Assemblog: July 13, 2012

Red Lights, 2012

New this week on Popshifter: a follow up on Twilight and modern horror; reviews of Lex Hives, Keep The Beat: The Very Best of The English Beat, and the Looking Back box set; plus why Brave is great and a review of the new movie Red Lights.

I’ve been a bit under the weather, so this week’s Assemblog will be short but sweet. If you haven’t been reading Terry Heaton’s Po Mo Blog, you are really missing out. When you see the phrase “new media expert,” you probably roll your eyes and think it’s either pretentious or just industry-speak. But the democratization of media via the Internet means that we all have a stake in dictating how we consume media, so I think it’s important to keep up with what’s happening and what’s being predicted.

Heaton continually has insightful, relevant articles about new media and I find myself nodding in agreement whenever I read them. Although there is some jargon included, he writes in a frank, conversational style that isn’t offputting. Recently he posted an article about how social media is actually antisocial. One thing that might make you blanch is his discussion of “advertising as content,” but it’s something you should read anyway. Like it or not, advertising isn’t going away and making it less obnoxious and intrusive is actually something Heaton has been championing for several years.

Here is Heaton’s own introduction to his article about Social Media:

My old friend David Johnson calls advertising on Facebook “antisocial,” and I have to agree with him. It’s part of a much bigger argument about the nature of advertising in general on the Web, but for social media companies, it’s even more acute, because, well, they’re supposed to be “social.” Most advertising assumes a mass audience, as if presenting from a stage. However, advertising in a social environment is more like being at a party, and it’s very tricky, because nobody’s there to see a show. On the other hand, Facebook is experimenting with forms of content that are really ads, and I think this has great downstream possibilities for all media online. One thing is certain, changes in online advertising are accelerating, and we all need to be aware.

Read the article here. I’d like to hear what you have to say about it.

Don’t worry, I’ll be back next week with more trailers and other juicy tidbits to add to your weekend reading.

—Less Lee Moore, Managing Editor