Monday, November 24, 2008

For Monday, December 1

1. Find a book from the Queens College library that's related to your research topic. Write the citation on your group wiki, a 3-4 word summary of the book's relevance, and bring the book to class on Monday.

2. We will meeting in Powermaker Hall 208 on Monday and Wednesday.

3. Class is cancelled on Wednesday, Nov. 26.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Monday, November 24

Monday's class will be held at the library. We'll be meeting with librarian Michael Miller to learn about research techniques, in room 101A (downstairs to the bottom floor) in the Rosenthal Library. See you there at 4pm. Do not be late.

Essay #3 : A Short History of X

Your final essay for this course will be a carefully researched history of something that we don’t often think of as having a history: cultural institutions, concepts, and inventions that we usually take for granted. A list of possible topics is below.

Since this will be a research-intensive process, we are going to take a slightly different approach: you will be assigned to a group of three or four students, and as a team you will choose a topic and conduct research. Your research must presented in an annotated bibliography on a group wiki (created on Google Sites). Each of you will be responsible for reporting on at least one source related to the topic (Wikipedia does not count). Then, using these sources, each of you will write your own 4-5 page paper on your group topic using a wiki format. Finally, you will compose a short (3-4 minute) video that briefly presents your topic.

Possible Topics

Parks
Libraries
Resorts
Bars / Taverns
Hotels / Inns
Subways
Cemeteries
Sewers
Weekends
Hitchhiking
Sneakers
Keys
Pets
Birthdays
Chewing Gum
Soup
IDs
Money
Receipts
Magazines
Fandom
Dentistry
Grades
Composition classes

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

For Monday, November 17

1. Post a comment on Erik's blog, Samuel's blog, or Yan's blog. If you are Samuel, Erik, or Yan, write a post that analyzes your ad in 300 words.

2. If you're not one of the three mentioned above, write a post that analyzes your ad in 150 words.

3. Bring in 3 copies of your second paper following the instructions given for its format and content.

Monday, November 10, 2008

For Wednesday, November 12

1. Type up your explanation of how myth works in advertising.

2. Find another ad for your theme and post it on your blog.

3. By Wednesday at noon, email me your thesis statement for your next paper. Also, send me a link to an advertisement that you will use to support your argument and briefly explain how it does so.

4. Post a comment on Esther's blog or Nicholas' blog. If you are Esther or Nicholas, write a post that analyzes your ad in 300 words.

5. If you're not Esther or Nicholas, write a post that analyzes your ad in 150 words.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

U.S. Army Recruitment Commercial


Coca-Cola Commercials




Commercial for Canadian Tourism

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

For Monday, November 10

1. Type up your analysis of the Garnier Fructis ad.

2. Find another ad for your theme and post it on your blog.

3. Read this essay by Roland Barthes, "Myth Today." Much of class on Monday will be spent discussing how we can apply Barthes' theories.

4. Post a comment on Stephen's blog or Diana's blog. If you are Diana or Stephen, write a post that analyzes your ad in 300 words.

5. If you're not Diana or Stephen, write a post that analyzes your ad in 150 words.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Funny

Paper #2 Guidelines: Analyzing Ads

Paper #2 is going to focus on the theme you chose to analyze in advertising. Here are answers to some questions you may have. I'll answer any additional questions in class on Wednesday.

How long should the paper be and how should I format it? The paper should be 4-5 pages, double spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman font or equivalent.

Do I need a thesis statement and supporting quotations? Yes, you definitely need a thesis statement for this paper. Supporting quotations are helpful, but in this paper I'm looking for analysis more than for an integration of secondary sources.

How should I cite my sources? You can follow the directions I provided for the last paper: footnoting your sources.

When is the paper due? We will peer review the paper in class on Monday, November 17. You must have a full draft of your paper by then. The final draft of the paper will be due on Monday, November 24.

How many copies of my paper should I bring for peer review? Please bring 3 copies of your paper.

After you grade my paper, will I be able to revise it again for a higher grade? No, you will only have the opportunity to revise your paper after peer review.

What exactly should I write about in this paper? By now you should have an archive of ads on your blog. Choose three ads that you find particularly interesting or that are good examples of the theme you're investigating. Then construct an argument that explains how the ads use that theme to sell a particular product or message.

Ultimately, your paper will answer a form of the following question: How does [fill in with your theme] work to either consciously or unconsciously persuade viewers that product/message will make their lives better, easier, richer, happier, etc...?

Are there some things that I should make sure to mention in my paper? Just remember to pay close attention to the details! Reviewing some of the questions and resources for analyzing ads that I've posted on this blog should provide helpful guidelines for writing a nuanced, analytical, and thoughtful reading of your ads.

Monday, November 3, 2008

For Wednesday, November 5

1. Type up your analysis of how race works in ads.

2. Find another ad for your theme and post it on your blog.

3. Look through this site: http://www.genderads.com/ Make sure to read "How to Read Ads" and "Controversy." You might also want to look at examples under "Side by Side."

4. Post a comment on Sara's blog or Sylvia's blog. If you are Sara or Sylvia, write a post that analyzes your ad in 300 words.

5. If you're not Sara or Sylvia, write a post that analyzes your ad in 150 words.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Ponds Commercial (Shown in Asia Pacific)

Race in TV Commercials

We'll look at these two examples from Old Navy Ads in Class on Monday.



Monday, October 27, 2008

For Monday, November 3

1. Type up your analysis of whether you think patriotism works in election advertising.

2. Find another ad for your theme and post it on your blog.

3. Read and watch this slideshow essay from Slate. After you click on the link, click "here" on the page that opens.

4. Post a comment on Atara's blog or Salisha's blog. If you are Atara or Salisha, write a post that analyzes your ad in 300 words.

5. If you're not Atara or Salisha, write a post that analyzes your ad in 150 words.

Note: On Wednesday, October 29 I will have individual meetings with students instead of a regular class session.

Ad Savvy: Analyzing Ads

This site has useful analyzing techniques and information: http://www.adsavvy.org/

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Questions to Consider When Analyzing Your Ads

Who is the audience for your ad? How do you know this?
What is being marketed? How can you tell?
Are there people in your ad? How would you describe them? Are they old, young, male, female, white, black, Asian-American, Latino? Why were these people chosen?
What color schemes are used in the ad? What effect does this produce?
Are there any props? How are they used?
Where is the ad taking place? Why was this location(s) chosen?
What kind of music is used? Are there any other sound effects? What kind of tone do they produce?
Is there a voice over in your ad? What kind of voice is used? Why effect does it produce?
Is there any text in your ad? What does the text do?
What kind of emotion does your ad want you to feel? How can you tell this?
Does your ad make any promises? How does it convey these promises?
Are there characters in the ad the audience is meant to identify with? How can you tell this?

Patriotic Ads: What do they do?

McCain's Patriotism





Obama's Patriotism



Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Assignments for Monday, October 27

1. Type up your analysis of whether you think fear is a legitimate tactic in advertising campaigns, particularly election ads.

2. Find another ad for your theme and post it on your blog.

3. Read this article from the LA Times blog and read the first page of comments that follow.

4. Post a comment on Jonathan's blog or Neal's blog. If you are Jonathan or Neal, write a post that analyzes your ad in 300 words.

5. If you're not Jonathan or Neal, write a post that analyzes your ad in 150 words.

Election Ads that Invoke Fear

Click here for an ad in Spanish that is trying to make viewers scared.

More Fear Ads from the Left and Right: Click here.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Two Links That We'll Be Looking At in Class on Wednesday

The Living Room Candidate has Election Ads from the start of television advertisements. Find it here. We'll especially be looking at the "Fear" Ads under "Type of Commercials."

Also this feature from the NY Times called "The Ad Wars" has interesting statistics and information

See you tomorrow!

Monday, October 20, 2008

Assignments for Wednesday, Oct. 20

1. Type up your summary of "The Early Word: The Cost of Going Negative" and post it on your blog.

2. Find another ad that exemplifies the theme you're investigating in advertising. Post the ad on your blog.

3. Read this article from Newsweek.

4. Post a comment on Stephanie's blog or Jiarui's blog. If you are Stephanie or Jiarui, write a post that analyzes your ad in 300 words.

5. If you're not Stephanie or Jiarui, write a post that analyzes your ad in 150 words.

What's the Role of Politics in the Classroom?

We'll discuss this in class today. You can read Stanley Fish on this issue here. Reading this article is optional; I'll be bringing up some of the points he makes in our discussion.

Advertising Techniques

Here are some techniques that ads use: http://www.foothilltech.org/rgeib/english/media_literacy/advertising_techniques.htm

Identifying them might help you analyze how an ad aims to convince people of its message.

Attack Ads

"Do you Know Enough to Elect Barack Obama?"


"KEATING ECONOMICS: John McCain & The Making of a Financial Crisis"

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Assignments for Monday, October 20

1. Please set up your own blog through blogger.com. Give it a descriptive name, and then send me an email with the URL of the blog by Sunday at noon.

2. Begin thinking about what component of advertising you might like to research. Find an example of this issue in advertising and post it on your blog. It can either be an image or a video.

3. Read this article. Make sure to read some of the comments at the bottom as well. We'll have a discussion about it in class and perhaps a quiz.

Reminders for Paper #1

Deadline: The final draft must be emailed to me before class on Wednesday, October 22.

Length: Your paper should be 4-5 pages in 12-point Times New Roman font or equivalent. Please double space.

Requirements: Your paper must have a thesis statement with supporting evidence. You should have at least two outside research sources to support your argument, and you should integrate at two to three quotations from those sources to support your argument.

Citations: A works cited page is not needed for this assignment. However, for every source you site include a footnote that either links to the online article you're referring to or gives the author, title, and date of publication.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Mabinogi Summary

Mabinogi, The Fantasy Life, is a free to play online game, developed by a Korean company called Nexon. This company is known by the development of several most played MMOGs in Asia. Mabinogi is a virtual world based on the Celtic culture, very similar to the settings of the movie "Lord of the Rings". The game has its own market system and currency where you can buy and sell items and even exchange for real money. Asides from the usual combat system and killing monsters, this game have a life system where you can farm, tailor clothes, cook foods, build houses, write music, make potions and even make poisons by mixing two different potions. As we discussed in class, this type of online games can make people antisocial because of they are really time consuming and addictive. Three of the thirty six players that i have interviewed have the game open the whole day so they can access the game whenever they look at the computer. However, the game has its good sides like any social network, you can meet new people and make new friends, it may also helps people relieve daily stress and depression.

Summary of Tencent QQ

Tencent is one of the biggest network companies in China. The QQ is the most popular computer IM software which belongs to Tencent Company. In its first quarter results of May 14, 2008, there are over 700 million registered QQ users. QQ is a very large network platform. It is not only has the QQ Instant Messenger; it also include Q-zone (blog), QQGroup (chat room), Paipai (online shop), QQAlum, QQBook (online to read book), QQDoctor (anti-virus to check QQ IM), QQLive (like Youtube), QQGame, SoSo (website searcher like Google) and so on. It almost includes everything that we will use in the Internet. It makes easier and faster when we use the Internet. But on the other hand, it also brings some disadvantage in the same time. Those companies will through the QQ to get our information. It makes them to violate our privacy easily. Only one website can cover the whole cyber community that sounds boring and limitable, even the Tencent tries to make it more enormous, but a huge cyber community is what we want.

Monday, October 6, 2008

For Tuesday, Oct. 14

1. Yan and Jiarui will post the last in the series of posts on cyber communities. Please make sure you comment before class.

2. Bring in 12 copies of the introduction to your paper. We will peer review it in class. Also, include 2-3 examples in outline form describing how you plan to support your argument.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Summary of Centsports

Centsports may not be an extremely popular website in comparison to sites like facebook and myspace. However it offers its own unique form of a cyber comunity. Since it was founded its user base has been steadily growing without much advertisement for the site. Like any cyber community it has its faults which will be questioned. As we discused in class there is no age limit for centsports and thus it could potentially lead young children to gamble. However I believe this risk is minimal because since the site doesnt advertise the number of young children who even know about the site is extremely low. Besides the majority of young children are not going to be interested in the site if they were to come across it. I also believe that the site does more good than bad because it allows people who would be gambling for large money to get there fix at no risk. This is why I believe centsports is an all around good site that is both fun and safe.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Assignments for Monday, Oct. 6

1. Yan, Jiarui, and Erik will post their summaries. Please make sure you comment on them before our next class.

2. Please read this article on trolls and the internet from the New York Times.

3. By Sunday, Oct. 5 at noon, please email the following to me:
a. A thesis statement for your first paper on cyber communities.
b. Two articles that you will use to support your paper's argument. Please include links to the sources. One of them can be a reading that was assigned for class discussion.
c. A summary of 3-4 sentences of each of these articles.
d. One quotation from each of the articles that you might use to support your argument.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

GoodReads Summary

GoodReads is a social networking site for those who love to read and want to connect with other book lovers. The site allows for a person to create a customizable profile that they can use to list the books they have read, and even allows for them to give reviews and opinions. The site even has a section so people can communicate together, create groups discussion of books and make friends.

One of the issues we discussed in class was that if the site supported the idea of the digitization of books. I feel that the site is the introduction of books to technology. I support the joining of technology and books as seen in the Kindle, some may not. However, it does pose possible negative outcomes, like if books were digitized some people may illegally share the data of the books as it has been done with music.

Paper #1: Digital Communities and Networks

Paper Guidelines

Your paper should be 4-5 pages in 12-point Times New Roman font or equivalent. Your paper must have a thesis statement with supporting evidence. You should have at least two outside research sources to support your argument, and you should integrate at two to three quotations from those sources to support your argument. As you begin your research and writing, please think of one of the following questions as a way to frame your argument:

1. How have social networking sites brought up issues around privacy? Do you think these sites are in violation of people’s privacy? Why or why not?

2. Some critics of online communities say these spaces encourage anti-social behavior? Do you agree with this criticism? Why or why not?

3. Digital communities have received some attention recently because of fraudulent and/or criminal activities on the sites. Do you think online communities encourage this kind of behavior or make certain behaviors more prevalent?

4. Cyber Neighborhoods have allowed for what some observers call “interactivity” or "convergence culture"—opportunities for participants to mix various media (graphics, video, ARGs). How has interactivity changed the way people communicate and/or view entertainment?

5. Cyber communities have been applauded for democratizing access to information and the dissemination of knowledge. Do you agree that the internet is more democratic? Why or why not?

The first paragraph of your paper will be due Tuesday, October 14. The final draft will be due on Wednesday, October 22.

Youtube Article Summary

YouTube is a web site with a vast source of videos. The popularity of this web site has skyrocketed since its creation in 2005 measured by the amount of users that visit the site. However, the YouTube now wants users to stop visiting their site and instead add YouTube players on their own sites. From these YouTube players users would be able to access YouTube’s whole video archive, comment and rate videos as they do on Youtube.com. Along with the new YouTube players camera companies Casio and Logitech are creating cameras that allow you to upload videos directly to the site; TiVo will allow their customers to upload videos from their televisions. Not only will these YouTube players increase the amount of users YouTube has because of its convenience, but it will also bring more revenue to the company because of its capability for in stream ads. The demand for video ads has on the rise and YouTube holds true potential. All in all, YouTube is looking towards change, change to give their users more freedom and convenience and change to gain more profits.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Mabinogi

Here is a video of the game




http://mabinogi.nexon.net/Downloads/VideoList.aspx

And here is an article in wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mabinogi_(video_game)

Sorry guys, i don't know why the link is not working, just copy and paste the link in the address bar, it should be working.

Hey guys, i found this interesting article while i was looking for my sources, read it if you have time.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_164/5162-My-Korean-Fantasy-Life

Articles about Tencent QQ

I can not find some many pages articles about Tencent QQ, so there are 2 short articles about the topic.
1.
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/147334/facebook_tencent_launch_chinese_networking_sites.html
2.
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Globe7-Tencent-Partner-For-Networking-Site-in-China/281500/

Also there is a websit that introduce the Tencent QQ.
http://www.startinchina.com/tencent_qq.html

YouTube Summary

YouTube has grown in popularity in the past few years and it has now become a main source of entertainment for us. As discussed in class, there are some negatives to YouTube videos. Privacy is not a concern for these videos. People aren't asked for permission if someone wants to upload a video of them possibly doing something embarrassing or even something frowned upon by society. Sometimes these videos can be harmful to a person's carreer or reputation and that isn't something easily erased. There are plenty of examples of such cases. Despite this, YouTube is still a very popular site that everyone commonly uses to look up funny videos, watch series, exchange ideas, or just to watch things they might have missed but wanted to see. YouTube has now become a major part of the 2008 election since it is now being used by candidate supporters to make videos of their preferred candidate, these videos sometimes feature famous and influential people and unites them in support of a cause to spread an idea. It is now easier to reach young voters through these methods, and it has also become easier for anyone to voice their opinion through videos, not just about the election but about anything.

Interview With Ceo

Victor Palmer founder and CEO of Centsports.


Article on Cent Sports
http://www.forbes.com/2008/06/12/online-gambling-centsports-ent-manage-cx_jb_0612onlinegambling.html

Assignments for Wednesday, Sept. 22

1. Salisha, Sylvia, Nicholas, and Neal will post summaries of our discussion and/or their topic.

2. Erik, Yan, and Jiarui will post links to articles about their topics.

3. Read this article from Time about the 2006 person of the year. Please print a copy of this article and bring it to class. Also, write one sentence that summarizes the argument of the Time article. Please bring the sentence to class.

4. On Wednesday, we will be going over thesis statements and arguments. I will also explain the first essay assignment. This will be one of the most important classes of the semester. Please make sure to be there!

Introducing the Book

Sunday, September 21, 2008

GoodReads

As I couldn't find an article of subsistence, I have posted two medium-length articles:

http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/12/17/goodreads-raises-angel-round-to-help-you-find-that-perfect-book/

http://www.flakmag.com/web/goodreads.html (If you read only one, this should be it).

GoodReads Article

GoodReads shows that people still read and love their books

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Encyclopedia Dramatica

Hey, everybody.

My apologies about the last blog. My internet went out for a little while, and by the time Time Warner Cable came to fix it, it was way past the deadline. I tried going on my friend's computer, but I forgot my password since it was saved on my computer. Essentially, I had a bad weekend.

Encyclopedia dramatica, as discussed in class, is a satirical website making a mockery of everything from politics to lifestyles. As shown in class, it is set up exactly like Wikipedia, with the same layout, search engines, and ideals; a free website where every article is posted anonymously and can be updated and changed by anyone. The article I chose speaks of "trolling" which is the main thing done on Encyclopedia dramatica. It also talks about the Craigslist Experiment and 4chan.org, which is similar to Encyclopedia dramatica. When you get down to it, Encyclopedia dramatica is a site you can go to for a good laugh or a smile and NOT something you should look into for any real facts or to do research on.

Thanks, and have a good night.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Summary Of Our You Tube Disscussion

Judge Louis L. Stanton of the Southern District Court of New York has ordered Google to turn over to Viacom its records of which users watched which videos on You Tube. Visited by around 80 million people a month, You Tube is the world's largest video sharing site. The verdict has raised concerns among You Tube users and privacy advocates that this information could be misused or fall into the wrong hands.
Viacom (a media conglomerate which produces television, music, and movies) has said that the collected I.P. addresses will only be used by their lawyers to further its billion dollar lawsuit against Google for copyright infringement. They also said that in most cases I.P. addresses (your computer's address) can't be used to identify individual users.
Privacy advocates counter by saying that in many cases, technology experts and others have been able to link I.P. addresses to individuals using other records of their online activities. Kurt Opsall, a lawyer for an online civil liberties group said users should have a right to challenge and contest the revealing of this deeply private information.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

summary of wikipedia discussion

Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia. Its vast database allows users to find out information about pretty much anything. This is actually what draws some people to Wikipedia. It’s very convenient. What makes it better, is that it is free, and has edits from everyday people, not only people with PhD’s. This makes for an interesting discussion whether or not the information on Wikipedia is reliable. Some say that because it is monitored closely, the site does not contain insanely false information. But how true is this really? It appears many times, that there is false information on the site that stays there for a long time! Is this a basis for not trusting the content of the site? A lot of people say yes. Note that the original goal of Wikipedia was to have a free site where ordinary people can write about things they know about, so in that light, Wikipedia has really accomplished its goal. Wikipedia’s ‘rival’ is Encyclopedia Britannica, which was written by people who have a lot of knowledge in the subject that they are writing about, and therefore the information is more reliable. Problem is that Encyclopedia Britannica does not cover as many topics as Wikipedia does because it is limited by size (that’s because it is printed). So we still don’t know whether or not Wikipedia is really reliable.

Assignments for Monday, September 22

1. Jonathan, Salisha, Sylvia, Esther, and Steve will post. Comment on only one of their posts.

2. Nicholas and Neal will post links about GoodReads. Read their articles.

3. Read Chapter Two of Solove's The Future of Reputation, available here.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Hey guys, this is my article on Youtube.
Yes, You Too Can YouTube

YouTube Article

hey guys, this is my article.


http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570721,00.html

Assignments for Wednesday, September 17

1. Jonathan, Sylvia, and Salisha will post links to articles on YouTube. Make sure you read these articles.

2. Read the Introduction to Solove's The Future of Reputation (pg. 1-13)available here.

3. Email your synthesis to me by Tuesday at midnight.

Wikiality

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Encyclopedia Dramatica

Hey, everyone.

The article I found is all about "trolling" which is essentially what is done on sites such as encyclopedia dramatica, uncyclopedia, and etc. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/magazine/03trolls-t.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=encyclopedia%20dramatica&st=cse&oref=slogin

This next article is the wikipedia article on encyclopedia dramatica

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclopedia_dramatica

Hope you enjoy.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

link to article on wikipedia

this is a link to the article i found on wikipedia


http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/07/31/060731fa_fact

Myspace Summary

Myspace, which is owned by the News Corporation, is known to be the Web's largest social networking site. However, many of the users feels as if their "space" is being invaded. The reason to this is Myspace is only allowing users to use "Myspace things". They are limiting the amounts of applications that users can put onto their account. Myspace doesn't want third party pieces (also known as widgets) if they are violating its term of service that bring unnecessary things to the site. For example, Tila Ngyugen also known as Tila Tequila used Myspace as a way of promoting her new album Hoooka on her page with a music player accompanied by a video and it was hit. However, it disappeared after a couple of days. Tila Tequila realized that she violated the terms and therefore it had to be taken down. These widgets that enable users to sell items or advertise must be authorized and has to share a partnership with Myspace in order to be on the site. Fred Wilson explained the strategy that the News Corporation was using. The News Corporation was trying to take advantage of the growing widgets while also controlling the amount of widgets that made it onto the Myspace site. In Fred Wilson’s point of view, he believed that this was a dangerous strategy. “Every attempt everyone has ever made to try to dictate what a person’s Internet experience will be has ended up coming up empty,” Fred Wilson said. He claims that everyone is one click away from the web. Myspace users aren’t happy with the site. If it isn’t their site after all, maybe the users will think about things in another way.

Myspace

Myspace is the largest social networking website. Facebook comes in second place, and Bebo in third place. Myspace is owned by News Corporation. It has 118 million worldwide users. Even with so many users, Myspace is not doing so well. Myspace was expected to meet a $1 billion revenue. Myspace is making about 6 to 7 dollars on each user per year. In order to solve this problem, Myspace is going to put more advertisement on its website. They are putting more advertisement in the Myspace sign up page and on profiles. By putting more advertisement Myspace needs to move around some things on their website to fit in the ads. This new change may affect users. Some users don't want to be bombarded with more advertisement. Others might feel like all Myspace cares about is making money. New advertisement may draw users away. People may sign up for other websites like Facebook. Myspace and Facebook have many similarities. Both websites allow users to keep in touch with friends. You can share and tag pictures. Users can post comments on their friend's profile. Myspace and Facebook also have differences. Myspace allows you to personalize your profile page. Users can put different backgrounds and customize it to their preference. A major difference between the two websites is the amount of advertisement each website has. Facebook doesn't have as many advertisements as Myspace. Some users say Facebook is more straight forward and easier to use. Others also say that Myspace is for a younger generation. It seems like it is designed for mostly teens. Facebook in the other hand was first used only by college students. Facebook later then opened their website and let anyone sign up. Facebook is getting close to the amount of users Myspace has. Facebook may catch up soon. Will the increase in advertisements draw people to other social networking websites? The future of Myspace is unknown.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Assignments for Monday, Sept. 15

1. Stephanie and Sara will post about MySpace. Make sure you comment on their posts.

2. Esther and Stephen will post links to their articles on Wikipedia and Encyclopedia Dramatica.

3. Finish reading Jenkins' Introduction to Convergence Culture.

Henry Jenkins speaks

The internet in 1993

Monday, September 8, 2008

Facebook Summary

Facebook is the most known website for social networking. Many strongly agree that Facebook has its problematic issues with invading privacy and feel like its no longer sacred. Members, daily if not constantly change their status and others in an instant know what’s going on with them or what they are planning for their weekend. The Newsfeed traces every step you take on commenting a picture to even reading what others have written on the walls of friends. Just last week, on the second of September, Facebook proclaimed its 100 million members and each and every one of them has a right to know your relationship status, your interests and who your friends are. Members can have unlimited accounts, one for personal use and other accounts for business .Having an account with Facebook might decrease your chances of finding a high well earning job because of the incriminating pictures and details that are posted. Some suggest that Facebook’s “social utility” reduced the amount of personal interaction with friends and family. Instead of people using Facebook chat to catch up with old friends, they are numerous ways in which people can get updated for instance a phone call or a visit. While Facebook has it cons it also has it pros. Facebook could draw millions of young voters to politics and easily can be influenced by simply joining a group and going to there events. This way teenager’s can be more vocal in voicing their opinions. Additionally, Facebook provides thousands of ads on different areas such as different types of diet/ nutrition plans or job openings. Furthermore, Facebook members can sell products on line earning profits. Most importantly, members must know how to manage their accounts safely as possible and not to exceed on personal details.

- Diana Y

.

summary on facebook discussion

Facebook has become one of the largest social networks on the internet. There are, however, many pros and cons about joining this networking system. Facebook can be described as a positive way of joining everyone you know into one area and then easily communicating with them. On the other hand, this may cause communication issues because it is hard to portray a tone of voice through the internet. It causes confusion for the reader to know what was really meant by the comment, which can cause fights between the two or false statements that may then be repeated and spread. Another problem that this may cause is a writing issue, which is people abbreviating online or through texting or spell things incorrectly. If these people are not being corrected, even in just a simple social area, this bad habit can spread into their professional life where mistakes like spelling and grammar are costly. Of course this is not a problem because facebook is a whole entity on its own and people do not necessarily use the same language that they use on the internet or through text in real life so it should not really effect anyone in that regard. Because facebook is such an easy way to communicate, it also causes people to become lazy or less interested in their friends, which is a terrible trait for people to start taking upon one’s self. Another major problem with facebook is a privacy issue. Anyone at anytime can post anything about themselves on facebook. Now, this is not really a violation of privacy because that person is posting it by him/herself. However, facebook also contains "news feeds" where everything that a person is doing on facebook is posted on a main page for anyone to see without their consent. Included with posting whatever the person wants to post about themselves, they can also post anything they want about other people, which can include false information that can quickly spread. The positive side to these posts is that they also help spread important global information, for example about the upcoming election. This even helps members of facebook learn more about politics and what is transpiring in our current world.
Summary on Sam’s article- Facebook the world’s most popular social networking site has added an unpopular feature known as News Feed. This feature allows user of the site to constantly check up on their friends updates and other private information that they may not want viewed. Many have protested against this new feature with their concerns to privacy. They ironically used Facebook to petition against Facebook. With over 280,000 members on a single anti- News Feed group (which currently has over 28,000 signatures on the petition), Facebook has finally taken notice. Some people are against News Feed as a whole, while others just want a privacy feature added so they can regulate who’s viewing their updates. Facebook CEO and founder, Mark Zuckerberg, has responded to these petitions, by reiterating Facebook’s privacy features and promoting News Feed as a “cool way to know what’s going on your friends’ live.” So if you value your privacy or you just aren’t very comfortable with being monitored by outside parties, you may want to think twice about joining Facebook. At the end of the day if you choose to join a social networking site, such as Facebook, you have to take into account all the ramifications you may encounter. If you don’t mind possibly millions of judging eyes studying and observing your every move, then maybe you shouldn’t be joining a social networking site. Facebook has no intentions of changing the News Feed feature anytime soon, an important note to take into consideration when using this site. Due to its similarities to a “Big Brother” world, Facebook has had many users divided on the issue of whether or not they should keep News Feed alive.

Myspace Article

This is my article on Myspace,

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/16/business/media/16myspace.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&sq=myspace&st=nyt&scp=3


-Stephanie

MYSPACE

Hey,
This is the New York times article based on Myspace
Myspace Restricitions

-Sara

The Facebook Phenomenon

Assignments for Wednesday, Sept. 10

1. Samuel, Atara, and Diana will post summarizing our facebook discussion. Please comment on their post before our next class.

2. Stephanie and Sara will also post links about MySpace for Wednesday's discussion. Please read them before class.

3. Read the first 12 pages of the Introduction to Convergence Culture by Jenkins. You can access the book here through google books.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

1969 view of the future's computer

Presentation Schedule

Here's the schedule I sent to you last week via our google group, with a few changes:

Mon. Sept. 8: Facebook: Samuel, Atara, Diana

Wed. Sept. 10: MySpace: Stephanie, Sara

Mon. Sept. 15: Wikipedia: Esther Encyclopedia Dramatica: Stephen

Wed. Sept. 17: YouTube: Jonathan, Sylvia, Salisha

Mon. Sept. 22: Goodreads: Nicholas, Neal.

Wed. Sept. 24: Lineage: Jiarui CentSports: Erik Maginogi: Yan


If your name isn't listed above, please email me as soon as possible with your choices. Remember, the first thing you'll need to do is post a link to an article you find about your topic.

In class, just be prepared to talk briefly about community--no more than 5 minutes-- and perhaps demonstrate any important points about how this community works.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Assignments for Monday, September 8

1. Choose 3 digital communities for presentation/research if you haven't done so already. Please email me by tomorrow (Thursday) at noon. The sooner you email me the more likely I am to accommodate your first choice.

2. Read U R 2 Old for Monday.

3. Read the articles posted by the first 2 presenters. (The articles will be posted by Saturday at noon.)

Friday, August 29, 2008

Cyber Communities

Here is a list of some possible topics for our discussion of cyber-communities. Some of these are social-networking sites, others are gaming sites or dating sites or sites that have a specific purpose, like sharing photos or videos or book recommendations. Others are discussion groups or mailing lists, and some require extra software to do particular things, like sharing files (Bittorrent) or exploring the globe (Google Earth). You can choose from among these for your essay topic, or you can come up with something else, as long as you run it by me first.

Once you choose your cyber community, you will be asked to become involved with that community and to present your findings during class discussion.

MySpace: www.myspace.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com
Friendster: www.friendster.com
Orkut: www.orkut.com/About.aspx
Hi5: www.hi5.com
Cyworld: www.cyworld.com
Tagged: www.tagged.com
Xanga: www.xanga.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com
Second Life: www.secondlife.com
Flickr: www.flickr.com
Picasa: picasa.google.com
Wikipedia: www.wikipedia.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com
GoogleEarth: earth.google.com
Digg: www.digg.com
Shelfari: www.shelfari.com
GoodReads: www.goodreads.com
Library Thing: www.librarything.com
Amazon: www.amazon.com
Find Satoshi: www.findsatoshi.com
Heroes: www.nbc.com/Heroes
LonelyGirl15: www.lg15.com
LostPedia: www.lostpedia.com
Zynga: www.zynga.com
Yahoo Games: games.yahoo.com
BitTorrent: www.bittorrent.com
Last.fm: www.last.fm
Deviant Art: www.deviantart.com
Craig’s List: www.craigslist.org
Dave’s ESL CafĂ©: www.eslcafe.com
Nerve: www.nerve.com
LavaLife: www.lavalife.com

Friday, August 15, 2008

Welcome to our Cyber110 blog!

You'll use this platform for the first unit on Cyber neighborhoods and Digital Communities.