Task 1b: Professional Communication Technologies

                 It is incredible how communication has changed over the past few years and how fast this process happened. It is quite crazy to realize that when I was born, Internet was still in the beginnings. Nowadays, we are almost depending on Web 2.0 platforms. Facebook is my way to keep in touch with my friends (from my home country and abroad), keep updated about news from everywhere and about artists, companies that I follow. Google answers my questions and is the first place to go for a general research. YouTube allows me to get to know about artists, film makers, ballet dancers and dance companies works. Skype allows me to don’t feel so homesick, feel closer to my family members and friends, and now to be able to get in touch with members from this course as well. “Spotify” allows me to share my musics, follow my favourite singers and get to know new bands and artists. I am a loyal consumer from Amazon. After reading the “Reader 1” I discovered that even me, who is not really into technology and internet (I was the last one among my friends to have Facebook, Smartphone etc… I don’t have Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter) am actually totally part of the Web 2.0 concept and aware how this impacted my life.

                Explaining in a simple way, Web 2.0 allows an interaction between the users of a platform in such a way that the creator and the reader both take part, share ideas, interact with each other and the more users access the site and add information to it, the better it becomes. So, if in the past the information was controlled by a certain group of editors, producers etc., this “new second-generation of web-based communities” (Reader 1) allows an interaction, debate and easy and accessible communication between the ones that post the information and the ones who read the same information, through this process create your own content, and even customize the way to share it.

                The participation of the users present at the Web 2.0 platforms brought a huge impact on the professional networking practice. Nowadays is has become much easier the access from the dancers to companies, directors and any news from their work environment. To get in touch with companies sending emails, sharing pictures, documents and video links is a common practice. And it probably made the “dance world” even smaller. This whole new way of participation and interaction also changed not just the dancers’ promotion but brought a huge impact as well, on dance companies. Is possible to show and update their new performances, projects, dancers constantly and the barriers between the company and audience is reduced. I see many companies sharing rehearsals videos, backstage videos, interviews with dancers, directors, choreographers, promoting new performances…creating their Facebook pages and Twitter. The access to it achieves a wide range of people from anywhere in the world. The audience can collaborate, share, comment about the company. Valtysson (2010) calls this process as “prosumer”: “These interactive and participatory aspects of new media objects further erode the distinction between artists and audience and offer a model which has been termed the rise of the prosumer, i.e. the consumer is also a producer” (Valtysson 2010, p.205).

 Here, at Theater Dortmund, the theater has its own Facebook page (which belongs to all sections of the theater) and a YouTube channel (one for the theater and one for the ballet company). Below there is the link for the Theater Dortmund’s Facebook page and I uploaded a video promoting “Drei Farben”, which was a new premiere of the theater this year. Soon I will also upload the promotion video for our next premiere “Geschichten aus dem Wiener Wald”. Is also really nice that these videos are shown at Subway and Train Stations around the city:

Main website: www.theaterdo.de

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theaterdo?ref=ts&fref=ts

YouTube channels: 

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheaterDortmund

http://www.youtube.com/user/ballettdortmund

"Drei Farben Tanz": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=howRBEwTrrg&hd=1

                Because Web 2.0 model is constantly being developed and replaced, materials are being reused and rearranged, is necessary to be extremely careful with what is posted at this public and so accessed place. Among the 1 billion users from Facebook, the 800 million users from YouTube, the 58 million tweets per day - in one second - some hundreds will have already seen or even shared the information posted. Maturity is required from users to recognize what should be shown.  

                However, even if is this whole new technology provides a revolutionary way of communication, I think we need to reflect the limits of it. What is explained as “collective intelligence” (Reader 1, Gruber 2007) also limits our engagement, once it offers just what it believes we would like to see. All those internet giants research our profile every day and limit our access to information of what belong to our “area of interest”. So, is it the internet totally democratic? Are we a big community or separated groups that share the same ideas and opinions? Is a bit scary to think that, maybe, one of those internet giants knows more about me than my family members. Debate and criticism is also necessary for further development and I believe is necessary a balance on this profile research. The necessity to be always connected nowadays is also something to think about. Communication can and must be developed but we can’t lose the sense of living the moment, interacting with physical people and respecting yours and the others privacy.

 There are some articles about those issues and I really enjoyed this one:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/23/opinion/23pariser.html?_

This article is also nice, about “Global Audiences”: http://blog.hootsuite.com/ballet-companies-building-global-audience/