It has been a while between posts, my last unit MED104 Engaging Media didn't ask for a blog in any shape so I have let it slide a little.
I am now entering my 5th unit of study towards BA Internet Communications, one year since I began. I'm feeling a lot more comfortable with the process of online study and am really happy I didn't let my first unit scare me away! - It went close!.
PWP121 Writing Persuasion and Rhetoric is unit 5 and it does ask for a learning reflection based on journal entries throughout the unit. The blog is back!
Soon.
Sarah
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Net102 Essay 2 - The big one
This essay was the most challenging assignment I've had to complete so far. Below is an unedited copy of the submitted and marked essay. Mark: Distinction
Virtual Communities allow forms of identity and social relations that are unconstrained by our bodies, space and time.
Through the evolution of the tethered “always on/always on us” self, the separation between offline and online has converged, the ‘self’ now occupying the space between the physical and the virtual. (Turkle, 2006). Without the constraints of a physical body the virtual self is enabled to move through the online space and is presented with the opportunity to connect with communities that are diverse and unconstrained by time and space. The online community of Second Life allows individuals to find community within a simulated online world, intimacy can be uncovered for young people considering their sexuality and believers are able to access the Australian mega church community of Hillsong through ‘new’ technologies - through these examples I will evaluate the ‘self’ and how virtual communities allow forms of identity and social relations to form without the constraint of our bodies, time and space.
Communities, both online and offline form through the need for people to connect and share with others. Shafi points out an online community can be "… different people from different parts of the world establish a virtual community in cyber space. Here they share their ideas, opinions, belief, political perspectives, interests etc. …" (2005), this concept of community has enabled people to discover each other as they would not have in an offline setting. The growing mobile connectedness to the Internet via handheld devices further encourages the apparent removal of spatial separation, promoting a sense of presence, that people are there for each other in a way similar to offline face to face interaction. (Slater, 2002). The removal of spatial separation, takes us a step closer to truly fulfilling Marshall McLuhan’s concept of ‘the global village’, within which we are simultaneously connected, receiving information and contributing. (Dixon, 2009)
The online gaming environment of Second Life allows players the potential to create for themselves an alternate ‘second life’, whilst contributing to the Second Life world. Within the game, there is a large selection of potential avatars, jobs, communities and religions for a player to align with. PussycatCatnap a Second Life player and blogger recently blogged ‘Second Life needs to own what it is; a video game. Denying that puts it in a strange middle ground where it cannot get any traction’ (PussycatCatnap, 2012) This user understands and embraces the online game for what it is and does for her as an individual within the community. It is a form of ‘identity workshop’ (Bruckman, 1992) the user enjoys the freedom the ‘game’ offers, not wanting it to push into offline life. Turkle (2006, p7) confirms ‘It is too limiting to think that people are tethered to their devices. People are tethered to the gratifications offered by their online selves’. In the online world of Second Life, the identity created is often in direct response to the identity one holds offline.
The process of finding ones identity comes to the fore during adolescence. Young people, who often feel constrained by social barriers in regards to sexuality offline, may find these barriers removed online, enhancing the possibility of finding a community that is likeminded and able to offer support for their developing identity.
There are many empowering factors for online relationships, such as the apparent anonymity, an absence of traditional offline indicators (i.e. appearances), an ease of finding others with specialised interests and finally a greater control over interactions and presentation of ones self. (Amichai-Hamburger, & McKenna, 2006). Online, freed from traditional constraints of space and time, an individual is able to take make use of these online embedded factors. This adds another dimension for youth to negotiate during the particularly fragile time of identity building. Finding a supportive online community within which young people feel safe to share their ‘coming out’ story gives a sense of ‘authenticity’ to discovering sexuality, more so than watching gay characters on a television show. (Gray, 2009) As new media scholar Nancy Baym argues “online spaces are constructed and the activities that people do online are intimately interwoven with the construction of the offline world…whether we are using the Internet or not” (Baym, 2006, p. 86). The ‘self’ no longer exists either online or offline, through attachment to devices it ‘now occupies the liminal space between the physical and its life on the screen’. (Turkle, 2006, p.2). Today’s tethered teens are able to access many communities that enable not only a less stressful, and more normalised experience during a vulnerable time but give them the opportunity to connect to themself. (Turkle, 2006). The Internet has provided a space for sexual minorities to identify and reveal their sexual orientation, or interests before doing so offline. Bamm, et al. (2009) describe how this can be a “relatively safe environment to share feelings about one’s sexual orientation.
The apparent authenticity online is not limited to young peoples identity work. The job of identity forming never ends, we simply use the tools available to us at each stage of our lives. (Turkle, 2006) Individuals are looking to the Internet to find a place, a community, that they share faith with more than ever before. Slater (2002) observes "…past media have also seemed to constitute new forms and spaces of sociality, even virtuality's, they have quickly been absorbed into every day practices as utilities …" (cited McLuhan 1974,Standage 1999 by Slater, 2002), just as finding your sexual self online is no longer an unusual avenue, neither is the everyday activity of practicing ones faith. Evangelists have been using the broadcast medium of television for decades however television because of its ‘one to many’ communication, it does not hold the collaborative appeal of an online environment.
Many of the newer ‘megachurches’, a church with a weekly attendance of 2,000 or more, purposefully create an image enticing to a younger congregation, a congregation seeking religion actively as opposed to more traditional faith holders. Von der Ruhr & Daniels (2012, p. 358) explain, ‘Seeker-oriented mega churches typically target religious refugees, or seekers, in order to grow’. By removing external visual cues of any particular faith, by removing the ‘space’, for example crosses, stained glass windows, kneeling and traditional hymns the new mega churches are packaging religion in a truly palatable way for almost anybody. ‘Hillsong exemplifies the globalisation of religion, while simultaneously stressing local ties, with contemporary media technology in a traditional theological and modern social context’ (Connell, 2006, p. 315) Australia’s mega church Hillsong strongly ustilises the web to send a message of it’s own ‘mega-ness’. An individual is able to employ computer mediated communication (CMC) to understand the religious product on offer well before stepping physical foot inside the church, taking McLuhan’s (1965) comment ‘the medium is the message’ to a new level. Faith, being part of the ‘devices’ that tether us, through our laptops and our smart phones is constant part of the ‘always on-always on us’ self (Turkle, 2006). Where once attending mass once a week was the required engagement, there is now a myriad of online meetings, conferences, donations of money and time to be accessed constantly.
Throughout the history of our species, humans have sought to "conquer time and space through speech, art and architecture, through writing and printing, and through various forms of transportation." Innis, 1951, p. 161. The vehicle of transportation is now the Internet. Humanity is moving toward living ‘liminally’ neither completely engaged in the physical offline or the virtual online. Without the constraint of a physical body the virtual self is enabled to move through the online space, however our concept of space and time has shifted. From the advent of the mechanical clock, time has been effectively separated from space, time becoming like modern space ‘which is empty and the same everywhere’. (Giddens, 1990, p.17-18 in Hongladaram, 2002) This concept of modern space speaks to the new ‘megachurches’ lack of religious cues and the self-build identity available on Second Life. The opportunities presented to engage with communities online are endless and there is a diversity of community available well beyond the local. The ‘self’ is freed online to access and engage with virtual communities allowing social relations to form without the constraint of our bodies, time and space.
Reference List.
Amichai-Hamburger, Y. & McKenna, K. Y. A. (2006). The contact hypothesis reconsidered: Interacting via the Internet. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(3), 825-843.
Baams, L., Jonas, K.J., Utz, S. & Vuurs, L. (2011). Internet use and online social support among same sex attracted individuals of different ages. Computers in Human Behaviour, 27(5), 1820–1827.
Bruckman, A. (1992) Identity Workshop: Emergent Social and Psychological Phenomena in Text-Based Virtual Reality. Unpublished paper. Media Lab, MIT. Retrieved 9 August 2012 http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~asb/papers/old-papers.html#IW
Changsoo, K., Sang-Gun, L. & Minchoel, K. (2012). I became an attractive person in the virtual world: Users’ identification with virtual communities and avatars. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(5), 1663-1669.
Connell, J. (2005) Hillsong: A Megachurch in the Sydney Suburb, Australian Geographer, 36(3), 315-332.
Dixon, K. (2009). The Global Village Revisited: Art, politics and television, Lexington Books: Plymouth, UK.
Gray, M. L. (2009), Negotiating Identities/Queering Desires: Coming Out Online and the Remediation of the Coming-Out Story. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 14: 1162–1189
Hongladarom, S. (2002), 'The Web of Time and the Dilemma of Globalization', The Information Society, 18(4), 241 – 249.
Innis, H. A. (1951), The Bias of Communication, University of Toronto Press: Canada.
Meh…Its just a video game. amiright? Second Life need to own what it is – a game. (2012) Retrieved August 5, 2012, from http://catnapkitty.wordpress.com/category/second-life/community/Meh… Its just a video game. amiright? Second Life need to own what it is – a game
Ruhr von der, M. & Daniels, J. (2012). Examining megachurch growth: free riding, fit, and faith", International Journal of Social Economics, 39(5), 357 – 372.
Shafi,. (2005), "Can a Virtual Community be any different from the experience of a Real Community?" Incoherent Thoughts, Retrieved 7 August 2012, from Curtin University of Technology Library E-reserve.
Slater, D. (2002). Social Relationships and Identity Online and Offline. In Leah A. Lievrouw & Sonia M. Livingstone (Eds.), Handbook of New Media (pp. 533-546). Cited in paper: McLuhan, M (1974) Standage, T (1999) Retrieved 8 August 2012, from Curtin University of Technology Library E-Reserve
Turkle, S. (2006), Always-on/Always-on-you: The Tethered Self. Handbook of Mobile Communications and Social Change. Cambridge: MIT Press pp1-20
Virtual Communities allow forms of identity and social relations that are unconstrained by our bodies, space and time.
Through the evolution of the tethered “always on/always on us” self, the separation between offline and online has converged, the ‘self’ now occupying the space between the physical and the virtual. (Turkle, 2006). Without the constraints of a physical body the virtual self is enabled to move through the online space and is presented with the opportunity to connect with communities that are diverse and unconstrained by time and space. The online community of Second Life allows individuals to find community within a simulated online world, intimacy can be uncovered for young people considering their sexuality and believers are able to access the Australian mega church community of Hillsong through ‘new’ technologies - through these examples I will evaluate the ‘self’ and how virtual communities allow forms of identity and social relations to form without the constraint of our bodies, time and space.
Communities, both online and offline form through the need for people to connect and share with others. Shafi points out an online community can be "… different people from different parts of the world establish a virtual community in cyber space. Here they share their ideas, opinions, belief, political perspectives, interests etc. …" (2005), this concept of community has enabled people to discover each other as they would not have in an offline setting. The growing mobile connectedness to the Internet via handheld devices further encourages the apparent removal of spatial separation, promoting a sense of presence, that people are there for each other in a way similar to offline face to face interaction. (Slater, 2002). The removal of spatial separation, takes us a step closer to truly fulfilling Marshall McLuhan’s concept of ‘the global village’, within which we are simultaneously connected, receiving information and contributing. (Dixon, 2009)
The online gaming environment of Second Life allows players the potential to create for themselves an alternate ‘second life’, whilst contributing to the Second Life world. Within the game, there is a large selection of potential avatars, jobs, communities and religions for a player to align with. PussycatCatnap a Second Life player and blogger recently blogged ‘Second Life needs to own what it is; a video game. Denying that puts it in a strange middle ground where it cannot get any traction’ (PussycatCatnap, 2012) This user understands and embraces the online game for what it is and does for her as an individual within the community. It is a form of ‘identity workshop’ (Bruckman, 1992) the user enjoys the freedom the ‘game’ offers, not wanting it to push into offline life. Turkle (2006, p7) confirms ‘It is too limiting to think that people are tethered to their devices. People are tethered to the gratifications offered by their online selves’. In the online world of Second Life, the identity created is often in direct response to the identity one holds offline.
The process of finding ones identity comes to the fore during adolescence. Young people, who often feel constrained by social barriers in regards to sexuality offline, may find these barriers removed online, enhancing the possibility of finding a community that is likeminded and able to offer support for their developing identity.
There are many empowering factors for online relationships, such as the apparent anonymity, an absence of traditional offline indicators (i.e. appearances), an ease of finding others with specialised interests and finally a greater control over interactions and presentation of ones self. (Amichai-Hamburger, & McKenna, 2006). Online, freed from traditional constraints of space and time, an individual is able to take make use of these online embedded factors. This adds another dimension for youth to negotiate during the particularly fragile time of identity building. Finding a supportive online community within which young people feel safe to share their ‘coming out’ story gives a sense of ‘authenticity’ to discovering sexuality, more so than watching gay characters on a television show. (Gray, 2009) As new media scholar Nancy Baym argues “online spaces are constructed and the activities that people do online are intimately interwoven with the construction of the offline world…whether we are using the Internet or not” (Baym, 2006, p. 86). The ‘self’ no longer exists either online or offline, through attachment to devices it ‘now occupies the liminal space between the physical and its life on the screen’. (Turkle, 2006, p.2). Today’s tethered teens are able to access many communities that enable not only a less stressful, and more normalised experience during a vulnerable time but give them the opportunity to connect to themself. (Turkle, 2006). The Internet has provided a space for sexual minorities to identify and reveal their sexual orientation, or interests before doing so offline. Bamm, et al. (2009) describe how this can be a “relatively safe environment to share feelings about one’s sexual orientation.
The apparent authenticity online is not limited to young peoples identity work. The job of identity forming never ends, we simply use the tools available to us at each stage of our lives. (Turkle, 2006) Individuals are looking to the Internet to find a place, a community, that they share faith with more than ever before. Slater (2002) observes "…past media have also seemed to constitute new forms and spaces of sociality, even virtuality's, they have quickly been absorbed into every day practices as utilities …" (cited McLuhan 1974,Standage 1999 by Slater, 2002), just as finding your sexual self online is no longer an unusual avenue, neither is the everyday activity of practicing ones faith. Evangelists have been using the broadcast medium of television for decades however television because of its ‘one to many’ communication, it does not hold the collaborative appeal of an online environment.
Many of the newer ‘megachurches’, a church with a weekly attendance of 2,000 or more, purposefully create an image enticing to a younger congregation, a congregation seeking religion actively as opposed to more traditional faith holders. Von der Ruhr & Daniels (2012, p. 358) explain, ‘Seeker-oriented mega churches typically target religious refugees, or seekers, in order to grow’. By removing external visual cues of any particular faith, by removing the ‘space’, for example crosses, stained glass windows, kneeling and traditional hymns the new mega churches are packaging religion in a truly palatable way for almost anybody. ‘Hillsong exemplifies the globalisation of religion, while simultaneously stressing local ties, with contemporary media technology in a traditional theological and modern social context’ (Connell, 2006, p. 315) Australia’s mega church Hillsong strongly ustilises the web to send a message of it’s own ‘mega-ness’. An individual is able to employ computer mediated communication (CMC) to understand the religious product on offer well before stepping physical foot inside the church, taking McLuhan’s (1965) comment ‘the medium is the message’ to a new level. Faith, being part of the ‘devices’ that tether us, through our laptops and our smart phones is constant part of the ‘always on-always on us’ self (Turkle, 2006). Where once attending mass once a week was the required engagement, there is now a myriad of online meetings, conferences, donations of money and time to be accessed constantly.
Throughout the history of our species, humans have sought to "conquer time and space through speech, art and architecture, through writing and printing, and through various forms of transportation." Innis, 1951, p. 161. The vehicle of transportation is now the Internet. Humanity is moving toward living ‘liminally’ neither completely engaged in the physical offline or the virtual online. Without the constraint of a physical body the virtual self is enabled to move through the online space, however our concept of space and time has shifted. From the advent of the mechanical clock, time has been effectively separated from space, time becoming like modern space ‘which is empty and the same everywhere’. (Giddens, 1990, p.17-18 in Hongladaram, 2002) This concept of modern space speaks to the new ‘megachurches’ lack of religious cues and the self-build identity available on Second Life. The opportunities presented to engage with communities online are endless and there is a diversity of community available well beyond the local. The ‘self’ is freed online to access and engage with virtual communities allowing social relations to form without the constraint of our bodies, time and space.
Reference List.
Amichai-Hamburger, Y. & McKenna, K. Y. A. (2006). The contact hypothesis reconsidered: Interacting via the Internet. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(3), 825-843.
Baams, L., Jonas, K.J., Utz, S. & Vuurs, L. (2011). Internet use and online social support among same sex attracted individuals of different ages. Computers in Human Behaviour, 27(5), 1820–1827.
Bruckman, A. (1992) Identity Workshop: Emergent Social and Psychological Phenomena in Text-Based Virtual Reality. Unpublished paper. Media Lab, MIT. Retrieved 9 August 2012 http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~asb/papers/old-papers.html#IW
Changsoo, K., Sang-Gun, L. & Minchoel, K. (2012). I became an attractive person in the virtual world: Users’ identification with virtual communities and avatars. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(5), 1663-1669.
Connell, J. (2005) Hillsong: A Megachurch in the Sydney Suburb, Australian Geographer, 36(3), 315-332.
Dixon, K. (2009). The Global Village Revisited: Art, politics and television, Lexington Books: Plymouth, UK.
Gray, M. L. (2009), Negotiating Identities/Queering Desires: Coming Out Online and the Remediation of the Coming-Out Story. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 14: 1162–1189
Hongladarom, S. (2002), 'The Web of Time and the Dilemma of Globalization', The Information Society, 18(4), 241 – 249.
Innis, H. A. (1951), The Bias of Communication, University of Toronto Press: Canada.
Meh…Its just a video game. amiright? Second Life need to own what it is – a game. (2012) Retrieved August 5, 2012, from http://catnapkitty.wordpress.com/category/second-life/community/Meh… Its just a video game. amiright? Second Life need to own what it is – a game
Ruhr von der, M. & Daniels, J. (2012). Examining megachurch growth: free riding, fit, and faith", International Journal of Social Economics, 39(5), 357 – 372.
Shafi,. (2005), "Can a Virtual Community be any different from the experience of a Real Community?" Incoherent Thoughts, Retrieved 7 August 2012, from Curtin University of Technology Library E-reserve.
Slater, D. (2002). Social Relationships and Identity Online and Offline. In Leah A. Lievrouw & Sonia M. Livingstone (Eds.), Handbook of New Media (pp. 533-546). Cited in paper: McLuhan, M (1974) Standage, T (1999) Retrieved 8 August 2012, from Curtin University of Technology Library E-Reserve
Turkle, S. (2006), Always-on/Always-on-you: The Tethered Self. Handbook of Mobile Communications and Social Change. Cambridge: MIT Press pp1-20
Net102 - Essay 1
My 1st essay in Net102. This is an unedited copy of a submitted and marked essay. Please do not copy the essay, it is plagiarism.
My focus was on Health, and how through the internet, pregnant women are empowered by the information they now have access to. I received a credit for this essay.
Throughout the course of their life women experience many health related changes from puberty to menopause and potentially pregnancy. This essay will analyse how women accessing Internet sites providing information on pregnancy has the potential to alter the way in which women experience and understand pregnancy. It will argue that pregnancy experiences change for women when they are able to access online material directed towards expectant mothers that are diverse and that enable women to gather up and redefine their pregnancy experiences in empowering ways. Women are at the forefront of information gathering online, research showing that women are more likely than men to search for health-related information (Sarkadi & Bremberg, 2005). Haythornthwaite (2002) explains that the Internet has indeed been routinely incorporated into almost every aspect of business, educational and leisure activities. This incorporation of activities is one aspect of how everyday life is being experienced through the Internet-mediated activities of information and communication.
Pregnancy is part of everyday life. As a mother and/or parent the period of pregnancy is spent furnishing for a life role not currently inhabited. The nine months of gestation is a time of creating a new 'habitus' (Fiske, 2002) as a parent, a mother. Through communicating and collaborating in online communities, one is able to create an online identity of a pregnant women, through 'the weaving of one's own richly textured life within the constraints of economic depravation and oppression’ (Fiske, 2002, p160). Thus reaching out to other women who are also using the Internet to begin ‘constructing, and therefore exerting some control over, social identities and social relations' (Fiske, 2002, p160). To an extent, a mother to be, regardless of economic status, creates an idea, creates the outlines of the life they want for their child, and that they want to lead as a parent. They are using the online tools available to them to extend control their pregnancy and collaborating with other women who are undergoing the same changes to their everyday lives.
Online communities are a source of collaborative reassurance for many pregnant women. They enable women to communicate across physical boundaries, time zones and cultural differences. Through online communities, many women form online mothers groups with whom they continue to communicate with beyond the end of their pregnancy. (Ley, 2003) Online social networks and communities also have the potential to disempower women through the creation of unnecessary stress. Women experience their pregnancies differently and have a myriad of conditions and histories that contribute to the way they experience pregnancy. In this instance, not all information shared is information that empowers. Being able to communicate with other women online does allow the opportunity to engage in relatively anonymous discourse with other women experiencing pregnancy at the same time. This discourse enables ritualization of particular milestones throughout pregnancy, such as discovering the sex of the child and discussing symptoms. (Wu Song et al, 2012)
The Internet and its applications hold the collective intelligence of all who use them. It is this information online that many women search to access while pregnant. Through the collective knowledge of many, women are embracing the empowerment of gathering information about the changes occurring within them during pregnancy. Collective intelligence may be powerful, persuasive and formed through global collaboration; however, this is information is not individualized. Eyesenbach (2008, p3) states ‘the health professional is an expert in identifying disease, while the patient is an expert in experiencing it’ (Davidson & Pennebaker, 1997). Recognising that the consumer of healthcare is the expert in experiencing their condition empowers one to take control of their health, however, limiting professional contact in exchange for online access to unendorsed information has the potential to negatively affect a woman’s pregnancy journey. Pregnant women are discovering information online that they perceive to be reliable but are not always choosing to discuss these findings with a health professional during scheduled antenatal appointments (Larsson, 2007). The information gap between face-to-face discussions and that gained from online searches needs to be minimized, limiting the amount of irrelevant and potentially harmful information pregnant women believe. Patients want their health professionals to provide them with guidance on useful Internet sites regarding their specific health problems (Salo et al., 2003), ensuring that collaborative discussions form part of each visit with a medical professional will assist women in making empowered decisions throughout their pregnancy.
Due to work outside of the home commitments and living far from family members, women who are pregnant have less time and fewer opportunities to receive support from offline friends and family (Ley, 2007). These changes from local family based communities to global online communities help fill the void for emotional support. It is the process of validation within a like-minded community that is a major source of this support (Lowe et al, 2009). Online-communities also help to share the anecdotal information that is traditionally passed between women during the time of pregnancy. This anecdotal information is often not medically endorsed, however, being involved in familial discourse may help a pregnant women self monitor her pregnancy and provide a feeling of reassurance and empowerment in decision making throughout her pregnancy. The opportunity to collaborate online with a midwife or other endorsed medical professional would add an endorsed layer to the advantages of online intelligence.
Nettleton, Burrows & O’Malley (2005) have shown that consumer use of the Internet supports the idea of media convergence, in which traditional trusted information givers (in this case official health information sites) are highly valued online. In part, due to this, the Internet has become a valuable source of information and support for pregnant women as they navigate the changes in their everyday lives. Decision-making processes for women are enhanced when they are able to access online material directed towards expectant mothers that are diverse, enabling them to redefine their pregnancy experience in empowering ways. The information that is retrieved online ‘should then be discussed during antenatal care visits to ensure that new knowledge generates understanding, empowerment and a sound preparation for childbirth and parenthood’ (Larsson, 2005, p19). The support of online communities is invaluable, particularly for those without an offline support group in close physical proximity. Through the Internet-mediated activities of information and communication pregnant women are empowered to access the Internet for information and support throughout their pregnancy.
Reference List
Eyesenbach, G. (2008). Medicine 2.0: Social Networking, Collaboration, Participation, Apomediation, and Openness. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 10(3) e22. doi:10.2196/jmir.1030
Fiske, J. (1992). Cultural Studies and the Culture of Everyday Life. In L. Grossberg, C. Nelson & P. Treichler (Eds.), Cultural Studies ,154-173, New York: Routtledge.
Haythornthwaite, C (2002) The Internet in Everyday Life. American Behavioral Scientist, 45(3), 363-382
Larsson, M (2005) A descriptive study of the use of the Internet by women seeking pregnancy-related information, Midwifery, 25(1), 14-20
Ley, B. L. (2007), Vive Les Roses!: The Architecture of Commitment in an Online Pregnancy and Mothering Group. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, (12), 1388–1408.
Lowe, P, Powell, J, Griffiths, F, Thorogood, M & Locock, L (2009) Making it all normal: the role of the internet in problematic pregnancy, Qualitative health research, 19(10), 1476-84.
Nettleton, S., Burrows, R. & O'Malley, L. (2005), The mundane realities of the everyday lay use of the internet for health, and their consequences for media convergence. Sociology of Health & Illness, (27), 972–992.
Salo, D., Perez, C., Lavery, R., et al., 2003. Patient education and the Internet: do patients want us to provide them with medical web sites to learn more about their medical problems? The Journal of Emergency Medicine 26 (3), 293–300.
Sarkadi, A., Bremberg, S., 2005. Socially unbiased parenting support on the Internet: a cross-sectional study of users of a large Swedish parenting website. Child: Care, Health & Development, 31(1), 43–52.
Wu Song, F, Ellis West, J, Lundy, L & Dahmen, N., (2012) Women, Pregnancy, and Health Information Online: The Making of Informed Patients and Ideal Mothers. Gender & Society doi:10.1177/0891243212446336
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Med104 - Henry Jenkins
Med104 is underway! There have been lots of interesting discussions on the uni discussion board, I've kicked off Assignment 1 and continued to mildly fret about the remediation project....!
Reflecting on Med104's week 1's reading Henry Jenkins, "Critical Information studies for a participatory culture (pt2)" blog post April 10, 2009.
Which of these points did you find interesting?:
The way the internet seems to be interpreted through political agenda’s and mainstream media is very interesting to me. It is interesting how often these powers use fear of the internet, and fear of the changes that the Internet may bring to rile the public up. The foremost conclusion to understanding the impacts of new media on our lives is education and then research. “we need to develop strategies for decreasing the role of ignorance and fear in public debates about new media’. (Jenkins, 2009). The internet is part of almost everything we do, and I think that there is just as much opportunity for duplicity and non authentic behavior offline as online – it is more a matter of empowering ourselves and our children through education and awareness, just as we have previously in regards to offline potential issues. This does not in anyway mean that terrible things do not occur online, more that terrible things occur in spite of the internet not because of it.
Shared Concerns:
Reasserting Fair Use is an interesting topic. Large economic powers have traditionally forced the hand of law makers in regarding to copyright law, ensuring the coin and intellectual power stays with them. With the decentralizing nature of the internet it has become apparent that a reworking of these ideas needs to take place to ensure all who are able to publish are able to claim their work as their own, and also that each individual is treated as the artist particularly in the face of litigation.
Concern/Disagree/Other Consequences:
Overall, all the points are so interesting to me. These areas relate across the span of internet use and all of them are important to consider and to move ahead with. I find the idea of the digital divide and participation gap scary and interesting, it makes me wonder where on the agenda does it lie? Above eating a healthy lunch at school? Above home visits to children in danger? In the face of such adversity, is access to knowledge via the internet more important…or not?
cheers
Sarah
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Assignment 1 Net102 - Q & A's
I mentioned in an earlier post, that when I'm gearing up for an assessment I search the internet for examples of previous work. I use these to get a feel for what has been submitted, often the questions are different to the ones I need to answer, but for me, I think it has helped me find my own style of writing.
So, here is my assignment 1, unedited. Three questions & my responses. I received 7.5/10. Please please do not copy my work, it is plagiarism to do so.
cheers
Sarah
How has the move from an analogue to digital medium changed the distribution and consumption of music?
From transistor radio to the iPod and other MP3 players, the music industry is again at a turning point. The move to the digital format is now supported by a plethora of easy to access web applications. Music of all genres, ages and languages can be tested, purchased and allocated to a personal 'mix tape' in minutes. Legal music download sites allow consumers to purchase single songs in an instant. Beer (2006) says a significant change in music culture has been the increase of music downloading. ITunes alone reached 10 billion downloads in February 2010 (apple.com), showing the shift in consumer behavior away from wanting to purchase a physical album.
Music is more portable than ever before. As access to the Internet has become more accessible, people are using the portability of music players to create a private space in public. Laughey (2007, p175) states ‘music can enable a feeling of occupancy and control in ‘public’ spaces’. From analogue to digital, the most significant change to the music industry is that speed and portability are now the keys to music distribution and consumption.
References
Apple iTunes (2010) “Tunes Store Tops 10 Billion Songs Sold”, February 25, http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/02/25iTunes-Store-Tops-10-Billion-Songs-Sold.html
Beer, David (2006). The Pop-Pickers Have Picked Decentralised Media: the Fall of Top of the Pops and the Rise of the Second Media Age. Social Research Online. http://www.socresonline.org.uk/11/3/beer.html
Laughey, D. (2007). Music Media in Young People's Everyday Lives. In Music, Sound and Multimedia: From the Live to the Virtual Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 172-187
Pascoe describes the use of technology by young adults as part of their romantic lives in a way that is integrated into their everyday lives. Do you think the use of online dating sites can also be considered a normal part of everyday life? Why/why not?
Young adults 'perform' their relationships via the online world, providing them a wider audience through more access to their existing ‘ties’ and opportunities to re-enforce ‘latent-ties’ (Haythornwaithe, 2005). People in the age group that learned to perform relationships prior to the emergence of the Internet ‘Digital Immigrants’ (Prensky, 2001) tend to think of these intimacy practices as private. In comparison, teen-dating behavior is often public and collaborative (Pascoe, 2009). Social Network Sites, instant messaging and mobile phone use further facilitates this public behavior.
For many, online dating is part of their everyday life formed through the opportunities presented by the convergence between globalization, the Internet and the emotional being. (Henry-Waring & Barraket) In the busy digital world of today, finding love and intimacy online is often the rational way. Through an online dating site’s profile page, one can enable filters that are not easily accessible in an offline setting, leading to a more streamlined approach to finding love. Henry-Waring & Barraket maintain that emotional online interactions are part of the real world, not separate from it (Stanley 2001). Therefore the intimacies formed and played out online are a real part of normal everyday life.
References
Haythornwaithe, C. (2002) Strong, Weak, and Latent Ties and the Impact of New Media The Information Society: An International Journal 18(5), 385-388
Pascoe, C.J. (2009) Intimacy in Mizuko, I et. al. Hanging Out, Messing Around, Geeking Out: Living and Learning with New Media. Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 117-148
Prensky, M. (2001) Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants From On the Horizon London: MCB University Press 9(5), 2-4
Henry-Waring, M., & Barraket, J. (2008) Dating & Intimacy in the 21st Century: The Use of Online Dating Sites in Australia International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Society 6(1), 14-3
How, if at all, has the relationship between Doctor and patient been affected by the rise in the use of the Internet, in relationship to peoples health, in everyday life?
The rise of the concept of Medicine 2.0 has empowered people to be more involved in their own healthcare. Doctor’s fees are increasingly expensive and time is always of the essence within a consultation and many people are reading up on their symptoms proactively. (Anderson, Rainey, and Eysenbach) This enables the system to cater to as many people as possible within a short time frame. One major problem with self-diagnosis is potential for misdiagnosis, which can lead to unnecessary stress on the patient or even inappropriate self-medicating. The Internet has not replaced the need for a physical consultation with a medical professional; however, there is scope for more health services to take place online.
“The Internet has been a tool for users and citizens to get more involved and empowered” (Eysenbach 2008) aiding the shift over time from a patients one-way relationship with their doctor to more of a collaborative model. The availability of information online enables a patient to question their doctor, discuss possible alternative treatments and make informed choices. Support groups provide emotional and factual support online, point patients in the direction of alternative treatments and enable a person to be in control of their health, identifying them as an expert in the experience of their own health (Eysenbach 2008).
References
Anderson, J. G., Rainey M.R., & Eysenbach G. (2003) The Impact of CyberHealthcare on the Physician-Patient Relationship. Journal of Medical Systems 27(1) 67-84
Eysenbach, G. (2008). Medicine 2.0: Social Networking, Collaboration, Participation, Apomediation, and Openness. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 10(3).
So, here is my assignment 1, unedited. Three questions & my responses. I received 7.5/10. Please please do not copy my work, it is plagiarism to do so.
cheers
Sarah
How has the move from an analogue to digital medium changed the distribution and consumption of music?
From transistor radio to the iPod and other MP3 players, the music industry is again at a turning point. The move to the digital format is now supported by a plethora of easy to access web applications. Music of all genres, ages and languages can be tested, purchased and allocated to a personal 'mix tape' in minutes. Legal music download sites allow consumers to purchase single songs in an instant. Beer (2006) says a significant change in music culture has been the increase of music downloading. ITunes alone reached 10 billion downloads in February 2010 (apple.com), showing the shift in consumer behavior away from wanting to purchase a physical album.
Music is more portable than ever before. As access to the Internet has become more accessible, people are using the portability of music players to create a private space in public. Laughey (2007, p175) states ‘music can enable a feeling of occupancy and control in ‘public’ spaces’. From analogue to digital, the most significant change to the music industry is that speed and portability are now the keys to music distribution and consumption.
References
Apple iTunes (2010) “Tunes Store Tops 10 Billion Songs Sold”, February 25, http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/02/25iTunes-Store-Tops-10-Billion-Songs-Sold.html
Beer, David (2006). The Pop-Pickers Have Picked Decentralised Media: the Fall of Top of the Pops and the Rise of the Second Media Age. Social Research Online. http://www.socresonline.org.uk/11/3/beer.html
Laughey, D. (2007). Music Media in Young People's Everyday Lives. In Music, Sound and Multimedia: From the Live to the Virtual Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 172-187
Pascoe describes the use of technology by young adults as part of their romantic lives in a way that is integrated into their everyday lives. Do you think the use of online dating sites can also be considered a normal part of everyday life? Why/why not?
Young adults 'perform' their relationships via the online world, providing them a wider audience through more access to their existing ‘ties’ and opportunities to re-enforce ‘latent-ties’ (Haythornwaithe, 2005). People in the age group that learned to perform relationships prior to the emergence of the Internet ‘Digital Immigrants’ (Prensky, 2001) tend to think of these intimacy practices as private. In comparison, teen-dating behavior is often public and collaborative (Pascoe, 2009). Social Network Sites, instant messaging and mobile phone use further facilitates this public behavior.
For many, online dating is part of their everyday life formed through the opportunities presented by the convergence between globalization, the Internet and the emotional being. (Henry-Waring & Barraket) In the busy digital world of today, finding love and intimacy online is often the rational way. Through an online dating site’s profile page, one can enable filters that are not easily accessible in an offline setting, leading to a more streamlined approach to finding love. Henry-Waring & Barraket maintain that emotional online interactions are part of the real world, not separate from it (Stanley 2001). Therefore the intimacies formed and played out online are a real part of normal everyday life.
References
Haythornwaithe, C. (2002) Strong, Weak, and Latent Ties and the Impact of New Media The Information Society: An International Journal 18(5), 385-388
Pascoe, C.J. (2009) Intimacy in Mizuko, I et. al. Hanging Out, Messing Around, Geeking Out: Living and Learning with New Media. Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 117-148
Prensky, M. (2001) Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants From On the Horizon London: MCB University Press 9(5), 2-4
Henry-Waring, M., & Barraket, J. (2008) Dating & Intimacy in the 21st Century: The Use of Online Dating Sites in Australia International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Society 6(1), 14-3
How, if at all, has the relationship between Doctor and patient been affected by the rise in the use of the Internet, in relationship to peoples health, in everyday life?
The rise of the concept of Medicine 2.0 has empowered people to be more involved in their own healthcare. Doctor’s fees are increasingly expensive and time is always of the essence within a consultation and many people are reading up on their symptoms proactively. (Anderson, Rainey, and Eysenbach) This enables the system to cater to as many people as possible within a short time frame. One major problem with self-diagnosis is potential for misdiagnosis, which can lead to unnecessary stress on the patient or even inappropriate self-medicating. The Internet has not replaced the need for a physical consultation with a medical professional; however, there is scope for more health services to take place online.
“The Internet has been a tool for users and citizens to get more involved and empowered” (Eysenbach 2008) aiding the shift over time from a patients one-way relationship with their doctor to more of a collaborative model. The availability of information online enables a patient to question their doctor, discuss possible alternative treatments and make informed choices. Support groups provide emotional and factual support online, point patients in the direction of alternative treatments and enable a person to be in control of their health, identifying them as an expert in the experience of their own health (Eysenbach 2008).
References
Anderson, J. G., Rainey M.R., & Eysenbach G. (2003) The Impact of CyberHealthcare on the Physician-Patient Relationship. Journal of Medical Systems 27(1) 67-84
Eysenbach, G. (2008). Medicine 2.0: Social Networking, Collaboration, Participation, Apomediation, and Openness. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 10(3).
An ending & new beginnings...
In a crazed tornado of uni work, I submitted the 2nd essay for Net102 and the learning reflections document.
I found the essay, the most challenging thing I've written to date in my student career, and to be honest by the time I handed it in I was counting marks to see if I could get away with a high fail for it. So, when I received the essay back yesterday with a DISTINCTION I was so amazed. And, a little proud of myself. I really enjoyed the challenge of attempting to wrap my mind around the concepts of identity, space, time and community.
Enough about Net102, it is now the past. Med104 Engaging Media is where the action is at this study period. Already I am a little nervous. The creative side of the major assessment freaks me out!
BUT
I am on my way, well and truly on my way now, to my BA Internet Communications, and overall, feeling really happy with my decision to take up studying online.
cheers
Sarah
I found the essay, the most challenging thing I've written to date in my student career, and to be honest by the time I handed it in I was counting marks to see if I could get away with a high fail for it. So, when I received the essay back yesterday with a DISTINCTION I was so amazed. And, a little proud of myself. I really enjoyed the challenge of attempting to wrap my mind around the concepts of identity, space, time and community.
Enough about Net102, it is now the past. Med104 Engaging Media is where the action is at this study period. Already I am a little nervous. The creative side of the major assessment freaks me out!
BUT
I am on my way, well and truly on my way now, to my BA Internet Communications, and overall, feeling really happy with my decision to take up studying online.
cheers
Sarah
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Lost in everyday life
Lost in everyday life, in learning, parenting and working.
Therefore, my blogging for Net102 has died off considerably, however I have been working really hard on this module.
In the first essay, I investigated how the Internet has changed the way woman make decisions during pregnancy. Essay writing doesn't come easily to me, so I am super happy with the credit I achieved. This essay also gave me the opportunity to get my idea's on everyday life theories onto paper.
THEN, the big essay. Paralysed by stress, I'm not sure I have achieved all I wanted for this one. 2 weeks until I know if I at least delivered an essay that can pass!.....I think I will publish my assignments on the blog. When I'm doing assignments I look for examples of ones in the past, just seeing that it is in fact possible really helps my head! It is important to note though, that these assignments are submitted works and if you copy them it is plagiarism and also kind of rude.....
Back to my learning portfolio reflections essay I go!
cheers
Sarah
Therefore, my blogging for Net102 has died off considerably, however I have been working really hard on this module.
In the first essay, I investigated how the Internet has changed the way woman make decisions during pregnancy. Essay writing doesn't come easily to me, so I am super happy with the credit I achieved. This essay also gave me the opportunity to get my idea's on everyday life theories onto paper.
THEN, the big essay. Paralysed by stress, I'm not sure I have achieved all I wanted for this one. 2 weeks until I know if I at least delivered an essay that can pass!.....I think I will publish my assignments on the blog. When I'm doing assignments I look for examples of ones in the past, just seeing that it is in fact possible really helps my head! It is important to note though, that these assignments are submitted works and if you copy them it is plagiarism and also kind of rude.....
Back to my learning portfolio reflections essay I go!
cheers
Sarah
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Community & Identity - Learning Portfolio task
Tough week! Essay 1 was due, the flu thing going around that has been dubbed the '100 days cough' had me in it's grasp and it was school holidays. However, Community & Identity was the topic, which is such an interesting topic for me. Most of the time I spend online is to communicate with and nurture relationships and maintain community ties.
The learning portfolio task:
Chose an online community and answer the following
· How is this a 'community' (and what is a community)?
· Connections and gaps between the world of this community and face to face life.
· Who are the 'powerful' in this community, and how was this power acquired?
· Is there a difference between 'virtual' and 'real' life? What do these terms mean, nowadays?
A new online community to me, is my Instagram community. Formed through an interest in social media and using my iPhone for photography it has become, to me, another way to reach people that I would not have before.
Individuals gain different things from a community, therefore the description of actually 'what' a community is, is a little fluid. Overall a community can be described as a group of people, with something in common be that political, emotional, economic (fashion etc), faith, communicating with one another. Shafi says 'There is also a strong sense of unity and fellowship in a community'. (Shafi, blog)
Being on Instagram is an interesting community to me, as I did not join with the purpose of keeping in touch with people I already know, which is one of the main reasons people use Facebook. Due to this, I do not have a great drive to meet these people offline. We know each other, know where we live (in a general sense) and share images of our day to day lives. The main difference therefore between this community and face to face life, is the physical face.
There are people on instagram world wide, and some of these seem to try to gather 'likes' with a passion! Through gaining greater exposure of their images they are exerting a kind of power over the greater community. Behind the scenes, Facebook offered a huge sum to buy Instagram (a massive power play!) and and many individual business people use the application as a form of advertising - there are a number of power mongers amongst us! However, at this stage, they are not directly effecting my experience within the community.
My tutors response, Good example Sarah. Its an interesting one, as you identify, because it probably doesn't 'look' or 'feel' like a traditional community, yet does share some of those key characteristics used to define community. However, it is not dissimilar to offline 'photography clubs' or 'book clubs' for that matter. These communities were formed around shared interests, and this process of 'sharing' was a big part of the value of belonging to these communities.
Another question was raised this week, what is the difference between a ‘real’ or face-to-face community and ‘ virtual’ community? Go beyond the two readings and see if you can find another source that contributes to how we might define this distinction?
The learning portfolio task:
Chose an online community and answer the following
· How is this a 'community' (and what is a community)?
· Connections and gaps between the world of this community and face to face life.
· Who are the 'powerful' in this community, and how was this power acquired?
· Is there a difference between 'virtual' and 'real' life? What do these terms mean, nowadays?
A new online community to me, is my Instagram community. Formed through an interest in social media and using my iPhone for photography it has become, to me, another way to reach people that I would not have before.
Individuals gain different things from a community, therefore the description of actually 'what' a community is, is a little fluid. Overall a community can be described as a group of people, with something in common be that political, emotional, economic (fashion etc), faith, communicating with one another. Shafi says 'There is also a strong sense of unity and fellowship in a community'. (Shafi, blog)
Being on Instagram is an interesting community to me, as I did not join with the purpose of keeping in touch with people I already know, which is one of the main reasons people use Facebook. Due to this, I do not have a great drive to meet these people offline. We know each other, know where we live (in a general sense) and share images of our day to day lives. The main difference therefore between this community and face to face life, is the physical face.
There are people on instagram world wide, and some of these seem to try to gather 'likes' with a passion! Through gaining greater exposure of their images they are exerting a kind of power over the greater community. Behind the scenes, Facebook offered a huge sum to buy Instagram (a massive power play!) and and many individual business people use the application as a form of advertising - there are a number of power mongers amongst us! However, at this stage, they are not directly effecting my experience within the community.
My tutors response, Good example Sarah. Its an interesting one, as you identify, because it probably doesn't 'look' or 'feel' like a traditional community, yet does share some of those key characteristics used to define community. However, it is not dissimilar to offline 'photography clubs' or 'book clubs' for that matter. These communities were formed around shared interests, and this process of 'sharing' was a big part of the value of belonging to these communities.
Another question was raised this week, what is the difference between a ‘real’ or face-to-face community and ‘ virtual’ community? Go beyond the two readings and see if you can find another source that contributes to how we might define this distinction?
Beside the actual physicality of offline v's online, perhaps there is no real distinction between the communities. Henry-Waring & Barraket maintain that emotional online interactions are part of the real world, not separate from it (Stanley 2001), meaning that in the case of intimacy, feelings are real online and part of your whole, not separate from it. Therefore, the investment people make in online communities is just as great as the investment in offline communities. With the growing access to online communities, I propose that people spend more time tweaking, touching, updating their online community than the communities they are members of offline.
Shafi says,’ In Online communities, anyone can jump the bandwagon and become a member of the community’.(Shafi.2005). This is true in an offline community also. There is just as much scope for duplicity offline as online, in fact, there is a lot more trust in people believing the authenticity of others online because of the lack of physical cues. Therefore, the emotion investment could be higher online than offline.
Lots and lots going on in my head, and I have a number of readings to get through. Essay 2 is looming and it is LARGE. Some big ideas to deconstruct and understand.
I'll get cracking!
cheers
Sarah
References (for both responses)
Shafi, (2005) Can a Virtual Community be any different from the experience of a Real Community? Incoherent Thoughts
Henry-Waring, M., & Barraket, J. (2008) Dating & Intimacy in the 21st Century: The Use of Online Dating Sites in Australia International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Society 6(1), 14-3
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
that Fiske reading again...
It has been playing around in my head and here is another thought, a thought more closely related to my essay 1 topic...
I might change the direction altogether and try to relate the concepts Fiske uses to the way women form a 'new' everyday life when expecting a child, particularly, their first child. I think this time in a woman's life (and to an extent her partner) is a rare time where one's 'normal' patterns of everyday life are shifting. The idea of 'expecting' a child, leads me to the concept of 'expecting' your everyday life to no longer hold the patterns of your previous life. The period of pregnancy is spent 'furnishing' for a life you do not lead yet. 9 months creating a new 'habitus' as a parent, a mother.
'the weaving of one's own richly textured life within the constraints of economic depravation and oppression, are not just ways of controlling some of the conditions of social existence; they are also ways of constructing, and therefore exerting some control over, social identities and social relations.' (Fiske, 1992) To an extent, a mother to be, regardless of economic status, creates an idea, creates the outlines of the life they want for their child, and that they want to lead as a parent. They are using what control they have over the life they have and the life their child will have, thus creating the basis of an identity, of an everyday life to be.
Maybe? I know, not related to the online world at all!!
cheers
Sarah
Fiske, J. (1992). Cultural Studies and the Culture of Everyday Life Cultural Studies (pp. 154-173). New York: Routledge
I might change the direction altogether and try to relate the concepts Fiske uses to the way women form a 'new' everyday life when expecting a child, particularly, their first child. I think this time in a woman's life (and to an extent her partner) is a rare time where one's 'normal' patterns of everyday life are shifting. The idea of 'expecting' a child, leads me to the concept of 'expecting' your everyday life to no longer hold the patterns of your previous life. The period of pregnancy is spent 'furnishing' for a life you do not lead yet. 9 months creating a new 'habitus' as a parent, a mother.
'the weaving of one's own richly textured life within the constraints of economic depravation and oppression, are not just ways of controlling some of the conditions of social existence; they are also ways of constructing, and therefore exerting some control over, social identities and social relations.' (Fiske, 1992) To an extent, a mother to be, regardless of economic status, creates an idea, creates the outlines of the life they want for their child, and that they want to lead as a parent. They are using what control they have over the life they have and the life their child will have, thus creating the basis of an identity, of an everyday life to be.
Maybe? I know, not related to the online world at all!!
cheers
Sarah
Fiske, J. (1992). Cultural Studies and the Culture of Everyday Life Cultural Studies (pp. 154-173). New York: Routledge
Power & Economy
Woah! Power & Economy. Not really top of my list in topics I feel a natural warmth to, however, when looking at them from the angle of the Internet, perhaps, just perhaps, I can glean some comprehension of these drivers of society.
My discussion board posts this week, went something like this:
What is the political economy of new media? Use Mansell to assist you in your answer.
The political economy of new media refers to the power and authority over the access to information and products and how then this relates to all through economic ties. The studies on how the Internet influences politics and power have been limited thus far. It is important to study this power and influence as many assume equality online, however, due to the influence of large organisations there is now a disconnect between that assumption and reality. There are a large number of studies into the products and services of new media, these studies do not delve into the powers "that are embedded within them" (Mansell, 2004, p97).
Economically, power is created through managing the scarcity of the resource. Within the parameters of new media, scarcity to formed through ‘the use of copyright, promotion of obsolescence, creation and sale of audiences and favoring’(Mansell, 2004, p98) The Internet is also controlled through fiscal means, creating spaces that need to be paid for to access, effectively ‘walling off’ (Mansell, 2004, p98) real estate online, inadvertedly (or not) created spaces that only people with the right knowledge/money/power can access.
Mansell, R. (2004). Political economy, power and new media. New media and society, 6 (1), 96-105.
Why must we be aware of power and institutions when studying the internet?
We must be force our awareness of power and institutions when studying the internet to ensure we recognise that the internet is not a "non-hierarchical economy and culture" (Mansell, 2004, p101). The Internet has created opportunities for many people but rarely do the main players within powerful institutions offer these opportunities in an altruistic way. For major media companies, people's interest, ideas and information are necessary for them to grow, we are the commodity and are now very easy to access. It is important to be critically aware that the even though each individual now has the power to publish themselves online there is "unequal participation and power in the open source communities" (Mansell,2004, p101). All people are not equal online, and much like traditional offline culture, powerful companies hold power online, and with that the ability to effect public opinion, political movement and access to information.
Mansell, R. (2004). Political economy, power and new media. New media and society, 6 (1), 96-105.
Web 2.0 - Facebook, twitter, Instagram - gathers a significant amount of users - of what use is this to advertisers?
The data collected via these web 2.0 applications is like a goldmine for advertisers. Users give data for free to the site, once the information is on the site it belongs to them. Once given freely, your data is then used to target advertise to you specifically, creating sales, and buzz, more 'likes' for the advertiser etc. . More than that, the application you gave that information to for free makes money off that free information. In a previous unit, one of the students asked on the blackboard 'would you pay for Facebook if that meant no advertising and data collection?'. I still think this is an interesting question - to keep your data within your control, would you pay for that service?.
Beyond Facebook, twitter, Instagram there are many 'word of mouth' online marketing companies who count on the general publics interest in sharing their opinion to help promote their clients products. I was recently sent a box of kids vitamins to 'share' with other mums. Through this online medium savvy marketers are finding and then adapting to the flexible delivery methods now available to them.
So, yes, it was an involved week. I have lost my way a little on Essay 1 and am questioning if I have involved the reading from Fiske at all. Perhaps I need a paragraph on 'everyday life' and what that actually means.....hmmmmm.....Must read and respond to the Gilbert reading for this week also.
cheers
Sarah
My discussion board posts this week, went something like this:
What is the political economy of new media? Use Mansell to assist you in your answer.
The political economy of new media refers to the power and authority over the access to information and products and how then this relates to all through economic ties. The studies on how the Internet influences politics and power have been limited thus far. It is important to study this power and influence as many assume equality online, however, due to the influence of large organisations there is now a disconnect between that assumption and reality. There are a large number of studies into the products and services of new media, these studies do not delve into the powers "that are embedded within them" (Mansell, 2004, p97).
Economically, power is created through managing the scarcity of the resource. Within the parameters of new media, scarcity to formed through ‘the use of copyright, promotion of obsolescence, creation and sale of audiences and favoring’(Mansell, 2004, p98) The Internet is also controlled through fiscal means, creating spaces that need to be paid for to access, effectively ‘walling off’ (Mansell, 2004, p98) real estate online, inadvertedly (or not) created spaces that only people with the right knowledge/money/power can access.
Mansell, R. (2004). Political economy, power and new media. New media and society, 6 (1), 96-105.
Why must we be aware of power and institutions when studying the internet?
We must be force our awareness of power and institutions when studying the internet to ensure we recognise that the internet is not a "non-hierarchical economy and culture" (Mansell, 2004, p101). The Internet has created opportunities for many people but rarely do the main players within powerful institutions offer these opportunities in an altruistic way. For major media companies, people's interest, ideas and information are necessary for them to grow, we are the commodity and are now very easy to access. It is important to be critically aware that the even though each individual now has the power to publish themselves online there is "unequal participation and power in the open source communities" (Mansell,2004, p101). All people are not equal online, and much like traditional offline culture, powerful companies hold power online, and with that the ability to effect public opinion, political movement and access to information.
Mansell, R. (2004). Political economy, power and new media. New media and society, 6 (1), 96-105.
Web 2.0 - Facebook, twitter, Instagram - gathers a significant amount of users - of what use is this to advertisers?
The data collected via these web 2.0 applications is like a goldmine for advertisers. Users give data for free to the site, once the information is on the site it belongs to them. Once given freely, your data is then used to target advertise to you specifically, creating sales, and buzz, more 'likes' for the advertiser etc. . More than that, the application you gave that information to for free makes money off that free information. In a previous unit, one of the students asked on the blackboard 'would you pay for Facebook if that meant no advertising and data collection?'. I still think this is an interesting question - to keep your data within your control, would you pay for that service?.
Beyond Facebook, twitter, Instagram there are many 'word of mouth' online marketing companies who count on the general publics interest in sharing their opinion to help promote their clients products. I was recently sent a box of kids vitamins to 'share' with other mums. Through this online medium savvy marketers are finding and then adapting to the flexible delivery methods now available to them.
So, yes, it was an involved week. I have lost my way a little on Essay 1 and am questioning if I have involved the reading from Fiske at all. Perhaps I need a paragraph on 'everyday life' and what that actually means.....hmmmmm.....Must read and respond to the Gilbert reading for this week also.
cheers
Sarah
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
a quick thought about about healthcare
When I was about 12 years old my class went on an excursion. Off on a bus for an overnight stay in the 'big smoke' to see the zoo and museum. When we arrived home, I pleaded sick for school the following morning. At the time I really believed I was only tired and didn't feel like going to school. Mum, too busy with kids and work and life let me stay home. Then I got sick. Really yukky, super delirious sick.
We went to the A&E department, who gave me penicillin, and put me in a wheelchair to get me to the car for mum to take me home. While in the exam room I told the doctor that 'my hands are soft because I have been working in Papua New Guinea'. Yes, delirious. Mum managed with the drugs from the hospital until we could get in to see our lovely family doctor Dr P.
Dr P was a diagram drawing, lover of a medical challenge. He looked at me, took in my fever, the rash that had appeared on my mid section, the results from kidney tests and turned to his massive medical books. Scarlet Fever. He just wanted to check for the official medical name. This ramble comes back to me as I consider the empowered patient or 'e-patient'. Dr P nowadays would have looked up an online journal to confirm his hunch. Mum would have googled the rash to alleviate fears of penicillin allergy. Perhaps even the A&E staff would have kept me overnight instead of wheeling me to the car.
In this case, regardless of the world wide web, the result was the same. Penicillin saved the day. Today, the length of time it took for diagnosis would be halved.
Thanks for bearing with me while I wax lyrical about my youth!
cheers
Sarah
We went to the A&E department, who gave me penicillin, and put me in a wheelchair to get me to the car for mum to take me home. While in the exam room I told the doctor that 'my hands are soft because I have been working in Papua New Guinea'. Yes, delirious. Mum managed with the drugs from the hospital until we could get in to see our lovely family doctor Dr P.
Dr P was a diagram drawing, lover of a medical challenge. He looked at me, took in my fever, the rash that had appeared on my mid section, the results from kidney tests and turned to his massive medical books. Scarlet Fever. He just wanted to check for the official medical name. This ramble comes back to me as I consider the empowered patient or 'e-patient'. Dr P nowadays would have looked up an online journal to confirm his hunch. Mum would have googled the rash to alleviate fears of penicillin allergy. Perhaps even the A&E staff would have kept me overnight instead of wheeling me to the car.
In this case, regardless of the world wide web, the result was the same. Penicillin saved the day. Today, the length of time it took for diagnosis would be halved.
Thanks for bearing with me while I wax lyrical about my youth!
cheers
Sarah
Friday, July 6, 2012
Heavy reading - Fiske
Part of our reading list for Net102 is Cultural Studies, John Fiske. It's dense and tricky and I really want to be able to glean understanding of his theory of everyday and be able to it apply it in some way to my upcoming assignments.
I was struggling along, and then LIGHT BULB!
I considered bloggers as I was reading through Fiske at 6.30am this morning. The space a blogger inhabits online is also part of their everyday life. They 'furnish' their site, they use the concept of 'texturing' to create a space that they feel comfortable in in order to share their words online and also a space that people can be welcomed into. Often bloggers decorate their blog with items/images/videos of personal meaning to them, not so unlike the idea from Leal (1990) of the 'entourage' or mini-environment.
I have more of the reading to go, however, just being able to translate some of the reading into a context that I can get amongst has helped me immensely!
How did you feel about the reading?
Back on topic, the essay and how the Internet has or has not altered the way women make decisions and gather information durning pregnancy.
cheers
Sarah
Fiske, J. (1992). Cultural Studies and the Culture of Everyday Life Cultural Studies (pp. 154-173). New York: Routledge.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Julia Gillard is my Facebook friend - Learning Portfolio Task
Navigate around and discuss two of the following sites in terms of the kinds of involvement they encourage.
First up I approached http://www.pm.gov.au. It appears very structured, and with the strong use of blue, very official. At first glance I did not feel encouraged or invited to be further involved with the government. There are tabs for press releases and official photos. A blog tab, where there is an attempt at friendly style language. I had a giggle at the headshots on the Cabinet page, by keeping the images relaxed it gives an opportunity to see a bit of personality. What the government stands for and the policy it supports are clear. I do like the opportunity to contact the PM directly, however I’m not convinced Ms Gillard would be the person to respond. Bringing up again the concepts of authenticity and trust online.
Sign Up Now! is what you see when you open www.getup.org.au. Having no experience of the site, it felt a little like a command that some people might just blindly obey. Is signing up a form of involvement? Through the use of powerful colour and clear concise wording getup.org.au clearly articulates the campaigns it is currently running and ways to be involved. Through signing online petitions, donating money, volunteering you can be an active member of getup.org.au. The site shows clearly links to youtube, twitter and facebook thus utilizing social network sites to gather support.
cheers,
Sarah
God in Cyberspace: Learning Portfolio Task
How has the Internet been used to resist or counteract religious persecution and human rights abuse? As a start, navigate to the Falun Dafa Information Centre (you may use other examples).
A large number of organisations now utilize the Internet and its collaborative applications to share information and gain support for communities and peoples who are being victimised due to religious beliefs. Generally, these websites contain details of details of the injustice that is occurring and where these actions are taking place. The sites suggest ways that people can be involved, through online petitions, donating to the cause and helping spreading their word.
The Falun Dafa Information Centre site is huge. Prior to this topic I had not ever taken the time to find out more about their cause, even when handed a flyer. I just could not comprehend how a form of Tai Chi could be a threat to a country, obviously an uneducated viewpoint! The Falun Dafa site’s layout is similar to a breaking news site, with rolling updates and links to ‘action’ images of the fight in progress. It acts as the information starting point and sharing point. Their word is spread from the site via other website, twitter and Facebook.
Fellow student Kathryne Wells explains
Falon Gong is a form of qigong with extra spiritual and philosophical content. Gigong has been encouraged by the Chinese government since the late 1940's when Chairman Mao proclaimed that ' a healthy peasant is a happy peasant. However the Chinese have removed all suggestions of spiritual content (Daoism, Buddhism and Confucianism)…A Tai Chi instructor with whom I trained, and who himself had been trained at the Beijing Institute of Sport, declared that he did not 'believe in chi' (energy) The Chinese government seem to consider the concept (of chi’) to be religious in nature and therefore to be stamped out.
Two Christian examples are:
International Christian Concern http://www.persecution.org/
Mission Without Borders International http://www.mwbi.org/
A non-religion based example:
I am a member of one.org, not a religious organization but a human rights organization that focuses on poverty and all associated with it. Currently they are campaigning heavily around AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. ‘The beginning of the end of AIDS starts now’.
cheers
Sarah
Wells, Kathryne (2012), Group Discussion Board, Learning Portfolio discussion https://lms.curtin.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_4_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_40431_1%26url%3D
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Health 2.0?
How, if at all, has the relationship between Doctor and patient been affected by the rise in the use of the internet in relationship to people’s health in everyday life?
The rise of the concept of Health or Medicine 2.0, has empowered people to be more involved in their own healthcare. Doctors fees are increasingly expensive and time is always of the essence within a consultation. Many people are reading up on their symptoms and are looking to their general practitioner for verification and medication more than diagnosis. This enables the system to cater to as many people as possible within a short time frame. It allows the consumer to seek second opinions and ask uncomfortable questions from the privacy of one's home. One major problem with self-diagnosis is potential misdiagnosis, which can lead to unnecessary stress on the patient or even inappropriate self-medicating. In its' current state the Internet does not replace a doctor, however, there is definitely scope for more healthcare to take place online. “The Internet has been a tool for users and citizens to get more involved and empowered” (Eysenbach 2008) in their health care. The relationship between doctor and patient/consumer has changed over time from a one-way relationship to more of a consultatory model. The availability of information online enables a patient to question their doctor, discuss possible alternative treatments and make informed choices. Support groups provide emotional and factual support online, point patients in the direction of alternative treatments and enable a person to be in control of their health, identifying them as an expert in the experience of their own health (Eysenbach 2008).
Eysenbach, Gunther. (2008, August 25). Medicine 2.0: Social Networking, Collaboration, Participation, Apomediation, and Openness. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 10(3). Retrieved from http://www.jmir.org/2008/3/e22/.
The rise of the concept of Health or Medicine 2.0, has empowered people to be more involved in their own healthcare. Doctors fees are increasingly expensive and time is always of the essence within a consultation. Many people are reading up on their symptoms and are looking to their general practitioner for verification and medication more than diagnosis. This enables the system to cater to as many people as possible within a short time frame. It allows the consumer to seek second opinions and ask uncomfortable questions from the privacy of one's home. One major problem with self-diagnosis is potential misdiagnosis, which can lead to unnecessary stress on the patient or even inappropriate self-medicating. In its' current state the Internet does not replace a doctor, however, there is definitely scope for more healthcare to take place online. “The Internet has been a tool for users and citizens to get more involved and empowered” (Eysenbach 2008) in their health care. The relationship between doctor and patient/consumer has changed over time from a one-way relationship to more of a consultatory model. The availability of information online enables a patient to question their doctor, discuss possible alternative treatments and make informed choices. Support groups provide emotional and factual support online, point patients in the direction of alternative treatments and enable a person to be in control of their health, identifying them as an expert in the experience of their own health (Eysenbach 2008).
Eysenbach, Gunther. (2008, August 25). Medicine 2.0: Social Networking, Collaboration, Participation, Apomediation, and Openness. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 10(3). Retrieved from http://www.jmir.org/2008/3/e22/.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Health online
Learning Portfolio task.
A good friends young son has recently been diagnosed with high functioning autism. There is a lot of press about Autism, but personally I do not understand the different types and what it means to be autistic.
A good friends young son has recently been diagnosed with high functioning autism. There is a lot of press about Autism, but personally I do not understand the different types and what it means to be autistic.
Johnny is 5, and is completing his second year of kinder and will go
to a mainstream primary school next year.
Interestingly, because I am not the parent I disregarded sites
that operate like forums. I am more attracted to sites that appear factual and
not first person based. I think that if I was closer to the person with Autism then I would be more interested in hearing direct personal stories.
First up, I googled ‘Autism in Children’. I was very excited to find the first site
that came up is the Australian site www.raisingchildren.net.au.
Checking that the information was relevant to our country was going to be my
next step! A large portion of self-diagnosis can be incorrect as the information
comes from overseas, particularly in the case of illness that have a direct
relationship with the environment like hayfever, sinusitis etc.
Raising Children offers parent forums, more information around
Autism, signs and how a diagnosis is made. The information is clear ad concise
giving the impression of truth. Being also a government supported site adds to
the feeling of ‘real’ information.
www.autismspectrum.org.au
- was the next site that I grabbed.
Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect) is a not for profit organisation
providing support and services to people with Autism and their families. Aspect
appears to be a great organisiation that offers parental support, in-school
support and also special camps for autistic children.
cheers
Sarah
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Dating & Intimacy Online
Pascoe describes the use of technology by young adults as part of their romantic lives in a way that it is integrated into their everyday lives. Do you think the use of online dating sites can also be considered as a normal part of everyday life? Why/why not?
Young adults 'perform' their relationships. The online world gives young adults a wider audience and more access to their friends. Dating, friendships, flirting for a teen need a certain amount of feedback for them to find where their relationship sits within their world. We as adults, think of intimacy practices as private however, teen dating behaviour is often public and collaborative. (Pascoe, 2009). Social Network Sites, instant messaging, mobile phone usage tends to feed this public behaviour.
Generally, an adult has already established their place within their social group. When using online dating they are looking to meet someone new and unconnected to their established ties, the opposite to what a teen primarily does online. I think that it is this that prevents online dating being considered a normal part of everyday life. Online dating is definitely an accepted way to find someone to date, however, meaningful relationships forming are not the norm. They do happen and many people have successful relationships from meeting online, but did they meet from an online dating site or from a community of like minded people gathering online i.e gaming, gardeners anonymous. Becoming intimate with someone who already shares many of your views is attractive.
Interestingly, on intimacy, a person with high self-esteem is more likely to use online dating than a person with low self-esteem according to research from psych central.com. They found that as it is in the offline world, a person with low self-esteem is not as willing to put themselves out there.
references:
Pascoe, C.J. (2009). Intimacy in Mizuko, I et. al. Hanging Out, Messing Around, Geeking Out: Living and Learning with New Media.
http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2009/07/23/who-uses-internet-dating/
Sunday, June 10, 2012
...at work nobody knows I'm a wizard
What are the differences that Brooks observes between gaming in Korea and the United States? How does this compare to your experience of gaming?
One of the main points that Brooks (1:2012) makes is the cultural acceptance of gaming in Korea. PC Bangs remain popular in Korea whilst there are almost non existent in the US. Brooks observes that Korea is one of the most 'wired' countries in the world. the population is primarily densely populated making is easier for a functioning broadband network to operate. Making the internet easy and faster to use, therefore gaming is a much more pleasant experience. The speed and ease of access, has helped encourage social acceptance of gaming as a mainstream form of entertainment.
Alternatively, the US population (much like Australia) is much more widely dispersed making fast and consistent Internet access difficult to guarantee. . Therefore, according to the article, US gamers prefer game consoles such as the PS3 and x-box that use gaming discs as these do not rely on the internet. In the US there is a stigma of gaming being seen as an activity for 'gamers', singling them out as non-mainstream similar to other cultural sub groups, like 'goths'. As internet access becomes more of a political topic I am certain that the US will start to spend more money on ensuring good internet access across the board, not unlike our NBN. Perhaps, has Korea and the US are no cultural different in the first instance, their online gaming habits will never truly match up. However, as the gaming community grows worldwide it will be interesting to see if gamers are more accepted having a mainstream pastime.
The U.S is a large country, and people generally have more space around them to live their lives than in a small densely populated country like Korea. Does this inherently encourage more outdoor, perhaps, sports related activities' to be the norm as opposed to gaming?
I have never played a massive multiplayer online game. I have had a little go at casual games like bejewelled, dabbled in owning a farm in farmville. I did set up an account on Second Life, but I really didn't know what to do with it. Growing up, there wasn't too much focus on using the family computer for games at all. My sister had a console, the one that you play Alex Kidd on, but even that didn't last too long. I wonder if there was a lack of interest because I am female and have two sisters?
Brooks, G. (n.d.). Counting Rupees: Korea bangs | Joystiq. Retrieved June 10, 2012, from http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/08/counting-rupees-korea-bangs/
One of the main points that Brooks (1:2012) makes is the cultural acceptance of gaming in Korea. PC Bangs remain popular in Korea whilst there are almost non existent in the US. Brooks observes that Korea is one of the most 'wired' countries in the world. the population is primarily densely populated making is easier for a functioning broadband network to operate. Making the internet easy and faster to use, therefore gaming is a much more pleasant experience. The speed and ease of access, has helped encourage social acceptance of gaming as a mainstream form of entertainment.
Alternatively, the US population (much like Australia) is much more widely dispersed making fast and consistent Internet access difficult to guarantee. . Therefore, according to the article, US gamers prefer game consoles such as the PS3 and x-box that use gaming discs as these do not rely on the internet. In the US there is a stigma of gaming being seen as an activity for 'gamers', singling them out as non-mainstream similar to other cultural sub groups, like 'goths'. As internet access becomes more of a political topic I am certain that the US will start to spend more money on ensuring good internet access across the board, not unlike our NBN. Perhaps, has Korea and the US are no cultural different in the first instance, their online gaming habits will never truly match up. However, as the gaming community grows worldwide it will be interesting to see if gamers are more accepted having a mainstream pastime.
The U.S is a large country, and people generally have more space around them to live their lives than in a small densely populated country like Korea. Does this inherently encourage more outdoor, perhaps, sports related activities' to be the norm as opposed to gaming?
I have never played a massive multiplayer online game. I have had a little go at casual games like bejewelled, dabbled in owning a farm in farmville. I did set up an account on Second Life, but I really didn't know what to do with it. Growing up, there wasn't too much focus on using the family computer for games at all. My sister had a console, the one that you play Alex Kidd on, but even that didn't last too long. I wonder if there was a lack of interest because I am female and have two sisters?
Brooks, G. (n.d.). Counting Rupees: Korea bangs | Joystiq. Retrieved June 10, 2012, from http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/08/counting-rupees-korea-bangs/
Friday, June 8, 2012
Learning Portfolio task - Music
Review your experience of creating a profile on last.fm (or a similar site). If you had a profile already, describe how you use it in your everyday life and the role played by the internet on your music listening
I've always considered myself to be a fairly early adopter of new technologies. Not the first person in, but amongst the first in my circle. For online music consumption it has been completely the opposite. I'm not sure if we (my husband & I) are still suffering a hangover from previously having an indie music store, but, just recently we made the massive move to get all our CD's (hundreds & hundreds of them) online or at least on some sort of drive. From here, we have started to really discover online music. Early stages, but now getting to the point that if I hear something on the radio I will find it and get it. It seems very impulsive!
I've always considered myself to be a fairly early adopter of new technologies. Not the first person in, but amongst the first in my circle. For online music consumption it has been completely the opposite. I'm not sure if we (my husband & I) are still suffering a hangover from previously having an indie music store, but, just recently we made the massive move to get all our CD's (hundreds & hundreds of them) online or at least on some sort of drive. From here, we have started to really discover online music. Early stages, but now getting to the point that if I hear something on the radio I will find it and get it. It seems very impulsive!
Triple J have been talking a lot about being on Spotify so I have created an account/profile for this learning task. https://www.spotify.com/us/. So easy to do. I've not joined before, because it bothers me that when you listen it seems to appear in your Facebook feed. Does this have to happen? Anyone use Spotify? The site looks good, clean and easy to navigate. I will use the long weekend to play on the site and see if it captures me!
For the learning portfolio task I also created a profile on last.fm - http://www.last.fm/user/sareski, I did this has I have very limited working knowledge of music sharing sites, and really wanted to have a look at more than one.
For the learning portfolio task I also created a profile on last.fm - http://www.last.fm/user/sareski, I did this has I have very limited working knowledge of music sharing sites, and really wanted to have a look at more than one.
cheers
Sarah
Music: Analogue to Digital - The Change
From the moment music became more readily available its value has been on the rise. With the advent of portable music systems i.e gramophones, music became a consumerable for the people who set the trends primarily the youth . The progression from Vinyl single to album, to cassette, then CD and finally MP3 has been rapid. Each change has held resistance from recording companies and in some instances the artists. Recording companies concerned about controlling their income, artists concerned about intellectual property. The industry is again at a turning point, the move to digital now has the supporting web applications to reach all web users. Music of all genres, ages, languages can be tested, purchases and allocated to a personal 'mix tape' in minutes. It does seem like the shift to digital, through being so available has diluted the cultural segregations that once were so clear when it came to music choices.
I will do some more reading on this....I think that music has traditionally been a major driver in many of the ways trends of kinds shift. Now that music consumption and distribution has changed, I'm interested in discovering how artists & their publicity machines convey the concept of what their music holds. For example, do young people watch video hits anymore? Does a film clip to a music track create the same excitement as it did?
'the intertwining between the private and public'. In particular young peoples bedrooms are spaces where public resources are utilised to help the teen create and play with their sense of self, identity and creativity. (Laughey D 2009)
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Net102 - a new unit a new learning portfolio
And so, with a SP of Tertiary Learning Studies behind me and finishing up Web101 with a credit (phew) I embark on a new unit. Four assessments this SP, one being a learning portfolio.
Coming soon, my review and adventures of last.fm a music sharing site.
cheers
Sarah
Coming soon, my review and adventures of last.fm a music sharing site.
cheers
Sarah
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
One blog or two? Blogging...
Web101 - Week 5, introduced me to an in-depth view of blogs and blogging.
Types of blogs:
Personal - Original form, often online diary. Often focus on specific subject of interest to the author
Micro - short posts (like twitter)
Corporate - keeping customers up to date with internal developments. e.g. - The Facebook Blog, googleblog, Direct2Dell
Photoblogs - like flickr
Podcasts -Audio file style blogs
Here come my lecture notes - I will try and translate them to make sense!
Media perspectives on blogging....examples show
: age/generation gap
: bloggers may not actually have all that much to say
: too easy to have a blog that in turn forms suspicion
Blogging has been said to be the poster child for Web 2.0
Readings for blogging - very important Rebecca Blood late 1990's as blogs gaining strength.
Blogging platform eg: Blogger, Wordpress, Livejournal
Blogging terminology
Blogpost - Unique entry
Comment/s - ability for interaction
BlogRoll - sidebar, list of other blogs
Permalink - Permanent link to blogpost
Trackback
Theme (or skin) - with CSS (cascading style sheets)
Feed - RSS
Pocasts, Vlogs - media specific blogs
Technorati - approx 200 million blogs
What were blogs about originally?
Political, media events drive bloggers, tsunami, US election, hurricane katrina
2006 - more japanese language blogs than english
2006 - Time magazine person of the year YOU, touching on creation of media by us. User generated content.
Clay Shirky - Here comes everybody
Rebecca Blood - early influential blogger
Salam Pax - Bagdad Blogger
Jill Walker-Rettberg - Blogging (2008) - READ!
Blogs and/as/or Journalism
2004 - up until 2004 no images of US military service personal in coffins. A photographer blog thememoryhole.org posted images of coffins with the flag draped over them. Within a week the New York times had picked up the images and they were re-blogged across the globe.
2005 - London Bombings. 2 MOST significant images were taken by individuals on their mobile phones.
Citizen Journalists to have a look at:
dailykos.com (US, centre left)
larvartusprodeo.net (Aus, old left style)
Blogs - examine, refine & filter mainstream media 'gatewatching'. Citizen journalism shows return of the local reporter
Steven Johnson - 2006 blog post - 5 points about Blogging & Journalism
Connect to 5 blogs via RSS: I chose
- Bluebird Vintage
- The Little Mumma
- Liebe Bluhm
- TJ on Illustrations
- The Thriftshop Romantic
Oh man!! I have so many notes! I truly hop this helps me with Assignment Four!.....
Next up - Wiki's
Types of blogs:
Personal - Original form, often online diary. Often focus on specific subject of interest to the author
Micro - short posts (like twitter)
Corporate - keeping customers up to date with internal developments. e.g. - The Facebook Blog, googleblog, Direct2Dell
Photoblogs - like flickr
Podcasts -Audio file style blogs
Here come my lecture notes - I will try and translate them to make sense!
Media perspectives on blogging....examples show
: age/generation gap
: bloggers may not actually have all that much to say
: too easy to have a blog that in turn forms suspicion
Blogging has been said to be the poster child for Web 2.0
Readings for blogging - very important Rebecca Blood late 1990's as blogs gaining strength.
Blogging platform eg: Blogger, Wordpress, Livejournal
Blogging terminology
Blogpost - Unique entry
Comment/s - ability for interaction
BlogRoll - sidebar, list of other blogs
Permalink - Permanent link to blogpost
Trackback
Theme (or skin) - with CSS (cascading style sheets)
Feed - RSS
Pocasts, Vlogs - media specific blogs
Technorati - approx 200 million blogs
What were blogs about originally?
Political, media events drive bloggers, tsunami, US election, hurricane katrina
2006 - more japanese language blogs than english
2006 - Time magazine person of the year YOU, touching on creation of media by us. User generated content.
Clay Shirky - Here comes everybody
Rebecca Blood - early influential blogger
Salam Pax - Bagdad Blogger
Jill Walker-Rettberg - Blogging (2008) - READ!
Blogs and/as/or Journalism
2004 - up until 2004 no images of US military service personal in coffins. A photographer blog thememoryhole.org posted images of coffins with the flag draped over them. Within a week the New York times had picked up the images and they were re-blogged across the globe.
2005 - London Bombings. 2 MOST significant images were taken by individuals on their mobile phones.
Citizen Journalists to have a look at:
dailykos.com (US, centre left)
larvartusprodeo.net (Aus, old left style)
Blogs - examine, refine & filter mainstream media 'gatewatching'. Citizen journalism shows return of the local reporter
Steven Johnson - 2006 blog post - 5 points about Blogging & Journalism
Connect to 5 blogs via RSS: I chose
- Bluebird Vintage
- The Little Mumma
- Liebe Bluhm
- TJ on Illustrations
- The Thriftshop Romantic
Oh man!! I have so many notes! I truly hop this helps me with Assignment Four!.....
Next up - Wiki's
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
What is Web 2.0?
Just what you always ask yourself isn't it? What IS Web 2.0?!
And so begins week 4 of notes.....
To describe what Web 2.0, Web 1.0 was named (a retronym).
For example: Web 1
* promise of hyper textual interactivity
* largely read only web instead of the read-write dream
* static pages, websites only web designers could access and create.
Web 2
There is a web 2 tool for almost anything that people CAN DO. Web 2.0 was coined by Tim O'Reilly. Read Tim O'Reilly 'What is Web 2.0'
MP3.com - Napster
personal websites - blogging
brittanica online - wikipedia
publishing - participation
CMS (content management system) - Wikis
Directories (taxonomy) - Tagging (folksonomy)
There has been a conceptual shift in expectation of what the web can and should do
Andrew McAfee 'SLATES'
S - search
L - links
A - authoring (core transition web 1 - web 2)
T - Tags
E - Extensions (software anticipates preferences)
S - Signals
RSS - Really Simple Syndication
Separates the content from the form of a website. - information comes to you via a reader. Only changed sites produce a flag.
Web 2 is about participatory culture as the WWW was originally intended to be.
http//vimeo.com/9641036 - The State of The Internet (great graphics - full of great stats)
Web Presence Assignment.
- Central Node (core)
- 3 + contributing nodes
- About page- explain identity and theme
"Must convey your identity and a theme"
- EXEGESIS - explanation, justification. - why design? what it achieves? 1000 words essay-like format. APA reference. Use reference to help explain your choices, these references should include readings from the unit.
Contributing nodes - delicious, twitter, flickr, Linkedin - ANY applicable and appropriate Web 2.0 tools. Some examples of web presences: skycroser.net, tamaleaver.net, karencheng.com.au
Some characteristics of Web 2.0 (Best, 2006)
- A rich user experience: Web 2.0 sites typically offer the user an interactive experience. The shift toward seeing the web itself as a platform 'CLOUD COMPUTING'
'Architecture of Participation' (Tim O'Reilly)
Web 2.0 tools give us an 'I could do that too' feeling. Empowering the population
Metadata - Data about data
RSS - separating content from form, like in news headlines.
Standards get all the technologies working together creating a seamless user experience -> Ajax, XHTML, CSS & Javascript
read more from - Clay Shirky.
Check out Anthony Anderberg - History of the Internet and Web.
And so begins week 4 of notes.....
To describe what Web 2.0, Web 1.0 was named (a retronym).
For example: Web 1
* promise of hyper textual interactivity
* largely read only web instead of the read-write dream
* static pages, websites only web designers could access and create.
Web 2
There is a web 2 tool for almost anything that people CAN DO. Web 2.0 was coined by Tim O'Reilly. Read Tim O'Reilly 'What is Web 2.0'
MP3.com - Napster
personal websites - blogging
brittanica online - wikipedia
publishing - participation
CMS (content management system) - Wikis
Directories (taxonomy) - Tagging (folksonomy)
There has been a conceptual shift in expectation of what the web can and should do
Andrew McAfee 'SLATES'
S - search
L - links
A - authoring (core transition web 1 - web 2)
T - Tags
E - Extensions (software anticipates preferences)
S - Signals
RSS - Really Simple Syndication
Separates the content from the form of a website. - information comes to you via a reader. Only changed sites produce a flag.
Web 2 is about participatory culture as the WWW was originally intended to be.
http//vimeo.com/9641036 - The State of The Internet (great graphics - full of great stats)
Web Presence Assignment.
- Central Node (core)
- 3 + contributing nodes
- About page- explain identity and theme
"Must convey your identity and a theme"
- EXEGESIS - explanation, justification. - why design? what it achieves? 1000 words essay-like format. APA reference. Use reference to help explain your choices, these references should include readings from the unit.
Contributing nodes - delicious, twitter, flickr, Linkedin - ANY applicable and appropriate Web 2.0 tools. Some examples of web presences: skycroser.net, tamaleaver.net, karencheng.com.au
Some characteristics of Web 2.0 (Best, 2006)
- A rich user experience: Web 2.0 sites typically offer the user an interactive experience. The shift toward seeing the web itself as a platform 'CLOUD COMPUTING'
'Architecture of Participation' (Tim O'Reilly)
Web 2.0 tools give us an 'I could do that too' feeling. Empowering the population
Metadata - Data about data
RSS - separating content from form, like in news headlines.
Standards get all the technologies working together creating a seamless user experience -> Ajax, XHTML, CSS & Javascript
read more from - Clay Shirky.
Check out Anthony Anderberg - History of the Internet and Web.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
the flashback continues
Week 3 ..... and the question 'what is the World Wide Web?' is thrust upon us. Let us see if my notes get us any closer to the answer! As with my last post, these are my notes taken during the weeks lecture. May not make sense, hopefully will do so to my brain.
But first - I found these little gems from the end of the last note taking session:
What did people do with the internet? Email! @ version invented in 1971 Ray Tomlinson
Email made the internet social
Newsgroups - USENETalt* the first chat groups
William Gibson - 'Neuromancer' defined cyberspace
Back to the question at hand...what is the world wide web?
* most popular application on the internet *
Vannevar Bush 'As we may think' 1945
- Machine to retrieve all human knowledge from/to a desktop
- Associative patterns (nodes)
Englebart - "The Mother of all demo's", 1968
sloan.stanford.edu/mousesite/1968Demo.html
- Invented the 'mouse' and demo'd keyboard + mouse interaction
1968 - ARPAnet changed names to Internet
1989/90 - Berners-Lee proposal www.w3.org/proposal.html
1999 - Tim Berners-Lee writes about his original world wide web proposal.
HTTP - hypertext transfer protocol
HTML - hypertext markup language
URL - uniform resource locator
protocols, web server, language and browser editor = world wide web
web server - server sits holding information, sends information - always on.
Browser editor - tool that gave organisation & access to the web
First browser - Mosaic 1.0 released in 1993, making the web accessible and popular
April 1993 all web protocols and related material released into the public domain shaping it into an entirely accessible protocol.
"information highway" v's "surf the web" (fluid, ephemeral, nodal)
Books to read if you are really interested : Janet Abbate - Inventing the Internet Hypertext 3.0
Berners-Lee - Weaving the Web
The activités for this week, I responded to on the DB.
cheers
Sarah
But first - I found these little gems from the end of the last note taking session:
What did people do with the internet? Email! @ version invented in 1971 Ray Tomlinson
Email made the internet social
Newsgroups - USENETalt* the first chat groups
William Gibson - 'Neuromancer' defined cyberspace
Back to the question at hand...what is the world wide web?
* most popular application on the internet *
Vannevar Bush 'As we may think' 1945
- Machine to retrieve all human knowledge from/to a desktop
- Associative patterns (nodes)
Englebart - "The Mother of all demo's", 1968
sloan.stanford.edu/mousesite/1968Demo.html
- Invented the 'mouse' and demo'd keyboard + mouse interaction
1968 - ARPAnet changed names to Internet
1989/90 - Berners-Lee proposal www.w3.org/proposal.html
1999 - Tim Berners-Lee writes about his original world wide web proposal.
HTTP - hypertext transfer protocol
HTML - hypertext markup language
URL - uniform resource locator
protocols, web server, language and browser editor = world wide web
web server - server sits holding information, sends information - always on.
Browser editor - tool that gave organisation & access to the web
First browser - Mosaic 1.0 released in 1993, making the web accessible and popular
April 1993 all web protocols and related material released into the public domain shaping it into an entirely accessible protocol.
"information highway" v's "surf the web" (fluid, ephemeral, nodal)
Books to read if you are really interested : Janet Abbate - Inventing the Internet Hypertext 3.0
Berners-Lee - Weaving the Web
The activités for this week, I responded to on the DB.
cheers
Sarah
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Retrospective...part 1
I've decided, to blog up my notes for this unit thus far and until the end. I'm hoping that by doing this the information I now have somewhere in my brain really sticks, and also, I hope to help myself with Assignment 4 (more on that later).
It will be rather dry reading. For the weeks that are LONG ago, I think I will pretty much directly type up my notes...So let us begin...
WEEK 1: What's in a name?
Was I able to find a suitable username for each of the platforms mentioned...delicious, twitter, blogger, wordpress, flickr, linkedin, friendfeed?
Why, yes, I was. Many of these platforms have been my friend in the past and I was able to secure my preferred username. Still, to this day, I haven't been able to get wordpress to work. I go, I download, and NADA. This is the main reason for my web presence assignment my main node is a blogger blog.
That was short - I might add WEEK 2, now...
WEEK 2 - What is the Internet?
Lecture notes (in retrospect don't make all that much sense to anyone except myself - sorry!)
TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol), World Wide Web and Cyberspace all separate and they are NOT the Internet. (although are all part of each other). TCP/IP - a way for networks to communicate and share information with other networks important verification.
Sputnik1 - 1957 1st made item launched and returned to earth
U.S in response created NASA and (D)ARPA (advanced research projects agency). ARPA was created to research and develop ways of keeping information away from the main site and to protect information.
Packet switching breaks files into manageable chunks, sending one piece at a time and sorting them into correct order at the other end.
Sep 2 1969 first 2 computers connected.
1984 - Domain Name System (DNS) -
The activities for week 2 looked at routing in action. It was so interesting to see via http://www.yougetsignal.com/tools/visual-tracert/ how far you can virtually travel in a small amount of time. My results are on the uni discussion board.
The 2nd activity looked at who owns what on the internet. We used a site hexillion.com to who is at the other end of websites such as flickr, youtube, mickey.com, google.com and yahoo.com. I looked up chanel.com, that ended in France at an unknown location and zara.com finished up in Ireland, which is unusually to me, because I always thought that the label Zara was Spanish.
That's it for my physical notes. The tutorial also covered different file sharing & communication protocols that make the internet useful, by utilising the network. Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is the protocol that allows email to be sent and received. File Transfer Protocol (FTP), which allows files to be downloaded and looked at later.
Phew, I'm out.
Sarah
It will be rather dry reading. For the weeks that are LONG ago, I think I will pretty much directly type up my notes...So let us begin...
WEEK 1: What's in a name?
Was I able to find a suitable username for each of the platforms mentioned...delicious, twitter, blogger, wordpress, flickr, linkedin, friendfeed?
Why, yes, I was. Many of these platforms have been my friend in the past and I was able to secure my preferred username. Still, to this day, I haven't been able to get wordpress to work. I go, I download, and NADA. This is the main reason for my web presence assignment my main node is a blogger blog.
That was short - I might add WEEK 2, now...
WEEK 2 - What is the Internet?
Lecture notes (in retrospect don't make all that much sense to anyone except myself - sorry!)
TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol), World Wide Web and Cyberspace all separate and they are NOT the Internet. (although are all part of each other). TCP/IP - a way for networks to communicate and share information with other networks important verification.
Sputnik1 - 1957 1st made item launched and returned to earth
U.S in response created NASA and (D)ARPA (advanced research projects agency). ARPA was created to research and develop ways of keeping information away from the main site and to protect information.
Packet switching breaks files into manageable chunks, sending one piece at a time and sorting them into correct order at the other end.
Sep 2 1969 first 2 computers connected.
1984 - Domain Name System (DNS) -
Definition: The DNS translates Internet domain and host names to IP addresses. DNS automatically converts the names we type in our Web browser address bar to the IP addresses of Web servers hosting those sites.(http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/domainnamesystem/g/bldef_dns.htm)
The activities for week 2 looked at routing in action. It was so interesting to see via http://www.yougetsignal.com/tools/visual-tracert/ how far you can virtually travel in a small amount of time. My results are on the uni discussion board.
The 2nd activity looked at who owns what on the internet. We used a site hexillion.com to who is at the other end of websites such as flickr, youtube, mickey.com, google.com and yahoo.com. I looked up chanel.com, that ended in France at an unknown location and zara.com finished up in Ireland, which is unusually to me, because I always thought that the label Zara was Spanish.
That's it for my physical notes. The tutorial also covered different file sharing & communication protocols that make the internet useful, by utilising the network. Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is the protocol that allows email to be sent and received. File Transfer Protocol (FTP), which allows files to be downloaded and looked at later.
Phew, I'm out.
Sarah
Monday, January 30, 2012
Donkey on the edge!
That was me! A Donkey on the EDGE! The stress of not doing well at all on my first ever uni assignment, combined with holidays and a looming first EVER essay had me sick. Yes, truly, upset tummy style, sick.
3 days out from the essay due date, I typed up an email ready to send, quitting Web101 and sending myself off to learn how to learn school. Fortunately, a few constructive positive words from one of the lovely ladies from the uni coffee shop Facebook page set me straight. I live to learn Web101 another day, and something that looks a little like an essay got submitted!
This week, for me (I'm a little behind!) was all about content sharing and content organising.
Over the development of the many Web 2.0 platforms content sharing has become almost second nature to web users. Content seems to be so easily broken down and reassembled in different ways and then shared that it highlights the need for a review of the concept copyright. Where does an artists right to hold their work separate from public property begin and end? Is it wrong to assume all re-use of an artistic piece is distasteful or incorrect? How can we support the arts if artists cannot make money from their works?
We also were introduced to http://www.bighugelabs.com/ and I created a (not so) motivational poster...http://bighugelabs.com/photos/5df987cc61fcc6447a36cf60cc6b5901/motivatorbad500242e9e688c16e028d5fe4b0d426105646c (I'm still learning the ways of bighugelabs.com - not sure how to get the poster to sit within the blog...)
I'm off to finish the Content Sharing readings, will have some excellent references & quotes next update!
cheers
Sarah
3 days out from the essay due date, I typed up an email ready to send, quitting Web101 and sending myself off to learn how to learn school. Fortunately, a few constructive positive words from one of the lovely ladies from the uni coffee shop Facebook page set me straight. I live to learn Web101 another day, and something that looks a little like an essay got submitted!
This week, for me (I'm a little behind!) was all about content sharing and content organising.
Over the development of the many Web 2.0 platforms content sharing has become almost second nature to web users. Content seems to be so easily broken down and reassembled in different ways and then shared that it highlights the need for a review of the concept copyright. Where does an artists right to hold their work separate from public property begin and end? Is it wrong to assume all re-use of an artistic piece is distasteful or incorrect? How can we support the arts if artists cannot make money from their works?
We also were introduced to http://www.bighugelabs.com/ and I created a (not so) motivational poster...http://bighugelabs.com/photos/5df987cc61fcc6447a36cf60cc6b5901/motivatorbad500242e9e688c16e028d5fe4b0d426105646c (I'm still learning the ways of bighugelabs.com - not sure how to get the poster to sit within the blog...)
I'm off to finish the Content Sharing readings, will have some excellent references & quotes next update!
cheers
Sarah
Monday, January 2, 2012
Happy New Year!
How did you survive the Christmas/New Year eat, drink and be merrry season?
Here, I just made it through, and managed to gain a little bit more to myself at the same time. About 2 kgs!
Add in a mad rush to submit my FIRST EVER uni assignment (applause!), I'm feeling pretty satisfied.
Web101 snuck up on me real good over the break. Every time I refilled my glass, I caught myself thinking about my web presence assignment. I gotta get that happening - will break the news right here sports fans once it is up and running.
In other news, Christmas with small kids, that have just hit the right ages to go mental over presents, was amazing. I might never stop smiling!
Catch you soon
Sarah x
Here, I just made it through, and managed to gain a little bit more to myself at the same time. About 2 kgs!
Add in a mad rush to submit my FIRST EVER uni assignment (applause!), I'm feeling pretty satisfied.
Web101 snuck up on me real good over the break. Every time I refilled my glass, I caught myself thinking about my web presence assignment. I gotta get that happening - will break the news right here sports fans once it is up and running.
In other news, Christmas with small kids, that have just hit the right ages to go mental over presents, was amazing. I might never stop smiling!
Catch you soon
Sarah x
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