On another note...

I hate waiting for assignment results.

Especially when they were supposed to be put up a few days ago.

Ahhhh!

Disappointment.

What could've been a monumental day in Vancouver's history turned in to one of the most disappointing moments for me as a Canadian and a Vancouverite.

It was game 7 of the final round of the Stanley Cup finals between the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins and the Canucks lost 4-0. While most Canuck fans left the many viewing spots around Vancouver disappointed, some deemed it necessary to take their frustration out on the streets of one of the most liveable cities in the world.

Cars lit on fire, windows smashed, store fronts broken into...the streets of downtown Vancouver quickly turned into a full scale riot.

Having lived there for over three years and as someone who frequently visits, it upsets me to see a city I love fall victim to this kind of madness and chaos. 

To those who started the riots, why?

To those who stayed and watched, why?

To those who took control, thank you.

To those who helped clean up, thank you.

DIY Media: Bringing Your World to Youtube

So this is my third and final blog post for KCB110: Introduction to Mass Communication. This one looks at DIY Media and in particular Youtube personality Natalie Tran.

Enjoy.

It would be hard to find anyone under the age of twenty who hasn’t uploaded at least one video to the social media site Youtube. I have at least 10 videos online myself including one of two friends and I miming along to a popular 90s song. No, I will not share this rather embarrassing video with you. There are copious amounts of videos online ranging from music to movie re-enactments and comedy to cute children and has been a platform for finding fame. The TED Talks Youtube video (2009) states that technology is a form of social capital and “innovation can happen anywhere”. Teen singing sensation Justin Bieber and the “Will it blend?” guy, most notable for blending an iPhone, are just two examples of Clay Shirky’s philosophy.

 

Answer: yes it will.

Natalie Tran, now 24, became an online vlogging (video blogging) personality after she found fame through a debate with an American on Australia’s much loved spread, Vegemite. As stated on The Age Blog, this caught the attention of A Current Affair and was featured on a segment called the “Vegemite Wars”. From this, viewers flocked to her Youtube page to view her tri-weekly comedy filled videos and from then on, as the saying goes, the rest is history. Sternberg (2011) believes that a negative of do-it-yourself (DIY) media is that “most generated content is not especially creative or sophisticated”. In the case of Natalie Tran, this is definitely not true. While some may call it procrastination, I prefer to think of my time spent watching her witty and talented videos as research. When it comes to positives of DIY media, Sternberg (2011) states that this requires media organisations to “rethink old assumptions about what it means to consume media”. After building up quite a following, one organisation heeded Natalie’s online fame and realised the potential they had to promote their products.

 

Youtube sensation: Natalie Tran

Lonely Planet (2011a) was started by two adventurous globetrotters with a passion for travel over 30 years ago. Within a week of starting up the company, 1500 books were sold and now they have everything from a vast array of travel books, both hard and electronic copies to a reputable website filled with everything found in there books and so much more. So, what does Natalie Tran have to do with Lonely Planet? To quote the vlogger herself, “Lonely Planet thought it would be a good idea to get me out of the house to see the world now that I've finished university” (2011b), and she has done exactly that. For four months she traveled nearly every continent on the globe and posted weekly videos and blogs on the Lonely Planet website in true Natalie Tran style. In Paris she discussed their weird curbside parking habits, she made breakfast using an iron and a coffee maker in San Francisco and in New York City she consumed an unhealthy amount of hotdogs from various hotdog stands. I think it’s safe to say that Natalie Tran is living the life that many social media graduates would envy. I know I do.

Swimming with the locals

Natalie Tran is a perfect example of how web 2.0 is empowering media users as it “blurs the lines between media audiences and creators” (Sternberg, 2011) or as Bruns (2007) calls them, produsers. It also shows how the relationship between media users and the media industry are changing; in a sense, they’re becoming co-creators and allowing polylogical communication to take place (Harrington, 2011). As Sternberg (2011) explains, audiences and media organisations “collectively contribute to the social, cultural and economic value of media products”. Here we have Lonely Planet, a reputable and well-known travel company, utilising the skills of Natalie Tran, a social media graduate and together creating something entertaining for audiences of both Lonely Planet and Natalie Tran’s Youtube channel.

That shirt couldn't be further from the truth

Now, cast your mind back to our first lecture of this unit for the semester, if you can remember that far back. The first thing we learnt about was Turow’s model of communication and how it was a very straightforward and one-sided means of communicating. Now erase that image because that clearly isn’t the case in today’s world of media and communication. As Olivia King states in her blog post, Are You Calling Cancer? “Advances in technology over the last 50 years have resulted in an exponential change in the way the media is used and delivered.” However, changes in technology are not just seen in the way the media is used and delivered, rather they have allowed for new models and means of communication to take place. Many are honing in on this and a new generation of creative minds is shaping our world.

Instant abs: you'll be a personal trainer in no time

Whether it’s creating a dangerous fad on Facebook or showing the world just how funny you are on Youtube, technological advances have given us a new platform in which to channel this creativity and Natalie Tran is just one out of a handful of people leading the way in how user-generated content is creating opportunities for future media professionals.

Beware of the older sibling

You may think that older siblings always have your best interest at heart but then they'll do something that's just so horrible you can never forgive them ever again.

Backstory: My sister went to NYC in January for 2 weeks and bought me a few presents (not the horrible part). She got me some awesome presents including The Office edition of Monopoly which I'd wanted for ages.

Then she came home and that's when the horrible thing happened.

She introduced me to the Urban Outfitters website.

What. A. Bitch.

Now I have to restrain myself from adding to the hundreds of dollars of things I've bought from them since I'm saving to go to Europe.

Here's evidence of the dastardly crime she's committed.

Bag: $60

Hooks: $20

Shirt: $40 (?)

Cardigan: $40 (Sale)

Books & Measuring Cups: $5 - 20

So yeah. What a bitch.