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A comparison of the New York Times website between February 18, 1999 and January 15, 2014 reveals more than a few amusing differences: the older site includes "on the Web" in the title, the increasingly user driven results on the modern page (most emailed headlines, personalized weather reports, customized alerts), the search function on the old site buried halfway down the page, almost as an afterthought. Most telling, however, is the great focus on the digitized version of the paper in the modern incarnation. Specifically, there are ten unique buttons on the front page offering unlimited access to the site, with new and improved usability. The shift from paper to digital media is clear here. Sales of the physical paper are low, as more people choose to access media via personal devices. Naturally, when accessed from one of these devices, the site redirects the user to a mobile friendly version - a stark, pithy version perfect for the instant absorption of a few headlines. In this way, the 1999 version of the site foreshadowed the NY Times' decision on March 2008 to use the second and third pages of its physical copy for article abstracts, as Nicholas Carr points out in his article "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" The front page is made up of only abstracts that lead to the longer, less efficient articles. The 2014 site has kept this standard, only now including user defined popularity in articles, as mentioned above. Overall, the trending is as would be expected - greater personalization, monetization of access, and interactivity (a few more imbedded videos). These changes speak to a larger shift in how the user access media - the decline of the paper copy and an old institution rallying to survive modernity.

thanks for the reflections on this news and information juggernaut! The long obsolescence of print seems clear in your observations here. A complementary study might look at the 'migratory patterns' of NYTimes readers in terms of their info-consumption habits, preferences and motivations for adapting to the screen

This is a page I came across whilst frustratedly slogging about on one of those rabbit-hole-look-there-are-so-many-fucking-links-all-over-that-move-and-change-colors-and-shit-aren't-we-so-disruptive-type-sites. It is rather unremarkable in most ways, but I found it a semi-welcome respite from the rest of the site. Like many other sites of this era, it is a web poetry message board of sorts that relies on user generated content, namely semi-anonymous bits'o "creative writing" that are supposedly prompted by way of the writer viewing one of three pairings of images. Some users attempt to narrativise the images to varying degrees of success, and some people write about fucking jars of peanut butter, as in literally humping said jar. Like many such collections of user generated avant-poetry it becomes increasingly difficult to suss out which pieces have an actual considered conceptual core, and which are just word diarrhea. Nevertheless, I found some of them sort of charming. Also of note is that there are mail-to links associated with each writing that are supposedly linked to the writers email account. This seems bizarre in a present where such personal information is closely guarded, hidden from the masses of web-weirdos and spambots.

Write or Die is a browser based application that encourages the user to set goals when writing and achieve them, or else. The interface is relatively simple: the user defines how long they would like to write, the speed at which they intend to write, and the consequences for maintaining or dropping below these parameters. There are three basic modes: Reward, Stimulus, and Consequence. Reward mode displays positive reinforcement for completing your goals by displaying photos you happen to like in whatever frequency you think would best suit your Pavlovian response. Stimulus mode supplies nice, calming backgrounds and sounds as you maintain your words per minute, but if you drop below, they disappear. You can also include your own music, if you want the extra motivation to keep it playing. Finally, there is consequence mode. This mode punishes the user for dropping below quota by turning the screen bright, angry colors, emitting a horrible, grating tone, and finally slowly dissolving the vowels in your completed text. This mode isn't for the faint of heart. Supply your own corporal punishment! Good art hurts!

That sounds really terrifying and awesome. What would be difficult would be determining the sweet spot between pressure to work and a mental breakdown.

Tailorized Taylorism!

Zotero is a plugin for Firefox (or stand alone program for Safari and Chrome users) that integrates bookmarking, old-fashioned note taking, and utilities like bibme.org into a single, user friendly interface. A button imbedded in the corner of the browser saves a website into your Zotero catalog, and does its best to peel off all the available metadata and organize it into convenient, easy to see categories. It enables the user to organize sources with full notations and (very exciting) export them into a bibliography in whatever style you prefer. As an added bonus, it can also catalog media: .pdf, images, audio, video. Your library lives online, affording very easy access. Additionally, there is a group function in the case that research need be shared. This program is a very fine add-on to our more accident prone organic brains and beats the hell out of cocktail napkins and self-addressed emails full of cryptic links any day.

Looking back onto the history of Myspace, the design of the site 10 years ago, in 2004, does look very dated and old. Within today's digital world, simplicity seems to be the dominating characteristic of most online spaces. Myspace circa 2004, however, floods the viewer with link options for browsing, blogging, gaming, listening and other avenues. The color-scheme and grid implementation also seem very elementary. The overall appearance of the site almost has a corporate feeling to it. As though the user might be signing onto their company's server, or company discussion board. Myspace was very link-heavy, though blocks of text are absent from the homepage. The only images that are presented are links to member's profiles, and a few advertisements. Within the abundance of links, many of them do work, and take you onto another part of the website. There aren't any interesting features that require any sort of tinkering to get working on the homepage. A few clicks can take you to the music page, where one would assume that they could listen to some tunes, but they would be sadly disappointed. Many of the featured bands haven't updated their sites since 2005, and their music players don't load. One of the blocks within the homepage reads "cool new people", a headline that I immediately remembered, and made me feel embarrassed all at the same time. The use of the word "cool" seems forced when looked at in this context today, and is not current in the slightest. There also seems to be an abundance of exclamation points within small blocks of text near the bottom of the page, which again, feel forced. Nothing stayed the same between 2004 and 2014. The new Myspace is geared entirely towards music, and seems to almost completely abandon many of the social aspects that they once pushed so relentlessly. The Myspace logo stayed mostly the same, though small differences could be detected.

Thanks this is a fun site for consideration. Early presence in the social network genre, displacing Friendster, then displaced itself by Facebook, only to adapt, as you point out, to a predominantly musically centered audience. I find this interesting to think about in relation to many other user-generated content sites, which have, it seems, ramped up the 'social' aspects in recent years --- survival and resistance--- The excessive use of 'cool' and of exclamation points is perhaps irony long since faded in effect?

"The GNU Project is not limited to the core operating system. We aim to provide a whole spectrum of software, whatever many users want to have. This includes application software. See the Free Software Directory for a catalogue of free software application programs."

In an article published by Psychology Today, author Ray Williams writes about the affects of Facebook on a persons self-esteem and sense of self with an emphasis on Facebook's connection to narcissistic behaviors. The article references a study done at York University, which found that among Facebook users between the ages of 18 to 25, the people who used Facebook the most tended to have narcissistic personalities. In his research, Williams also found competing data that suggested Facebook may in fact boost self-esteem. Because the phenomena of social media is still so new to us, it is difficult to come to finite conclusions about the affects of social media. Williams, Ray. "Do Facebook and Other Social Media Encourage Narcissism?." Last modified June, 19th 2013, http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-success/201306/do-facebook-and-other-social-media-encourage-narcissism.

Here's a tour of a MUD in action. Every time I read the Dibbell article I wonder about what this sort of 'gameplay' looks like. I decided to search one out on Youtube. This video provides a voice-annotated tour that illustrates the Multi-User Dungeon in its starkly abstract textual form. The impersonal nature of text as letter-forms distributed across a network, aligning with the affordances of anonymity, but there's also the thrall of live communication. Words are powerful and the seductive qualities of connection transcend the medium at hand. "Let's Show! MUD: Part 3: Grand Finale" Posted by FrogurtX. June 29, 2009. Accessed February 27, 2014. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQJ2xG0LdVo&list=PLgVWAwe9s2rJhafD0gv2mo-W9d0bvh6sl

This website is an example of what a social phenomena in text based virtual realities look like and how people interact through text. There is an introduction showing three major factors what qualifies as MUD from an adventure style game. One a MUD is not goal-oriented because a MUD isn't really a game at all. Two they are extensible from within and new objects can be added and three there are more than one user connected at a time. Every object has a textual description that players can view with a look command. Players spend their time connecting with others and socializing with each other. MUD players create their own world and as the reading describe can become evil at times. Curtis, Pavel. " Social Phenomena in Text-Based Virtual Realities."

This is a study by Amy L. Gonzales and Jeffery T. Hancock on how exposure to Facebook effects self-esteem. The study analyzes the psychological effect on the individuals as they view their personal Facebook profiles. The article then discusses two different possible reactions. The first would be OSA which is Objective Self Awareness, which is a negative response and the other is the Hyperpersonal Model which enhances self-esteem. The study later concludes that since a majority of the content on the users profiles are selected the individuals experience the Hyperpersonal Model, since the individuals have the satisfaction of preserving themselves selectively.

The Circle by David Eggers is an interesting take on social networks and the possibility of a future dystopia cyber landscape. It is about a young woman who starts working at a facebook/google like company called The Circle and looses her private life her job. This novel is similar to design fiction in presenting what could possibly happen in the future, but in this case it is a negative view. If you are interested in context collapse, social media, communication and interaction this book is really interesting. I have linked to a 45 minute audio recording in which David Eggers reads a excerpt from his book. Here is a better summary of the entire story if you like the exerpt: "When Mae Holland is hired to work for the Circle, the world's most powerful internet company, she feels she's been given the opportunity of a lifetime. The Circle, run out of a sprawling California campus, links users' personal emails, social media, banking, and purchasing with their universal operating system, resulting in one online identity and a new age of civility and transparency. As Mae tours the open-plan office spaces, the towering glass dining facilities, the cozy dorms for those who spend nights at work, she is thrilled with the company's modernity and activity. There are parties that last through the night, there are famous musicians playing on the lawn, there are athletic activities and clubs and brunches, and even an aquarium of rare fish retrieved from the Marianas Trench by the CEO. Mae can't believe her luck, her great fortune to work for the most influential company in the world-even as life beyond the campus grows distant, even as a strange encounter with a colleague leaves her shaken, even as her role at the Circle becomes increasingly public. What begins as the captivating story of one woman's ambition and idealism soon becomes a heart-racing novel of suspense, raising questions about memory, history, privacy, democracy, and the limits of human knowledge" E

Eggars, David. The Circle. Knopf, 2013.

The FCC has ruled that Internet Service Providers (ISPs), such as Comcast and Verizon, are permitted to charge internet companies (Netflix and Youtube, for example) a fee to enable high-speeds for their users. The FCC has determined it is legal for an ISP to determine the amount of bandwidth given to websites. The implication to this ruling is that these websites will be forced to pay additional fees to ISPs in order for their websites to have continued or improved streaming speeds. Unfortunately for consumers of the Internet (i.e. everyone on earth), the costs websites pay for improved bandwidth will be passed on to them. The FCC's ruling gives mega-corporations the ability to censor, control and influence the Internet. The open Internet as we know it is dead. Net neutrality is dead. Wyatt, Edward. "In Policy Shift, F.C.C. Will Allow a Web Fast Lane." The New York Times. The New York Times, 23 Apr. 2014. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.