Trend: Digital Culture in Sports



In my senior capstone seminar class, our topic of the class has been digital culture.  One of the projects we kept up with is we created a facebook page, Digital Culture and Social Media, and we posted topics of what trend we liked.  I'm a college athlete and i love everything about sports and the technology that goes along with that.  My trend is the digital culture in sports, whether is marketing techniques or new technologies that support the digital culture. 

I found multiple articles and information that i posted on the Facebook page.  What benefited me and i think the rest of the class is that most of our articles posted on the page were recent news posted online no older than 2 or 3 days.  I posted articles that were relevant and not outdated.  Mostly about marketing techniques through the digital culture for sports and then technology with sports. 

With technological advances and businesses and even sporting teams have to adapt to the new times.  I posted an article on how a sports teams are starting to use the new social media platform Pinterest to their advantage.  The article explains that sports teams are adding pinterest into their marketing plans and that it creates a buzz with their fans.  The teams are using Pinterest to showcase content from fans, display merchandise and more.  Even though the site is largely female dominated, sporting teams aren't treating it that way.  They're simply providing another social media platform where their fans can interact and pin things relating to their team.

Another article i posted had to do with new technology and the way it is used for fitness.  With our smart phones today, there are millions of applications to choose from to have on your phone.  Fitness is something important for a lot of people, but some people just do not have the time to go to the gym for an hour after a thirty minute drive to get there.  GAIN Fitness launched the Ultimate Digital Personal Trainer.  This evolution of fitness training is an app for the iPhone that is a platform for multiple training styles.  It acts as a digital personal trainer by creating workouts customized in real time to each user's experience level, schedule, goals and equipment available. It puts a new emphasis on 'hitting the gym'. 

The digital culture in sports continues to grow.  Businesses and sporting teams continue to adapt and change the game completely.  Sporting teams continue to find more ways to interact with their fans and find their needs.  Businesses continue to try and supply bigger and better forms of technology that relates to fitness and sports.  The trend i picked was not only something i love and interested in, it was fun to find these relevant articles and share them with the class. 

Citizen Journalism

Technological advances have allowed citizen journalism to spread rapidly over the past decade. Citizen journalists can post their information through blogs, videos and social media platforms to provide possible eye witness account where the mainstream media may not have footage of.  YouTube has only been around for less than a decade and it already has a huge impact on citizen journalism.  Anyone can post videos and information on this site for anyone can see across the world.  Citizen journalist use this media platform to put their footage out for the world to see with just one click on the computer.  Citizen journalism is changing the way people get their news and where they get it from. 

Here is a video found on YouTube on some of the top citizen journalism moments from Katie Couric.

With the technological advances happening all the time, it makes it very easy for citizen journalists to get their information of videos online.  Anyone who has a smart phone or and iPhone can be a citizen journalist.  Having the ability to have something in your pocket and being able to pull it out to capture video footage at anytime and posting that video on the spot.  Here is a video on how technology is changing journalism..

I predict that the work force of professional journalism will continue to change towards more citizen journalism.  I believe that more and more professional journalists are going to have to count on citizen journalist to get their information and footage from point of view encounters.  I believe that professional journalist will need to have citizen journalist on a 'team' and provide their stories and videos to them in order for professional journalism to stay alive.  I believe that we still need professional journalist because we need someone who can look over these stories and be able to present them effectively and i believe that this is where the journalism field is going.



Video Gaming

It is crazy to think about the evolution of video gaming and the culture behind it.  The foundation of video games were laid by games such as 'Pong', 'Tic-Tac-Toe' and 'Pac-Man'.  Simple games that had restricted graphics and boundaries.  Today, there are numerous platforms that video games can be played on and the boundaries are almost limitless. Here is a cool and funny rap video on the history of video gaming.

There are unbelievable graphics and functions in today's video games and makes the user feel more involved and apart of the game.  It's turning what is virtual into what is real.  The accessibility of video gaming has come to a new level as well.  Once we had to play video games with cords connecting us to the platform.  Now, platforms consist of our flat screen televisions, computers, handheld gaming devices (such as PSP), and even our mobile phones.

Video gaming has also brought us off the couch and put us in motion.  The video gaming console, Wii, has brought a new era to the table.  With the Wii, people use the remote and sensors for motion activated gaming.  So, if it is a bowling game, one can stand up and use the remote as a bowling ball.  It brings the players into the game more and makes it feel more of a reality.  However, one gaming console has changed the game so to speak.  Xbox kinect has brought the newest technology to the table and has allowed players to play games with no remotes, no cords and just using the bodies as the remote.  There is a sensor that picks up body movements so players can play games with their own body movements, instead of a controller.  Here is a video on the Kinect.

There is also the culture behind video gaming.  Why do people play video games?  I feel that video gaming brings us out of the real world for a minute and puts us into a virtual world where we feel alive in the game itself.  It is personable and brings people into a virtual world.  There is also the sociability of video gaming.  There is now video gaming live where one can play someone in a video game anywhere in the world and communicate with them.  The possibilities are endless and where were going next could be anywhere...

Nayar: Subcultures

A culture is defined by a group sharing beliefs, morals, traditions, and practices.  Subcultures, defined by Nayar, marginalized or illicit groups that share a common ideology and cultural practices. Everyone is involved in a culture and subculture.  Many people are involved in a subculture within their own school or university.  An example, the society of the university would be a culture and a sports team within the university would be a subculture.

Subcultures can be formed with technology and the use of online media.  Certain subcultures use technology to enrich their culture, and others use it as a form of rebellion or hate.  People use online technologies to research, socialize, express their opinions, and for entertainment.  Within each of these examples are groups of subcultures linked to them.  For example, a subculture for socializing would be a social media platform like Facebook or Twitter.  An example for entertainment, a fan club or group of a television show.  One could also be part of a subculture with research or education.  Below is a video describing a new technology debuting and taking online gaming to a new level.  This would be another example of a subculture through PlayStation's new handheld online gamer (PS Vita).

The video above gives you an idea of a subculture under the use of technology. 

Online platforms offer people to use them for many different reasons and to be part of many subcultures.  An example of an online subculture would be a group called Anonymous.  Anonymous is a group that is currently fighting against the new SOPA (stop online piracy act) that is trying to be approved by government.  

No Need To Call

The phone has changed from being a piece of equipment that would ring every so often to a piece of technology that can receive everything imaginable (text messages, emails, facebook and twitter notifications).  In her book, "Alone Together", Turkle explores the notion of children and young adults using the telephone more for receiving messages rather than taking a phone call. 

Cell phones have evolved into something ordinarily used to make a phone call into something a teenager or anyone can multi-task on doing just about anything (text messaging while listening to their music or searching the web).  The phone call is becoming more obsolete every day.  Another thing is the voice mail, i know some people are just like me.. if i make a phone call and the person doesn't answer, i hang up and send them a text message to call me back or message back.  Text messaging is so much more convenient these days but it does has it's downsides.

Text messaging, emails, facebook and twitter notifications are very convenient but are very impersonal.  It lacks the actual tone of the voice speaking (sarcasm, serious, funny).  Text messages are a lot of the times misunderstood because of this reason. 

We have become so adaptive to text messaging because it is so convenient that if someone doesn't respond immediately or within 5 minutes we become paranoid that we did something wrong or wonder why the person isn't texting back.  Most the time the person is busy or just cant text back but there are those people that feel they are obligated to check their messages, even while driving (which we talked about in Dr. Pam Wilson's class).  They have even started coming out with new applications and technology for phones that let you recognize or see if the person you texted read it or not.  This cuts down on the anticipation but also brings into effect controversy with relationships that you have. Maybe someone did read the message but was in a conference or meeting with someone and couldn't text back.  The person who sent the text gets irate or curious in why the person didn't text back because they know that they read it, but why! This brings relationships with friends or whoever you may be texting controversy and arguments.

It feels like we're always connected to someone with our phones.  We are always 'on call'.  Which sometimes it is good to just get away and leave your phone somewhere you cant see it.  Or go somewhere there is no cell phone service.  I went to a small trip this past fall where there was no cell phone service and it was weird, but very relaxing.  It makes me wonder if people were satisfied more with their relationships in life with just having a pager or no phone or having these new technologies for phones today....

Always On

We are literally 'Always On'.  We now have the ability to access the internet, while talking on the phone, after sending a text message to someone you just e-mailed.  There are all these options we can use today that 10 years ago had to be done seperately and not on the same machine that fits in the palm of your hand.  New technologies form every year and we consistantly adapt and change to these new forms of communication and technologies. 

Sherry Turkle's chapter 8 in her book, "Alone Together" is very interesting in how we are always connected to the internet and social outputs.  In the past decade, these newfound technologies of smartphones and wireless connection has broughten us to a new state of life.

In my life, i am lucky to have a smartphone as well in the iPhone.  I have the ability to do everything i need in a timely manner on my phone.  It has everything from text messaging to having apps to checking the weather and anything in between. 

Turkle brought up a great point about e-mails in the chapter.  She talked about how anyone under 25 years old, e-mail has become an old form of use and technology.  I believe this is correct in some circumstances.  E-mail, in my eyes, has become something of the past and continues to do.  With new forms of communication on social media outputs and on smartphones, e-mailing has become something one has to check but doesnt want to. 

Being a college student, obviously i have to check my email for school and my personal email.  However, if i didnt have those email accounts on my phone i would be lost.  I wouldnt check my email as much if i had to log on my computer and check everyday because i just would forget or wouldnt want to.  Having in on my smartphone is a great convenience for me. 

Turkle also brought up the point of distractions and multitasking in the chapter.  I believe that the generation growing up with these forms of technologies grasp the ability to multitask and conduct new ways to communicate.  However, there are forms of distractions with these new forms of technologies.  She said she interviewed children in the 1980's about their lives with technology.  Their distractions while doing homework consisted of Super Mario and music playing in the background.  Now, students are faced with numerous distractions, especially with school, in Facebook, Twitter, texting, email, eBay, shopping on line, and surfing the web in class.  Going through school, i can agree that these distractions sometimes get a hold of students and myself while in the classroom setting.  Now, some people might even function better when they are able to multitask with these forms of technology rather than sitting and drifting off in a lecture.  They might actually get more out of it by not being bored. This could be wrong, but a good thought to think about.

However one might take it, new forms of technologies are being made all the time and we have to adapt to these or we might get left behind.  These days, people adapt so quickly to these forms that it will be something of the past before we know it.

Digital Culture and Social Media

Our ways of communicating have transformed drastically coming from house phones to being able to have 'FaceTime' with people across the world.  'FaceTime' meaning being able to talk to someone while being able to see their face through video all on your cell phone.  Perhaps the most important thing about these technologies and forms of communication is changing, we must be able to change and adapt to these new forms or we will be left behind in the previous era of technology that is more than likely to diminish. 

As the technology of our new media products change and transform, so do our relationships and how we use those forms of media.  Digital media is so easily transferable anywhere one wants to send it.  Our communication patterns and abilities have completely changed from 20, 10, even 3 years ago.  It is forever changing and if we don't want to be left behind we must adapt and be able to learn to use these new forms of 'new media'. 

Some of the ways digital culture appear in my life is definitely through school and research.  With so many classes in college, i must do research in order to gain more knowledge about the topic we are discussing or the paper i am writing.  In today's media world and new technologies, i am able to research through computers and data bases to find the answers or knowledge quickly rather than the traditional way of the library research.  Other uses of technology include: Televisions (HDTV), DVD (now transforming into Blu-Ray), CD (which everything is now available on my iPhone).  As you can see transformations in technology are continually changing.  A few years ago the flat screen television came out, then it was HDTV, and now they have came out with a 3D TV.  And not too long ago was the VHS player which evolved into the DVD player which movies could suddenly play on discs, now movies are evolving into what we call Blu-Rays (high definition movie players and discs that allow us to see a higher quality picture).  And of course, the Internet.  The Internet is the ultimate network that allows everyday people to research and communicate. 

In Glen Creeber and Royston Martin's Introduction and first chapter of their book, they compare 'old media' to modernism and 'New Media' to postmodernism.  Modernism being associated with the early phase of the industrial revolution and postmodernism being dealt with the changes along the way after the industrial revolution.  The context of modernism gives us a theoretical insight into the way in which the media was understood and the ideological impulses which influenced critical theories.  Roland Barthes famously used structuralism and semiotics to analyze mass culture.  He stated that even though structuralism helped further legitimate the study of mass culture and the media, his conclusions still suggested that the audiences were powerless to resist its hidden meanings.  Meaning that all the things the media was doing during the era of the industrial revolution, the people had no idea what forms the media and mass culture would evolve into.

We are still in the postmodernism era with digital culture and social media.  Everything tends to be recreated and transformed but made better.  Competitors in the business world takes the idea of someone else's product and essentially tries to recreate it and make it look better and the next new thing.  These new found forms of  digital culture and social media have sparked more competition throughout the business wold.