Most of us take for granted the kind of high technology and information at our fingertips: we use the internet everyday, use our laptops to take notes during class, engage in various social networking sites, virtual worlds and games. However, for a small (but significant) percentage of the population, computers and the internet have always been out of reach. The hearing- and visually-impaired live in a world filled with auditory and visual stimuli, and in these increasingly high-tech times they are largely excluded from new technological innovations. On the other hand, advances in technology have also led to developments in new technology that aids the visually- and hearing-impaired in navigating both the real and virtual worlds.
One example is e-Sullivan’s revolutionary computer for the deaf and blind, which converts web text into Braille and vice versa, and it also converts printed materials into Braille by scanning them. The device is small and handheld, and it provides an accessible way for deaf-blind people to interact on the internet. Another innovation for the blind comes from the vOICe Learning Edition, which “translates arbitrary video images from a regular PC camera into sounds.” In other words, you can map an image using a wide array of beeping sounds. The software can also be used with mobile phone cameras, making it easier to take advantage of the software in public. Recently, IBM released information regarding its Virtual Worlds User Interface for the Blind. As reported here, it “provides basic navigation, communication, and perception functions using GUI (graphical user interface) elements that are familiar to blind computer users." Detailed text and verbal descriptions of objects and places within the virtual world are provided by sighted users which are then annotated for use by blind users. IBM’s goal is to create a system that can be used across various platforms, saying "If successful, that portability would enable blind users to learn only one client application that is specifically tailored for their needs rather than learning a separate new application for each virtual world.”
It will be interesting to see what the future of technology has to offer the deaf and blind community. Hopefully the gap between the deaf and blind and the sighted will continue to be narrowed. As an aside, I am also very interested in any research that has been conducted on the deaf and blind community and their experiences with these new technologies.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Why we really go on Facebook
I came across an amusing (and insightful?) article in Newsweek the other day. It is entitled Facebook Made Me Do It: Seven lies we tell ourselves about social networking. The article lists the reasons we tell ourselves we use Facebook and the reasons we actually on go on Facebook. I must admit that I have very little experience with Facebook, but judging by my more extensive experience with Myspace the article hits home on many points. As we discussed in class, people online tend to be more open when it comes to divulging very personal information (sometimes uncomfortably so) about themselves and their friends. We often blame the social platform for our verbal vomit, rationalizing to ourselves that “it’s what Facebook is for” or “everyone else is doing it.” I also found it interesting that the author likened Facebook to a reality show, where people can get into each other’s business and find juicy information about friends and foes, all relatively anonymously. The author asserts that we may tell ourselves that we use Facebook to keep in touch with old friends and aquaintances, but we're really just nosy. People have always been nosy, Facebook just provides us with a newer, convenient way to snoop. I have to admit I have been guilty of this nosy obsession, but this probably would not be the case if people were not so open with their private lives on these social networking sites. So, instead of shifting the blame to Facebook, I shift the blame to those overly candid Myspace-ers and Facebook-ers. You know who you are.
There are more interesting insights in the article; hopefully some of you can look it over sometime. I’m interested in what those who frequent Facebook have to say about this article, especially since I don’t have much experience with online social networks like Facebook. Does it ring true or is totally off base? In addition, does anyone have any Facebook stories they would like to share that relate to the article above?
There are more interesting insights in the article; hopefully some of you can look it over sometime. I’m interested in what those who frequent Facebook have to say about this article, especially since I don’t have much experience with online social networks like Facebook. Does it ring true or is totally off base? In addition, does anyone have any Facebook stories they would like to share that relate to the article above?
Friday, February 27, 2009
Language, Ur grammarz, and Rites of Passage.
I was browsing the internets and came across this article on msnbc: http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/02/26/1810643.aspx
It's called The Race to Save Our Languages, and it's basically about just that: saving languages that are close to extinction. If anyone else has taken Anthro 2D you know what i'm talking about, but if not this article explains it pretty good. Anyway, the article also says:
"[Harrison] also has an interest in keeping linguistic diversity as vibrant as possible, in part by devising ways to keep languages alive online. "When languages are shut out of technologies, when they have no presence on the Internet, when they can't be typed out, that lowers their prestige. ... We try to help languages cross the digital divide," Harrison said."
I found this pretty interesting because i never would've expected to find these language issues here but again, all these new spaces are being formed through technology and people are bringing culture into them, and in turn cultures are formed because of/affected by the technology. In this case, just the fact that the culture (in the form of language) is absent from the internet affects it's very existence in the 'real world'.
You're no one if you're not on the internet these days.
Which kind of brings me to something else: I was looking up a friend's email address when i noticed how it contained a number: 2005. Her highschool graduation . So i got to thinking how a lot of people have numbers engraved in their email addresses, screen names, etc. but at least in our generation a lot of them seem to be dates for things such as highschool graduation, which is a significant milestone for a lot of people. However, it also seems that a lot of the people i know use that date because they were in high school at the time that they made their email addresses. So now i'm wondering if maybe making your first email address has itself become a rite of passage for young people. Or not just an email address, but maybe your first screen name, or MySpace account, or whatever it was that your friends made you join so you could talk to them afterschool, or so that you could write about how bored you were in IB/AP Econ while you were sitting in IB/AP Econ (all of which require an email address actually).
Just as it was pretty significant when other kids invited you to play with them in kindergarten for the first time or when you first got a driving permit, joining your peers and making yourself present to society online has become another rite of passage for kids, who are growing up with the technology now widely available. You even get to commemorate it with something clever like sk8ter69 or liltiggergurl2006.
The only thing i don't know is to what extent this works as kids are going online as young as 5 years old now. They are usually monitored by their parents, and i don't think they are even at a stage in development where they go online to socialize, but if a child is accustomed to having an email at a young age, would it render the rite of passage null?
Lastly, i don't know if this happens in other languages or if it's even possible, but i noticed not long ago (maybe two years back), that people from Latin American countries started to write Spanish with purposely bad grammar and misspellings. Kind of like in English we subtitute plural s with z's. As in "i can has cheesburgerz?" In Spanish they tend to switch Qs with Ks. As in "Por K?" (Por Que?). It threw me off a little because even though i speak Spanish i've never really frequented any places online where people socialize in Spanish, so when i saw this it was like whoa. I think if i were to try to talk to them online they'd find out in a second that i don't know anything about actually living in Latin America even though i can speak the language and could pass as one of them in the 'physical world' (...i am seriously tripping out here thinkig about that). It'd be interesting to find out if this also isn't a new thing, like the Victorian Internet stuff, or if it's just a globalization thing.
It's called The Race to Save Our Languages, and it's basically about just that: saving languages that are close to extinction. If anyone else has taken Anthro 2D you know what i'm talking about, but if not this article explains it pretty good. Anyway, the article also says:
"[Harrison] also has an interest in keeping linguistic diversity as vibrant as possible, in part by devising ways to keep languages alive online. "When languages are shut out of technologies, when they have no presence on the Internet, when they can't be typed out, that lowers their prestige. ... We try to help languages cross the digital divide," Harrison said."
I found this pretty interesting because i never would've expected to find these language issues here but again, all these new spaces are being formed through technology and people are bringing culture into them, and in turn cultures are formed because of/affected by the technology. In this case, just the fact that the culture (in the form of language) is absent from the internet affects it's very existence in the 'real world'.
You're no one if you're not on the internet these days.
Which kind of brings me to something else: I was looking up a friend's email address when i noticed how it contained a number: 2005. Her highschool graduation . So i got to thinking how a lot of people have numbers engraved in their email addresses, screen names, etc. but at least in our generation a lot of them seem to be dates for things such as highschool graduation, which is a significant milestone for a lot of people. However, it also seems that a lot of the people i know use that date because they were in high school at the time that they made their email addresses. So now i'm wondering if maybe making your first email address has itself become a rite of passage for young people. Or not just an email address, but maybe your first screen name, or MySpace account, or whatever it was that your friends made you join so you could talk to them afterschool, or so that you could write about how bored you were in IB/AP Econ while you were sitting in IB/AP Econ (all of which require an email address actually).
Just as it was pretty significant when other kids invited you to play with them in kindergarten for the first time or when you first got a driving permit, joining your peers and making yourself present to society online has become another rite of passage for kids, who are growing up with the technology now widely available. You even get to commemorate it with something clever like sk8ter69 or liltiggergurl2006.
The only thing i don't know is to what extent this works as kids are going online as young as 5 years old now. They are usually monitored by their parents, and i don't think they are even at a stage in development where they go online to socialize, but if a child is accustomed to having an email at a young age, would it render the rite of passage null?
Lastly, i don't know if this happens in other languages or if it's even possible, but i noticed not long ago (maybe two years back), that people from Latin American countries started to write Spanish with purposely bad grammar and misspellings. Kind of like in English we subtitute plural s with z's. As in "i can has cheesburgerz?" In Spanish they tend to switch Qs with Ks. As in "Por K?" (Por Que?). It threw me off a little because even though i speak Spanish i've never really frequented any places online where people socialize in Spanish, so when i saw this it was like whoa. I think if i were to try to talk to them online they'd find out in a second that i don't know anything about actually living in Latin America even though i can speak the language and could pass as one of them in the 'physical world' (...i am seriously tripping out here thinkig about that). It'd be interesting to find out if this also isn't a new thing, like the Victorian Internet stuff, or if it's just a globalization thing.
Working on my group research on facebook I found this article. I knew already that so many private information, including pictures of yourself, where you live, the schools you go to...etc are being easily posted on everyone's facebook profile. and most people don't care so much about posting that information. However reading this article will surprise you how there are many ways that those private information can be used against you!!
It can effect your jobs, your safety........possibly anything.
It can effect your jobs, your safety........possibly anything.
Informed Consent:You as a subject are agreeing to participate in an anthropologicalresearch project about online dating. We as researchers promise tokeep your information and identity confidential. Your name (and screenname) will not be included in the research paper, and pseudonyms (fakenames) will be used in place of any identifying markers (hometown,age, any names mentioned, etc).
This survey is also anonymous. Take the survey here.
This survey is also anonymous. Take the survey here.
Online dating is a reflection of our economic recession
I was searching the web to look for articles relating to my research, thus I found this extremely interesting piece.
It basically describes that even though, the US economy is basically going down in flames, people are still willing to join these online dating services to find love. I guess someday love will truimph over all. Pretty interesting in my opinion. Check it out.
It basically describes that even though, the US economy is basically going down in flames, people are still willing to join these online dating services to find love. I guess someday love will truimph over all. Pretty interesting in my opinion. Check it out.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Crossing Cyberspace
Link: http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/02/25/china.lifeonline/index.html
Chen Xiao took up a very unique and interesting business of allowing internet users to control her life. No, it's not what you think. To be honest, when I first read this headlines, my mind immediately jumped to the conclusion of: "A webcam stripper?" Though after reading the article in depth, I felt quite guilty. Xiao generally has no limitations to what she will do, except that it cannot be immoral.
For three dollars an hour, she will do just about anything you want, and according to the article, she has done a strange variety of things such as delivering pet food, to accompanying a father watch his first child being born. It is a sweet story to hear, but this is one of the many examples of how "real life" (as some people like to call it) and "the internet" intersects in a much more intimate level.
- Khuyen Lam
Chen Xiao took up a very unique and interesting business of allowing internet users to control her life. No, it's not what you think. To be honest, when I first read this headlines, my mind immediately jumped to the conclusion of: "A webcam stripper?" Though after reading the article in depth, I felt quite guilty. Xiao generally has no limitations to what she will do, except that it cannot be immoral.
For three dollars an hour, she will do just about anything you want, and according to the article, she has done a strange variety of things such as delivering pet food, to accompanying a father watch his first child being born. It is a sweet story to hear, but this is one of the many examples of how "real life" (as some people like to call it) and "the internet" intersects in a much more intimate level.
- Khuyen Lam
Voting on Facebook
A recent BBC article reveals how Facebook has made in unprecedented move within the world of social networking sites. With the recent uproar on Facebook regarding how it handles users data, founder Mark Zuckerberg offers a solution by introducing the right for users to vote on issues of future of the website. The voting has been designed in a very specific way, first allowing for comments on the issue at hand followed by a vote. Further, it has been designed so that minority of users cannot create a "binding election." Zucker explained that he hopes this will make stronger bonds between the people behind the scenes and the users. I think this is an extremely interesting concept and will be even more interesting to watch play out. Users cannot complain about having more power, or will they? Also it will be interesting to watch if this becomes a standard on social networking sites. What will the users who voted differently than the winning opinion do? It will be interesting to see what kind of groups will start forming over this issue.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7913289.stm
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7913289.stm
Marriage Campaign on Social Networking Sites
Due to the recent decline in marriage among people between the ages of 18-30, the government has started a $5 million campaign to highlight the benefits of marriage. The advertisements are going to be on Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube within the next month. Questions are being raised as to whether the government should spend money on encouraging young people to get married.
I find it interesting that this ad campaign is going to be on Facebook and MySpace. This is the perfect place to target younger people and possibly influence them to get married but I'm not sure it will persuade them. If the ads are done in the right way, so that it doesn't look like an authority figure is telling them what to do, they might be effective. The fact that the government is reaching people through these social networking sites is kind of scary however. Facebook is a place where people stay in contact with their friends, but now it is turning into a place to display government propaganda. The government knows how seriously people take these sites and how frequently they are visited. By placing ads on the Internet, the government is really infiltrating the lives of young people in new and creative ways, but again, it's kind of scary to think that Facebook will now be host to government ads. I'm not sure whether this is already happening on Facebook, but now that I'm aware of it it is going to be interesting to analyze the new ads and see if they can persuade me to get married someday.
I find it interesting that this ad campaign is going to be on Facebook and MySpace. This is the perfect place to target younger people and possibly influence them to get married but I'm not sure it will persuade them. If the ads are done in the right way, so that it doesn't look like an authority figure is telling them what to do, they might be effective. The fact that the government is reaching people through these social networking sites is kind of scary however. Facebook is a place where people stay in contact with their friends, but now it is turning into a place to display government propaganda. The government knows how seriously people take these sites and how frequently they are visited. By placing ads on the Internet, the government is really infiltrating the lives of young people in new and creative ways, but again, it's kind of scary to think that Facebook will now be host to government ads. I'm not sure whether this is already happening on Facebook, but now that I'm aware of it it is going to be interesting to analyze the new ads and see if they can persuade me to get married someday.
Facebook Articles
not proud to admit how i found this so i won't say how, but the site is kind of like a blog for facebook. all kinds of news and updates, articles, and other stuff on facebook. thought it might help the facebook groups if you go through the site and see if any articles interest you. hope it helps!
-Ed
-Ed
Soldiers banned from MySpace and Facebook
The last interesting article I came across while browsing through digg.com, was about how soldiers have been told to stop using social networking websites like MySpace and Facebook, after military officials ruled it could lead to a security breach. According to the article, posting information on the internet through blogging, joining in forum discussions or online multiplayer games is now considered "public disclosure of information". As a result, troops who regularly use networking sites to keep in touch with family and friends are angered.
I have friends that attend USAFA [US Air Force Academy], are enlisted in the Navy, Army, and Air force and keep in contact with me through AIM, facebook, and myspace. I'm sure that as a safety precaution they had the best intentions in mind for banning social networking sites. But this is the new digital age, where the generation is more technologically savvy and more common means and methods of communication have evolved from letters/postcards and emails to texting, leaving facebook/myspace comments, posting online video/textual blogs, etc. So to take that away from people who are already so distant from their actual social networks is a controversial decision. Personally, I feel it's a personal space. I feel that they should have their right to privacy and own a Myspace and Facebook. Instead of banning Myspace and Facebook, the government should make a compromise on allowing them to just use it solely for the purpose of social networking/keeping in touch with friends and family and not disclose any information regarding their training, position, location, and military "specs." Any thoughts on this matter?
Addicted: How Do You Quit an MMORPG?
I found another interesting article regarding addiction to the internet, or more specifically, MMORPG's on digg.com. MMO's and MMORPG's tend to take over people's lives, they're known for destroying relationships and livelihoods. Unlike substance abuse, addiction to MMORPG's are hard to counter. This article basically talks about the dangers of MMORPG's and how to quit this dangerous addiction. In the past, in China, there were accounts of Online gamers that died after a 3 Day Online Marathon.
I have a lot of friends that are addicted to internet gaming/MMO's/MMORPG's and with this in mind, I thought about the parallel between substance/drug addiction and internet/gaming addiction. Unlike chemical addictions like alcohol, cigarettes and other substances, the addiction to an MMO is not physical. However, it is both emotional and psychological. The MMO tends to fill in a gap hitherto left vacant by an unfulfilled social life. MMOs can, in many ways, bring some sense of false emotional satisfaction to the user. The addiction to MMOs can be difficult to overcome. Being an avid gamer, I stopped playing MMO's because it was too time consuming and reality hit me hard and I realized I have to focus on "real life." But with that being said, Asian countries suffer greatly from internet/gaming addiction and there are actual MMO treatment clinics that opened up in China and other Asian Countries to counter this addiction. Furthermore, another article talks about how the Chinese Government will soon begin a mandatory program which will see all online video game players registering their real information for anti-addiction monitoring purposes. I hope that the US doesn't get too addicted to MMO's or MMORPG's. But if this trend reaches the America's, I won't be surprised if MMO treatment clinics opened up here as well, I always feel like we're the last country to receive foreign/international products/problems. What do you guys think?
Left for Dead Online
I have recently discovered the awesomeness that is Left for Dead online, and have spent the last day and a half watching (and sometimes participating) in the fascinating online aspect of this game.
I didn't grow up playing MMOG's, so games like World of Warcraft were completely astounding to me when I first discovered them. It still never ceases to amaze me that people from all over the world are now able to connect with and play games with strangers on the other side of the planet. Then I realized that all of my male friends, who are avid players of multiple online games via either computer or gaming console, are completely unfazed by this notion.
While I giggle with delight because through Wii, I am able to play Mariokart with someone in Japan, someone in Canada, and someone in New York simultaneously, they look at me and roll their eyes. I realized how completely jaded our generation has become by the marvels of modern technology, and this creation of a kind of global "ambient awareness" of people we have never even met, whose avatars we are now interacting with on the screens in our livingrooms.
Game-playing, which was something once reserved as an activity between friends -or at least acquaintances- is now shared between millions of strangers, who are able to interact competitively and in the spirit of good zombie-killing fun. I watched in awe as a roomful of my friends logged on to Xbox's Left for Dead online and were immediately inserted into the midst of a zombie-killing melee- the in-progress match between two teams from around the world. They would immediately leap into action, talking into their headsets to strangers on their team, setting up tactical formations and gauging the skill of the opposing team. I was amazed at how casually they struck up a conversation with the faceless people at the other ends of their headsets, shooting zombies and calling to each other. You know, something like,
"Hey, are these guys any good?"
"No, they're pretty terrible. But thank god you're here, I finally have team members."
*laughs*
"Okay so go barf on that guy and I'll jump him. After you've called the Horde, '__' will strangle that other guy."
"Alright."
"Oh man these guys SUCK... hahhhahaah this is hilarious oh hey I'm going to add you by the way.."
"Yea sure."'
I don't know about you, but this kind of interaction between complete strangers from hundreds of miles away just blows my mind. My friend even scrolled down his Xbox "friendlist," explaining how he had met each contact, how skilled they were, and how often they played together.
Through this medium, Left for Dead online players are essentially verbally interacting and working as a team with dozens of random strangers every day, coordinating strategy, watching each other's backs, laughing at the other team, making small talk, and often "friending" each other- knowing each other by little more than the sound of their voices. In the hundreds of hours my friends have logged in to L4D online, who knows who they have talked to, played with, and cooperated with? In this type of medium, nothing matters- not your age, your ethnicity, your looks, your popularity, your socioeconomic status- all that matters is that you're pretty good at being a team-player and killing zombies. People who would never even have dreamt of interacting in real life have probably played together as a team in L4D online, sharing a sense of camaraderie and adrenaline.
You are not expected to make witty small-talk or have a sexy avatar. There are no social codes that you must abide by- just watch your teammates' backs, and they will chat with you amicably without judgment. It is simply an entire world (or country) of strangers united in the spirit of having fun.
I know that Left for Dead is not the only game offering this kind of no-strings-attached "digital intimacy," but it is certainly one of the most fascinating. And (in my opinion) the most bloody fun. :]
Social Websites Harm Children's Brains
Another interesting article I came across while browsing through digg.com was this article that was basically a warning from neuroscientists to parents that social networking websites are causing alarming changes in the brains of young users. According to the article, social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Bebo are said to shorten attention spans, encourage instant gratification and make young people more self-centered.
Reading this article, I was reminded of my middle school/high school cousins that own a facebook/myspace and are avid users. It made me realize that the new younger generation is more technologically savvy but at what costs? If this study is true, I wouldn't be surprised if my cousins' neurologically "soft" brains develop a slight case of ADD or ADHD from being daily facebook/myspace users. I guess this is related/parallel to kids playing rated M games that have a lot of gory/violence in them. Also, growing up my parents wouldn't let me have a TV in my room because they felt it was a distraction, wanted me to spend more time outside of my room [not cooped up in there alone], and felt it was best for me. Looking back at it, I feel they were right [I didn't spend hours sitting on my bed watching TV, spent more time studying and with family/friends]. What do you guys think about this whole ordeal?
Are virtual-game players more depressed?
I'm a daily visitor to digg.com and came across an interesting article that made me reflect on my life as an avid gamer and the lives of my gamer friends and family. The article posed the question of whether virtual-game players were more depressed than those who don't play virtual-games. According to a study by the Northwestern University that surveyed 7,000 EverQuest II players, highly active players get more depressed or that depressed people are more likely to be active role players.
With this in mind, I started reflecting on my life as an avid gamer, a regular at cyber cafe's, and as an "anthropologist" and came to the conclusion that virtual-game players are more depressed than regular people. I'm not saying that everyone who plays MMO's and MMORPG's are depressive people, but I feel that even my friends at cybercafe's are generally depressed people or have some kind of "stuff" going on mentally. On average, we spend countless hours on a computer screen, sometimes not eating, sometimes not sleeping. Why? I feel that depressed people tend to use MMO's or MMORPG's to escape reality. I don't feel that gaming causes depression, maybe aggression when people don't know what they're doing, but if anything, I feel that gaming is an anti-depressant because it releases endorphins in your brain, allows depressed people to form social networks, interact and chat with people, etc.
What do you think?
Facebook's "25 Random Things"
Of course, you're all well-versed in the note, "25 Random Things," by now. But my friend actually just sent me this Slate article, and it is actually really intriguing! The goal, albeit an unrealistic one, was to track down the "creator" of the note. While no person was ever found and credited with birthing the note, over 3000 Slate people responded to a series of inquiries regarding "25 Random Things." The results, according to the Slate journalist, reveal a trend that resembles the "classic exponential growth of an epidemic curve."
Apparently, the trends revealed in the recorded posting and sharing of "25 Random Things" corroborates the hypothesis that catchy online ideas propagate according to evolutionary principles of mutation and selection. I think this only has a chance of holding true if the "ideas" are short enough to catch a user's attention, and entertaining enough to warrant a passing on. In any case, this might be useful to anyone doing research on social dynamics and Facebook. It definitely says a lot about the evolution of culture, whether virtual or in real life.
Apparently, the trends revealed in the recorded posting and sharing of "25 Random Things" corroborates the hypothesis that catchy online ideas propagate according to evolutionary principles of mutation and selection. I think this only has a chance of holding true if the "ideas" are short enough to catch a user's attention, and entertaining enough to warrant a passing on. In any case, this might be useful to anyone doing research on social dynamics and Facebook. It definitely says a lot about the evolution of culture, whether virtual or in real life.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Collaborative play and romantic relationships.
Remembering Bonnie Nardi's research on collaborative play in World of Warcraft (which I am using myself within my research paper), I thought back to this hilarious thread my friend emailed to me a month ago...
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=14318775153&sid=1&pageNo=1
The "joke," even outside of the online MMORPG community, seems to be that guilds and in-game play foster romantic relationships. Perhaps you've heard a story about "players finding true love through their favorite internet game." I've even heard them briefly mentioned in class.
Taking this joke to a different level, this particular forum discussion reveals a parallel between "healers" and "girlfriends," and "tanks" and "boyfriends," in regards to romantic relationships. As the punchline goes, "I think my tank is seeing another healer." I didn't see Nardi's analysis of collaborative gamplay in WOW encroaching so obviously on romance as it does in this amusing little forum.
Furthermore, the association of "healers" to women, and "tanks" to men, actually provides some interesting insight into gender-associations made in regards to the anonymous avatar. Class discussion only briefly touched upon the subject of playing a virtual world as a female or male, but it never reduced the class roles of such characters down to sexual stereotypes. As made apparent in this particular WOW forum, the assumptions are that the healer (who takes a passive role during gameplay) takes on a feminine task and the tank (who takes an aggressive, offensive role) takes on a masuline one. The pronoun replacements of "healer" with "her" and "tank" with "him," by a number of forum contributors, also emphasize this gender bias.
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=14318775153&sid=1&pageNo=1
The "joke," even outside of the online MMORPG community, seems to be that guilds and in-game play foster romantic relationships. Perhaps you've heard a story about "players finding true love through their favorite internet game." I've even heard them briefly mentioned in class.
Taking this joke to a different level, this particular forum discussion reveals a parallel between "healers" and "girlfriends," and "tanks" and "boyfriends," in regards to romantic relationships. As the punchline goes, "I think my tank is seeing another healer." I didn't see Nardi's analysis of collaborative gamplay in WOW encroaching so obviously on romance as it does in this amusing little forum.
Furthermore, the association of "healers" to women, and "tanks" to men, actually provides some interesting insight into gender-associations made in regards to the anonymous avatar. Class discussion only briefly touched upon the subject of playing a virtual world as a female or male, but it never reduced the class roles of such characters down to sexual stereotypes. As made apparent in this particular WOW forum, the assumptions are that the healer (who takes a passive role during gameplay) takes on a feminine task and the tank (who takes an aggressive, offensive role) takes on a masuline one. The pronoun replacements of "healer" with "her" and "tank" with "him," by a number of forum contributors, also emphasize this gender bias.
WoW promoting torture and murder?
Thought I would share this interesting review regarding the new "Death Knight" class introduced to World of Warcraft along with the most recent expansion. It's a fairly dated article, but I feel it's still relevant to the sentiments of those concerned with any adverse affects violent games may have on players, as well as the subtle messages that may be promoted through gameplay.
I can't agree or disagree with the reviewer's stance that the forced roleplaying aspect of the Death Knight's initial storyline promotes bloodthirsty and psychopathic virtual behavior because, well, I've never actually played a Death Knight or experienced the gameplay that goes along with it. What I've come to understand from this article, however, is that some players object to Blizzard's decision to force them to torture, maim, and kill. The Death Knight is apparently an extreme form of constricted role play with little beginning options as to where to go and what to do. As opposed to players picking and choosing their quests and objectives within the vast universe of WoW, anyone with a Death Knight is required to advance through a premeditated storyline before stepping out in the freer world of the actual game.
I recently created a Blood Elf character for my class research, and I recall having to complete quests which required that I kill a certain amount of non-hostile animals. The difference being, of course, that I chose to do the quest and I wasn't shuffled right along on a direct storyline path. I also acknowledge that the Blood Elf, as allied with the Horde side of the game, is apparently supposed to be an "evil" class. However, the underlying plot of WoW is obviously war; and in war, there are two sides to every story. I don't necessarily agree that there are good factions and bad factions within WoW, just severe disagreements and misunderstandings.
In any case, players are required to have already played a level 55+ character in order to play a Death Knight, and I'm far from that. As such, I admit to having very little direct experience with the similarities and differences of the Death Knight and Blood Elf classes. However, the article does reveal some fascinating elements of a virtual world's variable gameplay and how even the slightest constrictions create in-game animosity.
I can't agree or disagree with the reviewer's stance that the forced roleplaying aspect of the Death Knight's initial storyline promotes bloodthirsty and psychopathic virtual behavior because, well, I've never actually played a Death Knight or experienced the gameplay that goes along with it. What I've come to understand from this article, however, is that some players object to Blizzard's decision to force them to torture, maim, and kill. The Death Knight is apparently an extreme form of constricted role play with little beginning options as to where to go and what to do. As opposed to players picking and choosing their quests and objectives within the vast universe of WoW, anyone with a Death Knight is required to advance through a premeditated storyline before stepping out in the freer world of the actual game.
I recently created a Blood Elf character for my class research, and I recall having to complete quests which required that I kill a certain amount of non-hostile animals. The difference being, of course, that I chose to do the quest and I wasn't shuffled right along on a direct storyline path. I also acknowledge that the Blood Elf, as allied with the Horde side of the game, is apparently supposed to be an "evil" class. However, the underlying plot of WoW is obviously war; and in war, there are two sides to every story. I don't necessarily agree that there are good factions and bad factions within WoW, just severe disagreements and misunderstandings.
In any case, players are required to have already played a level 55+ character in order to play a Death Knight, and I'm far from that. As such, I admit to having very little direct experience with the similarities and differences of the Death Knight and Blood Elf classes. However, the article does reveal some fascinating elements of a virtual world's variable gameplay and how even the slightest constrictions create in-game animosity.
FLAMING
I thought Yesterday's lecture topic was very interesting. I think it is good that Second Life tries to control visual obstruction because people do make an effort purchasing certain areas of land for its view. It is difficult the draw the line on what is considered visual obstruction because it is very subjective. It seems like Zoning laws should be passed to regulate this problem and I think Second Life will eventually start to regulate zoning as a way of social control on cyber space. Otherwise there will be too many complaints to deal with and problems to fix. Also, by setting zoning laws, less people will be irritated by people who advertise randomly.
What lengths would you go to check your Facebook profile?
I came across this article today and found it both humorous and disturbing. The title of the article is "Man tries to steal laptop to check Facebook". Whether he actually needed to check his profile or he just wanted to steal the laptop, I find it kind of funny that Facebook was used as the motivating factor in the theft. It's the old "Facebook made me do it" excuse. I'm trying to imagine this guy really stealing the laptop to check Facebook, getting caught, and having to explain to his family and friends why he now has a criminal record for a felony. I mean, do you admit that you did it to check your Facebook profile or do you conveniently leave that part out and claim it was just temporary insanity? Do you ever think you'd need to check your profile so badly that you'd steal a computer to do so? I definitely hope all signs point to no on this one. But maybe you can think of a decent enough excuse to do such a thing? I know that sounds pretty horrible but I can't think of a good (or crazy) enough reason to steal a laptop in order to check my profile. Any thoughts?
Is Facebook Destroying Kids' Brains?!
A story on AOL.com today reveals some interesting ( and surely controversial) new research that claims the internet has been "infantilising" our brains - nothing new, since people have been saying that tv will rot your brain since before the internet, and the newest technology ( the internet) is the obvious next target, but what's interesting about this article is that it says that social networking sites and online gaming specifically are more harmful to our brains. Kinda scary for any WOW or facebook addicts.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
The Next 25 Questions?
After this weekend, I noticed that quite a number of my Facebook friends were getting tagged in this specific picture. The objective is to tag people for each character in the picture based on the personality you most associate them with. Afterward, the friends tagged in the picture must repost the picture and tag it with their selections. Today I also began to see this other picture circulating among my friends, with similar objectives.
Could this be a new type of chain letter spreading? With similar objectives as the 25 Questions note posts?
Could this be a new type of chain letter spreading? With similar objectives as the 25 Questions note posts?
Cues in Deviant Art
Hey guys,
I'm with the group that is exploring Art communities on social networking site and my website is deviantart.com, which many of you may be familiar with. After reading "Too Much of a Good Thing? The Relationship Between Number of Friends and Interpersonal Impressions on Facebook" by Tong, Heide, Langwell, and Walther, there was some similarities I have drawn between Facebook and deviantart. After reading this parallels if anyone would like to comment or has any thoughts as user of deviant themselves, don't be afraid to comment, I would love to read what you have to say.
One thing that struck me was how on deviantart, because the website is structured around the postings of an individual's artwork, buying artwork, and networking with other artists, a lot of the way that people put themselves 'out there' on the website or navigate through it is through the nonverbal cue of the pictures of the artworks themselves. Walther according to his SIP theory (social information processing theory)in the article people manage to find ways to use their environment in any means available to create a presence, identity, or impression, even when nonverbal cues are not present. If you think about art solely by itself, in the physical world, it is visual image in which say in the gallery or art showing space, we use to strike up a conversation about the work, introduce ourselves to the artist, or as art historians do, implore their own opinion/impression of the work. In a similar manner, on this social networking sites that are in design for the art community, the initiation factor for sociability still functions as in the physical world. For example, when I am surfing through the site, i like to click on top best paintings. I depend on the visual image to then connect me to the artist/creator of the work to view their profile, 'deviant watch' them (their artwork pops up automatically on my profile for personal viewing from then on), to comment on the work, or introduce myself to the artist by friending them, etc. However, the difference that exists from this point on in the online space, of what I have noticed, is that the art fades into the background from becoming to sole focus to a medium/tool for initial introductions between people and further establishment of social ties, customer/buyer relations, fan relations, friendships, and a sense of belonging to community that is more social, but still artistic at its base. For instance the journals that people write becomes more a intimate conversation. One friend of mine posted a journal that she was sick and got 19 comments of people wishing her wellness and led to a conversation of germs and germaphobic people. It also appears that forming first impressions by being extra nice (a lot of works that are bad recieve positive critique and feedback) is also crucial to setting up relations with other on the site. Anyways, I could write more, but I rather hear what you have to say if you have experienced deviantart at all and look for me on the site! my deviant id is 'thinkmadcrazy'.
Artist666
I'm with the group that is exploring Art communities on social networking site and my website is deviantart.com, which many of you may be familiar with. After reading "Too Much of a Good Thing? The Relationship Between Number of Friends and Interpersonal Impressions on Facebook" by Tong, Heide, Langwell, and Walther, there was some similarities I have drawn between Facebook and deviantart. After reading this parallels if anyone would like to comment or has any thoughts as user of deviant themselves, don't be afraid to comment, I would love to read what you have to say.
One thing that struck me was how on deviantart, because the website is structured around the postings of an individual's artwork, buying artwork, and networking with other artists, a lot of the way that people put themselves 'out there' on the website or navigate through it is through the nonverbal cue of the pictures of the artworks themselves. Walther according to his SIP theory (social information processing theory)in the article people manage to find ways to use their environment in any means available to create a presence, identity, or impression, even when nonverbal cues are not present. If you think about art solely by itself, in the physical world, it is visual image in which say in the gallery or art showing space, we use to strike up a conversation about the work, introduce ourselves to the artist, or as art historians do, implore their own opinion/impression of the work. In a similar manner, on this social networking sites that are in design for the art community, the initiation factor for sociability still functions as in the physical world. For example, when I am surfing through the site, i like to click on top best paintings. I depend on the visual image to then connect me to the artist/creator of the work to view their profile, 'deviant watch' them (their artwork pops up automatically on my profile for personal viewing from then on), to comment on the work, or introduce myself to the artist by friending them, etc. However, the difference that exists from this point on in the online space, of what I have noticed, is that the art fades into the background from becoming to sole focus to a medium/tool for initial introductions between people and further establishment of social ties, customer/buyer relations, fan relations, friendships, and a sense of belonging to community that is more social, but still artistic at its base. For instance the journals that people write becomes more a intimate conversation. One friend of mine posted a journal that she was sick and got 19 comments of people wishing her wellness and led to a conversation of germs and germaphobic people. It also appears that forming first impressions by being extra nice (a lot of works that are bad recieve positive critique and feedback) is also crucial to setting up relations with other on the site. Anyways, I could write more, but I rather hear what you have to say if you have experienced deviantart at all and look for me on the site! my deviant id is 'thinkmadcrazy'.
Artist666
Facebook and Dating
My group is focusing on facebook and relationships and the effects it can have on communication. As I was researching for it I came accross this interesting article on how facebook has become similar to dating. I found this extremely interesting because I have never considered facebook being similar to other dating sites. But its true, the author makes some really good points. For example, they explain the process of adding a friend and leaving comments as the beginning stages of dating. Another thing that I found extremely funny was the example the author gives about a couple changing their status from single to in a relationships. The guy asks the girl to go out with her by saying "I changed me status on facebook." I find this funny and sad at the same time because the internet but more specifically social networks have changed our ways of communication greatly. When the girl went to change her facebook status to in a relationship with this guy the site prompted her that a message would be sent to him asking whether or not he accepts her. This is a prime example of how much the internet has impacted our forms of communication and interaction with each other.
facebook privacy
Hi everyone -
For my project, my group is looking at the different issues with facebook and what I'm looking at specifically are privacy issues within facebook. The current issue a lot of people have probably seen in the news are stories about how facebook is sharing information from people's profile and how they have changed their terms of service to say that they own anything on facebook ( websites you link, pictures, etc.) Anyone who wants to read an interesting article can read the story from this Link . In doing research, though, everyone who I have interviewed or taken a survey from has been more worried about pictures they post on facebook being embarassing or unflattering than anything eles, which I found really interesting and surprising. If any other group is doing something similar this might be something to look into, I've found it really surprising what people's priorities are. I'd also be interested in any other perspective about this issue.
For my project, my group is looking at the different issues with facebook and what I'm looking at specifically are privacy issues within facebook. The current issue a lot of people have probably seen in the news are stories about how facebook is sharing information from people's profile and how they have changed their terms of service to say that they own anything on facebook ( websites you link, pictures, etc.) Anyone who wants to read an interesting article can read the story from this Link . In doing research, though, everyone who I have interviewed or taken a survey from has been more worried about pictures they post on facebook being embarassing or unflattering than anything eles, which I found really interesting and surprising. If any other group is doing something similar this might be something to look into, I've found it really surprising what people's priorities are. I'd also be interested in any other perspective about this issue.
“Getting that Online Religion”
In a NPR segment back in 2007, religion on the internet was discussed, particularly how the internet is changing the way we communicate with the holy. An interview with Godtube.com (now Tangle.com) founder Chris Wyatt provided some interesting insight on the ways the internet appeals to the religious. Hyatt’s Godtube.com, a video-sharing site that includes a virtual prayer wall, gives believers and nonbelievers alike a way of getting in touch with the spirit online. For believers who are already members of a church sites like Godtube.com provide a community where people from different parts of the world and of different religious backgrounds come together and share ideas and beliefs through blogging, videos, and participating in the prayer wall. It also provides a venue for church members to reach new people (“spread the message”) in an increasingly secular environment. As discussed in class, virtual communities offer individuals with shared interests and identities a forum to come together “under the same roof” and engage in religious activities. It seems that Godtube.com and the like bridge social capital; they provide limited social support and broaden the social horizons and worldviews of those who frequent the site. These sites also have the capability of enabling bonding social relationships between people and creating stronger personal connections.
For nonbelievers, the site provides access to a variety of religious denominations and media. Websites like Godtube.com are opened to everybody and therefore an environment where people of different persuasions are welcomed and encouraged to participate. Some people often find it easier to ask tough religious questions online as opposed to in person due to the anonymity the internet affords. Cyberspace in general allows disabled and other marginalized people to feel as if they are part of a community.
However, religion online does appear to have it limits. The most notable discrepancy between online and offline religion is the relative inability to fully recreate a religious experience online. One reason for this is due to the limits of modern technology to provide one with the physical and mental feeling of a religious experience such as prayer and confession. Aside from programming issues, people often face issues of religious law that prohibit them from engaging in religious practices online. For example, conducting religious services in a synagogue created in Second Life is not allowed. However, it is evident that the internet is changing the ways we practice and think about religion in our day to day lives, and therefore, it may be that someday soon people will be able to engage a ‘real’ religious experience online.
For nonbelievers, the site provides access to a variety of religious denominations and media. Websites like Godtube.com are opened to everybody and therefore an environment where people of different persuasions are welcomed and encouraged to participate. Some people often find it easier to ask tough religious questions online as opposed to in person due to the anonymity the internet affords. Cyberspace in general allows disabled and other marginalized people to feel as if they are part of a community.
However, religion online does appear to have it limits. The most notable discrepancy between online and offline religion is the relative inability to fully recreate a religious experience online. One reason for this is due to the limits of modern technology to provide one with the physical and mental feeling of a religious experience such as prayer and confession. Aside from programming issues, people often face issues of religious law that prohibit them from engaging in religious practices online. For example, conducting religious services in a synagogue created in Second Life is not allowed. However, it is evident that the internet is changing the ways we practice and think about religion in our day to day lives, and therefore, it may be that someday soon people will be able to engage a ‘real’ religious experience online.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Family Issues on Facebook
As a part of my group project, I'm exploring the relationships between family members on Facebook. It's turning out to be an interesting experience, even in the initial, getting-the-general-idea stage of researching that I'm in right now. It prompted me to search for internet articles about adults on Facebook, which led me to a series of hilarious articles. For people who don't know, Facebook was initially only for Harvard students, but was expanded to include any university/college students. Then it was expanded again to allow high school students to join, and then, finally, in 2006, the metaphorical gates were opened to anyone aged 13+. Meaning, of course, the adults.
Disaster. Drama and angst of epic proportions. Someone call the waaaambulance.
Help, My Parents Posted on My Facebook Wall, an article written in 2007, nearly a year after the opening to the general public, gives a general outline of the history of Facebook and the adult entrance into the previously kids-only world. It cites the reasons some adults choose not to join Facebook, and addresses a variety of issues by way of providing a specific person as an example. My favorite is the sixteen-year-old girl who created a group called "Adults NEED to stay off Facebook!" when her mom and her parents' friends started creating Facebook profiles.
What if Grandma pokes me? is an article written more recently, in Feb 15, 2009. Apparently, two years makes that much of a difference, because this article actually attempts to bridge the gap between generations. There are the tiny individual anecdotes, of course, and the story of the woman who created a group called "My Mom Just Joined Facebook, Make Her Feel Welcome" only to have Mom's Facebook popularity exceed hers is pretty cool. But the best part of this particular article is at the end, where the author lays down a short, but essential, list of Facebook etiquette for parents.
Whether you do the two-faced thing and welcome your parents on Facebook with open arms and a private profile, or you shun them outright and throw virtual temper tantrums in the form of a hate group, it can't be denied that parents are on Facebook. And they're probably here to stay; Pandora's box can be closed, but nothing that escaped can be put back inside. The only thing we can do now is cope.
Disaster. Drama and angst of epic proportions. Someone call the waaaambulance.
Help, My Parents Posted on My Facebook Wall, an article written in 2007, nearly a year after the opening to the general public, gives a general outline of the history of Facebook and the adult entrance into the previously kids-only world. It cites the reasons some adults choose not to join Facebook, and addresses a variety of issues by way of providing a specific person as an example. My favorite is the sixteen-year-old girl who created a group called "Adults NEED to stay off Facebook!" when her mom and her parents' friends started creating Facebook profiles.
What if Grandma pokes me? is an article written more recently, in Feb 15, 2009. Apparently, two years makes that much of a difference, because this article actually attempts to bridge the gap between generations. There are the tiny individual anecdotes, of course, and the story of the woman who created a group called "My Mom Just Joined Facebook, Make Her Feel Welcome" only to have Mom's Facebook popularity exceed hers is pretty cool. But the best part of this particular article is at the end, where the author lays down a short, but essential, list of Facebook etiquette for parents.
Whether you do the two-faced thing and welcome your parents on Facebook with open arms and a private profile, or you shun them outright and throw virtual temper tantrums in the form of a hate group, it can't be denied that parents are on Facebook. And they're probably here to stay; Pandora's box can be closed, but nothing that escaped can be put back inside. The only thing we can do now is cope.
The Generation Gap
While conducting my research, I came across an interesting issue: what parents actually know about the internet. Teenagers, especially those between the ages of 11-16, have grown up with the internet. In fact, many of them responded in an interview that they could not imagine life without it. This early exposure and daily use of the internet by teens, and preteens, have left them extremely proficient in navigating the online world.
Parents, however, are far behind their children. Despite the software claiming to prevent adware, spyware, and graphic websites from being accessed by children, parents know relatively little about the internet and what can be accessed on it. Most parents have given up and are allowing children free reign of the internet as long as they promise not to purchase anything on the internet and look at pornography. They trust controls on the websites and the teen's own moral judgment when navigating the internet.
Growing research has pointed that this may be especially dangerous. Children often lie on waiver forms and applications for use of a social networking site because they want to see what only adults are supposedly able to use. It is the prohibited activity that, once again, is turning children to engaging in dangerous activities. The internet can't, as of yet, make one prove that they are of a certain age. It assumes that one is telling the truth when subscribing to certain services.
So, where is all this going? To an internet-savvy generation, the internet is another place for them to be and use at will. They use it for everything: schoolwork, play, and social networking. To teens, the internet is another medium of communication that is just as intimate as a phone call. It allows them the facade to be an adult in a world where an adult is the only person that is able to make decisions. With the growing discrepancy in knowledge about the internet between teens and parents, it is hard to say how much parents can control their children from running rampant on the internet. Is it safe to let these kids run rampant or are they just having fun?
-Jessica Cha
Parents, however, are far behind their children. Despite the software claiming to prevent adware, spyware, and graphic websites from being accessed by children, parents know relatively little about the internet and what can be accessed on it. Most parents have given up and are allowing children free reign of the internet as long as they promise not to purchase anything on the internet and look at pornography. They trust controls on the websites and the teen's own moral judgment when navigating the internet.
Growing research has pointed that this may be especially dangerous. Children often lie on waiver forms and applications for use of a social networking site because they want to see what only adults are supposedly able to use. It is the prohibited activity that, once again, is turning children to engaging in dangerous activities. The internet can't, as of yet, make one prove that they are of a certain age. It assumes that one is telling the truth when subscribing to certain services.
So, where is all this going? To an internet-savvy generation, the internet is another place for them to be and use at will. They use it for everything: schoolwork, play, and social networking. To teens, the internet is another medium of communication that is just as intimate as a phone call. It allows them the facade to be an adult in a world where an adult is the only person that is able to make decisions. With the growing discrepancy in knowledge about the internet between teens and parents, it is hard to say how much parents can control their children from running rampant on the internet. Is it safe to let these kids run rampant or are they just having fun?
-Jessica Cha
Children and Internet Use
My group and I are looking at children and internet use. It's amazing to me because the use of internet and technology in general has changed so much, since we were kids. (Which is not even THAT long ago!) Kids today are using social networking sites, playing a bunch of video games and Disney even has virtual worlds specifically for kids. I was actually talking to one of my best friends this weekend and she was telling me that her cousin who is in the 5th grade has a cell phone and sent her a text a few days ago. I had to beg my parents to get me a cell phone and this was when I was in the 8th grade! Yes, time has definitely changed.
I think it is wonderful how advanced technology has become, but in a way, it freaks me out a bit. Children using various websites and being exposed to SO much was unheard of a few years ago. I really think that parents totally have the right to be over protective of their children when it comes to internet use and they should be keeping an eye out when it comes to their online activity. This article that I read on CNN is about how Myspace kicked off 90,000 sex offenders from their website. Yes, 90,000!! If I were a parent, I would be horrified to know that my kids were potentially talking to networking with these people. I think children are being exposed to too much.
Our group is looking into why children (preteens - mostly between the age of 10-14) use the internet. We are looking into what sites they use, and what their motives are when they visit these sites. We have started doing some research and are finding some pretty interesting data so this research is going well so far.
We worry now about the kids of this generation, but I wonder sometimes, how things will be when we are parents and we are raising our kids. A bit scary, right?
-Miko
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Group Project
My group and I are planning on looking at differences in age groups of men and women on online dating. We plan on collecting our dating through participant observation on online dating forums, chatrooms, and online dating profiles.
Initially, our topic was about this online dating service for mentally disabled adults, but we faced some difficulties that prohibited our involvement on their website. The webmaster had told us that we were not welcome to research their online daters.
So, this new topic is great so far!
Initially, our topic was about this online dating service for mentally disabled adults, but we faced some difficulties that prohibited our involvement on their website. The webmaster had told us that we were not welcome to research their online daters.
So, this new topic is great so far!
Youtube Videos
I like to go on Youtube to watch music videos. I usually like to watch people covering songs I like. There are so many good musicians that cover many songs very well. I came across a couple of sweet videos I will post here. The first two are by a 16 year old girl that has a very strong beautiful voice. Not only that, but she is playing a ukulele which I have never really seen covers for. I usually see people covering songs with either an acoustic guitar or with a piano. Here are some of her impressive songs she covered: Pussycat Dolls "I Hate This Part" & T-Pain "Can't Believe It" Another great musician I came across was Esmee Denters who had covered many songs on Youtube. She actually got signed from her covers she posted on Youtube to Interscope Records. One of my favorite covers she did was Justin Timberlakes: "What Goes Around."
Teresa Yu
Teresa Yu
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Marketing
I went on myspace recently after a six months break. Not much has changed but i noticed something I haven't before. The amount of marketing they do compared to facebook is ridiculous. Things such as movie trailers, products, etc. I wonder how facebook can make money because they barely do any marketing. Then i heard from the radio that facebook has record of everything that their users share, such as photos, information, and messages. I wonder if facebook will ever share or sell these information.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Chat Logging Add-ons for WoW Interviews.
I conducted my first interview on World of Warcraft last night and ran into my first major problem: there is no way to import or copy text from the game into a program like word, and the default chat log only stores 160 lines of text. If you're doing an interview in a hub city, those lines will get eaten up fast by trade and general spam, maybe even before you have a chance to write down your interviewee's responses. It's also an inconvenience for them to have to wait.
So today I went online to see if there were any Add-ons that could solve my problem. To those who don't know, Add-on's are small programs that will change the game's defualt user interface (UI) which is the menu that displays your character's inventory, health, abilities, chat bars: basically all the stuff that lets you control your actions in the game. Blizzard knows about them and allows for them in the TOS, so you won't get in any trouble, and they will save you and your interview subject a lot of headaches.
I found these two chat-logging add-on's right off the bat with a basic google search. If you have no idea how to install them, there are tons of threads that will tell you exactly what to do, like this one here. If you don't want to use Add-on's, you can also tap the print screen key in game to take a screen shot, though you will still have to deal with the tedium of re-typing both sides of the conversation and scrolling the chat bar just right to capture question and response.
So today I went online to see if there were any Add-ons that could solve my problem. To those who don't know, Add-on's are small programs that will change the game's defualt user interface (UI) which is the menu that displays your character's inventory, health, abilities, chat bars: basically all the stuff that lets you control your actions in the game. Blizzard knows about them and allows for them in the TOS, so you won't get in any trouble, and they will save you and your interview subject a lot of headaches.
I found these two chat-logging add-on's right off the bat with a basic google search. If you have no idea how to install them, there are tons of threads that will tell you exactly what to do, like this one here. If you don't want to use Add-on's, you can also tap the print screen key in game to take a screen shot, though you will still have to deal with the tedium of re-typing both sides of the conversation and scrolling the chat bar just right to capture question and response.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Facebook displaying
I find it extremely interesting how people choose to tell everyone on facebook about their daily routine and just trivial things normally you would never bring up because of awkwardness. So many of my friends have done the little note "25 things about me" where so many people could read about your inside jokes and what you like to do, but no one seems to mind. Also if anyone reads this and has done one of these I'd like to know maybe why u did?
25 Things I Hate About Facebook
My friend recently sent me a YouTube link posted by Julian Smith, titled "25 Things I Hate About Facebook". I found it especially appealing since it focused on most of the applications and aspects of Facebook that I also find annoying.
I initially joined Facebook the summer before my first year at UCI because my SPOP orientation had encouraged all of the incoming freshmen to sign up and join their respective orientation groups. At the time, I was only aware of joining groups (many of which were pretty useless) and friending people I already knew from high school or SPOP. After watching this video, I found it interesting how Facebook applications and other aspects such as poking, lost phone groups, and friend detail requests have been so assimilated into our culture (in other words, things that we would otherwise find silly have suddenly become the norm due to the ever-growing Facebook culture).
I also found that I was able to relate some parts of the video to lecture. For example, we recently discussed relationship topics and how a relationship isn't "official" unless it is on Facebook. For those who are doing research projects on Facebook, I feel like this video may provide a window to the many aspects that are open to study.
-Stephanie Yang
I initially joined Facebook the summer before my first year at UCI because my SPOP orientation had encouraged all of the incoming freshmen to sign up and join their respective orientation groups. At the time, I was only aware of joining groups (many of which were pretty useless) and friending people I already knew from high school or SPOP. After watching this video, I found it interesting how Facebook applications and other aspects such as poking, lost phone groups, and friend detail requests have been so assimilated into our culture (in other words, things that we would otherwise find silly have suddenly become the norm due to the ever-growing Facebook culture).
I also found that I was able to relate some parts of the video to lecture. For example, we recently discussed relationship topics and how a relationship isn't "official" unless it is on Facebook. For those who are doing research projects on Facebook, I feel like this video may provide a window to the many aspects that are open to study.
-Stephanie Yang
Cat Abuser Online Video Uproar
On Sunday February 15th, 2009 a teenage boy and his brother filmed two videos and posted both on YouTube. It showed one brother beating a cat in a bathroom while the other brother filmed and commented. Though YouTube has now taken down the video and suspended the account, about thirty thousand views were recorded for the video over the weekend. The video caused an uproar among online communities in general.
Since Sunday, numerous internet communities have used social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace to identify the perpetrator. From posts online, commenters were able to put the pieces together and figure out the location of the poster. Using the user name and information along with information from the internet, internet users from various sites were able to pinpoint the location of the video poster. From this we can see how information we post throughout the internet may be scattered and unconnected, but can be put together to show a bigger picture. It is terrifying to see how someone can unknowingly be tracked down via the internet.
The online community is in an uproar, urging authorities to prosecute the cat abuser. Various websites and videos have been made in support of prosecuting the teenage boys involved. On one of these websites the teenage boys' parents' workplace and contact infromation are listed, along with their home address and full names.
By posting the videos on YouTube, these teenage boys are ultimately being punished in return by the internet.
Since Sunday, numerous internet communities have used social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace to identify the perpetrator. From posts online, commenters were able to put the pieces together and figure out the location of the poster. Using the user name and information along with information from the internet, internet users from various sites were able to pinpoint the location of the video poster. From this we can see how information we post throughout the internet may be scattered and unconnected, but can be put together to show a bigger picture. It is terrifying to see how someone can unknowingly be tracked down via the internet.
The online community is in an uproar, urging authorities to prosecute the cat abuser. Various websites and videos have been made in support of prosecuting the teenage boys involved. On one of these websites the teenage boys' parents' workplace and contact infromation are listed, along with their home address and full names.
By posting the videos on YouTube, these teenage boys are ultimately being punished in return by the internet.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
FACEBOOK PRIVACY
I was wondering: who do you guys feel about facebook privacy in regards to PHOTOS or Tagging. Such as what you consider is being private or liberal and why people or yourself choose to have it set on certain setting. Any comments will be appreciated. THANKS ;]
For me, I set mine so that only my friends are able to have access to it. This way "creepers" (subjective) will not be able to browse through personal photos of my friend and I. Sometimes I even limit certain friends from viewing the photos to avoid drama.
Another example of how technology is not KEEPING UP WITH THE PEOPLE
Facebook reverts back to old terms of service
I heard about this from a friend but didn't realize it related so much to what we were discussing in class. So it looks like our information on facebook is technically still ours... for now.
I heard about this from a friend but didn't realize it related so much to what we were discussing in class. So it looks like our information on facebook is technically still ours... for now.
WE NEED YOU !!
Hi everyone, we are doing our research project on facebook and could really use your help! our main focus is on relationships between parent and child on facebook. do you accept your parents on facebook or do you deny them friendship status? please, if you could spare a few moments of your time to join our GROUP and posts your comments it would help us out and would be greatly appreciated! also let us know if we might be able to help you out with your research :)!
thanks!!
thanks!!
Please take this survey for our research
Hi everyone,
We are doing our research project on Facebook and would appreciate if you are able to take our survey. It takes only a few minutes to complete:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=EcQH_2fZBPHEifMk_2bl4aARcA_3d_3d
Thanks!
We are doing our research project on Facebook and would appreciate if you are able to take our survey. It takes only a few minutes to complete:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=EcQH_2fZBPHEifMk_2bl4aARcA_3d_3d
Thanks!
The World's Oldest Profession in the "New World"
During discussion on February 18th, 2009 in discussion, someone mentioned that while they were in Second Life, there was sex everywhere. It was nearly unavoidable. Then I suddenly had a flashback about a funny article that my friend sent me awhile ago about prostitution on Second Life.
Link: http://blog.wired.com/games/2009/01/italian-woman-e.html
The rate is debatable, but some sites such as Joystiq state that some "escorts" make as much as 10,000 lindens a week (which is about 20 USD? I am not sure about the current exchange rate, I don't play Second Life). My research has nothing to do with Second Life, but I thought sex on the virtual world might be something of interest to one of the other groups.
In this case, a young Italian woman (who is not a prostitute offline) decided to explore her strange curiosity on the internet and she made money. Though I found it interesting what she said toward the end of the article:
Link: http://blog.wired.com/games/2009/01/italian-woman-e.html
The rate is debatable, but some sites such as Joystiq state that some "escorts" make as much as 10,000 lindens a week (which is about 20 USD? I am not sure about the current exchange rate, I don't play Second Life). My research has nothing to do with Second Life, but I thought sex on the virtual world might be something of interest to one of the other groups.
In this case, a young Italian woman (who is not a prostitute offline) decided to explore her strange curiosity on the internet and she made money. Though I found it interesting what she said toward the end of the article:
"In Second Life I look similar to the real me, even if I don't use the red hair extensions every day," Alderson says. "I try to minimize the differences between real life and Second Life -- my avatar looks like me because it's me that's doing these things, not a character or an actress."
GENDER and SEX
I thought the readings and today's lecture and discussion was very interesting. I am a "female" and "heterosexual" so the questions of being or wanting to look like another sex has never occurred to me to be a problem facing today's social definitions of gender and sex. I would think these online sites only allow people to choose between the two because they are catering to the majority. But then the minority should not be ignored as well. Hopefully a solution can be found such as broadening the gender/sex selection to make it more clear. This will definitely make people who are dating online much easier because they can clearly describe their sexuality.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Emoticons 1881
This article just gained popularity on Digg:
Again, another innovation bourne during the Victorian Internet.
A further point of interest is the bewilderment to the Digg audience from the archeology of communication techniques that have a century-old history despite being reproduced over "high-tech" devices.
Rights to Privacy?
Yeah okay, I do read some gossip blogs and actually found this relevant article/blog through one of the more popular ones:
http://amandafrench.net/2009/02/16/facebook-terms-of-service-compared/
It compares the different policies of ownership of personal information of the big networking sites. Like mentioned in class, Facebook retains all your information even when you delete your account. Facebook basically owns everything you provide them, including pictures that you upload. When compared to other networking sites like Myspace, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube, Facebook is the only networking site that claims ownership to people's information:
You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof.
Scared much?
http://amandafrench.net/2009/02/16/facebook-terms-of-service-compared/
It compares the different policies of ownership of personal information of the big networking sites. Like mentioned in class, Facebook retains all your information even when you delete your account. Facebook basically owns everything you provide them, including pictures that you upload. When compared to other networking sites like Myspace, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube, Facebook is the only networking site that claims ownership to people's information:
You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof.
Scared much?
Monday, February 16, 2009
Research Project
Hullo, we're the group doing trolling. Trolling in class was called "griefing."
We'll be attempting to study how and why different people troll, where trolling takes place, and how this affects other users.
I've held off on posting about our group because due to the nature of our topic, we are bound to have some difficulties with our project.
A major problem we have is how to gain cooperation from the community. Since the ethics code prevents us from participating too much, most of our data would have to come from observation, and hopefully some interviews.
Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.
-Gloria Law
We'll be attempting to study how and why different people troll, where trolling takes place, and how this affects other users.
I've held off on posting about our group because due to the nature of our topic, we are bound to have some difficulties with our project.
A major problem we have is how to gain cooperation from the community. Since the ethics code prevents us from participating too much, most of our data would have to come from observation, and hopefully some interviews.
Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.
-Gloria Law
HELP- Need GROUP
Hi all,
I am still not assigned to a group and am looking to join one ASAP. I am looking for a group that has an interest in facebook. I am pretty familiar with facebook and will contribute all I can to the project. If any group has any space let me know! My email address is jwade@uci.edu.
This would be much appreciated!
Thanks,
Jen
Virtual Conferencing
As you all may know, virtual worlds such as Second Life offer businesses the ability to hold virtual events online. Some of you may have even taken a course here at UCI where classes were held within Second Life. This is a growing phenomenon and, as I discuss below, has a number of advantages for businesses. An article in Virtual Worlds News reports that with the downward trend of the economy more businesses are projected to cut back on travel expenses. As a result, virtual conferencing has been viewed as a way for businesses to cut travel costs. Although face-to-face interaction is an essential aspect of business relations, face-to-face meetings are not always necessary, not to mention that they are costly. Telepresence solutions such as video conferencing and virtual world collaborations provide a viable alternative for businesses. And as the technology for video conferencing and virtual world solutions improves and is more directed to business needs, companies are finding it a more attractive option. To illustrate the significance of video conferencing on business, Gartner predicts that by 2012 2.1 million airline seats will be replaced by virtual conferencing alternatives.
Virtual events businesses, such as Corporate Planners Unlimited in Second Life, have expanded their services to take advantage of the growing industry. Corporate Planners Unlimited offers standard sessions and networking events as well as team –building exercises such as skydiving and treasure hunts. These virtual planners give businesses a variety of creative options in much the same way real life events planners do, but at a cheaper price. For most business though, it is not a matter of doing away with physical events and face to face meetings completely, but about finding applications and ways of blending the virtual and real worlds together.
Virtual events businesses, such as Corporate Planners Unlimited in Second Life, have expanded their services to take advantage of the growing industry. Corporate Planners Unlimited offers standard sessions and networking events as well as team –building exercises such as skydiving and treasure hunts. These virtual planners give businesses a variety of creative options in much the same way real life events planners do, but at a cheaper price. For most business though, it is not a matter of doing away with physical events and face to face meetings completely, but about finding applications and ways of blending the virtual and real worlds together.
Facebook terms of service- they can do anything they want with your info
I wasn't sure if anyone posted this already but my friend just sent it to me an hour ago. It talks about the new terms of service agreement... Basically the new terms states that facebook own everything on it.. Now if we thought of facebook as a place... and our profiles as space... then that's like saying that we have to leave all our belongings in the space because we don't own it. The article has the responses from facebook that claim it is a protective measure.
It is just frightening to imagine that even if i close my account my information will not be closed along with it... also there is a fact that many people don't know what they are getting themselves into by agreeing to the terms of service.
but with all these contracts online.. what does this show about our "privacy" online?
It is just frightening to imagine that even if i close my account my information will not be closed along with it... also there is a fact that many people don't know what they are getting themselves into by agreeing to the terms of service.
but with all these contracts online.. what does this show about our "privacy" online?
Live Webcam Viewing
I came across a site that has live webcam viewing of many different things such as: parties, tricks, people's lives, dogs, etc. The site is called Ustream.tv but the most viewed one is about the lives of Shiba Inu Puppies. Here is the link Shiba Inu puppies live. I find this site cool because you can have a camera live and be at work, school, traveling, etc. and login onto this website from anywhere and see what's going on. If one were to have kids and wanted to leave them home and see what they are doing they can because there is a live camera on the web. This may be a bad idea for leaving the kids home alone, but it would be more ideal if it were an animal instead.
Recording a video from a webcam and having it live in the second world seems unbelievable to me. Both in second life and in the physical world you can see what is going on. This technology is new. A few years ago, there wasn't a site for a live viewing of whatever you want to post to show the entire world, or conveniently for yourself. It's amazing how technology has sped up so fast. Technology will only move forward and not backyards.
-Teresa Yu
Recording a video from a webcam and having it live in the second world seems unbelievable to me. Both in second life and in the physical world you can see what is going on. This technology is new. A few years ago, there wasn't a site for a live viewing of whatever you want to post to show the entire world, or conveniently for yourself. It's amazing how technology has sped up so fast. Technology will only move forward and not backyards.
-Teresa Yu
"Facebook is for old people"
There is an article in the Feb.23, 2009 issue of Time magazine titled "Facebook is for old people" that provides 10 reasons why the author feels this is so. Lev Grossman starts off this article by saying that although Facebook is only five years old and although it started off as a social network for college students, it has "found it's fullest, richest expression with us, the middle-aged" (time, 2009). He then goes on to list the 10 reasons why facebook is for the oldies, here's an example:
#5: We're Lazy. We have jobs and children and houses and substance-abuse problems to deal with. At our age, we dont want to do anything. what we want is to hear about other people doing things and then judge them for it. which is what news feeds are for.
Anyhow, while i disagree with some of the reasons, i still found it to be a fun read. I also thought it might be useful for groups doing their projects on facebook.
#5: We're Lazy. We have jobs and children and houses and substance-abuse problems to deal with. At our age, we dont want to do anything. what we want is to hear about other people doing things and then judge them for it. which is what news feeds are for.
Anyhow, while i disagree with some of the reasons, i still found it to be a fun read. I also thought it might be useful for groups doing their projects on facebook.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Internet Celebrities
Weezer - "Pork and Beans"
If we really wanted to, we could upload our own videos onto YouTube and become Internet sensations. Many Average Joes (e.g. Tay Zonday, Chris Crocker) have caught onto the trend and scored deals to augment their actual-world celebrity statuses. For example, Tay Zonday has performed live on The Jimmy Kimmel Show, shot a commercial for Dr Pepper that aired during this year's Super Bowl, and participated in Weezer's "Pork and Beans" music video (see above link).
I am glad, though, that Weezer honored Internet celebrities on their music video. Internet celebs may not have made their way to the top of the film, TV, or music charts, but they at least prove that anyone can offer decent entertainment. Although I don't enjoy the majority of the content on YouTube, I do admire the celebs' courage for showcasing themselves when they were finally allowed to do so, especially on the Internet for a massive audience.
If we really wanted to, we could upload our own videos onto YouTube and become Internet sensations. Many Average Joes (e.g. Tay Zonday, Chris Crocker) have caught onto the trend and scored deals to augment their actual-world celebrity statuses. For example, Tay Zonday has performed live on The Jimmy Kimmel Show, shot a commercial for Dr Pepper that aired during this year's Super Bowl, and participated in Weezer's "Pork and Beans" music video (see above link).
I am glad, though, that Weezer honored Internet celebrities on their music video. Internet celebs may not have made their way to the top of the film, TV, or music charts, but they at least prove that anyone can offer decent entertainment. Although I don't enjoy the majority of the content on YouTube, I do admire the celebs' courage for showcasing themselves when they were finally allowed to do so, especially on the Internet for a massive audience.
FACEBOOK ADDICT!
i came across this article as it was a FEATURED article on yahoo....just the fact that facebook has become so big now that it is enough to be on the yahoo homepage says something about how much time we spend in the virtual world....facebook is a good way to really keep in touch with people so much to the point where it is that much easier to "post" on someone's wall rather than speak to them face to face.....but i think this article kind of proves how since some are addicted to facebook, it is just another way to say people love to socialize...it is just that facebook makes it FAR easier to socialize with a few clicks of a mouse and a few taps of the keyboard compared to the older generations of seeing people face to face and verbally keeping in touch with each other.......and btw i didn't qualify under ANY of the 10 elements of facebook addiction...SCORE!
Divorce through Youtube
I thought this article http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/style/18divorce.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ref=technology was extremely interesting. A feud between a couple became public through youtube blogs during their divorce. At first the wife had created a blog where she would talk about her love for her husband until her husband called the marriage off and thats when things went into a different direction. The article also discusses podcasts that are posted by divorced women weekly. I think it is extremely interesting how the internet has become a mode of communication for people. People have strayed away from talking in person and on the phone and have turned to the internet to get advise or update their friends about things that are going on in their life.
A Clean Slate
"What a new Internet might look like is still widely debated, but one alternative would, in effect, create a “gated community” where users would give up their anonymity and certain freedoms in return for safety. Today that is already the case for many corporate and government Internet users. As a new and more secure network becomes widely adopted, the current Internet might end up as the bad neighborhood of cyberspace. You would enter at your own risk and keep an eye over your shoulder while you were there." -John Markoff, Do We Need a New Internet?, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2009
The drive for a new Internet and a move into an online "gated community" reminds me of the post-WWII "white flight" from the urban areas and the inflated perception of urban areas as wastelands. And later, the suburban areas started becoming more dangerous as the decades progressed, and the residents built sprawling ex-urban neighborhood (i.e. Irvine) in order to continue escaping the crime. However, because people continued to run away from their cities' problems, they haven't dealt with the crime directly, and the urban areas have been neglected because of it.
I know I'm generalizing with the above example, but I don't think a clean slate for the Internet will necessarily solve our problems of viruses and hackers. A "new Internet" would not completely eradicate our problems because the problems will continue ruining the "old Internet", and that would be a very irresponsible decision that affects users who would not be able to access the "new Internet". Also, more problems will be invented later, and the clean slate won't last forever (law of entropy).
I honestly believe that we are as safe in the virtual world as in the actual world (as in, absolute security is never guaranteed). And sometimes we just have to take problems as they come. I think we'll come out better by taking back the Internets.
The drive for a new Internet and a move into an online "gated community" reminds me of the post-WWII "white flight" from the urban areas and the inflated perception of urban areas as wastelands. And later, the suburban areas started becoming more dangerous as the decades progressed, and the residents built sprawling ex-urban neighborhood (i.e. Irvine) in order to continue escaping the crime. However, because people continued to run away from their cities' problems, they haven't dealt with the crime directly, and the urban areas have been neglected because of it.
I know I'm generalizing with the above example, but I don't think a clean slate for the Internet will necessarily solve our problems of viruses and hackers. A "new Internet" would not completely eradicate our problems because the problems will continue ruining the "old Internet", and that would be a very irresponsible decision that affects users who would not be able to access the "new Internet". Also, more problems will be invented later, and the clean slate won't last forever (law of entropy).
I honestly believe that we are as safe in the virtual world as in the actual world (as in, absolute security is never guaranteed). And sometimes we just have to take problems as they come. I think we'll come out better by taking back the Internets.
Response to "Digital Ethnography"
This blog post is in response to Brian Tan's "Digital Ethnography" post, particularly the video titled A Vision of Students Today.
Here is the original link to the Digital Ethnography web site.
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I multitask, and I know I'm not the only one. The virtual world imposes demands on us (WoW, blogs, e-mail, Facebook, etc.) that detract more of our time the more we become entrenched in it. At the same time, however, I can't simply leave the virtual world because my e-mail and Facebook demands are tied to the actual world. If I don't message a friend via Facebook on a class project, I procrastinate for the both of us. If I don't send a memo to my supervisor via e-mail, I am not being attentive or efficient. The actual and virtual worlds have become so demanding on their own terms as well as interdependent on each other that I almost need to have my laptop at all times so I don't fall behind on my tasks. I can survive without technology if I'm stranded in the wilderness, but I depend on it in college so much. Other people depend on my to utilize technology too.
The Internet is a vast sea of information that can supplement or replace the physical classroom. Is it bad that I am using the Internet for "distracting myself from my studies"? Well, no, I'd go nuts if all I did was study (I'm sure you would too). Then again, I use the Internet so much that I'm afraid I'm losing touch with the physical world sometimes. This may sound ugly, but I feel as if I surrender myself to the Internet. But this does sound too victimizing, and it throws a red alert b/c the Internet takes over me more than I take over it. If I acknowledge this, I will better understand that I have control over my computer and the Internet, and I will have more willpower to turn off the computer and get in touch with my physical self.
---
Sorry if I bugged anyone with my excessive use of "I", but I can only speak on behalf of myself. If I spoke a bit on behalf of you, great!
Here is the original link to the Digital Ethnography web site.
---
I multitask, and I know I'm not the only one. The virtual world imposes demands on us (WoW, blogs, e-mail, Facebook, etc.) that detract more of our time the more we become entrenched in it. At the same time, however, I can't simply leave the virtual world because my e-mail and Facebook demands are tied to the actual world. If I don't message a friend via Facebook on a class project, I procrastinate for the both of us. If I don't send a memo to my supervisor via e-mail, I am not being attentive or efficient. The actual and virtual worlds have become so demanding on their own terms as well as interdependent on each other that I almost need to have my laptop at all times so I don't fall behind on my tasks. I can survive without technology if I'm stranded in the wilderness, but I depend on it in college so much. Other people depend on my to utilize technology too.
The Internet is a vast sea of information that can supplement or replace the physical classroom. Is it bad that I am using the Internet for "distracting myself from my studies"? Well, no, I'd go nuts if all I did was study (I'm sure you would too). Then again, I use the Internet so much that I'm afraid I'm losing touch with the physical world sometimes. This may sound ugly, but I feel as if I surrender myself to the Internet. But this does sound too victimizing, and it throws a red alert b/c the Internet takes over me more than I take over it. If I acknowledge this, I will better understand that I have control over my computer and the Internet, and I will have more willpower to turn off the computer and get in touch with my physical self.
---
Sorry if I bugged anyone with my excessive use of "I", but I can only speak on behalf of myself. If I spoke a bit on behalf of you, great!
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