GREEN New Media: The Finale

Emily, Molly and Christina are three women with three different focuses–PR/Business/Networking, Science/Biology/Health and Fashion/Merchandising/Textiles, respectively. Within their specific focuses they have all recognized the power of the Green Movement and have therefore declared the following statement as their final research project question…

How has the media and new technology advanced the Green movement from scientists and activists, to a vast audience in mainstream America?

Within this framework, they will ask:

• What is the science of the Green Movement? Where did it begin? Where was the “spark” in interest? How has it grown to help the medical field? Are hospitals investing in sustainability? How so?
• How has it evolved into the realm of business? Where do we see it the most? How popular is sustainability in the corporate atmosphere? Is it recognized as part of this “New Economy”? How can American Green business trends teach different economies across the globe?
• How has the fashion world responded to this trend? In what way do popular trends among celebrities reflect the Green Movement? How have they helped to create a “buzz”?

We are very excited to study the effects that New Media has had in advancing this specific cause, and hope to realize similar trends throughout our research which can be further applied to new, worthwhile causes.

Sincerely,
Emily, Molly and Christina

females spark green by email

The findings regarding men and women’s use of the internet were useful in possibly understanding why the Green movement has taken off so much in the recent decade. The study says that women have been using the internet and email to build their relationships, which leads me to believe that they would also have the time to further causes they were confident about. ”Gender Differences in British Blogging” reports that there are more women bloggers than men, but that men’s ”verteran” blogs have been proven more influential. Perhaps the build-up of the Green movement had similar beginnings of other historical events in the sense that they were sparked by women, but needed men to put them into action. For instance, when women first began writing literature they needed a man in order to get their stories published. This is another sense where men have discovered how a woman’s cause can help their own as well, and have begun to support it. Men in big business recognized how Green could benefit the economy by providing jobs, and spread the word as well. Even if women could not totally help Green make the jump into mainstream media, I believe these articles are evidence that they were possibly the spark, and men helped to take it to the next level.

-Emily

Mo Media, Mo Problems

(This blog entry is based on the article “What’s new about new media?” written by Roger Silverstone and printed in the journal New Media & Society.)

 

“Novelty is our problem.”

Although many of us consider ourselves fairly optimistic, Silverstone’s recognition of the disuphoric results of new media opens a floodgate of specific instances where technology has negatively impacted society. With new powers come new consequences, and new responsibilities. Although our generation is hugely privileged by the unlimited amount of information available to us, it is difficult not to recognize some  troublesome underlying effects. The most noticeable problem to university students is the drastic drop in our attention spans. For instance, many students are wondering why they should read an entire textbook when one can find a completely sufficient summary by typing the name and author into a Google search field. Further, look at the spike in use of  Attention Deficit Disorder drugs on college campuses -especially Adderall- which is quickly becoming the most popular academic steroid. Our generation has trouble concentrating because we are used to having everything available to us right when we want it as a result of the Internet. This is just one way in which these new technological advances in media and resources are transforming our institutions.

-Emily