Week9/10 Semantic vs Web 3.0

The idea of semantic web seems to be a lot more specific than the definition of Web 3.0. As we are currently on Web 2.0, Web 3.0 is described as the ‘future’ of the internet and within this ‘future’ semantic web will probably be included.

The differences between Semantic Web and 3.O have been described on the website
http://internet.suite101.com/article.cfm/what_is_web_30


Semantic Web versus Web 3.0?
What is most confusing is the difference between the Semantic Web and Web 3.0 – both are conceptual entities. However, rather than competing spaces they should be viewed as successive layers that are developing. By adding the semantic web to Web 2.0, we move conceptually closer to web 3.0. The underlying technologies of the Semantic Web, which enrich content and the intelligence of the social web, pulls in user profiles and identities, and must be combined for Web 3.0 to work.

This definition therefore describes the relationship that 3.0 and semantic web have, but also shows the difference. Semantic is a lot more specific with what the intentions of the internet are and the knowledge of how to get there. 3.0 is the idea of the future of the internet and in turn with the ideas of semantic internet will help the internet reach this point.

Week 9/10 Semantic Web

Semantic Web is the idea from Tim Bernes Lee, that the web needs to be more intelligent to serve every users needs.

‘We can use computers to search for these documents, but they still have to be read and interpreted by humans before any useful information can be extrapolated. Computers can present you with information but can’t understand what the information is well enough to display the data that is most relevant in a given circumstance. The Semantic Web, on the other hand, is about having data as well as documents on the Web so that machines can process, transform, assemble, and even act on the data in useful ways’.

The idea of semantic web is that the programs on computers have much more control over what they are searching for, they are meant to understand what you as a user want. For example, search engines will understand if you type in ‘Lincoln’, the programs will only bring up relevant information to you rather than pages about Lincoln in America, Presidents etc. Semantic web is all about the intelligence of the internet and programming it to suit each individual user.

Semantic Web for me goes against some of the key characteristics of the internet which have been discussed throughout this module. The idea of non- linear hyper linking will be reduced, because if a program is completely suited to your needs you may not be able to hyperlink to irrelevant websites just for entertainment or escapism purposes. It also questions Turkle’s idea of freedom, if irrelevant sources are taken away then the audience are being restricted to which websites they see going against the idea that you can create different personas and search the internet accordingly.

Week 9/10 Education

4. Yes I do think there could be a potential problem if education is tailored to fit into cultural or personal preferences.

Every culture has a different way of learning, and this is highlighted in the journal

http://www.swetswise.com/FullTextProxy/swproxy?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emeraldinsight.com%2Fthirdparty.do%2F%3Fini%3Dswets%26ident%3D0951-354X%2820070101%2921%3A5L.418%3B1-%26lkey%3D111111%26rkey%3D999999&ts=1237198410558&cs=1156055981&userName=brayford&emCondId=5845157&articleID=34227259&yevoID=2109224&titleID=103717&referer=2&remoteAddr=78.33.181.35&hostType=PRO



It is argued that different cultures can not understand E-Learning because of the English style it is written in. Therefore, their own style will have to be adapted in order for the students to pay interest to. If each individual culture is receiving a different style and perspective on an issue then everyone will have a different perspective on what happened, resulting in distorted truth being given to the students. For example, Iraqi children may have a different perspective to what is happening in the war, compared to British and American children, because of the different impact they have on each of their lives. These conflicting perspectives could distort the student’s knowledge on a subject because of the biased intent that lies behind it.

However, this idea is criticised by the work we have studied on the TVU’s in China. If all students are subjected to the same teaching, by the same lecturer on the same subject (like the television lectures held in China) then there will be no room for criticism. The students will be expected to just accept the message because it is coming from one source; everybody will believe it as the truth. The idea of having a tailored education may mean that the students will become more interested in the subject and therefore do more reading about it. They could then build up their own criticisms and opinions on it, rather than being subjected to a strict, regimented education that everybody else in society is learning.

Week 9/10 Digital Divide

Socioeconomically issues through society- The upgrade culture and the technological advancements of society means that more ‘everyday jobs’ are being encouraged to be completed online. An example of this that I’ve found recently was when a friend of mine wanted to try and find out where her lost parcel was. She was encouraged to use the website, the FAQ; the locator etc, when all she wanted to do was to speak to someone. This idea is encouraging of a digital divide; older generations may not have an understanding of how to use the internet, and their ‘immigrant’ characteristics could mean that they would be much more comfortable speaking to someone in real life. The older generations are therefore becoming marginalized in society because they may not have the skills to keep up to date with the technology that is expected of them.

Global access issues across countries and regions- The Digital Divide may also marginalizes people who do not have access to a computer. This is true for E-Learning, and immigrant may need to take an E-Learning course for their job or for an interest but may have problems doing so because of their inability to understand technology. This idea is backed up by the journal that I wrote about in the pervious blog, where it was stated that ‘Results found if you wasn’t technologically experienced then you are less satisfied with E-Learning’ (Chase)This is creating a digital divide between rich and poor countries and suggesting that you are only able to receive the best education if you are subjected to the best technology, if not you are less likely to receive a quality education.

However the idea of the digital divide is criticised by the journal;

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/121528001/HTMLSTART

In this journal it states that older generations using technology has meant an increase in ‘the self-confidence, ability to learn, and memory retention of older persons. Very recent research conducted by Xie (2007) revealed that Internet learning and use by older Chinese makes their lives after retirement more meaningful, and develops their self-evaluations and other people's views of them’ (Xie, 2007) the idea of the digital divide if criticised because this journal argues that this is not necessarily the case.
Older generations as discussed in this journal are able to use the internet for their own benefit, there is no restriction to who can use it and people in this study has found that people are more satisfied than frustrated by the digital divide.

Week 9/10 Wenger and Prensky

Wenger’s notion on practice communities relates to Prensky’s idea on education because of their focus on technology helping people learn.

Wenger’s idea on communities of practice and how people work together to reach a shared destination, fits in with Prensky’s idea that technology should be incorporated into learning because of how Digital Natives think because of the impact technology has had on their lives. They both incorporate the idea of E-learning and how this new idea of learning will benefit students.

However, the relationship between both of these theories could be criticised because of both of their assumptions that students are at the same place and will learn effectively at the same time from these technological sources. Both Digital Natives and the idea of E-Learning assume that all students fit into the category and will therefore learn best, there is no discussion of whether this online learning will hinder people’s education because of the lack of real life communications which is needed on a day to day basis in the industry.

Prensky’s and Wenger’s idea also follow the idea of techno-determinism and that we are being shaped by technology because that is what students and communities need in order to function successfully. These definitions both fail to think about societies influence on technology and maybe online communities and E-learning have been developed because of better communication and accessibility, rather than us ‘needing’ to use technology because that is what is decided for us because of the age group we fit into.

Also, both of these definitions fail to consider the negative effects of technology, they just assume that it will be beneficial. The journal (link below) shows that online communities and online learning do not facilitate people with cultural differences. ‘Online education appears to reflect the English Speaking world’s view of its design. Many values remain implicit and opaque to the users of online learning systems’ (Chase et al: 2) this statement and the ideas portrayed in this journal suggest that online communities and online learning sites are not as effective as both Wenger and Prensky believe and improvements still have to be made until technology can effectively help all people learn!

http://www.swetswise.com/FullTextProxy/swproxy?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emeraldinsight.com%2Fthirdparty.do%2F%3Fini%3Dswets%26ident%3D0951-354X%2820070101%2921%3A5L.418%3B1-%26lkey%3D111111%26rkey%3D999999&ts=1237198410558&cs=1156055981&userName=brayford&emCondId=5845157&articleID=34227259&yevoID=2109224&titleID=103717&referer=2&remoteAddr=78.33.181.35&hostType=PRO

Week 9 Q6, Technophile

Mobile Phones, Networking Sites, Emails, IPhones, Sat Nav, IPods, all of these products play such a huge part in our lives in 2009! With the upgrade culture constantly reinventing and improving the products we are already subjected to, in ten years time the boundaries will be pushed even further.

It’s hard to predict the future, but I think with the ideas that have been explored in the idea of Web 3.0 and the emphasis on E-learning, the student in year 2020 will be a lot more technological based. I believe that there will probably more emphasis on E-learning and using computers in Lecture times. As the library is already in the process of uploading normal books into E-Books, as a student you will probably have access to the whole library catalogue via the internet, giving less reason for actual physical books in the library.

However with the advancement of technology, technophile students will be satisfied but it will also marginalize other groups, e.g. neo-luddites and some digital immigrants. Meaning that the upgrade culture is going to have an effect on various people in society, friendships may suffer due to less IRL contact and companies may suffer because fewer books will be produced etc. These are all extreme ideas about what could happen to a technophile student, but with the increase in technology and the decrease in IRL actions this could be the outcome!

Week 9, Q6 Neo-Luddite

With the advancement of technology in society, life as a neo-luddite would become increasingly hard, because of the emphasis being put on technology for learning. For example, basic communication that is needed in university such as timetabling, emails and lecture slides are all done online. This is only basic communication that students take for granted in everyday life, however for a neo-luddite this uses of technology is non-existent.

To be a neo-luddite and want to reject any technology in society would be increasingly hard in situations where you can not have control over what you are subjected to, especially as a university student. Technology plays such a huge part of a student’s learning in;

E-Learning
Emails
Timetables
E-Journals
E-Books
ETC
For a Neo-Luddite this inclusion of technology in every day life and is an essential part of a students learning, but because of their opinion on technology then if they refuse to use the technology they will miss out on essential points and equipment needed in order to pass their degree. With the upgrade culture and the idea of socio-determinism, technology now plays a much bigger part in everyday life, in order for better communications. University therefore don’t take into consideration the needs of Neo-Luddites with the adaption of society being more technological based, this group is being marginalized in society because of them not wanting to be part of a technological culture!

Week 9, Q6, Threatening digital native/immigrant

Both of these descriptions in the previous two posts threaten the notion of digital natives/immigrants and criticise the flexibility of these definitions.

Both the older lady and my friend fit better into the opposite definition but because of Prensky’s ideas there can not be any reason for why this might be. Prensky just assumes that age will be the only characteristic in determining what definition you fit into. In my opinion there are other aspects influencing your ability to use technology. For example, like my examples beforehand I think how technologically capable your parent’s are does have an influence on how you use technology. You may be born into the ‘native’ category and use technology at school to a certain extent, but if you are not subjected to it at home, it’s going to have less of an influence on you than other natives. Prensky has assumed that technology is part of every young person’s life, through school and home, but is this really the case? My example is just one girl out of many who doesn’t ‘click’ with technology where Prensky assumes that she should because of her age, showing a major flaw in his definition.

This idea is also true for the example of the older lady who uses technology on a daily basis. There are characteristics influences her skills which Prensky has failed to mention in his definitions. The older lady probably uses all this technology in order to communicate with her family and to for entertainment purposes. This lady picked up her skills from society like it is understood a native would do, she has had no lessons or instructions. Proving that it does not necessarily matter what age you are, you can still follow technology and keep up to date with it. This criticises Prensky’s idea that immigrants will immediately use older means (books, radio etc) to find out information, before using technology.

Week 9 Q6- The youngest digital immigrant

The youngest person I know who has the characteristics of a digital immigrant is my friend who is 21. She just doesn’t seem to have the technological grasp as other people her age do. Even though she fits into the age group of a digital native, she fits into the description of a digital immigrant, which shows problems with Prensky’s definition.

Her skills with technology are limited; she has problems with the internet and is slow at basic skills such as texting. This could be because of the age of her parents, who were a lot older when they had her, therefore her parents didn’t have much technology around their house. She has only just got the internet fitted in her house recently so she is only just picking up on skills which I feel I have had through most of my life.

Week 9 Question 6- The oldest digital native

The oldest person digital native would probably be my older sister who is 25 as she was still at school when the internet was introduced and used heavily in lessons. She follows native characteristics because she would turn to technology before she would to a book etc.

She is the oldest person I know who would be able to fit into the ‘native’ characteristics; however I know older people who heavily use technology in their every day life. A lady who I know who is about 70 years old, texts, emails, searches the internet etc, and follows all of the characteristics of a native, but because of her age and the rigid state of the definitions she can’t be classified as one. This lady would definitely search the internet for information before searching through a book but because of Prensky’s definition she fails to be able to be classed as a native. I think this shows a flaw in his definition, because there is no room for interpretation or exceptions!

Week 9 Q3 Education

Yes, I think an education should stretch a person because it is about learning new things. If you do not stretch yourself then you are not pushing your own boundaries on what you can learn and what information you retain. By stretching yourself and learning new information you are able to form your own understanding and opinion on a subject, which may help you with your future, career etc.

If you stretch yourself it shows a clear separation between people who work hard and people who don’t which could benefit you in your future career because of grades and references etc.

Education does have a role in the work culture. Even though the work you do in say R.E or Science may not necessarily apply to the work you do as say an Admin Assistant, your grades in these subjects reflect your ability to work hard, meet deadlines etc, which are all qualities that employers want to see. Stretching yourself in education therefore has an effect on your future career.

Prensky’s idea of digital natives and encouraging them to use technology to learn, including E-Learning, may take away from these qualities that employers look for. As in E-Learning you work at your own pace, make your own deadlines etc there will be no competition from other candidates and there is no evidence you will work harder than them.

Article 5 Abstract

Sonya Livingstone argues what is new? The article considers the idea that even though with the upgrade culture continually updating products can anything actually be considered new? As soon after a new one product is made, it is converged and made into a new product. There is also the idea of parents trying to incorporate media into their children’s childhood, which played no part in their own, which highlights the difference in different generations understanding of media.

Article 4 Abstract

The idea of ‘youtubization’ is discussed in this article, with the idea of the progression of technology has meant there is a convergence between various mediums, in this instance, television, video cameras and internet, causing lecture style teachings to be uploaded online. This gives a new idea to teaching and shows the advancement of society from traditional ways of learning. The idea is now on easy access and availability than listening to teachers in real life. The article raises questions about whether this ‘youtubization’ of society is actually affecting everyone because of socioeconomic and technological capital needed to be part of it.

Article 3 Abstract

The advancement of news telling is examined in this article. The focus of traditional news telling via print articles has now been converged into using online videos to transmit the story. The convergence of mediums is in order to keep up with the technological advancements of society and facilitate the needs of the younger generation; this is amidst the falling newspaper readership. The article discusses the idea that because the audience are now spending more time on the internet they need to converge different mediums in order to make people interested in them.

In depth interviews were conducted with various people in the journalism industry to discuss the convergence of newspapers and videos in order to keep up with the demand of 24/7 news.

Article 2 Abstract

This article discusses how the convergence of mp3 players with podcasting has overridden the need for people to listen to the radio. As the I-Pod has now become an international success and people can download specific podcasts of their favourite shows and stations, there is decline in people’s need for the radio.

This article is highlighting the idea that the audience are now producers and have much more control over what they can listen to. The accessibility and the promptness of converging podcasting and mp3 players mean that there is less need for radio stations. The upgrade culture and the convergence of technology means that much more control is placed in the users hands. This control consequently means that the consumers are able to have much more power in the decisions that they make.

Article 1 Abstract

This article discusses the fact that the news through various mediums has lost a remarkable number of young readers. The intention of this article is to find out by using the Delphi Technique why there has been a decrease in the number of young readers and what can be done to interest them. 28 students were used in the study to understand what needed to be changed in order for them to be interested in the news.

The findings conclude that in order for the younger generation to consume the news in future years the news companies must change how they aim the news at this age group. For example, the study found that this generation all had a handheld device, therefore the journalists need to converged mediums for the news to reach the younger audience. An idea discussed in this article is by converging networking sites like Facebook and MySpace with news feeds so the audience can be targeted directly. The audience can then be inundated with quick and frequent updates.

Week 8 Question 4, Article References

Berry R, (2006). ‘Will the IPod kill the Radio Star? Profiling Podcasting as Radio’
Convergence: The international Journal of Research into New Media Technologies Vol.12 (2) pp 143-162 http://con.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/12/2/143 [Accessed 10/03/09]


Huang, E. (2009) ‘the causes of youths low news consumption and strategies for making youths happy news consumers’ Convergence: the International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies Vol.15 (1) pp 105-122 http://con.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/15/1/105 [Accessed 10/03/09]


Livingstone S, (1999) ‘New Media, New Audience’ New Media and Society Vol.1 pp 59- 68 http://nms.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/1/1/59 [Accessed 10/03/09]



Spigel L, (2009) ‘My TV Studies…Now playing on a you Tube Site near you’ Television and New Media Vol.10 (1) pp 149-153 http://tvn.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/10/1/149 [Accessed 10/03/09]



Thurman and Lupton, (2008) ‘Convergence Calls: Multimedia Storytelling at British News Websites’ Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies Vol.14 (4) pp439-455 http://con.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/14/4/439 [Accessed 10/03/09]

Week 8 Q2 Website URLs

Website 1- http://educationalissues.suite101.com/article.cfm/digital_natives_and_digital_immigrants

Website 2-
http://technologysource.org/article/digital_natives_digital_immigrants/

Website 3-
http://www.henryjenkins.org/2007/12/reconsidering_digital_immigran.html

Website 4-
http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/articles/digitalnatives/index.htm

Website 5-
http://www.newsweek.com/id/163924

Week 8 Q1 Definitions

Marc Prensky argues that technology has had an influence on how younger generations think and learn. He argues this by his two definitions of digital natives and digital immigrants.

Digital Natives- Prensky argues that Digital Natives are people who have been brought up with technology. Therefore they, as he describes ‘have a digital language of computers, video games and the internet’. This consequently means that the younger generation think and learn differently because of their exposure to such technology and argues that their type of learning should be altered accordingly.

Digital Immigrants- In comparison to Digital Natives, Prensky argues that Digital Immigrants are less inclined to use technology, because they have not been subjected to technology through the whole of their life. Digital Immigrants are more likely to use other means for entertainment and research (books, radio etc) before using the technology that natives use. Digital immigrants have to learn how to use this technology, where it is naturally part of a native’s life.

In my own opinion of these definitions I feel that Prensky’s ideas are far too rigid to describe the whole of society. Prensky is assuming that every person will fit into a certain category, when for example, a younger child who is assumed to be a native, could feel more comfortable playing with a football than a computer game. This therefore is suggesting that a native has a characteristic of an immigrant, but Prensky’s definition does not allow for this idea. Also, because of the Upgrade Culture and technology continually being converged and changed, a digital native may grow up to have more characteristics of a immigrant because they no longer have the ability to use the technology as they did as a child. Does this mean that they develop into an immigrant?

It could be true to say that natives learn differently because of the power they are subjected to on the internet, for example being a produser and the non-linear style of the internet. This power may mean that the native can not learn from a book, where the power lays with the author and are giving messages to the reader without question which refers to Prensky’s argument that teaching styles need to be different to incorporate the new native way of thinking. Although in regard to this argument, I still feel that it is far to generalised in believing that every native will benefit from being taught in a ‘native style’.


http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/

Journal Criticism 5

The idea that parents have to try and incorporate media into their children’s childhood which played no part in there own criticises the idea of socio-determinism. Socio-determinism means that technology is formed to suit society; therefore the technology which has been produced must not be unreachable for people in society. Livingston’s argument suggests that the technology may be too difficult for new audiences, but with people having different priorities they may not necessarily feel inclined to use new technology. For example, young generations may use new mobile phones, new gaming equipment etc because that what appeals to them. This doesn’t mean that older generations can’t use them because they don’t understand them, but because they have different priorities and don’t want to spend their time on these games.

Journal Criticism 4

This article raises questions about whether everybody is affected by ‘youtubization’ of society because of the socioeconomic and technological capital to be part of it. I find this criticism of this idea true because not everybody is subjected to YouTube because of their social background (finance, ability to use a computer etc) therefore it is not necessarily changing the way of teaching and advancing the ways of traditional learning. YouTube isn’t a recognised academic source so it doesn’t carry any significant weight in the academic world. Any lecture style teachings on this website won’t be taken seriously and therefore probably won’t make advancement in the teaching world. However, you could argue that E-Learning is similar to the teachings given on YouTube, but YouTube does not have a course or recognised grade at the end, so the lecture style posts could be more for interest or entertainment.

Journal Criticism 3

My main criticism from this text is about whether online videos will be successful. If the ratings on the news through various mediums are decreasing, will the audience want to watch videos online, when they don’t want to watch news on the television? The problem is probably more to do with the fact that the younger generation do not have an interest on the subjects being spoken about, then it won’t matter what medium they are shown on, they will still have no interest. If the younger generations do not feel any inclination to visit the newspapers website, then they will not even notice that there are videos for them to watch. I can see why there is this addition to online pages, as it provides more depth and is it is easy to watch than read, but I do not think that this will solve the problem of decreasing ratings. Younger generations could just have different priorities and because the focus isn’t put on the television and newspapers being the only form of communication, they do not see the importance in it.

Journal Criticism 2

The upgrade culture means that technology is continually changing and advancing its products. Therefore, podcasts may be a prominent part of our lives today but it doesn’t mean they will be around long enough to ‘kill the radio’. Like products such as Mini Discs and Walkmans at the time they were really popular but they were soon updated and changed. This means that the radio could be developed in the future to make it more convenient for the listener. Steps have already been made to make it more prominent in our lives, for example incorporating it on mobile phones so that you can listen at any point in your day. Also, another criticism is that many podcasts are developments of popular radio shows; for example, Chris Moyles, Scott Mills and Russell Brand, the fans of these sites download the podcasts in order to listen to more jokes from the show. This shows that there is still a need for the radio, it still has a sense of authority because of these famous figures and because they allow you to know who is number one in the chart first.

Journal Criticism 1

The idea of putting news feeds on social networking sites is a good way of reaching their target audience. However, I think that if the news articles don’t feature articles that interest the target audience then they are not likely to read them. The news feed on Facebook could merely be regarded as ‘noise’ (Shannon and Weaver) and the person would not read the updates. The younger generations just have different priorities and because of the various forms of communication available today they do not need to source their knowledge from the television or newspaper. It may have something to do with people’s age and once the younger generation become older and their priorities change, they may take more interest in social and political news.

To criticise Prensky's idea using this article I think that his definitions focus on how people are today, children and adults, but what happens when they change? Will they still be defined under the same category? I don't think they will be, there will be a time when young boys wont want to play games online and will probably be more influenced by immigrant ideas. (books, newspapers etc)

Website Criticism 5

This article was written on October 14, 2008 which makes it one of the most up to date articles that I have written about meaning that the content should cover all recent issues concerning this topic.

There are lots of references to different studies regarding the native idea this gives credibility to the argument because there is evidence to what the writer is saying. There is a lot more information about why the brain would process information differently, which strengthens the arguments about why there would be a difference in how natives and immigrants learn and receive information.

However this article has been taken from a newspaper which may mean that there is a journalistic spin on the content. For example, the headline is ‘reading this will change your brain, is it evolution?’ This exaggeration could take some of the credibility away from the information. The focus could be more on selling papers, than criticising and analysing the facts which Prenksy’s terms.

Website Criticism 4

There are plenty of up to date examples on this article, which is useful when trying to apply Prensky’s theory to practice.

The website could be useful because it highlights the idea of ‘How digital natives think differently’; there is a lot of information about cognitive activity and reasons for why natives think different to immigrants. However, the information that has been given in this article could be criticised because you could argue is it true? There are no results showing that this is how natives think with a comparison to immigrants. Also, the style of this article is a lot more relaxed and less academic, with reference to jokes about natives, this therefore takes away some of the credibility from this article.

A lot of the references in this article refer to games, but does this really reflect how natives think, or is it just the type of entertainment that this age group enjoys? When this age group grow out of playing games, will they be more inclined to think like immigrants?

Website Criticism 3

This website was written on December 5th 2007, it is recently up to date, but there are still articles which have been written after this one, which could give them authority over this one. Some of the ideas could become tired and the examples may not relate to society today.

This article is quite interesting because it raises questions about Prenksy’s terms. This is useful because it allows the reader to be critical rather than just accept the messages which Prensky is giving us. Some of the criticism this article brings up is the idea that these terms actually mask the digital divide and who has access to technical platforms and it is not just the youth who use the internet, it as much unfamiliar to them as it is to an older generation, everybody has to learn to use it. This idea is backed up by the upgrade culture and as technology is constantly changing, everybody will have to continue to learn how to use this technology and the youth will not automatically understand how to use it.

Another issue this website raises is the idea of age and that being an immigrant or native is not necessarily to do with knowledge, but to do with your priorities at the time. For example, older generations are not interested in playing games or being members of fan sites, so natives just don’t use the technology in the same way because their priorities do not need them to.

However, the usability of the website could be questioned because it only reflects one mans opinion on the subject therefore it can not be generalised for society. He is also an immigrant, so he may be biased in their favour and feel like he has to justify himself rather than being an outsider and looking at both terms. There is no view from a native so the reader can not compare their thoughts and opinions with his.

Website Critcism 2

This website article was written in May/June 2003 which means that some of the arguments and examples could be updated to make sure the arguments and facts are correct. In his counter argument he talks about the bombardment of the internet in people’s every day life and that this has an effect on making sure the students think a lot more critically about what messages they accept. 6 years later is this still the case? Or have the audience become desensitized to the bombardment of the internet and accept it as the norm and consequently weakened their critical thinking about what they read on the net?

This website considers the counter argument rather than just accepting the concept of Digital Native and Digital Immigrants; this is good for the reader because it makes them think a lot more critically of the terms and gives those ideas about how to think differently about them. Other ideas which are raised that criticise Prensky’s ideas is ‘are all students exposed to video games?’ and other pieces of technology which may effect how they learn, the answer to this is no which questions some of his ideas. Prensky's idea gives a generalisation to society which i don't think is neccessarily true. Just because you are catergorised under a definition doesn't mean you will act like it. Some children prefer to use technology, when others prefer to play sports, yet there is no mention of this in his theory.

However, because this writer is only explaining his point of view, it could question the usability of the site because it is just one persons opinion. There are no proven facts or figures which suggest his ideas are true, or that the students who use computers will get worse grades etc.

Website Criticism 1

This article on the website was written on July 10th 2008, which shows that the content is pretty up to date. Therefore, the reader can be quite reassured that the evidence and argument in the article hasn’t changed significantly. The article is clear and concise when talking about the issues of Digital Native and Digital Immigrant. It gives basic definitions of both of these terms and uses up to date examples that the audience could relate to, such as the use of text language. However the usability of this website is questioned because the article doesn’t really raise many questions against the idea of immigrant and native. It uses statements such as ‘technology has changed the way we think, work and learn’ and while on the most part this is probably true it is generalising for the whole of society. This article takes the stance of techno-determinism and that technology is changing the way our brains think, but it is not mention the idea of socio-determinism and the idea that this technology has been created in order to make our lives easier, rather than us just having to depend on it.

Just because Prenksy has created the idea of digital immigrants and natives doesn't necessarily mean that we have to accept it. People may be named a digital native, but prefer to use books than the internet. This criticise his idea, but there is no mention to this in the journal. Just because you are catergorised in one of these definition, doesn't mean that everybody in society acts the same. T

Week 7 E learning

An example of E-Learning which I found online, doesn’t follow the idea of studying for a degree, but allows the student to learn a different language online.
http://www.in-languages.com/business/elearning/index.htm

The student gets to study at their own pace via the internet or by telephone lessons. There is a lot of flexibility to fit in with the students interests and there are options to what you want to get out of this course, e.g. goals and length of study. This type of flexibility online agrees with the idea that the internet allows freedom with the idea that the audience can take what they want from the medium. The audience have much more control over what is being taught to them and have control over the messages being received, rather than just being part of mass media. Therefore the power is much more with the user than what it is with a student in a normal school setting, because they get to choose how long they want to be part of the course for.

However, the idea of learning online is criticised by Buckingham and Scanlon criticise the idea of E-learning for children and state that this type of learning has only been produced by capitalist in order for commercial gain and not because of the freedom it gives to its students. ‘ One of the issues facing commercial companies is how to make a return on their investments’..’ companies develop sites which effectively have to be used in conjunction with other media, print or digital’ (13). This proves the idea that the companies aren’t producing E learning centres because of the freedom it allows them and to widen society’s education, but merely as a commercial gain in what they see as the future. The upgrade culture could have an effect on this because companies want to push the boundaries on their products in order to keep the audience’s attention and to make a profit. If the audience believe that E-Learning is the future and they will benefit from one of these thousands of courses online, then they are likely to pay the high fees in order to gain the qualification. Do you think your example is for commercial gain, or to help people with their education?Journal
http://mcs.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/27/1/41

Buckingham and Scanlon, Selling Learning towards a political economy of edutainment media

Week 7 Africa

Africa is an example of a country that is using E-learning to educate its students. E learning in Africa on this site is emphasising it as a positive thing because of the boundaries it breaks down in Africa’s education system. For example, there is an example written about yellow fever and how e learning allows students to learn even when there is an outbreak of this disease, how women are able to learn on the computer when they are usually over looked in the education system and also people in rural areas are still able to learn. This emphasises the idea of techno-determinism and the way that technology has advanced in order to shape people’s needs. In this case, the women and children needed a better way of learning and so E-learning was formed in order to compensate it. The idea of E learning despite its positives in this particular country, like the post before, raises questions about the quality of the education that the students are receiving. The internet throughout this course has been described as an open architecture, with the produser being able to build on the subjects as they wish. The idea of E- learning criticises this because the mass media are just being sent messages to do with education and are expected to learn them in order to pass a qualification. It questions like other internet websites, whether the user is able to criticise or add to the information being given or whether they just have to accept it in order to pass the course.

The idea of the internet being non-linear also questions the E-Learning subject. If students have to follow a guideline or search for their own information online, they will all perceive the information differently. As there is no ‘meat space’ arrangements all students could be following the rules differently and resulting in different work, which could question to what extent they audience are completely the course correctly?
Despite these criticisms E-Learning for a country like Africa is allowing some people to have a quality learning which may not have been possible before. Women and people in rural areas are now able to connect to the internet and widen their knowledge when before they have been over looked by the education system. So, because of this do you think that it matters that these students could be accepting messages and unable to ask questions, or do you think the fact that these people have the opportunity to widen their understanding and potentially change their career over rides this?

Week 7 China

China favours the use of television to educate its students because of the countries large population. As many skilled workers are needed throughout the country, the television is a convenient way to educate large numbers of students on specialist subjects throughout the country. Between 1960- 1966 8,000 students graduated by using the television based learning and 50,000 students passed single courses. Television and the advancement in technology allow messages to reach a large audience and educate more people than what a single lecturer could. This shows the idea of social-determinism, with society functioning in a way that reflects the technological advancements that we have. A television has the ability to send large messages to a mass audience and the idea of the TVUs reflect this. However, the idea of learning subjects via a television screen raises questions with me about the quality of the learning the students will receive. The sense of regimented learning questions the flexibility of subjects what with hundreds of students all being taught the same issues and subjects, this moves the students away from the ability to speak freely about subjects, find their own interests and choose what part of a subject they want to look into. There is no flexibility with their learning compared to a normal university. The audience are only seen as a mass audience, rather than individual students with different interests, restricting their quality of learning. Also with many of the courses having practical elements such as Chemistry, Physics and Mechanics can television learning constitute the learning of that IRL? Where practical projects need to be done would the students be able to clearly follow the instructions from a television, or would they benefit more from having teachings IRL? This type of advancement in technology does show how it helps society develop, with more people in China being able to become qualified, but in my opinion it is restricting the ‘freedom’ that technology is allowing. This technology is talking to the audience as if they are a ‘mass audience’ rather than the advancements allowing each individual to take what they want from the medium.

Website analysis, Asos.com

The website which I chose to analyse is the fashion website www.asos.com. This website has different sections aimed at men and women, and each category the target audience can look at men’s clothing, women’s clothing, beauty, designer productions, children’s clothes and Asos outlet. The audience can therefore find what section they’d like to find their products in, and easily use the hyperlinks to find the products. Before, you start to look at the products there is a non-linear way to read the website, with the encouragement to read other parts of the website, including ‘Look of the Week’ and ‘Asos Today’ which shows you the latest celebrity fashion. Despite the fact that a linear process if used when looking for clothes online, (where the consumer has to click through pages of clothes) it could be argued that more power lies with the audience. The audience have the power to decide what product they want to search for, the colour, the size and the price, eliminating the futile products which otherwise would have been shown. As Lister says’ there is no attempt here to prescribe how or where such data flows’ (68), the audience have control over what products they look at, rather than being sent messages which they have no choice over. However, this argument is criticised because this website is made for commercial gain, and throughout the website the audience are encouraged to buy other items when they have chosen one by being shown products that will ‘complete the look’ and ‘what other customers brought’. So, the messages which are being given to the audience on this website are not completely avoidable, but because of the non-linear style of the website, the audience can have an element of control.

The celebrity culture is heavily focused on in this website. From the journal ‘Websites as visual and multimodal cultural expressions: opportunities and issues of online hybrid media research’ Paulwels described that websites ‘choice of colours, typography, music, shapes may convey a symbolic meaning’ (8) You can apply this theory to the ASOS website, because of the focus on celebrity fashion. The serif fonts which are used throughout the website are fashionable and ‘pretty’ which gives connotations to fashion, and the music which is played on the background of the catwalks are the latest hits, which gives connotations to celebrity. Pauwels also states that ‘as most websites have a multi-layered structure, one should also investigate whether the order, flow and hierarchal elements as they are organized reflect another type of hierarchy’ (8). The hierarchy that is shown on this website is the power that celebrities have in our culture. The audience are encouraged to buy the latest products which are replicas of what celebrities are wearing, by the website telling you ‘as seen on Nicole Richie etc’. This online culture however is only advancement of the celebrity obsessed culture which we see in real life and websites only allow us to feel as Senft would argue ‘closer to them’. (Lister, 2003:185). However, this could be criticised because this website does allow some freedom on opinions, compared to what a celebrity magazine does. In one of the links members of the public are able to comment on what they think of the outfit, which does show an element of Turkle’s idea of freedom and the idea of ‘produsage’ and the power the audience have in the ‘open architecture’ on the internet because of their ability to share their thoughts and opinions, but still these opinions are heavily moderated and only a select few are published which does criticise this.

The appeal for the user of the website is the fashion that it contains, and the reassurance that these clothes are fashionable because each item is compared to something that a celebrity would wear. This website represents the hierarchy of celebrities compared to other people in society; the celebrity is focused on in the western world. Therefore, this website isn’t a new type of online community; it is just advancement to some of the shared values which are already apparent in our everyday life. It shows the idea of socio-determinism and how the internet is shaped to our needs from the norms already apparent in society. The celebrity culture focus is an advancement of the focus which is shown in tabloids and magazines which focus on their lives and fashion. The appeal of this website is not only the focus on celebrity life, but the convenience of shopping online. The user can choose their product, see it displayed on a catwalk and decide on their delivery options all from their own home. The convenience of this online shop (especially this shop only being available online) means that the audience are being persuaded to do more of their offline jobs and hobbies, online.


Pauwels’ Journalhttp://mcs.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/27/4/604

Website usedwww.asos.com

Week 6, 6.4 New media cultures

The New Media Cultures course in my opinion fits into the Community of Practice description. All the students are at the same level, trying to work at tasks in order to pass the course. Using Wenger’s model you can apply NMC unit to CofP. For example, what is it about? The students understand the unit and what is needed of them to pass it. How it functions? The students are part of a mutual engagement in order to pass the course. They work together in the ‘meat space’ time and comment on each others posts, raising questions about each other’s work in order to help develop their knowledge of the subject. What capability is has produced. The students have a shared repertoire about terms that they have learnt in this module, skills that they have learnt together and shared routines regarding timetables and classes together. The CofP will not end after this module; the students on the MCC course will continue to work together throughout their 3 years at university. This therefore backs up Wenger’s thoughts of that CofP ‘do not appear the minute a project is started and does not disappear with the end of a task’. Even though you could argue that the NMC course does fit in with the idea of the organizational practice because of this statement, that once the task is complete the CofP disappears, it is also true to say that the CofP continues with the same group of people through other modules and to finally complete the degree. In the NMC module, there isn’t much of a power hierarchy. As this unit doesn’t mirror other modules on the course the power is much more evened out. The tutors don’t hold usual seminar groups, where they guide the students on the topic, but the emphasis is on the students discussing the topics together. Despite this, the tutors do have some power in deciding the subjects which are going to be discussed and the marking scheme, but a lot more freedom is given to the individual about what points they want to cover in their blog.

Week 6, 6.3 Organizational unit

When Wenger uses the term ‘organizational unit’ you think of a large business, with many people and no distinguished people. It’s a large organisation, with no specific faces of people, where people are separated by numbers rather than names. This idea is describe as ‘distinct’ from communities of practice because Wenger is trying to emphasis the familiarity of people in the community, to show the ‘togetherness’ of them. ‘Communities of practice are not a new kind of organizational unit; rather, they are a different cut on the organization's structure—one that emphasizes the learning that people have done together rather than the unit they report to, the project they are working on, or the people they know’. This example from Wenger’s reading shows the idea that communities are different to organisations. For example, the members of a community are working together to reach an agreed target. Durkheim ideas of community are apparent here, where they have ‘shared norms and values’ and the sense of togetherness, rather than a large organisational unit where there is a hierarchy and each individual has to do their own work and report to someone else with it. The difference is shown in the following examples; an organisational unit will have a Manger an office worker and an office junior, and each member has their own specific tasks to do daily. A Community of Practice e.g. a Ballet School who have to pass a dance grade, all work together at the same level, learning routines in order to pass the exam. You could argue that an office does have aspects of a community of practice in the sense that the workers are all trying to reach an intending target or deadline and some characteristics of CofP are built up during this time, e.g. the different workers learning things from each other and the mutual agreement that they want to learn and work. But, Wenger would criticise this idea with the statement that CofP relationships do not disappear and grow; ‘It does not appear the minute a project is started and does not disappear with the end of a task’. CofP differ from this idea, because all the members come together and continue in the group for months, years etc, and will cross many boundaries and deadlines together and these relationships remain solid, rather than being built in times when the members need to pull together to reach a target, like it could be argued office workers do.

Week 6, 6.2 Joint Enterprise

Durkheim’s description of a community is that they all need to have ‘shared norms and values’ and Baym argues that they need to have a ‘group specific meaning such as text language’ etc, this is true for normal types of community like a neighbour hood, or online fan site. However, Communities of Practices are an advancement to these type of communities, they are not there necessarily because of a shared opinion or because of where you live, but because there is a mutual agreement that these members come together in order to learn something, or reach a goal. Joint enterprise is the key element to being a community of practice, as Wenger states in his article ‘Communities of practice develop around things that matter to people’ therefore the audience want to reach a goal or develop a skill, as does the other members in the group. So, this type of community does have factors of ordinary communities or online communities with the idea that there is a sense of ‘togetherness’ and like Durkheim said ‘shared norms and values’ but they are working together to reach a certain goal, rather than just discussing views etc. The example I gave before about Kickboxing shows the idea of communities of practice through Wenger’s model, and even though it has all the original factors to be just a community, the members are working together to achieve a certain standard of self defence. Wenger’s idea of communities of practice, agree with the ideas of Putnam’s social capital for example they ‘enable people to build communities, to commit themselves to each other, and to knit the social fabric. A sense of belonging and the concrete experience of social networks (and the relationships of trust and tolerance that can be involved) can, it is argued, bring great benefits to people’. However, social capital is criticised as being able to exclude people as well as make them into a community. These close knit groups have the ability to seem quite overpowering and may result in people feeling too overwhelmed to join. Do you agree?

An example of a CofP which I found online was http://www.weightwatchers.co.uk/ . This website helps a community of people work together to loose weight. They have goals that they can work towards together and it gives them a sense of ‘belonging’ and they learn information about how many points to eat per day and what constitutes a good diet. Even though weightwatchers meetings are held IRL, the website still allows the idea of CofP, because of the tab called ‘community’ where you can write on the message board and swap recipes. This idea is showing CofP, as its helping people come together with a shared agenda and a shared goal.


Putnam's journal http://www.infed.org/thinkers/putnam.htm

Week 6, 6.1, CofP- kickboxing

Kickboxing, a community of practice I have been involved in can be applied to Wenger’s model. What is it about?’ A community of practice is something more than a club of friends or a network of connections between people’ (Lave, Wenger) Kickboxing therefore fits into this description because of the knowledge that everybody has come to this class to learn self defence and exercise. How it functions? ‘They build relationships that enable them to learn from each other’ (Lave, Wenger) the members of kickboxing understand that there is mutual engagement and the members are coming together to learn moves from the instructor. The members have to work together in parts and try moves on each other, which gives a sense of community and engagement. ‘What capability it has produced? They develop a shared repertoire of resources: experiences, stories, tools, ways of addressing recurring problems—in short a shared practice (Lave, Wenger). The group members in Kickboxing are learning routines in a period of time, they have to work together so mutual respect is gained. Other shared resources which are gained from Kickboxing are the understanding of the names of routines, the routines and the sharing of facilities.

Kickboxing reflects the idea of Community of Practice because as Wenger states in his article ‘that emphasizes the learning that people have done together rather than the unit they report to, the project they are working on, or the people they know.’ The members of kickboxing all work together and learn the moves as a group. In this case there isn’t much of a power hierarchy within the group, apart from the instructor and his helpers. The beginners all work together and the more experienced members work together, giving the sense of ‘togetherness’ and the mutual respect for each others learning.

Freedom and Control, New Media and Society journal

I found this journal and I thought it fitted in well with this week’s discussion on Freedom and Control. The journal discusses the issues of Copywriting on the internet and how copywriting issues affects issues such as, downloading, gaming, music etc. Like Turkle’s idea of freedom online, Grimes in this journal describes the internet as ‘an opportunity to express and share cultural products and artefacts’, the internet breaks down communication barriers and allows the user to access software to widen what they can do online. However, the issue of copywriting contradicts the idea about the freedom of the internet. Lastowka in this journal argues that ‘the most popular websites are commercially owned and generated’ and these organisations strive to be the ‘gatekeepers of cyberspace’. This is proving the element of control that there is online, despite the freedom arguments. Capitalists use copy write in a way to make money and keep control online, as capitalists have the ability to copy write products/sites they have a strong element of control. An example which is used in the journal is the legal battle of trying to stop file sharing on websites like Napster and KaZaa, which have been successful, which highlights the fact that capitalist organisation have a large authority on the internet. Arguments of copywriting are shown throughout the journal and it raises questions about how far the organisations can actually copy write their products? If a player gets to a certain point in a game with a character that they developed, does the character still belong to the organisation, or is it the player’s character? These questions raise issues with how far copywriting can be pushed in an environment which is meant to reflect freedom and expression! Have a read through the journal, and let me know what you think!

Sara M. Grimes
Online multiplayer games: a virtual space for intellectual property debates?
http://nms.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/8/6/969

New Media Society 2006; 8; 969

Bruns, C- Produsage

I think that produsage will last; I think with all types of technology, they are trying to push the boundaries and get the audience a lot more involved. This is highlighted with ideas in Lister, such as the immersive interactivity. The audience are now encouraged to be more involved in the virtual world, whether it’s on computer games, or by being able to have control on what is produced on websites. Commercial forces will probably end up exploiting it, like I mentioned in my previous post, the sites main priority is to get a large number of participants, not to allow people to say their own feelings. This may result in the websites developing this idea for commercial gain, trying to involve more participants for money. In my opinion this ‘produsage’ idea will be the future of the internet, because this involvement in different mediums is showed through the upgrading of all technologies. For example, immersive interactivity in gaming and the player having more control over what is happening on the screen, the interactivity of television and being able to press the ‘red button’ to control what you watch and the idea of being a ‘produser’ and controlling what is written on the internet. I think this idea is likely to continue developing on the internet and people will be able to control what is written on sites. That’s just my opinion though, what do you think?

Bruns B Moderation

I think the idea of unlimited freedom and control that the terms in my previous post suggest is criticised because of the moderation put on these sites which are meant to allow you to have complete control. Bruns argues that there needs to be a balance between ‘openness and structure’ for these sites to work and gain a large number of participants. This therefore goes against Turkle’s idea of the internet allowing you to have complete freedom, because the participants still need boundaries for them to be guided into the ‘right’ direction. In my opinion, I don’t think it completely defeats the purpose of ‘produsers’ and ‘produsage’ as it does allow a lot more control to be given to the audience, more so than any other mediums. However, there are still limitations and boundaries to which the audience must abide by, which take away the sense of complete freedom. For example, Wikipedia allows the audience to write their own information, but the layout and content styles are similar throughout each individual page, in order to keep the familiarity of a popular website. However, this idea of needing boundaries in order to keep participants and maintain the popularity of the website, raises questions, it seems that keeping a large audience fan base is the most important part of the website, so for commercial gain, they will have to keep some moderation. The focus can be seen to be put on maintain and progressing the popularity of a website, instead of as an innovative way for people to control what they read.

Bruns A, produser, produsage and intercreativity

The term ‘produser’ refers to a person who is a producer and also a user of the internet. This follows the idea of ‘open architecture’ and people being able to build on sites as they wish. The produser term means that the audience now have much more power and instead of just having messages given to them, they have the power to reply, or create their own ideas on the internet. The term ‘produsage’ also ties in with the idea of a ‘produser’. Bruns describes the term ‘produsage’ as ‘the collaborative, iterative, and user-led production of content by participants in a hybrid user-producer, or produser role’. This idea shows that the produsers can build on the internet on sites such as Wikipedia, The Sims etc in order for the site or game to be produced by themselves. With Wikipedia as an example, the produser has the ability to change the site and other people on the internet can see what they have produced. These two terms refer to the power the audience have on the internet, compared to other mediums such as the television and mobile phones etc. The term ‘intercreativity’ talks about the ‘mode of collaborative, productive engagement with content’, this idea shows the idea of providing a groundwork for the expansion of produsage environments and the producers having more freedom to create and build on sites that are already available. For me, this idea gives connections to ‘immersive interactivity’ because of the advancements of technology, immersive interactivity wants to create games where the player is more involved with the computer and the person on the game reflects themselves, and the idea of intercreativity and produsers wants the user to be more involved with the internet and the sites which are available. These collaborative creations want to endear the audience into the internet and make them much more in control of what is happening. These terms are useful in understanding collaborative creations online, but as Bruns argues in this text, the amount of power described by these terms isn’t actually given to the audience; there is still a framework that the audience have to abide by, so they don’t have complete control. I talk about this more in the next post, but if you agree/disagree with any of my terms leave me a comment!

Week 5, Meikle, E Open News

From Meikles’s writing it questions whether news can ever be completely open because even though Indymedia want to promote open reporting, there is still a type of control put on it. By changing the format of the website to ‘promote certain issues above others’ mirrors the idea of a print newspaper, by putting the most important story on the front page, and proves the idea of control. The idea of open news is criticised because someone is still controlling what stories they believe are going to be ‘more effective’ and this will reflect the same ideas that are shown in other news mediums. Also, the stories in which people write about will probably be influenced by stories which are happening in real life. For example, if there is an issue which someone feels is written correctly, and then they may write their own. So the idea of the story is still heavily influenced by that of existing news, and then other people have the ability to edit and add information to your story, which follows the same sort of ‘editing processes as what a story would do in a newspaper. Therefore, even though there is a lot of freedom in this open news style and every individual does have the right to produce their own story, there is an issue which contradict the idea, and may prove that open news is never completely open!

Week 5 Meikle C DIY news an alternative culture?

I don’t think those people who want to make DIY news online should be though of as an alternative culture, I think that these people represent modern day. These people are advancing with technology and are adapting to the changes that technology is bringing. The communicative advancements that the internet brings, in turn, brings along the idea of an ‘open architecture’. The idea of people being able to add to news topics or write their own, doesn’t mean they are an alternative culture, because it isn’t that dissimilar to people having their own blogs or writing on forums etc. Indymedia is just giving people the freedom of speech that Turkle writes about and what is also shown on websites such as BlogSpot and forums on newspaper websites. Everybody has the ability to speak their opinions on the internet and this website is advancing with this. The quote ‘I belong to a blank generation’, in my opinion not only describes Indymedia, but describes the internet as a whole, and people can build on it as they wish. However, this idea of ‘open news’ may not give the information that the audience want. The people writing on these sites may not have any actual journalistic skills or contacts which may make their story as solid as an actual journalist’s one the stories can be edited, changed or reworded by people, then the view of the story may be lost and could distort the meaning of the story.

Week 5, Meikle A+B

The ‘online news environment’ is an advancement to the existing news shown in print and on television. The news reports need to be written in a style that can reach and be of interest to a large population, ‘the news reports need to be saleable in a market unconstrained by geography’. The communicational opportunities the internet brings means that people can easily find out news on sites which is meant to affect them. Online news is meant to be easily accessible and informative to people all over the world. However, this idea raises questions about whether news in say America or Germany would interest people in England or France. It also questions what point of view these reports will be from, if a report needs to be written about a controversial subject e.g. the Iraq War, whose point of view will it be from? Everybody has different opinions about the intentions of the countries involved so how could a news report take all of these views into consideration and make it appeal to people in different countries across the world? This criticises the above quote from the Meikle reading about news reports needing to be unconstrained by geography. The ability to communicate on the internet has meant that the power has shifted, the audience are no longer the passive audience who just receive messages, and they can also contribute. Indymeida is an example of how ordinary people with no journalism experience can supply information and ideas. This mirrors the ideas that have been given in previous weeks about the freedom and opportunities the internet allows such as Lister’s idea that the users are able to ‘build on’ ideas that are on internet and Turkle’s idea that they have freedom to give their own opinion. To criticise this point though you could argue that would people look at the Intymedia website for news, or would they go straight to the BBC or CNN because these are credible online news sources? I suppose it depends on whether people think that having journalism skills means that the reporter can write the story in a way that will grasp the audience’s attention and they may have more connections which enable them to have better sources, or would the audience prefer to read information from people similar to them, who have little agendas because it isn’t their work?

UPDATE: I found a journal on http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/893/802 and Deuze discusses online journalism online. In the diagram Mode 1 ( a couple of pages down in the journal) he discusses the difference between online new sources and the participatory content, public contectivity and editorial content! This diagram shows a hierarchy of online new sources and how different types of online journalism is being used. Deuze also states that 'Research at the BBC in Great Britain also revealed the unrest new media technologies have created in the newsroom; journalists reported lack of time to adequately use and master the technology, feeling stressed because of the 'immediate' nature of the Internet (Cottle, 1999). This statement shows how saturated the internet news is because of everybodies ability to become journalist. This rushed nature of the internet could question the authencities of the stories online, and question whether the story content is quality, or produced solely on the fact that the journalists are under pressure from competition!

Week 5 Lecture Notes- Freedom and Control

The internet is described by Turkle to be seen as a medium of freedom, with no boundaries and the user having the right to express themselves how they feel necessary. However, in this weeks lecture, this idea has been criticised because of the elements of control still being implemented on these websites which encourage the right to freedom and allowing ‘produsers’ to write their own material. For example, Lessig argues in his book ‘Code and Free Culture’ that internet users should be able to use open source software on the internet for free. The internet however much freedom is does allow the audience is still a market for commercial gain, and many companies are adapting their ideas towards the internet because of the profits that can be made from it. A lot, of companies would not allow their software to be given out for free because of the profit that can be gained from the amount of users on the internet. An example of this is music companies that would never allow the free downloading of their music online, because of the money that they would lose, and this is the same for any company that Lessig argues should be allowing free downloads. However, the audience still have the ability to illegally download, but this runs the risk of high fines and criminal record. These limitations of what you can do on the internet, criticise Poster’s idea that the internet liberates you and allows you ‘to act freely’. Boundaries and laws from society still apply to the internet, so no matter how free you feel online, you must still abide by them.

Even self publication websites such as Indymedia have an element of control, as Meikles writes in his article, stories which are seen as better or ‘promote certain issues above others’ are featured on the first page. Proving the idea that whether the audience accept the messages or not, there is still the idea of ‘gatekeeping’ and control over what is seen to be more prominent, as there is on televisions. The internet still possesses values that are seen on other restricted mediums like the television. These are my ideas on the lecture; did anything stand out for you?

Week 4 Topic 3- Online Music

By the audience having the ability to file share, download and network music, the availability of music is increased. The users of the internet are able to easily find the song they want, whether it’s on ITunes, MySpace. YouTube etc, songs are much more accessible, than what they were when they could only be sold in a CD or tape format. For example, artists such as Kate Nash have been discovered because of their music being posted on MySpace. The ability to promote your songs and create fans has changed. It is now much more in the artists own hands; they do not need any guidance or help from industry experts to post their music online. However, because music is widely consumed, and many artists do have their own MySpace account with self promotion, the audience are constantly flooded with invitations to listen to people’s music. This consequently has an affect on how many people do actually listen to these individual sites, because there is so many, people may loose interest. Media companies power may be decreasing because of artist’s ability to self promote, but I think their guidance and knowledge of the industry will still be needed. Artists can easily set up their own account, but this does not necessarily mean that they will be signed; they still need to be discovered by someone who is able to give them a record contract. Does anyone disagree?

Week 4 Topic 2-Networking sites

Facebook can be seen as an ‘online community’ and this would be one community that I am involved in. This website can be seen as a community because it links together different sections of the world in networks. For example, you can be part of the London network the Bristol network etc. This community of people therefore can discuss issues and events which are happening close to them. However, this community may be restricted because it only gives a sample of society. Mainly 17-50 year old men and women use this networking site. This means that these communities are missing out on 50+ opinions, which may mean a distorted version of the community. Unlike other networking sites such as MySpace, Bebo etc, you can only access individual’s people’s sites if you are friends with them. This is preventing the ‘dangerous’ factor of networking sites away, as people are encouraged to only accept people that they know and recognise. This means that Turkle’s idea of personas, because you should only be talking to people who you have already met in real life, meaning that there is little chance of exaggeration or distortion! What social networking sites have you used, and do you notice any sort of personas on them?

Week 4 Topic 1 Blanchard (d)

I do not agree with Kollocks and Smith statement that Lurkers ‘are generally viewed negatively by many researchers because they do not actively contribute to the virtual community’. I think that this idea described in Blanchard’s piece contradicts some of the ideas that have been presented in the previous weeks about how people can use the internet. For example, Turkle’s idea that you are allowed freedom on the internet, but the idea that you must give an input, criticises this, it is saying that people should be controlled and forced to give an opinion, when maybe they do not have one. Also, the idea of personas criticises this, people can still put on a persona and decide that they will ‘watch’ rather than ‘take part’ because they feel like they want to seem quieter on the internet than what they do in real life. This is the opposite to all of the ideas written about personas. Lister normally talks about a shy person gaining confidence on the internet and consequently speaking up more, there is no regard to a louder person who wants to observe the internet. I think with the internet being viewed as an ‘open architecture’ and there is no control on the net, people can take from it as they wish. If this means reading a forum to gain knowledge or viewing other people’s opinion then that is fair enough, people don’t always need to have an opinion on everything. In society, there is always going to be people who do not want to speak out as much as others, and by having these people on online communities it is just a development of the communities IRL. Do you agree?

Week 4 Part 1- Blanchard (A+B+E)

From McMillan and Chavis definition of communities, the characteristics which I would stress as important when defining a community is the idea that they must have ‘Feelings of membership: Feelings of belonging to, and identifying with, the community’ By having a collective of people whether it is IRL or online, who have an attachment to each other a community is formed. This community will then lead onto people being influenced by what other people are saying, which is also another characteristic of a community. However, online communities are sometimes chosen, like the virtual settlement ‘Julie, Julia’, these virtual settlements are not the same as communities IRL. IRL people are a community because they are brought together because of the street they live down etc, in this instance, people are consciously choosing whether they want to be part of this group. These community members are majority women of the age of 38. This does not reflect real life communities, where is streets you will find a variety of sexualities and ethnicities. However, because these people feel like they belong to this website and have probably built up relationships with other members, it does not necessarily mean that it can’t be a community in its own right. Just because the internet communities are an adaption of the communities IRL, some factors such as age and sex will differ, but the way it makes people feel will be similar. Facebook has made me feel like a part of an online community. You feel an attachment to your friends from school, when you are in groups to do with your year or form group, this attachment makes you feel like you ‘belong’ and gives reassurance to you that you have people surrounding you.

Week 4 Task 1 Part C Producers of Culture

This idea incorporates the idea of the internet being an ‘open architecture’ from last week’s posts. People have much more control over this internet, than what they have on any other medium. They can produce their own websites, and in turn give their own opinions on subjects, which will be read by other people. As Lister said ‘there is no attempt here to prescribe how or where such data flows’ (68). He means that there is no hierarchy of power like there is with the television, the audience do not have to accept the messages which are being sent to them, they have the ability to reject the ideas and reply. To some extent the audience are able to do this with the television, but with the increasing amounts of forums and discussion boards, if people want to discuss issues they can do. Even though online allows people to be able to control what they read, post their own views and have their own sites means that people are controlling their own culture and what is seen, the online culture still seems to be an off-shoot of the culture already supplied for society. Senft argues that the majority of ‘audience work in relation to websites, functions under the sign of celebrity’ and that our input into websites is to ‘bring us closer to them’. (185) therefore, the online culture, still reflects the interests that are given to us in the offline culture. For example, people’s interests in the celebrities are not only shown on IRL, but this is developed into online discussions and websites. So the audience are not producing a new culture, but they are just reproducing cultures which have already been supplied to them offline. Do you agree?

Week 4 Task 1 (c) Dangerous materials

I think that the ‘freedom’ that the internet allows can be quite scary for the audience. Society constantly moderates and controls what people see, through banning certain adverts and putting age ratings on films etc. The amount of shocking footage people see is limited, and when the freedom of the internet is allowing people to search for every subject imaginable, it raises questions about whether this freedom is positive. Turkle’s idea of ‘freedom’ and having the ability to take up many different personas, in my opinion is not a positive thing. Yes people may feel more comfortable hiding behind the computer when talking about personal things, but changing your persona to be someone else is dangerous. This freedom allows the users to be someone who they are not, and could potentially manipulate someone, resulting in fraud, paedophilia, robbery etc. Kramarae argues that ‘women have to add computers as a new way of receiving threats’; in my opinion I do not believe that it is only women who have to be wary of threats on the internet, everybody is able to have their identity stolen etc. I think it is common knowledge that there is dangerous material available on the internet and there is ways for parents to moderate what their children are reading. I think this freedom in a way is good because it shows the idea of a ‘free country’ and that you are not being constantly moderated by a capitalist society, however, it highlights the dangerous people in the world and creates a moral panic. The idea of paedophilia has heightened since the internet because of the access these people have to children, in one way this freedom scares people, but in another it means that parents will be more wary of who they allow near their children.

Week 4, Topic 1 (A+B) empowering online communities

I think that online communities can empower certain types of people, but not necessarily everyone. Durkheim’s idea communities have ‘shared norms and values’ are shown on online communities. People talk on websites which they all have a shared interest on and show their opinion. This shows the ‘togetherness’ which is a factor of a community. However it could be argued that these aspects or shared opinions are derived from real life, so these online communities are not actually a new community, but as Rheingold argues they are just a development of the communities that appear IRL. But this change in style could mean that people are becoming more aware of communities and are able to get more involved in them, making them much more empowering. If people are too wary to give their opinion IRL, the online communities are ideal for people to share their views on subjects. Baym would argue that these communities allow people to be together, they have generated group specific meanings such as text language, and this mutual understanding allows people to share their views on the same level-bringing people who want to discuss topics together. However, this net being a public sphere, does raise some limitations for me. Whilst looking at the idea of the online community, it raises questions about how limited these communities can be. Yes, people can engage with on another on various different communication sites, but in my opinion they won’t reflect a community of say a city. Forums, network sites etc are very limited; people talk to people about specific subjects and interests. Therefore, this will fail to reflect all different ethnicities, genders, ages etc that live together in a community. If the older generation do not understand the internet, then they will fail to have their opinion shared on the site. If a certain type of person wants to speak about a game, only other people who understand this game will share the view, this is unlike real life communities. There are restrictions to communities in real life obviously, different ages tend to group together, but I feel like you do meet much more diverse people IRL. Also, because of Turkle’s idea of freedom on the net, you would never been sure that the person you are talking to is actually interested in what you are speaking about, or just trying out a new persona, which may fail to reach a feeling of togetherness.

Week 4, Lecture Notes

The internet provides relationships online and from this an ‘online community’ can be argued to be formed. Levy says that the online community allows a rebirth of a ‘social bond’ in society. As technology has developed so has the ways in which people communicate. The internet provides a new communication which in turn provides a new type of community. Following on from last weeks lecture and Turkle’s idea of freedom, it allows people to discuss certain topics online and therefore builds a sense of ‘togetherness’ like that in a real life community, this is shown on online communities such as ‘The Well’. I do agree with Levy’s ideas to a certain extent, and I can see what he means by a bond. For example, people can discuss their particular interests with people and ‘belong’ in a group. However, I think this idea is restricted compared to what communities IRL face the issues which are discussed online, won’t face the difference in opinions of all ages and classes, like communities offline. Many people are restricted from using the internet, due to lack of knowledge, money, time etc, whereas IRL communities they probably play a key role.

Rheingold argues that this type of online community, isn’t a different type of community, but it’s just an advancement of an offline one and because it is easy to discuss online, it has advanced to forums etc. I think that online communities do have similarities with offline ones. However, I think that sometimes online ones can be more restricted. If people come together for a particular discussion or interests, it won’t reflect the views of different ethnicities, gender, ages etc, like a community does in say a city. These online communities seem to be more specific than offline ones do, with people from different walks of life. What do you think?

Week 3 Topic 3 Part B- Forums

For this post, I looked at the discussion forums on the ‘Daily Express’ website and I also looked at some forums on ‘The Sun’s’ website. My initial reaction to the comments left on both of the websites was how negative they can be. Maybe this is because of the barrier people have with the issues they are talking about, and they feel that they are able to freely give their own opinion.
This shows Turkle’s idea of the freedom that the internet allows and how people can speak freely about their opinions. These ‘rants’ on topics such as Jade Goody’s cancer, Gordon Brown and the standstill the snow has given, could be because this is the only appropriate place for these people to air their opinions, because of the amount of different opinions on these topic, there is bound to be a debate. Examples of screen names include ‘Hiphopper. Marigold and Harriuk’ this could be because many of these issues are controversial, they do not want people knowing their real name. However, this criticises Turkle’s idea of the freedom, because if people feel that they can not write their own opinions on the internet, then the internet doesn’t really allow that much freedom, as people are still wary! I think that many of the issues raised on these forums, people wouldn’t be able to get into a debate with IRL because there probably aren’t many opportunities for people to debate on these issues with people with opposing views.

Week 3, Topic 3 A- The Second Life

The second life is example of Lunenfeld’s immersive interactivity. The user can create their own character, and act as them as they live their life through a virtual world, by making things, buying things etc. This style of program is intended to increase the entertainment value of games, such as ‘The Sims’. It is encouraging the participants, to live through the virtual world, and the title ‘second life’ represents this. In my opinion, re-enacting normal life in a virtual way is different to meeting new people in the real world. I believe this because of the persona that people put on without realising it when typing on the internet. However, that is just my opinion, and as I have written before, people who find it hard to speak out IRL, may find this easier. Also, I think that this game appeals to more technological savvy people, who like gaming, and enjoy this as an escapism factor, rather than living their life through it. Turkle’s theory on MUD’s could be linked to how people communicate on this particular website. People are able to present themselves as they wish in these ‘deterritorialised’ situations, they can speak freely about their sexual preference, race etc without the worry that society’s opinion will criticise them. However, if a certain person does have a negative view against say homosexuals, and they too used this website, there is no reason for why they wouldn’t say something derogatory towards them. So even though there is this idea of a ‘second world’ the people who inhabit it are still from the ‘real world’ and even though, this selected group of peoples thoughts wont necessarily reflect the whole of societies, there may still be disagreements, which would reject the idea of these chat spaces being a new place to say your feelings. Feel free to contradict me though, because I have never actually been on second life properly!

Week 3 Part 1 (c) Postmodern Views

The postmodern view that the internet is ‘interaction with no physical codes to locate gender, race of class’ Lister 167, may be true, and the postmodernism argument I believe is right. But, their view leads me on to think why would people want to ‘free’ themselves of the characteristics that makes them, them? Even though the internet is like a barrier, which can control how people perceive you, and the postmodernists were right in saying this, because the internet does hold a lot of power and the ability to do this. In this section they have failed to mention, why people would want to do this? And if they do hide their characteristics then should they be allowed to use the internet at all? The postmodernism seem to argue that the internet is a release, a place where people can speak freely without being influenced by any characteristics that affect them in real life. Personally, I would look at this as being dangerous, because me being comfortable with all the characteristics that come with me, would not hide or lie about things, if I’m in a situation where im comfortable to discuss things. If people go into a situation believing that they can change who they are, or keep major things like the age etc a secret, I think that it is highly dangerous.

Week 3 Part 2- identity

I don’t think that holding back your identity is ethically wrong, I think if you are concerned about fraud and giving too much information away, then it’s fair enough. However, I think pretending to be someone that your not is ethically wrong, because like I have covered in my other post, you could be seriously offending someone, by being racist or putting somebody in danger. When people start lying about their age, sex, race etc it makes me think that the have ulterior motifs, which could potentially be very dangerous. I think that it’s a person own opinion on whether they use their own name, I suppose it is to do with how trusting they are of the internet. I generally do use both of my names on networking sites, but I may be a bit more wary when signing up to things when I’m not entirely sure where my name will be used. Even though on sites when shopping online such as Topshop and Asos your details are secure, some people have the problem with sharing information because there is no face-to-face contact. Some people can find it hard to trust the internet, because they do not have the reassurance that their details are safe, because trusting technology isn’t as encouraging as giving your card to a friendly sales assistant in a shop.

Week 3 Part 1 (B)-Online Persona

Regardless of whether you intend on having a ‘persona’ using the internet in some degrees creates a persona for you. The way we speak in emails, blogs, chartrooms etc, is different to how we speak and write in real life, therefore an ‘online’ persona is created, because it differs to how you would act normally. In my opinion, this is harmless and it just comes hand in hand with using the internet. Styles are going to be different, when using different mediums. This is the same as putting on a ‘phone voice’ when answering the phone in an office, it causes no harm and everybody realises that this is what done. However, it is when people consciously choose to represent themselves different is when the problems start. People can pretend to be who that what to be, changing information about themselves which they do not like, or want to hide, e.g. age. The lack of security on the internet allows this to be easy and can harm not only themselves, but the people they are talking to. For example, people can pretend to be over 18 to access websites, such as 4OD, with channel 4 having a low ability to actually find out the users real age. When programs have age restrictions, and if the viewer is lying about their age, they are risking what they are being exposed to. The boundaries are being pushed with issues like this on the internet, because there is little the providers can do to find out the truth!

Week 3 Topic 1 (D+E), Cyber relationships

In my opinion I don’t think cyber identities constitute a normal social identity. For me the internet is used in order to communicate with friends I made in normal social reality. I have never made friends with someone who I have met online. I think that normal social reality is important for your lifestyle, for work, friends etc. By living your life through a virtual world you will lack the communication skills needed in the real world. This ties in with online relationships. Andrea Baker shows that relationships online can be the same as IRL, because of the communication that online allows such as, response time and style of writing etc, but this study doesn’t take into consideration the rest of Listers chapter on ‘network users’. These relationships are assuming that the users are completely honest and they are not miss-representing themselves. If the users are lying or exaggerating than the online relationships do not reflect ‘real’ ones. Though saying that offline relationships are not always truthful, but it is hard to lie about characteristics such as ethnic background etc. Some people find it easier to build up connections on the internet, because of the freedom it allows, so your more than welcome to disagree with me!