Whither the Individual

Whither the Individual:

        In terms of increasing our identity or conforming to the profiles of sites such as Facebook and Myspace, I believe that users are definitely expanding their identities rather than restricting themselves. The usage of virtual websites serves the purpose for users to have the ability to be something they aren’t in a virtual world. In the documentary “Digital Nation”, David Rushkoff and Rachel Dreztin evaluate internet usage and how technology is changing the way we live every day.

        In this documentary, Rushkoff investigates programs such as Second Life and World of Warcraft in order to see if these programs help their users become more individual or force them to act in a certain “cookie – cutter” manner in order to fit a certain profile. I believe that people are in fact exploring more facets of their identities by using these programs. Users are able to explore various things that they would perhaps not be comfortable doing in the actual world of reality. For example, according to Digital Nation, 1/3 of female users end up in romantic relationships with men that they meet in the game.

                        

Likewise, Second Life was created with the intent of improving intimacy online. Creator Philip Rosedale’s intent in creating this site was to make his users more willing to interact online with others and to solve the issue of alienation that the use of technology has caused. This film also features an 83 year old eldery woman by the name of Bubbie, who has made a cooking show in her old age through use of technology. Although she is not someone who was raised on technology, she is able to use technology in order to spread her recipes and cooking techniques to the world around her.

                   

In terms of “personal space”, I feel as though it is changing through use of this technology, not necessarily diminishing. Users still have personal profiles as well as personal identities within these virtual worlds. The difference with the idea of personal space in terms of sites like facebook, twitter and myspace is that these sites allow users to comment and contribute to other profiles, not necessarily invade someone’s “personal space”. Likewise, these profiles almost always reflect the user’s actual identity, even though it may sometimes display them in a different way.

                    

        I believe that these groups and sites give the world a chance to be someone they are not or cannot physically be. I think that in moderation this exploration of self could be beneficial to many, but can in some cases be harmful in terms of people becoming obsessive or addicted to these sites. I also disagree with the opinion that people need to “surrender the ego” in order to use these sites and become part of an online community. In fact I feel that people can cultivate their identities through usage of these websites rather than “surrendering” them.

Users are able to participate in these sites and learn things that they may not have known prior to using these sites.  I also think that as a “hyper- people” an online community is able to learn how to cooperate with others in a different way other than in person. This is extremely important because as Rushkoff and Dreztin mention in the video, technology will take over everything we do in the future despite the way we feel about it. According to Digital Nation, companies such as IBM are already using programs such as Second Life in order to set up international business meetings as well as regular office hours in order to make meeting time more convenient. In the future, employees will have to know how to use these programs in order to be hired because of the rapid rate technology has been taking off in the past decade.

In conclusion, I do not believe that these websites and programs are “whithering” the individual per se, but are allowing individual people to shape themselves in a different way than they are normally used to. Personal space can now be displayed online, and individual profiles can be seen by other users of these programs. Likewise, people are able to take on different roles and do things that they may not be able to do in their real lives. I think that these programs can help cultivate an individual by showing them a different side of what they are used to in everyday life. The idea of a “hyper- people” actually requires people to be individual and unique in order to contribute to these virtual worlds.

           

           

Web 2.0 questions

1. In terms of advertisements and television shows appearing to be more "homegrown" and "amateurish", I believe that this issue will eventually disappear over time. I feel that technology is constantly getting more and more advanced everyday, and different forms of technology will become more affordable over time. Companies will be able to buy various devices to improve their appearance in the long run because technology easily becomes outdated and more and more affordable. I also feel that the people who are being hired at these agencies will become more tech savvy over time, because younger generations are much more able to use  technology more efficiently than other generations.

2. For me, the social media site that I use most often is definitely facebook. I use it so often because it is a way for me to stay connected to people from my hometown as well as share information with friends. The chat feature is something that is very attractive about the site because it makes it easy to talk to others instantaneously. I also enjoy the photo feature because it is a good way to organize my photos as well as view the photos of friends and family that I do not get to see often.
     I think that facebook is much more successful than myspace because is has a much broader user base. When myspace was at its height of popularity, it was predominately used by teenagers under the age of 20. Facebook started as a bit of a higher quality social media site with just college students, and then spread to both older and younger demographics. I definitely think facebook is here to stay because the company is constantly making improvements to make their site better. I also believe that the site is here to stay because it is a way to constantly be connected to the world around us, and has integrated with twitter and youtube to make it easier to use as well. According to the article "Facebook's future and why its here to stay" site founder, Mark Zuckerberg has managed to harness something real, our interpersonal connections, and give us a forum to digitally display and enhance them." This article bolsters the argument that facebook is in fact here to stay because of its innovative and competitive nature. ( http://www.rev2.org/2008/02/24/facebooks-future-and-why-its-here-to-stay/ )

3.  Transparency is extremely important in the online world. I feel this way because making things public as well as being open is much easier online than in person. Likewise, many mistakes  social media companies make are due to transparency and astroturfing. Companies who try to "make fake grass root blogs" are guilty of astroturfing according to an excerpt from Social Media and Web 2.0. Astroturfing is a tactic that could be used by politicians or companies in order dupe online users to use a product or become a follower of a certain politician.
    A perfect example of why  online transparency is important is the incident that occured with facebook  in 2009. When facebook changed many of their privacy settings and announced that they "owned" all parts of the site including the photos of their users, the company received much backlash. Also, facebook has also been accused of giving advertising agencies their users information when users click on certain links according to the article "Facebook takes its time, but responds to advertising privacy issues." ( http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2010/05/25/facebook-takes-its-time-but-responds-to-the-advertising-privacy-issues/ ) Social media sites need to be very aware of transparency because of issues like this, because they can cause many problems for the company.

McLuhan Photoshop Final Post

         For my photoshop assignment, the new form of media that I chose to use was smartphones. Of all new media, I feel that this is the most important form because almost everyone is switching over to a smartphone whether it is the iphone, droid, or blackberry. The power of these phones is remarkable. I believe that the use of smartphones will one day make using computers obsolete because of their capabilities. As seen, I took an image of a smartphone and placed icons on it that I feel are crucial to the "content" of smartphones. Most smartphones are capable of connecting to skype and facebook, and can also allow users to listen to music of their choice. The image of the laptop is also one that I felt was important to include. Most smartphones also have the capability of a laptop and allow people to access the internet, send emails, and write documents when needed. Lastly, I included an image of a man and woman speaking across the world. I think that this is also extremely important because it is one of the main "messages" of these devices. These phones have finally made it possible to communicate and constantly stay connected with people who may be on the other side of the world. The overall message of these phones is that they have capabilities of most computers and I believe will take the place of them in the future. 
     Aside from these images , I placed the phone on top of an image of a person's hand as to coincide with the phrase "The future is in your hands".  I believe that this is also part of the "message" that McLuhan is trying to describe. The future of computers and technology really is in the palms of the hands of many with the use of these phones. Lastly, I included the arrow pointing toward the smartphones to be very specific in the type of technology that I was referencing.

Smartphone Photoshop Assignment

  

        For my photoshop assignment, the new form of media that I chose to use was smartphones. Of all new media, I feel that this is the most important form because almost everyone is switching over to a smartphone whether it is the iphone, droid, or blackberry. The power of these phones is remarkable. I believe that the use of smartphones will one day make using computers obsolete because of their capabilities. As seen, I took an image of a smartphone and placed icons on it that I feel are crucial to "message" of smartphones. Most smartphones are capable of connecting to skype and facebook, and can also allow users to listen to music of their choice. The image of the laptop is also one that I felt was important to include. Most smartphones also have the capability of a laptop and allow people to access the internet, send emails, and write documents when needed. Lastly, I included an image of a man and woman speaking across the world. I think that this is also extremely important because these phones have finally made it possible to communicate and constantly stay connected with people who may be on the other side of the world.
     Aside from these images, I placed the phone on top of an image of a person's hand as to coincide with the phrase "The future is in your hands." The future of computers and technology really is in the palms of the hands of many with the use of these phones. Lastly, I included the arrow pointing toward the smartphones to be very specific in the type of technology that I was referencing.

New Mediums

As time goes on, technology is rapidly changing. In Marshall McLuhan's "The Medium is the Message", he explains that the content of the message is not what we should be paying attention to, but  the way in which the content is transmitted through technology and how this effects our lives. Here are three examples of new technology that I feel have and will continue to effect the world.

1. Facebook
Content: Digital photographs, text, html links, digital video, chat
Message: In my opinion the "message" of facebook is that people are constantly connected with one another. When one of your facebook friends updates something on his or her page, it appears on your personal feed. This helps users stay connected to one another even if they do not speak in person. Also, the chat aspect of the website allows users to instantly get in contact with one another given that they are both logged into the site.



2. Smartphones
Content: Text messaging, phone calls, camera, digital photographs, video, digital video, internet access, applications, instant messaging, e- mail.
Message: Blackberries, droids and iphones are all included in the category of  smartphones. More and more people have progressively decided to switch over to one of these phones because of all of its capabilities. The fact that you could have the power to be on the internet at the tip of your fingers at anytime and anywhere is further making usage of the desktop computer and even the laptop obselete. These phones have and will continue to gain popularity because of  their various capabilities.


3. Twitter
Content: Comments, text, html links
Message: I believe that twitter has changed social media itself as it has gained popularity. It has increased the speed of news and how accessible the news can be. It is also integrated into other mediums such as online news articles as well as other forms of social media. I think that this is really a great feature because you can directly attach a link to your twitter and this helps expedite the delivery of news to the world.