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.
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