Ever found yourself having a great time munching on something scrumptious and without a single care in the world of what is it until someone tells you what was stuffed inside that scrumptious meal you were happily chowing down? The truth can be harsh sometimes.
When the internet was created, it gave many internet users the freedom express themselves on the internet and it was sort of our freedom of speech, because we live in a time where the leaders want us to know less in order to maintain the harmony we have now. But they see the internet as a new form of media that can disrupt this harmony and thus has tried numerous time to attempt to limit the freedom that is bestow on us internet users to express ourselves freely.
The internet as I have stated before is like a vast universe that seems to span endlessly, and the amount of user that uses the internet increases at such ungodly speed. There is no possible way for anyone to be able to contain all that information from being distributed as long as the users keep using the internet there will be information. Thing is information is power and with that it can make or break others, depending on how the information is used, it definitely depends on the holder. Such a person or thing we speak of that has such an ability that politicians and corporate leaders tremble at its very name and cast their best efforts to bring down this fiend they fear so much, Wikileaks is the name.
As Benkler has highlighted in his article A free irresponsible press: Wikileaks and the battle over the soul of the networked fourth estate he stated that Wikileaks acts as a new model watchdog of today. There is no doubt we all have our little secrets that we won't want people to know such as our private lives, government sectors and huge corporation too will have their share of "dirty work" that they have done the best they could to possibly cover it up. And there's probably a good reason for the cover up because somethings are best kept unknown, for all we know what they are trying to do could benefit us just that there are some details they wish to leave out from the public eye. As citizens indeed we have our rights, but to what extends does our right state that we have to everything? Which is very rhetorical indeed.
Wikileaks like our beloved Wikipedia provides us with information, information that was never meant for our eyes. Wikileaks takes advantage of the internet free flow of information in order to obtain confidential information on government sectors and huge corporations. One would question Wikileaks as to why are they doing this, why do they want to obtain confidential information on government sectors and corporations? Are they trying to expose the truth for a reason or just expose it cause they can and they want to. There is a lot of questioning as to whether or not the act of Wikileaks should be seen as a good thing or a bad thing.
From my personal point of view, I say Wikileaks does has its purpose and definitely it is there for a good cause, providing us with the information that is hidden from us to hide the dirty deeds of government officials or the cut down in quality in corporate products. But sometimes there are deeper reasons for why certain information needs to be kept away from the public. Say for example if Wikileaks were to leak info that there is actually a cure for AIDS, what do you think will happen? The worst case scenario is that the percentage of protected sex would sky rocket, sexual assault cases will increase in ungodly speed, unwanted pregnancy and a string of uncontrollable chaos and calamity will occur. Is just a scenario but there are hundreds or thousands of possibilities that certain information are not meant to be know by the public for their safety and harmony sake.
Monday, 31 October 2011
Sunday, 23 October 2011
I can write too
I still remember the day my niece came to me asking about journalism, as a mass comm student i was well aware of the ups and the downs of being a journalist and explained in detail to her about journalism. Did i managed to persuade not to go into journalism? No. Why? Because she's 14 and thinks that if you have a very good command in english and penchant for writing, journalism is for you. I will probably leave her with the benefit of doubt for now.
But really, if you look at it this way, we are living in a time where news is just about everywhere! Easily we can get news nowadays but the most important bit in a news is its credibility. A lot of news on the internet could be half truth but may not be the full picture therefore, credibility is a must for news. There are five elements that makes a news worthy and those five elements are proximity, human interest, time, prominence and oddity, these are what makes news worthy but seems to change nowadays isn't due to technology.
Dr Alex Bruns article 'News blogs and citizen jornalism: New Directions for e-journalism' suggest that times are changing for journalist due to social networking sites. But i beg to differ and i think we still need people to deliver us the "official" news. However, no doubt that citizen journalism is picking up fairly quickly by normal people.
Now remember i said i told my niece everything i knew about journalism? Journalism is the one job one has to to really be serious about. Everything pen down by a journalist can make or break a person reputation and this could spell disaster for any journalist. Therefore, it is their job to get solid evidence of what they are writing is true facts and not rumors picked up by the coffee shop. Plus, they have to be on the spot to gather true facts on the scene which means interviewing witnesses, officials etc. As for citizen journalist half the time, you are at a certain location coincidentally.
Also, here's an interesting bit, a lot people today are sort of abandoning conventional newspaper because according to them the papers are filled with news that covers up the government thus, a lot are moving into online news specifically those that runs online news portal on Malaysia. Because to them that is real news. But to me it is rhetorical, is hard to say who is being bias honestly, let's just i as a journalist wants to write a purely non bias article about anything (preferably political) but the editor edits and published the articles changing more then 50% of it, what can i do as a journalist? Am i to be blame for my editor's doing? Same goes for those online news portal such as Malaysia Today, how sure are we they are not being bias as well? However, i am certain about one fact and that is journalist still needs proof to back up what they write and usually they leave out their own opinions. This cannot be said of citizen journalist, while some may take the trouble to make their news credible, others are just pounding the "my opinion about this incident" button when writing the news. Usually this comes in the form of blogs, but blogs today seems to be a source of news to people and therefore, false news too can be troublesome. Indeed it is your personal blog, you can type whatever you want but... so long is able to be read by the public you best think twice before posting up anything.
Although all is not bad when it comes to citizen journalism, in fact i say citizen journalism gives rise to the voices of the unheard. For example many cases of viral videos posted on Facebook, they were taken by passerby or cctv but posted online and became viral! When that happens it becomes a sensation and people would want to know more about it prompting journalist to actually go and check out what is all the buzz about to report it. Remember the video of the poor two year ago girl who was ran over by 2 vans and no one bothered to helped her for a full 10mins? Exactly my point there, nobody knew about the news or the video until it went viral on Facebook prompting big news agency like BBC to even look in to the case. So all is not bad for citizen journalism again.
In my opinion i think both journalism and citizen journalism has their own role to play. But surely nothing can replace journalist we need them to provide us solid news and citizen journalist to keep fighting for those whose voices could not be heard. As much as we need to know what is going on around the world we also need to know what is going on around us.
But really, if you look at it this way, we are living in a time where news is just about everywhere! Easily we can get news nowadays but the most important bit in a news is its credibility. A lot of news on the internet could be half truth but may not be the full picture therefore, credibility is a must for news. There are five elements that makes a news worthy and those five elements are proximity, human interest, time, prominence and oddity, these are what makes news worthy but seems to change nowadays isn't due to technology.
Dr Alex Bruns article 'News blogs and citizen jornalism: New Directions for e-journalism' suggest that times are changing for journalist due to social networking sites. But i beg to differ and i think we still need people to deliver us the "official" news. However, no doubt that citizen journalism is picking up fairly quickly by normal people.
Now remember i said i told my niece everything i knew about journalism? Journalism is the one job one has to to really be serious about. Everything pen down by a journalist can make or break a person reputation and this could spell disaster for any journalist. Therefore, it is their job to get solid evidence of what they are writing is true facts and not rumors picked up by the coffee shop. Plus, they have to be on the spot to gather true facts on the scene which means interviewing witnesses, officials etc. As for citizen journalist half the time, you are at a certain location coincidentally.
Also, here's an interesting bit, a lot people today are sort of abandoning conventional newspaper because according to them the papers are filled with news that covers up the government thus, a lot are moving into online news specifically those that runs online news portal on Malaysia. Because to them that is real news. But to me it is rhetorical, is hard to say who is being bias honestly, let's just i as a journalist wants to write a purely non bias article about anything (preferably political) but the editor edits and published the articles changing more then 50% of it, what can i do as a journalist? Am i to be blame for my editor's doing? Same goes for those online news portal such as Malaysia Today, how sure are we they are not being bias as well? However, i am certain about one fact and that is journalist still needs proof to back up what they write and usually they leave out their own opinions. This cannot be said of citizen journalist, while some may take the trouble to make their news credible, others are just pounding the "my opinion about this incident" button when writing the news. Usually this comes in the form of blogs, but blogs today seems to be a source of news to people and therefore, false news too can be troublesome. Indeed it is your personal blog, you can type whatever you want but... so long is able to be read by the public you best think twice before posting up anything.
Although all is not bad when it comes to citizen journalism, in fact i say citizen journalism gives rise to the voices of the unheard. For example many cases of viral videos posted on Facebook, they were taken by passerby or cctv but posted online and became viral! When that happens it becomes a sensation and people would want to know more about it prompting journalist to actually go and check out what is all the buzz about to report it. Remember the video of the poor two year ago girl who was ran over by 2 vans and no one bothered to helped her for a full 10mins? Exactly my point there, nobody knew about the news or the video until it went viral on Facebook prompting big news agency like BBC to even look in to the case. So all is not bad for citizen journalism again.
In my opinion i think both journalism and citizen journalism has their own role to play. But surely nothing can replace journalist we need them to provide us solid news and citizen journalist to keep fighting for those whose voices could not be heard. As much as we need to know what is going on around the world we also need to know what is going on around us.
Sunday, 2 October 2011
It's a longtale from the past
What's a long tail if you may ask, a long tail basically means finding everything and anything for everyone and anyone. Picture this, say five years ago you found an interesting book on the shelf of a local book store but you didn't have enough money to purchase it, thus you left it there and hope that in a months time you will be able to purchase it after saving enough money. Then came the day when you finally saved enough money to purchased the book only to your horror it has been sold out of the publication of the book is discontinued. Fast forward, five years from then you are surfing the net for books and you came across that interesting book you wanted then and is now made available whilst it was discontinued then. Basically, the internet now offer more then just information, in fact it has gone way beyond just providing us text of info, it is now our treasure chest, never knowing what we will come across it just surfing the net.
Back then whenever we need something, we will have to head down to the local mall to get it and only to be disappointed that the item is sold out, the shop is close for break or close for the day or worst the shop has closed down because you were their only customer. But now, we have online stores they never have excuses to close the store (unless for maintenance) and their items range has more variety then that of a physical store in the mall. Even if they do have an item sold out there's a chance that you can make a request for them to bring in that item just for you.
It definitely sound good the fact that we can now most of our entertainment from online stores but there's a bit of a catch here. Noticed that everything here seems to be going digital? Remember back then when you purchase an item you get to touch it and feel it and not to mention inspect it for defects. Kind of makes you skeptical now doesn't it? An article title Better than Free by Kevin Kelly explains that there are 8 main points that makes digital material valuable.
1. Immediacy
Don't we all want things fast nowadays? In fact who doesn't? I can bet right now there is probably and possibly millions of Iphone fans just waiting for any news on the latest soon-to-be release Iphone5, especially the press. Remember when before Iphone4 was release its prototype was stolen in a bar and sold to a blogger who was willing to pay a hefty price for it? All for just to be the first to have the phone and to leak out information about the phone. See? That's how immediate people are willing to go in the physical world, and in the digital world is no different, when a new block buster movies comes out I can see people asking whether there's a download for the movie despite the movie being just release in the cinema. Everyone wants to be the first to get something, to try something.
2. Personalization
It seems to be a trend nowadays for people to personalize their belongings, whether is their mobile phones, cars, shoes or room the will personalize to tell the world "Hey this is my!". And we like that don't we? Imagine getting an Iphone4 from your parent with the your name engrave at the back of it wouldn't it make your Iphone4 more special than your friends' Iphone which has no engraving? This isn't different from online as well, we all personalize our blogs, so that it will look different from others and stand out and hopefully be pleasing enough to attract more readers to your blog.
3. Interpretation
Remember the time your parent bought you a brand new car and you were so excited that you just leap into the car without even bothering with the instruction booklet provided. Reason being is too wordy and we have very short attention span to read while we rather be test driving the new ride right? Same thing for online users, we hate going though the instruction unless it is interactive (hey at least it has audio and some graphics). I remember before buying my current smart phone, I visited their web site and was treated to a fully interactive web site, every bit of explanation was accompanied by some sort of interactivity and that made me wanted to the product even more just cause of the interactivity they added in.
4. Authenticity
Like what i mention above, back then when we used to buy our stuff from the mall we can actually check the items whether they are in good condition or not. And there is a warranty as well so if they are any defects within the time period the item can be replaced. This cannot be said for online then, as there were many cases of fraud and people paying for the goods and not getting it and got their money stolen instead. But today we can say it is safer to shop online now thanks to some well established website such as amazon.com, hlj.com etc.
5.Accessibility
One of the best thing about the Internet is its accessibility. We can access to our blog, facebook account anywhere in any given time. Plus, don't you just hate it when you lose something precious? Well this is rather difficult to happen in the virtual world (provided you have backup) for example i remember my friend accidentally deleted all of her photos in her picture album on her desktop, but fortunately for her she did upload majority of it on her Facebook thus, make it her back up.
6. Embodiment
I remember downloading a much anticipated movie from the internet in blu ray quality and just was I about to watch it on my LCD tv it showed that the file was not readable, it was readable on my laptop but not on the LCD tv. Fortunately the problem can be fixed by converting the file to a readable one for the tv. Somethings are just not as nice to be seen on a 15" laptop but should be watched on a 42" LCD tv. This flexibility is very important as people like to have to ability to convert files to fit to their system.
7. Patronage
To what extend of patronage exactly can we expect from the internet? Though it may not be face to face but given the advancement of technology and the internet we can communicate with the creator and the creator can communicate with the fans. Such as in Youtube viewers can comment on the video and sometime the creator would ask for suggestion from the viewers and they can get involve with the user. This type of bonds helps create a better connection between users and creator.
8. Findability
Making your product easy to find will help people to find it easier. As we know the internet is filled with so many things if we are no specific we will get something else. And sometimes people are just too lazy to use the advance search thus relying on normal search. Therefore, is always better to entitle the product properly so that it will be easy for people to find.
There you go all 8 points for you to consider when moving your stuff to the digital platform. The internet may seem like the future market place but yet again it is as crowded as in the physical world the only thing about this the internet and online shopping is the convenience but we should never forget that about the physical contact we have with the physical world.
Back then whenever we need something, we will have to head down to the local mall to get it and only to be disappointed that the item is sold out, the shop is close for break or close for the day or worst the shop has closed down because you were their only customer. But now, we have online stores they never have excuses to close the store (unless for maintenance) and their items range has more variety then that of a physical store in the mall. Even if they do have an item sold out there's a chance that you can make a request for them to bring in that item just for you.
It definitely sound good the fact that we can now most of our entertainment from online stores but there's a bit of a catch here. Noticed that everything here seems to be going digital? Remember back then when you purchase an item you get to touch it and feel it and not to mention inspect it for defects. Kind of makes you skeptical now doesn't it? An article title Better than Free by Kevin Kelly explains that there are 8 main points that makes digital material valuable.
1. Immediacy
Don't we all want things fast nowadays? In fact who doesn't? I can bet right now there is probably and possibly millions of Iphone fans just waiting for any news on the latest soon-to-be release Iphone5, especially the press. Remember when before Iphone4 was release its prototype was stolen in a bar and sold to a blogger who was willing to pay a hefty price for it? All for just to be the first to have the phone and to leak out information about the phone. See? That's how immediate people are willing to go in the physical world, and in the digital world is no different, when a new block buster movies comes out I can see people asking whether there's a download for the movie despite the movie being just release in the cinema. Everyone wants to be the first to get something, to try something.
2. Personalization
It seems to be a trend nowadays for people to personalize their belongings, whether is their mobile phones, cars, shoes or room the will personalize to tell the world "Hey this is my!". And we like that don't we? Imagine getting an Iphone4 from your parent with the your name engrave at the back of it wouldn't it make your Iphone4 more special than your friends' Iphone which has no engraving? This isn't different from online as well, we all personalize our blogs, so that it will look different from others and stand out and hopefully be pleasing enough to attract more readers to your blog.
3. Interpretation
Remember the time your parent bought you a brand new car and you were so excited that you just leap into the car without even bothering with the instruction booklet provided. Reason being is too wordy and we have very short attention span to read while we rather be test driving the new ride right? Same thing for online users, we hate going though the instruction unless it is interactive (hey at least it has audio and some graphics). I remember before buying my current smart phone, I visited their web site and was treated to a fully interactive web site, every bit of explanation was accompanied by some sort of interactivity and that made me wanted to the product even more just cause of the interactivity they added in.
4. Authenticity
Like what i mention above, back then when we used to buy our stuff from the mall we can actually check the items whether they are in good condition or not. And there is a warranty as well so if they are any defects within the time period the item can be replaced. This cannot be said for online then, as there were many cases of fraud and people paying for the goods and not getting it and got their money stolen instead. But today we can say it is safer to shop online now thanks to some well established website such as amazon.com, hlj.com etc.
5.Accessibility
One of the best thing about the Internet is its accessibility. We can access to our blog, facebook account anywhere in any given time. Plus, don't you just hate it when you lose something precious? Well this is rather difficult to happen in the virtual world (provided you have backup) for example i remember my friend accidentally deleted all of her photos in her picture album on her desktop, but fortunately for her she did upload majority of it on her Facebook thus, make it her back up.
6. Embodiment
I remember downloading a much anticipated movie from the internet in blu ray quality and just was I about to watch it on my LCD tv it showed that the file was not readable, it was readable on my laptop but not on the LCD tv. Fortunately the problem can be fixed by converting the file to a readable one for the tv. Somethings are just not as nice to be seen on a 15" laptop but should be watched on a 42" LCD tv. This flexibility is very important as people like to have to ability to convert files to fit to their system.
7. Patronage
To what extend of patronage exactly can we expect from the internet? Though it may not be face to face but given the advancement of technology and the internet we can communicate with the creator and the creator can communicate with the fans. Such as in Youtube viewers can comment on the video and sometime the creator would ask for suggestion from the viewers and they can get involve with the user. This type of bonds helps create a better connection between users and creator.
8. Findability
Making your product easy to find will help people to find it easier. As we know the internet is filled with so many things if we are no specific we will get something else. And sometimes people are just too lazy to use the advance search thus relying on normal search. Therefore, is always better to entitle the product properly so that it will be easy for people to find.
There you go all 8 points for you to consider when moving your stuff to the digital platform. The internet may seem like the future market place but yet again it is as crowded as in the physical world the only thing about this the internet and online shopping is the convenience but we should never forget that about the physical contact we have with the physical world.
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