A brief note before I begin my post: Viral videos earn such a title because they become popular via being "spread" through internet sharing by email messages or popular internet video sites.
Earlier this week, I was watching "This Week in Politics" on CNN (I am a CNN junkie) and I came across a story that was covering the ways that politicians and political "activists" are viral videos in the 2008 presidential elections. Interestingly enough, CNN did not give its opinions about the posts it highlighted, but it did present a variety of examples to evenly show how Democratic and Republican candidates, supporters, and individuals and groups with special interests were using the medium to influence public opinion.
One site profiled was LUNATICS AND LIARS a site that presents satirical and humorous videos about American politics. This site is a bank of political viral videos from a number of other sites, so viewers can view not only the video submitted to L and L, but also links to more viral videos on other similar sites. On the site, the video cartoon "Oh McCain" was featured in the story. As the title suggests, the video is about Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his perceived policy and economic doublespeak. A line from the cartoon music video "What you keep calling straight talk is double talk to me" clearly sums up the video's message.
There are an varied abundance of humorous political videos on this site which offer opinions that would appeal to supporters of either political candidate and opponents alike. Not all the videos are cartoons, some are mashups and edits of movies, etc. For example, there is the parody of the film Rocky III and Barack Obama's South Carolina primary speech, creating "Barocky!"
and "Hercubush" which is a mashup of an early era film about the trials of Hercules and the current president's stance on freedom and foreign affairs.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
Google: Portal to New Media: “A world in itself”
On Friday, I watched a special edition of Art Fennell Reports on the Comcast network that explored Google headquarters campus in Mountain View, California. The campus has 11,000 employees. How does an exploration of Google’s headquarters fit into this blog? Well, for many web surfers, Google is the Internet portal to multimedia news coverage websites and video feeds. So, why not know about the company which is a portal to new media itself. Here’s what I found out from various interviews mentioned in the report that I thought were worth sharing.
Last year, the company reduced its carbon footprint to zero without negatively affecting its profits and actually finds that they are saving both money and the environment by continually looking for and implementing environmentally friendly technologies. The report conveyed that the company is focused on trying to make and use renewable energy that does not involve coal consumption. 30% of Google’s main campus is powered with solar. The company also has plans to invest in small startup companies that are researching and innovating ways to use wind, thermal, and geo-thermal energy technology. It also offers incentives to employees who drive fuel efficient cars up to a $4,000 subsidy according to the report, and employees can bike to work via a bike path that goes from the suburbs of Mountain View to the heart of the business district. Most of the food served on the campus is grown on the campus via the use of Earth boxes and there are even onsite nutritionists.
According to an interview with Judi LaMotte, People Ops Manager for Google as well as the report in general there are several perks to working at the company. The company is concerned with work life balance and They include a number of onsite services that employees can utilize throughout the day such as: laundry service, car wash, medical facilities, wired shuttle buses for commuters from San Francisco and the East Bay, free meals at one of several cafeterias, the ability to bring your dog to work with you, and hybrid cars that employees who shuttle to work can use during the day. Google In the report, LaMotte commented that the onsite offerings offer peace of mind. She said they save her from “the hassles that you normally have to catch up on on the weekends or after work”
At the end of the special report, the show’s host, Art Fennell, referred to the company as “A world in itself.” . I found the report interesting and inspiring and thought it was worth summarizing here. It also made me wonder what other large corporations are doing to maintain the environment. That is something definitely worth researching. Oh yeah, it also made me want to go work there ASAP!
Watch the postscript
Last year, the company reduced its carbon footprint to zero without negatively affecting its profits and actually finds that they are saving both money and the environment by continually looking for and implementing environmentally friendly technologies. The report conveyed that the company is focused on trying to make and use renewable energy that does not involve coal consumption. 30% of Google’s main campus is powered with solar. The company also has plans to invest in small startup companies that are researching and innovating ways to use wind, thermal, and geo-thermal energy technology. It also offers incentives to employees who drive fuel efficient cars up to a $4,000 subsidy according to the report, and employees can bike to work via a bike path that goes from the suburbs of Mountain View to the heart of the business district. Most of the food served on the campus is grown on the campus via the use of Earth boxes and there are even onsite nutritionists.
According to an interview with Judi LaMotte, People Ops Manager for Google as well as the report in general there are several perks to working at the company. The company is concerned with work life balance and They include a number of onsite services that employees can utilize throughout the day such as: laundry service, car wash, medical facilities, wired shuttle buses for commuters from San Francisco and the East Bay, free meals at one of several cafeterias, the ability to bring your dog to work with you, and hybrid cars that employees who shuttle to work can use during the day. Google In the report, LaMotte commented that the onsite offerings offer peace of mind. She said they save her from “the hassles that you normally have to catch up on on the weekends or after work”
At the end of the special report, the show’s host, Art Fennell, referred to the company as “A world in itself.” . I found the report interesting and inspiring and thought it was worth summarizing here. It also made me wonder what other large corporations are doing to maintain the environment. That is something definitely worth researching. Oh yeah, it also made me want to go work there ASAP!
Watch the postscript
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Don't Abuse Multimedia
Today I watched an online video clip from a self-described multimedia news site. In the video, which was a piece on local nightlife, a woman interviewed random patrons at a local club. Taking for granted that this was an entertainment piece, I didn’t expect to watch interviewees discussing the latest developments in the Obama McCain presidential race, but I didn’t expect to watch one of the club’s sloppy drunk patron slurring into the microphone at the top of her lungs either.
Sure, I know that is the fate of most patrons of bars and clubs on Friday nights. Hey, I’ve even dragged a sloppy drunk slurring friend or two out of a bar on occasion and admit that their ensuing drunken antics are often nothing short of side-splitting. Still, I know that even if I did have a video camera handy their antics, while entertaining, aren’t exactly news-worthy. Which brings me to my point.
Adding multimedia applications to traditional news reports on television and on websites has the potential to contribute to a greater understanding of the larger story, but too often multimedia applications on television news and news websites, which these days are often embedded viral videos, seem to do more to sensationalize legitimate news than adding to the public's understanding of what's going on in the world.
Take this year's presidential race for example. There are a number of examples of ways candidates used new media to reach out to young voters via the web. Maybe you have seen Barack Obama's site or online video ads--I am especially fond of the one that spotlights Zoe Kravitz--or you may have gone to Hillary Clinton's site once or twice. Maybe you've even been to John McCain's site. Each of these sites and videos providing One thing is for sure, we have all seen the repetitious grainy viral video of Jeremiah Wright found on youtube embedded across the web and Obama girl which made the rounds on news telecasts and the web which were not newsworthy for the reasons. So the question becomes when is multimedia useful and when is it just fluff? Using new media to present candidate speeches--good. Using new media elements to promote ranting preachers and screaming drunks--bad.
Sure, I know that is the fate of most patrons of bars and clubs on Friday nights. Hey, I’ve even dragged a sloppy drunk slurring friend or two out of a bar on occasion and admit that their ensuing drunken antics are often nothing short of side-splitting. Still, I know that even if I did have a video camera handy their antics, while entertaining, aren’t exactly news-worthy. Which brings me to my point.
Adding multimedia applications to traditional news reports on television and on websites has the potential to contribute to a greater understanding of the larger story, but too often multimedia applications on television news and news websites, which these days are often embedded viral videos, seem to do more to sensationalize legitimate news than adding to the public's understanding of what's going on in the world.
Take this year's presidential race for example. There are a number of examples of ways candidates used new media to reach out to young voters via the web. Maybe you have seen Barack Obama's site or online video ads--I am especially fond of the one that spotlights Zoe Kravitz--or you may have gone to Hillary Clinton's site once or twice. Maybe you've even been to John McCain's site. Each of these sites and videos providing One thing is for sure, we have all seen the repetitious grainy viral video of Jeremiah Wright found on youtube embedded across the web and Obama girl which made the rounds on news telecasts and the web which were not newsworthy for the reasons. So the question becomes when is multimedia useful and when is it just fluff? Using new media to present candidate speeches--good. Using new media elements to promote ranting preachers and screaming drunks--bad.
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