This might be one of the most inspirational pieces I've read in awhile. This piece goes along with my blog post from last tuesday. Essentially, it goes more in depth about the argumentative process, and how to address rhetorical situations. My favorite part about all of this is how open and "free" the format base for these arguments can be. For one thing, the creative and brainstorming processes described are pretty rad, and I can think of more ways I could have utilized these in the past two years of college than just for this upcoming project.
The second thing I liked is how your main purpose can find sub purposes that all can support your argument. It makes me feel like I have more room to stretch my ideas out. All of it is kind of like a complex physics question: you have to answer certain parts of the question in order to gather more information to come up with a final answer. As I was reading, I was reflecting on my purpose statement for Plug Mittens. I feel like even though I have a good basis, I should definitely try one of these brainstorming ideas, possibly with Brittany, to really explore all of the options I could use to create an argument for the website/Tumblr. I think this will also help me address the "layers of purpose" in my argument.
Phew. Looks like I really have my work cut out for me this week...
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Plug Mittens Tumblr: Purpose
After exploring a little bit about building an argument, I feel like I'm ready to construct my own. A friend (Brittany) from high school has been making "Plug Mittens" which are knitted "mittens" to go over gauged earlobes (the Facebook page is here, there are also photos of the product there too).
Wysocki and Lynch (the authors of the reading from class) posed a question that has really driven my thought process for an argument: Why are we communicating? What do we want to achieve here? First of all, even though I do not have gauged ears myself, Plug Mittens look really cool, and there isn't anything else like it out there. People with stretched earlobes have found that their ears get really cold, and these mittens keep their ears warm in a stylish way. The business has had local success, but Brittany has told me that they are just breaking even. I think if they marketed the Plug Mittens, and got the word out to other people that they could grow the business, and probably even make a profit. I know that she also has some great social views (I believe she was a vegetarian in highschool, and I remember her passing out pamphlets about animal abuse), and if her business were to gain more followers, she could also promote some of her social views and make an actual change in the world. To sum this up: If Plug Mittens was better marketed, Brittany could profit off of something she loves, and also make a positive difference in her community.
Our target audience will be primarily those with larger plugs, or those who have friends/family with larger plugs. I believe this is generally a younger audience as well, which is why I believe Tumblr is the best digital medium to use. Tumblr not only is used by a younger audience, but you also do not need to be a member of Tumblr to view other Tumblr sites. Brittany was also concerned about usability, and Tumblr is incredibly easy to use compared to creating our own website and finding a script that would act as a blog for the site. Tumblr also allows the user to create more pages than just the main blog, so we could still have pages with contact information, about us, etc. I just would like to see more people find out about Plug Mittens so they could expand their business if they wanted to.
Wysocki and Lynch (the authors of the reading from class) posed a question that has really driven my thought process for an argument: Why are we communicating? What do we want to achieve here? First of all, even though I do not have gauged ears myself, Plug Mittens look really cool, and there isn't anything else like it out there. People with stretched earlobes have found that their ears get really cold, and these mittens keep their ears warm in a stylish way. The business has had local success, but Brittany has told me that they are just breaking even. I think if they marketed the Plug Mittens, and got the word out to other people that they could grow the business, and probably even make a profit. I know that she also has some great social views (I believe she was a vegetarian in highschool, and I remember her passing out pamphlets about animal abuse), and if her business were to gain more followers, she could also promote some of her social views and make an actual change in the world. To sum this up: If Plug Mittens was better marketed, Brittany could profit off of something she loves, and also make a positive difference in her community.
Our target audience will be primarily those with larger plugs, or those who have friends/family with larger plugs. I believe this is generally a younger audience as well, which is why I believe Tumblr is the best digital medium to use. Tumblr not only is used by a younger audience, but you also do not need to be a member of Tumblr to view other Tumblr sites. Brittany was also concerned about usability, and Tumblr is incredibly easy to use compared to creating our own website and finding a script that would act as a blog for the site. Tumblr also allows the user to create more pages than just the main blog, so we could still have pages with contact information, about us, etc. I just would like to see more people find out about Plug Mittens so they could expand their business if they wanted to.
Forming an Argument
The Wysocki and Lynch piece about arguments was extremely helpful for me to read. It made my ideas of an argument for my upcoming digital media project seem more...arguable? I guess it just made me feel more confident in my project idea because though I feel my rhetorical situation is important, it didn't seem as important as some of the other topics that people were broaching.
Something important I learned about is how to structure my argument. By concentrating on a target audience, I'm going to make my argument more valid by presenting it to the right people. Shaping it towards a target audience will also help me find more evidence to support my argument. It's much easier to get specific with an argument in a rhetorical situation when I'm also focusing on a specific group. Generalization will blur my main points.
Another thing that I need to keep in mind is sincerity, which also goes along with the "health of the community". I want to have a healthy relationship with my audience, therefore I'm going to make sure that I take other points of view into consideration, and that I'm careful with my wording. Since I think I want to help a budding business, this is especially important because in business the customer is everything. The video "Give 'em the Pickle" (Video) is a great example of this. Part of the argument of a website for a business is that if something is wrong with the product, then you will be able to contact someone to get it fixed in a timely manner. Just like the story of the group of men who tried to get the women to join their project, we need to make sure that we are communicating in the right way to get our message, or "argument" across.
Something important I learned about is how to structure my argument. By concentrating on a target audience, I'm going to make my argument more valid by presenting it to the right people. Shaping it towards a target audience will also help me find more evidence to support my argument. It's much easier to get specific with an argument in a rhetorical situation when I'm also focusing on a specific group. Generalization will blur my main points.
Another thing that I need to keep in mind is sincerity, which also goes along with the "health of the community". I want to have a healthy relationship with my audience, therefore I'm going to make sure that I take other points of view into consideration, and that I'm careful with my wording. Since I think I want to help a budding business, this is especially important because in business the customer is everything. The video "Give 'em the Pickle" (Video) is a great example of this. Part of the argument of a website for a business is that if something is wrong with the product, then you will be able to contact someone to get it fixed in a timely manner. Just like the story of the group of men who tried to get the women to join their project, we need to make sure that we are communicating in the right way to get our message, or "argument" across.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
The Rhetorical Situation
So, this one contained some pretty tricky words, so to start I'm going to define some things (using dictionary.com)
Rhetorical
Rhetorical
1. used for, belonging to, or concerned with mere style or effect.
2. marked by or tending to use bombast.
When relating this to digital media, we could describe many factors as "rhetorical discourse". What are the characteristics of digital media? And how is it described? What kinds of situations are created by digital media? My biggest confusion when first reading this through was "What on earth does the author mean that rhetoric is situational?".
Rhetoric, meaning a language style, is incredibly situational. Culturally, language styles vary, and depending on the situation can mean different things. For example, the other day I learned that when british people use the word "quite" they mean "okay" or average. So if they said a girl was quite attractive, it would mean she is rather mediocre instead of what we view as very attractive. Interesting concept, but how can you tie this to digital media?
The best way I can think this relates is because it is very easy to misconstrue messages via digital transfer as compared to actually talking to someone. You can't hear their tone of voice, only see the words they type. The persons use of sarcasm, or true view point might not come across as they wish. I know I've misread texts before and thought that people were extremely upset when they clearly were not.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Social Media - affecting style choices?
Article: http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/12/living/millennials-shopping/index.html
We all know that the younger generation of digital natives are almost constantly connected to our phones and social network sites, but what is interesting is how the fashion industry is trying to monopolize on that. Online shopping has been a thing for awhile, and I'm guilty of this activity too, especially since I live in a town where there is almost no shopping options other than a walmart, a maurice's, and a JC Penny's. It is convenient, and most online stores offer you the option to share items via facebook and twitter.
Not all people are comfortable with buying items online though, and some stores are installing smart mirrors that can take your picture in certain items and share them through your social networking sites to get other peoples opinions, as well as give you more style advice from the "experts". Kind of neat stuff, if you don't mind being preyed on the fashion industry.
Smart thinking though. I know I base a lot of my style choices off of what I see on the internet. Once again, I'm constantly talking about how tumblr is my best friend, and it is because of the variety of things I see on there, one of them being fashion.
We all know that the younger generation of digital natives are almost constantly connected to our phones and social network sites, but what is interesting is how the fashion industry is trying to monopolize on that. Online shopping has been a thing for awhile, and I'm guilty of this activity too, especially since I live in a town where there is almost no shopping options other than a walmart, a maurice's, and a JC Penny's. It is convenient, and most online stores offer you the option to share items via facebook and twitter.
Not all people are comfortable with buying items online though, and some stores are installing smart mirrors that can take your picture in certain items and share them through your social networking sites to get other peoples opinions, as well as give you more style advice from the "experts". Kind of neat stuff, if you don't mind being preyed on the fashion industry.
Smart thinking though. I know I base a lot of my style choices off of what I see on the internet. Once again, I'm constantly talking about how tumblr is my best friend, and it is because of the variety of things I see on there, one of them being fashion.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Activity 3
My group created a facebook account for a 73 year old woman. We felt like not many older people are comfortable with having facebook accounts, and don't realize much about social networks. Either way, most people 70 and over are not comfortable using the internet at all.
The first thing that facebook asks for when creating an account is an email address, your name, and date of birth. That is all that is required to sign up. The next page asks you for more networking information, like what high school, college, or technical schools you might have gone to. And then it asks you if you would like to search for friends, by name or by email address.
Overall, the experience was interesting because although it isn't difficult to create a facebook profile, it is difficult to create one for someone who doesn't have a school, or real friends. I also feel like it is difficult, because of how many of their friends might be alive, etc.
However, when it comes to searching for our fictional 73 year old woman, "Betty Smith" is too generic and you can't find much about her. There is also an author name "Betty Smith" who popped up quite frequently.
Group Partners: James Stapleton and Hannah O'Connor
The first thing that facebook asks for when creating an account is an email address, your name, and date of birth. That is all that is required to sign up. The next page asks you for more networking information, like what high school, college, or technical schools you might have gone to. And then it asks you if you would like to search for friends, by name or by email address.
Overall, the experience was interesting because although it isn't difficult to create a facebook profile, it is difficult to create one for someone who doesn't have a school, or real friends. I also feel like it is difficult, because of how many of their friends might be alive, etc.
However, when it comes to searching for our fictional 73 year old woman, "Betty Smith" is too generic and you can't find much about her. There is also an author name "Betty Smith" who popped up quite frequently.
Group Partners: James Stapleton and Hannah O'Connor
Blackmon Reading
Although he may be backed up with many sources, I feel as if this reading is completely false, if not outdated. When it comes to technology, it is expensive to keep up with all the new stuff that is coming out. However, I don't think that minorities are the only people who weren't able to afford it, and just because many couldn't afford doesn't mean that the internet is run by white people. I knew plenty of white children when I lived in North Carolina who couldn't afford cell phones or high speed internet. I feel like it is often overlooked that there are "white people" who are also poor, and that have probably raised children who did not grow up with technology. They are almost a minority within themselves because of their social class.
I also disagree with the idea of a "cyberhuman". Someone faceless, sexless, and cultureless? On the internet? In the last reading about digital natives, we learned about how strong the younger generation's online identity is. What they want people to know about them, people see. Any kid who goes to a public school has been exposed to this technology, and if they haven't then that is clearly the school districts fault. I feel like the internet has only made communities more powerful. I hate to pull the Tumblr example out, but here it is: people share posts of their every day lives. What they do, what they like, what they see, and what they feel all relate directly back to their own culture.
I just don't believe that accessing the internet could erase your culture. People are going to be who they want to be, regardless of what you tell them. I feel like this article was more upset with the paths that people are choosing. It mentioned that an african-american student had said that he wished more of african-americans made websites about things besides rap music. Personally, I'm a huge fan of rap music, and I don't see what is so terrible about peoples love of rhymes in comparison with peoples love of pop music. Not every rap song has violent subject matter. And our generation is creating a new culture. It's hard not to when you see how much we've been through, and how everyone is pulling us in a different direction. We were always told when we were young to be ourselves, and then when you get older you're told to cover that up? It's a rough life for anyone in my generation, black or white. And were all in this together.
I also disagree with the idea of a "cyberhuman". Someone faceless, sexless, and cultureless? On the internet? In the last reading about digital natives, we learned about how strong the younger generation's online identity is. What they want people to know about them, people see. Any kid who goes to a public school has been exposed to this technology, and if they haven't then that is clearly the school districts fault. I feel like the internet has only made communities more powerful. I hate to pull the Tumblr example out, but here it is: people share posts of their every day lives. What they do, what they like, what they see, and what they feel all relate directly back to their own culture.
I just don't believe that accessing the internet could erase your culture. People are going to be who they want to be, regardless of what you tell them. I feel like this article was more upset with the paths that people are choosing. It mentioned that an african-american student had said that he wished more of african-americans made websites about things besides rap music. Personally, I'm a huge fan of rap music, and I don't see what is so terrible about peoples love of rhymes in comparison with peoples love of pop music. Not every rap song has violent subject matter. And our generation is creating a new culture. It's hard not to when you see how much we've been through, and how everyone is pulling us in a different direction. We were always told when we were young to be ourselves, and then when you get older you're told to cover that up? It's a rough life for anyone in my generation, black or white. And were all in this together.
Digital Natives
I find it terribly fascinating to be called a "digital native". I'd never thought of how different it must have been to grow up without this technology that I have, whereas other people considered to be "digital immigrants" had to learn it like a second language. It's so true though - walking through campus it's a cloud of smartphones, ipods, and laptops. It is completely natural to those of us who grew up with such technology at our finger tips, but for older generations this is something rather unnatural and quite different. What I'd like to know is how we are paying for the use of this technology socially. What I mean is that I wonder what sort of effects it will have on our society later.
Privacy is also something our generation is unfamiliar with. We share so much information online because that is what we are used to doing. Facebook's homepage when you log in prompts you to tell the world what you are thinking and feeling by giving you the option to "update your status". As the reading states, this leaves a trail for future employers, educators, and even possible suitors to find information that they don't like. They also said that this is our identity. While some of the older generations feel like they have two different identities, one for real life and one for online, we have combined all of our profiles into one single identity that can be accessed in many different ways.
Privacy is also something our generation is unfamiliar with. We share so much information online because that is what we are used to doing. Facebook's homepage when you log in prompts you to tell the world what you are thinking and feeling by giving you the option to "update your status". As the reading states, this leaves a trail for future employers, educators, and even possible suitors to find information that they don't like. They also said that this is our identity. While some of the older generations feel like they have two different identities, one for real life and one for online, we have combined all of our profiles into one single identity that can be accessed in many different ways.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Tumblr as an Artifact
Sarah Karsten
Dr. Wendy
HU2642
24 September 2012
Tumblr: An Artifact of Digital Media
When we look at artifacts of digital media in our age, it’s hard to determine what honestly is and isn’t pushing the boundaries of various definitions of media. There are so many different definitions of what digital media could be, so how does one decipher the deciding factors? Regardless of your definition, Tumblr has truly changed the way we blog and share media. Although it may not be an educational resource, the way it allows us to share media & the forms of media it allows, the community it has created, and its purpose make Tumblr a digital artifact.
First, a little bit of history on this amazing site: Tumblr was founded in February 2007 by David Karp. Within two weeks of the site launch there were 75,000 registered users, although now 10 times that many people are joining every month (Ingram). If that isn’t impressive enough, Karp started the company at the age of 19 with just himself and one other programmer. The company has since grown to 103 employees, 74.9 million blogs, and 32.3 billion posts. (Tumblr).
“From the first few days of using the form, I was hooked. The simple experience of being able to directly broadcast my own words to readers was an exhilarating literary liberation....It was obvious from the start that it was revolutionary.” (Sullivan). In this phrase Sullivan described the amazing qualities that blogging has to offer. Though he might not specifically refer to Tumblr itself, these are all qualities that tumblr has to offer. Not only does Tumblr offer text posts, but it allows pictures to be posted from a URL or uploaded, it has special formats for quotes and conversations, videos that are uploaded, recorded on the spot, or from URL, a simple link, and audio posts in many formats. The constant additions of capabilities such as being able to link up with Spotify and Soundcloud to share music and other sounds help keep it up to date with the current times.
Sharing all these things is incredibly simple. Each post by a blogger other than yourself has the number of notes, or the number of times a post has been liked or reblogged, followed by a button that allows you to reblog the post, and a heart which allows you to ‘like’ the post. As a user, you can also follow other blogs whose media will show up on your dashboard, which is similar to Facebook’s “newsfeed”. You can attach tags to each post to make it easier for other people to find your posts, or find posts associated with a certain subject or word. A shortcut of pressing the “alt” key means you can reblog things without even editing or tagging the post. “Mass media and data processing are complementary technologies; they appear together and develop side by side, making modern mass society possible.” (Manovich, 23). What Manovich means by this is that media and data go hand in hand. While media may appear to be more for our enjoyment, as tumblr seems to be, data and important information are also processed through the same mediums.
Community doesn’t even begin to describe what the users of Tumblr seem to form. The compassion that I’ve witnessed as a part of this piece of digital media is absolutely fascinating. I learned of Tumblr from a high school friend who said she had met several friends on the site. Honestly, having been a user of the site for two years I can see why that is so easy to do. The variety of the topics of blogs really creates a unique experience that anyone can find their niche in. Some people have blogs that follow their favorite television shows that include quotes, pictures, and clips. Other people have political Tumblrs, personal Tumblrs, DIY Tumblrs, and even celebrities have their own personal Tumblrs filled with their favorite media of themselves. There are also tools that make it easy to interact with other users. You have the option to turn on submissions for your Tumblr, and an ask box where people can send questions or messages. Manovich talks about what makes something truly interactive, and goes into many facets of psychology to explain his ideas. Essentially, Tumblr fits the title of new media because “...subjects have to be standardized, and the means by which they are standardized need to be standardized as well...private mental processes, and their equation with external visual forms that can easily be manipulated, mass produced, and standardized on their own. “ (Manovich, 60). Tumblr makes posts so easy to manipulate, and often there are posts that have over 50,000 notes on them. Things really are standardized in their own way due to what people tend to reblog or post in the first place. This brings me back to my original idea of the community of Tumblr, because each community has their own standards, and manipulates the media they post in different ways.
There is clearly only one argument about the purpose of Tumblr. A new word in blogging at the time of Tumblr’s inception was “tumblelog” which was a short form blog post. Karp clearly didn’t want to wait for someone else to create a platform specifically for these posts, so he developed one himself (Barnes). As Tumblr grew features were added and modified to increase the experience. I can only relate this to Baudrillard, in the sense that while Tumblr exists, it also doesn’t exist at the same time. It is not something that we can physically hold, yet it is a thought process and pattern of digital media that we experience. It is real, because the community makes it real (Baudrillard, Simulacra & Simulations). I believe Tumblr must have been created as a new blog site. However, it has clearly evolved into a social networking paradise that allows us to post things in a world that does not require us to interact face to face.
Thus Tumblr is an artifact of digital media due to it’s almost infinite possibilities, and unique communication tools. By allowing us to post whatever we see, feel, think, or hear, Tumblr has created a social networking community unlike anything else. The simple tools makes it a user friendly tool, giving it a broad audience of all sorts of different people from different walks of life, and those users give the site purpose. So what then are the deciding factors in Tumblr being a digital media artifact? The interactive qualities make it a great contender, yet to me it is still the vast variety of subject matter that is ever changing with our current times, and what keeps us relevant.
Dr. Wendy
HU2642
24 September 2012
Tumblr: An Artifact of Digital Media
When we look at artifacts of digital media in our age, it’s hard to determine what honestly is and isn’t pushing the boundaries of various definitions of media. There are so many different definitions of what digital media could be, so how does one decipher the deciding factors? Regardless of your definition, Tumblr has truly changed the way we blog and share media. Although it may not be an educational resource, the way it allows us to share media & the forms of media it allows, the community it has created, and its purpose make Tumblr a digital artifact.
First, a little bit of history on this amazing site: Tumblr was founded in February 2007 by David Karp. Within two weeks of the site launch there were 75,000 registered users, although now 10 times that many people are joining every month (Ingram). If that isn’t impressive enough, Karp started the company at the age of 19 with just himself and one other programmer. The company has since grown to 103 employees, 74.9 million blogs, and 32.3 billion posts. (Tumblr).
“From the first few days of using the form, I was hooked. The simple experience of being able to directly broadcast my own words to readers was an exhilarating literary liberation....It was obvious from the start that it was revolutionary.” (Sullivan). In this phrase Sullivan described the amazing qualities that blogging has to offer. Though he might not specifically refer to Tumblr itself, these are all qualities that tumblr has to offer. Not only does Tumblr offer text posts, but it allows pictures to be posted from a URL or uploaded, it has special formats for quotes and conversations, videos that are uploaded, recorded on the spot, or from URL, a simple link, and audio posts in many formats. The constant additions of capabilities such as being able to link up with Spotify and Soundcloud to share music and other sounds help keep it up to date with the current times.
Sharing all these things is incredibly simple. Each post by a blogger other than yourself has the number of notes, or the number of times a post has been liked or reblogged, followed by a button that allows you to reblog the post, and a heart which allows you to ‘like’ the post. As a user, you can also follow other blogs whose media will show up on your dashboard, which is similar to Facebook’s “newsfeed”. You can attach tags to each post to make it easier for other people to find your posts, or find posts associated with a certain subject or word. A shortcut of pressing the “alt” key means you can reblog things without even editing or tagging the post. “Mass media and data processing are complementary technologies; they appear together and develop side by side, making modern mass society possible.” (Manovich, 23). What Manovich means by this is that media and data go hand in hand. While media may appear to be more for our enjoyment, as tumblr seems to be, data and important information are also processed through the same mediums.
Community doesn’t even begin to describe what the users of Tumblr seem to form. The compassion that I’ve witnessed as a part of this piece of digital media is absolutely fascinating. I learned of Tumblr from a high school friend who said she had met several friends on the site. Honestly, having been a user of the site for two years I can see why that is so easy to do. The variety of the topics of blogs really creates a unique experience that anyone can find their niche in. Some people have blogs that follow their favorite television shows that include quotes, pictures, and clips. Other people have political Tumblrs, personal Tumblrs, DIY Tumblrs, and even celebrities have their own personal Tumblrs filled with their favorite media of themselves. There are also tools that make it easy to interact with other users. You have the option to turn on submissions for your Tumblr, and an ask box where people can send questions or messages. Manovich talks about what makes something truly interactive, and goes into many facets of psychology to explain his ideas. Essentially, Tumblr fits the title of new media because “...subjects have to be standardized, and the means by which they are standardized need to be standardized as well...private mental processes, and their equation with external visual forms that can easily be manipulated, mass produced, and standardized on their own. “ (Manovich, 60). Tumblr makes posts so easy to manipulate, and often there are posts that have over 50,000 notes on them. Things really are standardized in their own way due to what people tend to reblog or post in the first place. This brings me back to my original idea of the community of Tumblr, because each community has their own standards, and manipulates the media they post in different ways.
There is clearly only one argument about the purpose of Tumblr. A new word in blogging at the time of Tumblr’s inception was “tumblelog” which was a short form blog post. Karp clearly didn’t want to wait for someone else to create a platform specifically for these posts, so he developed one himself (Barnes). As Tumblr grew features were added and modified to increase the experience. I can only relate this to Baudrillard, in the sense that while Tumblr exists, it also doesn’t exist at the same time. It is not something that we can physically hold, yet it is a thought process and pattern of digital media that we experience. It is real, because the community makes it real (Baudrillard, Simulacra & Simulations). I believe Tumblr must have been created as a new blog site. However, it has clearly evolved into a social networking paradise that allows us to post things in a world that does not require us to interact face to face.
Thus Tumblr is an artifact of digital media due to it’s almost infinite possibilities, and unique communication tools. By allowing us to post whatever we see, feel, think, or hear, Tumblr has created a social networking community unlike anything else. The simple tools makes it a user friendly tool, giving it a broad audience of all sorts of different people from different walks of life, and those users give the site purpose. So what then are the deciding factors in Tumblr being a digital media artifact? The interactive qualities make it a great contender, yet to me it is still the vast variety of subject matter that is ever changing with our current times, and what keeps us relevant.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Simulacra and Simulations
Of course, as soon as I read anything that talks about simulations, my brain immediately goes to the computer game "The Sims". Baudrillard does give more thoughtful examples than this, but truly this game fits the rules. While you are in control of a sort of alternate reality, it also kind of pokes fun at reality in the way that the Sim characters act and behave. It does bear some relation to our current reality, however it is so different at the same time that it could never be mistaken for our reality.
The definition of Simulacrum via dictionary.com is an effigy, image, or representation. This goes along with Baudrillard's example of Disneyland as a model of simulation. He mentions the illusions of the different worlds, such as future world and the frontier. This reminded me greatly of my trip to Disneyworld when I was in high school. We went to Epcot that week that we were there, and the place was unlike anywhere I'd ever visited. The ride inside the giant golf ball like structure was like a blast back into the past. It was so funny to see what people 50 years ago thought the future would be like today, and what their simulation of that future was like. So interesting now that I'm reflecting upon that now.
Edit 9/19/12: I felt the need after a discussion with two of my classmates to add to this post. After rereading a good portion of this, I was interested in the part that talks about the difference in worshiping a god, and the worship of the image of a god. In the few times I've read the bible, I always remember how angry God became when people worshiped false idols. It's such an interesting concept though, because even though people are thinking of God when they worship, still in churches there are giant crosses and other religious artifacts that people seem to 'worship' as well. What is the difference between worshiping the god, and worshiping whatever item might represent god?
The definition of Simulacrum via dictionary.com is an effigy, image, or representation. This goes along with Baudrillard's example of Disneyland as a model of simulation. He mentions the illusions of the different worlds, such as future world and the frontier. This reminded me greatly of my trip to Disneyworld when I was in high school. We went to Epcot that week that we were there, and the place was unlike anywhere I'd ever visited. The ride inside the giant golf ball like structure was like a blast back into the past. It was so funny to see what people 50 years ago thought the future would be like today, and what their simulation of that future was like. So interesting now that I'm reflecting upon that now.
Edit 9/19/12: I felt the need after a discussion with two of my classmates to add to this post. After rereading a good portion of this, I was interested in the part that talks about the difference in worshiping a god, and the worship of the image of a god. In the few times I've read the bible, I always remember how angry God became when people worshiped false idols. It's such an interesting concept though, because even though people are thinking of God when they worship, still in churches there are giant crosses and other religious artifacts that people seem to 'worship' as well. What is the difference between worshiping the god, and worshiping whatever item might represent god?
Always Already New
Gitelman brings up interesting points through talking about "Error 404" pages. Having ran websites before, it was very easy for me to relate to the error messages. In particular she mentions the "perishable quality of the web (internet)" and although she thinks there are more important questions to dwell on, I find this to be an excellent topic. I feel as though perishable is a great way to describe a lot of forms of newer media. A web page can be up one minute, and then down the next. I have seen so many websites go up quickly, and then people become bored with them within a month resulting in a web site that is either taken down or completely neglected.
Also, I find a lot of digital media file types like .jpegs, .mov, .mp3, etc are also perishable. Because of the fact that they are not "physically" there, often times we do not have good ways to back these up. I know I personally have lost data such as these at times because I haven't properly backed up my system.
Gitelman also goes on to describe the evolution of what a web publication might be, namely how to back up these up, and how to retrieve them without "error or exception". I feel like with each passing day this becomes easier and easier for us to do with advances in technology. Someone is always trying to create new systems and make our technology better.
Also, I find a lot of digital media file types like .jpegs, .mov, .mp3, etc are also perishable. Because of the fact that they are not "physically" there, often times we do not have good ways to back these up. I know I personally have lost data such as these at times because I haven't properly backed up my system.
Gitelman also goes on to describe the evolution of what a web publication might be, namely how to back up these up, and how to retrieve them without "error or exception". I feel like with each passing day this becomes easier and easier for us to do with advances in technology. Someone is always trying to create new systems and make our technology better.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
As We May Think/What is New Media?
In "As We May Think" Dr. Bush talks about the process in which we record data, as well as what to do with it when we are done. One interesting thing that is mentioned was how incredibly cheap it should be to mass produce and ship data. Honestly, I think it is amazing that our society is so advanced that we can share information in so many ways, and so quickly. However, it's also a frightening concept because what if our information falls into the wrong hands by accident? How do we limit what we share, or for that matter keep tabs on what we limit?
Another interesting tidbit that Dr. Bush brings up is the need to further our complex civilization through easily shared media of some sorts, suggesting that until we can create a better system to do so that our scientists cannot make progress. Being at an engineering school makes me agree with this. With so many different specialties in engineering, it becomes hard to absorb everything and switch between these specialties. If learning materials and experiments were accessible in such a way that allowed students to find what they needed quickly, and even help them learn material quickly, we could increase our progress.
"What is New Media?" addresses structure of media as well as what really defines new media. A point that interested me is the fact that new media seems to be made up of multiple things. The example they used was the "World Wide Web" being made up of different pages, computer languages, and programs. I think we can even go deeper than that, because of all the different applications and tools that are available to us through the internet are so vast, that it almost feels as if you'd have to use a microscope to see it all. Also, the fact that new media is interactive is a great point. Just like this blog post that I am typing right now, new media allows me to connect in a new way.
Another interesting tidbit that Dr. Bush brings up is the need to further our complex civilization through easily shared media of some sorts, suggesting that until we can create a better system to do so that our scientists cannot make progress. Being at an engineering school makes me agree with this. With so many different specialties in engineering, it becomes hard to absorb everything and switch between these specialties. If learning materials and experiments were accessible in such a way that allowed students to find what they needed quickly, and even help them learn material quickly, we could increase our progress.
"What is New Media?" addresses structure of media as well as what really defines new media. A point that interested me is the fact that new media seems to be made up of multiple things. The example they used was the "World Wide Web" being made up of different pages, computer languages, and programs. I think we can even go deeper than that, because of all the different applications and tools that are available to us through the internet are so vast, that it almost feels as if you'd have to use a microscope to see it all. Also, the fact that new media is interactive is a great point. Just like this blog post that I am typing right now, new media allows me to connect in a new way.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Why I Blog: A Reaction
Andrew Sullivan's "Why I Blog" brings so much insight about how journalism has changed due to blogging. Sometimes I forget just how much power every person on the internet has when they blog. Blogging lets us have our voice in every opinion and every matter. While our opinions may not be seen or heard by the entire world, I know from experience that if you post things, you will get a response from someone.
The Tumblr community really came to mind when Sullivan discussed how immediately people feel like they need to respond and blog things. While Tumblr is no news site, it does exemplify how we use digital media in our lives. It gives us instant gratification to be able to post what we want, when we want and also allows us to respond to these posts instantly. When Sullivan said "To blog is to...let go of your writing in a way, to hold it at arm's length, open it to scrutiny, allow it to float in the ether for a while, and to let others...pivot you toward relative truth", I thought about this more in the context of personal blogs. For a lot of people, I feel like blogs killed their journals or diaries. A blog allows them to share their experiences, their joys, even their dark days of downfalls with the world with a click of the mouse. And through writing I believe we truly get to know ourselves better.
Another idea I enjoyed was the personality aspect of blogs and how his readers address him by his first name when they bump into him on the street, whereas if he was publishing on paper a lot of people would address him as "Mr. Sullivan". Blogs allow us to communicate in a new way that allows us to show our true colors. He describes this as "friendship" and how he "writes for thousands and thousands of friends". Since he is his own editor he can write exactly as he wishes, and people will see what he wants them to see. I am making this a goal for myself on tumblr - to make more people see the real me and become engaged in my posts. Just as well, I think I will become more proactive about engaging in conversations with the other bloggers of tumblr.
The Tumblr community really came to mind when Sullivan discussed how immediately people feel like they need to respond and blog things. While Tumblr is no news site, it does exemplify how we use digital media in our lives. It gives us instant gratification to be able to post what we want, when we want and also allows us to respond to these posts instantly. When Sullivan said "To blog is to...let go of your writing in a way, to hold it at arm's length, open it to scrutiny, allow it to float in the ether for a while, and to let others...pivot you toward relative truth", I thought about this more in the context of personal blogs. For a lot of people, I feel like blogs killed their journals or diaries. A blog allows them to share their experiences, their joys, even their dark days of downfalls with the world with a click of the mouse. And through writing I believe we truly get to know ourselves better.
Another idea I enjoyed was the personality aspect of blogs and how his readers address him by his first name when they bump into him on the street, whereas if he was publishing on paper a lot of people would address him as "Mr. Sullivan". Blogs allow us to communicate in a new way that allows us to show our true colors. He describes this as "friendship" and how he "writes for thousands and thousands of friends". Since he is his own editor he can write exactly as he wishes, and people will see what he wants them to see. I am making this a goal for myself on tumblr - to make more people see the real me and become engaged in my posts. Just as well, I think I will become more proactive about engaging in conversations with the other bloggers of tumblr.
First Post/Goals
Woo, first post. Normally I hate the first post, because it seems to emphasize how empty the blog is.
Anyway, I wanted to set a couple goals for this blog. Hopefully through this class and the reading assignments, I will learn more about myself while making connections between the learning materials in this class and those of my other classes. I'm very excited for a productive semester, and I look forward to looking back at my posts at the end of the semester.
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