rachel nicole

Category: New Media

The Yellow Arrow Project

I am currently reading Convergence Culture – an insightful book by Henry Jenkins, Professor of Humanities and the Founder/Director of the Comparative Media Studies program at MIT. Although I just started the book, I am already enthralled by the observations and concepts presented by Jenkins.

One particular piece of information that caught my attention was a reference to The Yellow Arrow Project. This was the first time I had heard of the project, and I immediately wanted to learn more. Yellow Arrow is a global project that allows participants to explore cities through mobile phone SMS. The basic concept is centered around the fact that every individual brings a unique perspective and experience to a particular region, location or object.

Here is how it works: a person positions a distinctly coded Yellow Arrow sticker to catch the attention of other individuals. Once the arrow is posted, the “poster” sends a SMS to Yellow Arrow with a unique code and a personal story about the spot where the arrow is posted. Yellow Arrows are often posted at local businesses, on a unique bus stop billboards or spots where breathtaking views of a city can be observed. When another person encounters the arrow and is interested in learning more, he sends a SMS with the unique code and instantly receives the previously recorded message initiated by the “poster.”

I love this. I find it intriguing beyond words and, again, very telling of how individuals are creating history and meanings through personal experiences and technology.

Tags: sms

Communications, Experiences & Observations, New Media | Rachel Rusnak August 3, 2009 | Comments (0)

Book Recommendation: Always On

I just finished a wonderful book by Naomi S. Baron – Always On: Language in an Online and Mobile World. Wonderful, I thought – I had yet to read a book that addressed the implications and impact of new technologies in relation to language!

Naomi Baron does a wonderful job in discussing historical concepts of language and electronic communication technologies and how they are affecting society in an immense way. The book was published in 2008, yet some of the topics in the book might already be considered archaic by some – just another example of how quickly new media is morphing, progressing and changing, only to be replaced by the next “big thing.”

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in social media, language, multi-tasking, linguistics, cultural studies or communications. If nothing else, you’ll walk away with a fresh perspective on how electronic communication is influencing how we listen, speak, read and write. I have to admit, throughout the book I found myself thinking, “I am guilty of that” and “I should be more conscious of that.”

Books addressing similar subjects:
Language and the Internet
Alphabet to Email
Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide (one of my next reads)

Tags: Language, New Media, Social Media

Communications, Experiences & Observations, New Media | Rachel Rusnak July 18, 2009 | Comments (1)