At first glance there is no obvious connection between the creative industries and healthcare. However, technology in the 21st Century is pervasive and no matter where we turn we see the disruptive effects of new technology. One direct effect is the merging and coming together of industries. Information is no longer restricted to location – a global HQ. Information is now digital and can be freely shared at almost zero-cost. Those smart corporations spied an opportunity and have been busily reinventing their product offerings by diversifying into complimentary sectors, and in some cases non-complimentary.
Take Nike for example. Only five years ago Nike was a sports goods producer. Brand led, Nike associated itself with the most successful names in sport – the most successful teams and the most successful players. At every major final across the globe the Nike brand was often at play. Retail sales and product lines were part of the this mix, but given the media exposure of the Nike machine it would not be too far an exaggeration to suggest that Nike sits within the Entertainment and Media Industries or the Creative Industries. If Nike entertains, then customers will buy.
Let’s fast forward, and consider Nike today. Where are they? And which sector do they play in? Well, they are still in the business of sportswear and sponsoring global sports stars and brands, but with the introduction of Nike+ there is now a case that they operate within the health space, and arguably have a dramatic impact. But what is Nike+? Nike+ is a product that includes an Apple iPod, a digital pedometer inside a specialised Nike running shoe, and online portal. When an individual sets out for a run the beat of the music is set to the pace of the runner. The shoe itself is calculating overall distance and is reported through the online portal. The online portal itself is technically advance as it allows the user to set specific goals. Of more importance is the ability to invite friends and family into your system. You are able to set goals, and compete with those in your immediate network. This fits Rose’s preventative theories in that the health message is personal (friends and family) and many (the system sends prompts on a regular basis).
Arguably, Nike is now sat within the health space, and has just completed a mass community based initiative whereby all users of the Nike+ system were invited to take part in a global race – The Human Race 10K. This was a race held on an unprecedented scale, and could go some way to moving the world to a homogenous state of health? A challenge cited by Rose “Few diseases are the inescapable lot of humanity, for a problem that is common in one place will usually prove to be rare somewhere else”, but he also suggests that this should not always be the case – “There is no known biological reason why every population should not be as healthy as the best”. This proposition is perhaps far-fetched but does spark thinking into potential research projects and how this might be achieved with new technology, and globally pervasive technologies.
Okay, so Nike now sits within the Creative Industries and arguably healthcare, but what about transport? Well, we could suggest that within a busy life and a busy daily schedule finding time for health is becoming increasingly difficult. But, if a short walk or a run adds to your overall goals for the week, then it is sensible to suggest that an individual may decide to walk where they may have otherwise decided on taking the car?
Extend the same argument to Nintendo Wii?
Nintendo shares a similar story. It once sat within the creative industries (gaming), but now has a significant influence on the health of families, and the health of family relationships within an interactive and shared gaming experience – The Nintendo Wii. It was recently cited to me that a family used the Nintendo Wii as a means of managing their son’s (Peter) diabetes. By all accounts Peter is able to eat a dessert with his dinner so long as he plays at least 30 minutes of the Nintendo Wii. This brings his insulin back to a safe level. The Nintendo Wii is not just about physical health, but also points to dramatic changes in the overall health of society. Consider the following piece of writing from Professor Peter Kawalek:
I came across ‘Rock Band’ for the Wii yesterday. It is a phenomenon. According to it, my nephew, Mark, is rated 6,000 best drummer in the world. I reckon that is quite something for a 15 year old. He is scoring 5* star perfomances for all the key tracks save for the hardest (or hardest at his level, I am not sure which) ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ by The Who (uncanny in the week in which I started to research the life of keith Moon for the blog). Mark sits there with his Wii toms, and is frequently called up by musicians across the globe. They play guitar, bass or sing. Being the 6,000th best drummer in the world means that you are quite sought after. On Saturday he was jamming with a kid from China. Top of the Pops is dead. What’s the fun in a Top Forty of other people’s music? Music is everywhere and easy now. It is the playing that is the key. That, and being in the charts yourself. Where are you in the top 20,000? Is this the future?
Social Media, McLuhan, and Geoffrey Rose
From ‘The Medium is the Massage’
Electrical information devices for universal, tyrannical womb-to-tomb surveillance are causing a very serious dilemma between our claim to privacy and the community’s need to know. The older, traditional ideas of private, isolated thoughts and actions – the patterns of mechanistic technologies – are very seriously threatened by new methods of instantaneous electric information retrieval, by the electrically computerized dossier bank – that one big gossip column that is unforgiving, unforgetful and from which there is no redemption, no erasure of early “mistakes”. We have already reached a point where remedial control, born out of knowledge of media and their total effects on all of us, must be exerted. How shall the new environment be programmed now that we have become so involved with each other, now that all of us have become the unwitting workforce for social change? What’s that buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzing?
Social computing allows anyone with an Internet connection to release their own music, publish their own book, and direct their own movie. For some commentators, Hollywood pales into obscurity, record labels cease to exist, and industry structures begin to look dated at a time of great innovation. Such trends rely on theories of emergence and more recently ideas regarding the ‘Wisdom of Crowds’ but ultimately the thesis suggest that we can all command an audience through Web 2.0 designed sites. The argument suggests that every piece of user generated media content has a potential audience. Any number of people, possibly only one, but equally possibly millions, can view one short video or be influenced by a message either within or outside of their immediate network.
With the Nike+ system we all become athletes, to a lesser or greater degree. With ‘Rock star’ on the Nintendo Wii, we all become musicians, to a lesser or greater degree. If the facebook, bebo, trends continues to play out then we might suggest that top-down models of old might begin to disappear. Change and Innovation will be truly emergent, and structures with be self-regulated and populations and individuals opting in opting and out as they see fit.
This ties in with Iain Buchan’s theories on health communication.
“Target the masses. Participation. Collective consciousness. This can have the greatest impact on health. Personal and many – like in facebook. A leaflet from the NHS won’t work, but perhaps an open statement from your best friend might? Emotional connections drive approval”.
From Wikipedia: McLuhan proposes that media themselves, not the content they carry, should be the focus of study; he said that a medium affects the society in which it plays a role not only by the content delivered over the medium, but by the characteristics of the medium itself. He pointed to the light bulb as a clear demonstration of this concept. A light bulb does not have content in the way that a newspaper has articles or a television has programs, yet it is a medium that has a social effect; that is, a light bulb enables people to create spaces during night time that would otherwise be enveloped by darkness. He describes the light bulb as a medium without any content. McLuhan states that “a light bulb creates an environment by its mere presence.”
Could such social effects of say Facebook lead to individuals being as concerned for their health as their actual profile. Could health be a measure of success alongside wealth, fame, and family. Clearly, the app fad that surrounded facebook for some time has begun to diminish and groups are looking for meaningful interactions. This suggests the social networking medium has yet to prompt all the social changes that may occur from its existence.
We must also be conscious of the ‘Hazards of the Digital Economy? What are the ‘symptoms’ of social media? What are the health threats in the 21st Century?
“Coronary heart disease emerged from obscurity to become the commonest cause of death in Western countries; now it is on the wane. In countries with a newly expanding economy, such as Hong Kong, the old historical patterns of sickness (high infant mortality, and adult deaths mostly due to infections) is now giving way to the problems of heart attack and duodenal ulcer.” Geoffrey Rose.
I suggest that the effects of Social Media in a medically advanced world will likely be cognitive rather than physical – an increase in say work place burnout, marital breakdowns, eating and sleeping disorders, antisocial behaviour (knife crime), amnesia or alzheimer’s.
This theme will continue in future blogs … Watch this space!
