ISOC, see?

The Internet Society (ISOC) is a nongovernmental international membership society. It promotes the orderly use and development of the Internet. The Internet Architecture board is a committee within the ISOC that makes important policy decisions about operations and future developments. “Its members are, for the most part, employees of large corporations (such as Microsoft) that have important financial stakes in the Internet” (281). The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) oversees technical matters. All these forces and boards are responsible for what happens on the internet.

Service vs. Content

“Internet service providers (ISPs) connect users to the Internet and provide email accounts. Telecommunications giants AT&T, cable TV giant Comcast, and AOL (now subsidiary of TimeWarner) are the industry leaders and account for nearly half of all U.S. Internet subscriptions among them” (281). Internet service providers differ from content providers. Content providers are mainly designers. They provide the layout and design of Web pages, and opposed to providing the service such as email and communications. Content providers – web designers – have popped up all over. You can do this service remotely, which is pretty awesome. There is no specific reason for a web designer to be in the same room as the owner.

Robbing the Web

Leading software and hardware providers include Apple, Microsoft, etc. Similar to John D. Rockefeller and other Industrial Age “robber barons” Bill Gates’ the owner of software giant Microsoft was found guilty of monopolistic practices. Microsoft Corporation “was forced to change its business practices by unbundling its browser and media player from the Windows operating system” (291). That is very interesting, because as a Windows user, I am still a user of Windows media player and Internet Explorer. But since this finding, Bill Gates has been able to change is image from “robber baron” to global philanthropists. Copyright laws and patents have changed the way that people react to the web.

Design the Web

Media design is the key to a “good” webpage – not the amount of time a user spends on the page. That would reflect thinking of the “old media.” They believed that they needed to deliver people for the advertisers. “From the perspective, the key to having a good Web page is lots of empty dark space (or blank white space or gray space) with small print, intriguing Flash animations, and large graphic design space” (290). I think this is very intriguing because earlier I mentioned the Cannes Lion Web page being poorly designed. They used way too much color and your eye moved from one side of the page to another trying to find a place to land. A good example of a well designed page is Apple’s home page. Your eye is immediately drawn to the logo and what they are selling - their graphic design.

Sticky Web

The major types of content on the web include electronic publishing, entertainment, online games, portals, and search engines.

Electronic publishing includes formal “old media” such as news papers and magazines – this includes the extremely popular New York Times.

Entertainment also includes “old media” such as music, television and movie. For while people were illegally file sharing for free; larger entertainment companies have responded with charged responses. Hulu, also for example, showed their (NBC Universal, Fox, etc.) large hits with limited commercials on the web.

Online Games includes MUDs and MMOs. MUDs are Multi-User Dungeons; they evolved from text-based fantasy games to multi-user graphical interfaces. Sorcery and fantasy games are most popular. In addition to MUDs, there are also variations on classic card and board games and puzzle games.

Portals combine directories, interpersonal communication, and information into an all-purpose, customizable “launch pad,” This will be used when visitors go on the Internet. Leading portals include Yahoo!, AOL and MSN. Now portals include social networking.

Search engines are equally as important as the other four. This category includes Google, ProQuest, YouTube, etc.

Advertising Promotes Society

One of the great things that that advertising does for me and society is that it communicates a brief message. It allows for me and other members of society to briefly watch a commercial or look at an image and immediately get the message. If an advertiser is good, you do not have to think to hard about the message it is portraying.

Websites can also be advertisements; much more in-depth ones. Like I mentioned with the Cannes Lions website – it is really not appealing to the eye, nor is it up to date. Sites like MediaBistro.com are consistently updated and allow for users to log in and use their resources for their own personal gain. The site is clear and straight forward.

Advertising also creates jobs. In order for there to be ads, there needs to be a team of people involved in creating it. From marketing to research, the team is a key essential to why advertising it good for society.

Also, in some cases, advertising is socially responsible. On the Ad Week post, I discussed how the site challenged six companies to fight cyberbulling. Their ads will hopefully make a difference, no matter how small it may be.

Also political advertisements notify people of what they need to know in order to make an informed decision.

Advertisements must be pleasing to the eye, no matter what type of media they are.
As you can see, advertisements are a key essential to our lives and create a unified message across the spectrum.

Ad(d) a Week

Ad Week is a site for advertising news and analysis. After scoping around the site I can tell that the writers are strong bloggers – they understand that they need a style that is relevant and constant – and very smart people.

One of the articles is entitled Bully Pulpit: Shops Battle Cyberbulling Teen-targeted campaigns aim to silence the crescendo of abuse. It explains that our lives are shifting to online lifestyles but we are still dealing with real world problems – thus bullying. One of the most current examples is the bulling of Rutgers student Tyler Clementi who had such a difficult time dealing with the bulling, he committed suicide. The fact that there is a Cyberbullying Research Center shows that this is truly a mass problem that has not just begun and is not going away. Ad Week challenged six companies to start campaigns to fight cyberbullying. These companies are Arnold, Colossal Squid, Cramer-Krasselt, Fathom, Globalhue and Pereira & O’Dell. One can only hope that they succeed in their endeavors.

Eating at the Media Bistro

MediaBistro.com is a great site to find a job in the media business. It also advertises However it also links to brief blog posts that share about media influences. I personally am a member of the site – looking for a job!

One of the articles on the site explains how Amanda Hesser, former food editor of New York Times Magazine used a social media site – Food52 – to create a cookbook to be released in 2011. This idea is called crowdsourcing. Her co-editor is Merrill Stubbs, a freelance writer. The duo also used social media sites like Twitter and Facebook to collect the best homemade recipes.

Another article shares how one can use the social media site LinkedIn.com to create connections and hopefully job opportunities. The article opens by asking when was the last time you updated your LinkedIn page. “Most job seekers have been told the benefits of LinkedIn. More than just Twitter on Ritalin or Facebook without Farmville, the social network is an invaluable tool for researching companies, networking, and discovering new opportunities.” It is so key to finding a job; despite that, buyer beware. One of the commenters shared examples of how he or she was scammed in the past short period of time.

Can(nes) you fight Lions?

Cannes Lions is an international advertising festival. The site is flashy, and distracting. The color scheme is yellow-green-blue; absolutely not my first choice. There appears to be no articles, but rather just a plethora of videos. The site is primarily European; if you want to register for a class you must pay is Euros. The classes appear to be huge. The Essential Information page also has not been updated since at least July. It is hard to fathom that a site a international renowned as Cannes Lions would allow this to fall to the way side.

Lone Star Alaska

New Season Brings Strong Ratings - for Most

I can not comment much on Lone Star, but I must say FOX must not have been predicting good results for it if they were to cut hit such as House short just to drag in viewers. When DVRs were first becoming popular and, like FOX, NBC was sneaky about it’s show time and ran the Friends finale over by, I believe, five minutes. Because this was not scheduled programming it was not recorded and many fans missed the first airing of it.

Sneakiness does not gain viewers, it tends to put a sour taste is people’s mouth.

I was also thinking about Dancing With The Stars. First of all – season eleven? I remember when this show premiered as a late summer hit. And a soap star won! This season will be interesting, though. I have heard of, for the first time, every contestant except one – I am embarrassed to admit which one. He/She may be terribly popular.

I think Dancing With The Stars is trying to appeal to a younger audience, and it is working; however, why is Bristol Palin on this show? I think the nation would rather see her mother make a fool of herself, oh wait. . . But really, similar to Kate Gosselin, should she not be at home caring as a mother. Please do not misread this, I am all for working mothers, but when you have the money that these women already have do you really need to hop onto the reality show bandwagon? I truly believe not.

Television Surfs Fast-Forward

If the conventional TV model is dying, I think that the internet is going to replace it. The computer has become a one-stop shop for all types of things. You can communicate on sites like Facebook and Skype. You can journal/scrapbook on sites like Blogspot and Tumblr. Now you can watch television shows on the networks' websites. A prime example of this, which is explained in the textbook, is that The Office can document that one-fifth of their viewers watch the show online. Speaking directly to this, I have never seen a new episode on the television, but I have watched seasons one through three, and season five. The computer – the internet – is what will take over. Advertisers can also control that a viewer sit for thirty seconds and watch their ad. So although consumers are not additionally paying for the product, the way they pay for cable television, they are still receiving a service they would have paid a lot of money for otherwise. Also for clarification, it is realized that you pay for the internet, but as proven by earlier examples, you would be paying for it anyway.

Another thing, one I did not catch in the text book, is that the sale of seasons of shows on DVD are probably driving down ratings. Production companies are most likely making the money off this, but where are the advertisers in this? Networks are not making money in that way, but rather they are collecting it directly from the consumer.