With the employment of technology becoming common place, these days the tech savvy generation of travelers are changing the structure of travel. At one time tourists were considered the norm and the notion of the ‘traveler’ was afforded to only those experienced in the art of travel. Technology has blurred this distinction as now the question of what separates a tourist or a traveler has become harder to distinguish.

Traditionally we consider travelers as those who avoid the over done tourist attractions that define most countries and vacations and instead aim for the ‘local experience’. That treasured photograph taken in front of that famous attraction, which appears on every postcard, is the familiar hallmark of the tourist.

Vox Me Up: Pro-print Opinions (text post)

So far in this blog I have highlighted the reasons why an internet medium is far superior to print, and also suggested that student press no longer has a place in a landscape rife with student bloggers and citizen journalists.  Now, I shall attempt to turn this argument around, and emphasise the superiority of the print medium, as well the continued relevance of student print.  Little academic writing has been done on the subject (perhaps because student print does admittedly range greatly in regards to both content and quality), so now I shall turn towards interviews that I myself have conducted with student editors across Australia, and I also draw from my own, personal experiences as editor of the Pelican. 

The general idea of video blogging involves amateurish exploration of relevant or topical themes. The blogs are usually unprepared with low production quality. Whilst this is not necessarily an important factor when attempting to convey truth or theory, it can impact heavily on how the information is conveyed and thus interpreted by the audience. In terms of the script writing procedure, poor preparation increases the likelihood of misinterpretation, as factors such as word slips, mannerisms and misinformation tends to understate the importance of what is being said.

In understanding the cause of this audience misinterpretation one must consider the general video blog audience and the central characteristics that determine their susceptibility. Clive Seale in his work “Health and Media” believes that the audience may seek “promoting information as a part of rational risk profiling at fateful moments.” He also believes that “the audience seeks emotional stimulation through dramatized contrasts that have an entertaining effect.” In essence, the audience is open to the idea of being manipulated by the situations represented by video bloggers. According to Seale’s theory, video bloggers would have the power to mislead audiences by way of unscripted and unprepared explorations of their specific theories.

How to Video blog
A behind the scenes look at the intricacies and difficulties behind creating a video blog project.

Outline:
The idea of this series of video blogs is to ultimately document what occurs behind the scenes in relation to creating, filming and editing a video blog project for iGeneration. It follows the step by step process of coming up with an idea, undergoing the required research and finally putting together a credible and significant project in time for submission. In essence it is a voyeuristic look at the challenges and procedures taken by an average communication studies student in order to complete a difficult multimedia assignment.

Hello all,

technically this should come after my video.. but as that's still under some construction, I thought I would just post this up first.

Cheers,
Olivia
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As it turns out, next week’s seminar readings includes one by Cumberland that is all about how the anonymity of cyberspace makes it an ideal space for women interested in erotic fan fiction to express their sexual selves safely and comfortably. Although female authors are able to write erotica professionally in the ‘real’ world, there are still social mores which prevent many from doing so. By participating in fan fiction websites and writing under pseudonyms, ‘women can go directly to their readers without risking their identities with editors, publishers, or … anti-erotica fans’ (Cumberland, 2000). While this article focuses specifically on fan culture and erotica, it highlights how the anonymous nature of computer-mediated communication allows people a greater freedom of expression without prejudice.

The previous text post introduced us to contemporary participatory culture and the various kinds of fan fiction. This week’s text post explains why Star Wars sparked so much activity within the grassroots and the problems that they brought about. In addition, we will also bring fan fiction to a deeper level by exploring the manga craze in Japan.

Obviously, Lucasfilm was not too happy about this. Stories that contained sexually explicit content soon received legal letters from Lucasfilm. Fans claimed that Lucasfilm was just claiming all the rights that they had, to exert control over their shared ‘fantasies’ (Jenkins, 2003). And controversy arose again when Lucasfilm proposed to give free web space and unique content to Star Wars fans for creating fan fiction, if and only if fans allowed Lucasfilm to own their creations (Jenkins, 2003). Fans were unfavourable of this option because it will be impossible for them to earn profits in the future, considering the fact that some Star Trek fans went professional after writing fan fiction.