There have always been people who have creatively commented on society and popular culture in history with the use of cartoons, satire, parody, or through other ways of creativity expression. The well known examples are Voltaire's "Candide" and Saturday Night Live. In the past television, radio, newspapers, and other medias displayed these commentaries.
With better technology to create material and new media like YouTube and social media, anyone can make and post their parodies or any creative works and it instantly reaches millions of people. This phenomenon, called Going Viral, makes videos, memes, and mashups, popular through sharing on the internet. One example of Going Viral, was the mashup of Disney and Nickelodeon shows with popular rap songs. Both companies are very protective of their properties but allowed people to create these mashup without having force YouTube to take them down (Barnes).
I think Viral post can make people engaged with current events and new topics. While, there is an oversaturation of viral videos on the internet, the ones that are of really great quality, become memorable.
Barnes, Brooks. "Disney Tolerates a Rap Parody of Its Critters. But Why?" The New York Times. The New York Times, 23 Sept. 2007. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Modeling Reality With Virtual Worlds
Virtual Worlds are computer programs created to emulate things people do in their lives and build online communities. Users create virtual versions of themselves, usually called avatars. Avatars in these world can meet others, go to social functions, go shopping, or a bunch of other things that individuals do daily. People who are not familiar with virtual worlds may think of them as video games, but while games are created with a story which eventually ends and makes characters go through a progression system, Virtual Worlds do not have story and there is no leveling up for avatars.
Many Virtual Worlds are used by people to mirror reality. The most well known example of this is Second Life. There are lots of virtual world that focus on one community; users are people who have interest in that community and can meet others with similar interest. One segment where virtual world have been successful is with children and tweens. Brands like Mattel, Hasbro, Russ Berrie have launched virtual portals. There have been Virtual Worlds that connect employees of different corporations. People are able meet others and share content with people they would have not met with the online communities.
Virtual Worlds allow people to get to know one another and collaborate without the physical interaction. According to Annie Ok, who has created avatars in many Virtual World, interactions in places like Second Life are just like ones in reality because people are communicating as themselves (Itzkoof). It also allows brands to promote and sell products. The tween store, Limited Too, 11% of store transaction were from a virtual portal product in one quarter of 2007 (Hindo).
However there are issues with virtual worlds. Often you can buy clothing, and other amenities for your avatar. Many Virtual Worlds use actual currency, which may lead over spending for things that aren't tangible. Also the success of the Virtual World may depend on how many users the world has. Without a large community, users can meet the same people over and over. Lastly being part of a virtual world may take a lot of time. While users can log on anytime, but they may feel connected to their avatars and the online communities and spend more time in virtual world than doing things outside of them.
For me the future of Virtual Worlds seem to be a niche one. Not only are there many other ways to connect with a many people, the other ways are easier to use, much less time consuming, and have a specific purpose other than creating a life online to mirror your own. So while, I think they will exist in the future, more people would prefer to use multiplayer games and social media to connect to new people.
Works Cited
Many Virtual Worlds are used by people to mirror reality. The most well known example of this is Second Life. There are lots of virtual world that focus on one community; users are people who have interest in that community and can meet others with similar interest. One segment where virtual world have been successful is with children and tweens. Brands like Mattel, Hasbro, Russ Berrie have launched virtual portals. There have been Virtual Worlds that connect employees of different corporations. People are able meet others and share content with people they would have not met with the online communities.
Virtual Worlds allow people to get to know one another and collaborate without the physical interaction. According to Annie Ok, who has created avatars in many Virtual World, interactions in places like Second Life are just like ones in reality because people are communicating as themselves (Itzkoof). It also allows brands to promote and sell products. The tween store, Limited Too, 11% of store transaction were from a virtual portal product in one quarter of 2007 (Hindo).
However there are issues with virtual worlds. Often you can buy clothing, and other amenities for your avatar. Many Virtual Worlds use actual currency, which may lead over spending for things that aren't tangible. Also the success of the Virtual World may depend on how many users the world has. Without a large community, users can meet the same people over and over. Lastly being part of a virtual world may take a lot of time. While users can log on anytime, but they may feel connected to their avatars and the online communities and spend more time in virtual world than doing things outside of them.
For me the future of Virtual Worlds seem to be a niche one. Not only are there many other ways to connect with a many people, the other ways are easier to use, much less time consuming, and have a specific purpose other than creating a life online to mirror your own. So while, I think they will exist in the future, more people would prefer to use multiplayer games and social media to connect to new people.
Works Cited
Hindo, Brian. "Toys with a Second Life." Bloomberg
Business Week. Bloomberg, 19 Dec. 2007. Web. 19
Itzkoff, Dave. "I've Been In That Club, Just Not
In Real Life." The New York Times. The New York Times, 05 Jan.
2008. Web. 19 Oct. 2014.
Monday, October 13, 2014
Twitter discussion
Twitter is a great way to have a discussion on the all kinds of topics. There are over 200 million users who post on Twitter, so there is a constant dialogue about things that people care about. Its easy to post to Twitter and it only allows users to post with only 140 characters. With the use of hashtags, anyone can search all post that are about a particular topic.
Twitter is a good tool as opposed to discussion board or in class discussion because anyone can easily connect with other and post their opinions.Since there are hashtags, users can search what other people in Twitter are saying about a certain topic. The ability to connect to people gives Twitter the advantage over discussion board and in class.
The ability to connect to a lot of people can also be an disadvantage Twitter has. Only people with access to the discussion board or people in the class would know about the discussion that is taking place. While Twitter accounts could be set to private, Tweets could be seen by a large amount of people. Also since Twitter limits post to contain 140 characters, someone opinion may not be fully represented.
There are situations where Twitter is a better tool to use than discussion board or in class. It could be accessed anywhere and anyone can see what others have posted. However, since not a lot of information can be post and because the ease for people to have access to it there may be certain topics that are better to post on other forms of media.
Twitter is a good tool as opposed to discussion board or in class discussion because anyone can easily connect with other and post their opinions.Since there are hashtags, users can search what other people in Twitter are saying about a certain topic. The ability to connect to people gives Twitter the advantage over discussion board and in class.
The ability to connect to a lot of people can also be an disadvantage Twitter has. Only people with access to the discussion board or people in the class would know about the discussion that is taking place. While Twitter accounts could be set to private, Tweets could be seen by a large amount of people. Also since Twitter limits post to contain 140 characters, someone opinion may not be fully represented.
There are situations where Twitter is a better tool to use than discussion board or in class. It could be accessed anywhere and anyone can see what others have posted. However, since not a lot of information can be post and because the ease for people to have access to it there may be certain topics that are better to post on other forms of media.
The Social Networks
Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and Instagram are part of a large group of websites and applications called social networks which connects people all over the world through common interest and mutual friends. These social networking have similar functions but do not work the same and there are clear distinctions between how each social networking app works.
Facebook connects people with their friends and and friend of friends. Anyone signed on to the site can write post on their own timeline or their friends' pages . It allows its user to add pictures, videos and links to their post. Facebook is one of the most popular social networking sites, as of June Facebook claims to have 1.32 billion users. It's creation was also the subject as an Academy Award winning film, the Social Network.
Myspace is a site that went through changes through out the years. It was created in 2003 and what arguable the most popular social networking sites until the rise of Facebook. At its height it had about 300 million users. On Myspace people connected with others by posting links on their bulletin board. It also had a lot of customization features and many users posted their art work and music to the site. However the difficultly of using the social networking site and the rise of Facebook, lead Myspace to re brand itself a couple of years back.
Twitter is allows users to publish post and allows for the public to view them, similar to a blog. Unlike a blog however, only 140 characters can be posted. It was the first social networking site to use hash-tags, which users could use to find multiple post about one topic. Many organizations, politicians and celebrities use twitter to connect with the public. According to Twitter, there are about 271 million active users monthly and about 500 million tweets are sent each day.
Instagram is a newer social networking site. Post consist of pictures that sometimes have a caption and in 2013, Instagram allowed users to post fifteen second videos. It launched in 2010 and has over 200 million users who post about 60 million photos a day according to Instagram. Like Twitter, it many of its users are organizations and celebrities who share pictures to connect with the public.
Facebook connects people with their friends and and friend of friends. Anyone signed on to the site can write post on their own timeline or their friends' pages . It allows its user to add pictures, videos and links to their post. Facebook is one of the most popular social networking sites, as of June Facebook claims to have 1.32 billion users. It's creation was also the subject as an Academy Award winning film, the Social Network.
Myspace is a site that went through changes through out the years. It was created in 2003 and what arguable the most popular social networking sites until the rise of Facebook. At its height it had about 300 million users. On Myspace people connected with others by posting links on their bulletin board. It also had a lot of customization features and many users posted their art work and music to the site. However the difficultly of using the social networking site and the rise of Facebook, lead Myspace to re brand itself a couple of years back.
Twitter is allows users to publish post and allows for the public to view them, similar to a blog. Unlike a blog however, only 140 characters can be posted. It was the first social networking site to use hash-tags, which users could use to find multiple post about one topic. Many organizations, politicians and celebrities use twitter to connect with the public. According to Twitter, there are about 271 million active users monthly and about 500 million tweets are sent each day.
Instagram is a newer social networking site. Post consist of pictures that sometimes have a caption and in 2013, Instagram allowed users to post fifteen second videos. It launched in 2010 and has over 200 million users who post about 60 million photos a day according to Instagram. Like Twitter, it many of its users are organizations and celebrities who share pictures to connect with the public.
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