MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WEB

“You’re special; love yourself; follow your dreams; you can be anything you want to be.”

This particular article caught my interest as it discusses the significance of how individuals believe that ‘anyone can be famous, anyone can become a star’ by using modern technology. YouTube, Facebook and MySpace are social networks that connect people from around the globe where you are able to make new friends, upload videos and simply staying in-touch with the latest.

The fantasy of fame, has now become getting the ‘public’s attention’ whether its uploading an embarrassing video of yourself or trying to obtain the most friends on Facebook. Getting the attention can be either for a positive or negative reason which I reckon that each person puts that upon themselves.

To some certain extent, I believe that using the World Wide Web to promote your talent or work is ideal although people who abuse the system, I find inappropriate and are seen as attention seekers. This article details the happenings of people trying to be noticed by others and the lengths and risks they take to pursue their dreams. The Internet is just like any other medium supping real-time publishing, easy access, cheap mass distribution, interactivity all in the fun of self promotion and being someone.

People in the world today are being fed what they want to hear, not reality.. this is a media-saturated world.. whether you got talent or not, you can be out there and known.

 

“First you’re hot, and then you’re not.”

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Boyceavenue's version of Chris Brown - Forever (acoustic)

Citizen Journalism

So what is Citizen Journalism?

The understanding that I’ve comprehended through research is that Citizen Journalism is a global conversation among bloggers that collect, report, examine and distribute news and information. It allows individuals who are not professional journalists to use the contemporary technology to team up with others through the Internet to capture news and distribute it globally.  The intention is to present independent, consistent, precise, wide-ranging and relevant information to the public.

The types of people occupied in this act are low-income women, youth and minorities as well as those who are located in areas with minimal access to the media.

Although there are doubts from the qualified journalist that only “real journalist” recognize the accuracy and ethics of reporting news. Not only that but Citizen Journalists have been claimed to suffer several weaknesses involving the “three E’s”, ethics, economics and epistemology.

Today’s technology and media allow everyone to shape the future of news and information while influencing our values and people’s decisions towards multiple issues. It has changed the way society interact with each other as well as who and where they conduct this activity. 

Citizen Journalism allows the un-heard to be heard and to be given a chance to voice their opinion along with others who share the same interest.