Group items tagged

There are currently huge riots happening in the virtual world of EVE online, a science fiction massively multiplayer online game, after the publisher changed the in-game currency, making clothes for players' avatars cost 20-25 USD a piece and space monocles cost 68 dollars. Also, the game has a parliament that meets in Iceland. woah!

It sounds like these gamers on on the verge of an epic win...obviously demonstrating their ability to change virtual worlds by way of impending cultural collapse. This makes me rethink Jane McGonical's talk. I was assuming all positive outcomes when applying the collaborative game play concept. Now I wonder what the likelihood is that simulations of real world scenarios (like ending world hunger) will produce not just a failed result but possibly create even bigger problems.

I always liked this article when I was linked to it some time ago. The author succinctly describes why so many people get very excited about social media but end up doing some very not smart things with that technology. This particular author is a little snarky but I think he gets to the point about how we need to present ourselves on the Internet, rather than just putting ourselves out there "as is."

I make it my personal obsession to erase as much of my online presence as possible.

@Daniel, for any reason in particular?

some psychological theories that describe and explain online identity formation...describes what parts of our personalities we tend to deliberately share, and how some of our actions aren't as controlled as we'd like them to be

This was very interesting and helpful. I'm looking at online identities for the term project. I never really gave much thought to the idea that your preference for expressing yourself online is tied to your personality.

I recently read about a new Google product called "Me on the Web:" http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/Google_launches_me_on_the_web_to_help_you_manage_online_identity.php. I think one of the most interesting functions, especially in the context of your comment, Suzanne, that actions may not be as easily controlled as we'd like, is you can remove unwanted content from Google search results that relate to you. I am not sure how I feel about that as I feel like you should "own" and be responsible for content you initially put up. Still, being able to remove some search results raises questions not just about individual identity management, but organizational management as well.

made me think of our discussion of self-ID online. Douthat writes about self-involvement and absorption..and how social media and Internet culture encourage a sense of self-performance and "look at me!" attitude

Building an online community and culture around words, phrases, and tropes -> looks at twitter hashtags, 

Hey, sorry I didn't see this comment sooner! I'm on a few google groups about memes so I get a lot of articles through them, as well as following twitter accounts of academics studying the lulz. This one, I think I just found it on google scholar while looking for sources for my final project.

Jay Smooth nails the "no homo" meme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7nCB8aiXD4)....and explains that as fun as it is to "play the game," just don't do it.

An article on the issues that the digital divide is having in online education

I can really see how digital divide can even apply to adult online learners. There is definitely a skill set that we must develop as online students, that is very different from the skills we had as traditional students.

another way to use social media: social networks as support groups. this article describes the author's attempts to quit smoking, and how she used twitter to hold herself accountable and receive praise from followers, which motivated her.

Part of me completely understand the solidarity and support that social media can offer- the other part of me still finds it extremely odd. I'm still trying to put my finger on what exactly makes me think that using Twitter and Facebook to update and get support is strange. Perhaps its just a persona; preference for live interactions...

I see this as a very productive use of twitter.

for anyone who doesn't know, Bitcoins are an online, completely anonymous currency that's been raising some hype lately after being 'discovered' by more mainstream users.

holy stolen Bitcoins batman! Not sure if anyone has been following this but, the attack and the subsequent crash jeopardizes the Bitcoin as virtual currency http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13857192

I've been trying to get some bitcoins for months. No dice yet.

Really great working paper on trolling in a feminist forum -- what do communities do when outsiders attempt to derail conversation by intentionally trying to start arguements and cause rifts in the community.  A case study of two incidents within the same message board.

Oh rad! I was thinking about focusing on trolling specifically for my project. I've actually done a little research on Anonymous/4chan too if you ever want to share sources!

Started laughing when I saw that they did a study on trolling, so I had to read the article. Really interesting piece on technology and gender.

I swear I just posted this to the group but it didn't show up, so apologies for a potential duplicate. This blogger observes the fact that a traditional mass media (think Nightly News with Walter Cronkite) doesn't really exist anymore, thanks to social news sites, YouTube, and the explosion of TV channels.

i always wonder about this...if the nightly news will ever "die out." i think about how older people (like my parents and grandparents) still turn the tv on to watch the news every single night, no matter what. personally i hope the nightly news sticks around. i find myself overwhelmed by online content. the news program gives me a summary of some issues...and if i want to do addition research on my own online, i can (don't have to trust them as the only 'authority'). maybe it's lazy that i want them to choose for me. but i like watching regular news programs...especially because i know those stories will come up on the daily show/colbert report :)

I took a class called "Internet and Democracy" at the UT school of journalism last year. It was fascinating to see how the journalism folks are getting used to social media. A lot of the same questions as LIS, but really working from a different model.

I often get frustrated by my 77 year old mother, who recently got a nice new computer (under much pressure from her daughters), but has a lot of reluctance about using it. This journal (iJETS) had many articles such as this one, that I believe could shed light on tactics to motivate this segment of society.

I really enjoyed this article, because my 63 year old mother in law is very computer-resistant, and I find it very frustrating. She wants to talk to me on the phone, but I really only want to use email. A generation difference really can make a technology difference.

My mom is also not online and no interest in the iPad. She often comments how the newspaper in her city is getting thinner and thinner so I often wonder if her view of the world and events if filtered by the fact that she's not online, and so much news and opinion is. Conversely, I met up with an old friend from high school last week who told me he refuses to really activate his Facebook account because his 70-something mom is on it and very active. I also know 30 year olds who only use computers and email at work because they have to and eschew everything else. Generalizations aside, I'm not convinced it's physical age, but more of a state of mind when it comes to new technology.

I have now become fascinated with how celebrities use social media. As with anything, they aren't like us and really have to take some sort of precautions when posting tweets and photos...Well, they should anyway...I'm looking at you Courteney Love! Seriously though, there is now an actual business called WhoSay that helps celebrities control their online images. The article says, "A company called WhoSay - a little-known start-up with a clientele that is anything but little known - offers similar services, but grants ownership of the images to the stars themselves." It's another interesting facet of how social media is changing even the way celebrities must handle their image. Operating in "stealth mode" since last year, WhoSay runs from the Los Angeles office building of the Creative Artists Agency, which represents a Rolodex of household names, including Mr. Hanks. His WhoSay site includes "copyright Tom Hanks" branding and a stack of fine print at the bottom asserting his legal ownership of all content, placed against warnings of "fines and imprisonment" for improper use.

This is fascinating. Brings to mind things like "trending" and data mining." Is that what this company is doing?

Politicians should be all over this company.

I'm interested in the idea of digital privacy (or lack thereof). It seems nobody is particularly worried about their privacy online, and I'd like to learn a little more about this

Um, I can't think of a more bone-chilling phrase than "cyberwar."

Steig Larsson made hacking look pretty cool. But it's interesting to think about how much is possible in the hacking world that we tend to forget about since our everyday use of technology has been so woven into our routines. Just saw this article and I found interesting to see the many sides of hacking: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/jun/06/hackers-how-and-why-they-hack I always make fun of my dad for being a computer hypochondriac -- he always thinks that someone is hacking into his computer, so he has a million anti-virus and security programs (a combination which I think is actually destroying his computer). But it is a valid concern, though I think you have to just find a balance for your privacy since in extreme cases, your privacy can be a bit restricting.

I've been hearing about his PA Cyberschool on NPR and it really sparked my interest, so I decided to check it out. I wonder how this use of technology is going to impact students long term educational prospects?

This is really interesting! I've been looking at e-learning, so it's interesting to see this example. I wonder how enrolled students would fare if they choose to attend higher education? Adjusting to the social aspect that the level of technology used might be difficult.

http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com/2010/11/pre-college-learning-center-nj%E2%80%99s-new-jewish-high-school-offering-customized-education-for-5000-per-year/ Just saw this today. Jewish Day Schools have been in trouble financially for a number of years; one is opening in New Brunswick this fall that will only charge $5,000 tuition because they are taking a similar approach to the PA Cyberschool (though I doubt it costs them $5K per student). I have doubts whether this model is sustainable at this cost; having experienced online classes it's more work for teachers and professors, not less.

A paper on smart mobs (a group centered around an online social network, unified by a cause or goal, who have a time frame to accomplish said goal) and social capital and authority gets established and transferred

I came across this article in First Monday where Erika Pearson compares Goffman's metaphor of performance to Granovetter's strong and weak ties and creates a context in which she discusses the relevance of online identity - The idea that online performance is relative to investment in a given network giving individuals the freedom to explore the function of mediated identities in building nuanced relationships.

Just came across these fairly recent article on Danna boyd. (yes, that's lower case 'b.') She's been involved with some pretty interesting online studies that focus on teen and young adults. Some of her research has included topics such as, "Online White Flight," "Digital Self-Harm," and Privacy Techniques." I found it particularly interesting that on the topic of Digital Self-Harm, she discovered that vicious anonymous questions on a teen's profile weren't examples of cyberbullying but were posted by the teen herself!

Thanks for bringing her into the conversation, Mary Beth! danah boyd is definitely one of my favorite researchers. I read large portions of her dissertation as part of HIB my first semester in the program here at Rutgers, and a lot of what she's said has stuck with me since. You can read it here: http://www.danah.org/papers/TakenOutOfContext.pdf. I also recently attended a webinar from the Berkman Center, where she's a fellow, in which she summarizes nicely a lot of her work under the broader theme of "Embracing the Culture of Connectivity." You can watch it here: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/2011/05/academicSM.

Maria Pallante Appointed Register of Copyrights Register's Testimony: Promoting Investment and Protecting Commerce Online: The ART Act, the NET Act and Illegal Streaming Register's Testimony: Promoting Investment and Protecting Commerce Online: Legitimate Sites v.

posting for nadine

This is a newsletter about the virtual education movement as it confronts state politics, as chronicled in the "Liberating Learning Wiki Project." According to one report, NJ has been approved for two virtual H.S. in the next two years.

In one of the videos we watched last week, Wesch mentioned how students can look at the discussion page for any article on Wikipedia to get a sense of how information is being interactively constructed and contested. This article discusses the issue of self-governance in online communities with a focus on how Wikipedia is edited and the community politics behind it. I think this article makes a really useful contribution to a discussion about authority and knowledge production on the Internet. There is also a related article about the relationship between Wikipedia contributions and identity construction here.

I read (part of) an ethnography of Wikipedia last semester that was really interesting. http://reagle.org/joseph/2010/gfc/ Good Faith Collaboration by Joseph Reagle "Wikipedia's style of collaborative production has been lauded, lambasted, and satirized. Despite unease over its implications for the character (and quality) of knowledge, Wikipedia has brought us closer than ever to a realization of the century-old pursuit of a universal encyclopedia. Good Faith Collaboration: The Culture of Wikipedia is a rich ethnographic portrayal of Wikipedia's historical roots, collaborative culture, and much debated legacy. "

Without accusing certain authors in the field of elitism, I think that Wikipedia works as it should, by serving the needs of people in the way they want it. If someone needs to look up the habits of Pokemon or William Shatner's favorite food, who are we to question their information needs?