What Crowdsourcing Is and How Digital Media Has Created It

Crowdsourcing is a popular term on the web these days. Maybe you’ve heard of it, maybe you haven’t. It comes from the old saying, “A problem shared is a problem halved.” Crowdsourcing can be thought of as mass collaboration, sometimes towards the achievement of a goal. The way it works is you open a problem to the public, and the hope is that through the advice of many others, you solve the problem.

Here’s an example: in Ontario, mining company Goldcorp was struggling financially and unable to find gold on its land. When the new CEO came in, he placed all of Goldcorp’s geological data online and asked for help in locating the gold in exchange for $500,000 in prize money. They eventually received submissions from all over the world and ended up finding $3 billion in gold.

It works because you draw upon a wider pool of knowledge. The very idea is evident in so many other practices. For example, for a new product you conduct market research with hundreds of consumers instead of the ten people who made the product. This will ensure more accurate feedback. However, we must be careful because we could be left with many inaccurate ideas.

How what does this have to do with digital media? Well if crowdsourcing involves mass collaboration, what’s the best way to reach the masses? That’s right, you guessed it. Social Media. It is through social media that “millions of people can aggregate their talent and expertise.”

Through social media, we are able to send a message that says “Hey! I have a problem! If you have any idea, please help me.” We see this in a mini form with Yahoo! Answers or in a large form with Wikipedia. These are all forms of crowdsourcing. However, sometimes crowdsourcing can be much more temporary, like the Goldcorp example, or Lady Gaga who frequently enlists social media tohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif encourage crowdsourcing for a charity.

The internet and web has allowed us to connect and interact with another, and crowdsourcing puts that ability to good use. Why would I help you? Maybe there’s sometimes incentives involve (like the $500,000) or maybe I have expertise in your problem and wouldn’t mind sharing it because it makes me feel useful, or the complete non-selfish route would be we help out of the kindness of our hearts .

Crowdsourcing.

Here's the article in which this post is based on: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8788780.stm

It’s Not Addiction, It’s Evolution

Are we addicted to the internet? That’s an issue we discussed in class and looked at many examples, including the hardcore gamers. Sometimes our intuitions about addiction tells us the more we do it, the more addicted we are. The more time you play at the slots, the more gambling addiction you have. The more nights you spend drinking per week, the more alcohol addiction you have. The more time you spend playing basketball, the more basketball addiction you have....Our intuitions aren’t always right. Time can sometimes be something that distinguishes an addiction, but it is definitely not the only thing. We learned that any addiction is mainly characterized by negative impacts to one’s life. For the majority, I would argue that the internet does not negatively impact one’s life more than it positively does. However, as always there are extremes – people who let the internet impact their life, and people who will never let the internet impact their life and thus refuses to go online.

It’s evolution. We have evolved into a digitally-inclined species. Some of us have over-evolved and under-evolved. The same idea can be applied to the first cars. Some refused to use them and continued with horses and wagons. Some used them every second of the day and became so attached, they couldn’t leave it at night. Then, there’s the majority who saw the advantages and disadvantages of cars and adapted carefully but with acceptance. Evolution.

The Dying Print Medium – News

I’ve followed the print industry to a certain extent over the past few years and want to briefly discuss business models. The newspaper and magazine are industries where the majority source of revenue is advertising. Companies like Rogers will pay newspaper and magazines for the “space” and to put their ad in. Simple beans. It was like that for decades. Then the internet came and newspapers such as The New York Times created vast websites filled with even more content. However, these free websites have failed to successful levels of advertising. Rogers doesn’t want to buy the banner “space” at the side, because data shows that only 0.0025% click on it. So when you combine loss of advertising revenue plus an additional loss of subscription revenue, you wonder how these news media companies are surviving. Subscription revenue is lost because customers realize they can get content for free online instead of paying $27.99 a year. Back to my previous point, news media companies are not surviving that well, often they are part of a media conglomerate (i.e. owns TV, radio, etc channels as well) or are owned by some private investment firm. The fact is, if there were nobody to bail these companies out, and news was their only business, they would have closed up shop a long time ago.

The New York Times recently introduced a subscription service online. I believe they are testing the service currently on Canadians only (lol). Anyways, the way it works, is you get something like 20 free articles to look at (maybe per day?) then after that it’ll ask you to log in as only paying members can view more articles. My question is who is going to do this???

1) You can find the same news story somewhere else on the internet
2) Do you really need to read 20+ articles a day (ok, I know that question is relative...)

I understand what they’re trying to do – make more money, but realistically I don’t think this is a smart move. So it seems the news media business model is continuously plagued....what can we do?

If you’re a magazine, tablet editions (e.g. iPad) of your magazine on a subscription has shown some signs of success, but the adoption rates are way too low. In addition you have to offer the user something more than just a static magazine. You have to embed videos, comments, and direct links to make the magazine experience interactive. To be honest, I’m not sure what to do but whatever they do, they better start generating some profits.

Ideas Worth Spreading

If you’ve heard about TED then there’s no need to read. Otherwise I have a quick message:

If you are on a pursuit of knowledge, appreciation, and understanding of the world, then I urge you to give TED a try. Technology, Entertainment and Design is a website which features short “talks” of a range of speakers on a range of topics. They truly are ideas worth spreading.

www.ted.com

Fire-Resistant Archiving

I feel like many people feel like archiving data online or onto networks are more dangerous than it actually is. Let’s take Google for example. I don’t think Google has a service for large personal file storage but let’s say it did. Let’s also say that all your data was hosted on this Google service so that you have no harddrive [Internet fun fact: that’s called cloud computing]. If all your data is on that Google service, then that means that your data is stored on a Google server and you are connected to that server any time you access your data. Take a look at the below video. It’s a tour of a Google data centre.

In other words, it’s a huge facility of just computer servers. Your personal data will be stored here (or a place like it). Now look at the facility in the video. Extremely technologically advanced with every safeguard you can think of. Smoke dampeners, fire detection, fire suppression, security, fresh air intake, water cooling systems, generators, etc. Best of all, the servers are stored in huge containers. I would bet money that no fires ever happen here and if they ever do, it’s likely not to affect anything thanks to the safety measures. I would also assume that Google somehow backs all/some of its data onto more servers in a different location. On a side note, they seem to have made efforts to make the facility very energy efficient (I’m somewhat of an environmentalist).

In summary, I don’t think you need to worry about your data once stored in the cloud, or worry about an online service losing your files/information. That being said, the harddrive on your computer IS susceptible to damage and loss of data, so buy an external harddrive and backup your stuff! I have one external harddrive and thinking of buying another so I can back up by backup drive...haha, maybe I’m too paranoid.

The Powers of Supercomputers

I was really excited when Prof. Petit brought up IBM’s Watson in class as I had read about before. The discussion we had in class was definitely insightful.

At its core, Watson is one of the most advanced simulations of artificial intelligence that exists. When you think about the amount of programming and algorithms involved to make Watson comprehend and answer Jeopardy questions, it’s really a big surprise. I know I take the English language for granted (I guess any language will pose the same problems for Watson though), but learning about this made me appreciate just how complex our minds are.

We discussed potentials uses of supercomputers like this in the future. I’m not sure if Prof. Petit said this based on a hunch or if he read actual data, but he mentioned using supercomputers like Watson to help diagnose illnesses. The other day, I found an article on this very idea from Columbia University (see link below). Herbert Chase of the Department of Biomedical Informatics (wow that sounds interesting) mentioned that Watson’s powers would come in handy for developing custom-designed treatment plans that take into account all of patient’s data, and can also help doctors answer unsolved questions.

http://news.columbia.edu/research/2360

One obvious note he made was that Watson will never be able to read the signals (or emotions) coming from a patient. However, I do think this can be possible ONE day. Everything can be broken down into a science, right? Language is a science of semantics and syntax and so on. Language is an accumulation of rules along with contextual cues that help eliminate ambiguity. Much like they did with Watson, couldn’t they break down all 3,000 (just throwing a random number out there) facial expressions into a series of measured movements of the eyebrows, lips, eyes, forehead, cheeks, and nose? From there, they’d have to encode what combinations mean what. Then, they’d have to analyze enough different faces to be able to encounter variances. It might require a lot more processing power than Watson, but by whenever this is ready, I’m sure the technology will exist. Never able to read patient’s emotions....YEA RIGHT. I’m the kind of person that believes technology has no limits.

A concern however, is then what happens when u have the technology to fully read human emotions? Well you slap that technology into a Honda robot then ship them out into society so we can finally be friends with robots!

Digital Wisdom

MDSB61 – Blog Assignment #2

Prensky defines digital wisdom as a twofold concept:
- Wisdom arising from the use of digital technology to access cognitive power beyond our innate capacity and
- Wisdom in the prudent use of technology to enhance our capabilities

Aside from technology and the internet, I am a person who truly values education. Not necessarily formal education, but learning is important to me and I frequently engage in self-learning. Digital media has given me the abilities to learn in an informative and convenient way. I am currently pursuing a career in Marketing. After working at Rogers Communications in their marketing department and taking many courses in marketing, I escaped to the internet to discover more. There are many news sites and blogs that I read on a daily basis to stay updated and knowledgeable about the industry. This is the second form of digital wisdom Prensky was referring to. I am using technology to search the web and view webpages which will enhance my capabilities in marketing. Another example would be when I stream a documentary from a website, I am enhancing my knowledge in that area and using technology to help me accomplish that.

Prensky spoke of digital enhancement, which I think is much like his first concept of digital wisdom. In digital enhancement, we extend ourselves cognitively with digital tools. For example, I keep an updated calendar on my Microsoft Outlook. The calendar is filled with many dates, times, meetings, and reminders. I wouldn’t be able to remember every single piece of detail if I had to rely only on my memory. However, with my laptop’s harddrive, it stores all my calendar info for easy retrieval. Therefore, I am using digital tools to extend my memory of important dates. With regards to the digital wisdom definition, I am using digital technology to access cognitive power beyond my innate capacity. This is true, because remembering so many dates might be humanly impossible (provided I had enough).

Unfortunately, as much as I’d love to say I’m not developing skills for digital distraction, I am to a certain degree. However, it is in conjunction with skills for digital wisdom. Some of the skills developed for distraction are my ability to multitask. However, I should note that we now know that with multitasking, it’s hard to do complete an academic task with high quality. Another skill may be the idea the list of websites I’ve found on which I can waste time. For example, textsfromlastnight.com, failblog.com, etc. Of course there’s also Youtube. I am a very inquisitive person and this serves as a characteristic which plays both ways. For example, while studying for an exam, I might randomly wonder how engines work and search it up. This is unproductive. However, if I do this when I have free time, then it is productive and contributing to digital wisdom.

I try my hardest to control the interface, but the very idea of an interface means power and control. An interface is a structure and the only way I will have full control is if I create that structure. The touchscreen on my iPhone is an interface with huge means of control. I have to conform to the gestures stipulated by Apple. I once downloaded a Firefox application that allowed me to create my own mouse gestures which would conduct whichever actions I deem fit. I created a ‘L’ shape to go forward a page and a backwards ‘L’ shape to go back a page. This is me having control over the interface but to believe that, you must oversee the fact that the mouse itself is an interface which controls me. So far, I’ve been talking about interface on the hardware level. However, interface can be on a software level as well. My Apple iPhone is an interface that controls me too much. I sometimes want to drag and drop files from my computer to my iPhone when connected. However, Apple has no interface for this. So if this regards, the interface changes my behaviour, and instead I am forced to download a 3rd party application (Dropbox if you’re wondering) to sync files with my iPhone and computer.

You don't have to exercise all your rights

MDSB61 – Blog Assignment #1

When someone turns 19, does that mean they’ll immediately start consuming alcohol? In fact, there are some people that will never drink alcohol because of religion or other personal reasons. So clearly some people choose not to exercise specific rights they have. I know I have a right to privacy. However, contrary to what Sherry Turkle believes, I choose not to exercise my right to privacy. Of course there are some obvious and/or extreme examples where privacy is important to me, such as my credit card number and the conversations I have with close friends over instant messaging.

Turkle argues that college students don’t understand that they have a right to privacy and that they are “uninterested” in privacy violations. While I can’t speak for the majority of students, I know many students, such as me, are aware of privacy rights. More importantly, we are aware of how some sites use our information and we simply don’t care.

People say that because of the internet, anyone can find out personal information about you, for example your address. This freaks some people out but have they ever stopped to think why? The obvious reason might be someone wanting to know where you live so they can come break in. Now let’s think about this logically. If a robber wanted to specifically break into your house and the proliferation of digital media hadn’t occurred yet, could he still find a way? Yes! He could physically follow you home, impersonate you or your family to obtain the address, or break into your workplace and check employee records. Who knows, maybe there’s an easier way. If you’re worried that he’ll plan an effective break-in by checking your house out on Google Streetview, think again as he can just drive by your house and take pictures. What I’m trying to say here is that yes the internet does it make it easier to obtain information for a potential break-in but does it give them more incentive? How does the availability of information, at quicker speeds, creative additional motive? I believe some people protest anything that could possibly breach their privacy rights, and instead of focusing on how it affects them, they are only concerned with the idea that their right to privacy has been broken. People have adapted to the growing accessibility of information at rapid rates, so why are they so reluctant to allow their personal information to be accessible (given its not sensitive information)?

Simply put, students are less concerned with trivial information being protected than most people. We are “uninterested” but it’s deliberate and thought out, whereas Turkle makes it seems that we are passive in regards to the issue. To discuss this topic further, I will be using examples from Facebook.

Facebook collects our information. In fact their business model, the way they make money, is based on our information. This upsets people because they believe their private information is being shared, but again have they thought it through or conducted research? Facebook collects your information so that advertisers can target people with the right ads. Let’s say you put in your profile that you like the band Coldplay. If a Coldplay concert is coming to your city, they might advertise by asking facebook to show their ad to people in X City, with a Y-Z age range, and perhaps someone who has shown interest in Coldplay. Whoever is in charge of advertising Coldplay has no idea who these people are and never will. This leads to two points:

1. Facebook keeps your information secure and

2. If somehow someone found out your birth date or that you like Coldplay, it has little impact on your life.

I’ve filled our many contest forms, job applications, and other forms that ask for my name, address, phone number, email, etc. Thinking about it, there’s at least 100 times I’ve done so and I’m not worried about it at all.

You can’t talk about privacy without talking about security, so this is the part where I agree with Turkle. Everything you do online leaves electronic traces and if you’re not careful your privacy may be invaded. It’s important to note that the type of privacy I’m referring to is passwords, credit card numbers, and so on. There is malicious software on the internet that can be secretly installed with other software (say a game you want to play) and unknowingly to you the software will run in the background and perform tasks. One specific type is called a keylogger as it will log all keystrokes you input from your keyboard. How can this invade your privacy? Say you type www.cibc.com in your web browser. It is most likely you’ll enter your account number and password next. The keylogger is able to send its logs to a specific address and then this person now has access to your account.

Now don’t get me wrong, Privacy is important. I’m not saying it isn’t, but privacy is important in only specific situations. The problem is that we don’t realize that. The information being called to in the Facebook example above is not significant at all, yet it’s still heavily protected. Banking information on the other hand is very significant, so we must ensure it’s protected. As we become more ingrained with our digital society, we must open our minds and stop thinking everyone is out to get us. We have to be cautious of the right things. We have to value privacy as something variable, not fixed, and in that way we can feel more comfortable while on the internet. Finally, we have to challenge assumptions. You shouldn’t take something at face value, instead you should try to understand it and then make your judgements, because I guarantee that a lot of perceptions about online privacy aren’t based in fact.

Jonathan

Introduction

I know you're wondering what a 'Creintegrative Mind' is. You're probably also wondering why I feel the need to create my own words. Well, all will be explained soon but first we have to get down to some business.....

This blog is intended for MDSB61 - Critical Approaches to Digital Media. Here I will challenge the thoughts of others, complicate arguments made by academics, and present my insights regarding digital media. I'm very interested in digital media which ties in well with my true passion: marketing. I am hoping that with this blog I will be able to get more accustom to blogging, as that is something I've always wanted to do. Therefore, to distinguish between personal and class-related blog posts, I will include either 'MDSB61' or 'Personal' in the first line of my post.

So back to the 'Creintegrative Mind'..... As I mentioned, I am very interested in marketing so naturally I enrolled in an advertising course while at my school, University of Toronto Scarborough. The Professor assigned a project which I'm sure is quite common for all students who take this course and that is to create an advertising campaign for a product/service. We were also supposed to create some background about our hypothetical advertising agency. After some thought, I came up with Creintegrative (Cree-in-ta-gray-tive) Minds. Essentially I integrated the word integrate with creative and added Minds to the end. Here are my reasons for choosing these 3 words:

Creative: Marketing campaigns have to be creative. Duh. However, not just creative in terms of the copy, visual imagery, or even storyline used in traditional advertisements. No, they must be creative in terms of how it targets consumer insights or how it challenges conventional advertising practices in the industry. Creativity is central to everything in marketing.

Integrative: Marketing campaigns have to be integrative. Somewhat duh? It is important for a campaign to have consistent messaging across all customer touchpoints, so when planning the campaign, everything must be integrated so that the whole is larger than the sum of its parts. This leads to the notion of Integrated Marketing Campaigns, which is practiced by virtually all advertisers. However, integration is also about applying your brand history and insights into your campaign. It's about making considerations towards competition and market conditions as well. Simply put, integration is important to establish a highly relevant and effective message for consumers.

Mind: This one is obvious. This one just means that someone has to have a Creintegrative Mind to plan successful marketing campaigns.

So that's my explanation! Hope you enjoy my blog. Thanks in advance for reading.

-Jonathan Kumar