Thinking

Thinking conjures up a whole load of emotions that were never previously thought about. Today was raining and overall gloomy, so I spent most of the day by myself in my room. This gave me time to think and reflect upon discussions that I have been having in most of my classes. The same ideas have been overlapping and I have had similar conversations.

However, today in my Writing Arts class was a conversation that put a lot of thought into me. I haven’t thought about the exact areas we covered, but what the areas mean. For a social networking site like Facebook or Myspace, why do we do what we do? Why is it that we put so much of ourselves in the open? There is an incredible difference between our online lives and our real lives. Facebook “stalking” takes up a large part of people’s lives and we read everything–status changes, new comments, notes, wall posts, and look at pictures that have been tagged. Why? What is our obsession with other people’s information?

What if people took the same amount of time that they used on Facebook and went to CNN or the New York Times and read the news.

Why has the idea of news changed? Suddenly, news feeds are more important than the actual news. Who slapped who with Superpoke or who is now in a relationship? What made me go to my brother’s Facebook homepage when I saw his status said something odd? Why do people care so much about Facebook, but don’t take the time to learn about the real world around them?

To What War Are We referring?

               I have to be honest and state upfront that I am not exactly sure where I am going with this blog response to Doug Englebart’s public debut of the operating systems of the computer in 1968, and Vannevar Bush’s article entitled “As We May Think”, both being pretty intense pieces. As I watch Englebart give his presentation, I am amazed and astonished by the accomplishment, application of knowledge, and creativity of the men, and perhaps women, that created such an elaborate system of operation. It really is absolutely phenomenal…and to believe it was so far along in the late 60’s! I had no idea. I want to make a correlation here between Englebart and his team’s goals of production and what Bush states at the beginning or opening of his dissertation. Bush speaks of the scientist’s war. I believe the war in which he is referring is between the individualistic personal academic goals of the researcher/scientist and the common demand for improving human capabilities through science. Bush states, and I quote “The scientists, burying their old professional competition in the demand of a common cause……have shared greatly and learned much.”  From what I can gather, Englebart’s motivation and goal with the production of the computer was to create a more effective, better, faster way of solving problems, getting work done, and making better use of human capabilities.  I don’t believe his intent was to replace humans with computers. The computer was made for humans, not humans for computers. However, Bush begins to project that it might be neat if computers did our thinking for us. Yikes! That’s a scary thought. With the incredible advancements in technology, and its increasingly significant role in our everyday lives, I have to agree with Cait, and send out a warning to not let it consume you. Keep this adage in mind, and maybe it will help to keep it all in perspective, “Does your computer, instant messenger, cell phone, e-mail, etc… OWN YOU, or do you OWN them?!”         

Who Are We and Where Are we Going?

My desire is to respond mostly to Sherry Turkle’s article entitled, Who Am We? It is an undeniable truth that the emergence of the internet has changed the way people interact, socialize and think. The computer has moved away from simply being a tool for keeping a budget or writing a research paper, to being more of a tool of simulation, and interaction. With the creation of such platforms as My Space and Face book the web literally becomes an open book for anyone to write and share anything and everything about themselves with anyone and everyone. I like the statement made in the article describing the Blogging Scholarship that “those who freely express themselves are far more likely to find their true passions and connect with people to bring on large social change”, and the computer and its many applications afford us to do this, knowing that someone out there is listening. Chat rooms, e-mail, and applications like instant messenger have created a community of interconnectedness with the world like we have never known or experienced. Fred Vogelstein calls it a “certified social phenomenon” in reference to the 100 million members that signed on to Face book in August of 2006. Interconnectedness is good, however, are we trying to forge a new identity because we don’t like the one we have? What is the purpose of all of this and where is it taking us? For example games such as SimCity and SimLife, where the goal or object is to build a virtual community, an ecosystem, or public policy, can be useful tools for students to attain and practice real life skills that can later be applied in the real world much like the board game “Life” I grew up playing. But, I find it a little disconcerting when adults spend their time wrapped up and wasting valuable hours consumed in a virtual world, like SimLife or Second Life instead of seeking to make the one life they have count for something in the here and now. I just have a sense that lots of people are so dissatisfied, empty, unfulfilled, neglected and rejected by the “real” people in their “real” life that they are seeking to reinvent and lose themselves in a virtual world. My heart breaks.

Writing spaces & and Remediation

       The three writing spaces I most use on a daily basis would be the computer, the notebook, and a freshly iced cake. Each of these “writing spaces” has very different characteristics.  Firstly, the computer, as Bolter puts it, “adds new flexibility to the rapidity and efficiency of printing.” To define or describe the writing space of a computer becomes a bit ethereal or abstract. It is literally a clear open space, a blank screen, ready to receive input electronically coded by the touch of a key or keys.  I would describe it as a technological canvas whereby words are created one tapped letter or stroke at a time, until the white space is full of coherent sentences spelling thoughts, feelings, ideas, and/or data. The notebook is a writing space that requires a writing implement or device such as a pen or pencil. It is tangible. Its pages can be folded, torn, crumpled, and easily moved. It has many pages and can be toted or carried easily from place to place. Like any book it has a cover that can be closed to conceal the written contents.  It is placed in front of the writer and has printed guidelines to strongly encourage linear writing.  The third writing space I use most frequently, and I sort of threw in for fun, is a freshly iced cake. I am a cake decorator at a small family owned business where we specialize in custom made cakes. After a cake has been decorated, the final process is the writing of a greeting, quote, phrase, wish, or name. This writing space is edible, usually small, upraised, movable, and portable.  Remediation as defined by Bolter in his article Writing As Technology “is a process of cultural competition between or among technologies.”  Encarta dictionary defines remediation as the use of remedial methods to improve skills. “Remedial literally means to help improve skills.  The competition to which Bolter refers is a healthy one, in my opinion. It denotes that prior technologies only prove to spur new advances in future technologies. I believe it is obvious that writing on or in a notebook remediated the creation of the laptop. The idea or construct of writing down information that could be concealed or closed to protect its contents, as well as be toted around and opened and used whenever necessary was a model and inspiration for an electronic notebook.      

Facebook: The Face of the Future?

Is Facebook really the future of the internet?

One of the hottest and fastest growing commodities these days is information.  Consumers are increasingly demanding faster, easier, and more efficient means to access and manipulate information.  This is one of the key forces behind the development and evolution of the modern internet.

With the internet, information has been a find and seek process.  Anyone needing an audience for their information relied mostly on search engines.  The necessity of this process has turned the likes of Google into billion dollar information-media corporations.  Websites generate revenue mostly from advertising, and traffic is increased by search engines, and the profits are shared.

 But the modern internet is not merely an information super-highway, as the cliche would have you believe.  The world wide web is a vast population of interacting denizens.  The immense number of web surfers and varied avenues of interactivity offered has led to a wide array of social networks.  These networks range from the smallish, interest biased message boards to multi-million member societies such as Myspace.  While advertisers are quick to latch on to such communities, revenues are generated mostly from traffic generated.  This has left a major gap between revenue and potential revenue.  The nature of the internet based social network leaves information sharing to a strictly one on one basis, with potential consumers interacting only amongst themselves, leaving the advertiser or provider of information with a massive market, yet no means to capitalize.

 Facebook is changing this.  As discussed in How Mark Zuckerberg Turned Facebook Into the Web’s Hottest Platform, Facebook has opened the floodgates into the massive internet social network market.  By mimicking interactivity in the real world, Facebook was able to build a foundation that the consumer trusted, and came to rely on.  Want an easy way to interact with an old friend?  Facebook.  Need to message someone in your class? Facebook.  Facebook grew in size due mainly to its close-knit feel.  Unlike Myspace or other networks of the like, Facebook simply enhanced the way actual social groups interacted.  And by doing this, a perfect foundation was laid for the advertiser.

If you have a Facebook account, you have either fallen prey or have friends on your list that have fallen prey to the addict-ability of the website.  This is largely due to the combination of interaction amongst your social network and the recent addition of applications.  A person can spend hours adding and tweaking applications on their sites involving a plethora of avenues. 

To the user, these apps are merely fun ways to relay information or interact with friends.  To the advertiser, these are pearls.  Through applications, Facebook has now become a portal for the assimilation of information, and advertising and traffic revenue.  While in the past a user would need multiple browser tabs to handle daily internet functions such as e-mail, shopping, entertainment, instant messaging, media sharing, news, weather, etc., applications have allowed Facebook to become a one-stop hub of interactivity.

By developing a successful means for advertisers and those seeking an audience to tap into one of the largest and fastest growing markets in the online world, Facebook has changed the way revenue and information relate, opening the future of the internet to becoming a truly on-demand experience that echos the real world.

Who Am We? We are a new breed of people.

This article disturbed me but at the same time I knew that it was possible for people to enter online communities and have an entirely new persona. This article only came out ten years ago, but couples had problems of infidelity in the last ten years since the partners were online with cyber sexual partners. Where is the ethical line of committing the sin of unfaithfulness? When is it OK and when isn’t it? Who makes the determination? Maybe the wife doesn’t want to be in a position where she is belittled and slandered by morally degrading ideas and words. In an online world, a different dimension if you will, the husband can express these ideas. No longer does the online user’s wife need to be involved. Suddenly, and without very much effort, both people are happy.

On the other end of the spectrum, a physics student without an evolved personality and lacking social skills can participate in a multi-user domain and become engaged and have intimate moments with another player, or individual. How does this help the self-esteem of the physics student without any to begin with? It drops. The line becomes bold and no longer opaque. No gray area exists when an engagement occurs online. True emotions that are very real become overpowering. How do you break off a relationship that has become so important to you? But with online identities, the idea of a person that you become intimate with is not the same person that you are.

Where does the idea of personality and identities antiquate? Will my feelings be hurt when I no longer am engaged with my fellow MUD member? What about the social lacking individuals? Do MUDs and RPGs or MMPORGS allow individuals to socially adapt and become control in situation?

I dare you to walk around and notice those individuals and take a moment. Look around the grocery store or the shopping mall. How many people are socially inept? What is the difference if the shopping mall was in the MUD, RPG, or MMPORG?

 

Facebook Addiction

When I first started my college career I was attending the local community college near my house. I can remember all of my friends that were away at school talking about Facebook and MySpace but I had no idea what they were. I got a MySpace account first because my college didn’t have an account with Facebook yet. When I was finally able to get my own Facebook account I was so excited. I was finally going to be able to see what I had been missing out on. Facebook certainly didn’t let me down. I got my account a few years ago and to this day I am still completely and utterly addicted. I always find myself on it looking at people’s profiles and pictures when I should be doing something much more productive like writing a paper or studying for an exam. And the mornings after parties pretty much the first thing I do when I wake up is log onto Facebook to see the pictures that my friends have posted. It’s like some kind of sick problem that I feel like all college students have.

I never knew the background information about Facebook or how it got started so I was really interested to read this article. I can’t believe that one person was able to create such a phenomenal site on his own and then for him to think of ideas on how to improve it is just amazing. I remember when the News Feed first became a part of Facebook. It was alarming at first but then I found that it made it even harder to not stalk people every free second that I had. It is impossible to log on without seeing that one of your friends has commented on a photo or updated their profile. Sometimes I would see people’s names on the News Feed that I had forgotten that I was friends with so I would go to their page and see what was going on in their lives. Some of the new applications are a little too much for me. I’m very picky about the stuff I have in my profile but I love to see other people changing theirs. It’s just sick, really and truly sick how much time I spend on Facebook but I have to admit, I do love it