Assignment 5-1

The Twitter Effect

Over the last few years a small company called "Twitter" has become one of "those" companies.

A company, that everyone wants a piece of along with Facebook, foursquare, and linkedin. They

are company who is at the forefront of the social website revolution. Like their contemporaries

Twitter caught everyone off guard because no one could figure out what possible use the product

could be. No one saw the potential not even the creators. People were quick to dismiss it as just

another site for a bunch of narcissistic people who wanted everybody to pay attention to them.

This may have once been true for the early adopters, but no longer.

Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service that allows you to communicate using

short texts (140 characters or less) called "tweets" either just your friends or to a large group of

followers (NewsBlaze LLC, 2010). Seems simple enough right? Well it is and that is just one of

the beautiful things about it. What most people and businesses missed was that it is a new way to

communicate and it happens instantly. That right there, the "instantly" part is an important part

of the success that the company has been having. Another part of the success in my opinion is

the limitation of the amount of characters you can type. Why? Because it forces people to be

brief and concise in what they have to say.

The power of the "tweet" really became apparent during various crises that happened over the

last 24 months. People, just regular people, were able to become reporters and keep a running

update of whatever was going on at the time. They were able to break stories in an instant long

before the "professional" media could. This was all done in real time as it happened. A number

of countries that are used to doing whatever they wanted to their countrymen could no longer

keep the rest of the world in the dark. People in these countries would immediately start tweeting

what was happening about the infringement of their human rights. These tweets would go out all

over the world with almost no way to stop them. This is something that makes Twitter an

important company and service.

Twitter has also brought interactive TV closer to reality. For instance during the 2010 MTV

music awards a twitter feed ran showing you the viewer what the stars were saying backstage.

The stars themselves were tweeting the comings and goings of everyone and you could

immediately respond back to the celebrities themselves (McGirt, 2010). These and many other

reasons are why twitter is a great service. They are also an example of a company that people

missed the big picture on and now are struggling to catch up.

Week 4 Analysis

Google – “Don’t Be Evil”

I have always been interested in Mergers & Acquisitions so I subscribe to a number of different sites and magazines to keep abreast of what is going on in that world. I have watched with interest and curiosity as Google continues on its buying spree. Google of course has become one of the better known companies in the world. It has become such a huge part of our culture that the name can now be used as a noun or a verb. It originally positioned itself as a young, hip, upstart company but now has become the same type of monolithic company that it once mocked.

Google’s unofficial slogan has long been “Don’t be Evil” (Weinschenk, 2010) but that seems to matter less and less based on past and current behaviors. I personally use Google quite frequently which puts me in the majority. Through a series of acquisitions Google has now moved into so many areas that it will become more difficult to opt out of using Google’s services if you so desire. Did you know that there is a subsidiary of Google called Google Energy? They can now buy and sell electricity (Cashmore, 2010). Now, you don’t have to worry about paying them for your home or business’s electricity yet but the possibility is there and that’s not the end of it.

At the time of this blog, Google has bought and owns approximately 500 different domain names and approximately 80 companies (Ricard, 2008). They are almost literally everywhere there is on the web except for “closed” platforms like Facebook. Facebook is a big thorn in the side of Google and they are trying their best to get Facebook to open up to them because that’s 500 million users (Slattery, 2010) that Google cannot access. Google mission statement is “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful” (Google Inc, 2010). On the surface this sounds fairly benign however you must realize that whoever controls the knowledge and information controls the most power. This may have sounded like a conspiracy theorists rant but it is just a brief and simplistic look at a company that has become a large part of our current popular culture.

Bibliography

Cashmore, P. (2010, February 20). Mashable Business. Retrieved November 30, 2010, from Mashable.com: http://mashable.com/2010/02/20/google-energy/

Google Inc. (2010). Company Overview. Retrieved November 30, 2010, from Google.com: http://www.google.com/corporate/

Ricard, A. (2008, February 18). Who owns Google, and who does Google own? Retrieved November 30, 2010, from Searchwarp.com: http://searchwarp.com/swa300671.htm

Slattery, B. (2010, July 19). Tech and gadgets. Retrieved November 30, 2010, from msnbc.com: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38310046/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/

Weinschenk, C. (2010, April 10). Data and Telecom. Retrieved November 30, 2010, from ITBusinessEdge: http://www.itbusinessedge.com/cm/blogs/weinschenk/googles-new-slogan-dont-be-naive/?cs=42700

Week 3 Analysis

E-readers

The world loves technology, always on the move to the next great piece of tech. I too, enjoy gadgets but the one that I am not that big a fan of is the e-reader. An e-reader is an electronic device that is designed for the purpose of reading digital books and articles. They are an amazing piece of technology and I can definitely understand the appeal of them. I can also understand that they are the future of books. The benefits are incredible; you can download a remarkable number of books so that you can have plenty to read. Some of them allow a wireless connection to the internet too. The newest versions have color screens instead of the standard black and white ones. A person with an e-reader can have access to thousands of books that are in the public domain.

The problem that I have with e-readers is mainly an issue of aesthetics. I love to read, I mean I really love to read. I love the feel of a book in my hand, the weight of the book, the cover art. I like flipping the pages back and forth. I enjoy having my own little library in my home with all of the bookshelves filled with actual books. I imagine it is the same thing that people who loved vinyl had to go through with the move from records, to cd’s, to mp3’s. I just have difficulty thinking about coming home after a long day at work to curl up with my e-reader. I want a real book! Yeah, yeah, I know that I am acting like an old curmudgeon regarding this issue and that you can’t stop progress but I reserve the right to be dragged kicking and screaming into the future. I shall not go quietly into that good night! I shall rage, rage against the dying of the light though wise men at their end know that dark is right*.     

*Thanks Dylan Thomas

Week 2 Analysis

A topic that I find interesting is the fairly recent embracing of the supernatural by the public. Books, Television, and Movies all reflect this trend. Vampires, Werewolves, and Zombies oh my! These characters have been the proverbial gold mine for Hollywood. I am not talking about fantasy like the Harry Potter movies. I am speaking strictly about the old fashioned monsters that most of us have grown up with. Zombie movies have been around for quite awhile going back to movies such as George Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” which came out in the late sixty’s. Zombie movies have always had a cult following but have gone mainstream now with AMC’s “The Walking Dead” which premiered this fall on cable.

Vampires and Werewolves have also had a renaissance of late. The Twilight books and movies have been huge and on television the Vampire Diaries has been doing very well. On the Syfy channel a show called Being Human has been well received by critics. One thing that all of these movies, shows, and books have in common is that the protagonist has a very tortured soul. In Being Human the main characters are a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost that are living together trying to keep a grasp of their humanity. Twilight has a love triangle between a human, a werewolf, and a vampire. Popular culture seems to require that there are major complications in the relationships that they watch or read.

There is a show on the CW called Supernatural that deals with all manner of creatures including some straight out of mythology or religion. The show just ended its last season with the ultimate good versus evil battle. It pitted brother against brother, one was the vessel for God and the other was a vessel for the devil. It ended when the brother who was the vessel for the devil sacrificed himself to save the world. All of these stories deal with the same themes of self sacrifice, unrequited love, and making the impossible; possible. This is a subject that could be explored in greater depth then the space that I have to work with here. Why has there been such an explosion in the supernatural genre? What about the religious people who feel that anything painting the supernatural in good light is the work of the devil? I am very interested in seeing where this trend goes and what kind of conflicts it may create among the general populace.

Assignment 2-2 Icons

I chose the following icons because of what they have accomplished and how they went about it. I also respect the challenges that they all had to overcome though some had to overcome more than others. I chose Warren Buffett, Jay Z, and Nora Roberts. All came from various backgrounds but made successes of themselves. I have admiration for all three of these people because of what they have been able to do and the amazing work ethic that they all have in common. You may think what does one of the richest men in the world have in common with a rapper and a romance writer? Well let’s talk about each one of them and see if you can find the commonality among them.

“The Oracle of Omaha” is one of many titles that Warren Buffett holds. He has long been one of the richest men in America and the greatest investor currently living today. He transformed an old textile company into one of the largest holding companies in the world. The company is Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett is its largest shareholder and CEO (A&E Television Networks, 2010). Business schools have studied his investment techniques, the simplicity of them. He does not believe in investing in something that he does not understand. Warren Buffett also likes companies that have a built in “moat” or something allows the company to differentiate itself from its competitors. For instance Coca Cola is a company that is easy to understand and people are willing to pay more for a coke than an off brand name whereas salt is a commodity because for the most part people do not care about the brand of salt that they buy. He has been a very shrewd investor and all business people worship at the altar of Buffett.

Jay-Z is a little more controversial pick because of his background and his music. I admire him because of his intelligence, yes I said intelligence. It seems difficult for some people to equate intelligence with a rapper but a number of them are very smart businesswise. Jay-Z is a former drug dealer who has risen to the ranks of respected businessman. You do not reach his level of success without being smart. In fact he recently appeared in Forbes magazine with the previously mentioned Warren Buffett indulging in a couple of strawberry milkshakes (Ewalt, 2010). Forbes also mentioned that they expect Jay-Z to reach billionaire status within the next five years. He is a part owner of the New Jersey Nets NBA team, he owns the 40/40 nightclub, and he has run a number of companies including his own record label and clothing line. He has been able to go from nothing to the precipice of being a billionaire in less than 20 years (age 26-40). Hate him or love him, he has become the consummate business man.

Nora Roberts is a writer, a very prolific one. She stays atop the New York Times best sellers lists. Even when her books are reissued, they still sell well. She has written over 200 books since 1980. Nora Roberts was the first woman inducted into the Romance Writer’s Hall of Fame. She has published a number of books under her own name as well as a few pen names. J.D. Robb and Jill March are just two of the names. There are so many of her books in print that every minute an average of 27 Nora Roberts books are sold (Nora Roberts Inc, 2009). She used to be a stay at home mother and during a particularly bad winter she picked up pencil and started writing. She said that it probably saved her sanity. She treats writing as a job and works eight hours a day, Monday through Friday. Nora Roberts also owns her own Bed & Breakfast Inn BoonsBoro in Maryland.

I chose these three people because they all have shown great intelligence and dedication to make it to the top of their chosen professions. They have all done it their way and never listened to the naysayers that invariably pop up. I feel that they have all expanded beyond the normal scope of their fields. All three of them could walk away and be secure because they have diversified their respective brands so well that they would never have to worry about money.

Works Cited

A&E Television Networks. (2010). Warren Buffett Biography. Retrieved November 18, 2010, from www.biography.com: http://www.biography.com/articles/Warren-Buffett-9230729

Ewalt, D. M. (2010, September 22). The Geek Beat. Retrieved November 18, 2010, from Forbes.com: http://blogs.forbes.com/davidewalt/2010/09/22/jay-z-vs-warren-buffett-in-the-forbes-400/

Nora Roberts Inc. (2009, November 15). Nora Roberts Did you know? Retrieved November 18, 2010, from www.noraroberts.com: http://www.noraroberts.com/aboutnora/funfacts.html

Week 1 Analysis

Week 1 Analysis

Comic Book movies and television shows: examples of trendy popular culture

As a kid I was a big fan of comic books and the superhero’s contained within. There have been some movies and television shows that became embedded in popular culture. The original Superman movies starring Christopher Reeves and the old Batman television show with Adam West are some that leap to mind immediately. Movies have always been part of pop culture and certain superhero movies or television shows have also. In the last 10 years there has been an explosion of comic book movies and television shows that have appeared. This phenomenon is a perfect example of trends in pop culture. It has become overwhelming at times. You cannot turn around without seeing an advertisement for a show like “No Ordinary Family” or “Iron Man 2” on dvd. It was once thought that no real money could be made from these types of movies or television shows and they would only appeal to kids and comic book geeks. They were a niche item not something mainstream or popular.

Spider-Man, X-Men, and the reboot of Batman, changed all of that. Once it was seen that it was possible to make movies using comic books as a source material and also make a huge profit; a new genre was born. It has become like the Wild West in the land of comics. What was once a niche product is now mainstream. Comic book culture is now pop culture. We can sell this to the masses. There are still those who refuse to watch those types of movies but there is enough of a demand from the masses for the studios to keep making them. However with great popularity comes great scrutiny and great backlash.

Some have tired of the genre and wish they would all go away. This is a nice wish but as we all know Hollywood will follow the money. As long as these comic book movies continue to make money the studios will continue to make them. Until. . .the “Next Big Thing” or NBT comes along and that is also part of pop culture. There is always the NBT waiting right around the corner. In another genre, the teen or tween genre you see this at work. Harry Potter begat Twilight which begat…what? We don’t know yet but you can be sure there will be something as we continue to mine an area until there is nothing left.

This post is not meant as an indictment of the comic book movie genre, I personally still like comic books and some of the movies. I just understand the nature of the beast, the nature of pop culture what is new will soon be yesterday’s news as we move to the NBT.

What is popular culture?

What is Popular Culture?

There are many different ways to look at popular culture or “pop culture” as it’s sometimes referred to. I shall use my own definition before moving into the “popular” definition provided by our textbook. Culture is the shared values, attitudes and characteristics of a particular group or institution. There are many subcultures in the world that are fairly easy to identify. Any minority group would fall into the subculture category. An institution can have a culture, most business have some kind of culture that they try to encourage. Colleges are another type of institution that is well known for their cultures. Based on the previously mentioned examples you can probably figure out what popular culture must be. I believe that popular culture is culture for the masses; it crosses all boundaries of color, wealth, and religious beliefs. It is generally passed along through the media, friends, and family.

If I mention iPods, gangster rap, and lol cats, the majority of society would know what I am talking about. These items are part of popular culture. If I mention something like Jack and Jill of America then that narrows it down to African-American culture. Pop Culture as defined by our textbook “Common Culture” is “The shared knowledge and practices of a specific group at a specific time” (Petracca & Sorapure, 2007). This definition is similar to my own personal definition but put much more succinctly.

An understanding of popular culture is very relevant to you and your business because the world is shrinking and growing smaller. As technology gets faster and the world more connected, understanding other cultures becomes more and more important. Understanding and knowing how another country’s culture works is critical in today’s business world; it can help your company succeed where another fails because of their lack of understanding. India and China are two countries that are important to a large number of American companies. The American companies must understand those countries culture in order to do business there.

The internet is a big part of popular culture and I feel a very important part. However the one thing about it that annoys me to no end is the anonymity that it grants people. By that I mean a specific group of people referred to as “trolls”. These are people whose whole point of being on the net is to go into chat rooms or post on comment boards nasty and inflammatory comments. I was reading an article about Haiti and the tragedies that occurred there. I read through some of the comments and came across one that said something along the lines of Haiti being a wasteland and the people were less than human. That is was God correcting a mistake that he made. The comment was offensive in a number of ways plus it was totally unnecessary and unwarranted. I read another article about a basketball player who was having a rough time in their personal life. A comment about the article was that black people were all idiots and did not deserve to live. These types of comments are asinine and yet these types of comments are prolific all over the web. People hide behind the fact that no one knows who they are and there are no repercussions for what they say.

References
Petracca, M., & Sorapure, M. (2007). Common Culture: Reading and Writing About American Popular Culture. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.