Does language shape the way we think?

An interesting article about debates over the years as to whether language constricts the thoughts and feelings we can have or not.

Disney(fication) Material

A few websites I bumped into when looking into Disney and Disneyfication (not vouching for their reliability, I'll leave that to you).

New Internationalist: Inside Disney's Dream Machine - Various articles on Disney(fication)

Global Media Giants - Information on the biggest media conglomerates

Media Conglomerates, Mergers, Concentration of Ownership on Global Issues Website created by Anup Shah. The site has over 550 articles and 7000 links to external articles on issues like trade, poverty and globalization, human rights, geopolitics, the environment etc. etc.

What we've been waiting for?? the iPad..

Dear Mibnacs,

after an entertaining term in the grips of media sociology for many of us, with occasional forays into the world of ebooks, I am interested to see what becomes of the iPad. An interesting clip:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I am interested to see if this does spark a whole new way of reading. I think if it is going to do better than the Kindle-y type of thing, they are going to have to start dealing with issues of copyright and ownership which have remained bleak for the average reader in the amazon. Although the apps are just awesome, I want to know that what I buy is not going to be taken back at the whim of a larger corporate interest, or some censorship debacle. But hey, if I could afford this...Additionally, how will this shape consumption? Whereas the Internet has broken the cycle of mass media (again) with user generated content, the iPad seems to return to the older "arts" of "passive" reading, although you can update and share, really long texts etc. are not the idea...As for advertising etc etc...

One medium which could get a real boost is the Newspaper? Maybe? thoughts?

MLA Style Guides on the Web

Found this very concise MLA style guide that has examples of most of the Works Cited entries. Probably will not solve all problems but at least it's a small help to the rrrreally complex world of the MLA Style! It has an updated version of the 7th (2009) edition of the MLA!

And here: Purdue's MLA guide - also very good!

Introduction to Modern Literary Theory

Dr. Kristi Siegel's page "Introduction to Modern Literary Theory" with short introductions + pretty extensive further references to each theory.

Journal of Ecocriticism

The fairly new (publ. since 2009) Journal of Ecocriticism. All articles available as free PDFs!

Clay Shirky: How social media can make history | Video on TED.com

Clay Shirky: How social media can make history | Video on TED.com


Hi Media Sociologists,

I think this is an excellent video about how the media is shifting. Shirky uses a similar model of understanding media to that of the circuit of culture.
What does this tell us about Media Sociology? Do you think that what he is saying is very different to how media works? What I find is that although his ideas take the circuit a step further, he still holds to a traditional idea that media has, till now, promoted a discourse or set of discourses which have been unquestioningly taken up by the general population/ audience. As we know from reception studies, people have been producers of meaning for a lot longer, although his point about the interaction within the audience community is probably the mitigating factor here. What do you think?

Media Sociology Blog

Hi people, found a new blog I would like to share which has a lot of great media insights, and wonderful photos:
The Kisseloff Collection

Also a link to a New Yorker article about tv which is just peachy. The writer is Jeff Kisseloff, and he has written a number of books about media/tv...

Including : The Box: an oral history of television

Which looks great, sort of a combination of audience studies and cultural memory. Available on Fernleihe...enjoy...