Lasica, J. (2003) Blogs and Journalism Need Each Other
Isn’t blogging just a temporary aid?
Lasica gives a lot of credit to blogging when looking at its effects and faith in its usefulness. But when you’re keeping up a blog about some subject, isn’t there a big chance that the same people look at it and react to it. When this occurs, blogs will get more personal. The same people will use nicknames or real names on the blogs, over and over again. This might result in a lot of personal, not-to-the-subject information only applicable for the known users of the blog community. To new users, such information can’t be useful and it deviates from the subject. Another thing is that this process will probably not attract new readers to get involved in that community as well. There’s also a chance that the blogging community won’t let you get in, because the newcomers can be seen as hazards.
Another question might come to the surface when one asks oneself how valuable the new information from unknown participants is? Is it true or based on lies? The overview might get lost and then the traditional ways of news provision may be a relief.
So although there are many blogs with loads of information about a great variety of subjects, one might just want to hear the summary of it, to keep an overview for oneself and that is just what the traditional ways of news provision give.
Gillmor, D. (2003) Moving Toward Participatory Journalism
Isn’t Gillmor a bit overconvinced about the influence of blogs?
Do blogs have counters of how many visitors they have? And if they do, do all visitors read everything there’s written? One can say that a lot of people react on the stories. But still, would these blogs have such an impact? Does everyone who reads them believe what has been written? Does everyone who reacts to blogs feel the same way about the stories or do people just react for fun or to get attention or for other reasons?
Gillmor only uses personal arguments why blogging would be so great and its progress has effects. But real arguments, some objective convincing arguments are missing. The examples that are given may be fun to read and could have occurred, but a research should be carried out about the influence of blogging. Then with fundamental prove we can see if Gillmor’s experiences weren’t just accidental and we can agree of disagree with Gillmor’s thinking.
Luuk van Middelaar, On logos and grassroots: the anti-globalization movement between morals, economics and politics.
Van Middelaar describes a lot of anti-globalization groups. This makes me think; is Globalization stoppable?
The term globalization is most commonly used in economics for companies who stretch their market over a lot of countries around the world. Coca-cola, which can be found al around the world, is a good example of a globalized company. In this way local companies might have a smaller change to get on the market. This makes me understand why anti-globalization groups exist. However, their name might be a bad choice. Especially because anti-globalization groups need to globalize to get some power. That’s why van Middelaar gives them the alternatives; anti-capitalism or counter-capitalism. And, sure, big companies can be stopped, but globalization can not. Because globalization is not only in the hands of the big companies, but also of the citizens. The internet, with its p2p network, blurs the distinction between producer and costumer, and turned the world in the global village McLuhan described. So my group of friends is globalized as well, with friends in
Gay, P. du & Pryke, M. (2002) Cultural Economy
The article says that a large part of the consumers get new aesthetic and stylistic values because the economy has its influence on culture. Consumers are becoming more concerned with the price and value for money due to their cumulating knowledge of time spending practices, like work and hobbies. But what I missed in the article is the fact that time can be seen as money as well. Doesn’t branding save time?
Although consumers might know more about the products they purchase and therefore can save money, the variety of available commodities can make the choice harder. If you want a printer nowadays you have to choose out of a lot of brands. Although you might know a lot about printers and you had lots of experience with your old printer, buying a new one can be quite difficult. Do you want to spend more money on a laser printer, or less on a bubblejet? Because all printers differ; making a choice can be hard. And you may find all the information you want, making a solid choice remains hard. Therefore consumers might want to buy their printer at a very well known computer store and buy a deer brand. Although they might pay more because of the brands of the printer and the store, consumers know their product quality probably is ok and they can fall back on a providing customer service. So brands offer certainties, which can save the consumer time and although there are cheaper commodities than the big time branding corporations, in the end it may well even up.