Internet Jargon and Other Web Trends

Hello, cyberspace! It has been a long while since I last posted, but I have been out of school (graduated, actually) for over a month and have been thinking of bringing this blog back to life. While trying to come up with potentially interesting topics to write about, my brain went off on a tangent about popular terms on the Internet. I kept coming back to the word "trolling." I have been seeing and hearing this word a lot recently and have had a difficult time figuring out the official Internet definition. (But then again, a lot of things on the web these days lack a concrete definition.) Same thing with memes. Everyone knows a meme when they see it but when asked for a clear explanation people seem to struggle. 

While pondering "trolling," "meme," and other jargon, I came to the realization that in addition to jargon there are also some trending applications/websites that I am woefully ignorant of. Can you believe that before I knew what Instagram was I would always read it in my head as an exclamation ("Instagram!")? Like it was a proclamation of an artsy photo that someone took with a camera phone. Being so aware of my Interwebz (I know this is not a real word, but I could not resist) under-education, I have compiled a short list of popular terms and applications/websites that similarly Internet-illiterate people should learn. Enjoy!

• trolling - As I briefly discussed, I was recently in the dark as to what this word meant. As I asked around on Facebook, my friend Ellyn and I discovered that the both of us knew the old school definition--"when a guy goes out looking to get laid by whoever is willing" (in the words of Ellyn), aka "Let's go trolling for bitches." However, this is not how it is used on the Internet. Urban Dictionary gives several minutely varying definitions, which were confirmed by a consensus among my friends. "Trolling" is intentionally creeping for opportunities to cause a ruckus or online disturbance using sarcastic, stupid, or loaded comments/remarks.

• meme - Everyone knows a meme when they see it. Everyone knows how to use the classics, like Forever Alone, Derp, Y U NO, Okay Guy, et cetera. But how do you explain what a meme is to someone who has never seen one? The common definition found by any search engine is always something like "a unit of cultural information, like an image or video, that spreads and becomes popular via the Internet." This definition scratches the surface of how memes came to be, but I do not think it fully describes what a meme is. I think a meme is an image or video in which a character with an agreed upon value/function/personality is exposed to or instigates an unsatisfying, funny, bewildering, inappropriate, or embarrassing situation (depending on the character).

• ftw - I am not sure if I was the only one, but I used to think that ftw was just the opposite or positive version of wtf ("F*ck the WHAAAAAT!"). Apparently it means "for the win." Do not judge me for my ignorance.

• yolo - It means "You only live once." It is a also a popular hashtag on Twitter. I think it looks and sounds like a combination of "yo-yo" and "Rolo."

• Instagram -  I kept seeing photos being posted on Facebook "via Instagram." I now know that it is not just a fancy way of saying "Ta-da! A picture!" From what I gather, Instagram is a free application for smart phones that lets you add a cool filter to any picture you take and then share it. The Instagram website says that "It's photo sharing, reinvented."  Also, Facebook recently bought it--thus, all the "artsy" photos showing up on Facebook.

• Pinterest - My initial impression of Pinterest being like a Facebook-Tumblr hybrid was not far off. Pinterest's concise slogan hits the nail on the head: "Organize and share things you love." People use Pinterest to share their hobbies, interests, and life events. It is like the "about" section on Facebook morphed with the concept of Tumblr and became more organized, pretty, and specific.

• Reddit - Although there are many forums and chat rooms online, Reddit is unique in that it focuses on a democratic system to organize conversation between users and communities. A community on Reddit is simply a group devoted to a certain topic, beliefs, debate, et cetera. I said it is democratic because users vote on content, deciding which discussions are more important than others. Reddit is sometimes compared to Digg.

If you are sometimes ignorant about Internet trends like me, I hope this post helped. If not, I hope you at least got a laugh out of it. 

Until next time!

What makes MyspaceTV unique? Seriously, someone please tell me.

Hello, all. It's been quite a while since I've posted, but I'm back. I was trying to think of something interesting to talk about for my first post of the new year, when I found this article in my Google Reader. The confusion that ensued is documented below.

The Las Vegas Sun article linked above talks about Myspace's and Panasonic's new deal that will change "how people interact with their televisions." From what I can gather, MyspaceTV* will use social networking to connect people while they are watching TV. After reading the article, I was still fuzzy on the "how" here; I don't really see what makes this unique. When you and your friends are watching something in different locations, can't you just use Twitter, Facebook, Skype, et cetera to be connected to them while you're watching? 

Digging a little, I found out that MyspaceTV actually came about in 2008. Why I'm just learning about it now, I don't know. Maybe some of you reading this already know all about MyspaceTV. If so, please comment and explain it to us who are in the dark. Anyways, I came across a Q&A with the vice president of MyspaceTV, Jason Kirk, dated April, 2008, from gigaom.com. But even after reading this, I still don't really understand what it's all about. I got the impression that it's similar to TV shows and other media having social media profiles (like the Glee Facebook page, for example), but with content and interaction exclusively for Myspace.

Next, I found another article from pcmag.com discussing MyspaceTV's premiere...with Justin Timberlake? Turns out Justin Timberlake and Tim Vanderhook bought Myspace and are launching MyspaceTV as a live "social television viewing" experience. Because of the deal with Panasonic, you must have a Panasonic HDTV with Viera Connect to use it. Here is a paragraph from the article that I think best explains what MyspaceTV is:

"The service will focus on music at first, with music channels on Myspace TV using the company's rights to 100,000 music videos and 42,000,000 songs. Users will be able to watch/listen to these songs and comment on what they think about them simultaneously, creating an audience experience. It will be expanded to television and movies, with additional channels featuring news, sports, and reality TV."

Is it just me, or can't you do this on YouTube, Facebook, and any other website that allows consumer interaction and/or comments? Is the appeal here that it will be exclusive content all in one place?

Maybe I'm just not technologically inclined enough to see why this "innovation" (quotation marks for sarcasm) is so one-of-a-kind. Or maybe MyspaceTV is just masquerading as being the next cool new thing. But please, someone clue me in.

*note: Variations of "MyspaceTV" that I've seen are "MySpaceTV," "MySpace TV," and "Myspace TV."

Global Media Regulation and Censorship

A couple of weeks ago I posted "China Goes Back to Stricter Media Policies," talking about how in 2012 China will be implementing stricter regulations on certain media. China is probably one of the main countries to be associated with terms like "censorship" and "media regulation," since there has always been a heavy government hand in such things. But after doing a little research it becomes evident that media regulation and censorship are issues in many countries around the world.

According to this article from the Malaysian National News Agency, several east Asian countries (including China, Japan, and South Korea) are working to make people more accountable for "any wrongdoings in cyberspace." They would like any manipulation in the media facilitated by social media usage to be stopped, and action to be taken against individuals responsible. The point is to prevent any Facebook and Twitter users and bloggers from giving any false or misleading information and then be able to "hide." What I think this article was trying to say, is that Asian leaders want to use media regulations to keep certain information hidden.

In Lebanon, bloggers are concerned about how media regulations will affect their Internet freedom. This article states: "The National Audiovisual Media Council, which regulates TV and radio, has asked all Lebanese news websites and blogs to register with the agency starting this month, according to local media reports." Although many in the social media world find this suspicious, they have little choice since any sites that do not register will be banned. Though the head of the media council insists that the new rules are meant to protect, not restrict, websites and blog, free-speech advocates and bloggers remain unconvinced.

Google is in the hot seat in Australia as the review of global Internet content rules continues. Google is just one of the large, international companies that may not adhere to media regulations in certain countries. The Convergence Review (a government-established review that goes over media policies and regulations) is concerned that Google content will not be able to be regulated as well as the Review would like, since it is not an Australian-based company, but a global one. While this is being pondered, the Review also recommended rebuilding the Broadcasting Services Act, since media can now be "broadcast across multiple platforms simultaneously."

Sports media regulations are increasing in Zambia. There is a call for stricter accreditation standards in order to ensure sports footage and interviews do not end up somewhere unauthorized:

 "Speaking during a workshop for league members and journalists from Kenya, Uganda and Zambia held at the German Football Federation (DFL) headquarters here, Rathbone called for a better relationship between league managers and the media in the three countries.

'It is really disgraceful that we have the broadcast rights of the league then we see journalists running on the pitch after a game. We can't have journalists with small VSH cameras getting footage of a game that we have rights for and we don't know where they are taking it,' he said."

This editorial from Sri Lanka's Daily News states that although the Sri Lankan government is committed to democracy, it sees no reason not to regulate media in order to protect "common interest." Media outlets that "flout the norms of legally and ethically admissible media practices" make it necessary for the government to stop this abuse of media freedom. The editorial also accuses websites of committing what the U.S. calls libel. These websites cannot defend themselves in a court of law, because their origins are unknown due to being unregistered. But the author of the editorial thinks that if the websites feel like they are within their rights, they should have no problem coming clean.

These are just five examples of media regulation and censorship that occur in different countries. China may seem like the censorship frontrunner, but other nations' governments take action against media, as well.

China Goes Back to Stricter Media Policies

This article I read on the New York Times website reports that the Chinese government has decided to put a stop to creeping libertarianism by slapping on stricter media regulations. In recent years China has allowed entertainment media to become Westernized just a smidgen. They have a version of "American Idol," Internet cafes are gaining popularity, and blogging has become more common. However, new restrictions set to be implemented in January will probably slow this down tremendously. 

There have always been what Americans would probably call an insane amount of Internet regulation in China. When my friend was studying abroad last semester, she kept trying to send an email to her family about protests in the area, but it kept bouncing back undelivered. The Internet regulators used a sort of keyword determination when looking at emails, and even when she made the email as vague as possible it would not go through because she was writing about the protests.

And remember when Google almost pulled out of China in 2010? Google said that China heavy search engine censoring was violating free speech, and the company considered not only shutting down the Chinese version of the search engine, but closing their offices in China, as well. They eventually did pull out, and now the only Google available to use in China is "Google Hong Kong."

The point is, China has a history of heavy censorship, so no one should be surprised by the latest restrictions:

"The most striking instance occurred Tuesday, when the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television ordered 34 major satellite television stations to limit themselves to no more than two 90-minute entertainment shows each per week, and collectively 10 nationwide. They are also being ordered to broadcast two hours of state-approved news every evening and to disregard audience ratings in their programming decisions. The ministry said the measures, to go into effect on Jan. 1, were aimed at rooting out 'excessive entertainment and vulgar tendencies.'"