DIG 245: WEEK 7, GROUP 3 RESPONDERS

In this week’s response post, we are responding to Group 2’s post about internet art. There are many types of art that are better experienced in their original context. Some examples of these would be murals, architecture, and sculptures. These types of art are often built around their surroundings, and if you look at them online, for example, you are missing out on experiencing the surroundings of the art. Take the Eiffel Tower for example. It is one thing to look at a picture online. It is an entirely different experience to be in Paris, staring up at it. In the modern age, the explosion of digital art (YouTube videos, photographs, illustrations), in a way, leaves the art without an original context—or at least a physical context. So it doesn’t really matter which screen you are viewing the art on, as the meaning and interpretation of the art will remain constant. Similarly, such digital art forms don’t rely on setting. Furthermore, looking at art in its original context allows the viewer to get an idea of the artists original intention in designing the piece. At the same time, looking at art in different settings can allow the viewer to create their own interpretation of the art, and draw their own conclusions about it. Whether one is better than the other depends on what we define the purpose of art. Should the viewer have their own interpretation? Or is it more important that the artist’s message gets across?

Music can have a profound emotional impact on art. It’s easiest to see this in movies. Movies scores set the mood during a film at any given moment and can prolong and intensify the emotions you experience. If you don’t believe us, try watching a horror film with the music taken out. With digital art expanding, tools for artists to profit have grown as well. One such example is Patreon, which allows artists to give their views to option to fund them. This enables artists to pursue their artistic dreams. It is the artists responsibility to improve conditions, as they have to choose not to conform.

DIG 210 Group 3 Responders: Can you buy a vote?

Can social media ads be used for a greater purpose? If you believe that any system can be more than the sum of its parts then the answer should be obvious. Yes. During Tuesday’s class we discussed social media ads and their effectiveness across different demographics and political partisanships. We as a class agreed that banner advertisements on Facebook, Instagram, etc. are especially effective for promoting E-Commerce websites that rely on driving traffic to product pages. After all, we live in an age where full shopping sprees can take place purely from one’s bedroom and companies need to distinguish themselves any way they can to make sure that you, the consumer, choose them over their competition. But does this idea translate to deeper views, such as political partisanship and ideologies? Ultimately, we believe that social media ads can open the door these ideas, but you cannot buy a vote the same way that you buy a new pair of shoes. When politicians are spending billions of dollars on presidential campaigns every term, they need to focus their efforts on moderate voters versus hard-line partisans. So, in 2012, candidates targeted specific constituents around election day, but proved to be unsuccessful. “Voters randomly assigned to view a candidate’s online ads a number of times did not have significantly differing opinions of him and indeed did not recall seeing his ads at all.” Researchers concluded based off the study below that the most important part of their ads were the various landing pages for each candidate and if the post was “promoted” or shown above the page fold. Nonetheless, these researchers did not see a significant correlation between social media ads and political participation.