Maybe I am completely clueless when it comes to these readings but one thing I did understand was the concept of convergence culture. Henry Jenkins gives several examples and ends by saying on page 208, “In each case, entrenched institution are taking their models from grassroots fan communities, reinventing themselves for an era of media convergence and collective intelligence”. I think that pretty much sums but what convergence culture is. It is taking old forms of media and new forms and colliding them. Grassroots, I believe, would be the old media (or the things that people are used to.) An example of convergence culture is companies who try to engage a stronger emotion in their commercials as opposed to just stating the facts like they used to.
We also discussed convergence politics in class. This means politics coming together with things of pop culture to appeal to more people, especially a younger audience. An example of this would be the YouTube/CNN debates. Ever since I could remember, presidential candidates have had televised debates. However, at least in my opinion, these debates have been uneventful and boring to watch. I’m not that into politics. I mean I understand it pretty well however I would rather go out and debate it then watch other people do so. So for me, they have never been something I took great interest in watching. Now, after hearing about the YouTube/CNN debates, I find myself watching more and more of them. I really like how people can send in videos to ask questions. It doesn’t matter how old you are and you don’t need to physically be there to ask questions. It provides America with a more interactive experience with the candidates so they can make a more well-informed decision. Some say the debates were rigged to only show the most non-controversial questions. However, I’m not sure I believe this to be true. If they did select their questions to be non-controversial, it might be because they were trying not to start a uproar so close to the election. I don’t know the full details but I found an article that gives some good information about the debates if you want more information. I know we already talked about them in class but here’s more!
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9729506-7.html
1 comment:
I found your youtube video to be very interesting. After watching it I noticed that the citizens were concerned with specific things and had had certain questions to ask the democratic candidates. I can agree with you on the fact that I watch more youtube and CNN debates then actual debates on the television. I feel that these are less revised and more candid to the viewers. Your example shows how I look at convergence in politics because its showing that politics are joining together by certain pop culture impacts to attract to a certain audience. I think that you made very valid points throughout your blog however, there is one point that I do disagree with. I believe that debates on television are rigged although, I am not positive like you, I do believe so. This is why the videos on CNN and Youtube attract younger people because they are popular questions that many citizens have in common.
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