Chasing Passion or Pay?

It’s easy to find oneself swept up in the notion that working in new media will be somewhat of a career holy grail; bohemian, self-directed and intrinsically creative. The reality of course is that very few of us will be lucky enough to carve out a career on our own terms. Even fewer will make good money doing so.

Do we really have to choose one of the other?

Johann Piber

Dreamstime.com

I really valued the insights of Gill’s (2007) research which let me inside the minds of the people who have been there and done that in the world of new media. It is true, the realities pointed out, poor job security, low average pay and prevalent inequalities are food for thought. The flipside however, the overwhelming enthusiasm expressed by the Gill’s interviewees for their field reminded me of the passion that I was chasing when I first enrolled in my degree.

New Media Fridays 9am is a collection of the thoughts and ideas of my fellow students. 24 students of new media, with different skills and different goals, that will find ourselves on different paths within our industry. Gill’s research would suggest that many of us will struggle to build a sustainable career out of our passions, but in the words of the ever wise Oprah (2003):

“One of life’s greatest risks, is never daring to risk.”

I personally feel it’s worth the risk.

Reference List

New Media Fridays 9am. Accessed May 2, 2011. http://fridays9am.blogspot.com/2011/03/welcome.html.

Gill, Rosalind. 2007. "Technobohemians or the new Cybertariat? New media work in Amsterdam a decade after the web." Amsterdam: Institute of Networked Cultures: 1-47.

Winfrey, Oprah. 2003. O Magazine. September Issue.

Narrating Me - Both of Me

In my New Media lecture last Friday, I was presented with the following quote:

“Having two identities for yourself is an example of a lack of integrity”
Mark Zuckerberg, cited in Kirkpatrick (2010)

I fundamentally disagree with Zuckerberg on this point.

My own online presence as it has expanded has grown, naturally, into two distinct online identities: the flippant, unguarded self I reveal to my already known contacts on Facebook, and the more carefully narrated, “worldy” and heavily stylised self I share with the unknown audiences of Twitter and the blogosphere.

Both are cultivated from the essence of my identity, but they present a different version, for a different purpose, and in the hope of resonating with a different audience.

Inconsistent? Yes. But lacking integrity? Definitely not.

Dueze (2011) says that “the potential power of people to shape their lives and identities can be found in the assumption that people produce themselves in media.” I agree with this assumption, and believe the online universe affords people the opportunity to explore who they are, who they want to be, and to narrate themselves as the person or persons they would like to be if only there was an edit button in the “real world”.

While Zuckerberg might consider multiple online identities as a show of weakness, I see it as a fantastic opportunity for self-realisation.

References

Dueze, Mark. 2011. Media Life. Media, Culture & Society 33(137).

Kirkpatrick, David. 2010. The Facebook Effect: the Inside Story of the Company that is Connecting the World. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Social Media and the Queensland Floods

The recent Queensland Floods, devastating though they were, are a strong case study in the political power of social media to encourage large scale dialogue and activism among citizens.

Shirky (2011) explains that social media allows “greater access to information, more opportunities to engage in public speech, and an enhanced ability to undertake collective action”.

Social media was used comprehensively by both Government and citizens alike during the flood. We saw the initial dissemination of information through many channels: The Queensland Police Service Facebook and Twitter pages, YouTube videos, and personal anecdotes shared through Facebook. This information was added to and shared continuously throughout the floods, resulting in an overwhelming outpouring of support from around the globe.  Most impressively was the way in which social media was used to enable the coordination and mobilization of thousands of local volunteers in to assist in the prevention and clean up of flood damage.

Hundreds of volunteers begin cleaning up Brisbane

Jeff Camden

Courier Mail Galleries: Brisbane flood clean up pictures

Social media was used to overwhelmingly positive effect during the floods and for myself the experience will never stop serving as a remind of the political power that social media, used well, can hold.

References

Camden, Jeff. 2011. "Hundreds of volunteers begin cleaning up on Bayswater St, Rosalie". Image. Accessed March 27, 2011. http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/gallery-e6frer9f-1225987588708?page=104.

Shirky, Clay. 2011. The Political Power of Social Media. Foreign Affairs 90(1), pp. 28-41.