Luke Forand--Signing Out

In what very well likely could be my last blog entry for the Interactive Rams, please sample my reflections on what I have learned in this class about where the internet is headed, and what we should do:

The whole world continues to connect itself with hyperlinks, websites and social networking, drawing together corners and discussions that could not exist without the internet and didn't exist anywhere near this scale before the internet. People can find love (if you believe in match.com), order their groceries, manage their stocks, become ordained ministers, post personal videos, and publish their writing all using their personal computers. None could argue, this freedom gives the masses power, right? Advertisements, pop-ups and spam plague the user's experience, but with a system so fluid and instantaneous, it is virtually impossible to fight all the little things that get in the way of pure information flow. We as users have become creators.

But will people be able to respect the internet and protect the integrity of the information on such an open, free source? The internet allows third parties to create applications and change the face of social networking sites like facebook and myspace. What Jonathan Zittrain calls "generativity", is the ability to create on the internet on multiple levels. "Social, content, physical and logical layers" of the internet can be influenced by any user logging on. Sites like Wikipedia allow content to be changed as users publish. Physical layouts and logical placement of information can be criticized through online networking, "contact us" hyperlinks and digital "suggestion boxes" as available as someone's email account. Social sites have laid the groundwork for people to create an identity online and collect "friends", "followers" and members of different groups that the user belongs to (on or offline). The online identity from social networking will shape social interaction for our generation and those after us.

People must be aware and conscious of how the internet works and what effect they will have on the whole web. It is my opinion that more people are using the internet and less are thinking about it. We must remember to use the internet and not to abuse it. One such problem occurs with social networking applications (individual creators) on sites like facebook and myspace have access to every users private information. The internet is such a leaderless and classless society that the problem and the ingenious of the internet is that ANYONE with know-how can post, send, receive and promote ideas/information.

With this flow of information comes other problems of copyright. Like "who owns mickey mouse"?. Walt Disney isn't going to sue me if I send a picture of Donald Duck in one of my emails, but prominent online authors and poets are not having such an easy time using symbols, characters and images of the past. If a lot of people are seeing something, somebody wants to make money off of it. Who knows where the restrictions and freedoms of the internet are going. International standards must be

One things is sure, the mixing of media is inevitable. The TV and computer will soon be intimately connected to the cell phone and the digital identity people have will be sinonymous with their identity in reality. 3D representation, touch-screen, mouseless computers as well as vocal/video interaction with new technologies and increasing social networking across the globe will prove to bring people closer together and continue to push the boundaries of how people experience the world we have created (and that other world that was here before us, too).

Prediction: By the time I get old, I will be ordering my prescription meds, listening to music, browsing the internet, recording my favorite shows, video chatting with old friends, writing my personal blog and text messaging my friends all from my personal "identity screen", a computer-cable-satellite phone media player that ties your world to THE WORLD(starts at $4,500). And who knows, maybe it will be 3D on my table-- the final frontier in collaboration of media (end of the world to follow shortly...)!!!

Interactive Rams Go YouTubing Part Two

This time the tables were turned! Here's Part One:




And now Part Two:

Stroke of Insight Video

This isn't exactly interactive media, or perhaps it's interactive media of the most basic sort, especially if you think of computer technology as an extension of the brain, and the brain as a processor, with the mind as its software.

A Society of Overloggers

The newest episode of South Park once again has tailored itself to our Interactive Media class and analysis of the internet. For some reason, the "national internet" stops working and the community realizes that they have a serious problem with "overlogging" onto the internet. Randy Marsh has trouble sleeping and some personal problems "getting off" without obscure internet porn. His daughter has an internet boyfriend who she is suddenly disconnected from after the internet goes down. At the conclusion of the episode, Kyle has an ingenious plan to fix the internet and gains access to the top secret location of "the internet". Then he does the unthinkable--unplugs it, then plugs it back in. Miraculously, the internet is back up and everyone can go back to their lives of overlogging.

Humorous as usual, South Park also brings up a point that our class has been making all year and should be obvious to anyone who is more than a product of their environment: the internet world is addictive and has become more important to many people than the real world. We feel insecure and nervous when we can't send emails before bed, look at goofy youtube videos or communicate with our online friends, some of whom we will never meet. I don't know if Trey and Matt read our blog, but they sure are playing a tune that rings true and in key with what we have learned in our exploration of social networking and the medium of the internet.

Social Networking with Fantasy Sports

Another social network that we have not really touched upon in class is the Fantasy Sports Industry. The immense popularity of sports in the current Broadcast Industry is undeniable. ESPN is an around the clock radio and television broadcast network that updates viewers (to the minute) on what is going on in the world of sports. At any given time during the day or night you can tune into a game or sports talk on ESPN or other major television networks such as TNT, ABC, or CBS. The popular interest for sports in America is aparant, and as fervor for the internet continues to increase, the Sports Industry is bound to find its foothold in cyberspace. The Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA) reports that as of 2007, there are more than 125 major companies (including credited companies such as ESPN and CBS Sports) and 18 million adult users in the Fantasy Sports Industry. The popularity for fantasy sports is becoming increasingly evident, and in terms of our Interactive Media class (that means you Lance Strate) I think the social networking element of the Fantasy Sports Industry is noteworthy. Many employers complain about their employees wasting time at work over the internet competing in Fantasy Sports, which is reminiscent to the complaints from teachers about students interacting on social networks during class time (where computers are available). I found a fairly unintelligent video that argues in favor of participation in Fantasy Sports in the workplace, saying that it promotes positive relationship building between coworkers. In the context of this blog, the existence of this video validates the idea that the Fantasy Sports Industry is really just another type of social network. The Fantasy Sports networks actually have a leg up on some of the other social networks that we have been researching in class, based on the idea that it adds a competitive element to an aspect of society that a large percentage of Americans are very interested in (explained the the begining of this post). Personally I have not really participated in the Fantasy Sports Industry, but I think its increasing popularity within the realm of the Social Network Era (there I said it) is very relevant to the research we are conducting in this class. Anyways, here's the unintelligent video.

Myspace versus Facebook

The other day I noticed one of the major social differences between Myspace and Facebook. I observed that Facebook has become the dominant social networking site for the typical college students, while Myspace particualry attracts people of all ages in urban areas. It has topics of interests for everyone and has become the biggest social networking site available. Every person, I have become friends with in New York City has a Myspace page, while most of my college friends only have a Facebook account. Social networking has become a less creepy way to stay in contact with a person you have just met. Subsequently, it is more popular in cities, because you interact with a lot of new people. You get to explore their custom website highlighting their personalities. Nowadays, people are using less pick-up lines involving one’s telephone number and concentrating on their Myspace or Facebook connection.
Primarily, you will find that kids in suburbia have abandoned their websites on Myspace due to the recent popularity and engagement of Facebook. Orginally, Facebook limited their accessibility to the website, because it was designed for college students. As Facebook blew up, they opened their website to high school students and it is now available to everyone. I found there is a boundary between the two websites with a small percentage of people participating in both. I wonder why certain people prefer one social networking site opposed to another? Thus, I found an article called Class War: MySpace Vs. Facebook, in which, Researcher Danah Boyd from the University of California Berkeley confirms what teens in any high school across the country already know: “Affluent kids from educated, well-to-do families have been fleeing MySpace for Facebook since it opened registration to the general public in September, while working-class kids still flock to MySpace.”

“MySpace is still home for Latino/Hispanic teens, immigrant teens, "burnouts," "alternative kids," "art fags," punks, emos, goths, gangstas, queer kids, and other kids who didn't play into the dominant high school popularity paradigm. These are kids whose parents didn't go to college, who are expected to get a job when they finish high school. These are the teens who plan to go into the military immediately after schools. Teens who are really into music or in a band are also on MySpace. MySpace has most of the kids who are socially ostracized at school because they are geeks, freaks, or queers.”

I thought this was an interesting observation that other people have begun to research. We should explore the boundaries between the social networking sites and why certain people choose one group opposed to another.

Blogging Just Got A Little Louder...

In this class (particularly Camille Paglia's piece) we have discussed the contrast between traditional print newspaper and magazine writing and that of its digital counterpart on the Internet. No more is this more distinctive than in the blogosphere; spawning from a diary-like function this genre of writing has weaved itself into the most accredited of traditional print news media like the New York Times and CNN. News and media organizations have acknowledged this phenomenon as best they could and incorporated it into their business models and infrastructure.
But the blogosphere is a creation of the digital domain, and while to some extent it has been manipulated to function in the format of traditionally print-oriented editorials, the ever expanding choice and multitude of the blog on the web is not as such that it can be limited to a narrower class of "accredited" bloggers.
It is true that there perhaps exists some hierarchy of blog writing in the web; that for every 50 blogs about insignificant personal rants masqueraded in poor grammar and syntax we will find one heralded by a noticeable portion of the online masses. But to assume that these "few" Nobel like blogs entail those found on ESPN.com and USA Today is to be foolhardy. Undoubtedly the blog writers that have been brought in to usher this fusion of internet-print journalism must have been talented and popular so as to have been able to garner such attention from the high and mighty news media, but the law of averages coupled with the sheer abundance of blogs out there covering every possible interest and subject tells us that there are more out there than just the ones we read about in the technology section of USATODAY.com

Many of you guys are going to look at the adjoining article I link to this post and wonder what the coherent connection is. The point that I'm trying to make is that blogging...Internet writing and journalism as a whole, which has often been criticized by detractors as an inferior form is growing louder in its cry for equal artistic and journalistic consideration. This NY Times article which delves into professional sports' issues and concerns with "sports blogging" is a clear example of the reality and attention blogging has begun to command. The questions being asked about traditional press privileges for reporters as opposed to bloggers are noteworthy signals of the changes surfacing on the horizon of news, media, sports and journalism.

Please Read Up & Comment:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/business/media/21bloggers.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=technology

Interactive Rams Go YouTubing Part Two

Three students were MIA last time, so here's the make-up interviews:

Lawrence Lessig on Remix Culture

Lawrence Lessig gives an amazing talk on remix culture and its influence changing the way copyright laws work. Looking at the past, it's inevitable for copyright law to change to reflect new practices and it would benefit us now and not wait until the last minute.

Postman's Message

Neil Postman writes in his epilogue that we should not judge technology, new media, and the Internet by the aspects of our lives that they enhance. On the contrary, we should consider if a technology like the Internet is essential to the human race at the current moment. Today, I feel podcasts, mobile Internet devices, and PDA's do not solve any specific problem, but are designed to make people's lives even easier. At the same time the existence of the Internet as a whole may soon be viewed as a necessity for the younger generations to come. In today's fast-paced, large-scaled, and global society the value of human life can be greatly affected by a person's access to the Internet. The emphasis on being connected to the web in a person's life will only be increased in the future. I know in my own life where more often then not the Internet in my home is either down, or being used for other purposes (Halo 3), I miss out on my own obligations of studying at a University and working for a website. Not to say this is a problem for society, but eventually the Internet will become more and more of a necessity for all people. What would Postman think of this?

Good For You Twitter!

I am actually happy to hear that Twitter may begin providing ad space on their site. Why should they miss out on the money a popular networking site like Twitter should make. Many people have expressed a greater interest in the uniqueness of Twitter than they have with any other, more intimidating, social-networking sites. I feel if its got the buzz, it should have the bucks. MySpace and Facebook have generated monopoly money for their creators based on the sponsors they receive and still provide free registration for members. If Twitter does the same I feel it will only expand to new members and advance its content, thus making it more popular and easier to reach new people and make online connections and relationships.

Twitter Going Corporate?

In a recent article from Techcrunch.com it is reported that the popular micro-blogging site Twitter, which we have all come to love possibly started introducing ads into its site as of last night. The site, which is currently free and extremely popular has yet to incorporate any traditional ad partnerships that would allow it to start making money. Another possible option would be to add a subscription fee to the site in order to generate some funds, but will this go over well or even come into fruition?? We shall see...

Here's the link to the blog post/article about the issue:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/14/twitter-testing-advertising-in-twitter-streams/

Interactive storytelling: We Tell Stories

We Tell Stories is an interesting take on the idea of interactive storytelling using the Internet. From the site:

"Starting on 18th March, Penguin UK is launching its most ambitious digital writing project to date. In collaboration with fêted alternate reality game designers Six to Start, Penguin has challenged some of its top authors to create new forms of story - designed specially for the internet.

Over six weeks writers including Booker-shortlisted Mohsin Hamid, popular teen fiction author Kevin Brooks, prize-winning Naomi Alderman and bestselling thriller authors Nicci French will be pushing the envelope and creating tales that take full advantage of the immediacy, connectivity and interactivity that is now possible. These stories could not have been written 200, 20 or even 2 years ago."

The first story—The 21 Steps, uses Google maps to tell the journey that the protagonist takes throughout the story. The company that helped to make this calls it an ARG—an alternate reality game, which according to Wikipedia, is defined as “an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform, often involving multiple media and game elements, to tell a story that may be affected by participants' ideas or actions.”

The second story, Slice, uses blog posts and Twitter to tell the story, which I guess is a pretty interesting idea; people can get updated with the story almost immediately. The site in general seems to take the most prominent aspects about using the Internet and using it to tell stories. With the first story, it emphasizes how far satellite technology has gotten and how it allows us to look at anywhere on the globe (via Google Maps). Another story plays on the immediacy that the Internet can provide; the authors write the story in real time for readers to read immediately. Another, which uses blog posts to tell the story shows off an entirely different way of telling stories. I suppose the language used will be a lot more colloquial and casual to create Internet personalities where readers can easily get a sense of what the blogger is like. With Twitter, actions in the story would have to be shortened to fit within that 140 character limit. The fourth story, "Your Place and Mine," have two narrators telling about their encounter with the other one simultaneously. Though I think so far, the fifth one, "Hard Times," was the most interesting. It begins with, "More of us live online," and continues on with statements and statistics regarding the current state of how information, ideas, etc. travel and how the current generation is different from the older one.

In general, I think this is a pretty interesting site. It definitely puts a new perspective on how we can tell stories using the resources that the Internet has to offer as well as methods that are currently so popularly used on the Internet.

Viral Marketing

Digital videos and video sharring are working for more than just media savvy individuals like us, the Interactive Rams. By forging sites like Youtube.com where we create and share videos, we promote ourselves (your name is your brand). Clearly, by sharing our videos we hope to create some type of attention or recognition. When a videos or online games generate some hype and gain recognition solely by viewer sharing, it becomes a viral piece. If an advertiser does this it is called viral marketing. I came across a great viral video which also promotes a product and a brand in this non-traditional form of advertising. So, to keep with the tradition of viral marketing, I am sharing the vide with all of you. Very cool and very boy-friendly. I love this stuff so, enjoy!



Can anyone figure out what this is about? I can't wait to know!

Interactive Rams Go YouTubing

Our first YouTube video, awkward and lacking any redeeming value:

SP deals with web video

Episode 1204 of South Park begins with all of Canada going on strike. To the boys dismay, this means no new episodes of Canadian humorists Terrence and Phillip. In an attempt to raise enough money to give to the Canadians to end the strike, the SP boys create a YouTube music video that shows Butters singing a vulgar and hilarious song. When they try and get their "internet money" from an office, they run into every YouTube legend you can imagine. Check it:

Curious Articles I Found

This was on the Open Anthropology blog I read, thought it was pretty interesting in the context of the class Interviewing the 'Electronically Archived "YOU."'

Also, here's this article about this program called Oddcast.

BBC Articles about the Internet
Sex Offenders and Social Networking

Man gets $2.6m for pizza.com

Search Engines Warned over Information

In class on Monday, one of my professors gave us an article about the electric car in Europe. It was tongue-in-cheek and mentioned the Lizard Alliance and Ray Guns. Our professor thought it was a legitimate article. It from the British technology Web site The Register which presents articles about new technology in comedic fashion. Consistently starting articles about Yahoo! with every word excalamated (yes, I just invented a word). Interesting place with fun articles. One of them linked me to a video of an Italian CEO giving an inspirational speech to his workers where he says that Napoleon won the Battle of Waterloo. (He didn't)

Mobilizing to Save Civilization

As I noted in our last class class, I found the last chapter of the book to be most intriguing. In our modern and fast-paced society, I believe we often forget the most basic principles.

Recently, I started reading a book by Lester Brown called Plan B 3.0 Mobilizing to Save Civilization. The book is a part of a short series to address and help change problems in our environment. If you are not interested in purchasing the book; the author made the book free of charge on the Internet to help reach a larger audience. If you click on the link above, it will take you to the website. I am aware that I have continually stressed all of you to check out these preservation websites, but this one is essential. I recommend just checking out the introduction or first couple chapters, because the numbers and facts are simply astonishing. It is an easy read with a powerful message. President Bill Clinton praised the book saying,

“Lester Brown tells us how to build a more just world and save the planet…in a practical, straightforward way. We should all heed his advice."

The book is divided into four overriding goals: stabilizing climate, stabilizing population, eradicating poverty, and restoring the earth’s ecosystems. “We have the technologies to restructure the world energy economy and stabilize climate. The challenge now is to build the political will to do so. Saving civilization is not a spectator sport. Each of us has a leading role to play.” He discusses the global role that is so pertinent in saving our civilization. We must globalize to prevent further damage that we will be unable to save known as the tipping point. I wanted to throw out a few overwhelming facts so that you will actually check out the book or website.

"Nearly all of the 70 million people being added to the world population each year are born in countries where natural support systems are already deteriorating in the face of excessive population pressure, in the countries least able to support them. In these countries, the risk of state failure is growing."
"In 2006, the world pumped 31 billion barrels of oil but discovered fewer than 9 billion barrels of new oil. World reserves of conventional oil are in a free fall, dropping every year".
"During the late summer of 2007, the news of accelerating ice melting arrived at a frenetic pace. In early September, the Guardian in London reported, "The Artic ice cap has collapsed at an unprecedented pace this summer, and levels of sea ice in the region now stand at a record low. Experts were "stunned" by the loss of ice, as an area almost twice the size of Britain disappeared in a single week".

Sobering the Cyber-Generation

In Chapter 2, CyberWalden: The Online Psychology of Politics and Culture, John M. Phelan incorporates a conservative point of view into the progressive idea of cyberspace and the increasing importance of the internet's capability. Phelan states the reiterated idea that the internet may not be able to replace tangible interaction. Seeing pictures and reading about a city on the other side of the world is not the same as actually being there, and a conversation over AIM or even through video web cams using programs such as IVideoChat or Chatablanca is not the same as a conversation face to face. Phelan actually states on page 54, paragraph two, "In this broader cultural context, cyberspace can in some way be a step backwards." Although the internet has introduced an entire new culture of ways in which we can obtain information faster, or reach people easier, we must take this efficiency in context. Since the internet is such an incredible invention, that has developed more within this generation than any prior, I think our generation has formed a type of obsession with cyber-culture. As the internet continues to grow, specifically through channels which allow anyone who can get online to contribute (Wikipedia being an obvious example), our generation continually builds upon this idea that our we have helped to contribute to the boom of what is possibly the most extensive technological advancement ever. Being the first generation to be effected by the internet, as well as foster its growth, there is a astronomical idea that we are the first generation to recognize the human "need" for digital interaction over the internet. I agree with the comments from John Phelan in this chapter which look to sober the obsession that our generation tends to accumulate with the excitement of the internet's growing capabilities. Cyber-culture and the internet have proven to be a cutting edge way to access information, interact with people, and even complete menial tasks (such as banking or paying bills), but this does not mean that the creation of the internet has created a human need for its capabilities. The internet is a tool, not a necessity, and the effects of the internet on a society which aims to expand online capability towards the idea of Universal Service will reflect this. The effects of an incredible technology on our society will not supersede the effects of issues in our society which actually do constitute human needs. While we are worrying about how porn on the internet is going to effect the sexual decorum of our children, people living in the physical world are dealing with starving poor living in inner-city slums, and natural disasters which might point towards global warming. We must look at the internet as a tool to help us solve issues in the world which actually effect our human realm of necessities, rather than obsessing over our adaptation to the technological capabilities of the internet and the resulting effects.

Cognitive Logic and Relational Fascination

In James R. Beniger's Chapter 3, Who Shall Control Cyberspace, he explains three major characteristics of the internet and cyberspace which foster the adaptation of this new conceptual space into our everyday lives. Beniger says that cyberspace is physical, cognitive, and relational. The physical aspects of cyberspace are needed, but probably the least important in terms of the human adaptation of cyberspace, consisting of the actual computer, modem, keyboard, etc...that we use to access the internet. Cognitively, the internet offers users the availability to do their own research, and pay attention to the information that specifically effects their own personal lives. Also from the cognitive view of making the computer a personal medium of exchange, the evolution in the personalization of our own computers and their desktops is becoming an increasing factor of why we may choose brand loyalty to one computer brand over another. Personally, I think this is why Mac has been so successful in marketing their laptops, pushing Microsoft out of the business of computers and into television (see my previous blog Microsoft ...Television) Lastly, Beniger refers to the new conceptual space of the internet as being relational. This is obviously the most fascinating part of the new world of cyberspace, as it is probably the least understood yet fasting growing characteristic that Beniger names. We can understand the physical means used to access the internet, and we can logically understand why someone would want to use the internet for cognitive purposes (accessing more desired information at a faster pace), but is the relational part of the internet really needed? Cognitively we have almost solved the "problem" of not being able to access information fast enough, but from a relational point of view what has the internet provided us that we could not accomplish more efficiently face to face, or even on the telephone? I don't think anyone is really sure of this, which is why a large portion of the cyberspace community has become so intrigued by online social networks. Learning how to interact with people strictly using digital means is new, unchartered ground that has grabbed the attention of many people who use the internet on a regular basis. Is it possible that as our society evolves, the online social network evolution will have become so prevalent that upcoming generations will need to be able to interact digitally in order to meet the social needs of a modern society? I think this may be pushing the envelope, but it is interesting to note the current fascination of online social networks and the eventual direction that this fascination will lead us in.