Week 2 - web forums/blogs

Consider web forums and blogs.

a) Navigation – how do you get around the web forum; is it an online conversation?

a forum, also seen as a message board, is set up so people can interact from all over the world. people who enter the blog (which is generally about a specific topic) write a post which could be questions to one another and comments to gain knowledge and share experiences. this provokes conversation between people who dont even know each other as people reply to posts on threads, which is why it is suggested that a forum is an online discussion site. to describe a forum as an online blog would be correct but unless you are online at the time the messages are not instant (such as a phone call). this is not a problem however as once the post has been posted it is saved online so people can view it whenever is suitable for them.

private messages can be sent from one forum member to another for personal questions. ignore lists can be used to hide posts from members that other members do not want the blogs to be shown to.

b) Expression – do you express yourself in the same way? How do we ‘take turns’?

when talking online, you can be whoever you want to be as your behind a screen only telling people what you want them to know. expression is difficult to put forwards through text, rather than face-to-face. body language, eye contact and tone of voice is an important part for expressing ourselves with seriousness, sarcasm, worry etc. however is it a good way of voicing your opinions without worry of the emotional details that would be evident face to face.

c) Interaction – how does it compare to face-to-face seminars

a seminar over a forum is alot less formal. there is not so much interaction between students and tutors but more mini discussions between students. when speaking face-to-face to a tutor a more fomal language is used. students are more likely to use text language for example - c u sn - however we have been told not to do this on our own forum, it does still happen. online learning has an advantage that it is easy to contact the other members and authors of the forum. it might be easy to contact them but the time period of getting an reply is not as quick as face-to-face, which is a disadvantage.

d) Time – activities being over a week?

as i have just said above the time period of getting a reply, from the right person, woth the right answer, is not predictable. on our forum we do only have a week to answer and complete topics so within that week we should get the information we want, however if we feel like we want to get on with the work and cant complete one bit before another time does become an issue.

e) Authority and identity – who is in charge?

forums are govened by a set of individuals, commonly known as administerators or moderators. they give permission for people to become members and make sure rules and regulations are followed. in the case of our seminar forum this would be our tutors.

forums require a regestration to post from all members. once you are a member of the forum you create a name and idenify yoursef however you see fit as long as it meets the rules and regulations of the administerators. to know the rules of the university forum we were given 'the rules of engaement' to read through.

f) Speech / writing – does the forum have features we would associate with either? A combination.

because a forum is used by any member of the public it has to have well known features. a forum maybe a new media but it has elements of old media as well. if this was not the case people would have to be tought different skills, languages etc.

a forum uses a combination of texts, images, sound and videos. they can all be added to relevant posts by individual members. uploading and adding files onto a forum is simuliar to adding them to an email or a blog.

g) Do you have the knowledge, the media ‘literacy’ to be a user, an advanced user? If not how does it feel?

i wouldnt say i was an advanced user of forums or blogs but it is quite easy to pick up. all skills needed to set up a forum/blog i have used before. for example regestering for MSN is more or less the same process regestering for a blog. as i have said above simularities such as up loading and attaching photos and files are very easy to do, because i have experienced the process before on such things as emails, social networks (facebook, bebo) etc.

Week 2 - Explanation of topic 2

From - E:\Uni work\Year 2\Semester B\New Media Cultures MCM2130\Weekly study guides - for blogs\week 2.mht

Consider web forums and blogs.

To go back to Livingstone’s point in lecture 2, is the asynchronous online seminar just doing what we would normally in a seminar do but online, or does the shift online change the nature of the communication and potentially the nature of your learning?

Some things to consider:

a) Navigation – how do you get around the web forum; is it an online conversation?

b) Expression – do you express yourself in the same way? How do we ‘take turns’?

c) Interaction – how does it compare to face-to-face seminars

d) Time – activities being over a week?

e) Authority and identity – who is in charge?

f) Speech / writing – does the forum have features we would associate with either? A combination

g) Do you have the knowledge, the media ‘literacy’ to be a user, an advanced user? If not how does it feel?

Week 2 - G,H and I

g) p.27 What do you understand by ‘non-linear, non-sequential reading and writing?’ Does it capture the experience of the Web?
through hyperlinks on the web the user experiences non-linear reading. example - if you were research world war 2 online you can jump from one web page to another using hyperlinks. this means you are not getting the arguement, narrative or observation as you would if you were reading a book. Linear and sequential reading and writing takes place through structures. a structure of a narrative etc means a pattern appears whilst the audeince is reading or writing and this helps everything to make sense. non-linear behaviour has less structureal patteren btu sense can still be made out of the information the reader is gaining.

h) p.33 If new media allows more people to be involved in cultural production (compared to mass media) what are these new voices saying in public? In a DIY and click-to-send setting, what kind of things are people sharing with others that comes from their private/domestic world and might otherwise not be distributed?
a range of different media has been launched that is for both customrs as well as professionals. for example - a video camera. the price ranges are different and so are the uses of the equipment. customers are more likely to be using their video cameras for home videos and also the hobbyest consumer. the consumer can now use wedsites such as youtube to upload their own videos for entertainment and infomal purposes. they could also set up there own private website and distribute their personal video footage, e.g. pornography.
CAN ANYONE ELSE CONTRIBUTE TO THIS?

i) p. 42 (and preceding discussion of interactivity) Is there such a thing as ‘ideal interactivity’? What form might it take? You can also refer to Meikle’s four types in the week 2 lecture.
doesnt an ideal interactivity depnd on the user? the users needs and want from the intractivity are important to answer this question. different forms of interactivity online consist of communication via e-amil. the emailer can be waiting for the recipient to respond either instanly or a period of time. however things like computer games, MUD's forums and blogs etc are different. interactivity with a computer game allows the auidence to be inside a 3D world, to operate the space and control the characters. this can work on a individual basis, so the audience is interacting with the computer or it could become multi-particapational. MUD's allow you to do the same but also be part of a online society. a virtual world where you can talk etc with the other members of the virtual society. this communication with one another takes place whilst both (or more) people are online.
THESE ARE JUST A FEW EXAMPLE I CAN THINK OF - IF YOU HAVE MORE PLEASE ADD THEM.

Week 2 - D, E and F

d) p.12 is there a clean break between analogue and digital media (cf. Bolter and Grusin’s concept of ‘remediation’)? Can you identify any commonalities? For example, is email based on the language of ‘letters’ and ‘the postal service’ because we have tried to fashion its communication functions in terms we are already familiar with?
digital means to be made smaller by the use of digits. once the physical properties of the input data light and sound waves are usedto convert the what was the physical form into numbers, not another physical object. whereas analogue means one set of physical properties can be stored as another physical form. for example a photograph from a non-digital could be saved a negatives or the actual photo itself. because of this i think there is a clear break between digital and analogue. digital (a new media) will always be faster and more sufficient than analogue.

e) p. 17 Digitality and code. Imagine you couldn’t compose your assignments on computer. How would a hand-written editing and composition process be different?
compared to a computerised assignment, the handwritten one would have to be writen more than once. to complete a rough draft, then edit mistakes, rearrange paragraphs etc. this would be made a lot easier on a computer via copying and pasting the selected texts. editing would take a lot more time and effort which could be avoided.

f) p. 21 What do you make of Lunenfield’s concept of ‘immersive interactivity’? What could we apply it to?
basically lunenfields concept of immersive interactivity, which is gaining access to data represention and 3D world, can be applied to computer games. the user can use this immersive interactivity to enter 3D worlds. the user can enter these virtual worlds and be inside the game, navigating characters, using the space and have potentional to explore this virtual world.

G,H and I coming soon.

Week 2 - A, B and C

a) p. 2 With Windows Vista replacing XP and Office 2007 replacing Office 2003, (and so on), what is ‘upgrade culture’ all about? Is some new media change just consumerism thought up by big business? upgrading culture is basically representing the rapid pace of change within the media. the example of office 2003 and office 2007 is a perfect example of. because consumers who use technology have expectations the 'newessed' is always going to be the most popular, however theres always going to be a 'newessed'. i do think that big businesses have an impact on the consumers ideas about new media.

b) p. 3+ According to Lister et al., some commentators stress the ‘newness’ of new media, but others (such as Kevin Robins) can be seen to be saying that nothing fundamental has changed, because new media technology is another product of capitalism, and therefore will fit into and serve a pre-existing capitalist society and culture, rather than transform it in any fundamental sense. Any thoughts? Can we critique this position? i can understand and see the points of view from both Lister et and K Robins. robins is right when says that new media will 'fit into and serve a pre-existing society and culture' because we already use new media and are expecting the new. it will probably fit into the pre-existing because almost anything new is a upgrade of something old and this would not transform the current situation a great deal. however for some societys that have not had certain technologies before this would not be an upgrade it would be a transformation in their society and culture.

c) p.11 Are new media a source of ‘progress’ in the sense that they enhance things we do in spheres of social activity – business, education, shopping, democracy etc? Could we say that such a proposition involves an ‘ideology of progress’? new media is another way of representing 'the most recent', 'the most modernist' and ' the cutting edge'. if we use the technology that is being advanced/ progressed then yes i agree that our social activities will be advanced - if we want them to be. e-mails, mobiles, MSN, social networks and blogs etc are communication technologies that are undergoing progress all the time to advance them for social activity. so id have to agree that new media are a source of progess that enhance our social activity sphere.

ive wrote this once... then my comp died so my answers are now only short as i had to do them again.
D, E and F coming soon.

Week 2 - Explaination of topic 1

Basically this weeks first task consists of answering a few questions, which can be backed up from last weeks reading (lister. p.g.1-44)
this questions needed to be answerd, see below, have been copied from the mchome webpage.

a) p. 2 With Windows Vista replacing XP and Office 2007 replacing Office 2003, (and so on), what is ‘upgrade culture’ all about? Is some new media change just consumerism thought up by big business?
b) p. 3+ According to Lister et al., some commentators stress the ‘newness’ of new media, but others (such as Kevin Robins) can be seen to be saying that nothing fundamental has changed, because new media technology is another product of capitalism, and therefore will fit into and serve a pre-existing capitalist society and culture, rather than transform it in any fundamental sense. Any thoughts? Can we critique this position?
c) p.11 Are new media a source of ‘progress’ in the sense that they enhance things we do in spheres of social activity – business, education, shopping, democracy etc? Could we say that such a proposition involves an ‘ideology of progress’?
d) p.12 is there a clean break between analogue and digital media (cf. Bolter and Grusin’s concept of ‘remediation’)? Can you identify any commonalities? For example, is email based on the language of ‘letters’ and ‘the postal service’ because we have tried to fashion its communication functions in terms we are already familiar with?
e) p. 17 Digitality and code. Imagine you couldn’t compose your assignments on computer. How would a hand-written editing and composition process be different?
f) p. 21 What do you make of Lunenfield’s concept of ‘immersive interactivity’? What could we apply it to?
g) p.27 What do you understand by ‘non-linear, non-sequential reading and writing?’ Does it capture the experience of the Web?
h) p.33 If new media allows more people to be involved in cultural production (compared to mass media) what are these new voices saying in public? In a DIY and click-to-send setting, what kind of things are people sharing with others that comes from their private/domestic world and might otherwise not be distributed?
i) p. 42 (and preceding discussion of interactivity) Is there such a thing as ‘ideal interactivity’? What form might it take? You can also refer to Meikle’s four types in the week 2 lecture.

ill be answering these questions before i begin the next task.

Week 1 - a) What are the characteristics and b) How do you use them if you do

a) What are the characteristics (in terms of the kinds of communication they allow) of the following?:

Email and email lists - email stands for electronic mail. it is an instant text messaging service that is free as long as you have the internet. all you need is an e-mail address which you can easily and quickly create on sites such as www.hotmail.com. as well as sending texts through email you can also send images and files to the recipiant. this way of communication is very diverse because information through emails can be sent globally and by anyone. i regulary send emails to keep in touch with my family whilst im at uni and alos to keep in touch with tutor and fellow co-students.

IRL’s chat rooms, messenger services - MSN and skype are example of messenger services. chatrooms and such services allow people to comminucate instanly as long as the 2 (or more) people are online. an online community is formed where keeping in touch with old friends as well as making new ones can be made easy. people from all over the world can connect to each other through forums and blogs through posts, however private messaging can be used to. i use MSN everyday to talk to friends and family. it is a chaep and effective way of communicating.

MUDs + MOOs – merging with online gaming - MUD stands for multi user dungeon. virtual worlds are very popular now a days. anyone with the internet, from all over the world, can become part of a virtual world. computer games online allow people to form indiviudal characters who can communicate with other virtual characters.

Website - websites are a specific selection of web pages that are individualised by an address or URL and can only be acsessed on the internet. texts, images, sounds, videos etc are all used within webpages to interest and attract the viewers. often websites will use emails to contact you for example if you have bought something from a shopping site. personaly i use website a lot for reseach purposes. to find out information on a varitie od different subjects.

Week 1 - Dispersal - can anyone help???

hey guys...

can anyone of you simplify 'Dispersal' for me? im not sure im understanding it correctly!
is this the kinda thing i shud be blogger or putting on the forum?

thank you

Week 1 - my reading notes

well the basic meanings ive got from this is...
1. new media is used in everyday life and is all around us e.g. computers, cameras, mobiles etc
2. new media means the most recent, which shows loads of changes in media production
3. communication is involved alot

some important words linked to the discourse of new media are...
1. digital
2. intertextuality
3. hypertextuality (which i need to look up again) - anyone?
4. dispersal
5. virtuality

the difference between...
1. analogue - media existing in a fixed physical object in he world
2. digital - media may exist has analogue hard copy but contents are name of binary numbers stord in the computers memory


more intense meanings in a bit - lol

Week 1 - explaination of topic 1

of mchome you can see the weeks reading and some tips/hints/questions about the reading we need to think about... extract below from mchome...

TOPIC 1 wk 1
Please familiarise yourself with the range of communication forms on the internet.
Do some online research and share your thoughts with others (IRL or online)
a) What are the characteristics (in terms of the kinds of communication they allow) of the following?:
b) How do you use them if you do; what for; what’s your experience of using them?
Email and email lists
Usenet and Bulletin board systems
IRL’s chat rooms, messenger services
MUDs + MOOs – merging with online gaming
Website
(Lister et al. p 166)

basically i think we all did a pretty good job today of familiarising ourselves with the internet/blogs/IRL...

im begining the reading asap... tonight probs (let me know once u get through it) or bits of it. and of course what you think of it. if theres a certain bit you think could benefit us all etc...

ill be lookin at a and b (above) whilst ready and let you know what i thought too.

awesome

Lecture 20-1-09

hey guys...

just wondering what everyone thought of the lecture and seminar which explained this module? plus im trying to get my blogs up and running! lets really encourage each other to keep at it... even if you hate life etc etc lol

personally i thought it was basic, understandable and quite interesting. it was easy enough to set up a blog... im even thought this is my 2nd blog im enjoying being a blogger. thgouth the lecture was long and repeated things from the seminar but it was useful. remember RINCY... read it no comment yet. anyway...

how about you lot... what are your thoughts about the project?

my love for german sausage

i have never eaten a german sausage...

love for german sausage...

none