While mainly geared for socializing, Twitter has many applications. It can be used for educational purposes, as with as the project we just completed or through posts of informational videos like those found on TED Talks. It can be used by organizations and celebrities to spread news and reach fans. Twitter, like other forms of social media, gives the impression of having a personal relationship with those you follow, even if you have never met.
Twitter is also a way to make news known. I recently read an article about the fact that China, which is extremely strict about Internet policies and what the west is allowed to know about the country, once tried to hide that they had an earthquake. It took months before they admitted to the news. They have had another earthquake since then, but this time their citizens immediately started spreading the news by posting it on Twitter. In fact, people knew about the earthquake through Twitter before it was even broadcast on the news.
Because so many people are on Twitter and networks can be so broad, it can be a useful tool for journalists, politicians, and organizations. Journalists can spread news much faster than they can through other media sources and they have the ability to post links to articles or videos that people typically would not have searched for.
Politicians are able to use Twitter for their campaigns as well. People want to hear what candidates think and know about what they do in their communities. By posting tweets and links, candidates can show what kinds of policies they stand for and gain supporters. The fact that it creates that feeling of having a personal relationship works in their favor when it comes to votes.
The organizations I chose to follow for the purpose of the project included NPR, BBC World News, Howstuffworks.com, TED Talks and HDSA.
I chose to follow NPR News and This is NPR because I occasionally listen to them on the radio. The station always has unique specials on topics that I am interested in and even if I’m not interested at the beginning, I am by the end. The have a unique way of balancing the news with intriguing stories. The news broadcasts are typically well done. They cover more than just the most popular stories and they are not only nationwide stories. Some are worldwide as well.
Another organization I chose to follow was BBC World News. One thing many American news organizations seem to miss is news from the rest of the world. With the exception of NPR, unless there is a huge story, we rarely seem to hear about other countries. I feel it is important to keep up with world events, especially because I travel so much. Because the BBC tends to be good about remaining unbiased in their coverage of these stories, I rely on them for much of my international news.
I love to learn and try to get as much knowledge about as many things as I can. My searches consistently lead me to Howstuffworks.com, so I chose to follow the site on Twitter. From learning how a car runs to how Chinese New Year works, I can typically get a nice overview about the information I am seeking and there is an opportunity to find out more information through other articles. On Twitter I have found that new articles and those that are the most popular at the moment are tweeted.
I followed TED Talks for many of the same reasons I followed HowStuffWorks.com. I have a thirst for knowledge and the videos on TED Talks are interesting, unique and often inspiring. They cover topics from how to use the newest technologies, such as Aurasma, to inspirational speeches, such as the last lecture, to suggestions on how to improve menial tasks, such as tying your shoes. Some videos go into great detail, like the Aurasma video, which demonstrated how to attach an aura to a photograph or object so that when someone holds his or her smartphone up to it, a video appears on the phone. If one has a particular interest in a certain topic, TED probably has a video for it. The Twitter page posts some of the most popular videos and the trending videos.
Another organization I chose to follow was HDSA, or the Huntington’s Disease Society of America. Huntington’s disease is a genetic neurodegenerative disorder, which affected my dad, as well as my grandma, my uncle and my cousin. I decided to follow HDSA to get news on any research, fundraisers, and any other important details about the organization and the disease. While all of the members of my family who had the disease are now deceased, it is still a cause that is close to my heart and I want to do what I can to create awareness and raise money for the organization.
Twitter greatly differs from blogging because the number of characters is limited. While blogging, I find myself rewording things to make them flow better and to make them easier to read, but on Twitter I find myself rewording things to make them fit. Many times there were things that I wanted to say because I felt they were important, but couldn’t because there just wasn’t enough space. While this helps to prevent unnecessarily long-winded tweets, it can also limit the amount of communication the site allows.
Twitter tends to be different from other forms of social media, such as Facebook, because it is less personal. With Facebook, you have friends instead of followers and while you are able to post things on their walls that everyone can see, people are not as likely to read them as they are to read a Tweet. Facebook also has more privacy settings. While it is certainly not private, it is possible to choose who is able to see the content that is posted, an option that is not available on Twitter. Anyone can be your follower and respond to your Tweets.
This was my first experience with Twitter and I intend to use it more in the future. I find that commenting on the tweets of others can be a challenge, but I am able to learn a lot about people and organizations by reading them.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Vimeo vs. YouTube
YouTube and Vimeo are today's main sources for uploading videos, but choosing which site to turn to can be a difficult decision. Each one has it’s pros and cons.
According to the “Best Video Hosting Service” article, YouTube has unlimited HD uploading and a larger audience than Vimeo, which potentially allows for more exposure. However, the article also points out that the interface is ugly, the YouTube icon is included on every video, and it is easy to lose visitors.
The same article found that Vimeo tends to offer better quality videos, a clean look and it holds the attention of more viewers. The problem with the site is that it only allows one HD upload per week with a 500MB upload limit, unless an upgrade is purchased, and it reaches a much smaller audience.
In the Don Power article, it is argued that YouTube videos are more likely to be seen for the simple fact that the site has more traffic and is included in Google searches. The trouble with YouTube is that videos are more difficult to find because there is professional content and unprofessional content cluttered together and the viewer has to sift through everything to find what he or she is looking for. YouTube also features ads, which tend to drive away consumers.
Vimeo, on the other hand, offers more customization. Users have the opportunity to utilize their own logos and businesses are able to maintain a more professional look. Paid accounts have a lot of freedom and the average Vimeo audience typically remains engaged longer than the average YouTuber. However, once again Power points out that in addition to having to pay for the better features of the site, it has less traffic than YouTube and videos tend to appear lower on Google searches.
The other articles argued many of the same points, but the Vimeo vs. YouTube article also mentions that the Vimeo comments tend to be more constructive because the audience typically has a better understanding of video production or an interest in the specific topic. While YouTube comments can be very entertaining, they rarely offer any real insight on the content of the video.
The “How Vimeo became hipster YouTube article” explains that Vimeo was created with quality in mind. They could not compete with the amount of traffic on YouTube or the price, so they combat YouTube with the quality of the videos found on the site.
Video services allow for communication and feedback in ways unlike any before.
The experience of watching posted media, such as video, is much different from the static text sites that once dominated the internet. In addition, people can even make comments on videos or create a video response for particular clips. It allows the viewer to be involved with the site and the ideas shared between people can lead to further comment and new ideas.
According to the “Best Video Hosting Service” article, YouTube has unlimited HD uploading and a larger audience than Vimeo, which potentially allows for more exposure. However, the article also points out that the interface is ugly, the YouTube icon is included on every video, and it is easy to lose visitors.
The same article found that Vimeo tends to offer better quality videos, a clean look and it holds the attention of more viewers. The problem with the site is that it only allows one HD upload per week with a 500MB upload limit, unless an upgrade is purchased, and it reaches a much smaller audience.
In the Don Power article, it is argued that YouTube videos are more likely to be seen for the simple fact that the site has more traffic and is included in Google searches. The trouble with YouTube is that videos are more difficult to find because there is professional content and unprofessional content cluttered together and the viewer has to sift through everything to find what he or she is looking for. YouTube also features ads, which tend to drive away consumers.
Vimeo, on the other hand, offers more customization. Users have the opportunity to utilize their own logos and businesses are able to maintain a more professional look. Paid accounts have a lot of freedom and the average Vimeo audience typically remains engaged longer than the average YouTuber. However, once again Power points out that in addition to having to pay for the better features of the site, it has less traffic than YouTube and videos tend to appear lower on Google searches.
The other articles argued many of the same points, but the Vimeo vs. YouTube article also mentions that the Vimeo comments tend to be more constructive because the audience typically has a better understanding of video production or an interest in the specific topic. While YouTube comments can be very entertaining, they rarely offer any real insight on the content of the video.
The “How Vimeo became hipster YouTube article” explains that Vimeo was created with quality in mind. They could not compete with the amount of traffic on YouTube or the price, so they combat YouTube with the quality of the videos found on the site.
Video services allow for communication and feedback in ways unlike any before.
The experience of watching posted media, such as video, is much different from the static text sites that once dominated the internet. In addition, people can even make comments on videos or create a video response for particular clips. It allows the viewer to be involved with the site and the ideas shared between people can lead to further comment and new ideas.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
iMovie Projects
Our video topic was communication. As a group, we decided to cover various aspects of communication, moving from personal to impersonal. Maureen took the personal side of the topic. Her footage covered the overwhelming, cloying side to being an RA and her inability to escape from her residents. Rushaun took the middle ground, covering social media, which tends to be less personal, but still involves interaction with others. I covered long-distance communication and the more impersonal or international side of the topic.
Our group worked well together and our videos had a good flow between them. I had some experience with iMovie already, so the program was not as much of a challenge for me as getting footage that I really liked and enough of it to create the one minute and twenty second video. Because the second section, Rushaun’s video, was focused on social media, we wanted to transition between each of our films using forms of social media; a phone call for Maureen and a Skype call for me.
Because I covered travelling, I wanted to have footage from various places. Obviously time and money were limited, so I couldn’t get international footage (with the exception of Canada), but I was able to go to Pittsburgh and Providence. Every time I went to edit, I realized that I needed more and more footage, so I would venture back out with my camera and a better idea of what I wanted to film or what needed to be changed in the project. In the end, I had at least an hour of footage to work with, which allowed for a great deal of selection for my video.
The next struggle was to figure out how to organize the footage. At first, I tried to put similar topics together. I had all of the footage of being in the car, then anything that involved the airport and planes, all of the train footage, and so on. However, the video did not flow very well and did not create the mood I wanted the film to have. Then I tried to mix up the clips so that similar topics were spread throughout the film. I feel that this strategy gives the impression of constant motion and constant communication that I wanted to convey in my portion of the movie.
I left out the transitions until the very end of my editing because I wanted to make sure the clips were in an order that I liked. This really threw off the timing of several of my clips. They no longer moved to the music and some of the footage went by too fast to be able to see what was happening. Because of this, I started to play around with the precision editor.
The precision editor is a tool I steered clear of in the past because it seemed so complicated, but this time I had a specific goal in mind of lengthening the clips. Due to this fact, I was able to tell if the changes I was making were altering the video in the way that I wanted and the precision editor made much more sense. I realized that it is not quite as complicated as I thought, just very sensitive, so it can be difficult to maneuver.
When it came to working together in class, our group was able to work very well. We made helpful suggestions for each other’s films because we knew what each person was trying to convey and how our videos needed to tie together. Throughout the project, everyone seemed to be on the same page. Maureen had no experience with iMovie, so I was able to help her learn how to use the program and offered some tips and tricks that I use in my own editing. In turn, she was able to comment on my video and suggest any changes that I could make or footage that I could add.
We were moving along well and felt that our videos were almost ready to be put together, when all of Maureen’s files were lost and she could no longer open her video. This put us behind a bit, but we intended to finish the project the following Tuesday and stay after class or meet Wednesday if we really needed to.
On Tuesday, the hurricane kept me in Providence and I was not going to be able to make it to class, so I texted the other members of my group. Maureen told me that she had dropped the class the day before, but we could have her files to work with if we needed them. Rushaun and I tried to come up with a new plan now that we thought we had to figure out how to tie her footage into our project, which was going to have to be done from scratch because her files were missing from the video. Unfortunately, we were not able to meet until the Thursday the project was due because I still was not able to get home until Wednesday night.
On Thursday, the only things missing from our own projects were the transitions and the credits, but we had the footage we needed for those. We met up in the morning to make final edits to our portions of the video and, with the exception of Maureen’s video and the combining of our movies, we had everything prepared for class. When we got to class and realized that we didn’t need to add Maureen’s section, we were able to easily combine our movies in a way that still flowed fairly well from personal, local communication to less personal, international communication, the goal that we were aiming for in the beginning.
Until the final week, the project was relatively painless and I am happy with the final product that Rushaun and I were able to put together.
Video can be a much more interactive form of communication than writing and/or photographs. It includes movement and sound that makes the viewer feel almost as though they are actually there, something that can not be done in as realistic a way in writing or photography. Viewers are able to hear the sounds and see the motion of things that would just be described in writing or shown in a photograph. It is much more lifelike and easier to connect to.
Video can also be used as a communication tool in the form of video chats with programs such as Skype or ooVoo. Regardless of distance, conversations using these programs is almost the same as having a conversation in person, with the exception of physical contact.
Choosing a place to upload a video can indicate a lot about the creator and the audience they are attempting to reach. I tend to think of Vimeo as a higher-quality version of YouTube. The videos posted on the site tend to be more advanced than the videos on YouTube. The camera quality is typically better, and the editing is much more appealing, as YouTube videos are rarely edited at all.
YouTube seems to be a better place to reach more people, but Vimeo is more professional. They offer tutorials, options for sharing and the comments tend to be more positive and offer useful feedback, as opposed to the argumental or pointless comments often found on YouTube.
Our group worked well together and our videos had a good flow between them. I had some experience with iMovie already, so the program was not as much of a challenge for me as getting footage that I really liked and enough of it to create the one minute and twenty second video. Because the second section, Rushaun’s video, was focused on social media, we wanted to transition between each of our films using forms of social media; a phone call for Maureen and a Skype call for me.
Because I covered travelling, I wanted to have footage from various places. Obviously time and money were limited, so I couldn’t get international footage (with the exception of Canada), but I was able to go to Pittsburgh and Providence. Every time I went to edit, I realized that I needed more and more footage, so I would venture back out with my camera and a better idea of what I wanted to film or what needed to be changed in the project. In the end, I had at least an hour of footage to work with, which allowed for a great deal of selection for my video.
The next struggle was to figure out how to organize the footage. At first, I tried to put similar topics together. I had all of the footage of being in the car, then anything that involved the airport and planes, all of the train footage, and so on. However, the video did not flow very well and did not create the mood I wanted the film to have. Then I tried to mix up the clips so that similar topics were spread throughout the film. I feel that this strategy gives the impression of constant motion and constant communication that I wanted to convey in my portion of the movie.
I left out the transitions until the very end of my editing because I wanted to make sure the clips were in an order that I liked. This really threw off the timing of several of my clips. They no longer moved to the music and some of the footage went by too fast to be able to see what was happening. Because of this, I started to play around with the precision editor.
The precision editor is a tool I steered clear of in the past because it seemed so complicated, but this time I had a specific goal in mind of lengthening the clips. Due to this fact, I was able to tell if the changes I was making were altering the video in the way that I wanted and the precision editor made much more sense. I realized that it is not quite as complicated as I thought, just very sensitive, so it can be difficult to maneuver.
When it came to working together in class, our group was able to work very well. We made helpful suggestions for each other’s films because we knew what each person was trying to convey and how our videos needed to tie together. Throughout the project, everyone seemed to be on the same page. Maureen had no experience with iMovie, so I was able to help her learn how to use the program and offered some tips and tricks that I use in my own editing. In turn, she was able to comment on my video and suggest any changes that I could make or footage that I could add.
We were moving along well and felt that our videos were almost ready to be put together, when all of Maureen’s files were lost and she could no longer open her video. This put us behind a bit, but we intended to finish the project the following Tuesday and stay after class or meet Wednesday if we really needed to.
On Tuesday, the hurricane kept me in Providence and I was not going to be able to make it to class, so I texted the other members of my group. Maureen told me that she had dropped the class the day before, but we could have her files to work with if we needed them. Rushaun and I tried to come up with a new plan now that we thought we had to figure out how to tie her footage into our project, which was going to have to be done from scratch because her files were missing from the video. Unfortunately, we were not able to meet until the Thursday the project was due because I still was not able to get home until Wednesday night.
On Thursday, the only things missing from our own projects were the transitions and the credits, but we had the footage we needed for those. We met up in the morning to make final edits to our portions of the video and, with the exception of Maureen’s video and the combining of our movies, we had everything prepared for class. When we got to class and realized that we didn’t need to add Maureen’s section, we were able to easily combine our movies in a way that still flowed fairly well from personal, local communication to less personal, international communication, the goal that we were aiming for in the beginning.
Until the final week, the project was relatively painless and I am happy with the final product that Rushaun and I were able to put together.
Video can be a much more interactive form of communication than writing and/or photographs. It includes movement and sound that makes the viewer feel almost as though they are actually there, something that can not be done in as realistic a way in writing or photography. Viewers are able to hear the sounds and see the motion of things that would just be described in writing or shown in a photograph. It is much more lifelike and easier to connect to.
Video can also be used as a communication tool in the form of video chats with programs such as Skype or ooVoo. Regardless of distance, conversations using these programs is almost the same as having a conversation in person, with the exception of physical contact.
Choosing a place to upload a video can indicate a lot about the creator and the audience they are attempting to reach. I tend to think of Vimeo as a higher-quality version of YouTube. The videos posted on the site tend to be more advanced than the videos on YouTube. The camera quality is typically better, and the editing is much more appealing, as YouTube videos are rarely edited at all.
YouTube seems to be a better place to reach more people, but Vimeo is more professional. They offer tutorials, options for sharing and the comments tend to be more positive and offer useful feedback, as opposed to the argumental or pointless comments often found on YouTube.
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