Citizen Journalism

The camera makes everyone a tourist in other people's reality.

The video above gives a very good overview on citizen journalism which made me think about how this affects news being delivered through our television screen. In a way, it allows for a greater degree of freedom and reality to be portrayed in the news as it is pretty much as real as it gets and not to mention the speed of the news that gets to us.

In the past or even presently, the news that is shown on tv gives us the impression that it has been either edited or that it may not be as current when judging in comparison to citizen journalism. The example Katie Couric mentioned about how the politician made a careless remark and hence ruined his chances of being re-elected was particularly interesting to me. She mentioned how his remark would have probably made a spot light in the local news but when this clip was posted online and it went viral, the politician's reputation took a beating and was badly damaged and since the evidence was already online, there was no way to curb it.

Other instances like the peaceful protest before the military opened fire and even the Sichuan Earthquake showed the reality of the situation there and the actual conditions of the country. Many a times, the news being shown to us can sometimes be misleading as they censor or try to give the opposite impression of the actual reality. These citizen journalists help to give perspective and even an alternative to mainstream media which can be a very good thing in order for the consumers like you and I to have a better and fuller understanding of whatever that is being reported in the news.

I do take into account the various concerns like the validity of citizen journalism however, in order to come up with a balance viewpoint we need to have a combination of various sources and it just so happens that citizen journalism is able to provide such an avenue. In both instances whether it is mainstream or citizen journalism, the integrity of the news needs to be upheld and the truth should always be portrayed accurately instead of being exaggerated.

The Battle at Kruger has has a total of more than 60 million views which show how the Buffaloes banded together to save a baby Buffalo from the lions and crocodile. This was the example mentioned by Katie about citizen journalism and this amateur video is as good as it gets when you film the footage right at the scene where it is taking place. Enjoy!

Power of Youtube

Being a K pop fan, I've been accustomed to keeping updated with my favourite artists songs through youtube amongst a variety of other websites. However, the recent achievements made by Big Bang has been impressive.

Within just 2 days, the video uploaded had 2 million views and even received many honours like #1 top favourite this week and #1 top favourite internationally with views coming from America, Canada, Japan, Indonesia, France, Mexico, Thailand etc. This attests to the wide spread reach this internet giant has and also the variety of audience reach.

Seeing how this group actually has in roots that stem from a signed company, YG entertainment, they would have already had a substantial amount of exposure to the public before hand which generated interest in their videos. However, there are cases of other youtube stars that built their fan base from scratch. The practically worked their way up from being no bodies to people that others would log on to see. Who may these people be? A shining and successful example would be none other than nigahiga! Below is a video he uploaded 2 days ago and has already had such an astounding response of 2 million views.



This comedian is one that never fails to deliever and I guess that is also the reason why he is the all time most subscribed person in Youtube and has over 3.5 million subscribers. To add to this achievement, he has 133.7 million channel views and 766.1 million upload views. This is insane judging from the scale and possibility of success using youtube as a medium. Just getting the statistics from his channel gave me hard time trying to figure out how to give a rough estimate of his success.

I've checked out his videos and they are honestly not bad at all. Check out his rise to fame on youtube below.

Just by using him as an example, it is clear that with the internet age and youtube, the possibilities are endless and even common folk like you and I can also become celebrities in our own way. All we have to do is upload our works and spread the word. Sooner or later as the ball gets rolling, we'll very soon have our very own fan base.

Youtube is indeed a huge reserve of untapped potential and in the future, I believe that it will be utilized further to provide not only entertainment but also help to discover talent like ryan higer.

Google Docs

COM 125 may have seemed like a waste of time by learning about something that we are so familiar with but as you can see from my previous posts, I have indeed learned much. This class has helped me to learn not just how to use the internet but learn how to use the internet effectively.

Another tool that I would like to blog about is Google Documents.

This I must say is the best life saver among the tools that we have been introduced to. Projects are one of the biggest chunk when studying in UB and since I am usually the one that compiles the documents, my mail box will usually be overflowing with different segments of the project almost every single time. As there are many amendments to be made, these emails keep on coming and sometimes I even forget which attachments were for the edited version and for when.

Solution? GOOGLE DOCUMENTS!

I have only tired it once so far and it has seriously worked miracles. Now, my inbox is kept at a minimal level and the document on the web is in fact always the most updated version. People no longer have to ask me to send them an updated copy as they can always view the document online and make changes.

The fantastic thing about this is that it works exactly like microsoft word or spreadsheet or powerpoint and the changes made can be tracked. When the people who were added to the document are online, there is even a feature that allows us to instant message. This facilitates discussion further and makes it even easier to communicate with one another. Changes are instantly saved and the document makes the changes in real time so you can actually see your group mates editing the document.

The downside to this however would be the alignment of the document after downloading it. Even the print preview doesn't seem to correspond with what is printed however, it is a simple though troublesome problem to fix. All I did was download it and make changes on my mircosoft word before printing.

The video below is a very sweet and funny way to summarize all that I've said above. Enjoy the clip!

Google Maps

Google maps was a feature in google which I have never really learnt how to use. However, I've been an avid user since I was introduced to the wonders of Google Maps. Basically, what Google map offers would be the step by step directions from one place to another whereby you can choose to view it from 3 different ways. The amazing thing is that should you need to SEE how it looks like when you get there, you can always click on the street view button to view the surroundings. This was the feature that got me hooked to using Google Maps because I did not have to worry about whether I might have missed a turn but I could see where the actually turn or junction was. I would probably have made you guys a little confused by what I could see so do take some time to view the video below to have a clearer idea. :)

How cool is this? This particular function made things so much easier for me to find my way rather than just getting directions to where my destination was, I could view it for myself. The step by step directions coupled with the street view allowed me to know exactly how to get from one place to the other. Honestly, it was a "wow" moment for me because I've been so used to GPS or maps telling me how to get from one place to another in words and never really in pictures.

Embedding and sending the email is really convenient to allow my friends to find a place or just view the places that I want to visit and have marked on the map. Not only does it make it convenient for me but it is also convenient to share this information with others.

Also, another feature I did not know about was the My Maps function where I could save and create a route that can be shared with my friends if I wanted to plan an activity. I guess this would be very useful if someone was to plan an Amazing Race?

Overall, this was an extremely useful and practical Map that I have been using and the convenience it has saved me definitely keeps me coming back for more.

Google Maps FTW!