Mark’s argument concerns online enable communities, cyberspace and the environment. One of the examples he was thinking of using is the Love Canal incident, but Julie mentioned that virtual communities, mobile technologies, and Internet activism exist and that he doesn’t need to give history of abuses. Mark also mentioned computer-mediated cyberspace such as electronic lobbying and cyber enabled tactics like Ecosnoop, which I found to be a little frightening if used deviously. Do we really need an application like Ecosnoop to report on each other? It may cut down on the number of police needed, but again this is talking about the history of cyber abuses. Maybe Mark could focus his argument more on cyber-activism and how that is uniquely affecting the environment.
Sara’s proposal concerns how people present themselves differently in cyberspace. For example an individual may behave less self-consciously in meatspace surrounded by their peers. Cyberspace social networking sites, such as Facebook, are public forums where people are more self-conscious of how they act. Sara spoke of how some people feel that they may be judged more harshly, and by whom, on a site like Facebook. Sherry Turkle is an academic that Sara will use to support her argument. Turkle talks about how social networking sites give people the opportunity to edit and therefore portray themselves more favorably in a public forum. However, I agree with Sara that people seem to be more open when there is an element of anonymity, which concerns my chosen topic of Internet communication as it relates to political activism. Sara also plans to use personal surveys, which I look forward to reading.
Cassie’s thesis concerns social networking sites, specifically Woogiworld and A Really Different Place and the classroom. Cassie will argue that teachers and students should utilize these types of sites in the classroom to enhance the learning of different content areas. Not only do these sites enhance learning, but they also draw in the students who aren’t as engaged in classroom learning. I appreciate her argument as positive, pro-active approach to help make learning more fun and interactive. WoogiWorld was created for the purpose of educating kids on proper Internet behavior by navigating through challenges, according to Cassie’s research. A Really Different Place focus’ on a students writing, and Facebook may help younger students benefit more because they may not be as familiar with engaging in conversations with friends online and are taught proper online etiquette. I find Cassie’s argument encouraging from the perspective of cyber-activism and personal conduct in the political arena. I think that Cassie’s paper will be a positive portrayal of future Internet conduct by online users and I look forward to reading it.
On Thursday (4-22-10) Mark proposed World of Warcraft (WOW): The Cost of Access. Mark talked about Blizzard and WOW – the largest massive multiplayer online (MMO) – and how changes to WOW appeal to more people and how that in itself creates a fractured community. For example, players can survive but not thrive in WOW without social interactions because the games challenges have been removed or diminished. Mark reported that the lack of challenges causes disintegrates community of practice and that guild communities are fragile by nature. Less challenges also affect the ability to learn and create skill gap between leveling and end game.
Brittany then proposed to do her paper on Mobile Location-Based Advertizing and how it differs from traditional marketing methods. New media direct marketing on mobile phones has replaced throwaway advertisements (posters) with pop-up messages and the conveniency of being connected to everything. On the downside many people don’t like pop-ups on cell phones. Some of the fears that Brittany mentioned are the abilities to track what one does, spam, and please rob me sites. Advantages to buyers are convenience, privacy, easy anywhere there is GPS available. The business advantage is that it builds customer relations. Brittany’s argument is: rise of social networking sites led people to change the way they think about privacy.
Dena spoke of Cyber-bullying and how social networking sites are not policed. There is an increase in these types of cases in courtrooms and privacy issues. Personal disclosures make anyone an inadvertent target and kids can’t get away from bullying even in the home. Dena mentioned the Communication Decency Act: Sect. 230 and The Good Samaritan Clause that allows people to not be responsible for a sites contents. It was also mentioned that no one single governing body can protect citizens from cyber-bullying because of infringement issues on ones freedom of speech. Julie suggested that Dena focus on: social networking sites: you are on your own.
Michelle talked about humans and computer interaction in her thesis: interfaces that have seamless transitions from reality and virtual reality and vise versa. Studies of interaction between humans and computers are important because it minimizes barriers. I agree that the change in scenery gradually being missed, which accounts for the success of internet activism.
