised war, how much media changed? A lot…Technology has emerged incredibly and now we are not satisfied with televised war anymore. We need to know more and more because we have a power to do that. Altough we have real-time reporting now it isn’t enough because this time we want to get different opinions from different sources. How about real-sources such as real Iraqis? What does it mean real Iraqis? Only Iraqis can pursue us what is really going on there. Isn’t that transformation of news to reality shows? Do we have any expectations like that? If answer is yes why we need a journalist? Did Journalists lose their credibilities?

Journalism essentially requires seeking truth and public enlightenment. In order to do that journalists have to keep neutrality, objectivity, newsworthiness, and minimize harm as much as possible.

If we assume that everything meets with these conditions listed above “Why War on the Web” is so controversial as a new reporting way. Kevin Sites and Blogging Controversy is a key case on that issue. He is long-time experienced veteran war correspondent but he was told to shut down his popular site because he was not legitimate enough.

If we want professional journalist in the field what disturbs us? I think this is not completely related with his journalism skills. The reason of controversy is BLOGGING. Blogging is still suspicious and illegitimate among the majority of journalists and journalism scholars. Paul Grabowicz, the new media program director of Graduate School of Journalism in Berkeley criticizes unedited war blogs and adds: “We are getting into some treacherous water here. If there is not an editor reading before it goes up, it is taking away a safeguard that’s sensible one in journalism-to make sure you get it right before it’s published”. MEDIA: Web logs offer stream of consciousness from the front

Moreover blogging on war not just done by experienced journalist but also students, soldiers, individuals (Iraqis, Americans) as a nature of blogging. You can find wide list of Iraq War Blogs here. Iraq Today

Some war bloggers says that “Only two things we need to have are laptop and satellite phone. We don’t need an editor”.  I think this is the point what we really need to consider it. That is why we can’t count on any bloggers as a journalist. Bloggers also tends to use more casual style of writing. How we can evaluate facts? Is this is a real story or just make up? 

In the sum of these conceptions the answer of “Is seeing and reading about war good thing or bad thing?” question would be “Good Thing” without any doubt. This is amazingly important for public enlightenment; encouraging freedom of speech and press. People can express their feelings and opinions as an opponent of war or supporter of war. We should not have any problem with this part of the contention.

On the other hand  if we are considering every-war related blogs like an example of journalism the answer will be big “NO”.  We do have already enough disinformation in today’s world. People can be deceived through propaganda channels, defemations and inaccurate information. I think how much we are reading or seeing on war is not critical issue at this point. On the contrary I believe we need to determine whether every writings or videos on war has a journalistic value.   

I WAS TERRIBLY ALONE IN SECONDLIFE BUT YUPIIII!!!MY PACMAN STILL EXISTS

Let’s go back to my childhood for a while. Despite I’m not a huge fan of today’s gaming style, I have my own history with gaming:) As I remember, I have had my first gaming experience when I was about 6-7 years old. This incredible technology was named as Commodore 64.
We were changing cassettes once we finished Pacman ,we were playing another game and fighting about who is going to be  next. It was seemed to me like we were dealing with high-tech at the time. We were playing with Commodore 64 and It was huge deal in my childhood. Now, almost 3 decades later, Commodore became an ancient and games were first transformed to computer games and and finally to online ones. BUT THANK GOD THE PACMAN STILL EXIST!! Even I have Pacman application on my Facebook. Thus we can make that analogy : “Technologies can change but fun always stays in our hearts in same way”:))

After I have searched “Online Games” through Google, the result was unbelievable. The all blue links were saying FREE ONLINE GAMES entirely everywhere on the page. This is an incredible development in online gaming industry in last decade. What is the most attractive point playing game through online? As a result of online social networking and its magnet effect, Massively multiplayer online role-playing games such as SecondLife’s popularity have been growing every single day.

I have experienced SecondLife but I could not spend more than 3 hours to figure out what was goiong on. They are selling, buying, eating, flirting…etc. In short everything what we do in our real lives. At least Kristin Kalning, the Game Editor of MSNBC, describes like that. I have created an account in SecondLife, it took almost hour, and started to look around. Where I am going to go now? I felt terribly alone! I’ve tried to go more populated places but this time nobody accept me to settle there:((( I was getting tried by looking an Ireland for me and getting kicked out from where I wanted to settle each time. I didn’t even know how I could buy a house or private land to build my own place. I was desperate as a SecondLife Resident. Therefore I don’t have positive ideas about either 3D or Virtual World games because first you need to know how instructions work and what the rules are.

I am not in a regret. I insist that they are not welcoming games. I have a precious life and it is so real. Why am I supposed to spend my time to be part of an artificial life? Besides I’m not alone and I’m perfectly sociable person. I don’t want Agent Smith in my life.

However everyone is obsessed with these games. They emphasize themselves with characters who lives in the game. Maybe they can not get what they want in their real lives but their Avatars can do that instead. They can reach whatever they like in their Virtual Life. Isn’t that an Illusion? Indeed people do what they can’t do in their lives and somehow this game continuous. This kind of games can create asocial and character-disorder people.

While I was experiencing other games such as Persuasive Game’s “Points of Entry” Immigration Challenge, “The Arcade Wire” Airport Security, “Presidential Pong” I found them more realistic examples than surreal ones. At least they are part of our daily-base lives. I even felt that these games makes our lives more funnier.

GOOGLE AS A DATABASE OF OUR INTENTIONS

WE SHOULD NOT AFRAID GOOGLE, “Unless it ensures our privacy”

               John Battelle discribes Google as a ’The Database of Intentions’ and continues: “This simply is an aggregate results of every search ever entered, every result list ever tendered and every path taken as a result”. The description of Google, made by Battalle, looks like a meaning of one simple word in encyclopaedia at the first stage. However “Google” is not a simple case as much as it’s description.

                When  I first started to read about Google and the circumstances that it has created; negative and positive consequences of using it, I didn’t know how much Google means in everyone’s life.  Then I realized that whatever I do on computer my fingers find “G.O.O.G.L.E” letters unintentiously. We are talking about most powerful media company in the earth and most rapidly growing company in the Wall Street. In less than a decade, Google has become a corporate colossus.  (Number of Employees: 12,238, Revenue in 2006: $10.6 billion, Profit in 2006: $3.1 billio n, Share of the U.S search market: 53.7 percent, Global Unique users in March: 528 million.) 

                Google relatively provides various advantages and disadvantage as its nature and size. I believe the most important issues we need to discuss are that the function of Google on our privacy and impacts of its monopoly in economic life. 

               We need to consider that Google provides a service what others find very useful and helps people to find informations at no charge and with one click.

                According to Battalle this informations represents in aggregate form a place holder for intentions of humankind a massive database of desires, needs, wants and likes that can be discovered, subpoenad, archieved, tracked, and exploited to all sorts of ends. http://battellemedia.com/archives/000063.php

                Moreover Google letting advertisers promote their wares to those poeple in a finally targated way. Google’s book search product, arguably helps rahter than hurts publishers and authors by rescuing books from obscurity and encouraging readres to buy copyrighted works.

                There are many further Google tools that contribute more and more convenience to our lives such as GoogleMaps, GoogleNews, GoogleMail, GoogleReader, GoogleScholar etc…Each one was created to supply our intentions.  So far so good. Therefore Google is a capitalist tool and a useful one.

“New MICROSOFT“

               On the otherhand we need to pay much more attention to it’s unrivalled financial assets and technical wealthiness of Google in its category. This may create giant monopoly. Actually it has became a monopoly already.  Google controls more network fiber than any other organization. Thus other search engines will not be successful as much as Google in the  far future. If we look from this perspective Google might be our only media.  http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2007/pulpit_20070119_001510.html.  

“Why does Google remember information about searches?”

               Finally we came to privacy issue that Google has created. Why Google needs to keep our searches? However they recently announced a new policy to anonymize their server logs after 18-24 months. They declare that immediate deletion of IP adressed from their logs would make their data systems more vulnerable to security attacks, putting the personal data of Google’s users at greater risk.  http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/why-does-google-remember-information.html According to their new policy announcment,  they have rights and purposes to keep that information such as helping law enforcements in the investigation and prosecution of ” serious crime”.

               In conlusion, if Google adequately protect privacy, everyone around the world can get benefits from its functions. There are both risks and benefits of using Google. I believe big potential of bad use of Google can prevented by a legitimate agreement that place between consumers+state+Google.

DISCUSSING+SHARING= CULTURAL EVOLUTION

DISCUSSING+SHARING= CULTURAL EVOLUTION

I believe the society who talks and discuss that is a democratic society. People are needed to communicate and interact with each other in order to gain more accuracy and democratic culture in the world.

As members of the world community we used to have grassroots’ media tools to understand each other, to know rest of the world and also to be known by them. TV’s and Newspapers still have been doing their jobs as an initiative and massive media tools for centuries but this time we do have both interactive and informative one: INTERNET

Internet’s charming, useful and beneficial features that were created in every single day provide us many opportunities to manage our own communication tunnels. There was not any chance neither to do our own PR nor Journalism by ourselves until Internet.

The media without internet was inadequate to know everything truly, properly and without disinformation. The years without internet have passed with full of negative occurrences in the world such as wars, cultural and political conflicts, and economic instabilities in general; competitiveness, monopoles, high prices, corruptions, violations of consumer rights in particular.

In contrast when the internet became part of our lives we had a chance to have unlimited alternatives to choose, to learn, and to talk.

BLOGGING= DIGITAL CONVERSATION

The blogs, as the latest interactive media channel and precious gift of internet, has brought revolutionary change to transform the way business and communication. Despite no one really see each other; blogs have helped to build more reliable and trustful place to be part of the conversations on digital atmosphere. It has never been cheap and easy to share our ideas and products with millions like that.

LESS COSTS=MORE SALE

Moreover, the Long Tail approaches to the case from economic perspective and point outs that world market has been having a huge turning point what is eventually prevents unfair wealth distributions in all around the world. We have two success stories as an example of Long Tail concept: NETFLIX and AMAZON.

We all can see that how much they are successful on the way of sharing; as a consequence of minimizing costs for both consumer and companies. For instance the large proportion of Amazon’s book and Netflix’s movie sales come from either obscure books that are not available in brick-and-mortar stores or unpopular movies. This can’t be real if we would not have an internet. We were not able to find the movie that our grandfathers have seen many years ago.

Besides Long Tail’s economic positive influences on societies we can also discuss its cultural and political impact on the societies. I believe The Long Tail model might lead to improvement in society’s level of culture as well. As soon as costs go down we would have a chance to see more competitive markets, much more alternatives and finally cultural diversity.

The only point I have been mostly considering is: “An insufficient distribution of technology would remain same in needy part of world?