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

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/