So far I have 2 major options to focus on for my final project.
1- to look at my experience on Facebook and perhaps compare it to a few of my friends' usage of it. So it would be mostly on my own identity on there, but with a little bit of comparison to friends who use it differently than I do and why.
2- The other option is to focus more on Warcraft and my identities on there. This would be rather interesting since I've started a new character, with a new guild.. or I'm going to be transferring my level 80 character to another server (which would mean starting her with a new group).
I haven't had a lot of time to spend looking at the requirements and the whole project explanation to figure something more concrete, but these are my early ideas to figure out and sort through.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Second Life?
I've played a little with similar programs and situations. One example is the time that I encouraged my boyfriend and a group of his friends to make their own avatar on the PlayStation Network site "Home". The social structure seemed to be ok in that most avatars couldn't do anything dirty but there was enough talk in the chat to make me roll my eyes at the childishness of it all.
However, that was all tempered as the avatar was created to be an old fat man dressed in a mini-tank top and hot pants. They proceeded to find random things to pester people with, including interrupting conversations between people in the main area. As they were playing (it was mostly good natured), they would find that people seemed to react one of two ways. Some people were put off by the avatar and the antics of doing the running-man dance in the middle of a crowd of people. On the other hand, some people joined in and started interacting and gravitating towards him.
Though some people do these things intentionally, I think it can speak to the person's personality on how they react to what happens. The people who joined in seemed to be having fun with the amusing bit of chaos that was going on. As I said, it was good natured, and however annoyed some people were, there were others that saw it as something to have fun with and take the stance of joining in for the sake of enjoyment.
How does this relate to Second Life? Well, the enjoyment was short-lived. Mostly because after a half hour, they'd grown bored of pestering people and aside from going about buying new outfits and new pretty things for their houses, there wasn't much substance behind it. It was a place for people to talk and virtually hang out, but in general it was still like a pretty instant messaging system. The people had limited skills and abilities to interact, and there was no real goal aside from simply talking to people that you could normally talk to through other ways on the PlayStation Network.
However, that was all tempered as the avatar was created to be an old fat man dressed in a mini-tank top and hot pants. They proceeded to find random things to pester people with, including interrupting conversations between people in the main area. As they were playing (it was mostly good natured), they would find that people seemed to react one of two ways. Some people were put off by the avatar and the antics of doing the running-man dance in the middle of a crowd of people. On the other hand, some people joined in and started interacting and gravitating towards him.
Though some people do these things intentionally, I think it can speak to the person's personality on how they react to what happens. The people who joined in seemed to be having fun with the amusing bit of chaos that was going on. As I said, it was good natured, and however annoyed some people were, there were others that saw it as something to have fun with and take the stance of joining in for the sake of enjoyment.
How does this relate to Second Life? Well, the enjoyment was short-lived. Mostly because after a half hour, they'd grown bored of pestering people and aside from going about buying new outfits and new pretty things for their houses, there wasn't much substance behind it. It was a place for people to talk and virtually hang out, but in general it was still like a pretty instant messaging system. The people had limited skills and abilities to interact, and there was no real goal aside from simply talking to people that you could normally talk to through other ways on the PlayStation Network.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Remediate or Deconstruct?
Throughout getting my facilitation ready, I kept asking myself what all this digital art and creativity could do for writing in general. The response that I came up with was that even though most of this revolves around digital art and digital presentation, there's still the writing component behind the writing.
For example, I was watching the Foamy cartoons (iwillpress.com) and realized that it's more than just the script that requires some degree of writing skill. It depends on being able to tell a story, come up with the way the movie is laid out, and all sorts of other 'hidden' writing ventures.
Most of our media is moving to a digital outlet and even though it is presented in a purely digital format, there's still a great deal of writing that can be done in something like a classroom setting or thought of in a business format. People who make these have to have the forethought to envision what they are trying to accomplish and then lay out the presentation accordingly. Although mine might feel a little ADD at times - mostly because I loathe public speaking- there's still a point and a great deal of effort that isn't merely typing on a computer screen.
Does this mean that we have to recreate what students know about media, or do we have to deconstruct it and serve it out in pieces to them? Everything from a potential business proposal of a specific video idea to the final product is dependent upon the person's ability to create something and have it be accessable to other people, just like how we view traditional writing skills. If the script is lacking in substance or at least sensible grammar, that will show in the end product and the interpretation of the audience.
For example, I was watching the Foamy cartoons (iwillpress.com) and realized that it's more than just the script that requires some degree of writing skill. It depends on being able to tell a story, come up with the way the movie is laid out, and all sorts of other 'hidden' writing ventures.
Most of our media is moving to a digital outlet and even though it is presented in a purely digital format, there's still a great deal of writing that can be done in something like a classroom setting or thought of in a business format. People who make these have to have the forethought to envision what they are trying to accomplish and then lay out the presentation accordingly. Although mine might feel a little ADD at times - mostly because I loathe public speaking- there's still a point and a great deal of effort that isn't merely typing on a computer screen.
Does this mean that we have to recreate what students know about media, or do we have to deconstruct it and serve it out in pieces to them? Everything from a potential business proposal of a specific video idea to the final product is dependent upon the person's ability to create something and have it be accessable to other people, just like how we view traditional writing skills. If the script is lacking in substance or at least sensible grammar, that will show in the end product and the interpretation of the audience.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Drama.. just plain Drama.
I have been keeping up on most of my social networking sites, though last week I was gone for most of the week and so most of it was left to sit. So a few days were spent off being minimally linked to the outside world - which was awesome, by the way!
So I work the last two days of last week and finally get to sleep in on Sunday. When I wake up, I'm welcomed with 'you have an important email' from my mother, before I could even sit down in the living room. So I log on and check, only to find some rambling message which was a forward from my mom's Facebook account.
The message was a lengthy list of accusations against my boyfriend by his ex-girlfriend's mom. To clear things up, His ex's mother was keeping track of his facebook page and after some situations, felt it necessary to find the links through his site to my own site and my mother's. As a 'good mother' she sent this note to my mother to warn me about some things that supposedly happened.
My boyfriend and I weren't contacted, until the message was forwarded from my mother to us. Which began an afternoon of worry and trying to sort out what was really going on. So much for my day off from work and worry!
None of the accusations were true, and it just goes to show that you should be careful about who you friend! The lady had sent me a friend request, which I denied and I'm sure was why she couldn't send me the message. But since when was it her business?
So I work the last two days of last week and finally get to sleep in on Sunday. When I wake up, I'm welcomed with 'you have an important email' from my mother, before I could even sit down in the living room. So I log on and check, only to find some rambling message which was a forward from my mom's Facebook account.
The message was a lengthy list of accusations against my boyfriend by his ex-girlfriend's mom. To clear things up, His ex's mother was keeping track of his facebook page and after some situations, felt it necessary to find the links through his site to my own site and my mother's. As a 'good mother' she sent this note to my mother to warn me about some things that supposedly happened.
My boyfriend and I weren't contacted, until the message was forwarded from my mother to us. Which began an afternoon of worry and trying to sort out what was really going on. So much for my day off from work and worry!
None of the accusations were true, and it just goes to show that you should be careful about who you friend! The lady had sent me a friend request, which I denied and I'm sure was why she couldn't send me the message. But since when was it her business?
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Tired of News
When the Iraq war first started, I remember spending a few days straight just watching and waiting to hear any real news on what was going on. I had a friend who took part in the opening attacks and I desperately wanted to know what was happening. My news network of choice was CNN, who repeted the same news about every two to three hours around the clock.
Ever since then? The news is boring to me. I still do read through the daily news stories on AoL news when I log on, but I've stopped watching most news programs almost entirely. Why? Because most of it is overhyped and dramatized for viewers. All too often they have that one or two little extra news stories that are so important that they have to tell you to watch 10 hours from then. "Do you have a cannibalistic newt living in your digestive tract? Find out at 11".
If it's that important tell me now. But then there are websites and networks that are dedicated to tell you everything they can up to the minute. But then you run into stories about absolutely unneccesary people doing stupid things for attention. Then we get people like the balloon idiot who will do anything to get attention, even get his own children to lie for him when a nation full of people think his kid is inside and in danger.
The actual news is rarely ever either considered news or on the news. The fact that there were 3 confirmed cases of Swine Flu in Goodrich hasn't reached the news. Which, in my opinion, is overhyped and although people should take it seriously and act cautiously, I question how really severe and horribly dangerous this is or if it's another piece of information made for TV.
Ever since then? The news is boring to me. I still do read through the daily news stories on AoL news when I log on, but I've stopped watching most news programs almost entirely. Why? Because most of it is overhyped and dramatized for viewers. All too often they have that one or two little extra news stories that are so important that they have to tell you to watch 10 hours from then. "Do you have a cannibalistic newt living in your digestive tract? Find out at 11".
If it's that important tell me now. But then there are websites and networks that are dedicated to tell you everything they can up to the minute. But then you run into stories about absolutely unneccesary people doing stupid things for attention. Then we get people like the balloon idiot who will do anything to get attention, even get his own children to lie for him when a nation full of people think his kid is inside and in danger.
The actual news is rarely ever either considered news or on the news. The fact that there were 3 confirmed cases of Swine Flu in Goodrich hasn't reached the news. Which, in my opinion, is overhyped and although people should take it seriously and act cautiously, I question how really severe and horribly dangerous this is or if it's another piece of information made for TV.
Monday, October 19, 2009
A Blog post about... Blog posts?
Does anyone feel a little overwhelmed with the blog posts?
I have been doing an ok job about keeping up with them until recently. Part of it is the fact that I've been more in absorb info mode than really responsive mode. I'm checking out a lot of these sites and playing with them enough to get a feel for what they do and what they can do. However, I don't have much to say about them because it's still mostly figuring them out and by the time the next post is due, I'm already thinking about the homework and everything for the week after.
I'm an English major that doesn't like to write. What I mean by that is I don't like journals or daily writing requirements. I find myself more focused on getting something down for class than actually being any form of creative about it. I know that sounds horrible, but while I feel like I'm keeping up well with the blog posts, other things seem to be getting in the way. Because of that, most of mine lately have been lackluster and quite nearly boring.
For instance, this week I spent every day either at work or at school, and when I wasn't in either of those, I was trying to get ready for my best friend's wedding. Tuesday was ok and I did spend a great deal of time playing around on Goodreads, but by the time Thursday/Friday/Saturday came around, I was so focused on the desire for sleep and the temptation to throw my friend's fiance out a 6th story window, that I bypassed the homework. (Probably not the best thing to admit publicly, but it's true)
I'm just wondering if anyone else has run into this issue? Am I a horrible student?
I have been doing an ok job about keeping up with them until recently. Part of it is the fact that I've been more in absorb info mode than really responsive mode. I'm checking out a lot of these sites and playing with them enough to get a feel for what they do and what they can do. However, I don't have much to say about them because it's still mostly figuring them out and by the time the next post is due, I'm already thinking about the homework and everything for the week after.
I'm an English major that doesn't like to write. What I mean by that is I don't like journals or daily writing requirements. I find myself more focused on getting something down for class than actually being any form of creative about it. I know that sounds horrible, but while I feel like I'm keeping up well with the blog posts, other things seem to be getting in the way. Because of that, most of mine lately have been lackluster and quite nearly boring.
For instance, this week I spent every day either at work or at school, and when I wasn't in either of those, I was trying to get ready for my best friend's wedding. Tuesday was ok and I did spend a great deal of time playing around on Goodreads, but by the time Thursday/Friday/Saturday came around, I was so focused on the desire for sleep and the temptation to throw my friend's fiance out a 6th story window, that I bypassed the homework. (Probably not the best thing to admit publicly, but it's true)
I'm just wondering if anyone else has run into this issue? Am I a horrible student?
Monday, October 12, 2009
Linked In
I've checked into the site off and on during the week. I was quite happy to be accepted into an equine group the next day after signing up. I requested about three but the one is the only one to respond and actually very warmly.
It actually reminds me a little of the general message board forums that I've been part of for a number of years. Even though my job has nothing to do with my interest and area of expertise, I have offered a few responses to the discussions when I have something to offer.
One thing I noticed is that it's a little bit intimidating joining these groups. It's not so much the established group, but a site like Linked In asks for your expertise in something and it's always a little bit intimidating to consider your advice to be 'expertise'. For instance, there was a man who wanted to go about leasing his horse but wasn't sure where to begin. Since only one other person responded, I felt a little more confident in responding with my own experience with leasing (which eventually lead to my parents buying a horse for me).
When do you get to be an expert in something?
It actually reminds me a little of the general message board forums that I've been part of for a number of years. Even though my job has nothing to do with my interest and area of expertise, I have offered a few responses to the discussions when I have something to offer.
One thing I noticed is that it's a little bit intimidating joining these groups. It's not so much the established group, but a site like Linked In asks for your expertise in something and it's always a little bit intimidating to consider your advice to be 'expertise'. For instance, there was a man who wanted to go about leasing his horse but wasn't sure where to begin. Since only one other person responded, I felt a little more confident in responding with my own experience with leasing (which eventually lead to my parents buying a horse for me).
When do you get to be an expert in something?
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