While we do not yet have the technology to match that of the cartoon world of the Jetsons, technology continues to grow at a phenomenal rate. There is no question that technology has a profound affect on our everyday lives. For many people the morning ritual of getting up and reading the paper has been replaced by checking a favorite online website such as Twitter or Facebook. One may also choose to read the aforementioned paper online as well. It is because of this fact that many sportswriters that I currently look up to are now speculating that the printed newspaper is dying. To put that in terms of McLuhan’s analogy, the content of the newspaper is no longer a necessity. The internet has altered the rate at which information travels as well because it is arguably faster than television or radio. As it becomes more advanced, new technology has truly quickened the pace of even the most ordinary of lives. We no longer have to rely on the 6:00 news to get us up to speed on the events of the day. There are 24 hour news channels, and news can be found on the internet by simply clicking on a link. However, that is not to assume that everyone has embraced this technology. My own mother refuses to get a cell phone. So if I ever need to contact her I have to e-mail her or call her at work. Technophobes seem to refuse to join the rest of us in the 21st century. What an annoying phobia. On to more of the reading.

The content of the web is up to whoever is using it. The internet is not regulated; it is the most public of mediums around. The internet can be a source of learning along with the exchange of valuable information, but it can also be the source of the utmost depravity. While the internet should be a place where a user should be compelled to access whatever they need, many people use it to satisfy a sort of darker desire. Obviously, that is a double edged sword. The freedom of the internet is a multifaceted issue that is an ongoing debate in this digital age.

I do not believe we are in any way numb to the effects of new media. In fact, just by offering this class The University of Georgia is showing that it is aware of the importance of new media as well as the jobs and opportunities that each new form of media creates. I have had other professors besides Professor Davis encourage me to join twitter. It is good to try to embrace each new form of media as much as possible. It certainly is not going away. There should be more genres for the technology though. Facebook and Twitter both have differing characteristics about them, but they also offer some of the same features. Updating Facebook is referred to as a “Status Update.” But, updating twitter involves posting a new “Tweet” or “Tweeting at someone. I wonder if Devitt would classify Twitter and Facebook as being in the same genre. Are they both simply social networking sites? For me, Devitt has made the term genre more complicated and intricate than I ever thought it was. The excerpt that we read from her writing was very interesting, though.

Adapting to new media is becoming second nature to some users, and others are having to learn to adapt on almost a daily basis. With the evolution of social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, the traditional non interactive website is starting to feel dated. In Marshall McLuhan’s “The Medium is the Message,” McLuhan points out that (insert quote) For example, ESPN televises strange or fascinating Twitter updates by athletes. A picture on NBA player Michael Beasley’s Twitter account forced him to go to rehab when someone noticed drug paraphernalia in the background of his twitter picture. While it is a double edged sword, new media savvy can earn one a lot of money in the new jobs that the technology creates.

I need to wrap this up soon, so this will probably be my last big point. The way that Devitt categorizes genre is way too complicated for my taste. I’m not much of a reader though except for academic reading. So, maybe I am just a victim of the record industry and their need to lump a lot of different types of music together. I think that is a point that Devitt makes very well. Certain things should not be lumped together because it diminishes their chances of reaching their target audience. For example, a recording artist who wants to be known for rock and roll would make sure that his CD would not be lumped into the pop category. Just as a gripping horror movie may want to avoid any science fiction label, and just be referred to as horror. In this day and age of commercialism, it is easy for a stigma to surround a genre.

Finally, the one thing that people need to be keenly aware of on the internet and this goes with the final reading response prompt question.. Be aware of what you are posting, and where you are posting it. Prospective employers have workers now whose job is to Google you, check your Facebook, myspace, twitter, or any other social networking site. No respectable business wants to hire one who has a shady profile. Just don’t put the picture up to begin with. Even if you delete it, that does not mean it isn’t somewhere else in cyber space that Google will not find. Everyone is still adjusting to the pros and cons of the internet. Unfortunately in this age of instant information there is very little margin for error. I am not sure if I agree or disagree that a student fresh out of college should be Googled but that is just the way it is. Check out the video below for an example of how Google can impact one’s job.

In the feedback to this project, it was brought to my attention that it would probably be a good idea to have a final entry to the blog that wrapped things up.

A question was also posed to me in the feedback I was given which I found to be intriguing. It was a question of whether the internet has been a good or bad thing for the sports world as a whole I would argue that the answer to this question depends on one’s point of view.  The internet can be a wonderful asset to those that use it properly. The World Wide Web allows people to connect with others whom they would probably never meet otherwise. As I stated in the Twitter discussion, it has never been easier for athletes to connect with their fans. If an athlete uses the internet in a positive and reasonable manner and is willing to put up with the scrutiny that comes with their position, the internet can be a wonderful marketing tool. Indeed, the web allows for fans to debate with sportswriters, chat with various members of the sports media, and talk trash to each other about an upcoming game. ESPN’s stronghold as being a 24 hour sports network has extended to the internet. Since ESPN has introduced their concept of “SportsNation” which is a series of interactive polls about sports issues on a state by state basis, new users are joining the site at a rapid rate. ESPN’s corporate info fact sheet boasts that, “ESPN.com the leading sports Web site, ESPN.com averages 21 million unique users per month.”

My experience in  this class has taught me that I had a lot to learn to break out of my old habits and become familiar with the vast and resources and tools that technology can provide. Coming into this course I did not know much about graphic design, I still do not now, but I feel more comfortable writing for the type of audience that browses the internet often, and who will not tolerate boring or inaccurate information. I would like to use one of Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin’s main principles in there book on remediation as a motto for my writing. Bolter and Grusin talk about combining the old and the new, I would like to use my style as a pure writer and combine it with newer elements to attract an audience. The newer things would likely have to be created by someone else, but that is where the graphic designer comes in. My ultimate goal is to be a sports writer; I will do all I can to make that happen. Ultimately I do not know if that would be possible anymore without some form of blogging experience. Magazines are declining, and some argue that newspapers are dying. Blogs have never been more important, they are featured daily on newscasts as well as ESPN (along with social networks.) It is because of this that my first piece is the first formal reading response we ever posted to the blog. As I look back on it I am still very proud of my effort. One revision I did make on it for this portfolio is that it was wordy. I am going to do my best to use the strategies we have learned this semester for writing for the web in order to narrow it down and polish it. In doing so, I feel that will improve the overall quality. Right now, I do not know if I will change any of the content of that first post for the portfolio. I feel like it was my opinion at the time, and changing it now would only be due to hindsight. I would like to show how I have grown of course, but there must be better ways of doing that.

That brings me to the first major project that I produced for this course. The website I created for my remediation project based on Dave Chappelle as Clayton Bigsby, a black white supremacist. While I agree with your feedback that this may have been better as a blog I was too inexperienced with the blogging world to realize that then. I am also still new to making websites as well so quite frankly I am still proud of the effort I put in, along with the way that I took the criticisms of the rough draft of the site to heart and I implemented many neccessary changes.

One of the things I did when I gave the site a proverbial tune up so that it could be a part of the portfolio was to brand it better. Dave Chappelle needed to be  to be a big  part of the banner and title of the website, more so than the former title of  “The greatest skit of all time.” In retrospect, that was not a good title. To borrow from Kathryn and Michael Summers’s “Creating Websites that work”, such a title does not do a good job of getting a user focused on what the website is about. For now I am going with the “Clayton Bigsby Remediated, Chappelle’s Show Remembered” because it gives an idea of what the website is, but is not too much info for a title.

I would like to be the perfect writer. I’m competitive, therefore I want to be the best at what I do. The fact is, such a thing is impossible. Writing styles are mostly subjective, and even if one person thought I was perfect the only way I can get better is to keep writing. Composing texts and projects for this course has really helped me to determine what my strengths and weaknesses are as a writer.

While I’m on the subject of music, why doesn’t MTV play music videos anymore? Sure, MTV2 plays music late at night but Music Television used to be awesome. At present, the network airs dribble such as Parental Control and “I want to work for Diddy.” Other than a really late night laugh, those shows serve no purpose.

Random thoughts/questions

Is Miley Cyrus the next Britney Spears? Hey there Achy Breaky Heart, stop counting your money and letting your 16 year old daughter be pushed as hot at the VMA’s. That’s creepy. Let the girl grow up and make sure she learns to make smart and informed decisions in everything that she does. She may be enjoying the climb, but she’s still got a long way to go. Celebrity media can be vultures, here’s to hoping Miley does not crash and burn.

I had planned to add more but I am out of time. I have a test to fail tomorrow.

1. Associated Press “Sheriff cites language as  reason for wanting Shaq’s badges back.”

ESPN.com  24 June 2008. 10 October 2009.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3459208

2. TMZ.com “Shaq attacks Kobe: You Ruined My Marriage!”

Celebrity Justice 23 June 2008. 10 October 2009.

http://www.tmz.com/2008/06/23/shaq-attacks-kobe-you-ruined-my-marriage/

3. Espn.com Outside the Lines (OTL) “Twitter and Athletes”

7 August 2009. 12 October 2009.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4382952

4. Danah.org “Tweet Tweet Retweet: Controversial Aspects of Retweeting on Twitter”

The rough draft version is here, Paper will be published by IEEE in January, 2010. 12 October 2009.

http://www.danah.org/papers/TweetTweetRetweet.pdf

5. Associated Press “Coaches crack down on athlete Tweeters”

NBC sports. 29 September 2009. 12 October 2009

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/33063778/ns/sports/

6. Joe Schad “Bryant violated NCAA Bylaw”

ESPN.com 8 October 2009. 12 October 2009

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4540282

7. Sean Gregory “Twitter Craze is rapidly changing the face of sports.

Sports Illustrated.com 5 June 2009. 11 October 2009

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/the_bonus/06/05/twitter.sports/index.html

8. Dan Steinberg “A Redskin Feels the Heat from a Tweet.”

WashingtonPost.com 22 September 2009. 12 October 2009

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/21/AR2009092103414.html

9. Mike Brody “Eagles Employee Fired for Facebook Post.”

MyFoxPhilly.com 9 March 2009. 13 October 2009

http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/sports/nat_dpgo_Eagles_Employee_Fired_for_Facebook_Post2243482

10. Jim Buzinski “NFL teams set up fake Facebook profiles.”

Outsports.com 8 April 2009. 13 October 2009

http://outsports.com/jocktalkblog/2009/04/08/nfl-teams-set-up-fake-facebook-profiles/

11. AOL news “Limbaugh Falls for Obama Hoax”

AOL.com 25 October 2009.

http://news.aol.com/article/limbaugh-falls-for-obama-thesis-hoax/735565?icid=main|aim|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Flimbaugh-falls-for-obama-thesis-hoax%2F735565

12. Drunk Athlete.com “Ben Roethlisberger Partying Like a Champion”

posted by an admin at drunkathlete.com 7 September 2008. 25 October 2008

13. Zach Dirlam “The Disappearing Scandal of Reggie Bush”

Bleacher Report.com. No date given. 25 October 2009

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/117568-the-disappearing-scandals-of-the-usc-trojans

14. Andy Katz “Memphis readies response to NCAA”

ESPN.com 2 June 2009. 24 October 2009

15. TMZ.com “Most Valuable Loser”

TMZ.com June 2009. 24 October 2009

16. TMZ.com “ESPN Sends Steve Phillips Packing”

TMZ 25 October 2009.

17. MSNFoxsports.com Pitino blasts the media

Video Central on MSN Foxsports.com No date given. 24 October 2009

18. ESPN.com “Reports Heat F Beasley goes into rehab

ESPN.com news services 25 August 2009. 13 October 2009

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4419340

19. Awful Announcing Blog “Kornheiser: “Newspapers Aren’t Dying, They’re Dead”

Awful Announcing blog 15 May 2008. 25 October 2009

http://awfulannouncing.blogspot.com/2008/05/kornheiser-newspapers-arent-dying.html

20. thebiglead.com “Guest Post Dan LeBatard”

The big lead 14 May 2008. October 25 2009.

http://thebiglead.com/?p=5820

21. Andrew Sullivan “Why I Blog.”

The Atlantic November 2008. 25 October 2009

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200811/andrew-sullivan-why-i-blog

22. Gary Andrew Poole “Back to the future: how sports writing can recapture its relevance”

Entrepreneur.com Jan-Feb 2009. 20 October 2009

http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/192310358_1.html

The negative aspect that sticks out the most is that I got tied up in knots on a few occasions. In the post titled, “The internet catching things on and off the field,” I could not seem to find the correct balance between article and text, or video and text. Even to the point that I felt like I was rambling. If I did not incorporate the correct amount of the readings in my project, it was because I had a difficult time relating it to my project.

As for the project itself, I now realize that the topic was a little  too big and I could not possibly cover everything that I wanted to. It was a fun topic to do and that is precisely why I decided to do it, but there were just way too many articles and videos to choose from because social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook are still so new and are still at the height of their popularity in the media. I worked very hard on it, and I feel like I deserve a good grade because I think I did the topic justice, but it was a larger undertaking than I bargained for.

The fact is that the landscape of the media is changing, which is something that everyone has had to adjust to. There is no point in resisting the change because it is occurring at a very fast rate. A sportswriter, or a writer of any genre must do all that they can to reach the largest possible audience. Le Betard points out that the younger generation has “invaded” because people do not want scholarly literature anymore. Instead, they want fast, TMZ style information. One of the most interesting points he makes is that this applies to people young and old. Other ESPN employees such as ESPN’s Buster Olney says that the art of sports writing is getting lost in an effort to condense everything. Olney reasons that sports writing is losing the cool stuff. This article really does not paint any of the newer technology in a very good light. One other excerpt from the article that is worth pointing out is the quote by Buzz Bissinger where he rails against blogging specifically. “I think blogs are dedicated to cruelty; they’re dedicated to dishonesty; they’re dedicated to speed.” The article immediately points out how blogs recanted those statements but I would venture to guess it was because of the negative reaction. Buzz wrote Friday Night Lights which is a great novel, but he should probably read Authority 3.0 by Michael Jensen to freshen up his perspective a bit.

While that example may be a bit off topic, it shows how much clout the internet has in this day and age. The internet is arguably the most important medium in existence right now, because information is instant. So are fun pictures that surface on the internet and catch big time athletes having a little too much fun.  I realize that according to articles like Weblog Ethics according to Rebecca Blood, posting links to these types of pictures may diminish the journalistic credibility of this post somewhat. Again, it is all in fun, and I will defend the actions of each athlete. No one is getting thrown under the bus in this blog entry.

To be frank, the facebook status of the day has not been done because Twitter has cornered that market. Facebook is often a more private social networking site than Twitter. To see an athlete’s facebook page one usually has to add the person as a friend, and then wait for them to confirm it. Even after one is confirmed as a friend, there is no guarantee that an athlete does not have certain facets of his or her facebook page hidden from fans. Twitter takes a much simpler approach, users can just Google someone’s twitter feed and then begin to follow them. No one has to be confirmed as a “follower” on twitter, but there is an option to block individual users from following you.

Facebook is more about creating a profile, Twitter is just about what one is doing and any Twitter user is much more likely to respond to a Tweet as opposed to a wall post, because responding and posting tweets is what Twitter is all about. Some athletes have contests with fellow team mates about which of them can acquire more followers on Twitter. Twitter is about getting people to follow your account and take notice it. Facebook requires one to confirm each request before any interaction can begin.

That does not mean that Facebook is not on the same level as Twitter by any means. It just means that athletes tend to be more guarded on Facebook or they use it for a particular purpose. Former Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno does not allow his friends on Facebook to see any posts on his wall, and the only pictures he makes available are Georgia football related or they are simply profile pictures. Again, Facebook seems to be for a more personal use than Twitter as things stand now. Not everyone sees it that way though.

Twitter has allowed athletes to connect to their fans, some athletes such as Shaq, and Terrell Owens  even tweet back to tweets that their fans send them. SportsCenter on ESPN features a “Tweet Of The Day” award. The tweet of the day award is a way for ESPN to feature funny, interesting, or thought provoking tweets posted by various athletes or sports figures. ESPN has done a great job of introducing viewers to Twitter who would otherwise have no clue what Twitter is. In fact, you can watch a piece that ESPN Outside the Lines aired on Twitter here.   Their coverage and use of Twitter inspired a phone call from my father to me asking what Twitter was and how he could start using it.

Not to be outdone, Sports Illustrated has gotten in on the Twitter fun as well. They have done a fascinating cover story on Twitter that features quotes and tweets from professional athletes on Twitter. One of the things that the article highlights is that some athletes see Twitter as a way to connect with fans on a more intimate level away from the field. The sports fan in me is excited by this as well because I do not have to come up with dream scenarios of meeting an athlete as long as I can pester them into responding to a tweet. Meeting one of my favorite athletes in person would beat tweeting them any day though.

Thus far, I have discussed the positive impact of Twitter on athletics. However,  as Newton’s Laws of motion caution us, “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Athletes are emotional and competitive, that is why they are able to invest the time and energy that they have into their sport.  Much like they do from time to time with the media, athletes are going to have outbursts on Twitter. The problem with that is that while an athlete can leave the press room if they get too rattled, twitter feedback is instant, and is always there when one accesses Twitter there is the potential for negative or inflammatory Tweeting. I would venture to say that not many athletes have read “Tweet, Tweet, Retweet” by Boyd, Golder, and Lotan. Certainly individual athletes as well as sporting associations could benefit from properly using Twitter, but athletes need to watch what they are tweeting while still giving users reasons to follow them on the website.

Redskins rookie Robert Henson had to learn this lesson the hard way after he called fans on Twitter “Dim wits who work 9-5 at Mcdonalds.”  Don’t go looking for his Twitter though, he took it down. It will be interesting to see what sort of crack downs that various athletic organizations come up with. Much like Lanham points out in his stuff and fluff article, a good way to monitor and regulate twitter has not been established. We are still coming up with the correct model. Make no mistake though, just as Lanham questions whether the current economic model will work in this age, ground rules will be imposed on Twitter. In fact, many places in the sports world have already begun that process.

Rex Ryan, head coach of the New York Jets, has already benched a player who did not tweet to Rex’s satisfaction. That same article mentions a Texas Tech player who got in trouble with his head coach because he tweeted asking why the coach could not be on time.

The examples are numerous and it would be redundant to list many more, this leads to obvious questions. Will there ever be universal regulations for athletes on Twitter? No. Regulations and punishments will come from the head or committee of whatever the sport in question is. Players are public figures and they are under a microscope. With the growing importance placed on Twitter, it is likely that an athletes’ twitter account will be a source of information for the media and rumors just as much as it will be a source of communication for that athlete. The NCAA will not allow it to be a recruiting tool, just as soon as they decide to join the rest of the 21st century in using Twitter.

Penalties for college athletes who tweet things that are deemed improper could be severe. Remember, this is the same association that ruled Oklahoma state wide reciever Dez Bryant ineligible to play the rest of the season when he lied about something that did not matter.

What should happen is that commitees and officials should sit down and come up with fair and aplicable rules about what athletes are free to tweet about. Will that happen? I’m not holding my breath. Every league and association is full of dictators who will make the rules as they go. As Michael Wilbon once said on pardon the interruption, “Every coach wants to be able to tell a player exactly what they can and can not do. A coach would tell a player whether or not it was ok to be intimate with their significant other if they could.”