Culture in the Digital World

This week’s Elluminate conference was quite helpful as the semester draws to a close. With the term paper looming overhead I’m still concerned on organizing all my information and creating the right flow for the paper. However with the peer review over Elluminate I felt that I was in the same boat with a few of the other students. It was nice to hear the feedback from other classmates since there is a virtual distance created through the online classroom.

Hopefully everything will fall into place over the next week for everyone and their papers. This is certainly a stressful time of the semester, but it’s nice to regroup and help one another along the way.

As the semester draws to a close I beginning to feel the strain of work overload. I’m quite grateful that we’ve been given assignments such as the abstract and outline in order to help complete our term paper for the semester. My topic pertains on the role technology has played in our everyday lives with a specific emphasis on travel blogging. While years ago travel agencies may have ruled the tourism industry,  the internet has changed the face of the market. With the use of online booking sites as well a tourism websites in general, people have gained instant access to their future getaways and are only one click away from their next vacation.

However why have we become so reliant with the thoughts of others that we don’t even know over the internet? Are their blogs more accurate and appealing than what we could find from reading a travel book or asking a travel agent? Furthermore, has the internet replaced  travel and instead led us to only experience these places through a virtual world?

Last weekend I was able to use Elluminate for the first time and experience a live online classroom. Instead of long delays or the absence of any live tech help, our professors were able to hold an entire conference via the internet. Not only were they able to communicate with students from across the New York state, but also across the Atlantic and all the way to Slovenia.

Having the students log onto the program fifteen minutes prior to the start of the conference was quite helpful in learning the basic ins and outs of the program. Even though I had visited Elluimate before the day of the meeting, I was unable to grasp how we would be able to communicate and how to use the tools on the menu. The hand clapping icon seemed a bit confusing and I wasn’t sure how to use the white board at first, but after some trial and error all of the users in the meeting got to learn the basics of Elluminate.

While text communication was easy enough and followed the same format as chatting through instant message, it was interesting to see how live audio could also be incorporated. Even though only three users could communicate at one time, in the long run those conversations were best understood and in my opinion easier to convey to fellow users in the meeting. Overall I believe this to be quite a successful meeting and a great way to stop the virtual distance that can be experienced through online courses.

What titles seem sufficiently important to include in the proposed reading packet?

Johnson, S. (5 June 2009). How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live. Time.

Kelly, K. (Nov 2008). Becoming Screen Literate. New York Times Magazine.

1. Steven Johnson’s “How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live”, appeared in Time magazine on June 5, 2009 and is relevant reference for Bill Wolff’s “Toward the creation of a web 2.0 readings packet”. While Twitter may exist for simply answering “what are you doing?” in 140 characters or less, it has grown into something more than its creators had originally imagined. Although brief, the messages provide a short insight to some of our daily musings, as well as sharing links to users across the internet. With new implementations including the search box, the level of communication between users has been extended and allows for the sharing of ideas.

Johnson, S. (5 June 2009). How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live. Time.

2. Bill Wolff’s article mentions Kevin Kelly’s “Becoming Screen Literate” which appeared in New York Times Magazine on November 21, 2008. While the article starts off with some of the mundane images we experience from the televisions placed at gas stations, it begins to unravel how much images make up our daily lives. While communication amongst the masses used to solely exist in literary form, film and photography has created a new visual medium for the world. Although text still stands in high regard, visual creations have the ability to allow anyone to quickly create and share a message in new media form.

Kelly, K. (Nov 2008). Becoming Screen Literate. New York Times Magazine.

What titles could be deleted from the list?

Hoy, A., and Fuchs, T. (2009). twistori. [Interactive.]

After reviewing Hoy’s Twistori, while entertaining I don’t find it to be as beneficial as J.Harris’ interactive website We Feel Fine. Hoy’s Twistori finds twitter updates that contain the words “love”, “hate”, “think”, “believe”, “feel”, and “wish” and publishes them to the site. Although the continuous updates may be entertaining, We Feel Find applies a similar approach but extends their references and breaks down when and where the data came from. Not to say that Twistori is a terrible reference, but it is quite similar to We Feel Fine and seems more for entertainment purposes and less educational.

Hoy, A., and Fuchs, T. (2009). twistori. [Interactive.]

While I don’t participate in online games myself, this weeks assignment got me thinking about how many people connect to sites like Second Life or World of Warcraft everyday. Although I try to limit the time I’m playing games on the computer, the interactive feature of using sites such as these two seem can really show how addicting the internet can be. Even though the actions on these sites aren’t our own reality, the hyperrealism created in these virtual worlds makes it harder for users to separate the fact from fiction.

Being able to connect to users from around the world has opened doors for the gaming community and allowed for a new level of interaction in these virtual worlds. Instead of users playing with or against the computer program, the internet has allowed for collaboration and the element of uncertainty to cross the pass in the gaming world. While in the past users were conformed to follow a path the game has set out for them, being able to connect to other users and work with or against one another sets a new set of aspirations for these alternate gaming worlds.

Learning about new websites such as this that allow for online gaming has been quite interesting. Even though my first impressions of Second Life will always be captured in an episode of NBC’s The Office, it is fascinating to see how people can use these games for both entertainment and educational purposes.

If anyone’s interested in the episode of The Office I’m referring to, here’s a clip…

The Office: Dwight’s Second Life

The Office: Dwight’s Second Second Life

While there’s a conforming structure of writing in the world outside the internet, blogging has created it’s own vernacular and mode of communication amongst users. From slang, to punctuation, and expression, bloggers have their own audience to adhere to and aren’t forced to stay within the limits of previous online writing.

I really enjoyed this past week’s assignment because I found it fascinating to see the evolution of the blog over the past few years. In my case I was paying particular attention to travel blogs because eventually I want to extended my research for my term paper at the end of the semester. For even in blogging, words are no longer then definition of expression over the internet and multimedia has created a new medium for users to work in. While blogs are often a place we turn to when we need to read an update on a particular subject of interest, now photographs and even video are becoming new sources of communication. What was once text may now be conveyed in the form of a picture in the telling of a story and creating an experience for the viewer over the internet.

One site in particular I enjoyed was http://throughtravelanderror.blogspot.com. I was first brought to this site after reading the blog author Matt Hamilton’s book Through Travel and Error, only to find that his initial start in travel writing came from emails. While he’d eventually go on to compile his experiences into a book, his initial work was written for an online audience with a blog influenced style. Upon visiting the website I was able to not only read the original blogs of the author, but I could also experience his story through photographs, and video blogs.

Therefore this website alone is another experience in which blogging has created a new audience and mode of communication. From reading the author’s thoughts in a book to a blog, to seeing the photographs and finally hearing Hamilton’s conveyed emotion while reading the book himself, users have a completely new experience. For the internet is always changing and therefore should our modes in which we communicate with one another.

This weeks assignment made me think about how much our world is changing and the types of resources that we deem newsworthy or reputable for that matter. While we may watch the evening news or read a newspaper, what makes their facts superior to one that we could right in a blog of our own? Although we may deem them to be experts in their field, does there knowledge on a subject make us rely on their information. Or is it that they stand on a pedestal of higher knowledge that gives them a higher regard, despite the information they contribute?

For instance while we know that Wikipedia can be updated and altered by almost anyone, are the regulations that are being taken to control the site making it more reputable? Could citing this as a source be considered resourceful or a collaborative effort that still needs verification?

While I may be posting mostly questions in my blog this week, I think it’s interesting to ask questions about these things. For asking questions is the first step to uncovering further knowledge on a subject. Whether or not I may be receiving the correct information is one thing, but it’s the openness to different ideas that’s important. Although in the long run we may find out we were wrong, right for the time being, or correct all along, I find that it’s our thought process and willingness to learn and discuss that gives us the best learning possibilities.

This week’s assignment reminded me of despite how much I feel that I’m a free thinker and not motivated by what I see or hear, the power of advertising is still quite overwhelming. From news to entertainment and sports, the outlets that I visit over the internet are filled with vast quantities of information, while at the same time bombard with us heavy use of advertisements. 

It makes perfect sense of why political analysts would use the internet as their main resource for finding credibility for their candidate and why the information is so important. For the a misreading could alter an opinion and an array of misleading slanders could cost someone the election. Therefore the promotion that goes into supporting a candidate needs to start early and overtime use the internet to keep the following growing and eventually use it to win elections. From facts to lies, the internet has the ability to make or brake a character and has provided the public with instant access to this media frenzy.

If anyone is interested I’ve enclosed a link to a newspaper article from March 3, 2005 over the new regulations that would take place in coming elections. However after experiencing the 2008 Presidential Election, it’s interesting to see what ideas and plans actually came through.

http://news.cnet.com/The-coming-crackdown-on-blogging/2008-1028_3-5597079.html

This weeks assignment made me think of how our world is evolving in both the way we approach learning and the way we go about researching it. Whether it’s breaking news covering a political election, or our friend’s updated Facebook status, the internet has the ability to spread and share information at a rapid pace. While news headlines that appear both on television and newspapers are now hitting the internet,  the cyberworld is now making little moments in our daily lives newsworthy.

By allowing everyone to become an author, the internet allows for a mass perspective to be given on a topic and doesn’t require you to be an expert. Instead we’re no longer relying on journalists’ reputability or higher standard of knowledge when covering a subject.  Although you can argue that they are held to a higher standard of responsibility and therefore credibility, the internet allows for all to raise their voice.  In result, new perspectives are shared as a stream of new ideas are brought to the table.

While the internet can provide people with the ability to search and share new ideas, the new level of flexibility calls for a change in the way we approach our understanding of material. Although you can’t believe everything you hear, the internet works on the same basis in that you can’t believe everything you read. The ability to post and share new information without providing a set of references, calls for a more thorough approach to examining material.

Instead of reading the compiled set of facts from a newspaper covering an event from the night before, the internet allows for immediate coverage. Therefore the material has the capability of not being fully investigated or researched and calls for a bit of mediation and new resources in order to be taken in as fact. Although newspapers and other types of media aren’t always correct, the internet’s capability of delivering this information so quickly also raises the stakes of sharing mistaken information just as fast.

This weeks reading assignment I found to be the most interesting thus far in the course. While I personally don’t take part in vast online communities, I  found it interesting to see the psychological need and desire to have an alternate life to live. Even though we’re the same person both in real live and online, why is there the need to separate or distinguish one personality over the other?

For instance Lister’s text mentions how “We can experiment with other parts of ourselves, take risks or express aspects of self that we find impossible to live out in day-to-day ‘meatspace’” (page 167). However are these risks that we’re taking online changing or altering the way we live our real lives as well? The internet may provide a level of comfort and security to someone who could often feel scrutinized in society, yet typing out your emotions isn’t enough to fill the missing void in your life. For you are instead creating two identities and while they may both exist within you, only one is visible in each world at a time.

While experimentation can be good, being happy and comfortable with yourself in the real world is the only way that you’ll be able to function without regret in society. Although having an alternate universe to share our other interests in life may be nice, why shouldn’t you be able to express them in your real life as well?