And so it concludes.

So here we are. Curtain call. The end of this subject for yours truly. Which means the end of this blog.

Before you begin to cry shamelessly, let’s look back on the time we spent together; blogger and fellow bloggers, together in this world of zeros and ones.

Net Communications for me was challenging but I found as long as I stayed organized it wasn’t too hard to manage. Things became a lot easier after the essay was done and we started blogging, because I found it a lot easier to deal with assessment written informally where I’m also allowed, (nay, required,) to use my au natural sarcastic social observations for some kind of purpose. Whilst doing this I was also pushed to think critically in order to get my head around some of the tougher concepts in this subject- particularly the ones I found a bit drier. (The ‘We Hate Comic Sans’ reading was a standout.) Since for my core posts I needed to think and speak a little sharper, when writing all my other posts I found at times that voice translated. Sounding like you know what you’re talking about is a good thing.

Concepts I particularly enjoyed were the nihilist impulse, and the idea of the internet as this giant, wide, open marketplace, where everything from social media to Wikipedia is some kind of ‘product,’ and simply by logging on we are acting as prosumers in this unique media marketplace. Since all of these concepts are insanely huge and would take me more words then feasible to discuss properly, I’ll just say what particularly struck me about them in relation to blogs, and blogging.

Blogging was something new to me. And I really found it interesting. My niche is social commentary, and half my posts are just my own, subjective thoughts about things I think are awkward. These thoughts are not really ‘worth’ anything in a literal sense- just me rambling, really. The only reason I am producing them is purely for the sake of it. Bang, nihilist impulse.

By producing this nothingness I am de facto a producer, my blog de facto becomes MY product. And since what I say is so subjective I am my own product- much like my facebook profile page. And so my blog gets a social value. I receive an online social value. I’m expanding the market, and as the market grows the number of niches grows. (Ahem, longtail…)And then amount of bloggers increase and so the amount of nihilism out there rises accordingly. But then conversely so do the amount of ‘shares’ in the social value market, so it’s not really nihilism because it serves a value-exchange purpose, but then that purpose is achieved through nihilism…? Watch this space, I guess.

 I also really like the idea of participatory culture, even though as I have discussed previously I don’t think the internet is a rounded Habermasian-esque discussion sphere. But as far as ideas go, free and equal access to ‘culture’ (i.e. social value distribution) via the net is a nice one. And one I would be interested in exploring further and pinning down a bit more.

This idea also leads into what I’d call the most pertinent issue I encountered during this experience- against the advent of new media how your reputation online is really, really important. With the internet being a port of access to a plethora of other media, (music, art, radio, newspapers, journals, books etc,) the way your product i.e you is received really translates into your ‘real life’ identity. (I say ‘real life’ in inverted commas because the way things are going, the increasing importance of who you are on the net directly affects your day-to-day physical existence. So in a sense it is your ‘real life.’ Again, would like to push this idea further)

A strong example of this is all those people in the news recently getting in trouble for writing controversial things on twitter, particularly if they were somewhat of a personality in ‘real life.’ Look at Catherine Deveny. Sacked sacked sacked.

We can even take that idea further and look at Heather B. Armstrong of www.dooce.com. Sacked for what was written in her blog, but through being infamous was able to then make money off it. What is a market that typically trades in social value then translated into a traditional market that trades in cash. Again, it’s that idea of ‘real life.’

I can’t say for sure how I think I did because I’m new to the blogging game. I’m also new to the Net Communications game, so thinking about the internet and new media as critically as I was pushed to was something else entirely. But I don’t think I’d do anything differently.

I’ve never been one for goodbyes, but alas guys it’s time. Let’s not drag this out. It’s been fun. Thanks for reading. Thanks for commenting. I hope I’ve enriched your lives by at least 2%.

Arriverderci.

 

 

another Tarantino plug...

Niche me.

When interactive internet spaces i.e. user generated content creation sites… like YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, etc graced our screens, internet users evolved.

This new generation of users, (‘Generation C’ as PR industry watchdog Trendwatching called them,) have the skills, knowledge and enthusiasm to engage with user-generated spaces and cross the line between consumer and producer, so says Dr. Axel Bruns. Now ‘prosumers,’ ( PRO ducer + con SUMER ) the power to Create Content, ( Gen ‘C’)  i.e. produce is readily, if not instantaneously, accessible. So logically, with more and more producers out there, there’s going to be more and more products in the media marketplace.

With the internet marketplace approaching infinite size, the popularity of each product is similarly going to approach zero. Welcome to the Long Tail.

When it comes to blogging, we’re talking about the ultimate user-producer dichotomy. The whole idea behind blogging is that anyone, anywhere, with internet connection and literacy skills can become a publisher. And to blog, you must.

So the more blogs that are out there, the further we travel down the long tail.

With a virtually infinite choice of products, a demand for niche markets is created. How can we possibly make consumption decisions otherwise in such a gigantic marketplace? So niche blogging, in the era of the long tail, is positively essential if you’re hoping people will notice your blog. Appealing to smaller markets with more specific interests means you can cater for their demands more accurately, and subsequently the people in that group are more likely to ‘consume’ your blog. But because there are so many niches, each separate niche group becomes smaller as consumer demands are able to become more specific. Again, as number of products approaches infinity, popularity of each approaches zero.

Speaking of niches, let’s talk about mine. I’m a producer after all, and I want people to read my blog. So how am I going to make it stand out? The problem is that nearly everything has already been done so being unique is near impossible.

So I’m going to write about life and the awkwardness embedded in it. But not in a FML kind of way where I throw anecdotes at you and collect your laughter in my self-esteem vault. I’m going to DISCUSS awkwardness, and awkward things, in the sarcastic/honest/ cynical voice that so rings from my inner monologue. It’ll be a fun ( at times,)  little social commentary, if you will. Plus some media jibber jabber… this is the internet after all.

Two blogs that share my niche with me: (or rather, I share with them, I’m new,)

– Portage Digital Media

The thing about this blog is that it’s very structured. There are heaps of categories you can choose from and are offered specific social commentary on whichever you pick.  Although we share the same niche this voice is alot more intellectual then I can imagine mine being, and looks at society a little more critically.  Even though the niche we co-inhabit is social commentary, our written voices still differ. Perhaps we both represent niches within our niche?

–Dino Whore

Now I’d still call this a social commentary blog, but at the other end of the spectrum, which is why I wanted to profile it. These two blogs I’m profiling could not be more different in style, but both still offer social commentary. On different topics, yes. But under the same genre. Although this blogger doesn’t use proper English and this is obviously a bit of fun, I don’t feel that makes it any less relevant to the genre.