Keen, Andrew. "Great Seduction." The Cult of the Amateur. New York: Broadway Business,
2007. Print.
Keen Summary
Andrew Keen’s The Cult of the Amateur gives insight to how Keen believes the internet is killing our culture. His chapter entitled The Great Seduction delves into the Web 2.0 revolution and all the potential promise it offers, but Keen breaks Web 2.0 down into a danger that will eventually harm our society and culture. He directly relates his personal experience to further his claim that Web 2.0 has caused our society more harm than good.
He states that the Web 2.0 is a “great seduction” by offering the promising of democratized media for everybody, when in reality it is offering an essay passage way for anyone to post lies and filth online and pass it off as a legitimate source. His experience at FOO Camp is where the Web 2.0 was introduced to him. Everyone he seemed to notice was excited for this new innovative use of the Internet, when in his reality this was the demise of society’s culture. He had observed that everyone at FOO camp was broadcasting himself or herself instead of listening. Web 2.0 according to Keen opens the entire world to post anything and everything they want on the Internet whether it is worthwhile or not. Keen continues to defend his viewpoints by writing about different aspects on the Internet. He analyzes blogs and how inaccurate they can be. He also reveals how major corporations utilize blogs to their advantage and because of Web 2.0 like Walmart. Blogs, which are supposed to be used as a person’s personal space on the Web, has now become places where people, especially consumers, take seriously into the choices they are making. Big corporations have utilized this to their advantage and because of the anonymity of the Web 2.0 no one knows whether these reviews and blogs are truly coming from real consumers or are just fabricated by big corporations looking for a free public relations campaign. Another Web 2.0 aspect Keen vehemently argues against is Wikipedia. Web 2.0 supposedly embraces such sites as Wikipedia for such easy information, but Keen argues that without editing, Wikipedia could be telling everyone lies. He points out how quickly and easy it is to change information within minutes by using the deaths of Ken Lay and Anna Nicole Smith as examples. Within minutes their Wikipedia pages were updated with different stories of their deaths. This unreliable source of facts and information is what Keen is trying to show people, and that with Web 2.0 people will not be able to distinguish fact from fiction.
Throughout the chapter, Keen presents arguments against this Web 2.0, which everyone is in awe of; thus, calling it the “great seduction”. Overall, Keen provides cohesive cases that support his claim that such an innovation of Web 2.0 will hurt us more than help. The claims of that Web 2.0 will destroy our culture because people will manipulate the internet to feeding the public false information was prevalent throughout Keen’s chapter. In conclusion, Keen provided evidence and anecdotes to make his argument of the danger of Web 2.0 worthwhile.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Mr. Amazon Roboto
Amazon Robot
If someone were to steal all my account user names and passwords to my Amazon and Facebook, I think they will be able to tell a lot about me by the advertisements and suggestions these sites make for me. I have very eclectic groups of interests, so I do not think they could pinpoint me out among a crowd. My hidden interests are revealed from my Amazon account definitely. The bot, who has to categorize me by my purchases, does very well to determine what I would be interested in. If someone got a hold of my Amazon account, they will definitely find that I have an interest in trashy, romance novels. The Amazon bot is always consistent in suggesting for me to buy the newest Mary Balogh novel. The bot definitely used my purchasing history to determine that I would want to buy a new novel. As well as doing this, the bot is able to recommend other authors that I would most likely be interested in. Along with going through my purchasing history, the bot also utilizes my shipping address to notice that I am currently living in Austin. The bot uses that for its advantage and it suggests University of Texas merchandise as they assume correctly that I support them. The Amazon bot does a great job of determining the person I am by my purchases.
Every time I log onto Facebook, I am really surprised on how well the bot selects the ads that I would be interested and most likely click on. If a person were to gain my password to my Facebook account, they would be really surprised to notice that I have a love for random t-shirts, which I really do not advertise to people. The other day I was so surprised that Facebook even suggested I check out this random t-shirt website called Cotton Factory. The surprising thing is that I have been using Cotton Factory for about eight years now, and nowhere on my facebook profile does it state that I have a love for random, funny t-shirts. Another ad that the Facebook bot chose exactly for me was an ad for a national group called Advocates of the Youth. Now, the ad that attracted me initially was an ad on the side posing the question “Want 500 Condoms For Free?” I immediately clicked on this ad to figure out what the catch was, and I stumbled upon Advocates of the Youth. They are a national organization who promotes safe sex for America’s youth. The 500 condoms is a part of their Great Condom Campaign, which they are giving away 500 free Trojans to college students, who want to help volunteer for their cause. All I had to do was fill out a form explaining why I would be a good person to send the condoms to and what efforts would I take in educating my peers about the importance of safe sex. Within a week, I was chosen to be a SafeSite, and I was sent a box of 500 condoms. If Facebook never had that ad, I would not be able to work for such a great cause plus getting 500 free condoms is a great perk, and I distribute them among my friends and organizations I am in. Another effective Facebook ad are study abroad advertisements on the sidebar of my Facebook profile. On my profile, it’s obvious that I enjoy travelling a lot and the Facebook bot must have used that information to tell that I am absolutely infatuated with the idea of studying abroad. Every time I log into Facebook and see that study abroad ad it makes me yearn to study abroad. The Facebook bot really does an effective job in enticing me with the ads they think I would like, and most of the time they are exactly right. I find myself clicking on ads all the time because they seem to pertain to me specifically. I believe Facebook is able to use one’s profile whether it be interests, hobbies, or music to post particular ads they would find enticing.
If someone were to steal all my account user names and passwords to my Amazon and Facebook, I think they will be able to tell a lot about me by the advertisements and suggestions these sites make for me. I have very eclectic groups of interests, so I do not think they could pinpoint me out among a crowd. My hidden interests are revealed from my Amazon account definitely. The bot, who has to categorize me by my purchases, does very well to determine what I would be interested in. If someone got a hold of my Amazon account, they will definitely find that I have an interest in trashy, romance novels. The Amazon bot is always consistent in suggesting for me to buy the newest Mary Balogh novel. The bot definitely used my purchasing history to determine that I would want to buy a new novel. As well as doing this, the bot is able to recommend other authors that I would most likely be interested in. Along with going through my purchasing history, the bot also utilizes my shipping address to notice that I am currently living in Austin. The bot uses that for its advantage and it suggests University of Texas merchandise as they assume correctly that I support them. The Amazon bot does a great job of determining the person I am by my purchases.
Every time I log onto Facebook, I am really surprised on how well the bot selects the ads that I would be interested and most likely click on. If a person were to gain my password to my Facebook account, they would be really surprised to notice that I have a love for random t-shirts, which I really do not advertise to people. The other day I was so surprised that Facebook even suggested I check out this random t-shirt website called Cotton Factory. The surprising thing is that I have been using Cotton Factory for about eight years now, and nowhere on my facebook profile does it state that I have a love for random, funny t-shirts. Another ad that the Facebook bot chose exactly for me was an ad for a national group called Advocates of the Youth. Now, the ad that attracted me initially was an ad on the side posing the question “Want 500 Condoms For Free?” I immediately clicked on this ad to figure out what the catch was, and I stumbled upon Advocates of the Youth. They are a national organization who promotes safe sex for America’s youth. The 500 condoms is a part of their Great Condom Campaign, which they are giving away 500 free Trojans to college students, who want to help volunteer for their cause. All I had to do was fill out a form explaining why I would be a good person to send the condoms to and what efforts would I take in educating my peers about the importance of safe sex. Within a week, I was chosen to be a SafeSite, and I was sent a box of 500 condoms. If Facebook never had that ad, I would not be able to work for such a great cause plus getting 500 free condoms is a great perk, and I distribute them among my friends and organizations I am in. Another effective Facebook ad are study abroad advertisements on the sidebar of my Facebook profile. On my profile, it’s obvious that I enjoy travelling a lot and the Facebook bot must have used that information to tell that I am absolutely infatuated with the idea of studying abroad. Every time I log into Facebook and see that study abroad ad it makes me yearn to study abroad. The Facebook bot really does an effective job in enticing me with the ads they think I would like, and most of the time they are exactly right. I find myself clicking on ads all the time because they seem to pertain to me specifically. I believe Facebook is able to use one’s profile whether it be interests, hobbies, or music to post particular ads they would find enticing.
A Rape in Cyberspace
Dibbell, Julian. "A Rape in Cyberspace." The Village Voice [New York] 21 Dec. 1993. Print.
Julian Dibbell’s blog entitled “A Rape in Cyberspace” and published in The Village Voice is about the experience of a virtual world turn upside by rape in their community. Throughout this blog, Dibbell recounts a horrifying situation that makes me quiver with uneasiness and fear. In the beginning, I was initially confused, but as I continued to read the blog it all made sense to me.
Dibbell began his blog with a vivid description of a rape that has occurred through the use of a voodoo doll. He goes on to then explains that the setting of this rape was in LambdaMOO, which is a virtual world where people can create accounts and interact with one another on the web. Dibbell goes into detail about how one character named Mr. Bungle goes on a psycho trip and began using a voodoo doll to rape two innocent female characters. The acts that he forced them to do are gruesome and despicable that even a person having no idea what this pertained to would think what kind of sick psychopath does that? Dibbell writes about how Mr. Bungle continued to do this until finally he was stop by a veteran user and was caught in a cage by the user’s gun. At last it was over, but not for the victims of the horrific rape legba and Starsinger and everyone else who witnessed it. Dibbell then poses the conflict between what has happened...was it really rape? There was no physical contact whatsoever, but Dibbell then argues that it was very nearly rape. According to him, it was a rape of the mind, which sometimes can be just as bad as a physical rape. As a human being, you would never think of such things, but when some stranger is able to manipulate you in a virtual world and implant these sick scenarios in your mind it affects you.
After going in to detail of the attack, Dibbell then writes about the aftermath and the profound effects it had on LambdaMOO. Dibbell describes how this whole tragedy has seriously affected this community. This online community where no one really knows each other in real life but yet they feel the need to lash out and speak out against something that never really happened. According to Dibbell, this incident sparked a whole new debate of whether there should be guidelines much like laws in real life society to dictate and punish the behaviors of the community. Apparently, the creators of LambdaMoo had in the past taken a very passive approach to anything dealing with the members of LambdaMoo. They encouraged a freedom of members to do as they please; however, they never believed such actions like this would be introduced to their community.
Many members out cried against Mr. Bungle and his rape actions. They had long threaded forums of how he needed to punish by toading. According to Dibbell, toading refers to player-to-player games like Dungeons and Dragons when someone was banished for an unlawful act and they were turned into a toad. In LamdbaMoo there was an outcry for toading Mr. Bungle, which results in complete deletion of Mr. Bungle from the LamdbaMOO community. Dibbell recounts his first encounter with the Mr. Bungle Affair by attending a community meeting and discussion about what should happen to Mr. Bungle. After what seemed like a town hall meeting just in the virtual world, the wizard who had the power to toad decided to eliminate Mr. Bungle completely.
At last, Dibbell remarks about how the world we live on the web is constantly becoming integrated with real life world that it is astonishing that people can congregate and band together to bring justice of an unspeakable act that only happened in our minds.
Julian Dibbell’s blog entitled “A Rape in Cyberspace” and published in The Village Voice is about the experience of a virtual world turn upside by rape in their community. Throughout this blog, Dibbell recounts a horrifying situation that makes me quiver with uneasiness and fear. In the beginning, I was initially confused, but as I continued to read the blog it all made sense to me.
Dibbell began his blog with a vivid description of a rape that has occurred through the use of a voodoo doll. He goes on to then explains that the setting of this rape was in LambdaMOO, which is a virtual world where people can create accounts and interact with one another on the web. Dibbell goes into detail about how one character named Mr. Bungle goes on a psycho trip and began using a voodoo doll to rape two innocent female characters. The acts that he forced them to do are gruesome and despicable that even a person having no idea what this pertained to would think what kind of sick psychopath does that? Dibbell writes about how Mr. Bungle continued to do this until finally he was stop by a veteran user and was caught in a cage by the user’s gun. At last it was over, but not for the victims of the horrific rape legba and Starsinger and everyone else who witnessed it. Dibbell then poses the conflict between what has happened...was it really rape? There was no physical contact whatsoever, but Dibbell then argues that it was very nearly rape. According to him, it was a rape of the mind, which sometimes can be just as bad as a physical rape. As a human being, you would never think of such things, but when some stranger is able to manipulate you in a virtual world and implant these sick scenarios in your mind it affects you.
After going in to detail of the attack, Dibbell then writes about the aftermath and the profound effects it had on LambdaMOO. Dibbell describes how this whole tragedy has seriously affected this community. This online community where no one really knows each other in real life but yet they feel the need to lash out and speak out against something that never really happened. According to Dibbell, this incident sparked a whole new debate of whether there should be guidelines much like laws in real life society to dictate and punish the behaviors of the community. Apparently, the creators of LambdaMoo had in the past taken a very passive approach to anything dealing with the members of LambdaMoo. They encouraged a freedom of members to do as they please; however, they never believed such actions like this would be introduced to their community.
Many members out cried against Mr. Bungle and his rape actions. They had long threaded forums of how he needed to punish by toading. According to Dibbell, toading refers to player-to-player games like Dungeons and Dragons when someone was banished for an unlawful act and they were turned into a toad. In LamdbaMoo there was an outcry for toading Mr. Bungle, which results in complete deletion of Mr. Bungle from the LamdbaMOO community. Dibbell recounts his first encounter with the Mr. Bungle Affair by attending a community meeting and discussion about what should happen to Mr. Bungle. After what seemed like a town hall meeting just in the virtual world, the wizard who had the power to toad decided to eliminate Mr. Bungle completely.
At last, Dibbell remarks about how the world we live on the web is constantly becoming integrated with real life world that it is astonishing that people can congregate and band together to bring justice of an unspeakable act that only happened in our minds.
Adventures in Capitalism with Ben Agger
Agger, Ben. "Adventures in Capitalism” The Virtual Self: A Contemporary Sociology. 2003.
Print.
Ben Agger’s fourth chapter titled Adventures in Capitalism from his book Virtual Self introduces his views on the affects of capitalism on people and the virtual world. Through ethos, pathos, and logos, Agger effectively argues the negative points with capitalism, but at the same time, it’s vitality for our ever-growing virtual society. Throughout this chapter, Agger accurately depicts his opinion about how capitalism has created overindulgence and addiction, yet instead of progressing, Agger believes society is regressing.
One of the dominating rhetoric appeals prevalent throughout this chapter is Agger’s use of ethos. As an author, he, himself, has credibility and the ethics to write something he truly believes in. Agger makes references in this chapter to Karl Marx’s ideals, and he utilizes Marx’s teachings to create a point and to support this view in an ethical way by referencing one of the most noted philosophers in history. Agger’s main claim throughout the chapter was the capitalism in the virtual world is ruining society and that his opinion parallels Marx’s belief that capitalism in society would eventually lead to intense tensions within the society and thus causing its own destruction. Another appeal to ethos in this chapter is when Agger references Christopher Lasch’s novel on the The Culture of Narcissism. In the novel, Lasch supports the idea that capitalism has caused narcissism, which is “the paradox of selves who psyches and bodies are colonized but who then embrace private experience as an adequate source of meaning and shun politics and public issues (107)”. Those are just a couple of examples when Agger has appealed to ethos to his audience with the use of authors and theorists. He continues to do so with other authors and philosophers also in this chapter.
Now, one of the most effective rhetoric appeals Agger cleverly utilizes is pathos, which is the appeal to the audience’s emotions. One of the first instances in the chapter where Agger appeals emotions is when he describes how at least one third of his daughter’s classmates are overweight. It really affected me as I am overweight and it made me double back and think whether or not capitalism is partially to blame for it. I immediately felt drawn to this chapter because I was interested in what else Agger had to say about this subject. Agger again appeals to my emotions when he exactly pinpoints the subcategory I belong to when he claims that Marxist critical theory states that when people are free from capitalism they will be able to make good choices for their lives. Agger claims, “they will not engage in binge drinking or eating”, which is something I must admit I do (108). I was emotional while reading this because I consider those two things to be a huge vice in my life, and I wish I would to cut back on those things, but like Agger said, the society built around capitalism has programmed me to follow certain choices that are given to me instead of being free.
The last rhetorical appeal Agger effectively uses is logos, which appeals to audience in a logical reasonable way. Agger uses personal anecdotes to help argue for this claim of capitalism being bad for our society. He recalls watching a TV ad for J.C. Penney’s about a women craving to shop, and in that instant, Agger deducted that J.C. Penney was trying to get young women to crave new clothes and new fashion and really a new self (115) .As seeing it from his perspective, it makes complete and logical sense that capitalism has created this incessant need in women to become better with new fashion.
Throughout reading this chapter, I have to say I see Agger’s points about capitalism and how greatly it affects society in a negative way, but I believe in America it is too difficult to try and change as we have built our country on the ideals of capitalism but it would be interesting to see a different side of it.
Print.
Ben Agger’s fourth chapter titled Adventures in Capitalism from his book Virtual Self introduces his views on the affects of capitalism on people and the virtual world. Through ethos, pathos, and logos, Agger effectively argues the negative points with capitalism, but at the same time, it’s vitality for our ever-growing virtual society. Throughout this chapter, Agger accurately depicts his opinion about how capitalism has created overindulgence and addiction, yet instead of progressing, Agger believes society is regressing.
One of the dominating rhetoric appeals prevalent throughout this chapter is Agger’s use of ethos. As an author, he, himself, has credibility and the ethics to write something he truly believes in. Agger makes references in this chapter to Karl Marx’s ideals, and he utilizes Marx’s teachings to create a point and to support this view in an ethical way by referencing one of the most noted philosophers in history. Agger’s main claim throughout the chapter was the capitalism in the virtual world is ruining society and that his opinion parallels Marx’s belief that capitalism in society would eventually lead to intense tensions within the society and thus causing its own destruction. Another appeal to ethos in this chapter is when Agger references Christopher Lasch’s novel on the The Culture of Narcissism. In the novel, Lasch supports the idea that capitalism has caused narcissism, which is “the paradox of selves who psyches and bodies are colonized but who then embrace private experience as an adequate source of meaning and shun politics and public issues (107)”. Those are just a couple of examples when Agger has appealed to ethos to his audience with the use of authors and theorists. He continues to do so with other authors and philosophers also in this chapter.
Now, one of the most effective rhetoric appeals Agger cleverly utilizes is pathos, which is the appeal to the audience’s emotions. One of the first instances in the chapter where Agger appeals emotions is when he describes how at least one third of his daughter’s classmates are overweight. It really affected me as I am overweight and it made me double back and think whether or not capitalism is partially to blame for it. I immediately felt drawn to this chapter because I was interested in what else Agger had to say about this subject. Agger again appeals to my emotions when he exactly pinpoints the subcategory I belong to when he claims that Marxist critical theory states that when people are free from capitalism they will be able to make good choices for their lives. Agger claims, “they will not engage in binge drinking or eating”, which is something I must admit I do (108). I was emotional while reading this because I consider those two things to be a huge vice in my life, and I wish I would to cut back on those things, but like Agger said, the society built around capitalism has programmed me to follow certain choices that are given to me instead of being free.
The last rhetorical appeal Agger effectively uses is logos, which appeals to audience in a logical reasonable way. Agger uses personal anecdotes to help argue for this claim of capitalism being bad for our society. He recalls watching a TV ad for J.C. Penney’s about a women craving to shop, and in that instant, Agger deducted that J.C. Penney was trying to get young women to crave new clothes and new fashion and really a new self (115) .As seeing it from his perspective, it makes complete and logical sense that capitalism has created this incessant need in women to become better with new fashion.
Throughout reading this chapter, I have to say I see Agger’s points about capitalism and how greatly it affects society in a negative way, but I believe in America it is too difficult to try and change as we have built our country on the ideals of capitalism but it would be interesting to see a different side of it.
Second Life: Welcome to the White House
Today in class my teacher decided to teleport us to a random location and have us observe the place we were in. I instantly knew where I was being teleported to when I arrived. Men in black suits and sunglasses approached me with earpieces asking me for credentials. I laughed to myself thinking wow whoever creating this place was intricately detailed in everything. I was standing right outside the oval office in the White House. After some persisting with the security detail, I was able to get into the oval office and look around. The president in Second Life was living it up with a huge plasma screen TV that constantly played Obama clips. I was able to sit at the presidents desk in his chair and see what he sees when he sits there.
After a good tour of the oval office, I decide to embark on the White House grounds to see if everything is replicated to be the same as the real one. As I stepped outside, I realized there was a lot of security around but it was obviously not the same. I flew to the edge of this place where it was a huge shopping mall with levels and levels of stores. I then saw at the other side a McDonald’s situated by it self. Flying around this place surprised me by the minute. I saw iconic comic characters like Superman, The Flash, and Spiderman.
After spending ample time, I’ve realized that someone must have created this White House and other people have just decided to build to it what they think the United States is. I find it very interesting that all these things is what people believe our nation’s capital represents.
After a good tour of the oval office, I decide to embark on the White House grounds to see if everything is replicated to be the same as the real one. As I stepped outside, I realized there was a lot of security around but it was obviously not the same. I flew to the edge of this place where it was a huge shopping mall with levels and levels of stores. I then saw at the other side a McDonald’s situated by it self. Flying around this place surprised me by the minute. I saw iconic comic characters like Superman, The Flash, and Spiderman.
After spending ample time, I’ve realized that someone must have created this White House and other people have just decided to build to it what they think the United States is. I find it very interesting that all these things is what people believe our nation’s capital represents.
Second Life Dream Career
My Second Life adventures continue and I sit in front of my laptop I began thinking about how I just want to skip school sometimes and just go into the real world, and then my teacher suggested the entire class go and observe people with jobs that we would like to do in the future.
It has always been a dream of mine to work for a soccer club more specifically Manchester United. I hope one day to work as the marketing director for the club because I absolutely love soccer especially in Manchester. I thought to myself what better place to visit than Manchester, United Kingdom itself. More specifically I went to Old Trafford, which is Manchester United’s stadium. However, when I went there I didn’t see any other people but it was cool to observe the setting and surroundings. I have never visited Old Trafford but I have seen many pictures of it. I was amazed and how this Second Life Old Trafford looked exactly the same as the real thing. I could totally imagine myself working here in the future. I even got to look at the office part of Old Trafford and just the idea working there one day gives me chills. Working as a marketing director, I will be able to utilize my public relations and business majors. I love communicating as well and I guess that cannot really be replicated on Second Life as it requires face-to-face interactions with other people. The environment for me at least will surely be breathtaking. Hahaha I’m just really weird and soccer obsessed!
So instead of observing my future career, I was observing where it would be! I’m so excited and will work hard to accomplish so it’s just not true on Second Life but actually real life!
It has always been a dream of mine to work for a soccer club more specifically Manchester United. I hope one day to work as the marketing director for the club because I absolutely love soccer especially in Manchester. I thought to myself what better place to visit than Manchester, United Kingdom itself. More specifically I went to Old Trafford, which is Manchester United’s stadium. However, when I went there I didn’t see any other people but it was cool to observe the setting and surroundings. I have never visited Old Trafford but I have seen many pictures of it. I was amazed and how this Second Life Old Trafford looked exactly the same as the real thing. I could totally imagine myself working here in the future. I even got to look at the office part of Old Trafford and just the idea working there one day gives me chills. Working as a marketing director, I will be able to utilize my public relations and business majors. I love communicating as well and I guess that cannot really be replicated on Second Life as it requires face-to-face interactions with other people. The environment for me at least will surely be breathtaking. Hahaha I’m just really weird and soccer obsessed!
So instead of observing my future career, I was observing where it would be! I’m so excited and will work hard to accomplish so it’s just not true on Second Life but actually real life!
Second Life: Let’s Get Interactive!
After observing the Second Life world, I decide to participate in it and interact with other members to get insight about what Second Life means to them and find some interesting facts about it.
I again go searching for a place where I would love to be. Thinking about my summer I decide to go to Cape Town, South Africa since I’ll be spending two months there for the World Cup. I looked around and sure enough someone had built Green Point Stadium, which is the stadium that was built in Cape Town primarily for the World Cup. There were few people there but the ones that were there were speaking in a whole different language. I know the South Africa has 11 official languages, so I politely asked if they could speak English. Apparently, they were speaking Afrikaans the most spoken language in South Africa.
I decided to ask them what was one interesting thing about Second Life and they had told me that many of the “sexy” girls on Second Life are actually men. One avatar named Rudie Loots described to me that men are often ignored or not given much attention to as women so they take advantage of Second Life to have a sort of self fulfillment of their worth because men pay attention to them so much.
I found that really interesting that gender roles are switched in Second Life. It kind of made me skeptical when I speak with a female avatar because they could very much be some guys. It’s very interesting that Second Life acts as a platform for people to change the person they are completely even gender.
I again go searching for a place where I would love to be. Thinking about my summer I decide to go to Cape Town, South Africa since I’ll be spending two months there for the World Cup. I looked around and sure enough someone had built Green Point Stadium, which is the stadium that was built in Cape Town primarily for the World Cup. There were few people there but the ones that were there were speaking in a whole different language. I know the South Africa has 11 official languages, so I politely asked if they could speak English. Apparently, they were speaking Afrikaans the most spoken language in South Africa.
I decided to ask them what was one interesting thing about Second Life and they had told me that many of the “sexy” girls on Second Life are actually men. One avatar named Rudie Loots described to me that men are often ignored or not given much attention to as women so they take advantage of Second Life to have a sort of self fulfillment of their worth because men pay attention to them so much.
I found that really interesting that gender roles are switched in Second Life. It kind of made me skeptical when I speak with a female avatar because they could very much be some guys. It’s very interesting that Second Life acts as a platform for people to change the person they are completely even gender.
Welcome to Second Life!
Today, I created a Second Life for myself as Cattalya Johnson. Why Cattalya? That is what my parents were actually going to name until I was born and they saw that my white skin resembled that of an orchid called Vanda. Why Johnson? It seems like a pretty common generic name because my real last name is very long and unique.
Now in Second Life, I am generally confused and not knowing what to do I try all the features I can do. I apparently can fly in my new life so I try that out but I realize I’m in a place where there are not much people so I decide to search for a destination where I would actually really like to go to in real life. I decide to travel to London because it’s one of my favorite cities and the band, Laurel Collective, are from London and I got to meet them during South by Southwest.
As I stand from afar, I began to observe these people in my new life. There are many handsome avatars as well as very scantily clad female avatars drawing the attention of the male avatars. I go up and watch a female avatar in a skin-tight unitard resembling the ones worn in Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” music video. She was just randomly dancing in front of everyone, and I thought wow if anyone did that in real life they would be made fun of, but here in the London Second Life her sensual moves were being embraced my men and women avatars alike.
What I’ve concluded from this Second Life session is that people are starved for attention on Second Life and can easily get it by wearing lack of clothing and dancing like a stripper. Huh…I guess I’ll try that next time?
Now in Second Life, I am generally confused and not knowing what to do I try all the features I can do. I apparently can fly in my new life so I try that out but I realize I’m in a place where there are not much people so I decide to search for a destination where I would actually really like to go to in real life. I decide to travel to London because it’s one of my favorite cities and the band, Laurel Collective, are from London and I got to meet them during South by Southwest.
As I stand from afar, I began to observe these people in my new life. There are many handsome avatars as well as very scantily clad female avatars drawing the attention of the male avatars. I go up and watch a female avatar in a skin-tight unitard resembling the ones worn in Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” music video. She was just randomly dancing in front of everyone, and I thought wow if anyone did that in real life they would be made fun of, but here in the London Second Life her sensual moves were being embraced my men and women avatars alike.
What I’ve concluded from this Second Life session is that people are starved for attention on Second Life and can easily get it by wearing lack of clothing and dancing like a stripper. Huh…I guess I’ll try that next time?
Tone It Down on Facebook
Ever get into a heated argument with somebody over something they said on Facebook? Of course you have, but really can we take the tone of anything on Facebook seriously? Our generation has swindled down to communicating over Facebook for important matters.
I feel like with a social networking site Facebook is not an appropriate medium to address serious conflicts like if you are having troubles with a boyfriend or spouse you owe respect to yourself and them to not be slandering and posting all over Facebook for your 762 friends to see and spread around. The tone of which we have been accustomed to write on Facebook is usually friendly and happy, but now it’s being used to hurt people. We really need to tone it down on Facebook because it is really not fair for people to write a status about how a certain person is a bitch because everyone will see that and automatically side with you since you were the first one to say anything on Facebook. If someone doesn’t constantly update their Facebook , they could possibly be victim to slander and more ugly comments without any argument.
As a society, I believe technology has become so integrated in our life that we are not able to distinguish what’s acceptable for real life versus what’s acceptable to put on the web. People need to learn that having “Facebook fights” is not healthy and the best solution is always to talk one on one with no technological barrier. We just need to learn to tone it down on Facebook!
I feel like with a social networking site Facebook is not an appropriate medium to address serious conflicts like if you are having troubles with a boyfriend or spouse you owe respect to yourself and them to not be slandering and posting all over Facebook for your 762 friends to see and spread around. The tone of which we have been accustomed to write on Facebook is usually friendly and happy, but now it’s being used to hurt people. We really need to tone it down on Facebook because it is really not fair for people to write a status about how a certain person is a bitch because everyone will see that and automatically side with you since you were the first one to say anything on Facebook. If someone doesn’t constantly update their Facebook , they could possibly be victim to slander and more ugly comments without any argument.
As a society, I believe technology has become so integrated in our life that we are not able to distinguish what’s acceptable for real life versus what’s acceptable to put on the web. People need to learn that having “Facebook fights” is not healthy and the best solution is always to talk one on one with no technological barrier. We just need to learn to tone it down on Facebook!
Online Shopping Safety
One of my biggest vices is online shopping. I am a huge supporter of online shopping and the economic and social value it provides for businesses and the public. From ebay to amazon, from TOMS to Walmart, I have provided all my private information along with credit card information. I believe the draw and convenience of it all is what has others also doing such things. I can imagine like 30 years ago if someone were to ask you for all your information you would think they were crazy even now if someone were to ask you for all your personal information including credit card information you’d think they’re insane, but we do it all the time on the Internet. How safe are the sites where we are buying that adorable Gucci bag from or that 500gb external hard drive. Are we really one hundred percent confident that all of our information will be safely secured from others?
Every time I type in my credit card information I am always a bit skeptical but from many years of experience I have realized that secured sites actually mean they are secure. I have purchased countless of items mostly clothing on ebay and I have yet to get any of my information stolen. I even have my credit card information saved on my PayPal account so now I don’t even have to have my card every time I make a purchase.
My online purchasing identity may be construed as a shopaholic but I do not care because great deals can be sought online and if I have to take the chance of my information stolen so be it. I am a die-hard shopper and always will be!
Every time I type in my credit card information I am always a bit skeptical but from many years of experience I have realized that secured sites actually mean they are secure. I have purchased countless of items mostly clothing on ebay and I have yet to get any of my information stolen. I even have my credit card information saved on my PayPal account so now I don’t even have to have my card every time I make a purchase.
My online purchasing identity may be construed as a shopaholic but I do not care because great deals can be sought online and if I have to take the chance of my information stolen so be it. I am a die-hard shopper and always will be!
Sexual Identity on the Web
WARNING MAY CONTAIN ADULT CONTENT
One of the prospering aspects of the Internet is the amount of places where one can express their sexual identity. There are numerous websites where someone can meet others for sexual encounters. There are others where you can chat with other people and experience sexual acts over the Web. Of course, there are websites just devoted for a person to watch others engage in sexual activities.
What kinds of people partake in this stuff? Is it safe to engage in sexual behavior over the Internet? It is considered sinful or morally wrong to look at porn on the Internet?
I believe what makes us human is what makes us unique. Sexual identity in each one of us is different and we choose to channel it in different ways using the Internet. Now the Internet is littered with various adult sites promising you free strings attached casual sexual encounters. Always getting those ads about how Cindy is 21 years old and is waiting for you tonight in Austin, TX intrigues men. They search on the site and create themselves a sex-web identity to hopefully entice Cindy or other like her to contact him and meet him tonight. A person’s sex web identity is very personal but many times men will lie about certain aspects because they want so badly to make it work, while women will humble themselves an say the worst flaws and qualities so when they do meet up with the guy, he is not disappointed as she has been making him expect the worst.
The psychology behind people’s motives to partake in this is interesting. In conclusion, due to the Internet, sexual identity is constantly evolving into other things let’s just hope it will be able to be a safe place for children.
One of the prospering aspects of the Internet is the amount of places where one can express their sexual identity. There are numerous websites where someone can meet others for sexual encounters. There are others where you can chat with other people and experience sexual acts over the Web. Of course, there are websites just devoted for a person to watch others engage in sexual activities.
What kinds of people partake in this stuff? Is it safe to engage in sexual behavior over the Internet? It is considered sinful or morally wrong to look at porn on the Internet?
I believe what makes us human is what makes us unique. Sexual identity in each one of us is different and we choose to channel it in different ways using the Internet. Now the Internet is littered with various adult sites promising you free strings attached casual sexual encounters. Always getting those ads about how Cindy is 21 years old and is waiting for you tonight in Austin, TX intrigues men. They search on the site and create themselves a sex-web identity to hopefully entice Cindy or other like her to contact him and meet him tonight. A person’s sex web identity is very personal but many times men will lie about certain aspects because they want so badly to make it work, while women will humble themselves an say the worst flaws and qualities so when they do meet up with the guy, he is not disappointed as she has been making him expect the worst.
The psychology behind people’s motives to partake in this is interesting. In conclusion, due to the Internet, sexual identity is constantly evolving into other things let’s just hope it will be able to be a safe place for children.
Web Images of Yourself
Should you have the same picture on your Facebook profile as the same as your Linkedin profile? Does it really matter that you have a red cup in your hand in a picture? Do employers really care about the content picture wise you have on Facebook? Your web image is the first thing the web community sees about you, and if you tell me, it’s a very strategic move to have just the perfect profile picture between my Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter account. Let me break down exactly what a Facebook profile picture requires to be effective.
Now, I am heavily apart of an organization on campus called Planet Longhorn. We provide a service where we help incoming international exchange students, and before every semester when a new round of exchange students come I will individually send them Facebook messages describing Planet Longhorn and what we provide for exchange students. I know for a fact that the exchange students, who I never met, will be judging me and making assumptions about me just about my profile picture. They are grateful I’ve sent them a message expressing my help, but they are too afraid to add me on Facebook yet, so all they can really perceive about me is my profile picture, which I take a while to consider it, but I will usually leave the same picture up for awhile. I have definitely evolved from my first Facebook profile picture to what it is now. I used to think it should just be all about me and I had the webcam shots of me looking cute and coy, but I realize that is not as cool as I thought it to be. In reality I think it’s kind of cocky and silly for me to just take a picture especially for Facebook, so I realized using pictures that were taken by others is the way to go whether it be at some party or downtown at the clubs this way your profile picture says “oh she goes out. Cool.” Instead of oh she just stays in her room on her webcam all night. I always like to have others in my profile picture as well because it shows I am an interactive social person. Also, I enjoy it to be quirky and fun because it shows I have a goofy yet approachable side. I take all of this into consideration when choosing my profile picture. I also have to make sure it is censored at least from my family members because I have them on a limited profile view so all they can see is my profile picture, so I cannot have a picture of me drinking or wearing anything low cut or scandalous or else my brothers will show my mom and she’ll get angry.
Basically my Facebook profile picture is just the same as if I was going out meeting someone for the first time. I take into serious condition what I am wearing, how I am acting, and whether I am in a position where if I ran into my mom she would disapprove.
Now, I am heavily apart of an organization on campus called Planet Longhorn. We provide a service where we help incoming international exchange students, and before every semester when a new round of exchange students come I will individually send them Facebook messages describing Planet Longhorn and what we provide for exchange students. I know for a fact that the exchange students, who I never met, will be judging me and making assumptions about me just about my profile picture. They are grateful I’ve sent them a message expressing my help, but they are too afraid to add me on Facebook yet, so all they can really perceive about me is my profile picture, which I take a while to consider it, but I will usually leave the same picture up for awhile. I have definitely evolved from my first Facebook profile picture to what it is now. I used to think it should just be all about me and I had the webcam shots of me looking cute and coy, but I realize that is not as cool as I thought it to be. In reality I think it’s kind of cocky and silly for me to just take a picture especially for Facebook, so I realized using pictures that were taken by others is the way to go whether it be at some party or downtown at the clubs this way your profile picture says “oh she goes out. Cool.” Instead of oh she just stays in her room on her webcam all night. I always like to have others in my profile picture as well because it shows I am an interactive social person. Also, I enjoy it to be quirky and fun because it shows I have a goofy yet approachable side. I take all of this into consideration when choosing my profile picture. I also have to make sure it is censored at least from my family members because I have them on a limited profile view so all they can see is my profile picture, so I cannot have a picture of me drinking or wearing anything low cut or scandalous or else my brothers will show my mom and she’ll get angry.
Basically my Facebook profile picture is just the same as if I was going out meeting someone for the first time. I take into serious condition what I am wearing, how I am acting, and whether I am in a position where if I ran into my mom she would disapprove.
Universal Username: Innovative or Dumb?
Now like many of the tech savvy people of this generation, I belong to many social networking sites, blogs, online stores, university sites, etc. All which require a unique username and password. I can’t even count the endless times I’ve had to type in my username and password a day. How much easier would it be to have a universal username for everything you use on the Internet? You wouldn’t have to constantly click on “Forgot Username” and having emails sent to you to change it. It’s constantly annoying to try and remember all the usernames you have for everything.
I recycle through three usernames I usually use: vtaupradist, vtizzap, and strikervanda11. But there are some sites where I’ve signed up with completely different usernames that I completely forget about. I sometimes just can’t keep up with all my usernames and I think sometimes it would be such an innovative idea to have a universal username for all the various things you are on.
As I think about how easier life would be without remembering several usernames and just having that one that will define who you are on the Internet, I begin to think of the negative possibilities. People who take advantage of a universal username subject themselves to having a difficult username because everyone else could possibly take their idea. For example, Alex Henderson might want to use a.henderson, but of course that’s taken, leaving him only a.henderson389047129038479283279354923. Now that is annoying! Another concerning problem, probably the biggest problem, is the possibility of identity theft. Just think, if someone were to get hold of your universal username and password, you would be completely and utterly screwed. They’d have access to everything you are on the web. Your entire identity would be stolen from you and basically you would be nobody and going through that process to fix that problem would be time consuming and annoying.
Overall, while a universal username seems like a good idea to those are too lazy to type it in at every login box or come up with a new username for different sites, the possible consequences are simply too dire for anyone to embark on.
I recycle through three usernames I usually use: vtaupradist, vtizzap, and strikervanda11. But there are some sites where I’ve signed up with completely different usernames that I completely forget about. I sometimes just can’t keep up with all my usernames and I think sometimes it would be such an innovative idea to have a universal username for all the various things you are on.
As I think about how easier life would be without remembering several usernames and just having that one that will define who you are on the Internet, I begin to think of the negative possibilities. People who take advantage of a universal username subject themselves to having a difficult username because everyone else could possibly take their idea. For example, Alex Henderson might want to use a.henderson, but of course that’s taken, leaving him only a.henderson389047129038479283279354923. Now that is annoying! Another concerning problem, probably the biggest problem, is the possibility of identity theft. Just think, if someone were to get hold of your universal username and password, you would be completely and utterly screwed. They’d have access to everything you are on the web. Your entire identity would be stolen from you and basically you would be nobody and going through that process to fix that problem would be time consuming and annoying.
Overall, while a universal username seems like a good idea to those are too lazy to type it in at every login box or come up with a new username for different sites, the possible consequences are simply too dire for anyone to embark on.
Entering the Infosphere with Michael Vlahos
Vlahos, Michael. "Entering the Infosphere." Journal of International Affairs 51.2 (1998).
Print.
Entering the Infosphere
Michael Vlahos’s chapter entitled Entering the Infosphere in the Journal of International Affairs describes the growing importance of integration of technology from the Internet into every person’s life. Vlahos best describes this integration through what he calls an Infosphere, which is “the fusion for all of the world’s communication networks, databases and sources of information into a vast, intertwined and heterogeneous tapestry of electronic interchange (4)”. Vlahos compares this Infosphere to a network ecology, in which people partake and affect it by doing things like any other ecology. Vlahos believes through the Infosphere the alien environment, which we refer to as the Internet will eventually become less foreign to us and we’ll be able to communicate in groups without being restricted to certain sites instead it being open and free to anyone.
Vlahos goes into descriptions about what a “place” is to people. He relates it to being an actual permanently physical place like Stonehenge or Versailles, but he argues that a place can also be something not physical like cyberspace. Though Vlahos says cyberspace is a place it is not a “new human place” yet (22). He says for cyberspace to be a human place it must contribute and enhance society in some way and support vital functions for its livelihood and must be permanent and perpetual instead of temporary and limited.
Another aspect Vlahos comments on are the threshold of being in these new places. According to Vlahos, now the virtual world has reached that point where it is very much like the reality. The innovative environment the cyberspace has created has intricate details to make it seem that you are actually there when in reality you really aren’t. Another aspect Vlahos comments on are the ease of congregating with others from different cultures on the web through online video games. Vlahos points out that it is not necessary the real self we should be showing while meeting new people but actually our virtual self or avatar. This way our virtual self can comfortably assimilate into the virtual environment. He concludes that online games are not really games at all but a very intertwined social network for people with the similar interests to interact comfortably in this virtual world. He notes the importance of virtual identities in online video games joining clans and groups. According to Vlahos, “Four things stand out here: the ease with which the players inhabit cyberspace; the rich rituals of group, identity and camaraderie; the high sense of shared focus; and the immediacy of action and involvement. They revel self-consciously as young primitives in their new world (39)”.
In conclusion, Vlahos states that the Infosphere will create a migration of the Great American Middle Class and help them have a higher standard of living. However, Vlahos denotes that some Americans fear the new virtual world taking over, as he says that people fear that their will lose their emotional comfort zone and be exposed something foreign and alien to them, which will take away all their memories of the good times growing up. He depicts many Americans being skeptical of progress in America especially on the technological front because they believe it will be a loss of identity something of the past. According to Vlahos, people must accept that progress will happen and it will eventually lead to cyberspace being permanent human place.
Print.
Entering the Infosphere
Michael Vlahos’s chapter entitled Entering the Infosphere in the Journal of International Affairs describes the growing importance of integration of technology from the Internet into every person’s life. Vlahos best describes this integration through what he calls an Infosphere, which is “the fusion for all of the world’s communication networks, databases and sources of information into a vast, intertwined and heterogeneous tapestry of electronic interchange (4)”. Vlahos compares this Infosphere to a network ecology, in which people partake and affect it by doing things like any other ecology. Vlahos believes through the Infosphere the alien environment, which we refer to as the Internet will eventually become less foreign to us and we’ll be able to communicate in groups without being restricted to certain sites instead it being open and free to anyone.
Vlahos goes into descriptions about what a “place” is to people. He relates it to being an actual permanently physical place like Stonehenge or Versailles, but he argues that a place can also be something not physical like cyberspace. Though Vlahos says cyberspace is a place it is not a “new human place” yet (22). He says for cyberspace to be a human place it must contribute and enhance society in some way and support vital functions for its livelihood and must be permanent and perpetual instead of temporary and limited.
Another aspect Vlahos comments on are the threshold of being in these new places. According to Vlahos, now the virtual world has reached that point where it is very much like the reality. The innovative environment the cyberspace has created has intricate details to make it seem that you are actually there when in reality you really aren’t. Another aspect Vlahos comments on are the ease of congregating with others from different cultures on the web through online video games. Vlahos points out that it is not necessary the real self we should be showing while meeting new people but actually our virtual self or avatar. This way our virtual self can comfortably assimilate into the virtual environment. He concludes that online games are not really games at all but a very intertwined social network for people with the similar interests to interact comfortably in this virtual world. He notes the importance of virtual identities in online video games joining clans and groups. According to Vlahos, “Four things stand out here: the ease with which the players inhabit cyberspace; the rich rituals of group, identity and camaraderie; the high sense of shared focus; and the immediacy of action and involvement. They revel self-consciously as young primitives in their new world (39)”.
In conclusion, Vlahos states that the Infosphere will create a migration of the Great American Middle Class and help them have a higher standard of living. However, Vlahos denotes that some Americans fear the new virtual world taking over, as he says that people fear that their will lose their emotional comfort zone and be exposed something foreign and alien to them, which will take away all their memories of the good times growing up. He depicts many Americans being skeptical of progress in America especially on the technological front because they believe it will be a loss of identity something of the past. According to Vlahos, people must accept that progress will happen and it will eventually lead to cyberspace being permanent human place.
Facebook vs. Myspace: The Epic Showdown…or is it?
Facebook and Myspace are constantly pitted against each other, but in recent years, Facebook has just become the thing to do. Facebook’s sleek layout and ability to look at your friend’s profile without having to strain your eyes because of all the sparkles and other annoying graphics on their Myspaces makes Facebook more appealing for those who don’t want to bullshit and just want to see comments and conversations others have with another.
However, for me at least, lately I’ve been frequenting Myspace because of my love for music. Whenever you google for any band, the first result is always their Myspace and being able to listen to full songs for free makes Myspace very appealing for bands and fans that will always have full access to the songs on any computer. Myspace has attracted new followers and resurrected old ones through secret Myspace shows. During South By Southwest (SXSW is one of the biggest music festivals help in Austin every year) this year, popular bands were using Myspace to post secret shows or perks like MGMT and Muse were Myspacing where fans could go to get a special show. I must admit I was glued onto Myspace during that week because I wanted to be in the know of all things that are music happening in Austin. Not only does Myspace attract music enthusiasts, but also Myspace is more prevalent in inner city teens because through Myspace they can express their individuality. Also, Facebook is primarily based around high school and universities networks, so many inner city teens feel uncomfortable using it.
Overall, Facebook is the winner in social media aspect because of it’s easy and organized layout and profile which makes users happier about than Myspace’s free for all layouts. Even though Facebook overtakes Myspace, Myspace owns the online music audience and without them Myspace would be drowned in a toilet.
However, for me at least, lately I’ve been frequenting Myspace because of my love for music. Whenever you google for any band, the first result is always their Myspace and being able to listen to full songs for free makes Myspace very appealing for bands and fans that will always have full access to the songs on any computer. Myspace has attracted new followers and resurrected old ones through secret Myspace shows. During South By Southwest (SXSW is one of the biggest music festivals help in Austin every year) this year, popular bands were using Myspace to post secret shows or perks like MGMT and Muse were Myspacing where fans could go to get a special show. I must admit I was glued onto Myspace during that week because I wanted to be in the know of all things that are music happening in Austin. Not only does Myspace attract music enthusiasts, but also Myspace is more prevalent in inner city teens because through Myspace they can express their individuality. Also, Facebook is primarily based around high school and universities networks, so many inner city teens feel uncomfortable using it.
Overall, Facebook is the winner in social media aspect because of it’s easy and organized layout and profile which makes users happier about than Myspace’s free for all layouts. Even though Facebook overtakes Myspace, Myspace owns the online music audience and without them Myspace would be drowned in a toilet.
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