Saturday, February 20, 2016

Assignment 3: Google News and The Dallas Morning News

News is an important part of our lives. It’s what’s makes us informed as a whole and also a part of what we base our decisions and knowledge off of. It’s very important to have an informed public as a whole because it leads to a well balanced and healthy democracy.
When I think of “news”, I tend to think of online TV news channels like CNN that display current events in all areas (science, politics, technology etc) and also informing us of what’s happening around the world. However the definition of the word “news” has expanded beyond traditional news outlets. Online news media also plays a very important role in the public’s news consumption and so I will be analyzing two popular online news sites: Google News and The Dallas Morning News.

Google 
For google, I like how everything is shown on one page. The weather is on the side while top stories are shown in the middle and there are categories like “sports” or “health” if you want to look at news of a specific category. It also shows the local news depending on your location. Another thing I like is that it is customizable. There are options at the top to choose weather you want a “compact” view so it squeezes everything in or a “modern” view where it’s spaced differently. There’s also another button to choose different “editions” of news. It’s preset to the “U.S. edition” but you are able to change it to a different country, like India for example, to see news that is more relevant to that country. There are some things that were off putting however.

For instance, I didn’t like the aesthetic of the Google news site. I find it too bland in appearance. Another thing I didn’t like was that because the headlines and categories weren’t bold or didn’t stand out too much, it felt like there was too much information on one page. The lack of pictures also made the page seem very “wordy”. It would be better if the spacing and layout was different so that it doesn’t feel like the reader is overwhelmed with a lot of information on one page. On the other hand, Dallas Morning News’s website did much better in this aspect.

The Dallas Morning News
For the Dallas Morning News, I really like the aesthetic of the website. It is pleasing too look at because the headlines are bold and stand out and there are lots of pictures to break up the content so that it doesn’t seem filled with words. I also like how the website is laid out because there is plenty of space between each section and so it dosen’t seem congested. Another thing the website did well is that there are links at the bottom to follow their social media accounts, like Twitter or Instagram, so that people can follow the news outside of the website. There are a few cons to the website though.

Compared to Google News, The Dallas Morning News isn’t customizable. You can see the world news and you can see the news pertaining to the US and also the local news but you can’t see the news that pertains to another country specifically. Also, compared to Google News, it has less sources. Google News “gathered” news from different sources like CNN, NBC and Washington Post and so the news is more varied and comes from a website that specializes in that type of news. For example, some of the technology articles came from websites like CNET or Engadget. 

When I weigh out the pros and cons of each website, I find that I like Google News better. Although it’s layout and aesthetic could use help, it still considers the viewer by offering customization and varied news articles from different sources as well as news that is specific to other places around the world. Overall, Google News offers a better news experience to the reader and is a better choice to help create a better informed citizenry.


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Saturday, February 6, 2016

Youtube Stars || A look at "Eat Your Kimchi"

We have TV, Netflix and Hulu. And then we have Youtube. Compared to when the website first started out, Youtube has grown into one of the biggest entertainment and content providers on the internet. So many videos are posted on Youtube everyday and there is a diverse amount of content for every interest and for every need. The people who consistently post content on Youtube are called “Youtubers” and when a Youtuber gets many subscribers (about more than 50,000), they become a “Youtube Star”. Thousands, and sometimes even millions of people watch their faces everyday. What makes them so popular? What makes them stand out and what is it about their videos that keeps people coming back for more? I am going to look at one such Youtube channel that has more than 900,000 subscribers.

The channel is called “Eat Your Kimchi”. The “youtube stars” names are Simon and Martina Stawski, a married couple from Canada who moved to Korea in 2008. They became English teachers to Korean students. Initially, they were planning on only staying for 1 year and then they were going to relocate to Japan and become English teachers there. They posted videos on Youtube about their life in Korea for friends and family back home to watch. However, it ended up becoming popular and they started to gain more and more subscribers which led to them staying in Korea for more than one year and making a career around their Youtube channel. The content they post on their channel is very interesting and entertaining.

Their videos are mainly about Korean culture and their life in Korea. They have different segments on their channel such as “Wonderful Treasure Find” (WTF for short :P) where they find interesting objects, products or snacks that is unique to Korea and review them. Other segments include “food adventures” where they go try delicious looking Korean food, “wonderful adventures” where they go to different places in Korea and “tl;dr” where they answer questions that viewers may have about or Korea or where they talk about Korean life and culture. They’ve even posted videos reviewing Korean Pop music!

Here are some of their videos:











As you can see, their content is pretty unique from other content that you can find on Youtube. For one thing, there aren’t many youtubers on Youtube who post videos about Korean culture. Even in Korea, there is a low population of foreign people and so this makes “Eat Your Kimchi” special because their videos are through the viewpoint of a foreigner who lives in Korea. And even if there are other foreigners who live in Korea and post videos, “Eat Your Kimchi” stands out because they are fun, entertaining and interesting. They do skits, dress up as other characters, make jokes, talk about their own embarrassing/funny experiences. In this way, they make their content personal and unique and this is what makes people come back for more. Anyone else could talk about the same topics that they talk about but if it’s presented in a boring way, no one will come back or subscribe. Viewers come back because it feels as if they’re talking to a friend when watching their videos.

Also, another thing I have noticed is that “Eat Your Kimchi” posts their content regularly on the same days every week. This means that subscribers know when to expect a video and this leads them to come back every week to watch the next video. If a viewer doesn’t know when the next video will be posted, they might eventually lose interest in the channel. Especially if it’s been a few months since the last video. Consistent content makes viewers come back for more. Another important thing they do is that they engage with the viewers in ways like answering Twitter questions or responding to comments. I believe this is why Eat Your Kimchi is where they are now. They post interesting, enjoyable and informative content, but they also keep it consistent while engaging with their viewers. However, I do not believe that they would have succeeded without Youtube.

The reason I think this is because their content is made for Youtube. They make short and sweet segments about their life in Korea and Youtube is optimized for short videos rather than long 30 minutes or hour long videos. The latter is more popular on TV or Netflix. Without Youtube, no one would know their names and it would’ve been harder for them to be popular and for them to be where they are today.

Eat Your Kimchi is one of many different famous Youtube channels on Youtube. The content that is posted differs from Youtube star to Youtube star and appeals to different groups of people. What makes them popular however is that most of their videos are interesting and enjoyable to watch. They are consistent and they engage with their audience. In return, the audience comes back for more, subscribes or recommends their videos to someone else.


 
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