Vector Image

For my vector image I decided to choose the Pepsi logo:

Andrew Keen

1. How does Keen define Democratized media, and what are his main issues with this trend? use examples from the web in the form of links. Include this idea of "disintermediation".

       In the chapter "The Great Seduction" from the book "How Today's Internet Is Killing Our Culture", author Andrew Keen defines the term democratized media as a very less cultured, less credible, and less reliable form of media and the internet. He accuses democratized media as being extremely unreliable and rather dubious because it allows users to edit content without being professional editors. Keen explains that bloggers, photographers, and just plain ordinary people are able to post whatever information or "amateur work" on the web, and he feels that this is stripping us of our culture. 

      The term "disintermediation" also can be related to this chapter. Disintermediation is that idea that there is no middle man between who submits things to websites and who oversees the website. When Keen discusses "authorship" it directly relates to the idea of disintermediation. Keen explains that "authorship" is being ruined and exploited by the development of democratized media because it blurs the line between who owns the site, who views the site, and who has the ability to edit the site. This could include sites that share files as well as allow users to post their own non - reviewed work to a site for the world to see. Keen mentions three various forms of democratized media here to demonstrate exactly what he means and they are as follows: 

1.) Wikipedia 

2) Myspace

3) Napster

2. Compare and Contrast Keens take on Social Media with Douglas Rushkoff's. What are these differences in opinion? Which one speaks to you and your own experiences and why? You may include the ideas of such utopian technophiles as Larry Lessig, Chris anderson, and Jimmy Wales (who are these guys!?)
      Andrew Keen and Douglas Rushkoff have rather different takes on social media. Where Keen believes that social media as well as other "democratized media" is the ultimate downfall of the American culture, Douglass is not totally for it but not totally opposed to it. Douglass is wary of what may happen in the future because of these websites, however he does not feel that they will completely ruin the world.
     Personally, I agree more with Douglass. I believe that while yes, social and democratized media may not be the best thing for the American culture, I do not think that social media is the ultimate downfall of our society. I think that the internet should be monitored more, and that sites such as wikipedia and napster should have more organization and authorship to them. I know for me personally, I use websites that allow me to comment on other people's blogs such as this one as well as facebook, and I even refer to wikipedia occasionally to do a broad search on research topics. 

Responses

For this assignment I partnered with Christa Libecci. Her thesis is that  websites such as Facebook and Myspace could be an extension of a person's identity, however they could also be detrimental to a person if they get too wrapped up in the virtual element of this alternate world. ( http://christalibeccimedialit112.blogspot.com/2011/02/digital-nation-question-2.html?showComment=1299125102467#c3362161937286715249 )

Aside from commenting Christa's blog, I also commented Mike Florio's blog ( http://mikeflorio1.blogspot.com/2011/03/withering-individual.html?showComment=1299123641969#c451202460705325675) and Megan Berrian's blog (http://meganberrian.blogspot.com/2011/03/whither-individual.html?showComment=1299123117688#c8443977618855143614)

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.