Blog #6 - The Final One

Convergence, according to Henry Jenkins, is "the flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries, and the migratory behavior of media audiences." Not only is content converging with different mediums all around us, but we, living in a convergence culture, are converging with the media and ideas as well. Jenkins has a firm grasp on what convergence is in our culture, explaining not only the interactions content has with different devices, media, and companies, but also the interactions with people. Take for example Jenkins' "Bert is Evil" example; the content (Bert in a picture with Osama Bin Laden) came from a single high-schooler named Dino Ignacio. The picture, starting as a simple school project, was picked up by anti-American protesters in the Middle East and proceeded to move across many forms of media such as television and the internet, giving Ignacio a cult following. Here is a prime example of what Jenkins was talking about: Convergence referring to both the converging of content mediums and companies to spread a story and the converging of media producers and consumers to have more interaction and input in the creation of material.

Convergence allows for audiences and fans of different media to engage with what they enjoy, and because of this audiences are able to engage with the creators of content, allowing for the...ahem...creative engagement of the audiences to help shape the media they enjoy. According to Virginia Bailey, "current technologies provide the means necessary for the involvement of fans, customers, and patrons in communicating, rewriting, defining, and gaining assistance or providing assistance in a wide array of venues." It's easier than ever to have your voice heard in the media creation process, allowing creators and fans to interact more personally and helping to establish a solid community. And it's through these communities that the audiences are able to engage! When head content creators interact with their fans via social networks, polls, streams, videos, etc., people are able to interact with others, comment about their ideas and thoughts, and become more engaged. The convergence of technology and our culture both have a huge influence on the creation of these communities. Being able to use phones, computers, television, and other mediums to listen and engage with the media, the audience, and the content creators merge all of these mediums together, passing the message from one to another to shape the message and its ideas and converge the communities engaging in the media.

Blog Assignment #5

The internet has opened the door to may different forms of communication and information sharing. Most of it has been positive, allowing for people all over the world to communicate more effectively, yet one big negative that has stemmed from internet connectivity is illegal file sharing and file torrenting. Something that can be done so anonymously like illegal file sharing is hard to regulate, and with more and more sites providing illegal file downloads becoming available to the public the government needs to start implementing some different strategies to help draw people back into paying for things such as music and movies.

1. Incentives - In my opinion, giving customers different incentives for buying a product rather than illegally downloading it is my most recommended solution to this problem. People cannot obtain incentives by illegally downloading files, and depending on what the incentive is, it could really help drive people to legitimately buy the products rather than steal them. Incentives could even help promote the company and lead to more sells, thus being great all around.

2. Price Reduction - While it may lead to a decrease in profit, reducing the prices of things like music and movies could help increase the amount of people actually buying the product rather than stealing it. For example, people consider the prices of individual songs on sites like iTunes to be a bit too expensive for their taste, even though iTunes is a safe and easy way of getting most any music someone would want. By dropping the price a bit, people have more reasons to purchase the songs on iTunes, leading to increased purchasing patterns and better sells after a while.

3. Stricter Internet Surveillance: While most likely a bit difficult to implement, if ISPs devote more time to surveying customer internet use to scour for illegal torrenting then they could help prevent illegal downloads. ISPs already run all internet use through their servers searching for this type of activity, but a larger focus in refining the system and issuing out punishments for doing these activities can help shut down the practice of illegal downloading.

Blog Post #4: Privacy and Enhanced Personalization

The discussion on privacy regarding the Internet is more relevant now than ever before due to the increased use of social media and new technology used to track our location and recommend different products to us based on what we have searched. Alfred Kobsa's article from 2007 brings up a lot of big issues about privacy, such as what information is disclosed to companies and other internet users and how much control users have on what information is used. The points brought up by Kobsa really brings one's thoughts into perspective; everyday we provide so much information on the internet for companies and possibly other users to take advantage of. Being more of a Privacy Pragmatist, I am not terribly concerned with what I provide on the internet because I am careful with what I post and am mindful of what I search, but I along with many others want to be informed of how our information will be used. Kobsa's discussion on personalization and control of privacy settings resonates well with me and I agree wholeheartedly that individuals should not only be provided the tools to personalize what information is used and stored but also control how information is being used and by who. One thing I'm very concerned about is location tracking technology; I find it to be a bit too intrusive and it makes me feel uncomfortable always being tracked. When Kobsa starts discussing the technology for Personalized Systems I start to get a bit confused. The Normative Approaches are easy enough to understand; there are different laws and principles accepted by others that can be used to help keep anonymity when using the internet. I feel the technology on the other hand is a bit hard to understand without actually seeing it in action. Take the Client-side Personalization, for instance. I understand that all the users' data is stored on their side rather than on the server, but I don't understand exactly how it works. Do people allow their information out on the internet whenever they feel and just retract it back when they're done? The collaborative filtering part is a little easier to understand, yet the four parts of the filtering techniques all interact very similarly and differently when it comes to information sharing and again I feel it would be easier to understand if I saw it in action. My question is: what is an idea you have heard recently that deals with helping to provide privacy or that makes it easier for users to see how their information is being used?

Assignment #3: New Media and Technology

Social Media and Changing Communication Patterns

This scholarly article by Dr. Kiran Bala discusses the impact social media is having on the people of today, focusing a lot on the populations of India (where the author is from). Even though the culture in India is different from the culture we have in the United States, the impact social media has had on people is still the same in both places. Dr. Bala discusses in the article about the amount of people connected via social media and what it has started to do in the younger generation as well as the older generation. Not only is social media destroying attention spans and changing cultures it is also changing personal interaction completely! People interact more online yet do not interact well in more personal manners, relationships are more of a public ordeal rather than being a private relationship, and the numbers of people that can be interacted with are increasing exponentially. I recommend reading this article because it bridges the gap between cultures to discuss interesting aspects of how social media is changing personal interactions.

Assignment #2: Network Laws and the Future of Information

Ah yes, Network Laws. Though they are all in the same general family, they are quite different with how they interpret connections through the internet.

>Sarnoff's Law states that the value of a network increases in a linear fashion as the number of people on it increases.

>Metcalfe's Law, using the formula n(n-1)/2 (where n equals the number of members), states that a network increases by roughly n^2.

>Reed's Law, states that the value of a network increases exponentially, or by 2^n.

When trying to figure out which one I agreed with the most, I looked for which one seemed to encapsulate the essence of the internet the best through its interpretation of network communication. I was not on board with Sarnoff right off the bat; Sarnoff's Law does not consider connections amongst multiple people, instead relying on one central person to communicate an idea. This does not allow for multiple contributions and interactions amongst everyone else, going against the ideals that communications in general have. That leaves two: Reed's Law and Metcalfe's Law. Reed's Law, which deals with exponential communication amongst people (even people you do not know), compared to Metcalfe's Law, which deals with one person connecting directly with other people who then connect with others. Reed's Law, to me, goes past the purpose of communicating through the internet, expanding to other pools of people that they might not actually try to communicate with, like with how social media connects the user to others they may or may not know. Metcalfe's Law, on the other hand, connects everyone on the network together in a way that they can interact in a more personal manner, and that's why I prefer Metcalfe's Law the most.

When it comes to information sharing five years from now, I do not know what to expect. Technology is getting better and more proficient at an extremely fast rate to where even five years is a long time for technological innovation. One of the things I heard recently about information sharing and receiving is this idea about technological tattoos that can send out NFC waves to receive information from someone through a handshake, open doors by just being near them, and monitoring heart rate. In five years this idea could easily be improved enough to where we do not even need cell phones anymore because they are right under our skin. I am not sure about the popularity of the idea due to having to get the device implemented under your skin, but who knows, maybe in five years it will simply be a patch we wear on us somewhere.

Why We Blog: Assignment 1

Written during the early stages of blogging, "Why We Blog" expands on what the purpose of a blog is. By interviewing a lot of different bloggers and following their blogs as they were written, the people who wrote the article, Bonnie Nardi, Diane Schiano, Michelle Gumbrecht, and Luke Swartz were able to see how varied and interesting blogs could be, whether they're used as a communication tool for schools, to talk about science and health, or to just talk about life in general. For example, a blogger named Lara writes about things personal in her life while a blogger named Evan writes about more scientific ideas. Blogs could pertain to a niche group of people or a vast group of people; as long as people view it it'll be updated. Just as how people have different subjects for different blogs, they also have different motivations as to why they are updating the blogs in the first place. Some people want to document their life, use the blog to voice their opinions, to express their thoughts and feelings about different things, to express their creativity or to be inspired, or to simply connect with others to share interests. One blogger, after becoming very ill, had her blog taken over by her husband who, via blog, documented her illness and recovery throughtout the whole process. Blogs can be valuable for people who want to archive their life or that just want someone to talk to. The connect us in many different ways and help us get involved with groups that we might have never become a part of in real life. Whatever and however someone wants to say something, blogs are there for them to do that. Blogs are, in my opinion, a fantastic way for everyday people to express themselves in many different ways. These ways can be informative, funny, emotional, or just plain entertaining. They help document peoples' lives and let people connect with others as if they know each other. Blogs have helped shape the connectivity that the internet provides and has circulated so much information to many different people. While I don't frequent too many blogs (I occasionally look at PostSecret and some others from time to time), I value the importance that they hold to many different people. I've always kind of wanted to start a blog but did not know how to start. Hopefully this practice with blogs will finally give me the encouragement I need to start writing a serious blog!

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