Entertainment Investigators

By: Andy McVoySean Moran

Grant BensonKyle HamiltonJohn Ninmann

Overview

The internet is the fastest growing technology known to man.

Communications have never been more efficient & accurate

Easy access to information has become commonplace with the internet

ENTERTAINMENT is apparent nearly everywhere!

Social Media Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8

Entertainment and Internet

5 Sectors of Entertainment Social Networking TV / Movies News Music Games

Social Networking Definition: Any website

designed to allow multiple users to publish content themselves. The information may be on any subject and may be for consumption by (potential) friends, mates, employers, employees, etc. The sites typically allow users to create a “profile” describing themselves and to exchange public or private messages and list other users or groups that they are connected to in some way (Dictionary.com)

Social Networking & Time Consumption

In the last year time spent on social networking sites has increased 98%!!!

October 2008 503.8 million minutes spent compared to October 2009 where 999.4 million minutes where spent! (Time Spent)

Social Networking & Time Consumption Cont.

Today, more time is spent on the internet with social networks than the use of email (Technology)

One in every 11 minutes online globally is accounted for by social networking and blogging sites.

Consumption Cont. How much time do

you think you spend on Twitter, MySpace or Facebook everyday?

The average person with a social networking profile dedicates 27 minutes of their day to social networking. (MarketingVox)

Social Networking & Information

In order to obtain statistics and measurable data I used an article from the journal Computers and Human Behavior

The sample consisted of 205 college students

73.6% allow anyone to access their social networking profiles

90.6% don’t include their phone numbers

90.6% don’t include their home address

74.8% included information about their personalities

What’s the big deal with Information?

If you place your phone number and / or home address you have a larger chance of being called by telemarketers and scam mails

Too much personal information can result in identity theft.

Email addresses can be sent spam and offers from companies relating to your interest s and personality traits.

Youth and Social Networks

Age with highest user activity.

Use it out of bordem

Believe its just like hanging out with your friends

All my friends are on it.

Because I was invited.

Communication & Social Networking

Social Networking allows instant easy communicate without a price.

Allows individuals to stay in touch with family members and friends that the user may not see too often.

Gives user the ability to create events to attend and groups to join.

Social Networking & Applications

Applications range from a variety of categories: Games Personality Tests Comparisons Character Tests Organization Humor Education

Facebook Application Stats.

More than 2 billion photos uploaded to the site each month

More than 14 million videos uploaded each month

More than 2 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) shared each week

More than 3 million events created each month

More than 45 million active user groups exist on the site

Top Applications of Facebook

Top Friends Fun Wall Super Wall Super Poke Video X Me iLike Movies Graffiti

History of Facebook Facebook was founded by

Mark Zuckergerg, a Harvard University Student in February 2004

By December 2004 Facebook had over 1 Million active users

Spring 2005 over 800 colleges have access to Facebook

September 2005 High Schools are granted access to Facebook

October 2005, International Networks are added as well as the picture application

May 2006 Facebook adds work networks

September 2006: Anyone can join Facebook

By the end of 2006 Facebook has more than 12 million active users

2007: over 100 different applications are added including marketplace and gifts (ECONOMIC)

October 2007: Microsoft take $240 Million equity stake in Facebook (ECONOMIC!)

Facebook now has 50 Million active users

History Cont. January 2008:

Facebook Co-sponsors (POLITICAL) the Presidential debates with ABC News

February: Facebook launches in (CULTURAL) Spanish and French

March: Facebook launches in German (CULTURAL) Privacy issues create

more security

April: Translation app. For 21 languages (CULTURAL). Facebook Chat

August: Over 100 Million active users

Jan 09: 150 Million active users

Feb 09: 175 Million active users

April 09: Over 200 Million active users

History Cont. 2 June 2009:

Facebook launches Facebook Usernames

July 2009: Over 250 million users

August 2009: Aquires FriendFeed

September 2009: Over 300 million users

Dating sites Increase in popularity• Easier to meet similar people online than in real life• More independence• Future interaction makes it easier to connect to people• More control over self-representation

Dutch study• Users mostly age 30-50• 43 percent of single-Internet users have visited a dating site• Online life similar to offline life

– The more extroverted a person is, the more friends they will make on the Internet

Forums and Groups

Forums First form of social interaction on the Internet Allow people to talk with others about any topic People form bonds from interaction with others Hidden identity allows people to be anonymous

Groups People can talk with people similar to them

Yahoo! Groups▪ Diehard Deems▪ Christian Republicans

Allow for people to join up in real life Activist organizations PETA

Concepts

Uses and gratification model People use sites for a purpose Members gain satisfaction from using sites

Information Personal identity Relationships

Identity Partly constructed by social groups we belong to Essentialist

Identity is natural Some groups based on natural characteristics

Non-essentialist Identity is socially constructed Social-networking sites construct people into social groups

Implications

Political Groups can organize for rallies Organize political activism Reiterate a person’s political ideals

Economic Dating Web sites earn money Donations for companies from group members

Cultural People visit groups with similar beliefs Maintain identity and cultural practices

MySpace: “A Place For Friends

-International online social networking service -Founded in July of 2003 by two men by the

names of Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe -Owned by Fox Interactive Media which is

owned by News Corporation -In June 2006, Myspace was the most popular

social networking site in the United States -In April 2008, Facebook surpassed Myspace in

popularity -Available in 15 different languages

Cultural -The social and cultural implications of MySpace

and other social networking sites are very broad

-MySpace is an outlet for self-expression -Users can personalize their pages with pictures,

music, art and blogs -Musicians use MySpace as a platform to reach a

broad and well-connected audience -Musicians often create a MySpace page to

interact with fans and promote shows and albums -The pages allow fans to write comments, blog

their ideas and sample music

What is Twitter?

What is it: a micro-blogging service that allows the user to create short messages or updates that are then received and read by fellow twitter users.

Twitter Brief History: *Created in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, now backed

by a team of 29 employees *Currently 3rd most used social networking

service *Collects personal identification information

from all users and distributes information amongst third parties. *Used to disperse information quickly from

news sources, personal opinions, advertising and in times of emergency.

Twitter Terms to know: Tweet: text post that consists of up to 140

characters. Followers: those that read other users

tweets (you can be a follower of many different twitter users)

Twitter profile page: page where all of a user’s tweets are displayed

Circle of friends: a restricted group of people that is allowed to view a specific user’s tweets.

Twittersphere: twitter users

Why so popular so quickly?

For major corporations twitter serves as an advertising and public relations medium

Everyday people can intimately follow the lives of public officials, celebrities

Feeds current generations need for constant social connection and stimulation

Medium of messaging that can be accessed by anyone with internet connection

If choosing to ignore twitter, left behind in competitive consuming of up-to-the minute information.

Soft News

Soft News is media information and news but furthermore has a large entertainment role which is designed to increase ratings.

Media companies, infotainment sites, and news broadcast pundits have all found a place on the Internet.

Infotainment sites and broadcast pundits are entertainment based sometimes though these sources are conceived as newsworthy.

Infotainment Sites

Hard News V.S. Soft News Sometimes overshadow each other.

Example: Michael Jackson Response to medias indulgence

leads us further into soft news.Example: Peter King

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RmneMDZlWQ

News Broadcast Pundits

Broadcast Pundits have a bias.Example: Bill O’Reilly

More Entertaining than Newsworthy.Example: Larry King Live

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc-AXuDdsIs

Soft News Value to Society Without Soft News regular news

would be boring. Hard News can be upsetting.

Examples: Iraq and Katrina Soft News brings lighter side to

news. There should be balance.

Digital Era

Prior to the digital era many people’s source for information was T.V..

Internet is now the main source for information.

Achieving a balance will be difficult.Example: T.V. formatted for

balance. The Individual’s choice can be

corrupted by media sites.Example: MySpace

Entertainment & Internet?

All in all, there is no argument that the entertainment industry hasn’t had its influence on the internet

Some aspects may be better than others (easy access to news and connecting with friends)

Some aspects may not necessarily be beneficial to everybody (online advertising / time consumption)

All we can say is that entertainment is here to stay whether we like it or not. Whether it is bad or good for our society really depends on the individual. The answer is ultimately your opinion