Hyper-reality and the digital renaissance

1) Examples

• Cinema and TV
• The Internet
• Skype - Social Networking 

Theories

• Jean Baudrillard’s work is pivotal in understanding terms like hyper reality and simulacrum, he expresses anxiety about a society alienated from itself.

Positives

• What social networking sites offer is the opportunity to enter a hyper-real utopia in which all participants are equal because the signifiers of social belonging and the invocations of prejudice no longer matter. The technology that underpins social networking is based on the premise that whether you are slim or fat, black or white, gay or straight does not matter in the media-induced reality of cyber-space.
• Likewise, the increased interactivity between audience and institution has refined their relationship, with niche market programming proliferating at the expense of broadcasting, and small-scale media industries often producing a healthier profit margin than cumbersome and unwieldy corporations.

Negatives

• Sometimes, the work through citizen journalism can be misleading as the footage taken can be false but the audience may still think that it is true.

2) The three examples of more recent social media sites that support the idea of digital renaissance are :

• Snapchat
• Instagram
• Twitter

3) Live streaming services fit into the idea of digital renaissance as the audiences will believe in what they see online. In the article, at the very end, it gives an example of the attacking on America in 2001 (9/11); it talks about how these social media sites were used to enable the audiences at the scene, to engage with everyone watching the news or social media sites and let those audiences feel what it was like to be there but the use of the phone recorded messages etc. However, they weren't allow to visualise it live. Therefore, these live streaming services are a force for good in the future since it will allow more people to engage with any event that were to happen in the future.

4) In my opinion, I believe that citizen journalism is an example of hyper reality as it may not be 100% accurate. As mentioned before, people may believe that whatever footage is shown online, is therefore correct. However, the audience wouldn't know if what they are seeing is false or true. In addition, I also think that, to some extent, it is making news more realistic as people are recording events in first person (when it is has started and they are already at the scene).