That’s Not Fair(USE)

Image by Jacklau96

Wikimedia Commons Anti-Copyright Image

Everyone has ideas. While some ideas are new and different, many ideas are based off of someone else’s. If you plan on copying, distributing, performing, or remixing a previously published idea, you need to be careful of copyright laws. 

If you are unfamiliar with copyright, check out this video. 

Just because something is copyrighted does not mean you cannot use it in your own work. You can either get permission and cite to use someone else’s work, like Taylor Swift did with the writers of “I’m Too Sexy” in her new song “Look What You Made Me Do”, you can wait 70 year’s after the author’s death, you can find another piece of work to use from before 1923, or you can use that work under the terms of Fair Use. 

Something is considered fair use if: the original work was not considered creative, the people or company that hold the copyright are not affected, it is for educational purposes, your work does not use the main point of the the copyrighted work, or if you do not have intent and ability to make money. 

While it is perfectly legal for me to learn and play Taylor Swift’s new song at a place like Guitar Center, if i begin to upload a recording of me playing this piece of work to YouTube and monetize my video, I am no longer protected by fair use. 

Spreadable as the new Viral

Image by kropekk_pl

Wikimedia Commons Social Media

In this week’s University of Arizona “Collaborating in Online Communities” class, we talked about content spreadability. We read Spreadable Media: Creating Value and Meaning in a Networked Culture by Henry Jenkins, Sam Ford, and Joshua Green. 

This book states that spreadability “refers to the technical resources that make it easier to circulate some kinds go content than others, the economic structures that support or restrict circulation, the attributes of a media text that might appeal to a community’s motivation for sharing material, and the social networks that link people through the exchange of meaningful bytes.” (Page 4) 

To me, the term spreadability is a more fitting term for this class than using the word viral, or sticky. I personally believe that the term viral shows how rapidly a piece of information is shared and that sticky is for a piece of information to be created for mentality and one media platform.

As a social media intern for a local company, I strive to make every post spreadable. I want each piece of content I post to be both easy to circulate and share, as well as meaningful for those who read it. Staying with how this reading defines the word spreadable, I also strive to let each post have the ability to be located in many places, invite new individuals to contribute to what I post, especially as they share it, and have limitless avenues of direction with meaningful participation. 

Web 2.0 has allowed the creation of spreadability. If you do not know what Web 2.0 is, watch this video. The internet is no longer static. Websites are generated to be user friendly and user generated, allowing content to be spread anywhere in the world. 

-Hannah Leigh Johnson

E-Collaboration

Image by Ibrahim.ID

Via Wikimedia Commons Virtual Collaboration

This week in the University of Arizona class “Collaborating in Online Communities,” we reviewed Harvard Business Review’s article “How Successful Virtual Teams Collaborate.” The author describes collaboration as the “secret sauce” for creativity within teams. He then addresses that virtual collaboration can be extremely difficult to successfully achieve and what lessons have been learned from both successes and failures. 

First, he addresses that you must adjust for size. Second, your group cannot be afraid of social media. Third, he recommends to play games to learn to do what is best for the team. Fourth, groups should train for collaboration. Finally, remember that roles are more important than goals. 

I have seen these five key points to improving virtual collaboration in my personal life. While interning for a local clothing company as a social media content creator, I had to learn to collaborate virtually with a team. 

A few months into my internship, our company expanded from one store in Tucson, to a second store in the Phoenix area. As staff doubled, we had to adjust for size and a hierarchy. This made collaboration harder to achieve, as coworkers now had to be flexible and collaborate online to achieve store goals. 

Due to this expansion, we could not be afraid of using social media to connect more with each other. Internally, each coworker added each other on Facebook to be able to connect with each other outside of work. This also came into use when the Tucson employees needed to contact the Phoenix employees. 

Our team also enjoyed playing online games, such as FarmVille through Facebook, where we learned to help each other when in need. We would do what was best for someone else in hopes of strengthening our team. If you are unfamiliar with the concept of Farmville, you can watch this video about "FarmVille 2: Country Escape."

Meeting with the author’s third point of training for collaboration, we each worked on our networking skills online with designers and customers. This helped our team as we would improve our virtual communication skills, which we could apply when communicating with one another. 

In our team, we each had a specific role with a very broad goal of improving sales. As mentioned, my role was to create content for social media. I had to learn to virtually communicate with the employee in charge of monitoring the performance of our posts. While we did not know how to improve sales, we could collaborate to market our store to customers. 

We did not start off as a perfect team. We did not collaborate in person well, let alone virtually. By the end of my internship, we learned these lessons, improving sales, as well as each individual. 

-Hannah Leigh Johnson

Teamwork Twirling

Image by BACsop2000 

Via Wikimedia Commons Baton Twirlers

In the University of Arizona class “Collaborating in Online Communities,” it seems logical to learn about Tuckman’s 5 Stages of Group Development (see link). The stages are as follows: (1) forming, (2) storming, (3) norming, (4) performing, and (5) adjourning. 

In my personal life, I am a competitive baton twirler. I competed as a soloist, as well as on a team. In the team setting, I saw Tuckman’s 5 Stages occur. Our team, the “Tucson Twirlers,” was originally formed by one coach teaching several soloists. As the soloists came together as a team for the first time, we looked to our coach for direction. We avoided controversy, which is normal for  the first stage, forming. 

Storming, stage two, began to occur when the twirlers began to fear failing. Conflicts on how choreography should be executed arose. Team members had different opinions on the type of music we should be competing with. Team members even had personal conflicts with each other, as girls who once competed against each other as soloists now had to put their differences aside and become a cohesive group. 

After spending several months to resolve conflicts and find a balance of power so each member could contribute equally, we finally hit the third stage of norming. 

A sense of interdependence finally arose on the day of competition. Our team had officially reached the fourth stage of performing. We had the same goal and had were able to solve problems on our feet. When one member was slightly out of sync and seemed off, we adapted to make the routine work. 

Our team competed for thirteen years on the state, regional, and national level. In 2016, the Tucson Twirlers reached the fifth stage and adjourned. We each said our goodbyes to the team, but continue to appreciate the sport we loved.

For those who may not be as familiar with what team baton twirling looks like, you can watch Team France, the 2014 World Champions, here. 

-Hannah Leigh Johnson