Filter for Netflix

After reading the section of chapter one in Citizen Marketers about "Filters", I decided to check out Mike Kaltschnee's HackingNetflix.com blog.

The website is well organized with an option to submit a story, RSS Feeds, polls, links, etc. This truly does blur the line between journalist, blogger, and the common public. With blogs such as HackingNetflix, any normal person can become a journalist.

Filters, as mentioned in the chapter, wrap up people's rants and raves, and some traditional media stories, into journalistic packages complete with sources, links, observations, etc. Some remain, as Kaltschees strives to, objective. HackingNetflix seems to do a good job remaining balanced without coming across as complete marketing for Netflix. A few stories are posted by Kaltschnee weekly, with credit to the people who submit them. Though most of the stories relate directly to Netflix, some are about other renting services or things to do with DVDs.

Filter blogs are an interesting blend of journalism with every day life. I still have not decided how this will affect media journalism and the general public, for the better or worse. But it will be interesting to watch how this continues to evolve the way we view news and how we receive information.

Blogger, or journalist?

Today journalism is much more than news papers and television media. Normal people have become a new source of news, gossip, product reports, and much more. Blogs serve as a vehicle for information sharing. Many help feed our knowledge of other people by showing real people's voices and points of view. We want to know what others think, what they are doing, and what they are buying.

Even blogs with important news, such as the whitehouse.gov blog, are topped with comments from real people. This gives us another perspective on the news. Now we can view the topic, and other's comments and opinions on the issues. It comforts us to hear what everyone else has to say. We no longer have few sources of biased media and skewed information, we have all American people as journalists.

The desire to know what others with many different viewpoints think and say should continue to influence us to follow less conventional media sources. Many online sources, including blogs, can be a good source of information and show us many views and opinions. This new media seems more honest and open. The change from completely government controlled journalism has made the move to our own hands; we can only hope for more.