Web 2.0 and Digital Nation Essay Question #2

Michael Hsu

Professor Jacobsen

Media Literacy

2/28/11

As we join groups and social networks from affinity sites to Facebook, are we extending and expanding identities, or increasingly conforming to the cookie-cutter profiles demanded of these interfaces? Is the loss of "personal space" and "reflection" so many users complain of merely the necessary surrender of "ego" as we learn to participate as members of a more evolved "collective organism" of "hyper-people?"

(You may want to re-watch "bubbie" and "warcraft" sections of digital nation)

           

As social networks have become increasingly popular, it has redefined communication and social interaction between people all over the world. Ever since its foundation in 2004, Facebook has taken rapid control over social networking and changed the way people use the Internet. Websites like Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube have reinvented the way people view the Internet, and the way people utilize it. This phenomenon has become known as Web 2.0 or an extension of the Internet where people come together and share information with each other as a means of communication or as a “medium”. Many of these Web 2.0 sites rely on use-generated content to fill its sites, but it’s the information on those sites that have produced so much popularity. Using Facebook as the primary example, the information each person chooses to have on his profile becomes that person’s identity on Facebook. Although many argue that many of these websites make people conform to the profiles demanded by the interface, and creates a loss of personal space, I personally disagree with that notion. I definitely would argue that a websites like Facebook has become an extension or expansion of our Identity, and is a means of reaching out to others in an easier form of communication. I think it brings people together, and allows for people to express themselves with updates and photos and show who they are. On a website like Facebook, you are not necessarily creating a new identity, but more so branching out and extending yourself to socialize and communicate with your friends. All of these social networking sites have become social software for those that interact and share information over the Internet. Viral videos on Youtube, Tweets on Twitter, and Facebook posts have all become a part of the way society views the World Wide Web (2.0).

            Although I am quick to defend the fact that site like Facebook and Twitter are a means of extending your personal identity, I have a different stance on whether Warcraft and Second Life would be an expansion of personal identity. As described in the documentary Digital Nation, people use Second Life and Warcraft as a means of escaping reality and creating a new world to live in. These particular examples to me, would not count as extending your own identity, but more so creating an entirely new one. It does not necessarily mean you are conforming to the cookie-cutter profiles demanded nor does it mean you are giving up your personal space, but you are essentially escaping the realm of reality. Referring again to Rushkoff and Dreztin’s Digital Nation, some individuals play these virtual games such as Warcraft relentlessly for hours upon hours. They create a new identity on these sites, and essentially spend as much time in the “real world” as they do lost in this “virtual world”. At that point, I would absolutely not consider it an extension of your true identity, but in turn an escape to a virtual reality with an entirely new identity. The popularity of games such as Warcraft and Second Life do however draw similarities to those social networking sites like Facebook. It relies on a mass collaboration of people on a certain site or computer generated game for it to be able to create this enormous world where people communicate and gather.

            In one particular section of Digital Nation where “Bubbie” was introduced, I saw that as a great way of extending identity via the Internet and viral video. This portion of the documentary was centered on a grandma who had not much to do but stay home and cook food etc.; yet she ultimately transformed herself into a web star. By posting videos of doing things a typical grandma did, she became known virally as “Bubbie”, the grandma people looked up to and admired.

            In this day and age, the Internet is a phenomenal tool of expanding yourself and extending your identity, but it is not to be taken for granted. Websites such as Facebook and Youtube have done so much for communication, and expanding who we are over the Internet; yet Internet games such as Warcraft have diminished that idea of keeping your identity. The Internet can be a great way of expanding yourself, but it can also hinder people from facing reality in a digital realm. 

 

Web 2.0 - Social Media - Transparency

1. Today many TV shows and advertisements try to look amateurish or "homegrown" to emulate what is often seen on the Web. Do you think professional production values will continue to drop, or do you think amateur user-generated content will get better over time? WHY? 

I believe its just a strategy used by production companies on purpose to get the effect that you are on your computer or you are looking at a computer screen. I don't think that this "homegrown" or amateur look is going to continue or be used by all TV shows and ad companies. I think that professional production values will only get better and I don't see this amateur user-generated content to continue (but if it does I think that only has more room to improve as well.

2. What social media sites do you find yourself using the most, and why? In your opinion why is Facebook so much more successful than MySpace, and do you think Facebook is "here to stay" for the long term.

I definitely find myself on Facebook much more than any social media site on the web. I feel like Facebook has absolutely taken over the world of social networking, and because of it's ability to sustain itself with constant upgrades and improvements, I do not see Facebook dropping off the map like Myspace did. What Myspace lacked was the professional feel that targets older audiences such as the college level student, and I feel like as a result it did not stay for the long term.

before answering question #3 please read the Transparency in Social Media Blog Article

3. Why is transparency such an important concept in the Social Media world? Is it MORE or LESS important in the offline world? Why?


I feel like transparency is such an important concept in the Social Media world because everything you post or tweet on a social media site has substance to it and its there in writing. You are essentially accountable for what you write and the factor of communication between you and your peers adds that binding to your words. I think transparency is less important in the offline world because you are not necessarily bound to everything you say or do whereas in the online world, everything is there in your words and your writing.

McLuhan Photoshop Final Post

For my McLuhan Final Project, I chose to create a photo shop image that depicted the use of Skype in today's world. The globe above the Skype icon is meant to symbolize a diverse world in which Skype brings together different countries and cultures to form a network for communication. Based on McLuhan's ideas and how technology and innovation has changed the world we live in, Skype is definitely a key example of his views. Skype as a medium, creates this "Global Village" that McLuhan noted in his work, and it does it in a way that allows people all over the world to communicate. The message that this medium sends is that it widens the restrictive gap of communication between several different nations. It increases the speed in which people can talk to each other whether its over the phone or by way of skype via the computer. I feel strongly that my photo shop image does a good job of illustrating skype and supporting McLuhan's views on the "medium". The four different people I chose for this image are meant to illustrate the diverse world that Skype allows for, and the continuous flow of communication over seas. Skype can very much be considered an extension of ourselves in the sense that people used to barely be able to communicate over close distances, and now those barriers have been broken. McLuhan would have absolutely seen this as a "break-through" technology that allows people to broaden their ways of communication.

Modern Mediums

1.Skype

 Skype serves as a new medium that allows for people to communicate with each other verbally and visually through the computer. Its a fast form of communication that lets people see and talk to each other through a webcam attached to the computer. This new technology lets people communicate across the world through the internet, and offers the experience of a face-to-face encounter.

2.Youtube

Youtube is a new medium sensation that allows people to post videos onto the internet, and share them with each other over this website. It has enhanced the way people use the web, and has been a foundation for music and entertainment over the internet. It has brought people together to share  a laugh over a video, or find a new song that's recently been released.


3. Facebook 

Probably considered the most innovative of all modern mediums, Facebook has transformed the way people communicate and share information with each other. It's a social network that allows for people all over the world to keep in touch and message one another. This medium serves as a tool for people to talk, share photos, and chat over the internet.