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This was an interesting video that was introduced to me last semester in Digital Libraries. The creators of Monty Python came up with a very clever way to turn the tables of having so many of their videos "ripped off." Instead of the public posting bad poor quality versions of their videos, they provide a collection of their videos themselves, along with links to purchasing them!

Last summer, a news report appeared on local tv in Huntsville Alabama that was so over the top, someone thought to put it up on YouTube.  Someone thought they could autotune it and turn it into a song.  a few weeks later, Antoine Dodson had the #3 song on the iTunes R&B chart.  There are dozens of covers of the song, which the Gregory Brothers (the autotuners) encourage at the end of the video.  How has social media changed what we think about fame? Antoine, like Rebecca Black, ended up doing national TV appearances, and eventually made enough money from selling his song to buy his family a house.  

 Rebecca Black's song Friday is popular for all the wrong reasons.  Filmed for the sole purpose of having someone see it and having her earn actual fame for her talent (a la Bieber), it was shared via social media so much for how bad it was that it blew up.  Her internet famo turned into television appearances and actual fame.  But is this an actual trend? I'm going to post another link in a second...

I actually thought this was just the next iteration of Rickrolling. I guess people actually like the song?

Interesting thing about Rebecca Black. Her Mom actually put up the money ($2,000 or so) for her to record the song and video to dissuade her daughter from seeking a career in the music industry. Funny how things work sometimes.

This is an interesting concept about storing not just your music but all your personal information as well. I think it will probably catch on quickly, but privacy is still a main concern.

Has anyone read this book? I started it a few days ago. Noticed that reviews, like the one I linked to, were skeptical. Basically, Carr, who is a journalist, not a scientist, cites studies on brain plasticity and research that the brain changes in response to actions to conclude that the way we read and synthesize information online has changed the way we think (for the worse). I like how the NYT review puts new technology in a historical perspective.

Well, if I had to take a guess, I think she did it since one of her main points is that media isn't an external force outside of our control -- we can shape it, caring about it enough to respond and filter it. With a graphic novel, the images draw you in because they're abstract; the reader plays an active role by seeing themselves in the images and connecting all the images/words together to make it make sense. It engages so many of our senses at once. I love what Scott McCloud has to say about this, and the following talk that he gave actually relates more to how comics have been impacted by technology: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXYckRgsdjI

The idea that media has the potential to shape how we reason reminds me of Neil Postman and Marshall McLuhan. As an undergrad, I was basically obsessed with Postman's "Amusing Ourselves to Death" and the idea that some forms of media -Postman was especially thinking about TV- are inherently shallower than other forms and that the predominant medium tends to set the standard of what makes a good argument. Anyway, I wanted to find a YouTube video of Postman but instead found a really good video of Mike Wesch talking about Postman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09gR6VPVrpw&feature=related

I came across blip.tv while working on a project for Principles of Searching last fall. The link above, (Social Buzz t.v.) is an example of a program related to our social informatics topic. While the commercial cans be a little annoying and quality of production can vary greatly, I have found some really good videos here. Here's an episode from a different program that I came across that discusses one of my pet peeves...iphone dinner table etiquette. (It's also kind of funny!) http://blip.tv/captureyourflag/social-media-dinner-table-etiquette-caroline-giegerich-8-27-09-chapter-12-2698172

:) How sad that we feel so connected that we can't get through a dinner with face to face interaction without constantly checking our emails, facebook, etc. Sometimes I look at families at dinner and laugh because they all have their ipods and phones out, and they're not even talking to each other.

I find it amazing that people can't get through A MOVIE without taking out their phones to see if anyone emailed, texted or called. Crazy!

This is a short clip by Nicholas Negroponte, who is the founder of One Laptop per Child. He talks about how technology has made a way to mesh together our work and home life. It's interesting how opposite the views are for this topic.

I like how he describes this meshing of technology and daily life as an omelet. The idea behind One Laptop per Child also draws attention to the topic of the digital divide. I was trying to find some other commentary from mr negroponte and I came across a clip from the Colbert report that highlights the paradox in a funny, yet serious way http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/363111/october-25-2010/nicholas-negroponte

I am a big pop music/culture nut. Always have been...probably always will be. So, when I really started thinking about social media and all its uses, I began to wonder...who out there uses social media to it's fullest potential. The answer was obvious. Lady Gaga! When I did a quick search on Lady Gaga and social media, I got a lot of hits. But I wasn't surprised. She is the master when it comes to sites like Facebook and Twitter. Yes, she is out there wearing meat dresses and making fun songs, but it's her presence on social networking sites that I feel has really catapulted her to super stardom. What do you all think?

hmm. is it gaga or her p/r team creating the image? Is her voice really hers? How do we know?

I am sure it is more her "team" then her herself. But, still...it's rather impressive.

love common craft videos...this one breaks down the concept of social media, explained using the metaphor of ice cream. both helpful & delicious. so social media is always interactive, while digital media doesn't necessarily have user-generated content? trying to get my definitions set as i do more searching...

It does get a little confusing and this was a great way to simplify social media tools!

I definitely have to agree with the way common craft breaks down concepts and makes it understandable for the average Joe. When I'm trying to figure new techie things out or I'm trying to explain it to others, I often refer to this type of tool.

A comical look at how social media may take over the news

While searching web 2.0 and social software applications in K-12, I cam across this interesting article about how the success of gaming is based on perceptions of teachers. This idea of "perception" I becomes really important when trying to implement new technologies in schools.

This is an article about Anonymous, a group that stemmed from the website 4chan, and how they went from posting silly cat videos to organizing scientology protests and taking down sites that refused to support WikiLeaks after last year's scandal.  It also looks at power and authority structures within the nameless group

I was looking for a definition on this term, "Augmented Reality," which came up in my searching yesterday, when I came across this Common Craft video explaining it. Some of this stuff just blows my mind!

This article seems to fit in with what we are discussing this week. A closed-circuit television (CCTV) video that shows an extremely drunk man staggering home through the streets of London has taken the web by storm this week (you can watch it below). Although it's primarily entertaining because of its sheer shock value, it also serves to illustrate the surprising -- and, to many, alarming -- extent of video surveillance in the U.K.

I came across this new Droid app that enables users to obscure the faces of individuals in photos or videos they've taken on their mobile devices. The app creators are involved more generally in developing technologies and technology policies for human rights defenders, especially ones that document abuses, protests and other demonstrations and share the videos/pictures through various media channels and see a need to hide identities from repressive governments. I think it ties our discussion last week of Evgeny Morozov's research into the Internet and government oppression into the issue of privacy.

Privacy & Licensing issues with google+, fwiw, compare the posted Google+ terms of service with facebooks terms;  "For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos ("IP content"), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook ("IP License"). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it."

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?

This is a phenomenal resource for demographic analysis of internet and social media use. Please take some time too look through it.

Actually, I was just looking at a summary of a 2009 Pew Internet study that related directly to our discussion of the Wesch videos last week. The study dealt focused on the issue of whether engaging with others over the Internet causes feelings of loneliness and isolation. (Spoiler alert: they concluded that people feel more connected, not lonelier, thanks to technology.)

Looking at the Pew Internet Topics list (http://www.pewinternet.org/Topics.aspx) was also helpful in finding some background reading for my group project and also in identifying some potential areas for my final project.

Cengage announced their "Personal Learning Experience" - an integrated e-learning experience that has video, audio, annotations, and other source materials embedded in the application. No Shelf Required did a write-up here: http://www.libraries.wright.edu/noshelfrequired/?p=2059. This is the kind of thing that looks really cool, but unless they can get course adoption, I don't see how it would gain a wide enough audience to be accepted.