NDM #9

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/jan/20/bbc-targets-social-media-users-with-instagram-video-news

BBC targets social media users with Instagram video news

BBC News is stepping up its efforts to reach new audiences on social media platforms after mobile and tablet viewing figures overtook desktop use for the first time in December.

On 16 January, BBC News launched Instafax, a new short-form video news service delivered to Instagram users. The project is a month-long experiment, with three 15-second videos uploaded a day, intended to serve as a roundup of the day's news.

The name is a throwback to the BBC’s former Ceefax service – the world’s first teletext service that ran on UK television until 2012. This is described as the updated version of a text-based, short-form news service for the digital age.

BBC News has been growing in terms of finding new audiences, as new apps are being launched. BBC launched Instafax, a new short-form video news service delivered to Instagram users. It allows audiences to have more to communicate through. 

NDM #8

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jan/20/nintendo-mobile-games-smartphones-tablets

If Nintendo makes mobile games, what can it learn from Sony and Microsoft?

Start with the obvious: Nintendo already makes mobile games. Nobody keeps their 3DS tethered to a television, after all. But it doesn't makemobile games for smartphones and tablets.

That may change. The company has traditionally knocked back questions about taking its stable of gaming brands to other manufacturers' devices, but as Nintendo announced its latest financial results this week, there was a marked change of tone in president Satoru Iwata's comments.

What might a winning strategy look like for Nintendo? One place to start is by examining what its two main rivals in the console market, Sony and Microsoft, have been doing on smartphones and tablets, with lessons to learn about several possible strategies.

Microsoft has released Kinectimals for iOS and Android, for example, as well as puzzle game Wordament and Ms. Splosion Man from its Twisted Pixel studio. Windows Phone game Tentacles: Enter the Dolphin has also been released for iOS and Android. For now, Halo spin-off Halo: Spartan Assault remains exclusive to Windows-powered device.

Sony has launched a smattering of games for iOS, including free-to-play Ratchet & Clank: Before the Nexus, and Knack's Quest – the latter tying in to PlayStation 4 launch title Knack. The company has also launched an umbrella app called PlayStation All-Stars Island – a partnership with Coca-Cola that includes mini-games based on brands like Uncharted, Gravity Rush and LittleBigPlanet.

This article highlights all the key conventions of mobile games, and it talks about how Nintendo already makes mobile games. Microsoft has released iOS and Android, and they have been releasing puzzle games. Sony has also launched a smattering of games for iOS, which are free. It has been said Nintendo needs to recognise it's rivals, which are currently Sony and Microsoft, who have been releasing games for smart phones and tablets. 

NDM #7

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/jan/23/stan-collymore-twitter-sun-racist-abuse

Stan Collymore returns to Twitter and hits out at the Sun

Stan Collymore has criticised the Sun as he returned to Twitter aftersuspending his account over racist abuse that he received on the site.

The former England striker, who has more than 500,000 Twitter followers, said the paper's front-page story in which his ex-girlfriend Ulrika Jonsson accused him of "hypocrisy" over the affair only served to distract from the issue of online abuse.

He said in a Google+ Hangout on sports website The Bleacher Report: "The Sun newspaper thought that dragging up a 15-year-old story this morning, which bears no relevance to being abused or threats, that that means there's essentially a justification … that because it's Stan Collymore it's OK … there is a real issue here that Twitter needs to tackle."

Collymore also traded angry words with a BBC News Channel presenter who accused him on Thursday morning of having been "on the wrong side of the law".

Collymore claimed: "I have 1 troll in particular. Opens account, send 3/4 abusive or illegal messages, deletes account. Over 700 accounts opened in 3 years."

Stan Collymore has gone back onto Twitter, after his account was suspended as of the racist abuse that he had received on the social networking site. He criticised the Sun majorly, and he stated he had 1 troll in particular, opens account, send 3/4 abusive or illegal messages and deletes account, over 700 accounts had opened within 3 years. This shows how he has gone against everything and still returned back onto the social networking site, he didn't let all the abuse get to him. 

NDM #6

http://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-network/2014/jan/23/how-social-media-can-change-fundraising

How social media can change the face of fundraising

Social media. Once the impetuous child yelling in the playground, it has now transformed into a sophisticated adult that is fundamentally changing the way charities interact with consumers.

A huge proportion of charities already have a presence in social media, whether on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest or the latest platform. Raising awareness in a way people can relate to remains the first step to getting people to give, but the real potential of social is unlocked when campaigns are based on deeper insights about how the new channels are used.

Last year, the British charity Refuge, specialising in domestic violence, tapped into the popularity of YouTube make-up tutorial videos, by creating their own. Except their version featured a woman showing how to put make-up on to hide the cuts and bruises she'd suffered from being physically abused. It was a powerful example of brands channelling social behaviour for their own ends.

This shows how many different ways there are to communicate with people nowadays. Through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest. All these social networking sites allow awareness to be raised, in different forms. YouTube allows people to record make-up tutorials, this is a way people hide their pain and there physically abused skin, this is a way people become more unknown and hidden.

NDM #5

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jan/25/candy-crush-saga-king-financial-results-2012

The parent company of games firm King, whose Candy Crush Saga is one of the most lucrative mobile games in the world, has published its financial results for 2012.

Midasplayer.com reported turnover of €26.6m (£22.1m) and a net profit of €5.3m for the year, compared to €30m and a €209k loss respectively in 2011.

The financials don’t reveal much about the mobile growth of King’s business, however. Candy Crush Saga only launched for Apple’s iPhone and iPad in mid-November 2012, although it had been available on Facebook since April that year.

According to Apple, Candy Crush Saga was the top grossing app on its App Store in 2013. King has never published stats for how much money the game is making, although research firm SuperData Research claimsCandy Crush Saga is currently generating revenues of $3.5m a day.

Candy Crush Saga: '70% of the people on the last level haven't paid'

Candy Crush Saga has been around since April 2012, but people only started playing the game once it was launched on apple products and androids. There has been a lot of net profit made, however 70% of people hadn't paid to play the last level, this is a downfall for the company and they wouldn't be making any profit and people would be able to play the game without a cost. Candy Crush saga has been a popular game for the teenagers, and apple had said it was the top grossing app on App store in 2013.  

How has news changed in the last 20 years?

Consider the impact for both audiences and institutions 
News has changed a lot of the past 20 years, there are many different ways audiences can now access the news. As 500 years ago people found out about the news by 'word of mouth' if something occurred in the local area people would tell others so everyone is aware about it. Furthermore, early printing was used for news in the 17th Century, and 1920's broadcasting was introduced in the form of Radio, which allowed people to hear the news. Moreover, during the early 1930's we had early television, which was another way we were able to see the news visually. The changing of the way audiences can receive the news, has had a major impact on the audiences, as of the different forms they're able to get the news. Now audiences are able to view the news in any form they like, from methods of broadcasting such as Radio and T.V, print such as newspapers and E-media such as internet and smartphones/mobiles.  Furthermore, the wide range of access audiences have have a negative impact on institutions, as there are different types of ways they can access in through different institutions. This means the institutions may not be getting viewings, in some types of news.

Who has benefited the most?
I believe the audiences are benefited the most, as they have a variety of different methods to choose from. Whereas, institutions only can offer news, which some audiences don't view.

Economist on the future of newspapers

Do you agree with its view that it is ‘a cause for concern, but not for panic’?
I partially agree with the statement, this is because newspapers are a cause of concern, due to them not making any money by newspapers. However, it isn't for panic, as people still will be reading newspapers, such as the older generation, and from the article it says "Newspapers have not yet started to shut down in large numbers, but it is only a matter of time." This suggests, people are still reading newspapers, as they may not have the skills to read it through the internet. Furthermore, people are still able to get news through other technological items. People are able to receive news through different methods, because of the modernised generation and the technological items we have. We can get news through different sources of e-media such as the Internet, social networking sites, mobile phone apps, this is all on the go, we can view it any time and anywhere, and thanks to the internet, we are able to view new which is old, we can also get the news through broadcasting such as radio and T.V. this allows people to visually see incidents that may occur and almost feel as if they're a part of it. Also, it is unlikely people will purchase newspapers now, because of the ongoing recession, this is a period of temporary economic decline, during which the trade and industrial activities are reduced. People won't have sufficient amount of money to purchase on newspapers, when they can get the news free in many ways. Also, people are able to now get newspapers for free, delivered to their houses.

However, it may be a sense of panic as the Internet news can be changed be users, and it may not be reliable. Moreover, news writers will be losing out, as nobody will be reading their news, which means they won't have jobs, as they won't be earning any money over the news. Also, this would mean the newspaper industry won't be making any revenue and won't be progressing, leading it to be the last source of resource people use to get their news, due to the lack in advertising and promotion, and the fact that everyone now has access to the internet and can view news through that. 

Why is the music industry so cross with Google? #4

The key to understanding why the music industry is so angry with Google is that it’s not just about the amount of links or takedowns. This is about what broken promises (or, at least, the perception of broken promises).

In August 2012, Google announced that it would be downgrading piracy sites in its search rankings. SVP of engineering Amit Singhal explained in a blog post:

“Starting next week, we will begin taking into account a new signal in our rankings: the number of valid copyright removal notices we receive for any given site. Sites with high numbers of removal notices may appear lower in our results. This ranking change should help users find legitimate, quality sources of content more easily—whether it’s a song previewed on NPR’s music website, a TV show on Hulu or new music streamed from Spotify.”

This was welcome news to the music industry bodies, who’d been lobbying hard for exactly this kind of action. The BPI and RIAA stepped up the number of takedown requests they were sending to Google, anticipating that they would start to see the results in search results. 

The music industry is angry with google, as they are allowing people to download music videos for free, this has lead to people getting free music, which means the music industry isn't making any money. This would mean people aren't purchasing albums of celebrities anymore as they can get it for free. However, as Beyonce launched her album without anyone being aware of it on iTunes, it meant people were forced to buy it as noone was told about it beforehand and people weren't able to download it off Google. 

The impact of new and digital media news

	NEWS
Impact on audience	Impact on institution	Theories & debates
v  Can access news easily anytime v  Information they get may be inaccurate v  Many sources of new v  They can become their own journalist ‘citizen journalist’	v  Audience numbers are down for traditional institutions v  Bad reputation on the institution v  Revenue taken by different institutions  such as: google v   Printing has considerably fallen down	v    Paretos law as 80% of audience get news from 20% of institution v  ‘The information age castells’ v  ‘Most important medium’

New and Digital Media: end of unit question

There are always concerns about new technology. In your view, what are the possible benefits and problems attached to the Internet? 

Technology is the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry. New media has many benefits such as the fact we're able to have access onto on-demand content anytime, anywhere and on any digital device such as phones, laptop, ipad and tablets, as such. Furthermore, this allows people to have interactive contact with others, in different parts of the world because of the internet. 

There are many benefits of the internet, as we're able to access it at any time in today's generation. This is due to the technology in today's society, and how advance it has become. Everyone around the world is able to access the internet, and interact with other people in the world. Furthermore, technological items such as iPhones now have allow you to access the internet at a faster rate. However, some pages of the internet are blocked for the safety of people. Whereas, on the laptop it is easier to access any page, and you're able to view content that may be blocked, it is easier to use the internet on laptops, due to the sizing difference and the amount of different keys you have to change the settings. Whereas, on iPhones, it may be harder to do so, through the limited amount of keys you have on the phone. There are loads of publications added onto the internet on a daily basis, and they hold strong information in order to attract a mass audience, in order for them to read it. Furthermore, the internet is one source the majority of the worlds population is dependant on, as the internet provides everyone with facts and figures and helps in day to day lifestyle. The internet improves on a daily basis, and has new updates coming out. Internet explorer has now become one of the slowest internet browsers, despite there being a lot of different updates happening. However, Google chrome is one of the fastest internet browsers, and it is mainly what audiences prefer to use. Furthermore, google chrome has made it easier for students and people with jobs, to access the internet faster and get sufficient amount of information. The internet is used by both people and institutions, this has links with Pareto's law of the 80% of the media is controlled by 20% of the institution/companies. Google owns many different companys/pages, such as Blogger, G-mail, YouTube, allowing Google to hold a mass standing within today's society. 

On the other hand, there are many disadvantages of the internet, such as there are false things posted upon the internet, which are said to be "true facts" whereas, they're all made up. Websites such as Wikipedia, can be edited by anyone and they're able to change anything, and students usually use Wikipedia, to help them with work, which means they may be looking at things which aren't true. Sherry Turker has said the internet is a bad influence on children, as they become isolated from each other, because of the internet. Students tend to become internet freaks and don't concentrate much on their studies. As iPhones now have access on the internet, they're able to have access of the internet everywhere they go, which means they may be distracted in class. There are a variety of different social networking sites starting up such as 'Instagram', 'Keek', 'Snapchat' and the old typical Facebook, Bebo, Hi5 and MySpace. Furthermore, over 50% have access on twitter. 80% of tweets on Twitter, are created by 20% of people. Twitter doesn't hold any facts, it is all peoples opinions. Furthermore, 

New and digital media #3

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jan/01/internet-streaming-music-record-industry

Internet streaming won't save music – the industry still relies on hits

Perhaps the most telling comment on the end-of-year music sales figures for 2013 – reporting a 0.5% decline on the previous year – came from Kim Bayley. The internet has given lots of artists the opportunity to reach an audience, with a broader range of music. The top 10 albums of 2013 in the UK illustrated the hit reliance. The top 3 albums are compliations: Now that's what I call music 84, 85 and 86. It is said that British artists are doing well, being responsible for half of the top 10 albums of 2013. Considering that the total number of albums sold in 2013 went down to 6.4%. Furthermore, music streaming grew by 33.7%