Digital media
This week for our video task, we watched 3 videos about media literacy.
The first two videos were short info-graphic videos about media literacy and why it’s important. The first video, by MediaSmarts, explained that while digital media is more interactive, it’s also a lot easier to fake what you post. This is a really important point, as there’s been many times where fake posts went viral worldwide for their believability, such as the “Eagle Snatches Baby” video. The video was originally a college project made by three Animation and Design students in Montreal, however the mix of the shaky cinematography and the realistic eagle model was enough to fool so many people that the video garnered over 46 million views on youtube. It’s easy to think you can’t be fooled by internet hoaxes, but it’s even easier to create a convincing fake.
The second video, by the University of Derby, talked about the importance of media literacy and the different levels people can have in it. As it’s said in the video, a certain amount of media literacy is needed to turn on a computer, while you’d need a little bit more media literacy to apply to a job online. It’s an interesting video on the different levels of digital literacy, and the ways we can develop our literacy to help us online.
The third video was a TED talk by Dr. Doug Belshaw. In the video, he talks about media literacy through the use of memes. His main example is the meme “Success kid,” in which a child holds his fist up with a triumphant expression on his face. The image was edited and manipulated to contain relatable or amusing captions. Belshaw introduces the audience to his “eight essential elements of digital literacies,” noting that the “Success kid” meme falls under the elements of cultural, creative and communicative. Another example of these elements could be on a video game review on youtube. That would come under the elements “critical” and “constructive.” Belshaw makes it a point to note that context is a common element in memes, both old and new. Memes from the time when “Success kid” was popular were often based on fake personalities for the animals used in the images used for that particular meme, for example “paranoid parrot” or “socially awkward penguin.” While internet memes have evolved greatly over the last decade, context still plays a huge part in their execution.
A prominent modern example of this would be the “Among us everywhere” meme. The meme originated with the 2018 game “Among Us,” an indie video game that gained popularity in 2020. Memes started being made about the slang used in the game, such as “[blank] is sus,” and the eventual break down of the game’s title, often being referred to as “Amogus.” The meme spiraled even more out of control when people began recognizing the simple design of the spacemen characters used in the game in real life items. Common items were bins, dogs and even toes. The relation to “Among us” isn’t mentioned within the image or it’s post, completely relying on the viewer to understand the context behind the meme in order to find it funny. Memes like this have always been a staple of internet humour and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere any time soon.
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| A bowl labeled "Media Literacy" holding sweets with various labels including "source," "reverse image" and "wayback [machine]" Photo by tiday on Pixabay |
Reference list:
“Digital media are networked” by MediaSmarts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-HXiObDDnA
“Digital Literacy and why it matters” by University of Derby: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2k3C-iB88w
“The essential elements of digital literacies: Doug Belshaw” by TEDx talks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8yQPoTcZ78
“Golden eagle snatched kid” by MrNuclearCat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE0Q904gtMI
“Eagle snatches kid” video makers admit hoax” by NPR: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2012/12/19/167610327/eagle-snatches-kid-video-the-debunking-begins?t=1633548735346
“Among Us everywhere: things that look like Among Us crewmates” by ScreenRant: https://screenrant.com/among-us-everywhere-meme-look-like-crewmates-impostors/
After reading Ella’s blog post on digital media I feel more informed about the importance of media literacy and how it can affect us. I also think the layout of the blog is really well put together as it flows well as you are reading it. The length of the blog is great as it covers what was discussed in each video and gave a helpful insight. The reference list at the bottom is well organised and contains each video she watched or referred to in the blog.
ReplyDeleteIn the first paragraph, Ella gave her thoughts on two short videos about media literacy. She talks about a great example of how people using digital media can so easily create fake posts that have extremely high believability.
In the second paragraph she talks about the next video she watched which talked about the importance of media literacy. She explains that the video talks about the different levels of digital literacy and the ways in which we can improve our digital literacy.
In the final two paragraphs Ella discusses what was talked about during a TED talk about media literacy through the use of memes. She gave an insightful history of memes and how they have evolved overtime. A question that I have about digital media would be how many people in today’s world use digital media over traditional media outlets? Also how are traditional media companies surviving since digital media has become so popular?
A suggestion that the writer could try out in the future could be to include a few more images that complement what a paragraph is talking about, e.g. a picture of a meme that is being referred to.
After reading Ella's blog on digital media I feel more informed on the information on Digital Media and the importance and use of media literacy. The image really stud out as it was related to the content and it was quite colourful. The layout was very simple and easy to read and accessible to all levels. The references was also well listed and the format they were in.
ReplyDeleteIn the first paragraph Ella talked about media literacy and why its important. It's well explained how the media can be interactive. She gave good detail about the actual content of the video and how the that the video was originally a college project made by three students Animation and design from Montreal. This is good to add some background to the videos.
In the second paragraph she talks about the importance of media literacy and the different levels of digital literacy. A future idea could be expanding on this as it was very interesting.
In the last two paragraphs of her blog, Ella talks about the ted talk of about media literacy through the use of memes, and a relevant example used in our every day lives that we might not have realised. This makes the content more relateable and it was well explained.
A question i have is how many of these modern day media companies are using these techniques such as memes to draw in their target audience and is it really effective?
I really enjoyed reading Ellas blog post. I found it really well written and enjoyable to read. I thought it had quite a good layout and she made sure to include a picture relating to her post which is good. The content is informative and easy to understand which is important to engage audiences and shows that Ella had good comprehension of the material she was given. I like that Ella has included a reference list I think that is such a good idea. I also enjoyed seeing Ella use her own personal examples like in the last paragraph when she uses the example of the meme. Overall, I think this was a great blog post and I can't find much that needs improving. One thing I would maybe suggest you consider for your next blog post would be to add more pictures or to maybe even include a conclusion paragraph at the end of ur post that wraps up and reinforces the topic you are discussing.
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