The era of smart phones and stupid people

Convergence in the context of technology is defined as the integration of two or more different technologies in one device/system. When we think of technological convergence, the first thing that pops up in our minds is the mobile device, isn’t it?

Initially, mobile phones were created for the purpose of making calls. However, with the continuos advances in technology, we can now use our phones for much more. We can make normal calls or use FaceTime call if we wish to see the person, we can text on iMessage or text on whats app, take a selfie with the front camera or ask someone to take a picture of us and post it on Facebook, Instagram or SnapChat immediately.  We can share our thoughts on the Twitter timeline, listen to the latest album on our phones after we download it straight from the iTunes on our phone. We can use the phone map to find out where we are when we get lost in  Central London or simply call an Ubber cab, again from our phone device, all this facilities at the palm of our hand, literally!

Technological convergence has made life so much easier for us in the last few years but there are many people that think, having everything given to us isn’t helping. Our brains aren’t challenged, we do not exercise our minds and we end up having stupid people and smart phones…

Convergence. Twitter.

Media convergence is the merging (or joining together) of previously distinct media to create entirely new forms of communication expression.

Twitter is growing more and more as a convergence in media along with Facebook.

“Social media is now the worlds largest mass media” – AdvertisingAge

Its a place, for me, to get the latest information faster than average news outlets. One example of this was when the three young muslims were shot at Chapel Hill, US. It was reported on to main stream media until more than a week later. This just shows twitter as a platform for all voices to be heard and more information to be exchanged quickly.

Twitter is always a platform in which to fight back on what is being said on mainstream news. One example of this is when David Cameron was interviewed about immigrants needing to learn english or they would need to be deported after a certain period of time. In this, he also called muslim women least likely to integrate into society calling them “traditionally submissive.” People then shared their views on this on twitter, in particular, muslim women, posting photos like these.

To me Twitter is a very good example of a convergence of two media forms, one being previously extinct, and the other being opinion forming together to create a platform where people can communicate and become a community. The use of hashtags to collate information such as these, and market research from companies too, with this platform becoming in my opinion a fast growing media convergence.

More than music

When we think of Spotify, music is the first thing that comes to mind, but it has become much more than that.

Other than being similar to a social network, where you can share songs and see what your friends are listening to, you can explore a huge variety of content.

In the “Show” section, you get to choose between video and audio shows. Users can switch from music to cultural or funny podcasts, without having to use Apple’s app for podcasts, it has everything from “Freakonomics Radio” to “Book Club Girl”.

For what it comes to the Video feature, the choice and the whole layout could even challenge YouTube, usually if you’re looking for more serious videos. The app shows the most popular videos in that moment, but choosing the main section takes you to interesting profiles that somehow look more appealing than watching them through the Internet. The range includes videos such as “TED: Bite-sized” and talk shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live or the Ellen Show.

 

The app can even be used to buy concert tickets; you find the list of upcoming concerts according to your location and once you choose one it goes directly to SongKick’s website, this means people can choose not to download apps such as SongKick itself or Bandsintown, since they can already find their kind of service somewhere else.

This convergence seems to be created around the average Spotify user, so that he can go through the app without needing other ones to do what he would normally do.

Technological convergence

The technological dimension of convergence is the most readily understood, with the development of technology, smart phone, television, computers, and other digital devices, billions of people are now able to access media content that was once tied to specific communications media.

In the past, we use the phone to call each other, it will not received immediately, television could just watch several black and white film,  radio and other entertainment medium had to be played on a specific device. Video displayed on a television through some type of video player, music came through a tape deck or Compact Disc (CD) player, and video games were played through a console of some sort. Now we can easy use these devices to look everything. Especially mobile phone, check breaking news, play games, calling, take notes ,watch videos, do anything you like.

The internet connect all of them through technology devices . Virtually all entertainment technologies, from radio and television to books and games, can be viewed and played online.All of these different types of media have become digitised and made more readily available than ever before.(Media convergence)

In conclusion, in this global world, the technological convergence makes people more accessible and comfortable to use it. While in daily life has become indispensable.

Would we have died if convergence was never discovered?

In late 19th century, one had probably never heard the word convergence, let alone understand what it meant, and let alone heard of media convergence. We can create our own world permeated with convergence fantasies. For example The cybertarian notion about Cyborg’s arriving soon are always just over the horizon, some believe they already are here, drawing on ancestral superstitious beliefs. In the early 20th century “apparently” radio waves moved “in ether”, a mysterious subject that contacted the dead, and cured the cancer. The natural desire to connect human’s to media technology has remained a myth of convergence.

Much of the legend is a running travesty of the true history of the convergence, media has been more theorised now. Partnered with each other, one can create a whole another dimension of creation. Each good by itself, and better with other. Jumping to current situations, passing the media phases, radio, television, internet, social media, we witness daily collaborations of convergence, before joining the university I didn’t know what that term meant but now in everything I see, I witness media convergence, be it from film to Blackboard, an easily accessible portal, where one can’t survive their whole academic year without it as you may know is opt-able through the computer, the phone, the internet. What would we do if there was no blackboard?

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Storify – The Social Media News Narrative

In this social media era where everyone walks around with a smartphone in their pocket, people now have the power to report events happening around them in real time. No longer do you need to be a professional reporter to get news out to the public. You can simply tweet out a pic of the scene around you.

This becomes a huge resource when looking at breaking news, as people on the scene are the first ones to get information out to the rest of the world. Storify is an amazing resource when trying to piece together a narrative from various social media posts. Storify allows news organizations to compile social media posts together. It can draw from many social media outlets, including Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Youtube.

After the Paris attacks, Storify was a valuable tool to show users exactly what was happening as the events unfolded. This is one of the best examples of Storify’s power in breaking news situations.

This has huge implications for media users because they can participate and become part of the reporting process. It also affects the media industry in that if they are keen on integrating social media, they can access tons of information relevant to their stories just from audience members and everyday citizens.

Convergence – Tumblr

Convergence, particularly media convergence, is defined by Henry Jenkins as a ‘flow of content across multiple media platforms’ which suggests that both old and new media can come together to create something new for today’s media. Jenkins also mentions that it ‘should not be viewed as a displacement of the old media, but rather as interaction between different media forms and platforms.’

With the website, Tumblr, it merges together text, photos, video and audio, bringing together old forms of technology that have been prevalent for years and bringing them together on a sharing platform.By allowing its users to upload original content and to share content from other sources, it allows a community to be creative and to discuss the things that they share.

The options of what content to upload that Tumblr gives

Tumblr has become more popular since being launched in 2007 and after being bought by Yahoo in 2013, it has become more of a mainstream social media platform. Since expanding in 2013, many celebrities have begun to use Tumblr including the likes of Taylor Swift and Ryan Reynolds. Tumblr also includes an ‘ask’ feature where users can send questions to each other and have recently started asking celebrities to answer questions. This breaks the barrier of celebrity and fan for the users of Tumblr.

The way in which Tumblr allows original content to be shared helps many people to broadcast their work in a way that would be difficult before this site came along. It is mostly artwork that is shared more so than songs or videos, but still allows people to showcase their work for free, and to have it seen all around the world.

In conclusion, Tumblr  brings together aspects of media that have been around for years and allows its users to exploit these types of media to gain a global audience. Something which so far has had a positive response.

Living our lives through our phones

In 2016 convergence is everywhere; smart phones in my opinion are the main driver of the convergent media sector. There are an estimated 40 million smartphone users worldwide and according to statistica.com this number will keep on rising. One of the top companies producing smartphones for the globe is apple, apple in my view forces consumers to converge to buying only apple products. This is because apple have designed all of their products to only be compatible with other apple products; as a result the apple has become a must for the consumer.

A large amount of the population now have virtual lives and spend he majority of their time looking down at the tiny computers in their pockets; but it’s much more than that. The reason this has happened is because application devices and messaging apps have forced us to live our lives through our phones; if we aren’t on WhatsApp or have a social media site at our fingertips we feel out of the loop. I would argue that in 2016 the majority of us are tied to our phones and as time goes on I think we will spend more time looking down and less time looking up and around at the world around us.  Do you agree?

Harry Potter and the prison of Convergence

During the lectures and the seminars the Harry Potter topic, along with Pokemon and Star Wars, always stood out to highlight the sense of community it made. Another way the Harry Potter saga has been used was to explain the convergence made. Harry Potter indeed is not only the seven books written by J. K. Rowling that made children and teenagers all over the world dream of a magic and mysterious world. Harry Potter is also eight movies, merchandising, studios, theme parks, web sites. Different technologies and devices merged to make what today is a proper culture.

Moreover, the writer decided not only to make a play called “Harry Potter and the cursed child”, but also she recently decided to publish the written copy of the script. Most of the fans went crazy when the news of an eighth book came out, but, as probably one of the biggest fan of the story, I have find it disrespectful. If in one hand I gladly sip my hot tea using my Gryffindor mug and I love sleeping in my also Gryffindor pajama, enjoining the perks of the convergence; in the other hand I find all this need to keep the story going only a pretest to have a bigger profit and make the aim of the initial story completely compromised.

In this case I find the concept of convergence just a prison people cannot escape from and they are forced to live a story that is finished without the opportunity to move on.

first world problems

Will you survive without a smartphone?

I know is a “cliche” talk, but a smartphone is a tool of now a days work, we need it for everything that we do, from the basics things ( as alarm) to really specific things ( the london stock exchanges).

Now a days we using a smartphone for everything, we can do stuff on the phone that 15 years ago we need another gadgets for that, like a camera to film, one to take pictures, one MP3 to listen music, an agenda, lots of things. This is the ultimate convergence, it puts everything together in your hand.

Now this is a good thing? I don’t know , it seems that we depend in one gadget to do a lot o things , that in the 90’s we can do it without, I’m talking about normal things like getting up , now a days most of the people need the phone to wake up, literally if the phone is dead the alarm doesn’t go on an people don’t wake up.

The smartphones are the convergence , you can’t live without one,almost everything you need it’s in there ( it doesn’t give money yet).

I just write this post in my smartphone, this is the best example. So I wouldn’t survive without one.