Approach 1 – BruceW
Project Snow Day
Abstract:
A group of students fight back against the University for lack of reasonable snow days. – https://www.facebook.com/UMOWeather
Background:
The University of Maine has become detached from the dangers that poor weather conditions impose, and often declare classes still on in lieu of cancellations via hazardous road conditions. These decisions put student and faculty lives in danger – decisions that students and faculty have no input on although they are the ones directly effected by them. To fight back, a group of students would hack into UMaine’s emergency text system and send out a fake text that shows the absurd lack of balance of power in decision making. The goal here is to get people talking about the issue. To follow up, a Facebook page would be created for students to post about driving conditions on questionable days so that officials might see the errors they’re making.
Explanation:
The goal of this project is to raise awareness of the issue, and to organize and give power to the students in this decision making process. Hacking into the UMO Emergency System sounds more dastardly than it is – only one false text would be sent out which would not in any way inhibit the system from being used for its intended purpose, to alert subscribers of a true emergency. The text sent out would acknowledge that fact that weather and road conditions are poor, but emphasize that we have classes regardless. This would mainly be to piss people off so they think about the issue more and hopefully join the Facebook page. Facebook is the preferred platform because it’s accessibility would be much higher than if an app were made instead. Also since it’s a social media platform users can share it easily with their peers. Ideally, people will post on the page when a poor University call is made so that all the downfalls of that decisions can be organized and documented in hopes that it will influence University decision making.
Credits:
My inspirations for this project derive from the following people:
Andrew Gardner: When we recently were forced to go to class on a day that was absolutely unfit for traveling I expressed to him how angry I was that the university chose not to call off school, to which he responded, “Well what can we do about it?” sarcastically suggesting that we had no options. From here I began to think about and develop the idea since I was waiting for a cancellation text for most of the day.
Joline Blais: My intent for a project was initially critiqued by Joline because there was really no follow up to just having a fake text sent out from which I developed the idea for a unifying Facebook page based on one of her suggestions. Her critiques regarding the idea of hacking the emergency text system made me reassess the idea, but I’ve decided that it’s ultimately non-intrusive if done correctly.
UMaine Meme Page: Recently someone made a Facebook page for the sole purpose of creating a community of UMaine students that could post and share memes related to our school. Of course it’s a funny page, but several of the posts are very insightful to shortcomings of the school system. Some of them were even about snow day calls, addressing the same topic that I wish to tackle such as the following:
This shows how a Facebook page can indeed be an effective way to get a point across, and if one were made for one reason its content would be more focused and have more impact.
Budget:
Materials:
- a phone from which the fake text is sent
- a computer to make a Facebook page
- time to research Facebook page management and phone hacking potential
Money:
- $10 to boost the Facebook page
- $20/mo for the Adobe Suite to create relevant media for the Facebook Page
Time:
- a few hours to make a Facebook page
- an hour to make content for the page
- days to plan and garner support for such a movement
One thought on “Approach 1 – BruceW”
You must be logged in to post a comment.
PROJECT FEEDBACK FORM
Concept
1. what media is the intent/project? 1-1, 1-many, many-many? Explain
I’d say this project is more of a 1-many in the hacking, but results in a many-many interaction in the way it would cause students and faculty to interact.
2. does the idea enlist any of the New Media Strategies? If so which & how? This idea falls right under “Upstage the Man” by tricking all students not to go to class and make the University look silly.
3. what major issue(s) does the project engage? Student safety in hazardous weather
4. does the concept interest you? I think the concept is entertaining.
Design
1. is the design clear and appropriate? Yes, the design is very straightforward.
2. does the design invite attention and/or participation? Yes, it invites students of Umaine to participate, but in a manner in which students don’t know it is a hack.
Technical
1. what tech is used? is it appropriate? Facebook and smart phones. Yes, this is the only way to really achieve this. Perhaps email would be smart as well.
2. what is the cost? is it affordable for most people? the planet? is it sustainable? It wouldn’t really cost anything. Although it would be smart to use targeted adds on Facebook to target those who attend the university of Maine. It would be pretty inexpensive.
Audience
1. who is the intended audience? Umaine Students and faculty
2. how is the project geared to the audience? It is geared towards students unionizing without even knowing it.
3. would the project appeal to or challenge the audience? how/why? It would appeal to students and challenge the University.
Creativity
1. does the idea stem from some personal passion of the creator? Yes, the creator seems very passionate.