photo by FlyingintheFace

Fly Away Home
______________________________

the moon drifts behind clouds
and shuts off its light.
he waits.

the moon jumps out
then back in,
teasing him like a firefly
floating in the dark.

the road bends.

(dere dit is!) he cheers.
he lights up.
he’s found silver.

(touch) he says (moonah?)
(ooooh reach)
Too High, I Say.

headlamps show only a few feet ahead.
we turn again.

(oh no! moonah!)
It’s OK. I Say.
Tomorrow.

(no, mooonah..)
Rest Now. I Say.

the exit comes
and we change direction
once again.

(moonah! dere dit is! oh, yes!)
(winnow? downah?)

i press the button.
the smooth whirr of the motor
sinks the barrier away.

(mama, yook moonah touch)
he pushes against the restraints
to stick his tiny wing
out to coast on
the summer highway winds.

Ooooh. Mooooonah. Touch.

he has forgotten me
he is flying.

Increasingly, my group of early adopters and the public at large are finding the need to further define and categorize the general term ‘media’ in order to communicate effectively.  For example, many of us are familiar with the term “traditional media” and know what that means.  We’ve heard the term “citizen journalism” and somehow know that this is traditional media made by a non-professional person.  But these two terms aren’t enough to describe the different types of media that are emerging.  We need more detailed terminology.

Here are some of my ‘in-progress’ definitions of different types of media to help define our growing world.

Basic Terms:

Media: any form of communication: speech, video, audio, pictures, art, written words, animation, webcast, etc.

Content: any piece of consumable media posted on the internet.  Used in reference to one instance or the whole of a person’s or group’s work.  E.g. “I read her blog.  I really like her content.”

Content generation: the act of making consumable communication for the web.  Eventually this term will be generalized to mean the act of making any media.

Content generator: Any person who makes media, but currently it refers almost exclusively to blogging and videoblogging people.

Consumer: Any person who reads or watches media on the internet or off-line.

Media snacker: colloquial term (sometimes derrogative) for people who visit many media sites to read or watch small amounts of media quickly.  E.g., clicking on a website and reading only headlines or post titles, then moving on to another site to do the same.

Various Types of Media:
Traditional media: (also known as Mainstream Media, initialed as MSM): the content that comes from recognized news sources like newspapers, TV news channels, etc.  Traditional media is generated by large or small organizations that hire professional journalists and video crew staff to generate content.  That content is then mass-distributed on a regularly timed schedule.

Citizen media: media that serves a political or journalistic purpose.  Citizen media may be the product of citizen journalism.  Usually produced and distributed on the internet on no particular timed schedule. [Citizen journalism: when “regular” people (i.e. unpaid or untrained journalists) report on current events.  The citizen journalism is the investigative action, the citizen media is the content generated when the investigative action is finished.]

Public media: this is media that the general population generates.  Public media doesn’t serve a specific purpose like citizen media.  Public media can be consumed and/or interacted with by masses of people.  This can also be called “Common Media.”  E.g., YouTube.

Private Media: public media that has been hidden from public view.  E.g., private sets on Flickr.

Corporate media: any media that is made for or used solely by a business.  E.g., training videos.

Ad media: any advertising media, including viral media.

Viral media: media that appears public (that may be public or corporate media) that gathers the attention of many consumers.  Media usually isn’t considered ‘viral’ unless it has garnered attention internationally and has been seen by hundreds of thousands of consumers.

Technology

Social media: This is a confusing term.  Social media isn’t media as defined above and should not be listed under the category of “Various Types of Media.”   Social media isn’t media, it is technology.  Social media refers to an ever-growing set of communication tools and website and mobile applications on that focus on sharing public media and connecting people who share a common interest in that public media.

Social site: a website that concentrates on forging connections between people.  A place where people can share media.  E.g. Myspace, Facebook.

Live stream: a technology that allows a person to generate content and post it practically simultaneously on the internet.

As I said, this is a list in progress.  Let me know what you think.  If you know of a phenomenon that has yet to be defined, please comment and we will think up something together.  If you take issue with my definitions or want to tweak them, please comment.  This is a collaborative effort from this point forward.  Thanks!

You posted WHAT?

Let’s pretend it’s the morning of a new nationally recognized holiday.  It’s called Idea Day.  On Idea Day anyone can announce their intentions and have free Gallup-type polling from the masses.  This can be wonderfully supportive and encouraging if you have a good idea.  But if your idea is thought of as morally repugnant or just generally idiotic by the crowd, your soapbox is kicked out from under you and the noose tightens around your neck.  Obviously, only suicidal bravehearts take the stage on Idea Day.

Well, this morning, Generation Y’er new mom Jules is excited.  She is wrapping up the Cutest Baby in the entire world (whose level of extreme cuteness has been documented on international TV and news outlets) to take to the Idea Day celebration in the local town square.  Jules isn’t particularly brave, just sure about her idea of starting a blog about Cutest Baby.  After all, CB is already world famous and there are tons of unofficial websites dedicated to him.  Surely Jules will hear waves of cheers.  It’ll turn the day into one big party.
[continue reading…]