Week 5: Social Media, Social Networking, Music Blogs

First of all, a short video to watch.

As we are one-third of the way through Design Studio, your blogs by now should be loaded with information, posts, images and links. If you have missed any classes, look through posts from previous weeks below and make sure you have incorporated all the highlighted features on your blog. Next week we will be conducting a small ‘peer review’ exercise in class, where you will have to assess the quality of a fellow student’s blog.

This week we are discussing social media and social networking. Note the differences between the two and how they are distinct.

Homework for last week involved identifying 3 key blogs in the Australian music industry (including only one by an artist/band), and exploring and explaining why they are significant, successful or unique. You should have written a blog post with ‘Aus Music Blog’ in the subject title. So, what did you find? Some questions to consider:

What are some of the writing techniques used? (within blog posts, comments and the wider site; what ’voice’ is used? what is the ‘style’? how do they include links? how do they maintain or develop interest and sustain desire to return and read more? how often do they write? etc.)

How do they use and prioritize available screen space? What do you notice first?

How do these blogs include / involve / engage their readers and peers? (using any novel techniques?)

What other bloggers and artists seem to be included within their inner network / community / fan base / set of peers? How does this shape your perception of this blog?

Which of these blogs would you be most excited to see reviewing your music? Aside from directly writing to them, in what other ways might you engage with them and become visible on their network?

Critical Thinking About Social Media

Beyond describing and documenting a range of tools and techniques, this week we want to explore - what are the implications of our new technologies, communication techniques and emergent social habits? What are the implications of social media? For you? Your music-related career? The music industry as a whole? For wider society?

Here are a couple of interesting videos featuring Sherry Turkle. The first discusses the relationship between technology and identity, and the more recent video has her discussing limitations to hyperconnectivity (or try this if the video is ‘unavailable’)… albeit on the Colbert Report.

A key aspect of our work this semester involves engaging with ideas around social networking services / websites and social media) and understanding how we can make our online work reach the widest possible audience. This, of course, is a central factor in the contemporary music industry.

The purpose of this exercise is to look at how we can critically analyse social networking websites, and briefly consider the broader issues that lie behind our changing modes of communication and consumption, and how our use of online media impacts upon our social and cultural identity. Some theory-based ideas we will discuss over the next few weeks include notions of authorship and remix culture, culture jamming, the democratization of culture and participatory culture, intellectual property, piracy and the public domain. These feed into wider discussions about privacy, ownership, online identity and modes of consumption.

In-class task #1: in groups of two or three, research five social networking websites. Report back to the class on what is involved in the website, what its aims and intentions are, and what shifts in communication it represents. What are the most popular sites? You may wish to consult this explanation of the architecture behind social networking and this database of social networks.

Something to consider is the impact our involvement in social network services has on our identity – both collective / community and individual. Much has been written on the changes to attitudes and behaviours that have been generated by our use of Facebook and other social networking sites, and the resultant breaking down of geographical boundaries. These networks have been acknowledged as helping to facilitate recent social and political upheavals, with some governments going so far as to block access. This suggests that social networking sites have the power to mobilise the masses and threaten the status quo. Just look at the recent London riots for evidence.

In-class task #2: in the same groups, identify some of the negatives / disadvantages associated with social networking websites and their impact on human behaviour. Also, find some examples of countries where these sites have been blocked and try to establish why this happened – what was the context and situation which led to the blocking?

Given that social networking websites are a relatively recent phenomenon, their long-term effect on social skills and human interaction remains to be seen. Is social networking on the internet here to stay, or will it be cast aside as an early twenty-first century phenomenon? The rapidity with which MySpace rose to prominence and then fell from grace suggests that brand loyalty isn’t a concern for users. News Corp’s purchase of the network for $580 million in 2005 now seems a particularly bad decision. But then who could have envisioned the phenomenal rise of Facebook and Twitter? And what does Justin Timberlake plan to do with MySpace?

The challenge is to think about what happens to our complex identities when we are online. What do these words mean for us in an online context: authenticity? privacy? anonymity? authentication? fake identities? stolen identities? trust? online reputations? social capital?

If you’re keen and want to know more, or perhaps you are looking at this topic for your essay, then check out this very useful bibliography.

Ultimately, you need to consider how best you can harness social media and social networking for your particular needs. This needs to be balanced with moral and ethical considerations, to ensure you are not making any enemies in the process. As great as all our new forms of communication may seem, do they really provide us with a better world? Will we one day hanker after “things like they used to be before Facebook”? Are we now in a society where everyone can know everything about anyone and anything? What advantages and disadvantages does this bring?

Individual research task: write a short blog post on one of the social networking websites you use the most. Discuss why you use that particular mode of communication (and not others), and how you think it impacts upon your identity as perceived by other users. If you are a musician, how do you use / how would you use social networking websites to publicize your music? What unique methods can we employ to stand out in a crowded online media environment?

Academic writing and research skills

Over the next few weeks we are going to consider some issues on essay research and writing. To start with, remember that your essay should be a formal piece of writing, written in an appropriate academic style. This means it cannot include abbreviations, colloquialisms and journalistic language. All academic writing involves a degree of research, which is used to underpin and support the author’s ideas and thoughts. This means your essay has to demonstrate a degree of independent research, and is therefore not something that can be written the night before it is due (Monday week 13).

The set weekly readings are there to give you an idea of the themes and issues you can explore in your essay, as well as to give you an idea of how to write in the appropriate style. Obviously we aren’t expecting journal article-like pieces, but your essay needs to demonstrate a considered and thoughtful approach. RMIT’s Study & Learning Centre’s Learning Lab has some useful information, and specifically the section on writing skills.

For research, Google Scholar can be a good place to start. If you know of a particular book, Google Books is a cheap way of accessing material, although it strips out certain pages from each text. You could take the old-school approach and visit the RMIT Library. As well as books, you can use the library website to search for journal articles, either by subject area by clicking on the “Articles” tab or by journal name by clicking on the “e-Journals” tab.

Homework for next week

Take a trip to the library in building 8 and find the music section, or more specifically given that most of you are exploring popular music-related issues, the popular music section. Find a book that you think will be of use for your essay and a book that you think looks interesting and useful for expanding your knowledge of music (both may be useful for your essay). So that’s TWO books. Check them out of the library, and go home (or somewhere quiet) and read them (you don’t have to read every page). Write a short blog post that summarises the content of both books.