Found the Journal of e-Media Studies today and have been perusing the contents. Looks like an interesting new journal out of Dartmouth.
Also have been reading a research paper on how much people trust libraries and museums. Turns out they are more trusted than news sources. This begs for a post of its own that is still brewing.
Move over mood rings, MoodViews is using data instead of heat to reveal moods.
As I write this the collective mood is calm, mischievous, envious, creative, and cheerful.
MoodGrapher turns the data visual by charting moods, and when combined with other features MoodView also predicts moods, looks for peaks and compares the moods to news, offers a search by date and keyword to find linked moods, and predicts mood prevalence. Although it currently only evaluates LiveJournal users, and those who post moods, it provides the opportunity to have an overview of collective moods in relation to any number of things. Seasonal moods, length of time the moods last, mood fluctuation by holidays and events.
This last category has already been charted for some global events in 2005 and 2006. Worried moods increased during Hurricane Katrina and persisted at a higher level after the natural disaster. Around New Year’s Eve people are more nostalgic, excited, drunk, lonely, and groggy but less frustrated.
I ran a MoodSpotter of my own: Let’s see how people felt when talking about media over the past few months.
February, 2008
Spiked red lines indicate “tired” and the flat yellow is for “bitchy.” Others that showed up on the pie graph were bored, amused, and sleepy.
March, 2008
March was much more active. I left the color key in the screenshot since there were so many, but for easier reading the categories making up the bars are (L to R) accomplished, amused, awake, bitchy, blah, bored, busy, calm, contemplative, lazy, thoughtful, and tired.
April, 2008
Back to simplicity, green is awake, yellow happy, and the flat red line bitchy.
What does this tell us? Nothing really at this level, but it’s fun.
Yesterday I turned off my cell phone for almost half the day as a birthday gift to myself. I headed out to the big, downtown library to get some reading done. The research I’m presenting this week was done a year ago, so even though I have it all prepared, I wanted to read up on anything related from the past year.
Somehow I passed the library and figured I’d just go over that next hill to see what was there, it turned out to be a part of Schenley Park I hadn’t been to yet. When I pulled up to a pond with a fountain surrounded by trees dripping with magnolia blossoms, I knew I needed to be sitting at a picnic table in the 70-degree sunshine being scoped out by a squirrel instead of inside an air conditioned library.
I’ve had “media psychology” in my google news since 2004. Typically 4 or 5 headlines show up that are slightly related. Today was the first day when there were more headlines in this category than any other.
Still procrastinating with fervor on addressing my dissertation. However, in an as yet inexpressible way I do know that I have come across a way to combine the topic I already wrote a concept paper for with all of the new information I have gathered. So in a way I am calm about it, just waiting for the concept to become clear so I can put it into words.
In the meantime, I submitted an article to the APS newsletter’s Student Notebook column. Now that my Div 46 associate editorship has wrapped up I want to keep getting things out there. It was accepted, and should be printed in January.
I also applied as a grant reviewer for a student competition and received the applications for review today.
And, I’m headed back to Juneau for a month.
Some people I know through Fielding have started a new organization and are working on an online media psychology journal. It’s exciting to have two now, and it’s nice to see the older one publishing again. I hadn’t checked the site for years because the information didn’t change, now there’s all sorts of new tidbits, like the online gaming piece.
After a lot of juggling dates and resources, I finally submitted the first attempt at my comps. I’m excited to move back to the concept paper, finalize that, and feel like I’m moving ahead again. I had intended to submit the comps before Summer Session, but the house sold after three days and we were busy for months. We’re still in limbo, looking for a new home to settle into where I can unpack my ton of books. For now, having them all in storage has been a good excuse to start exploring some new areas, and I’ve started accumulating a new mini-library here.
Working on whittling down my dissertation topic, I’ve begun wondering on what topic I want to be an expert. The question I have been focusing on is close, but I’ve realized it still focuses on dis-ease despite coming to the topic from a positive angle. Although the approach is not problem-centered, the background literature and general premise hover over typical negativity toward media. I do not want to spend my time rebutting other research, I want to research strengths and continue exploring applications. By strengths, I mean those applicable to individuals or groups from a positive psychology standpoint rather than strengths of media outlets, programs, or campaigns.
My topic now is something along the lines of whether the skill of media creation alters attitudes. I am still very interested in media creation as the foundation of my research, but rather than centering on attitudes toward media I may turn to media as a creative outlet. Self expression, self efficacy, creativity. Positive psychology studies those who are well to determine what makes them well. Do I study those who already use media in a positive way and benefit from it, or do I study whether learning to use media positively influences self efficacy or creativity. Playing with too many undefinable terms could make things messy ... media, creativity, healthy.
In any case, I am going to move into reading about creativity and art now, and away from media literacy and attitudes.
Tonight I presented research comparing independent media agendas and corporate media agendas to a group at Fielding’s Summer Session.
Based on research comparing the media agendas in online independent and corporate news sources, I discussed social and ethical implications of media agendas. I was specifically interested in discovering whether the independent media source provided an alternative agenda to that of corporate media. Following the first phase of agenda setting research, the research was based on public issues to categorize headlines and compared three sources from Portland, OR.
Abstract:
The following paper presents an analysis of research conducted in early 2007 comparing the media agendas in online independent and corporate news sources. Following the first phase of agenda setting research, the author uses public issues to categorize headlines from the sources. Comparison of the issues covered by each source revealed statistically significant differences between the two corporate media agendas but no statistically significant difference between the independent source and either corporate source’s media agenda. The nature of and potential for independent media are discussed in relation to these findings.
JWF_PSY769_MediaSynergy_WEB.pdf
Preface
The goal of this paper is to establish Michael Moore as a force in the media who is able to use media synergy in a way typically seen in use by major media conglomerates. After establishing this, we can begin to analyze effects of crossing media formats and styles on audience interest and processing. To begin this analysis of media synergy, we need to establish how Moore is involved with media creation and promotion. Section I: Michael Moore and Media reviews Moore’s early and varied media experiences. His experiences, as well as responses to some situations, are important to understanding points made later in the paper. As we explore the implications of Moore’s media involvement it becomes clear that past experiences build toward his identity formation, integration of entertainment and information, and understanding of media promotion. Section I establishes Moore’s background in relation to media and media synergy.
Sections II and III detail the making and promotion of Moore’s two top-grossing documentary films, Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11. These sections explore the culmination of Moore’s media awareness and experience as well as his growth between the two films. It is also in these sections that we begin to explore how Moore interwove entertainment styles with the documentary format and how this might affect audience interpretation of his films.
Section IV: Promotion, Controversy and Media constructs a comparison of Moore’s on- and off-screen tactics to draw coverage to himself and his documentary films, leading into Section V: Media Synergy and Michael Moore. Having established Moore’s media background and successes, we are now able to begin exploring the connections between Moore and media synergy. This section expands upon the meaning of media synergy, how Moore aims for synergy in promotion and creation of his products, and addresses trends in media consumption.
Section VI: A Progressing Relationship Between Entertainment and Information takes the links of media synergy beyond the creation and promotion of media content and into an investigation of changing ideals in the media sphere. Using Moore’s documentary films as an example of the crossover between entertainment and information, we look more closely at various methods used to draw viewer attention. Finally, the paper concludes with Section VII: Implications for Media Psychology and Future Research.
A mischievous sprite imagined to cause the inexplicable problems in the real and virtual machinery of technology.
Journey Home: a chronicle of our journey to and within Braddock, PA
Fremlin Vision: a collection of photography
