Blog Post #10

This round of EOTO presentations was very different from the first. There were many topics and ideas that I had never heard of before. Even myself, before researching my topic, Alternative Media and Civilian Journalism, were for the most part, very oblivious to me, and took time to understand thoroughly before presenting to the class. 

However, there were a few presentations that caught my interest. My favorite presentation topic was one that I was able to relate to and identify with. My favorite presentation was centered around the concept of Cord-Cutting.

This is the idea of cutting your cable and joining the modern world of streaming services. While, I had never heard of the phrase, "Cord Cutting", I am very familiar with the rise of streaming and its implications for cable channels. This is nothing new. The era of streaming services and the death of cable has slowly solidified over time, but it really came to pass during COVID-19.

This article from KPMG talks about the relationship between the pandemic and streaming services: COVID-19 accelerates streaming challenges as well as demand

These streaming services took on a life of their own and took down cable when everyone was huddled away in their homes during the pandemic. Worldwide Isolation was the final nail in the coffin that the streaming business needed to establish itself; 

While taking into account the historical success of Netflix. Personally, television and film consumption took up a substantial portion of my time in that period, and multiple streaming services definitely played a part.  

I have many thoughts about this. I really enjoy streaming services. To the point where I now never use cable to consume my entertainment. Whether it's through my smart TV or applications downloaded onto my phone, streaming services have become my go-to source of media entertainment. 

They have provided not only great convenience but also produced some of the absolute favorite entertainment over the years. My favorite streaming services currently, are Max, Netflix, and Paramount +.

 In my experience, these services provided the greatest content and stand out over the rest by producing content I am personally drawn towards. Today, I would say that I use at least one streaming service every day in some capacity. 

One of the additional points mentioned by the presenter was financial considerations. She mentioned that one of the negatives associated with streaming, was the consistent monthly charge when signing up for one or more platforms simultaneously. 

This is a fair perspective, especially when considering recent price increases of every platform as time goes on, which for many, can be a real turn-off. 

I have found an article that digs into great analytical detail. This comes from CNET and was written by Kourtnee Jackson and Ty Pundlberry in August of 2023. They crunched the numbers and compared the overall cost difference between cable channels and streaming. They wanted to get to the bottom to see if we really are getting the best bang for our buck if we, "Cut our Cable". 

If interested, find the article here: Streaming Services vs. Cable Smackdown: Is One More Affordable?

The next EOTO presentation that I found intriguing, was Spiral Of Silence. This is the tendency for people to stay silent when they find themselves in the minority or have less than popular opinions regarding a controversial topic. 

When people find themselves in a minority, The Spiral Of Silence suggests that they'll hide their opinions or beliefs and choose not to share them with the majority out of fear of social isolation or exclusion.

I found a great video from PBS, talking about confirmation bias and echo chambers. Specifically on social media, and how easy it is for one side to dominate the validity of your feed.  

Thankfully, the video narrowed down two primary methods to keep your social media algorithms clear of such biases:

1 Read diverse content.

- Left / Right

- Multiple perspectives

2 Don't interact with potentially controversial content.

You can find the video here: How Social Media Algorithms Create Echo Chambers | Be MediaWise

I found this one interesting because it related to other EOTO topics discussed by other students. The Spiral Of Silence seems to differ from Confirmation Bias and Echo Chambers. Both Confirmation Bias and Echo Chambers are involved when one seeks to self-justify and solidify their own opinion whether it's true or false.

While the Spiral Of Silence involves shying away and hiding how you truly feel. The other two take place when one actively promotes and voices their opinion without fear, based on no other data than the sheer fact they believe it to be true. 

They all seem to represent different sides of the spectrum and are representative of how people react and behave when they have to decide how they want to be either represented in a group or associated with general public perception.

These two EOTO presentations, while not necessarily related, were the two that stood out to me. Cable Cutting is easy for me to give my two cents on as it relates to how I choose to consume content. 

Spiral Of Silence stood out to me because it related to many EOTO presentations, specifically in my own group 2. While at the same time, having very little prior knowledge of the concept myself.