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About Dr. Pamela Rutledge

Pamela Rutledge is the Director of the Media Psychology Research Center. Her area of expertise is positive and cognitive psychology applied to emerging technologies and the use and impact of social media and transmedia storytelling for branding, advocacy, and messaging. She is Adjunct Faculty in the School of Psychology at Fielding Graduate University and an instructor of Media Psychology, Social Media and Transmedia Storytelling at UCLA Extension and UC Irvine Extension. Pam is also on the advisory board for UC Irvine Extension Business School's certificate program in Internet and Social Media Marketing. Through A Think Lab, Pam develops workshops and presentations to teach Transmedia Storytelling for Organizations, Advocacy, and Branding.

SOPA and PIPA: Whose rights are we protecting?

January 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Wikipedia anti-SOPA page

The NY Times article (In Fight Over Piracy Bills, New Economy Rises Against Old) by Jonathan Weisman on the proposed anti-piracy legislation in Congress  highlights the conflict between old and new business models. The battle of the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) bills signals the changing times.  It suggests that public understanding of media use is shifting.  It highlights the reallocation of  political heft, dollars and lobby power from the old to new economy.  It also shows the power of the new communications model of many-to-many.  When people are connected across networks, rather than isolated in buckets, word travels fast.   Weisman quotes John Feehery, a former House Republican leadership aide, as saying: “... the Internet world, the social media world especially, can reach people in ways we never dreamed of before.”(p.2) It also shows how fast politicians' ideologies move when they fear losing votes. In my mind, the article leaves … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Culture & Society, Politics & Policy Tagged With: , , , ,

Communicating the Value of a College Education

January 13, 2012 By 4 Comments
Conversation

The following are the notes from my presentation as part of a panel on “Communicating in the New Normal” at the College Board 2012 Colloquium held in Newport Beach, CA January 7-9.  I was part of very august company: moderator Phillip Ballinger, Assistant Vice President for Enrollment and Director of Undergraduate Admissions at University of Washington at University of Washington, Marie Groark, Executive Director of the Get Schooled Foundation, and Millree Williams, Executive Director for Public Affairs Strategy at the University of Maryland. The New Normal: The Changing Communications Landscape The need to explore new models was the emerging theme of the Colloquium.   I’d like to take us up to 20,000 feet for a minute and talk about the new model of communications and the media landscape that is the new normal. How many of you use Facebook personally? Compare this 30% to this number: 96% of your target audience, people aged 18 to 35, is on social networks.  The … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Education, Emerging Technologies, Psychology, Social Media & Networks Tagged With: , ,

Dangerous Method: Engaging but Not Satisfying

December 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Spielrein and Jung

The film, A Dangerous Method, is an ambitious effort to portray the complex and tumultuous evolution of the relationships and theories among the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, his protégé Carl Jung, and the patient-turned-psychoanalyst, Sabina Spielrein.  The movie is beautiful and engaging but not very satisfying.  But then, it is based on the untidiness of real life, and titans of western thought though they were, Freud and Jung were still human beings.  The film is well worth seeing, but be prepared to come out thinking 'huh, interesting' rather than 'wow!'  Dangerous Method succeeds as a largely nonjudgmental chronicle of impassioned people and big ideas that unfold over time.  In taking this long and very human view, however, it sacrifices emotional force, and leaves mostly ambivalence.  It's greatest moment is the glimpse of Carl Jung through the eyes of Spielrein as someone wanting to look beyond the dark side of the psyche into human potential. Few figures … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Culture & Society, Psychology Tagged With: , , , ,

Transmedia Storytelling: Meaning Comes from the Ability to Share, Explore, and Discover

December 2, 2011 By 2 Comments
story-globe-sticky

Transmedia storytelling is not just for telling stories. Thanks to social technologies, the principles that drive transmedia storytelling ensure that it will emerge as the basis for effective communication and engagement. Transmedia — using multiple channels of communication and technologies — is unique in that it allows stories and messages to be constructed in the same the way we make sense of the world around us. Transmedia storytelling works like the brain thinks -- constructing holistic meanings from bits and pieces of information and experience. We show ‘who we are’ through words, actions, and physical clues like clothes or hairstyles, not a sign around our necks that tells our ‘story’ like the synopsis of a TV show. Our brains create stories out of the patterns we uncover around us; it is the natural way for us to process information. Meaning comes from our ability to explore, share and discover. As technologies advance, why should our use of media be … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Brands & Identity, Emerging Technologies, Transmedia Tagged With: , , , , ,
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