The future of Internet Advertising!

It’s common knowledge that most Internet sites make their money off of advertisements. However, I wondered why anyone would ever click on the annoying, flashing advertisements that I’m so accustomed to ignoring. Convinced that I must be missing something, I sought out to discover the reason why the main source of revenue from sites came from advertisement. I found the answer I was looking in the New York Times.

It turns out most people were ignoring the flashy advertisements just as I had. However, the same way smart companies have allowed and encouraged costumers to actively participate in the process of developing improved products, advertisements have begun to do the same. New “interactive ads” are presented to a computer user in a way that allows him to actively participate in the product. Thinking back to where I might have seen this before, I realized that I had been suckered into participating in an “interactive advertisements” only a few months ago while visiting my favorite site, collegehumor.

One of the best segments on the site, along with “prank wars” which surprising came to umd for the incredible halfcourt prank, is the “Gotta Go in a Minute Show.” After every show, a silly twenty second clip promoting mountain dew’s new flavor of soft drink would air. In these ads, each flavor of soft drink would playfully argue with one another over who tasted the best, until finally a voice would shout “you decide!” and give the link to vote for the newest flavor. The fact that I had been given the option to participate compelled me to click the link and cast my vote. Needless to say, when the product came out which also happened to be the same one I voted for, I was eager to try the new product I had chosen.

Because I felt I had been a part of choosing the newest soft drink offered by mountain dew, I was already a fan of the product. Smart advertisement companies have taken advantage of the ability to interact with customers, while previous ads in a newspaper provided no means of immediate conversation. These relatively new interactive ads are exciting, for they not only benifit the advertisers and sites by recieving more responses than traditional advertisemetns, but also benifit the consumer as well, giving her the ability to help decide what product will be manufactured.

SUPER COOL NEW TECHNOLOGY!

A team of researchers at M.I.T. have created a device which they are calling a "sixth sense technology," which allows one to browse the Internet, use the phone, check the time, take pictures, and practically everything else one can imagine. However, unlike a phone, i pod, or computer screen, this technology can be projected onto any possible surface imaginable, and is navigated through the motion of ones fingers in thin air. Sounds crazy right?? If you don't believe me, WATCH THIS VID!! 

As the MIT professor introduced the amazing features of this new technology, my though

Cover of The Terminator

ts continued to wander back ten or so years ago to the first time I watched "Terminator," starring the bodybuilder/actor/governor/moron, Arnold Schwarzenegger. For those of you who saw the movie, think back to the scenes that were meant to give us a look at the world through the Terminator's perspective. As he examined his surroundings, he received constant updates about his environment by a computer, giving useful information about everything he saw. Words can't describe how envious I was of the Terminator, imagining the advantage of having instant access to knowledge about my surroundings. This new technology developed by the folks at MIT has made this childhood dream a reality! (at least at the supermarket) It has the ability to scan any food at a supermarket and display useful information about the product catered to our preferences.
The second time I watched this video, I thought about about the most recent discussion I had with classmates, resulting in a general consensus that many people have become dangerously dependent on new forms of technology. We laughed as we exchanged stories of drivers who had placed full trust in onstar programs, willing to follow any direction given simply because they had become oblivious to their surroundings. The new technology developed by MIT, though exciting and a testament to our remarkable technological achievements, will only intensify our dependence on technology. However, for many, like the cheering audience in the video, new technology only enhances our understanding of the world as we know it. Furthermore, for them, the more technology is integrated into our daily routine, the better off we are.

The Impact of Skype

Though I have always been a fan of the many new sites that have sprung up across the Internet over the last couple years, up until a few months ago, no particular site had a profound or drastic effect on my life. Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE having a facebook! However, unlike some, I see facebook as merely a fun way to keep in touch with friends and pass the time, but nothing more. Recently I discovered a site which has impacted my life in a big way, and the lives of millions in the world. It has allowed one to maintain relationships on a level unparalleled

Image via Wikipedia

by anything else. I am talking about Skype.
When my first cousin Rob (more like an older brother to me) moved to Sapitwa, Africa to research a cure for malaria, I was certain that we would never be as close again. Though we kept in touch over facebook, our once unbreakable relationship was beginning to deteriorate. Words on a page simply weren’t strong enough to uphold our friendship. In fact, the only time a felt close to him again was after watching a video he had posted of himself with friends in Africa. Seeing him come alive on my computer screen was more meaninful than any of our wall to wall posts on facebook over the past couple months. Frustrated by this, I turned to Google for help, searching something along the lines of “how to maintain friendships with those overseas WITHOUT facebook.” A few links down I came across this. There I found a string of videos, each documenting the stories of those who had begun to use Skype to maintain and uphold relationships with friends and loved ones. I discovered that in a matter of minutes anyone with a computer with a video lens could sign up for Skype for free and talk to others via live video. Several hours later, Rob and I might as well have been in the same room. We were seeing and hearing one another for the first time in months, expressing how remarkable it was that we could be doing this for free!

Some may disagree, but I am a strong believer that without the ability to see one and hear ones voice during conversation, inevitably a friendship or relationship will begin to deteriorate. Skype has not only changed my life, renewing the friendship I was beginning to lose grip of with Rob, but has also revolutionized our understanding of long distance friendships and relationships. No physical distance can ever truly keep two people apart again with Skype.

No More Second Chances

No More Second Chances

The Internet has had a drastic impact on the lives of millions of Americans. No one, I would argue, has been more affected by the Internet than those with a criminal record. Before the Internet it was conceivable that someone who was convicted of crime could avoid the ridicule of others after being released from prison by packing up his things, moving thousands of miles away, and starting fresh. Today, no physical distance travelled can escape the global reach of the Internet.

Image via Wikipedia

Within the last couple years sites have sprung up which have made all criminal records easily accessible to the public. On sites like familywatchdog and mapofsex offenders simply knowing ones name and zip code will give you a complete list of all the crimes one has committed. Though there are enormous benefits of the new accessibility of criminal records to the public, one can argue that the patriotic and comforting message of "second chances" no longer seems applicable. A young man who has lived a reckless life, for example, may choose to abandon this harsh lifestyle in favor of becoming a respectable member of society. However, one can never find peace knowing that a full list of ones destructive past is just a few clicks away. Also, this same young man will have enormous difficulty finding a job, an employer, who in the past would often not go through the time consuming process of a thorough background check on a potential employee, now can achieve this within a matter of minutes. What disturbs me the most however is the story of a man who was convicted of a crime but later proven innocent, yet, because numerous sites have yet to remove his criminal offense, no employer will hire him.
I don't doubt that the pros of making criminal records accessible to the public far outweigh the cons. Still, it scares me knowing that no matter how minor the crime, anyone with Internet access can see this.

A New Way to hit the bigtime!

Image by six steps  via Flickr

For most of the twentieth century, the only way an artist could expect to be successful was to go on tour and hope to gain a massive following. Today, the smartest labels have found that often the best way to break an artist is through media whether it be placing a song in the trailer of a movie or placing a song in a commercial. Less than a year ago Old Navy aired a commercial of a girl dancing to a catchy tune about a sweater. Immediately people searched online for this “Sweater song” they had heard in their new favorite commercial. Needless to say, Ingrid Michaelson, the relatively unknown singer who wrote this song , was suddenly catapulted to stardom. Her “Sweater song” was among the most popular songs downloaded from I tunes that month, exceeding over 500,000 downloads!
Just a few months ago, my brother and I went to Charlottesville to write with a dear friend and talented musician Chris Keup. It just so happened that the singer, of the band Parachute, was using Chris’ studio that very day, to lay down an acoustic love song he had been working on. Several months later I heard the song again, except this time it was playing in a Nivea commercial. Their daily hits on myspace immediately shot from one hundred to a staggering 15,000 plays.
Just as big businesses are forced to reevaluate their policies in order to prosper in an age where media convergence plays a huge role in success, so are record industries forced to discover alternate paths of reaching an entirely new audience whom prefers to discover music in the comfort of their homes more than say going to a concert, or rummaging through a record store. This has led to a dramatic shift in the top employees of record labels, many of the older, technologically impaired “top dogs” swiftly replaced by bright, creative individuals aware of unique and imaginative ways of reaching the new demographic of people whose eyes stay glued to the t.v or computer screen.

Times are changing in the music industry

In class, though I was partly able to convey my knowledge on new media and its effects on the music industry, I would like to dive deeper into this subject, being that it has had a direct impact on my life. In order to fully comprehend the drastic changes that have resulted in the music industry as a result of new media, I will focus on its effects on the artistic side of being an artist, supporting this with my personal experiences in the music industry.
For about fifteen years my brother and I have been writing songs. Though we began taking piano lessons at the age of four, we had not considered creating music until the age of six when my mom suggested that we write a song for Santa Clause. When “Santa” (Our next door neighbor Steve) belted a jolly “ho ho ho” after hearing our first masterpiece, “Santa’s Speeding Slay,” we were hooked, and haven’t stopped writing since.

Hundreds of songs later, we have recently signed a publishing deal with CherryLane, a company renowned for its abilities to place songs in various media fields. In exchange for 25% of each song we have written, they gave us the money to convert our basement into a studio, thus allowing us to record high quality songs, which they would pitch to TV. programs, movies, commercials, etc. After sending them dozens of song ideas, we discovered a trend in the songs they selected to pitch for film and TV. They seemed to be only interested in the most upbeat, catchy songs in the bunch. When we asked what we should do to increase their odds of placing our songs, their response caught me be surprise. Apparently our songs needed to have an
even more poppy, upbeat feel. On top of this, they suggested that our lyrics should in most cases contain a message of “change for the better,” and “being able to accomplish anything if you put your mind to it.” As a result we began only writing songs that fit these guidelines, and within days landed our first big placement with the song we entitled “Brighter days await you.” We also placed a song called "Hello Kitty" in the new Hello Kitty album (I know you're jelous...haha) As an artist, it became more and more difficult to find the time to write songs about things I cared about that weren't necessarily mainstream, knowing that these songs would almost certainly put no money in my pocket. Many artist, also seeing the benefits of writing songs for various forms of entertainment have decided to write more upbeat, generic pop songs hoping to land a publishing deal as well.

I hope this has given you some insight as to how new media has altered the artistic side of creating music. Stay tuned, for I will be posting another blog explaining how new media has forced artists and labels to reassess the most effective ways to promote ones music to potential fans.

Mom got a facebook???

I've always been skeptical when it comes to social networking sites. When I heard about the creeps on myspace stalking teenage girls and boys, I figured I could live without an online profile. For this reason, when friends bugged me to sign up for facebook, I replied, "I'll think about it," and quickly changed the subject. In no time, however, facebook had become the dominant topic of every conversation. There was simply no way of getting around it. Frankly, the isolation I felt not having a facebook was beginning to bother me. I knew what I had to do. I swallowed my pride and created a profile.
In no time, like millions of others across the country, I was addicted. After receiving a friend request from someone I knew in first grade, I would spend hours reading his info, scrolling through his pictures, always checking for the comments his friends posted. I soon discovered there was a name for what I had become. A facebook stalker. Fortunately, after months of wasting hours at a time on facebook, I realized 99.9% of that which I discovered online was trivial and rarely had any effect on me. My point is, just because someone posts something personal about themselves on facebook doesn't make this interesting or worth reading. I know this seems harsh but it's the truth.

Image by Laughing Squid via Flickr

I would finally like to stress the fact that one should not obsess over the number of friends one has online, for this does not indicate the number of TRUE friends one has in the real world. Recently, my mom, a new member of facebook (apparently parents are beginning to sign up for facebook as well), called me up in a panic, practically begging for a plausible explanation why two of her "friends" online had defriended her. The fact that losing two friends on facebook was causing my mom distress is humorous of course, but also rather troubling, for it demonstrates just how serious some people take their online profiles.