A film blog for students of my classes at Santa Clara University. Use this blog to discuss the films we are studying, classic films, current releases or production issues you encounter while making your own films.
Monday, March 02, 2015
Digitization
What are the dangers of U.S. society moving from a society-making media model to a segment-making media model?
14 comments:
Anonymous
said...
One danger of U.S. society moving from a society-making media model to a segment-making media model is that it can result in increasing polarization among different populations of the community. The example I gave in class was of Fox news vs MSNBC that do not have to allot a certain amount of time to presenting the opposing view point and who do not have to appeal to the larger masses leads people to seek out media that reaffirm their already held beliefs. Rather than trying to find balances between issues in society through open dialogue, many outlets are turning towards extremes and the moderate voice is having difficult emerging in this environment. I think that growing extremism in the public voice is the only legitimate concern of the move from society-making media to segment-making because in someways this growing extremism brings us back to small diversity of voices that was, in my opinion, the negative result of a society-making media. Overall, I think that is important to have segmentation because it allows on average more diversity of voices to be heard. It also protects from one power being able to command the opinions of the masses so easily. Also pop culture still exists. If I turn on the radio I will probably end up having to listen to taylor swift songs until they are ingrained in my brain and I am forced to like them. However, with new technologies, the internet, I can have a choice. I do not just have to listen to the radio. I can visit sites like hypem (the hype machine) that let me hear blogged music from all around the world. Maybe laws like the Fairness Doctrine should be reimplemented to try to neutralize the polarizing effect of a segment-making media model.
I agree with Kerri that the major danger behind moving to a segment-making model is the drastic polarization within our population that can be generated and reinforced in this country. Media should be utilized to unite different groups and bring about discussions that incorporate various global perspectives, experiences, and understandings. Instead, the segment-making media model that is becoming more and more prevalent in the United States supports the division of individuals into definitive groups based on beliefs and tastes. I think that segment-making’s increasing prevalence in the country is indicative of the diverse variation in American attitudes and appreciations, as it seems much more difficult now to create a single show now that genuinely appeals to the whole nation and encourages discussions across the country. I think that our classroom is a good example of this idea but on a smaller scale, as I’m positive my classmates and I don’t all watch the same shows and that we’d struggle to have an educated discussion about the things that we watch and enjoy. While there are entities like Fox and MSNBC that cater to their specific audiences with a heavy bias and lack of diverse perspectives, I think that the media should facilitate intelligent conversations in our global society that may further encourage the development of a more inclusive, comprehensive, and tolerant nation.
Being a segment-making model creates rifts and divisions, simply put. People start to create a distance from others who think differently from themselves and stick to what they are comfortable with. There is no exposure to the other side. There is no collaboration with the others side.
Seeing how everything is becoming personalized in terms of online news recommendations, netflix recommendations, etc., people will only be aware of the content that already echoes their own thoughts and viewpoints. While it may be a more enjoyable experience and while it may create a more engaging model, it will lack dimensions of depth and variety that would normally have been offered.
The only danger I can think of would be the fact that segment-making media divides groups, interests, and opinions into either different networks or biases, as well as age groups, racial demographics. This can cause tensions between networks ratings and viewers,mostly with networks mentioned above like FOX and MSNBC with conservative and liberal political and social trends and views. Society making media is different from this because it does not have a title demographic, swing or obvious stance. Media like this would cater to all groups. I feel like that is hard to define and find however, I feel like every media outlets, whether is be TV networks or film studios, (shows and films in general) cater to a certain group.
I think there are a multitude of reasons why moving to a segment making model could be dangerous. One issue might be the possibility to overwhelm consumers. The move to the segment making model changes not only how media is created but how it is delivered. Because delivery is now digital and can be online there is much more content that users have to sift through. On top of too much content is the fact that many consumers won't be paying for what they consume if it is digital, piracy and a lack of money for content creators would be a big issue in the segment making model. A third issue is the possibility of a digital divide; if all content is available online and part of the society does not have access to that content, that part of the population is left behind while others move forward and it creates a gap among society. This gap is biggest threat that the segment making model has. This gap will happen between all members of society because there is no longer need for discussion or conversation over what is being confused. People view and stream at different speeds, in different ways when it is convenient for them. Media is no longer a group activity and this creates a kind of digital isolation where there is no contact or discussion with other consumers, the audience is singular and are not exposed to the thoughts and views of others. By being isolated, the consumers choose what they would like to consume, never straying from their own personal views or being pushed to see something another way. This separates and isolates society in a big way.
There are definitely positives and negatives to a segment-making media model. One positive includes the creation of niche markets that appeal to all kinds of attitudes, beliefs, ideas, and appeals. This segment market makes it possible for everyone to find a television show, film, or album that they truly enjoy and gives people the opportunity to explore that segment more thoroughly. However, one downside is that there is no societal dialogue anymore. People are less likely to have discussions about the media that they consume, because everyone is watching and listening to different things: there is no universal standard. This universal is what used to start the dialogue in the past. This segmented market just makes people more separated and disconnected than ever before, and increases intolerance towards different attitudes. As the nation becomes more and more diverse, we should be practicing tolerance; not run from it.
The dangers of U.S. society moving form a society-making media model to a segment-making media model are it is separating society and the different segments are becoming even more diverse. There are fewer and fewer ‘water-cooler’ conversations and more niche conversations online. The only way individuals are able to connect with their segments is often online. In the classroom when we discussed what TV shows people watched the night before only 2-3 people had seen the same show. This means that if they wanted to discuss the show with others they would need to convert people, or go online. As a result fewer people are sharing their thoughts on media and are interacting with it more often or not alone. It is because of the segment-making media model that people are placing their media first, rather than other individuals. In the past, the society-making media model, media would bring them together and give them something to discuss. This no longer happens in society today.
I agree with a lot of what Elizabeth stated. With niche markets and more narrowly specified choices of media for audiences to choose from, there won't be as much of a fight for people to search for new media to consume and enjoy. With that being said, that leads to the downside. The search for new media is part of the fun of consuming it. Media, including the search for it, inspires debate and creates dialogue among people. Without this need to search for new media, part of that dialogue is now gone.
To elaborate on my previous statement, not needing to search for new media creates a disconnect. People won't converse or collaborate to discover and absorb media, and this in turn will lead to a more dystopian society.
Digitization has changed media industries and the way they operate. There are numerous advantages and disadvantages that come with digitization, and all of its consequences haven’t been seen yet. However, it has clearly transition the U.S. model from a society-making media to a segment-making media one. In the past, there were only three television channels. The studios were forced to generate content to be consumed for the whole family, and the entire country. Now there are hundreds of channels , and the Internet has provided an enormous platform for the distribution of media. There are now many more competitors that produce content for niche audiences. The dangers are felt by the old mediums of media, like TV , theaters, and print. They need to adapt to the new model in order to maintain their share of the market.
There are definitely advantages and disadvantages to a segment-making media model. With segment-making media, newscasts are watched by much smaller audiences, which increases polarization as Kerri and Mckenzie mentioned. This segmented media is attractive to people who don't want to spend time searching for the content they actually care about. This can be good because news can then cater to the needs and wants of a specific niche group people. But this means of access reduces the likelihood of using media to "broaden our horizons" and it takes away the ability of newscasters to tell audiences what's important. Segment-making media essentially divides people into groups because of what interests them and what media they actually search for. This is bad because it can cause tensions. Another consequence of segment-making media is that because media industries create content to reach subgroups of the population, the information becomes less powerful since it is less widely shared.
We should be finding a balance of society and segment-making media. We need both, and I think our moving away from the society-making model will only increase media fragmentation and isolation. At the same time, segment-making media facilitates the existence of many different voices as opposed to one standardized voice (I think this goes hand in hand with our move to the symbolized economy and media customization). But it is all too easy to stick to self-forming associations and your comfort zones. Segment-making allows for there to be many different kinds of voices, but are they going to be heard by the other groups? If we end up sticking to what we know, what we like, probably not. Society-making media at least threw everything together so different views could collide.
Haven and Lotz discuss how media becomes less powerful as a result of the shift towards the segment-making media model. Because media becomes fragmented and targeted towards specific niche audiences, it is less widely shared and makes less of an impact. Since there is also a lot more information, especially with the prevalence of the internet, it might make it harder for consumers to trust all of it. Although it is harder for media to reach wider audiences, I don’t think that this means that it makes it less powerful. I think that the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. The internet provides more outlets and avenues for consumers to discuss media issues and topics that they are passionate about. Social media, blogs, and forums make media more easily accessible to targeted consumers as well as people who aren't familiar with the media content.
One danger is the polarization between people. For example, as Nicolette mentioned, the vast difference between Fox viewers and MSNBC viewers. Instead of watching a news channel just for news, viewers are tuning into channels that further their viewpoints. However, segmenting the market also means that there are more options available for those who may not want a general media option. For example, Netflix can customize what it recommends for me based off of my previous viewings. I don't have to sort through what is popular in my country or what was most recently added. Instead, the choices are brought to me, and I don't have to expend a lot of effort.
14 comments:
One danger of U.S. society moving from a society-making media model to a segment-making media model is that it can result in increasing polarization among different populations of the community. The example I gave in class was of Fox news vs MSNBC that do not have to allot a certain amount of time to presenting the opposing view point and who do not have to appeal to the larger masses leads people to seek out media that reaffirm their already held beliefs. Rather than trying to find balances between issues in society through open dialogue, many outlets are turning towards extremes and the moderate voice is having difficult emerging in this environment. I think that growing extremism in the public voice is the only legitimate concern of the move from society-making media to segment-making because in someways this growing extremism brings us back to small diversity of voices that was, in my opinion, the negative result of a society-making media. Overall, I think that is important to have segmentation because it allows on average more diversity of voices to be heard. It also protects from one power being able to command the opinions of the masses so easily. Also pop culture still exists. If I turn on the radio I will probably end up having to listen to taylor swift songs until they are ingrained in my brain and I am forced to like them. However, with new technologies, the internet, I can have a choice. I do not just have to listen to the radio. I can visit sites like hypem (the hype machine) that let me hear blogged music from all around the world. Maybe laws like the Fairness Doctrine should be reimplemented to try to neutralize the polarizing effect of a segment-making media model.
I agree with Kerri that the major danger behind moving to a segment-making model is the drastic polarization within our population that can be generated and reinforced in this country. Media should be utilized to unite different groups and bring about discussions that incorporate various global perspectives, experiences, and understandings. Instead, the segment-making media model that is becoming more and more prevalent in the United States supports the division of individuals into definitive groups based on beliefs and tastes. I think that segment-making’s increasing prevalence in the country is indicative of the diverse variation in American attitudes and appreciations, as it seems much more difficult now to create a single show now that genuinely appeals to the whole nation and encourages discussions across the country. I think that our classroom is a good example of this idea but on a smaller scale, as I’m positive my classmates and I don’t all watch the same shows and that we’d struggle to have an educated discussion about the things that we watch and enjoy. While there are entities like Fox and MSNBC that cater to their specific audiences with a heavy bias and lack of diverse perspectives, I think that the media should facilitate intelligent conversations in our global society that may further encourage the development of a more inclusive, comprehensive, and tolerant nation.
Being a segment-making model creates rifts and divisions, simply put. People start to create a distance from others who think differently from themselves and stick to what they are comfortable with. There is no exposure to the other side. There is no collaboration with the others side.
Seeing how everything is becoming personalized in terms of online news recommendations, netflix recommendations, etc., people will only be aware of the content that already echoes their own thoughts and viewpoints. While it may be a more enjoyable experience and while it may create a more engaging model, it will lack dimensions of depth and variety that would normally have been offered.
The only danger I can think of would be the fact that segment-making media divides groups, interests, and opinions into either different networks or biases, as well as age groups, racial demographics. This can cause tensions between networks ratings and viewers,mostly with networks mentioned above like FOX and MSNBC with conservative and liberal political and social trends and views. Society making media is different from this because it does not have a title demographic, swing or obvious stance. Media like this would cater to all groups. I feel like that is hard to define and find however, I feel like every media outlets, whether is be TV networks or film studios, (shows and films in general) cater to a certain group.
I think there are a multitude of reasons why moving to a segment making model could be dangerous. One issue might be the possibility to overwhelm consumers. The move to the segment making model changes not only how media is created but how it is delivered. Because delivery is now digital and can be online there is much more content that users have to sift through. On top of too much content is the fact that many consumers won't be paying for what they consume if it is digital, piracy and a lack of money for content creators would be a big issue in the segment making model. A third issue is the possibility of a digital divide; if all content is available online and part of the society does not have access to that content, that part of the population is left behind while others move forward and it creates a gap among society. This gap is biggest threat that the segment making model has. This gap will happen between all members of society because there is no longer need for discussion or conversation over what is being confused. People view and stream at different speeds, in different ways when it is convenient for them. Media is no longer a group activity and this creates a kind of digital isolation where there is no contact or discussion with other consumers, the audience is singular and are not exposed to the thoughts and views of others. By being isolated, the consumers choose what they would like to consume, never straying from their own personal views or being pushed to see something another way. This separates and isolates society in a big way.
There are definitely positives and negatives to a segment-making media model. One positive includes the creation of niche markets that appeal to all kinds of attitudes, beliefs, ideas, and appeals. This segment market makes it possible for everyone to find a television show, film, or album that they truly enjoy and gives people the opportunity to explore that segment more thoroughly. However, one downside is that there is no societal dialogue anymore. People are less likely to have discussions about the media that they consume, because everyone is watching and listening to different things: there is no universal standard. This universal is what used to start the dialogue in the past. This segmented market just makes people more separated and disconnected than ever before, and increases intolerance towards different attitudes. As the nation becomes more and more diverse, we should be practicing tolerance; not run from it.
The dangers of U.S. society moving form a society-making media model to a segment-making media model are it is separating society and the different segments are becoming even more diverse. There are fewer and fewer ‘water-cooler’ conversations and more niche conversations online. The only way individuals are able to connect with their segments is often online. In the classroom when we discussed what TV shows people watched the night before only 2-3 people had seen the same show. This means that if they wanted to discuss the show with others they would need to convert people, or go online. As a result fewer people are sharing their thoughts on media and are interacting with it more often or not alone. It is because of the segment-making media model that people are placing their media first, rather than other individuals. In the past, the society-making media model, media would bring them together and give them something to discuss. This no longer happens in society today.
I agree with a lot of what Elizabeth stated. With niche markets and more narrowly specified choices of media for audiences to choose from, there won't be as much of a fight for people to search for new media to consume and enjoy. With that being said, that leads to the downside. The search for new media is part of the fun of consuming it. Media, including the search for it, inspires debate and creates dialogue among people. Without this need to search for new media, part of that dialogue is now gone.
To elaborate on my previous statement, not needing to search for new media creates a disconnect. People won't converse or collaborate to discover and absorb media, and this in turn will lead to a more dystopian society.
Digitization has changed media industries and the way they operate. There are numerous advantages and disadvantages that come with digitization, and all of its consequences haven’t been seen yet. However, it has clearly transition the U.S. model from a society-making media to a segment-making media one. In the past, there were only three television channels. The studios were forced to generate content to be consumed for the whole family, and the entire country. Now there are hundreds of channels , and the Internet has provided an enormous platform for the distribution of media. There are now many more competitors that produce content for niche audiences. The dangers are felt by the old mediums of media, like TV , theaters, and print. They need to adapt to the new model in order to maintain their share of the market.
There are definitely advantages and disadvantages to a segment-making media model. With segment-making media, newscasts are watched by much smaller audiences, which increases polarization as Kerri and Mckenzie mentioned. This segmented media is attractive to people who don't want to spend time searching for the content they actually care about. This can be good because news can then cater to the needs and wants of a specific niche group people. But this means of access reduces the likelihood of using media to "broaden our horizons" and it takes away the ability of newscasters to tell audiences what's important. Segment-making media essentially divides people into groups because of what interests them and what media they actually search for. This is bad because it can cause tensions. Another consequence of segment-making media is that because media industries create content to reach subgroups of the population, the information becomes less powerful since it is less widely shared.
We should be finding a balance of society and segment-making media. We need both, and I think our moving away from the society-making model will only increase media fragmentation and isolation. At the same time, segment-making media facilitates the existence of many different voices as opposed to one standardized voice (I think this goes hand in hand with our move to the symbolized economy and media customization). But it is all too easy to stick to self-forming associations and your comfort zones. Segment-making allows for there to be many different kinds of voices, but are they going to be heard by the other groups? If we end up sticking to what we know, what we like, probably not. Society-making media at least threw everything together so different views could collide.
Haven and Lotz discuss how media becomes less powerful as a result of the shift towards the segment-making media model. Because media becomes fragmented and targeted towards specific niche audiences, it is less widely shared and makes less of an impact. Since there is also a lot more information, especially with the prevalence of the internet, it might make it harder for consumers to trust all of it. Although it is harder for media to reach wider audiences, I don’t think that this means that it makes it less powerful. I think that the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. The internet provides more outlets and avenues for consumers to discuss media issues and topics that they are passionate about. Social media, blogs, and forums make media more easily accessible to targeted consumers as well as people who aren't familiar with the media content.
One danger is the polarization between people. For example, as Nicolette mentioned, the vast difference between Fox viewers and MSNBC viewers. Instead of watching a news channel just for news, viewers are tuning into channels that further their viewpoints. However, segmenting the market also means that there are more options available for those who may not want a general media option. For example, Netflix can customize what it recommends for me based off of my previous viewings. I don't have to sort through what is popular in my country or what was most recently added. Instead, the choices are brought to me, and I don't have to expend a lot of effort.
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