BLOG RE DO: Cellular Connection

http://www.politicstv.com/blog/?p=1875 - GOOGLE VIDEO.

The article, How to Recognize the Future When it Lands on You by Howard Rheingold, explores the impact of technology and cellular phones on today’s society. These advancements have a large impact on today’s society, especially effecting politics. Today, mobile phones are used for much more then just calling people. They are sold with internet, camera, music, alarms and web services. Mobile phones are processing information that is news and gossip, letting people being informed about every little thing going on. Text messaging has reached a new revolution by organizing people into groups and forming their political stances. Technological advancements are forming many people’s opinions and getting them involved. Rheingold explains that the impact of technology creates smart mobs, which are "The new social form made possible by combination of computation, communication, reputation, and location always-on internet connections to members."

This video is a short clip from Googles Vice President of Global Communication. This video explains how technology is effecting communication through politics. He is questioning what's accepted or not through technology while political issues are going on. For example, in his speech he talks about the issues of mobile phones being used near voting polls. His main goal of the speech is trying to get all people connected politically by using Google to guide them. Although, this is not a form of the mobile aspect that Rheingold uses, this is a form of communication that is derived from technology. Google forms people into smart mobs and lets them be apart of political connections by communicating with a website and their specific applications. To use Google you must be on the Internet therefore, many people can access this political information from their mobile device. This media example correlated with Rheingold’s article because they both talk about how technology interferes/organizes diverse social forms. Using Googles new political options provides you personally a social network, just like Rheingold talks about with mobile phones.

BLOG RE DO: get a life - Jenkins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3N6nAOIkd4 - STAR TREK FANATIC

I am sure everyone was a fan at one point or another to a certain TV show, movie, game, book and even a celebrity. However, there is a large different between having a liking for something and being a true fanatic. According to Jenkins, fanatics hold specific traits. 

The article, “Get A Life” by Henry Jenkins talks about a SNL episode, where William Shatner interacts with the fanatics on the famous show (that he stars in), Star Track. Another name for these fanatics are called, “Trekkies.” These people are not your usual fans. “Trekkies” world revolves around Star Trek, and sometimes people live their lives through Star Trek characters. Star Trek is not only a television show, but a way of life for many people. For example, in the article Shatner yells at his fans and tells the fans to move out of their parent’s basement and proceed with adult experiences. He then looks into the audience and noticed, “The fans looked confused at first, then, progressively more hurt and embarrassed.” These people are so involved in the show and with the characters that they get emotionally attached and live their lives as though Star Trek is real. Mindless consumers are ones that do not even think, they are just mentally drawn to buy a certain product just because it has to do with a specific thing.


I believe that “Trekkies” hold the trait of being mindless consumers. This You Tube video displays a true Star Trek fanatic. Geroge(the fanatic) who isn’t a little kid anymore, he is a young adult and is still a hardcore fan of Star trek. His mom talks about his past, she took him to a Star Trek convention for fun, little did she know he would become obsessed. He goes to school four times a week wearing Star Trek uniforms and commander outfits. His room is filled with magazines, posters, books, and movies. Jenkins says that Trekkies are “brainless consumers who will buy anything associated with the program or its cast. For example, George’s room was filled with everything Star Trek possible. He owned all ten of the Star Trek movies and had a huge binder filled with Star Trek cards of each character. George is even practicing how to speak the Star Trek language. During the film George kept saying that Star Trek was always there for him. George fit into every stereotype that was stated in Jenkins article. There are many points in the video where George was unable to separate fantasy from reality. The stereotypes of "Trekkies" are that they are social misfits, mindless consumers, and are unable to separate fantasy from reality. The fans picture themselves as being a part of this fiction world. Although these are stereotypes are exaggerated, some of the “Trekkies” actually posses these features.

BLOG RE DO: peek-a-Boo World!

The article Peek-a-Boo World, by Neil Postman brings up a plethora of viewpoints on technologies effect on society. Although, it was a huge technological advancement, he believes that the telegraph had a large negative impact. He said, He said, “The telegraph made a three-prolonged attack on typography’s definition of discourse, introducing on a large scale of irrelevance, impotence and incoherence. Instead of worrying about the information we receive it was more important how much information and how far it came. This is why so much information became so irrelevant to ones life; because there was a lot of information but had no individual impact. The telegraph would give us information that would be spoken about but then easily and unintentionally forgotten. It processed a lot of useless information that didn’t a connection to ones life. 
I believe that Postman talking about the telegraph exemplifies today’s impact of technology on society. He clarifies the idea that the telegraph disrupted communication. Everyday people are exposed to useless information that has no effect on their daily lives. Our use of media is merely just another way to escape from reality and into the technological world. I completely agree with Postman, I feel that the information was provided with is mostly useless. A lot of the information people get in today’s society is by using Internet sources.
I went on the news website CNN.com to see what the top stories actually were. The three top stories correlates with postman’s view of useless information that just gives people something to talk about. The three top stories were Man survives 500-foot fall into Pennsylvania strip mine, Singer Winehouse cautioned for assault, and FBI investigates possible kidnap for ransom. All of these articles shows us how useless information is thrown around yet, have no bearing on ones life. Postman writes, “But most of our daily news is inert, consisting of information that gives us something to talk about but cannot lead to any meaningful action.” The top stores doesn’t have an impact on ones life. After a day, people move on and talk about the new gossip and news for that day. There are many news sources that provide irrelevant information, which have no impact on an individual’s life. It seems to me that the actual message of the telegraph was for mostly entertainment purposes.

EXTRA POST- Facebook

After reading all the articles about Facebook, Myspace and friendster, I still find it so weird how people friend and message random people. I got this message from this random 20 year old from Israel asking about my ancestors. He asked me about my religion and then he proceeded to ask me if I was related to certain people. I find this extremely weird. I didn't answer and I am glad I didn't because I did not know that people can see your profile for 30 days if you answer then in a message. This is something that I learned in class the other day, which I found to be very interesting. This is someone who I would never accept and I would feel no guilt. I don't see how someone can feel guilty to accepting random friends as well as answering random messages. I think people need to be careful of who they accept online these days.

TO BE OR NOT TO BE.. A FRIEND - Boyd

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9759401-7.html - request or reject?

The article Friends, friendsters, and Top 8: Writing Community into being on social network talks about friendship through social online sights such as Myspace and Friendster. Boyd discusses the differences between online friends and real life friends as well as many reasons why people accept others as their friend online. She came up with 13 reasons as to why people accept friend requests. Out of the entire list, I believe the two main reasons that people accept friend requests is because having lots of friends makes you popular and its easier to accept then reject. I can closely relate to this article because I am currently a member of Facebook. I believe that people just accept people all the time just to up their number of friends and to look “cool.” I don’t think people look beyond a random friend request. I for one, only accept people if I know them, if they don’t look familiar then I will reject them. I always question when someone random keeps constantly requesting me while I am rejecting him or her. I question as to why they want to be friends with a complete stranger and many questions come to mind. I sometimes get nervous for many security reasons. For example, this random 24-year-old guy from Indiana keeps requesting me and we have no friends in common. I also reject people that are much younger then me, I don’t feel the need for them to see my pictures of everything going on in my life. I for one, never have a problem denying someone to be my friend. I feel no guilt in rejecting someone, if they are someone I don’t know or that I have no personal connection with I don’t see the need for them to know everything about me. I am a rare case, most people I know accept anyone to be their friend. I have also noticed that even though people don’t really know people, they request them and accept out of guilt. One might feel guilty if they reject someone from being their friend however, I don’t.

I found the article, Facebook users pretty willing to add strangers as 'friends’, to be very interesting. A security firm created a fake Facebook account with the name of Freddi Staur. This account friend requested 200 random people to see how any acceptances and rejections he would receive. The results were, “Out of those 200, 87 accepted the friend request and 82 of those gave 'Freddi' access to "personal information" such as e-mail addresses, dates of birth, addresses and phone numbers, and school or work data. Presumably, the other five had restricted 'Freddi' to limited profile access.” I found this very fascinating, the fact that people would accept a random man. I think this has to do with more then the “cool” factor, I think people need to be more cautious. The fact that people can see all information about you isn’t safe. Compared to Myspace, Facebook has much more privacy settings and is more controlled however, people still accept random people. A security analyst said, "It"s extremely alarming how easy it was to get users to accept Freddi.” Accepting random people as being your friend gives them access to a lot of valuable information about oneself. People need to think about security and safety before popularity when it comes to accepting Facebook friends.

Griefers - Debbell

The article "Mutilated Furries, Flying Phalluses: Put the Blame on Griefers," by Julian Dibbell talks about griefing in Second Life. Griefers are people who become apart of the game world by making offenses towards other players. “Not that griefers don’t like online games. Its just that what they most enjoy about those games is making other players not enjoy them.” These people take pleasure in destroying others game life. Their goal is to get the player annoyed/upset, while the player will eventually lead to log off. Griefing has become more popular over the years as it transformed into an organization. People take griefing very seriously however, not many understand as to why people grief. I think that griefing is out of control. I don’t see how someone gets such pleasure while they know one is miserable. Griefers actions hurt second life users real life because sometimes there is money involved. I believe that griefers are very immature which makes sense as why they would attack users with penises, thinking its funny.

http://www.gamepro.com/computer/pc/games/features/107088.shtml

In the article below a psychiatrist talks about griefers and why they get involved. The article talks about how griefers are split into two different groups, the defiant leader and the scapegoat leader. She said, "The defiant leader is sometimes with the group, but sometimes has one foot out. There is also always a scapegoat leader. This is generally a person everyone dislikes.” There are not only groups but specific psychological disorders that griefers possess. One many have depression, substance abuse, and psychotic disorders. For example, one being anti social personality disorder, which is also said in Debbells article. Pychiatrist Dr. Laio said, “They are likely to go online to vent frustrations with little regard for how it affects other people.” I tend to agree with Dr. Laio because users on second life would constantly be getting annoyed while they were being grifed however, the griefers know and as Debbell made it clear the grifers just continue to attack.

Rape? - Dibbell

I found the article, A Rape in Cyberspace by Julian Dibbell to be very interesting. The article talks about a certain incident that goes on in the LamdaMOO community. A LamdaMOO character, Mr. Bungle raped two other LamdaMOO members, Legba and Starsinger. He would say obscene comments to the users, for example, “He made Legba eat his/her own pubic hair. That he caused Starsinger to violate herself with a piece of kitchen cutlery.” As Mr. Bungle laughed, Lebga and Starsinger didn’t find it a joke and they let affect them emotionally in real life. There are many people that question what the repercussions should be for Mr. Bungle. There are a plethora of different view points, if Mr. Bungle should get punished for his actions. The WIRED commentary talks about the different between rape in real and virtual worlds.
http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/commentary/sexdrive/2007/05/sexdrive_0504

This incident showed how people get attached to their avatar emotionally. Although, they are not this person in real life and they are not actually physically getting violated, emotionally they are. The fact that Legba and Starsinger got raped in the living room by another avatar is diminishing. I personally think it’s disgusting that some college student finds it entertaining to go online and say sexual comment to others especially when it gets to the point where someone is being harassed online. The people that are using MUDS have to do into the virtual community knowing that people can say horrific comments just like the real world however, I still don’t think it measures up to an actual rape.

The article, Virtual Rape Is Traumatic, but Is It a Crime?, talks about if virtual rape is actually a crime and should be reported. In the article it said, “I have a hard time calling it "rape," or believing it's a matter for the police. No matter how disturbed you are by a brutal sexual attack online, you cannot equate it to shivering in a hospital with an assailant's sweat or other excretions still damp on your body.” I completely agree with this comment, I would call it sexual harassment because I believe that rape is something that can only happen in real life. In Dibbells article, the two characters Legba and Starsinger never actually was being physically hurt which then affected them mentally. They also never attempted to sign off and log in as another character, something that they could have easily done. They decided to find a way to get Mr. Bungle back, which was completely their choice. In the end, I believe that there is no reason why something virtual online should be called rape. I also think people need to understand that their character is completely made up and so was Mr. Bungles. I tend to agree with the Wired commentary saying, “It's a shitty thing to do to someone. But it's not a crime.”

EXTRA - Children Communication

I believe the internet has been detrimental factor that has the most negative effects on kids in today’s society. I think simple compter communication like talking on AIM, ca have a negative effect on kids development. I know when I was younger AOl and AIM were big but I didn’t really use it until 6th grade and actively until middle school. Now, kids are starting to have AIM screen names starting at the age of 7 or 8. I think that children get used to the interaction online and have trouble communicaiting face-to-face. In the article, Tiny Sex and Gender Trouble it has been explained exactly. A child stated, “ I think girls online are more communicative.” A 13 year old gir also stated, “ she finds it easier to establish relationships online and then puruse them offline.” She has a boyfriend and feels closer to him when they send electronic mail or talk in a chat room then see eachother in person.”
I think its bad that starting at a young age children use online to become their main source of communication. I feel like each year the ages decrease for kids to be more involved in a lot they aren’t meant to be involved in yet. For example, Facebook is something that used to be meant for only college students. I refused to sign up until I knew where I was going to college, when I finally decided I was coming to Indiana I made a Facebook to start seeing who else is coming. I was never a huge fan of Facebook and I always claimed I would never be apart of it however, after I got into college it seemed like the thing to do. Two months ago, I get a friend request from my cousin who is in 8th grade and I was in complete shock. I could not believe that someone this young was becoming apart of Facebook. I think it affect the development of children and I cant even image what kids will be apart of in years from now.

Tinysex & Gender Trouble - Turkle

I found the article, Tinysex and Gender Trouble by Sheryl Turkle to be extremely interesting. Turkle talks about how life through the computer screen makes it much easier to interact. When one enters MUDS, for example, LamdaMOO they know not to expect someone’s real identity. There are many clues and hint according to how one acts and presents themselves to guess at their real gender. The founder of LamdaMOO said that he, “has observed that when a female-presenting character is called something like FaboluousHotBabe, one can almost be sure there is a man behind the mask.” There are many ways in which one can assume weather the real character behind a simple name is male or female. Many MOO users get extremely involved in their virtual character however, there are still many clues to distinguish between male and female. Getting involved with ones character shows how getting involved in LamdaMOO can effect someone psychologically because there are playing two different people between Real life and virtual life. Psychologically MOO users get emotionally attached to their community online and sometimes let that effect their real life. Turkle says that these virtual worlds can encourage personal growth and self awareness yet, sometimes one can become trapped.

I tend to believe that one becomes trapped and almost gets lost in the distinction between virtual life and reality. I don’t think that one can possibly grow as a person by having a fake persona and not being themselves. However, I have never been apart of a MUD as well as posed as anyone else except myself. I believe that MUDS end up having a negative impact on ones personal growth. People get too involved in online interaction that they feel less comfortable with face-to-face communication. I think people get emotionally trapped in the virtual world therefore, it affects them as a person in the real world.

EXTRA BLOG!

This is just a random extra blog but I thought it was very interesting so I figured to write about it. My roommate and I were on the phone today with MAC Apple support because her computer had crashed. He was helping us try to fix her computer and while that was happening he said to my roommate, "How are you feeling today, I hear you have a cold." We both started laughing and then she said, "yeah I do, I am good though." We both felt very awkward because then he went on telling us how he just went to Puerto Rico and came back with a cold. After being on the phone with him for two hours, I noticed that we knew a lot of random stuff about each other and almost formed a connection. It reminded me of the MUDS, especially LamdaMOO where you think you won't get addicted/spend a lot of time at first and then all the sudden you form these connections with people and don't even realize that hours have passed. Also, at the end of the phone call he said how we have to contact someone else because he couldn't help with the problem. He was like it might take a while for someone to contact you back so if you want we have chat rooms and discussion boards of the customers explaining their problem and people reply to help. I thought that was very interesting that now for technical support, consumers help others going through the same problem through discussion boards online.