Tag Archives: DTC101

24 Hours: Quitting Cold-Turkey

Posted on April 8, 2013 by | Comments Off on 24 Hours: Quitting Cold-Turkey

@RachaelS_DTC

I wouldn’t consider myself to be someone who is dependent on technology, but this last week I discovered I was. It was very difficult to go 24 hours without using technology. I use to read in my spare time (when I had some) and having a break from technology allowed me to actually read a book that wasn’t required! I had a great sense of freedom and I was able to relax. I definitely was tempted to pull up Netflix, nonetheless I did enjoy having time to separate myself from the internet. I realized that this temporary separation was beneficial. First, I was more calm and relaxed. There wasn’t a notification on Facebook to distract me or a email I needed to reply to immediately. Second, I was able to spend my time with ‘real’ things, like my family and pets. This pause from my x-reality allowed me to improve my relationship with my family. I agree that digital technology makes us cyborgs by improving our lives, such as communication, but it also creates a barrier to the people around us. We are so plugged into social media with our avatars it is difficult to experience real life. Sometimes our x-realities become mostly digital realities and we become separated from the people closest to us. A break from technology has allowed me to experience my physical reality. I did miss technology and I would not be able to separate myself forever, but a break is sometimes needed to relax.

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Social Media Environment

Posted on April 2, 2013 by | Comments Off on Social Media Environment

quy_luu

Social media environment has completely changed the society nowadays. For the last years, it has gradually become the public place where people can actually seek for new friends or update their friends’ status. By creating numerous social network websites, the social media has pulled people closer to each other by sharing their online story and status.  That way, the media environment has connected people and helped people understanding more about the others, “Social network gives us unprecedented power share our stories with more people than we ever imagined” (Zandt 159).  Besides, the social media has create the credibility among people by their day by day personal stories and people can absolutely feel same way with these status, “You build trust with other people in your network, and from there you build empathy” (Zandt 159). Facebook and MySpace are two great examples for the social environment; whenever we caught some bad or good stories, we definitely acknowledged what going on what these people and we normally commented and liked on their status to show our empathy. Additionally, there are two types of people who connected to the social media environment; there are strong ties and week ties groups (Zandt 165). Obviously, the strong ties group refers to regular participators for the social websites. They are normally your friends, your family members and your colleague. Oppositely, the weak ties group refers to seldom connectors, who are not interested in these websites. They connect to social network when they have a lot of spare times and they don’t really get addicted like the strong ties group. By connecting to the social media environment, there were a lot of visual positive outcomes that has changed the society in the better ways.

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Blog 11

Posted on April 1, 2013 by | Comments Off on Blog 11

@starlingpreston

 

According to Zandt “storytelling has been the most powerful building block for social change,” and “social networking gives us unprecedented power to share our stories” (1). Social media environments, such as the web, allow users to mobilize and seek change. One such example is “progressive activists,” (Zandt 5). Progressive activists used web technologies to inform others about unpopular stories that were not covered in regular media. So, the activists mobilized and founded “the first Independent Media Center,” which covers such unpopular stories, (Zandt 5).

Another example of how social media creates mobilization and change is through blogging. Blogging allows a variety of people to connect through common interests, creating a network of friendships. Linking sites and videos to blogs allows people to share their interests with others who may be thousands of miles away. These interests and ideas that are being shared could create a movement or mobilization concerning a certain shared opinion or topic.

As discussed by Zandt, there are certain aspects that establish a person’s social capital; which is how participation and sharing is measured in the “gift economy,” (31). These aspects, according to Tara Hunt, make someone valuable, which contributes to “the social media ecosystem,” (Zandt 31). Connections, reputation, and influence are some of the aspects that boost someone’s social capital, which makes sharing easier. One example given by Zandt is when someone thanks another person for responding to their blog, which makes people feel appreciated and more likely to share the blog. Not only did this boost reputation, but it also facilitated sharing through social media (33).

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The Freedom of Online Information

Posted on March 26, 2013 by | Comments Off on The Freedom of Online Information

quy_luu

20 years ago, if people want to know something, they had to buy books the library and pulled out all the documents in their relevant section. 100 years ago, people had to borrow the books because they were too expensive for most of people to buy. The situation has changed forever because we have online information nowadays. Today, over 2 billions people connect to the Internet and there is no doubt that at least one third of them are searching for information. However, there are some country’s leaders who believe some information are too dangerous for people to know; websites have been removed and people have been punished for freely talking online. Internet should be freedom not repression. People should have control and responsibilities of the content that they post and they should do it without fear and punishing. Besides, the Internet is bigger than newspaper, radio even bigger than television; that’s why it doesn’t allow the government to take control. The Internet was found on the principle of freedom. In other words, it is the right of act, speech or thinks that people want without entrance and restrict. If there are some reason that make the government concern about the Internet will reveal confidential information, they should rather concern about their missions, their duties than the Internet. How do normal civilians get secretly information that has been covered and protected by the government? Obviously, they can’t get into their department to get these documents; besides, they will commit crimes by these activities. Therefore, the information has been revealed into public in the first place by the government and this is totally not the Internet’s fault. The freedom of online information should be concerned as human’s right.

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Blog 10

Posted on March 25, 2013 by | Comments Off on Blog 10

@starlingpreston

 

A manifesto is a “public declaration of policy and aims” (Merriam-Webster). Both the Hacker Manifesto and Cyborg Manifesto encompass multiple views of freedom and power. One such example is racial stereotyping. The Hacker Manifesto declares that hackers  “exist without skin color, without nationality, without religious bias…” (1). Similarly, The Cyborg Manifesto touches upon feminism and how new technologies are increasing growth for women’s jobs in the paid work force, “especially for many white women and people of colour” (Women in the Integrated Circuit para. 5). So these new technologies are not only increasing power for racially diverse people in the work force, but will continue to increase their power online, where race is no longer a factor.

Furthermore, I have decided to create my own manifesto about the lack of validity of online racial stereotyping, The Online Racial Manifesto. First off, I declare that online racial stereotypes are invalid because people can portray themselves as different or multiple races. In other words, a white woman may have a black male avatar. Therefore, any racial stereotyping is illogical. Furthermore, the anonymity that an avatar gives a person can create openings for discussions about race. For example, a black male’s avatar could be portrayed as a white supremacist, which would allow him to discuss racial views with other white supremacists. In person, these people would never be able to discuss their views because the white supremacists would be unwilling to speak on a level ground with blacks.

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Blog Post 9- Coleman

Posted on March 11, 2013 by | Comments Off on Blog Post 9- Coleman

@starlingpreston

Coleman states that “media use changes the user. With each shift in automation, simulation, and transmission, we discover not only new technologies, but also new facets of ourselves,” (49). Going back to one of Coleman’s three C’s of Networked Media, media users can see how communication can shift “human perspective” as our “concepts of space, place, and time are impacted” (Coleman 49).  We can apply this idea to Facebook and Twitter, two popular social media sites.

My personal example of how media use of Facebook has changed me is through the communication with my sister in North Dakota. Previously, my sister and I had no need to communicate through Facebook, we lived together. Now, she lives thousands of miles away, and the only way we can talk is through Facebook. Yet, Facebook has eliminated that gap between us. No longer are we limited by snail mail, which arrives days after an exciting event. Furthermore, from using Facebook I have become more technologically advanced than I previously was. I learned how to post and share videos with friends, and to link sites I like on my personal page. I can show my friends in Germany a video instantly, instead of waiting until their time zone matches mine to call them.

I am no longer limited to a location or specific time to meet my friends, when we can just chat online. As Coleman mentions I now have an “online identity” that I use to represent myself during information exchange (39).

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Redridinghood Analysis

Posted on March 5, 2013 by | Comments Off on Redridinghood Analysis

quy_luu

“Redridinghood” of Donna Leishman is the electronic literature base on children store. It is about a little girl, she wears red sweater and brings some food for her grandmother who live in the forest. Unfortunately, there is a wolf that follows her all the way to her grandma’s house to kill her grandma and her for its meal. For Donna Leishman’s work, it contains audio, touch, visual and communication. Continuing the story, the viewers have to click on the chosen items like doors or windows; also, we can pick two options that were created by the end of the story. They are letting her sleep or waking her up and we pick either one of them; it will lead us to different scenarios. That way, it makes people get more involved to the story by their physically activities with new technology environment. Besides, the soundtrack and the music describe very well the story’s situation which is dangerous and high risky. The video has the viewer’s interaction; it keeps the viewers awake.

“Electronic circuitry profoundly involves men with one another” and “We can no longer build serially, block-by-block, step-by-step, because instant communication insures that all factors of the environment and of experience coexist in a state of active interplay”(Page 63). In my opinion, Donna Leishman’s work is great example by turning original story to electronic literature; plus, Donna brings all the viewers together by video’s step-by-step structure. That way, the views will find more interesting in this video than read straight content as the story in children book.

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LittleRED

Posted on March 5, 2013 by | Comments Off on LittleRED

“Redridinghood,” was the perfect example of showing digital media in its different aspects. It included many forms of digital media to tell a story that we all knew as a child. Total classic! The game-like work told a classic tale and gave it a little mixture or like a touch up which symbolized the changes made throughout digital media. It wasn’t more of Little Red going into the woods, it was more like going into the country from the city which could be connected or tied to the changes in generations of the different medium people decide to use. With the generation of technology that we use today, I feel as if the author wanted us to see the differences. He took advantage of the right away thinking so that we would continue to click knowing that we would be curious. This game-like media gave us the intention to get engaged in it all. From clicking on windows to clicking on flowers, just to see what would happen next. The artist uses the different mediums well to express his/her message across the audience. In the book, “The Medium is the Massage,” by McLuhan, it says, “Information pours upon us, instantaneously and continuously. As soon as information is acquired, it is very rapidly replaced by still newer information.” The artist created something different that kept the reader engaged. Leishman did everything mentioned in this quote, from providing information quickly and never left any gaps between messages. I found it really interesting and fairly easy to comprehend.

Bethel Muasau – @_bjeezy94

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Redridinghood and Electronic Mediums

Posted on March 3, 2013 by | Comments Off on Redridinghood and Electronic Mediums

@RachaelS_DTC

“Redridinghood” is an electronic literature piece created by Donna Leishman. This piece was created to be read with a specific medium, a computer, which affects the message. The message is affected by this choice of medium because it allows the reader to be interactive with the reader. To continue the story the reader clicks on an item, such as a picture or a window. The reader can also choose between letting Red Riding Hood dream or wake up when she falls asleep in a field of flowers. With an interactive environment, created by the medium, the reader can experience more from the story than reading a book. The environment is important because it also affects the message. “[C]ountersituations made by the artists, provide means to direct attention and enable us to see and understand more clearly” (McLuhan 68). This means that our attention is directed toward a specific idea so we can understand the idea the artists wants us to understand. This is done through the medium used. Throughout the piece, Leishman created everything with dark colors and had eerie music playing to put emphasis on the danger that awaited Red Riding Hood. The author manipulated the reader’s ‘environment’ through the medium, the computer, to allude to the ending of the story. The electronic medium allowed a new way to tell a familiar story by controlling the environment, so the reader focused on a certain aspect the author wanted to emphasize.

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Redridinghood

Posted on February 26, 2013 by | Comments Off on Redridinghood

@JaredAbrahamWSU

Red Riding Hood is a classic tale about a girl who visits her grandmother in the woods, but when she arrives at the cabin there is a wolf there instead of her grandmother. In the E- Lit piece by Donna Leishman, Redridinghood, it starts out similar but then about halfway through the story the author gives you the ability to interact with the characters, this is something that is unique to E-Lit. while there are some paper books that let you choose the story you want to read, in Redridinghood, once you choose the story you don’t have to flip forward one hundred pages to continue. Instead, the transition is seamless, the way that E-Lit should be.

This reminds me of the reading when Fiore talks about “multiple Models of exploration.”(68) You could click on Wake Her Up or Shall Red Sleep. Each would give a different view of the story or perhaps a new story altogether. One of the many ways that this could be considered E-Lit would be the use of animation. some could argue that there is also animation in paper books as well, like flip books where there is the illusion of animation, but it is impossible to have a moving character on paper. Another difference that would classify this as E-Lit is the use of Music to help set the mood. This is maybe the most obvious difference, but it is also an important one. With the use of music it is possible to set the tone of the story before anyone even starts the process of advancing through the story.

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