Website

In our modern times, websites are how people and corporations advertise and promote themselves to potential clients or employment opportunities. It sends a digital message to the world of the internet about your own version of presenting yourself. People will read a bio about the person, see their the work they have accumulated through past employments, college essays, letters of recommendation, a rèsumè, past volunteer work, and videos valid to the content of the website. For instance if a person wants to sell scarfs, the page can contain a video of the making of the scarfs. This website is a reflection of yourself. This is a way to explain to viewers of the website who you think you are, what you think your best attributes and what a potential person or organization can benefit from having you on their staff. The social media (Twitter) is tied into websites like these because it gives the viewer a larger scope to the work you could potentially do. It also lets the viewer peer into someone’s social media and their interactions with others using social media. People tend to forget that social media is easily accessible to everyone, including people that are interested in hiring. They can see what has been written, retweeted and liked. Also who this person is following and who is following them. The followers on social media show your interests. On the twitter project done in class, many of the twitter accounts had similar accounts requesting follows. The Boston Red Sox Twitter project was coverage of the highlights of the World Series playoffs. This account recorded all of the high points for the Boston Red Sox during the 2018 World Series. This account had statistics on batters and pitchers as well as information regarding the Red Sox franchise. When a viewer of the website sees the attachment to this Red Sox twitter account, they will see that the website creator is knowledgeable about baseball and also sees how articulate professional tweets are. The creator of the website could want to work in sports social media so the viewer will see their work and determine whether they want to see more samples. Designing the website was interesting because the class all had websites that looked different because of each individual style and character. Some students had videos and articles that appeared in Buffalo State’s newspaper The Record and others had scholarly essays posted on their portfolio. The software had many parts to it and was confusing but the more practice accumulated throughout the work sessions helped and repetition of the steps in the software. Following along with notes in front of the computer software is the best way to get familiar with it. The different folders helped with the organization of the project. One folder had the pieces for the portfolio and one had the pictures that were going to be used. Developing a website was hard work and was frustrating at times but the experience was a good one.

Video Blog

The video assignment was to define the term abstract with only movements and visuals, no speaking. The definition of abstract is existing in thought or as an idea but not having a physical or concrete existence. So to convey individual terms of abstract thought each person must identify what their version of it is. This step is important because it help the group understand the grasp of what is going on in the project and if someone needs help. Also the combination of the group’s ideas is good acknowledge what a members’ strengths and weaknesses are. If someone is generating ideas for camera angles it is possible that a person in the group is familiar with a camera. Shooting the video is tricky. Bringing the ideas of abstraction to a video takes a lot of thought. Albright-Knox provided many of the shots in the video. One art piece in the center of this large room was a heep of silver pots, pans, dinner trays, tea pots and other miscellaneous silver items. About 16 different pipes were producing water into the pots like a fountain. Some of the tin cans had the old labels still on them. Another piece was a cluster of soda cans that were pressed flat and made into a configuration that resembled a man wearing a hat. These are a visual definition of abstract because the pots and pans or the soda cans by themselves are just old pots and soda cans but made an artist made the idea something tangible and we can see but the man made out of soda cans is just the outline. It’s really not a portrait of a person, it’s just the clusters of these cans together and how human eyes seek out shapes such as the silhouette of a person. Therefore making it an idea and not a real thing. Struggles that were encountered during this video project were the fact that not all members participated or contacted the rest of the group. Other group members had trouble grasping the concept of the assignment. Inspiration was a struggle within the group. The definition was understood but putting it on camera was a challenge. Going to the art gallery helped. Albright-Knox had a traveling exhibit that was 1960s inspired abstract art. Many breathtaking pieces were on display that were a great source of motivation and inspiration that the group members needed. While editing, members struggled with understanding but other members were able to explain how the process of editing works and the different edits you can assemble for a video. The video was a good tool to use to communicate to an audience because around 85% of all communication is done non verbally. Meaning, most communication between humans is through facial expressions and body language. For this video that is what each group had to do. Each group had to nonverbally communicate the topic assigned. The abstract group did not have to go outside or in public for much of the project. Members filmed their clips in their homes, cars, backyards, and places that were not being occupied by many people if any. The public has no influence on the abstraction project and the abstraction group had no effect on bystanders.  During the self portrait experience, Leah chose to put the things in her life she likes the most. She took a video of the backyard of the house she grew up in, a video of her cat Vivien, and a video of her nephew Joe. She woke up the day after Thanksgiving at her parents’ house and Vivien was on her chest. She thought this would be perfect for the self portrait video. Another is when she was babysitting her nephew and they both get a good giggle out of the filters. “September” by Earth, Wind and Fire was the song picked because it’s a great song and that’s a fact not an opinion. Everyone likes this song. She chose to put these in her self portrait video because these are some of the things that bring her the most joy in life. The group didn’t encounter many mistakes or errors. Each individual group member encountered their own struggles during filming their part. Adam focused his attention to camera angles and learning more about how a simple tangible item can be transparent and been seen as something else than what it really is using angles. At first his concept of abstract differed from the group’s but after explaining his imagery the group was on board with his ideas. Eudy took to a more artistic approach with his and used the neighborhood around Campus Walk to add to the video. He too used various camera angles and focused his time more in different colors and graphics. Eudy does a great job with the computer graphics and helps the group with the group members own visions for the project. Everyone was skilled with communication what they wanted the final touches to be towards the end of the project journey. No one got into fights and everyone’s experiences were positive.

Social media went from being just printed and accessed by the wealthy to being accessible to everyone in the world just as long as the internet connection is strong. Approximately one billion people in the world have some form of social media. So just to get the hang of how many people use it, for every seven people in the entire world, one of them uses some form of social media. Social media is such a popular form of communication, but is society moving too fast? Is there a dangerous side to social media?

Social media like Instagram and YouTube is credited to discovering some very big names in the entertainment industry like Justin Bieber for example. Social media can give an artist their big break they’ve been working for.

Most people started out with a simple MySpace page or a Facebook around the ages of 11-12. So youngsters are starting to use social media when they are going through the beginning stages of puberty and all the physical and mental changes that come along with it. Children around that age are very impressionable and easily influenced by the media and the entertainment industry. These websites were sometimes easy to hide from parents just by their lack of understanding what social media was. In a few short years, other social media sites have immurged and have tilted the internet world on its axis. With the spike in social media also comes spikes in problems with elements of society. When children are small, parents teach them to properly and safety rodena bike, play baseball, and how to safely make cookies without burning the house down. Social media is another part of their children’s lives, except it is something parents cannot protect their children from. More and more children are being thrown into the lions den and not shown the combat for defense. Young girls see “Instagram models” that they think are regular girls just taking pictures but those are semi-professional photo shoots. Girls are feeling more inadequate with their bodies more than ever. Online child predators are also a source of fear with social media. It’s easy for a predator to catfish or deceive a young unassuming child into doing things.

Social media has a responsibility to give the users news and entertainment and keep everyone in the loop as to what is going on in the world. It also has a responsibility to protect its users.

Criminals  are now taking to social media to document their acts of violence. In 2014 two teenagers in Hartlepool beat and tortured 39 year old Angela Wrightson to death over a 17 hour period and posted it to Snapchat.

Social media in the future will advance as we have seen, but hopefully with the growth of the industry comes more education about the dangers of social media and the lasting effect on those who uses it.

Social media needs a more positive presentation and people need to be much more educated on the dangers