Just Like Me Only Better

This research paper was surprisingly interesting given it relates simply to the avatars, or characters a user creates in cyberspace. I found it interesting that so many of the studied users made their avatars similar to themselves in appearance because from my personal experience my avatars usually bear no physical resemblance to myself.

One new thing I learned from the article was that the username of a character was considered to be a form of identity expression. Because the creation of an avatar often means following certain presets, naming one’s avatar can be used to express the user’s self. This is also somewhat surprising to me considering most characters I see during online play have ridiculous (and sometimes) vulgar names for their avatars. I’m not sure what the basis for Second Life’s game play is, but if it is supposed to be a simulation of reality, this could explain the variance in avatar naming.

The most useful thing I read in the research paper was the authors’ belief that global hegemony affected the standards of avatar creation. The authors found that most avatars followed a Caucasian standard of beauty, with youthful characteristics, and were physically fit. This is useful because it shows that regardless of the creator’s culture, their avatar often reflected themselves, though with Caucasian standards of beauty in mind. This shows that the Western ideas of beauty are plaguing most peoples’ ideologies.

~T

Technology and Society

Raymond Williams has written an article where he analyzed television as a cultural technology. He looks at different versions of cause and effect regarding technology and society, explains the history of television as a technology, and examines the social history of the uses of television as a technology.

One of the author’s main points is that we often fail to realize the specific meanings of how a technology has supposedly changed society. Williams argues that television hasn’t changed society, but instead several causes and effects could have changed society with the help of television. Television alters one’s perception of reality and in effect alters the reality we create by influencing our actions. Television is also a centralized entertainment medium and it centralizes our styles and behaviors because people all watch the same programming.

Another main point the author makes is regarding visual broadcasting’s contradictory issue pertaining to programs’ funding. Without sufficient funding, a program will lose creative possibility because they cannot hire the desired actors; use the desired special effects, etc to create their envisioned program. To resolve this issue, programs turned to advertisements and sponsors for funding. Those who fund their programs, as well as the producers and broadcast systems broadcasting their programs, in turn limit their creative possibilities because they will stop funding should they disagree with the messages of the shows. Oh the drama of art versus money.

~T

Community Media

Community media is such an interesting topic. The chapter we read was interesting, insightful and engaging. I didn't think of describing media that was created to empower members of the community actually had its own name and category.

One of the main ideas discussed within the chapter was the general apathy of western nations regarding politics. The author explains that media is seen as both an advocate for democratic values in society and an undemocratic entity controlled by the elite. Supposedly, the media’s negative coverage of political representatives and politics causes decreased voter turn out and political action by society. I’ve definitely noticed this apathetic plague spreading amongst my American peers and believe the media does have an effect; Americans are more interested in consumption, sports, American Idol, and their physical appearance far more than they care about morality, social justice, or environmental justice.

Another main point from the reading explains that community media can/has become the means for many voiceless members within the community to express themselves. Community media works to combat against the historical methods mass media uses to obtain and retain power. I’m not personally affiliated with any aspects of community media, but this is also a new concept to me. I not only find it to be interesting, but I feel that it could be a direction I should look into after I graduate.

~T

Facebook Updates to New Newsfeed

Scary how a computer is now telling us, which posts by friends are newsworthy and in real-time, based on an algorithm and the amount of time that has passed since our last login. According to Rob Spiegel in TechNewsWorld, the new update made by Facebook on Wednesday is likely a more convenient setup, but people are often used to the way things always were and resist to even subtle changes with social networking sites.

One aspect of new media I find so fascinating is the ever-changing mediums used to present information. A newspaper has (and likely will) always appeared, smelt, felt, and worked the same as newspapers did many years ago. Yet, with new media, a social networking site could change hourly, even daily if the programmers thought necessary. New media is something that will leave those who cannot quickly adapt feeling lost when they revisit the medium after a six-month break. This could be considered a bad thing because it could alienate some users, but the instantaneous consumer society we live in today forces constant change to keep the attention of our easily distracted minds.

~T

Should you be interested in perusing this article yourself, try this link:

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Facebook-Goes-Under-the-Knife-Again-73332.html

Quality of Online Relationships

This article was actually more of a research paper, which surprised me given the title and topic. Interestingly enough, the abstract directly states that there are not sufficient existing studies pertaining to this topic, so I guess my assumptions weren’t terribly unique. Even though this research paper had more data then I generally enjoy reading, the topic is timely, interesting, and somewhat surprising.

Something I learned from this article is that computer-mediated-communication differs greatly from face-to-face interactions due to the lack of influence one’s class and attractiveness has upon one’s cyber-self. I was surprised that age didn’t play a larger role in predicting usage of OSNS considering most teens and young adults I know have a Facebook profile, but most of my parent’s friends are not using social networking sites such as Facebook.

One of the most interesting sections I found was in regards to “Anxiety.” The portion that I found most interesting stated, “There might be many lonely and socially anxious people who heavily use OSNS to establish online relationships.” This portion struck me like a blast from the past because one of my closest childhood friends used to be extremely lonely and anxious throughout middle and high schools. He also harbored many online relationships (not simultaneously! =P Get your head out of the gutter) and spent lots of time at home alone on the computer; however, today he is more comfortable in social situations and he forces himself to leave home and meet people face-to-face. When asked what changed, he simply said, “I learned what worked and what didn’t online, now I get to test it in the real world.”

~T

Medium is Message

Mcluhan seems to be as discontent with the ‘content’ of media as I myself often am. I’m surprised by how much I enjoyed this article because the first page seemed as if the entire reading was going to be bland.

One of main idea Mcluhan presents in the article, “The Medium Is the Message” is that technologies or media doesn’t change human activity, but instead it, “shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and action” (p. 203). He provides many examples, such as types of transportation, what an electric light is used for, or even modes of communication. I definitely agree with his explanations because today the internet hasn’t changed that people meet and communicate with one another, but instead the internet has changed how people may meet, how often they communicate (especially given the mileage between party members), and they way we communicate (f2f versus cyber-interactions).

The main point I think Mcluhan was trying to communicate throughout this article involves the affects media has on human thoughts and actions. He explains that because the general public is used to standards, uniformity, and continuous habits, people find themselves in situations where they are unable to adapt to a given situation because he/she is stuck in the usual or old ways that always used to work. I’m pleased he mentioned the cultural insensitivity of IQ testing and the fact that it doesn’t actually measure intelligence, but instead how well a person understands the culture that the test writers/graders belong to. The most interesting aspect of this point pertains to the subconscious effects media has on people; he explains that media doesn’t alter our opinions, but instead “alter sense ratios or patterns of perception” (p. 207), which I also believe is true because I sometimes am oblivious to the fact that I purchased a more expense product simply due to the brand name.

~T

Man-Computer Symbiosis

I can’t believe how spot-on much of the Licklider article was with the assumptions he made regarding the relationship between computers and mankind. Over fifty years ago he could already see much potential for this relationship to be symbiotic. I’m also surprised by my own enjoyment while reading this article.

Something new I learned from the article was the idea of “real-time” problem solving with the help of computers as a goal (3). I never considered that programming must already be written for basically every situation should a computer be able to help solve technical problems.

An interesting aspect of the article was his assumption that books would not be stored entirely on computers, when in fact most anything that is printed can also be purchased or found online. So, he wasn’t on point with that statement, but he was correct in saying that books will forever be a great invention for humanity. I say this because I always prefer to read something that is printed versus on a computer’s screen; it is simply easier for me to read and understand.

Smart Lists to Group All Our Dumb People?

This post is regarding an article I read from our instructor's 'All Facebook' link regarding friends lists (or groupings) on Facebook.

The author seems to believe that creating lists of friends will be the newest of privacy features for Facebook users. She explains that the new test feature has the lists called 'smart lists;' each list is supposed have customizable privacy settings, which would be useful to say the least. I hope the test feature is utilized so those who wish to increase their online privacy will be able to do so.

The author begins her article questioning why people complain about online privacy, but don't actually use friends lists to sort who sees what. I say, if one is truly worried about their privacy online, then get offline. Don't have a Facebook, or at least keep all your personal information offline. If Facebook wants to continue selling our information, they will; if they don't want to sell our personal information, someone will still easily be able to get it off servers and steal it for their own using. I don't trust so-called privacy settings, but then again, if I was worried about keeping my things private, I wouldn't post them online for others to read.

~T

Here's the link to the article should you so desire checking it out yourself:

http://www.allfacebook.com/facebook-really-wants-you-to-create-friend-lists-2011-09

The Quality of Online Social Relationships

This article was surprisingly interesting given the amount of data and research presented. One of the main points argued by the authors is that online interactions are less likely to encourage the development of a relationship that will be sustained when compared with face-to-face interactions or phone calls. I do agree with this statement given the criteria used by these authors to label online interactions; their data mostly included emails and listservs, but video-chat as the form of online interaction is likely to be more effective than a telephone call. Video-chat would be as close as one could come to a f2f interaction; this is because one can hear the other party’s voice, like in a telephone call, and one may also be able to pick-up the other party member’s nonverbal communication signs such as: body language, facial expressions, movements, or even hesitations during the conversation. I know I feel closer to my “cyber-friend,” (whom I’ve never met in person, but had skype conversations with numerous times) than several of my friends I’ve met in the real world; I would argue this is due to the illusion of closeness caused by video chat.

Not only do the authors argue that online interactions are less effective for developing and sustaining relationships, but they also claim that listservs are less effective when a member’s goal is establishing a sense of belonging or identity with the group than a small group of people offline. I agree with the authors here because I consider myself to be far less connected with my Comm 101C classmates, (who all received the same listserv as me) than the any of the students I’ve ever had in f2f classes. The authors’ claim that lack of interactions through the listserv is exactly my reasoning for why I felt disconnected from my fellow online students two years ago.

~T

The Evolution of Media

This reading was a little dull because it was an educational history, but I actually found most of the topics to be interesting because media has so much influence on humanity.

I think I was most surprised during this reading when I read that postal services were believed to have begun as early as 1600 B.C. by ancient Egyptians. Delivery seems to be one of the author's main points considering he even states, "A possible business opportunity might be in the area of automated physical delivery, not only of letters, but also of small packages containing various small goods" (p. 19). He is definitely correct regarding this point, because communication is now instantaneous, but physical delivery requires manpower.

Another interesting part of the reading pertains to the printing press. Writing took forever and was not easily copied compared to typewritten word. With the invention of the printing press, people were able to share their writing with many people. Now it seems the printing press may be on its way to extinction considering we have word processors that correct our mistakes as we type messages onto LCD screens for instantaneous sharing worldwide.

Foolish Boy

So, I'm a procrastinator, I'll admit it. I finished all my work for another class, then logged on to my email, D2L and blog spot for the first time this week. Like a fool, I didn't think about the 12 hour requirement. At least there's always next week for full credit.