Into our current environment of “fake news” reports and the public’s growing distrust of news sources, has entered another complicating issue and that is deepfakes, totally fabricated videos created with Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology. The overarching problem with deepfakes is that the core societal principle that seeing is believing is being disrupted. Benjamin Franklin’s adage, “Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see,” is taking on new and ominous meaning in the world. The saying, “Don’t believe everything you read,” will soon seem anachronistic in comparison  to not being able to believe every video you see.

Then consider the proliferation of video surveillance in public places and the importance of videos as reliable evidence in newsrooms and courtrooms; the existence of deepfakes will call such “irrefutable” proof into question. “What implications does [deepfakes] hold for the integrity of any video in a digital age?” asked Vox.

It may seem that a groundswell of fear is rising in response to the potential impact of deepfakes on contemporary society. Over the past year, news headlines concerning deepfakes warn of the “craze being a harbinger of dystopia;” that deepfake videos “could destroy trust in society,” “undermine democracy” and  “may ruin the world.” It’s all very alarming and disconcerting. Yet, outside of members of the media, technology geeks, and students of digital innovation, not many people are aware of this latest, encroaching threat to society, and the general public that’s heard of deepfakes doesn’t seem bothered by the technology’s dystopian effect.

In the Forbes article, “DeepFakes: The Media Talks Politics While The Public Is Interested In Pornography,” the writer researched U.S. and worldwide search analytics to determine the public interest, both nationally and internationally, in deepfakes. The study showed that people expressed more concern or probably curiosity about deepfake pornography than about deepfakes’ potential political ramifications. The article surmises, “the public appears fixated on the application of AI-created imagery to create pornography with little interest in how it may undermine our democratic systems.”

Personally, I am not filled with dread over deepfakes. I consider this innovation as another ambiguous aspect of technology. By the way, deepfake technology has been around for some time; Reddit’s deepfake site existed since 2011 until it was banned in Feb. 2018. Deepfakes can be used for good or evil, much like everything associated with technology’s latest, digital innovations. “It’s easier than ever for programmers to train computers to simulate all kinds of things for our enjoyment, education, and advancement,” Vox magazine writes.

Interestingly, Jordan Peele’s deepfake Obama video, which was supposed to scare the “bejeesuz” out of people only garnered an “imperceptible” spike in public interest according to the Forbes article. In fact, Vox states, “It’s arguable that Peele’s contribution might not actually be helping people understand how serious the potential for reality distortion is, so much as giving them a taste of how fun this tech might be to play around with.”

Generally, regarding deepfakes, awareness is key. In our digital age, a media literate audience will have to look upon certain videos with a jaundiced eye. “Until we, as a group, realize that video is corruptible, we will be shocked over and over,” Cathy O’Neill, a mathematician, told Vox.

“In other words, it’s only a problem because we expect something else when we see a video. If we get used to it, it ceases to be a problem,” she added. “The answer lies in evolving our expectations accordingly.” O’Neill’s final conclusion serves as a great modification of Ben Franklin’s aforementioned maxim for the digital age: “Be skeptical of what we see, what we read, and for that matter what we hear, because sound can be edited as well.”

HOW FEARSOME ARE DEEPFAKES? ANSWER A 2-QUESTION SURVEY!

I was very impressed by the sessions and workshops offered at the first Communications@Syracuse immersion that I attended at the Newhouse School of Public Communications, March 28 – 31, as part of my master’s program. Each session was interesting, relevant, and informative, yet the section titled “The Power of Branded Content, and the Key to Efficient Content Development,” presented by Melanie Deziel, founder of Story Fuel, resonated the most with me. So much so, that I believe this particular type of work, being a branded content manager/creator, may very well be the specific profession I will work on developing.

An excerpt from Melanie Deziel’s YouTube video.

I now view branded content as the happy merger of advertising, journalism, and public relations, all of the areas of study offered at Newhouse, all of which I have either work experience in, am currently studying, or have an interest in. I greatly appreciate Deziel for not only introducing this profession but also for providing such an engaging presentation and practical advice on how to become successful at it.

Deziel’s most salient advice and the concept that continues to reverberate for me, was her statement that “creativity thrives within confines.” At first, this was a jarring conclusion to me. I had always subscribed to the freewheeling, open-ended notion of creativity. However, Deziel imparted that confines or parameters “give your brain a direction to go in” and her analogy about being bi- or multilingual and being asked to recite something specific in a foreign language as opposed to having to select from an infinite amount of possible phrases really drove home the point of applying confines for creative thought.

I have since explored the subject of creativity and constraints and uncovered a couple of interesting articles. One article, “A Non-Writer’s Guide to Storytelling,” by Kristen Longnecker, talks about instituting “frames” into creative challenges to “switch your brain’s track . . . to problem solving mode.” http://jimc.medill.northwestern.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2016/12/JIMC_2017.33_anonwritersguide.pdf

In another article, “The Benefits of Constraints,” writer Charlie Gilkey admits that it is counterintuitive to impose confines on creativity, however, he emphasizes that “constraints also liberate us to do our best because they save our precious time, energy, and attention for focusing on achieving the goal within the confines of the constraints.” https://medium.com/thrive-global/the-benefits-of-constraints-c03df967ee5b

Deziel’s demonstration of applying focus and format to content by using her matrix system,  truly elucidated how confines really work in the process of generating creative content ideas. She offered the most useful information by providing ten focus areas or things content can be about, and ten formats, which she explained are the ways to bring content to life. The exercises she led the class in tested the functionality of  her matrix  system and proved its effectiveness while being educational and fun. The inclusion of content multipliers was a bonus to the very impactful lesson on producing branded content.

Deziel was an exceptional presenter at the Immersion who shared a wealth of information on a very important topic for communications professionals. As the person responsible for regularly producing  content for my organization’s website, newsletters, and social media platforms, I found Deziel’s session to be invaluable. It greatly expanded my perspective on what’s possible regarding creating fresh, quality content that helps to enhance my organization’s engagement with our public. I have since downloaded Deziel’s content matrix and shared it with my staff. It has already made our brainstorming sessions on story ideas more efficient and a lot less stressful. And, it was great to also find on Deziel’s website, storyfuel.co, a useful guide to better story writing, containing worksheets for composing instructional, informational, and opinion stories.

Finally, I must add that I appreciated Deziel’s mini Latin lesson: The word “Content” comes from the Latin roots of con + texere, and means “weave together,” an appropriate bit of information all communicators should know

I found the experience of setting up a blog with WordPress for the ICC 612 class last term to be interesting and enjoyable because of the application’s ease of use.

I was actually a little surprised how easily a blogger-novice like me was able to create a functional and professional-looking blog site using WordPress’s template. It was also effortless on WordPress to publish my blogs and share them through my Twitter account.

Though WordPress provides standard templates, it supports user creativity by offering numerous customizable options. I didn’t have to know a lot about content management systems to effectively navigate the WordPress application and incorporate its features in my blog. My blog site was also responsive on mobile devices.

For these reasons and more I definitely see enterprise use for WordPress as a CMS for companies’ websites. WordPress is already the most commonly used CMS because of the benefits it provides its users, including templates and themes, authoring tools, and asset management. I think its ease of use will remain as the number one attraction for new website creators as it allows people with limited IT knowledge to produce and maintain an impressive website and online presence. However, it remains to be seen whether WordPress can overcome some of its cons by developing some important functionalities, such as access for user groups, analytics, and compatibility with third party programs for content marketing and content strategy management.

To consider the future of communications is to be simply enthralled by the unpredictability and excitement of the constant innovations in this field. The Internet and modern technology have created an environment from which so many aspects of communications have developed, transformed, and continue to emerge almost daily.

 

It’s a little mind-blowing to take in all of the future possibilities of communications, from social media to augmented reality to live video streaming to the growth of user-generated content, and so much more. How to pick any one area that’s more interesting than the rest? Not possible.

Pressed for an answer, though, I have to say that I am truly interested in the entire future of communications.  It is this interest that compelled me to enroll in the communications@syracuse master’s program. I have worked in the communications field for many years and am currently the head of the Public Relations/Information Department at my office. Interestingly, with all of my experience, today it’s a struggle to keep up with the rapidly shifting dynamics of communications.

But I’m not complaining. I have always been attracted to the spontaneity and vigor of the communications field and its power to connect people and provide forums for generating ideas that may enhance human existence. Media convergence on the Internet has amped-up the vitality and reach of communications and each innovation promises more excitement and more potential for human growth and development.

For the last 30-plus years, all areas of the communications field have been disrupted and reinvented. For those of us who work in the communications field or study it, change is the one thing about it that we can expect with certainty. And that is, to me, what continues to be the most interesting thing about the future of communications.

Since I was a kid, I’ve loved humorous commercials and my current favorite  is Progressive insurance’s “Janice Bought a House.” Interestingly, it occurred to me when thinking about my all time fav commercials that several top insurance companies use comedy to sell their services on television. For instance, Geico, Progressive, and Allstate — not the “good hands” guy but the mayhem man— all use humorous television ads to great effect. Since insurance is purchased to cover bad happenings, such as disaster, disease, accidents, theft, destruction, and/or death, I guess a little levity is needed to capture and hold people’s attention on this sort of depressing topic.

I find Progressive’s commercial featuring its usual main character, Flo, and her “sister” Janice to be both funny and unforgettable; for an insurance company’s television ad, that’s a winning combination!

What really makes this particular TV ad hilarious is its spot-on parody of our social-media-obsessed generation. Janice is not listening to Flo tell her about the need to purchase home insurance because she’s too busy taking selfies and posting on her cell phone, presumably fashioning an online image of herself that doesn’t quite match her reality.

This commercial works because almost everyone from youth to older audiences can relate to its cultural symbolism and laugh at the underlying joke about social media personalities. This commercial is light, amusing and memorable and quite possibly may put many young and older people alike in the frame of mind to think about home insurance and what Progressive has to offer. So Janice’s role as a social media influencer is borne out in an ironic way in this commercial. It’s all quite witty on Progressive’s part, I’d say.

“Big Data” is a term that is generally misunderstood. At least that’s what I found in a very small, unscientific survey of my family members. When I bring up the subject or simply ask the question, “What do you think about big data?” My family instantly goes into a negative reaction, saying things like, “Don’t like it” and “It’s bad.”

When pressed to explain what they think big data is, the consensus is that it is an invasion of privacy.

My little polling experiment revealed to me that the reality of big data needs to be better explained to the general public.

I did a little research on the topic and saw that there are a lot of definitions being bantered around about big data. But the meaning that made the most sense to me and upon which  I’ve settled is simply that big data is the amount of accessible information available on people primarily through their everyday use of the Internet, and how companies are managing, analyzing, utilizing, and securing that data.

Under this definition, big data is mainly a big issue with which businesses must contend. In order to grow businesses in our digital age, access to and the proper use of big data is essential.

I personally remember the early days of the Internet in the late 1980s, early 1990s, and in the public relations and marketing fields, database management was all the rage. Everyone in PR, marketing, and advertising wanted to learn how to get and effectively use databases. At the time, the databases were very simple, containing a limited number of fields, such as name, address, phone, and email address, and they may be categorized under specific interests. They were used for email campaigns that would invite people to events, request media to run press releases, or solicit donors for nonprofits. But that was before Web 2.0 and the rise of social media and definitely years away from the “Semantic” Web 3.0.

These days, available data is big! The information fields of current databases are complex and varied, they may contain web browsing histories, financial transactions, several demographics, and buying habits. Big data requires special software to analyze it and store it. Additionally, it requires the four “V’s” to describe it:

Volume: The quantity of generated and stored data. The size of the data determines the value and potential insight, and whether it can be considered big data or not.

Variety: The type and nature of the data. This helps people who analyze it to effectively use the resulting insight. Big data draws from text, images, audio, video; plus it completes missing pieces through data fusion.

Velocity: In this context, the speed at which the data is generated and processed to meet the demands and challenges that lie in the path of growth and development. Big data is often available in real-time.

Veracity: The data quality of captured data can vary greatly, affecting the accurate analysis.

Today, companies must be proficient at effectively using big data to create personalized experiences for their customers. Certain companies are great at utilizing big data, such as Amazon, which is managing its access to big data to build brand loyalty and increase sales.

For example, I recently purchased an exercise bike on Amazon.com for my mother to use for physical therapy following her knee replacement surgery. It was convenient for me to purchase the bike because Amazon has my credit card information saved, to have the bike delivered to my mother because Amazon has her address saved from previous packages I’ve sent her, and finally, based on Amazon’s follow-up, emailed suggestion, I purchased a floor mat for the bike, which I didn’t initially think about but ended up needing.

The following information was cited in Wikipedia, under the definition of big data, describing the sheer volume of data that large digital companies contend with:

• ebay.com uses two data warehouses at 7.5 petabytes and 40PB as well as a 40PB Hadoop cluster for search, consumer recommendations, and merchandising.
• Amazon.comhandles millions of back-end operations every day, as well as queries from more than half a million third-party sellers. The core technology that keeps Amazon running is Linux-based and as of 2005, they had the world’s three largest Linux databases, with capacities of 7.8 TB, 18.5 TB, and 24.7 TB.
• Facebook handles 50 billion photos from its user base.  As of June 2017, Facebook reached 2 billion monthly active users.
• Google was handling roughly 100 billion searches per month as of August 2012.

Looking at these numbers it’s hard to wrap one’s mind around the concept of big data and it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the idea. But despite my family members misgivings and trepidations, I don’t fear big data because it’s just information. I’m excited about its myriad possibilities.

There’s a saying that states, “freedom ain’t free.” And, it appears that the same can be said about the Internet these days. If the choice was mine, I would definitely pass a law that would keep access to the Internet open, free and equal to all!

The Internet is the greatest example of democracy that exists in the world. It’s not surprising that there are those who oppose this massive forum for the exchange of ideas and powerful force for change being within easy reach of far-flung, diverse groups of people.

The status quo wants to retain control of the masses intellectually, socially and economically; the Internet poses a real threat to its world domination. Movements that the status quo would consider to be radical are effectively using the Internet to communicate adverse messages and issues. Not to mention the open market potential of web-based businesses, where small marketers with big ideas can reach millions of potential customers with minimal investment, leveling the playing field with major corporations.

I would rule the Internet free for all and ensure that individuals have equal opportunity to all the benefits that it offers. My regulation would guarantee that no one interest group ever monopolizes the Internet or controls the availability of its services.

My campaign would not be as dramatic as “Give me [Internet] or give me death.” But with the heartfelt emotion expressed by Cinque in “Amistad,” I would declare: “Give us, us free [Internet]!”