List the 8 New Media Strategies and
a.) define them in your own words
b.) give an example discussed in class and
c.) give an example outside the classroom.
1.) Upstage the Man –
a.) A new media strategy that utilizes the power of a larger organization/company/program and turns it against themselves or channels it in a different manner.
b.) We talked quite a bit about The Yes Men and how they used this strategy heavily in several of their projects. One of their pranks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Yes_Men#ExxonMobil) involved them posing as ExxonMobil representatives and delivering a proposal for a bio-fuel created from human remains. It wasn’t long before they were pushed off stage, but the message was received none-the-less. By posing as ExxonMobil employees, The Yes Men were able to give their message an urgency that would have been otherwise impossible.
c.) In NMD102, Mike Scott gave us an interesting assignment. He required us to take photos of good and bad designs that we saw on campus every week. Unfortunately, the assignments parameters were quite vague and he never specified when to stop doing the assignment. Due to multiple complications, the class collectively agreed to put the actual assignment as one of our bad designs. We then showed these during class. Mike got the message, in a particularly powerful way. I feet this experience represents some of the goals of upstaging the man, using Mikes power against him.
2.) Crowdsource the job –
a.) This strategy involves acquiring help from a large group (usually the general public) of people in order to collectively solve a problem.
b.) The Shoot Maine team developed a site where they relied on crowdsourcing to get new content (http://shootmaine.nmdprojects.net/wordpress/). By encouraging new users to post their favorite film locations to the site, the work of documenting interesting sites is spread out among many people rather than just a handful.
c.) The Oxford English Dictionary used crowdsourcing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowdsourcing#Historical_examples) to populate its list of words. In over 70 years, they received more than 6 million submissions from individuals detailing the usage of an English word.
3.) Aggregate, automate, and visualize data –
a.) This strategy involves the automatic collection, organization and proper display of large amounts of data. By putting data into eye-catching snippets like graphs, we can optimize its impact and communicate the message behind the data easily.
b.) In class we discussed theyrule.net, a site dedicated to aggregating, automating and visualizing data involving primarily the 1% or other powerful people that have significant impact on our lives.
c.) GPS navigation has had quite the impact on my generation. Prior to its invention, traveling from point A to point B involved a map, asking for directions and lots of arguments. Now, with the collection of data only an app-download away, I can easily reach and destination.
4.) Mobilize People –
a.) Use social media to reach mass amounts of people and influence them in some way. The most important part about this strategy is getting the individuals you touch excited about the topic/idea you’re attempting to mobilize. Creating energy about an idea will ensure people get up, go out and do what you will be asking of them.
b.) In class, the UMaine Motivators were attempting to mobilize people with their project. By creating the chalkboard, people were challenged to answer its questions and break from the consistency of an average day.
c.) I feel that the Occupy Movement is a good example of a small group of revolutionaries utilizing mobility strategies to get people thinking about the world they live in. It is unfortunate that it has degraded, but by using mass media (like it did the first time) the movement could certainly spring back into action at anytime.
5.) Do It Yourself
a.) The DIY movement is primarily geared towards teaching individuals how to do simple, every-day tasks without relying on others. DIY also extends to larger projects that would cost considerable amounts of money to have done for you. In this way, one can take advantage of low-cost alternatives to high-cost services.
b.) In class John taught us all how to easily make a chalkboard with plywood, paint and un-sanded grout. The process was remarkably easy, and I guarantee that it was a lot less expensive than buying a chalkboard.
C.) I think the 3D printer revolution is a good example of DIY. Instead of buying furniture, now we can print it! This is certainly the way of the future, and once 3D printers become affordable for the masses the makers revolution will rapidly expand and everyone can enjoy the benefits of a DIY world.
6.) Distribute and Connect Information –
a.) This strategy is about spreading general knowledge to everyone. In order to do this, connections must be made between people. Individuals must also be educated on how to connect.
b.) In class we briefly mentioned the use of BitTorrent clients and sites like ThePirateBay that actively allow users to transfer data between one another for everyone’s mutual benefit. For example, if I wanted a digital copy of a very old film that only 10 people happen to have on their machines, it would be quite difficult to find them and ask for a copy. But with BitTorrent sites, if one user hosts their information others can re-host it and perpetuate a cycle of info.
c.) I thought that BitCoin would be a good example of this strategy – a decentralized, digital currency that anyone can use. BitCoins are easily distributed, much easier in fact than cash.
7.) Share What Was Inaccessible
a.) This strategy is fairly straight-forward. When new information is revealed or new applications are designed, share it.
b.) In class we helped our fellow classmates with their projects by ‘like’ing
each others Facebook pages. By doing so, we created new tendrils for our projects that will grow into the digital network and spread out into the public.
c.) The Edward Snowden case is a great example of this strategy. It has long been known that the U.S Government has a shady side but Snowden made that clear. Because of this knowledge public demands for investigations have risen. This information could have only been accessed by someone on the inside, and now similar cases are popping up.
8.) Tap Into Local Networks
a.) Tapping into local networks is the act of building a ‘sneaker-net’, or a relationship between groups of friends, family, colleagues or acquaintances that all of you can benefit from.
b.) I grew my own local network during the construction of the Shoot Maine project. By talking to people involved in film making in and around the IMRC building I developed relationships that I would not have otherwise. Even by simply working in the Shoot Maine group, I have created a few more links in the social chain which could come in handy later in life.
c.) Charities utilize this strategy to generate money for the needy. I work at the local Domino’s in Old Town, and we always do a charity event during the holiday season. This year we are helping the St. Judes foundation. We ask every caller (all local citizens) if they would like to donate a dollar, and so far we have several thousand at our location alone. It’s pretty amazing what a group of people can accomplish.
How my class project made use of these strategies:
The Shoot Maine project relied HEAVILY on particular strategies like crowdsourcing, visualizing data, distributing/connecting information and sharing what was inaccessible.
Our project would not exist on a grand scale if it weren’t for crowdsourcing. We asked our other classmates to help us gather filming locations and tried to spread the word to anyone else willing to help. In the future, we would like the site to be available for any user to post. I believe this is the only way the project will stay alive, and it’s certainly a possibility. Crowdsourcing gave us a starting point, and hopefully it will perpetuate the project forward.
Aggregating, automating, and visualizing data was what our project was all about. Essentially, we wanted to condense the wealth of information related to local filming sights into an intuitive database that anyone could use. I feel that we achieved our goal fairly well. By choosing a WordPress theme that accentuated our photos, the site became incredibly eye-catching and easy to interpret. Users could get a good feel for how a site would look just from browsing the galleries. Our website also made it possible to distribute the information easily and allowed active connections to take place through comments, suggestions and user-submitted-content.
Our goal with the Shoot Maine project was to make inaccessible data accessible and share it with everyone. Our choice of distribution (website) made the sharing part pretty easy. Grouping the information was the difficult part, but thankfully we could crowdsource the problem. This new media strategy was the heart and soul of the operation.