Editing in Lit Genius

To me, the Genius website seems to be extremely similar to a wiki except it is solely focused on poetry, lyrics and other forms of literature. Along with this, it has all of the aspects of a summary website such as schmoop. The only difference being that this, like a wiki, is edited and contributed to by its users. I was tasked with editing a newly added poem in the Lit section of the site. First, of course, you must make an account, and then you can edit whatever you want. I went about starting off the description to Mina Loy's "Brancusi's Golden Bird." Having never used the site before, I had no clue where to begin, and the suggestions were much too brief to be useful. I decided to go to another, well edited piece to find out. I gathered the basics quite quickly before I decided what to add. I figured the poem had to be about something extremely precise considering its title and googled it to find out what. As I suspected, it was indeed about a specific item, a sculpture to be precise. Brancusi's "Golden Bird" just like the title said. I added this to the description, gave a brief summary of who Brancusi was and added a picture of the sculpture being described. I then gave a link to the Art institute where the picture was taken along with a link to a Wikipedia page about Brancusi. All in all, the process of contributing is extremely easy, user friendly, and accessible.

Here's Genius.com if you want to check it out.

The Statistical Stats

Well, there you have it, an entirely American audience and approximately 100 page views. How can I get more page views? Well, I could post links on every social media website ever created... but do I really want to? Nah, not really. Let's just see how it goes, roll with it. 

YouTube and Video Game Commentary

One of the biggest and more recent trends (although it has been around for years) on YouTube is video game commentary. So why exactly is watching a prerecorded video (Or sometimes live on websites such as Twitch) of someone else playing a video game so entertaining? Many of these commentators have risen high enough in the ranks of YouTube fame to become superstars, PewDiePie, Markiplier, the members of the Yogscast, the Game Grumps, JohnTron, Penguinz0(CritiKal), and many many more. Well, from my perspective there are multiple elements that come together to provide such entertainment and even an obsession. First of all, let's put the stars aside. They are certainly one of the most important aspects but not the only one. First of all, many of these commentators play games right as they are released or sometimes more famous commentators are even allowed to play them before they are released as a way for the company to promote them. This is a good way to decide whether or not to buy a game yourself. Seeing someone else giving it a try may either interest you further in a game or completely push you away. Along with that, many of these commentators tend to find and then play very strange independently produced games that you may never hear of without them. It's a great way to find indie games. In the opposite sense, perhaps a sense of nostalgia, they also play games that may be very well known, sometimes games from many years ago. This provides a unique perspective,  a way to see how these commentators react to familiar events in said video game or to see what they do differently than you. They can even help provide strategy for newer and older games that you may have had trouble finishing. Back to the commentators themselves, their hilarious, lovable personalities are what bring everything together. You could certainly watch someone play through a video game without an commentary whatsoever but that would get old very quick. When you get to see and or hear these commentators' quips, jokes, sarcasm, reactions (anger, fright, cracking up), along with their general attitude towards a certain video game, it adds a whole new level of entertainment.

Have the newest video of my favorite commentator, CritiKal (Warning: Extremely foul language)

The Medium is the Message: YouTube

What exactly does Marshall McLuhan mean when he says the medium is the message? Well, I'd say that the medium in which a statement is made or a story is told can actually influence the way an audience perceives what they are seeing/reading/hearing. Along with that, simply the medium itself can create a message on its own. YouTube can be considered one of these many mediums. YouTube, especially when compared to television is a very free form of entertainment and media. I don't just mean free as in not having to pay though. There's much more to it, and that is the message.  YouTubers can post nearly any kind of video they want, anywhere from a video blog to an animation they made themselves. Equally, those who go on YouTube can watch whatever they want as well, at any time. People can say almost whatever they want in their videos or comment whatever they want on a video. Anyone can become a star if they try hard enough. They can get paid from having ads in their videos by simply producing whatever they like to produce. To me, the main message that YouTube gives us is freedom, the freedom to produce and watch almost whatever we please.

The Video

Here it is, royalty free background music, blurriness, and all. Thanks Windows Movie Maker! You've turned what should have taken a hour or less into three hours of a nightmare I thought was never going to end! And it still looks like it was finished in under fifteen minutes...

Edit: And it's even more blurry on here... great. Yep, I'm done.

English for New Media

I'm currently working on a project to show what English for New Media is really all about. This blog post here will be included in it. Basically, it's a video that shows a few of the forms that New Media takes, and this is certainly one of them. I'll be posting the actual video later on when I finish it.

A Journey into the Land of Tweets

Some person's depiction of Twitter obsession found here(most likely not the original source)

Last week, I created a Twitter account for the first time in the history of my life. I have had an account on Facebook since around 2006-2007 and have never really ventured into any other form of social media... until now. At first, my reaction to Twitter was absolutely awful. I had to create an entirely new email address due to the fact that Twitter believed the other two emails that I attempted to input were already taken, even though I have never used the site before. After the initial mess of making an account, my opinion of Twitter changed, although I'm still unsure of if it is for the better. To me it seems as though Twitter is simply a way to check up on pop culture, celebrities, and learn about their mundane everyday lives... or what they are complaining and whining about on a specific day. In a way, this makes it a lot like Facebook, but much less personal. Rather than interacting with your whining friends or discussing their equally mundane everyday lives, you simply just view them, perhaps re-tweet their opinion or fav it and that's it. It's just viewing, not interacting.

If you are for any reason interested in following me here is my account: https://twitter.com/Dreamscape132 

Participation in the Online World

Liking and Sharing on Facebook

• Sharing music from Soundcloud
• Videos from Youtube
• Fan Art
• Having art made for me by an online producer

Comments and Ratings Given:

• Youtube
• Free television/movie companies (hulu, Netflix, etc.)
• Multiple fanart and fanfiction websites
• Product Reviews on multiple sites

My Own Productions:

• Fanfiction... lots and lots of fanfiction
• My own fiction
• I made videos on Youtube when I was younger
• Blogs like this one
• Blogs or discussion boards about shows/games/movies/fandoms and even people
• Facebook posts

And most likely much more...