Riding the Wave....

Yes unfortunately our unit may be coming to an end, although, this is defiantly not the case for technology. Its power and abilities in today’s society is nothing less than incredible and the thought of it continuing to increase over time is a somewhat scary concept.

Unman aircraft's in the air force are becoming increasingly popular, Yes who would have thought a pilot can fly his plane from a desk 75,000 km away from his aircraft. Technology has made this possible, along with Bionic hands, digital photo frames and a lot more. With skin put technologies making it possible to use skin as a form to hold information I guess we don’t need to worry about forgetting the iPad .. Oh and the common mum rule of no balls in the house has been abolished with the ability to play tennis in your own home without even needing a racket, just a remote.

Reading and Understanding social media can be greater understood by looking into theories. Whether it be Rheingold’s view of a ‘virtual community’ Jenkins’ views of participatory culture these theories are ways of understanding and explaining the concepts of technology and the online world.

Social media has a major impact on society and communication. Friends no longer hug, kiss each other hello hear each other’s laugh or wipe each other’s tears, friends can be derived from a simple click of a friend request. People can have thousands of friends they have never even met? Are these really friends? Is social media promoting the production of friends in our virtual world leaving us with few in the real one? Yes social media is a way of keeping people connected but the physical connection is lost and I see this as an important aspect to any relationship with another being. Social media is also a major distraction from the real world. People get so caught up in their virtual world they forget about the real one, the real relationships, the real activity, there real lives! After watching an excellent Prezi '712:Digital Media Group Project' created by Virtual Experience it stated that 75% of people who undertook a quiz preferred the real world (Virtual Experience,2011). Do the other 25% prefer the virtual experience or is it this just the start in humanity preferring the virtual world to the real one?

The thought of the future of social media to be totally honest scares me. The past 10 years has already seen a massive change in society with the increase of social media and the possibilities are endless. Social media is forever increasing and will continue to do so. Advertising will become more common as it’s a way of making money and that’s what the worlds about New virtual worlds will be introduced and one day majority will most likely prefer these virtual worlds and the world will live in virtual worlds. The ability to hold multiple identities and knowing you can steal, cheat, kill, lie etc. with no serious consequences for your actions knowing it can all be switched off with the flick of a button is why these worlds are so captivating and appealing to the human being.

http://www.agent-seo.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/social-evolution.jpg

I definitely think we are at the beginning of entering the third wave of social media. Social media has now become a dominant part of our everyday lives and it’s now beginning to be difficult to reject cyber culture. Whether it be shopping, banking or communicating we live in a society where almost everything can be done online. Not only can it be done online something’s are now required to be completed online. Most recent example of this was when looking for a new part time job, 70% of modern stores will not accept resumes over the counter you now need to ‘apply online’.

Nothing we do can change the rapid growth of technology and it’s just fate and the modern world taking its cause. Time is inevitable, things change, we grow and different eras are introduced. Social media and technology is a wave in the pool of life, whether the second of third wave, we just have to ride it.

REFERENCE 

Virtual Experience, 2011,’ 712: Digital Media Group Project’, Prezi, viewed 12^th February 2013, http://prezi.com/w1ffotfhpgwe/712-digital-media-group-project

Stop to Cyber-bullying

Bullying is one of the worst experiences one could go through. At 19 years of age I am lucky enough to say I have never been bullied although like everyone else I have witnessed it.  Traditional bullying, the pushing, shoving, name calling is bad enough but the latest epidemic has bullies using devices to evoke this behaviour, widely known as 'Cyber bullying'.

Cyber-bullying is much different to traditional bullying. With traditional bullying once one has left the schoolyard workplace etc. they have somewhat ability to turn off and try and be happy, with cyber bullying this is not the case. It is a constant 24 hour activity that one cannot escape.  With cyber-bullying you can be bullied by excessive members across the globe, not just one or two people, the audience cyber-space attracts is one of the major devastation's of cyber bullying.

Online ‘Hate’ groups reconcile closely with Rheingolds view of a ‘virtual community’. As Rheingold suggests these groups of bullies are groups of people linked by their participation in computer networks. Also as with ‘Virtual communities’ these hate group participants have no face-to-face contact, are not bound by the constraints of time or place, and use computers to communicate with one another. They may not even know the victim, just bully to conform with other participants and look ‘cool’.

If asked where cyber bullying would be going five years ago I would have said it will continue to rage although this is no longer the case. Enough is enough and people are starting to realize this. I think it will continue to be evident in society as the truth is there are not enough resources to catch all these bullies and bullies know this. In saying this I believe many people have second thought cyber bullying in fear of the now know serious consequences. Completing year 12 in 2012 our whole school was visited by the Victorian Police who have a whole department dedicated to the capture and punishment of cyber bullies. In our encounter we were told of the effects of cyber bullying, spoken to by a parent who lost their child to suicide as a result of cyber bullying and the consequences of being connected with or participating with cyber bullying.

One of the most tragic cases of cyber bullying I heard of was that of Canadian teenager Amanda Todd. Attempting to use social media as a means of reaching out for help, it is what lead to her down fall and resulted in her tragically taking her own life. After regretfully sending a topless video aged 12, she was excessively bullied moving schools three times to try and escape although the boy sent it to every school she went to. The most tragic words are those of her mother who stated the pain and worry she went through daily to keep her daughter alive "I have lost one child, but know she wanted her story to save 1000 more”(Unknown,2012). Let this be a lesson, enough lives have been lost to cyber bullying and It has to stop. I have posted Amanda's cry for help below in an attempt to express the devastating affect of cyber bullying and why it has to end completely before another beautiful young life is lost. 

Reference

Unknown, 2012, ‘Amanda's tragedy: bullied teen takes own life after telling her story in series of handwritten notes’, smh.com.au, viewed 07^th Febuary 2013, http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/amandas-tragedy-bullied-teen-takes-own-life-after-telling-her-story-in-series-of-handwritten-notes-20121015-27lww.html

Power Of Produser's...

Hi,

My names Luzinda and Im a produser.

No it’s not a transcript of an AA meeting but it is just as addictive.

Don’t believe me?? Ask the hundreds of millions of YouTube users throughout the world.

Being able to produce as well as consume I believe is an amazing thing. The way social media has formed especially over the past 10 years has left us in a world of ability. We can edit wikis, express our feelings through blogs or create YouTube videos to get our voices heard. Having the ability to express something to such a wide audience throughout the world is an addictive activity. You want to get a reaction, you want to see if people are interested and their views on what you have to say. Years ago you could speak to family and friends about a topic, now you can speak to the world.

I access content that has been created through produsage on a daily basis. If I ever get bored I jump straight onto YouTube and find hours of entertainment from thousands of produsers. Along with these hundreds of thousands of produsers comes ethics of copyright and law infringements. YouTube claim to take copyright very seriously and have introduced ground breaking technology called ContentID which helps uses find their content on YouTube and have the ability to block it, leave it up or make money from it “Content ID scans over 100 years of video every day and is used by over 1000 partners, including every major US network broadcaster, movie studio, and record label.” (Frequently Asked Questions). 

Podusage fits in perfectly and is a major example of Jenkins’ views of participatory culture. People are acting not only as consumer, but produsers also. It is though recent technology advancements that has given ability for Participatory culture to enhance rapidly.  From ‘Charlie Bit Me’ to the discovery of ‘Justin Beiber’ YouTube has given the ability for superstars to be found and acknowledged (Not_It, 2012). That and a whole lot of Bieber Fever. Audience attention and numbers are a very important part of produsage “contributions may be major or minor, substantial or insubstantial, take the form of useful content or the form of social engagement in or administrative services to the community, but they are nonetheless all valuable to the overall project. (Snurb, 2007)”

Produsage has exploded, especially in the last ten years. It is so popular because voices are being heard and people are free to express their ideas, talent and abilities to the world. It will continue to grow in the future I am sure of it. Not only because of the audience numbers it has attracted, but the power of some of these viewers. Through more hits comes more views, through ore views increases interest, through interest attracts media and through media anything is possible.

References

Not_It, 2012, ‘Five People who got Famous because of YouTube’, ItThing, viewed 29^th January 2013, http://itthing.com/5-people-who-got-famous-because-of-youtube

Frequently Asked Questions, YouTube, viewed 29^th January 2013, http://www.youtube.com/t/faq

Snurb, 2007, ‘Open Participation, Communal Evaluation’, Producage.org, viewed 29^th January 2012, http://produsage.org/node/11

The Shadow behind Sim-ulacra

A virtual world to me is a very scary thought. In this world one holds a simulacrum known to be “a copy of a copy whose relation to the model has become so attenuated that it can no longer properly be said to be a copy”. People become so caught up in this world they live a virtual life, many known to spend more time interested or consumed in the virtual world compared to the one in which we actually live in.

We live in an age where we can totally recreate ourselves and live in a world through avatars, what are avatars? Whatever we want them to be. We have the ability to create our own being and reside in a virtual world being whoever we aspire. One of these worlds that have grown massively since its creation in 2003 is Second Life, a virtual world developed by Linden Lab.  It is a lot more than replicating our consumer society in games like second life through the use of attractive avatars, it’s a whole new world.  Looking at what is available on second life you can see its alot more than Sailing, Surfing or site seeing. Mitch Wagners article ‘12 Things To Do In Second Life That Aren't Embarrassing If Your Priest Or Rabbi Finds Out’ Talk of one’s ability to visit a Virtual Amsterdam, which is told to be a “beautiful re-creation of real-life Amsterdam” (Wagner, 2007), or take part in business ventures “Earlier this month, I attended the O'Reilly ETech Emerging Technology Conference and sat at a lunch table with some of the brightest minds in Web 2.0” (Wagner, 2007). Has this world gone too far? When is enough enough? Which world are we really living in?

We have created a Hyper-reality. There is a boundary between imagination and reality that is lost in these virtual worlds. Consumers love having that ability to be whoever they create, not being judged by where they live or what they look like. They love the idea that anything’s possible and find it easier to achieve in a fake world, with fake money, fake houses, fake people that they forget about the life they are wasting in the real world.  What they love most? If all goes wrong, they can simply turn it off and disconnect or start again. Creating multiple identities and knowing it can all be switched off, there are no serious consequences for your actions is a rewarding and interesting experience that has captivated millions worldwide.  The production of these avatars relate closely to Howard Rhiengold’s views of a virtual community as they are a social network of individuals who interact through the use of social media.  They take themselves to an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect and forget it’s not real. It’s a dangerous and scary concept to think about.

What is also scary is how many people are taking part in these virtual worlds and disconnecting from the real one. It is growing at a rapid rate, Second Life for example was “Launched in 2003 with barley 1000 users, the number of SL users with an account has grown to over 16 million” (Enssllin, A & E Muse, 2011, Pg 99). I believe majority will in fact be forced to take part in these virtual worlds whether for business or pleasure.

REFERENCES

   

Enssllin, A & E Muse, 2011, ‘Creating Second Lives’, EBL Online, viewed 23^rd January 2013, http://reader.eblib.com.au.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/(S(lojfqpsjnhbcgqkojn4tzy2e))/Reader.aspx?p=692388&o=132&u=sqhA8fZJtjoZH3sMc7Qg%2bA%3d%3d&t=1358731236&h=92748C1E84596D812352D7E40209ECB2B2D8CDB2&s=7409437&ut=405&pg=1&r=img&c=-1&pat=n#

 Massumi, B, 1987, ‘Realer Than Real: The Simulacrum According To Deleuze And Guattari’, Viewed 23rd January 2013, http://www.anu.edu.au/hrc/first_and_last/works/realer.htm 

Meadows, S, 2008, ‘I, avatar: the culture and consequences of having a second life’, EBL Online, viewed 23^rd January 2013, http://onlineres.swin.edu.au.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/1738063.pdf

Wagner, M, 2007, ‘12 Things To Do In Second Life That Aren't Embarrassing If Your Priest Or Rabbi Finds Out’, InformationWeek, viewed 23^rd January 2013, http://www.informationweek.com/personal-tech/12-things-to-do-in-second-life-that-aren/229216325

WikiLeaks Exposed!

Oh the wonderful wide world of WikiLeaks. It is ‘Gossip Girl’ gone viral. Instead of exposing secrets regarding the Upper East Side, Julian Assange is exposing the secrets of the world. Assange is an Australian journalist who created the WikiLeaks phenomenon posting undisclosed information gained from anonymous sources and whistleblowers from around the globe “Seemingly out of nowhere, Julian Paul Assange, a silver-haired Australian, has emerged as the world's most important newsman”(Wachter, 2010).He is the voice of those who fear to speak.

I see Julian Assange as a hacktivist. He hacks into computers for a politically motivated purpose, to unravel the secrets of our most powerful world leaders and organisations. He and his team go above and beyond in the efforts to ensure the world knows the truth about what is going on. I personally think he is an iconic person in today’s society and although I believe and understand how his efforts can be dangerous at times, I know he has good intentions. His posts cause a lot of controversy and his punishment is costly but this is a man who has dedicated his life to making sure the truth is exposed and the feared voices can be anonymously heard. It is a dangerous dedication and something Assange is well aware of “He fears that he will eventually be sent to the United States and perhaps even killed for his role in exposing sensitive US material through WikiLeaks” ( RT, 2012). People would beg to differ with my interpretation many seeing Assange as no more than a terrorist sex offender example being hactivists who recently tried to take over his site “Assange is the head of a new breed of terrorist. We are doing this as a protest against his attempt to escape justice into Ecuador. This would be a catalyst for many more like him to rise up in his place. We will not stop and they will not stop us,” DietPepsi writes.” ( RT, 2012).  

Social media plays a massive role in disseminating information. Wikileaks have access to both Twitter and Facebook currently having 1,783,259 (Twitter) Twitter followers and 2,167,529 (Facebook) likes on Facebook, ensuring the world stay connected and up to date with the latest scandals. By posting leaks on government corruption social media enable on to share or repost this information and it has the ability to go viral. Once viral it is a well known scandal and that’s when the media jump in. When the media jump in it is all over our TV screens and newspapers and the major publicity and uproar begins.

WikiLeaks strongly relates with Jenkins’ views of participatory culture. The public aren’t just acting as consumers to the site, they are contributors also. Most of Assange’s leaks come from anonymous sources from the public and news rooms. His exposing what others are too scared to expose. An activist to justice and honestly throughout the world.

I believe WikiLeaks will just continue to grow and grow. Although recent hactivists attempts to shut it down, with or without Assange’s freedom, his loyal staff members and mass public donations will enable it to continue. Everybody loves a scandal, but nobody ever likes the whisperer. To go against a world and the most powerful people in it is nothing less than inspiring.

References

Facebook, ‘Wikileaks’, Facebook, viewed 11^th January 2013, http://www.facebook.com/wikileaks?fref=ts

Twitter, ‘Wikileaks’, Twitter, viewed 11^th January 2013, https://twitter.com/wikileaks 

Unknown, ‘WikiLeaks Shut down by American Hackers’,RT.com, 9^Th August 2012, viewed 11^th January 2013, http://rt.com/usa/news/wikileaks-attacks-antileaks-group-293/

Wachter, P, 2010, ‘Just Who Is Julian Assange, The man Behind WikiLeaks?’, Aolnews., viewed 17^th January 2013, http://www.aolnews.com/2010/07/26/just-who-is-julian-assange-the-man-behind-wikileaks/

Posting on Politics!

It is fair to say everybody is now coming to terms and adapting to the positive effects of Social Media, even our politicians. Being a 19 year old girl I had never really shown an interest in politics. It was one of those things that I wasn't concerned or interested about until it was thrown in my face and that’s what social media is doing to my generation and the world of politics. It’s bringing a connection, a modern day technique to maintain public interest and attract votes of the younger generation.

To perform and be able to maintain the vote Politicians need to show an interest in what we are interested in. Connect with us through social media and arise with issues that concern our generation. I don’t believe politicians need to look good via YouTube to succeed although knowing that a candidate can relate to us through the use of social media such as blogs, Twitter and YouTube videos it instantly demands public attention and credit. Political campaigns of the past have been proven successful in gaining audience attention and in future will continue to do so  “Fully 73% of adult internet users (representing 54% of all US adults) went online to get news or information about the 2010 midterm elections, or to get involved in the campaign in one way or another” (Smith, 2011).

The boring dull political campaigns of the 20^th century have been updated by modern day graphics and technologies. I do believe that there is an increasing need for parties to provide entertainment as well as credibility and this could be daunting for older candidates although at the end of the day an entertaining piece of work will gain more public interest and attention. The most ideal provisional factor social media brought to the Political world was giving candidates control on the content that is being delivered to the public and can be viewed in a way that they want to be viewed. The video ‘Social Networking is Revolutionizing Politics’ by ABC News imparticular outlines the mass effect Social Media is having on Politics and I encourage you all to take a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DtTTB-Njgk.

Rheingold’s view on a virtual community has been obtained by the use of social media via political parties throughout the world. Starting off in the States, using social media to try and attract public attention is known to be a very successful technique and has been adopted by the rest of the world. Jenkins views of participatory culture also relate highly with political social media as we, the public, are not just consumers but producers and contributors also. Not only because we have the ability to vote but it is through views, hits, likes that these political campaigns gain interest and attract attention.

The future of politics and social media will continue to boom. Now they know how much attention social media can gain politicians will continue to use this to their advantage. Whether Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Twitter or some completely new media forum I believe they will stay up to date and connected in an attempt to maintain votes and stay recognized.

REFERENCES

ABCNews, “Social Networking is Revolutionizing Politics”, July 22^nd 2010, viewed 7^th January 2013, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DtTTB-Njgk

Smith, A, 2011, “The Internet and Campaign 2010”, Phew Internet, viewed 7^th January 2013, http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/The-Internet-and-Campaign-2010.aspx

Young, S, 2010, “How Australia Decides”, EBL, viewed 9^th Jan 2012, http://reader.eblib.com.au.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/(S(4i5y0jqjuilfe2mznp5pucco))/Reader.aspx?p=647454&o=132&u=sqhA8fZJtjoZH3sMc7Qg%2bA%3d%3d&t=1357533305&h=4F9939409075DC63108a5F50C6BE75F89A663CC2D&s=7362851&ut=405&pg=225&r=img&c=-1&pat=n#