Customer-Fans and the Happily Exploited

Time for another story (I appear to have a lot to tell!); this time, about the experiences I had at the biggest comic book convention in the world, San Diego Comic Con International. When I graduated college, I moved to Los Angeles and ended up working at an agency that represents writers, directors and producers. […]

Echo Chambers and Fandom

Okay, first, let’s talk about echo chambers. You may have heard this term, especially since the 2016 presidential election. In media studies, an echo chamber is a community, usually one that is online, where the members of that community all have the same interests, values, and beliefs. This group of like-minded individuals talk with one […]

Community in Online Learning: Thoughts from EDUCAUSE

Every year, there is a special gathering of individuals interested in improving the technologies of higher education. Faculty, IT administrators, inventors, entrepreneurs, the Big Dogs (i.e. Google, Microsoft, Dell, etc) convene for several days of talks, presentations, pitches, sales, and ideas. This get annual, international together is sponsored by EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit dedicated to improving […]

Cultivation theory, media socialization and adolescents’ identity formation

(Originally a class paper written in 2003, with the full paper, including references, found here. Related thinking on this topic can be found here.) When a farmer plants a field of corn, he must provide several environmental conditions to ensure it grows. There must be ample sunlight, water, and fertilizer. The temperature should neither be […]