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
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