Tumblr is Winrar?

The juggernaut of online journals known as a blog has been around for over a decade and now it seems everyone is an author of a blog or two or twenty. Whether it is used as a virtual diary, a medium for spilling your guts to the world, a platform to announce events, an aggregation site for information, or an academic resource, a blog is quite cumbersome. There aren't too many blogs that keep updates to a minimum either in frequency, length, or both. Although the freedom exists to turn a blog into whatever the creator wants, over the years, certain expectations have been formed. A few paragraphs and maybe a photo along with a couple links seems to be the norm.

In 2006, Twitter gave members a focus for blogging by minimizing requirements. Limiting a single post to only 140 characters is quite the restriction and early users saw both potential and a fresh challenge for sharing stuff to others quickly. To many, Twitter was just too big of a leap where they were more confused than excited to experience microblogging.


About a year after the idea of Twitter came about, Tumblr launched. It boasts the power to allow users to "effortlessly share anything." Is it a blog? A microblog? I like to consider it a "diet blog" or "blog lite." Anyone is able to post text, pictures, video, music, and more like a blog only way simplified like how Twitter is so basic and uncluttered. If a blog is an iPod Classic and Twitter is an iPod Shuffle, then I guess that makes Tumblr an iPod Nano... Maybe it's better imagined if Twitter was a cheetah and a blog was a squirrel, then Tumblr would be a deer... Wait, if Twitter was hot porridge and a blog was cold porridge, then Tumblr would be... I don't know. I'm sure you, the reader, can come up with a better analogy. Anyway, Tumblr is an easy way to post what you want and how much you want. Tumblr could be the best transition from blogging to tweeting on the web.

Twitter Earns +1 Internets

(via Compete)

As an "early" Twitter user -- before mainstream media was over-saturated with Twitter reports -- I've seen firsthand the evolution of the incredible microblogging website. I started off not knowing what to do with my Twitter account and only had two friends following me. Just over a year ago, Twitter was nothing but Facebook boiled down to just the status update. That analogy seemed to be the best way to explain Twitter to those unfamiliar with the site... until now.

(via @cnnbrk)

In just a year's time, there has been a considerable growth in innovative ways to use Twitter. Beyond keeping up with what friends are doing, anyone can check the latest news with @cnnbrk (CNN Breaking News) to @nytimes (New York Times) to @huffingtonpost (Huffington Post), see the latest celebrity gossip through @eonline (E! Online) or @PerezHilton (Perez Hilton) and laugh with @michaelianblack (Michael Ian Black) or @fxxxmylife (FML).

(via @naughtyamerica)

None of these basic benefits would prepare me for my most recent revelation. I have seen an increase in spam accounts following me, but it was the latest new follower email notification that really proved Twitter's influence: pornography. That's right, someone followed me offering a link to see Britney Spears's sex tape. I was quite taken aback by their thumbnail picture. Instead of blocking them, I decided to do some sleuthing to see just how much porn existed. Sure enough, Twitter is overrun with porn. Not only have major companies like Ford (@ScottMonty), The Home Depot (@TheHomeDepot), and Burger King (@theBKlounge) jumped on the Twitter bandwagon, but so has the porn industry. Playboy (@Playboy), Naughty America (@naughtyamerica), and Club Jenna (@clubjenna) have all infiltrated Twitter and are gaining followers.

But why is porn on Twitter so significant? In keeping up with Twitter developement on the web, there has been a plethora of new applications and services all utilizing the huge influx of Twitter users and information. Twitter yellow pages (twellow), directory (wefollow), realtime trend search (twitterfall), picture search (PicFog), photo sharing (twitpic), viewing videos (bubbletweet, 12seconds, and ffwd), music (Twisten and musebin), games (@playtwivia), add events to your calendar (Twitter Cal and Calendar Tweet), dating service (Radaroo), and so much more are all available due to Twitter. If you have a Twitter account, it's almost like you don't need anything else.

#10 - New Media: The Moar You Know

Whether or not using new media has changed my writing style is difficult to determine. I have been on a computer, albeit an old Apple that used those huge floppy disks, since elementary school. I've never really given writing with a pen and paper a chance in the sense that I could develop my writing skills without the influence of computers and new media. There was no way I could ever compare the two since new media has always been a huge factor in my literary maturity. I suppose if I had to make a guess, considering I have physically written a few papers, using computers and new media has provided me with unnatural editing powers with copy and paste features and instant results for information inquiries using search engines. If I needed an article to backup my claims or a book to quote I wouldn't immediately think to go to my local library, but instead go online. The speed and availability of the internet has probably quickened the development of my writing style as I was hardly ever discouraged or prevented from accessing any information which would have slowed me down. Perhaps without computers, the delay in finding research material would have given me time to think more critically and analytically about the topic of my paper, but, as I said before, there's no way of knowing now because I've become reliant, if not addicted, to the immediate gratification of searching new media sources.

In the days before the internet when the personal computer was an emerging idea, newspapers, radio, and television were all very flat in how they relayed information. If a TV show referenced a news article then the viewer would have to go find it outside of watching TV. If radio referenced a book the viewer would have to visit a library or a bookstore to check it out. If a newspaper reported on a movie one would have to go see it. There was no direct connection if the audience wanted more information. As technology advanced and the internet was a growing media vehicle, everything one would do physically could be done much quicker virtually. All it takes is a link to an online book store, a clip from a movie or TV program, or a news article. Instead of everything being so isolated in the real world, the internet was a web of information that helped shape and define new media. Suddenly, TV, news, radio, and so much more was all on the internet but they weren't separate like in their old media forms, they were combined so that a news article had a complementing set of photos, an audio interview, and a video version of the story. Everything was converged into one effectively blurring the line between text and image. On the other hand, maybe this was destined to be the progression of media where it all comes together as one. It could be that this ambiguity between media is the best way to be informed where everything is packaged in one place for convenience in a world as complex and busy as today.

The future of new media as the Museum of Media History displayed in "Epic" is beyond ridiculous. Google will not take over the world. There will always be competition on the internet since it's so easy to create a functioning website, as opposed to forming a physical business outside of the online world, and internet user interest is always shifting. During the long period of Yahoo! search domination, no one ever expected that the same Yahoo! today would be looking for someone to buy their company. When MySpace was the top social network, no one could have predicted Facebook usurping it. Even now, Facebook is struggling to hang on to disgruntled users with the rise of Twitter. Google too may see a day when they simply cannot survive on the internet. Although, Google is one of the only online companies to stay fresh and popular with constant expansion, experimentation, and updating. There really is no way to know what the next big thing will be on the internet.

Over the past semester, I wouldn't say I've encountered an eye-opening experience concerning my understanding or use of new media, but I have grown. All of this new media has exposed me to a wide assortment of ideals that has helped further form my individual writing style. I've learned a few tricks and tips along the way, which, although only small tweaks, they have a significant impact on the audience. I had more fun teaching others then anything else.

#9 - Rules of the Interactivity

Interactive is just another broad term that doesn't mean much without further detail. It can be condensed to mean changing one factor and seeing the effects that has on other factors. Saying something is "interactive" is like saying someone is "special."

Len Manovich puts it best in his "The Myth of Interactivity" when he breaks down interactivity into different kinds of "structures and operations." To me, there are many levels of interaction in varying forms, but I'll focus on new media on the internet. Interaction can be as simple as clicking a link to another page or as complex as building your very own page. But not all interactivity is created equal.

Anyone can hyperlink in order to have people "interact" but is it what users want? Just because there's a link somewhere doesn't mean that it's an effective use of interactivity. If there's a story that has a long and detailed history then an interactive timeline would allow readers to customize there own viewing experience. Google offers anyone to personalize their own homepage with iGoogle where users can drag, drop, and organize anyway they wish at any time. But it doesn't have to be complicated; even just having links to photos or videos for reference would suffice as interactivity if used coorrectly.

Interaction is really about the individual user experience. If there isn't any consideration as to what method of interaction is best then there's a disconnect between the audience and what is being portrayed. The whole point is to get the user actively engaged and actually want to interact. Interaction without will isn't worth interacting with.

#8 - Audio Not Related

When it comes to podcasts, audio is everything. Even if you have the most amazing visuals, if the right audio isn't working well with them then all is lost. The backbone of a podcast has, is, and always will be the audio.

Should there be music playing in the background when I'm speaking? What about when this person is talking? What song would be appropriate here? What do I want the listener to feel? Choosing the best sound selection and when in a podcast depends on many factors. Sound isn't just limited to music either, there are natural pops, "room noises," and voices.

Natural pops have a huge roll in creating a specific scene or location in the listener's mind. If you have birds chirping and the wind blowing then the audience gets a feeling of being outside. Add in some dogs barking and maybe a few soft conversations and the listener feels like they're in a park. Room noise is like the silence you experience when in a... well a room. It's not perfect silence, it's comforting silence. Voices are pretty self explanatory, but it's the sounds you combine with them that are important.

It's no easy task to pick what goes together but when you get it right, audio makes all the difference in the world. Choose wisely.