Week 12 – Readings

I like virtual worlds and I also support the initiatives taking place within technology and policy making with respect to virtual projects.  I also agree that virtual technologies and programs will definitely have a profound effect on learning and development of personal education; such as virtual museums, libraries, interest communities, fine arts, music, schools, and the like.  However, I do not condone younger audience getting too involved with virtual games -no matter how advance the virtual gaming applications are or how bigger the commercial rewards they may offer. I think it is very addictive and many parents complain about this addictive aspect of these games, and I personally do not see how this demographic could learn anything significant through gaming. 

 

Although, Freitas do not table ant strong opinions to support of discourage these games, I think this article somewhat pushes the theme forward.  Though, it may appear small-minded and too conventional, I strongly discourage virtual gaming for children. I have personal experiences and it is just atrocious when kids get on full board with these highly addictive so called leisure activities.  I have witnessed my niece playing all kinds of games and I have not seen her learning anything but simply memorizing the answers and learning to make use of the loop holes of the application – I could hardly call that learning.  Therefore, for the very same reason, I did not enjoy the Richard Van Eck post either.

 

I have to agree with the Oblinger’s paper that games have become a part of our culture.  It is also not difficult to believe that 50% adults in UK play games.  Virtual gaming is a wonderful way of socializing and relaxing.  It may also provide some sort of learning and knowledge on different subjects for adults.  Finally, virtual applications are great when the technology is utilized for crating useful and constructive purposes – I personally love the idea.  And similar to profound and very useful virtual applications, gaming industry also seems to be proliferating in to our society, but I think it should be kept away from kids, especially from the ones who are under 10 years of age.  Really, how many individuals do we know who can drive a racing car or shoot a target in real life just because they have a high score on virtual race or a war?

Week 12 – virtual worlds

Great presentation guys!  I had no idea that there were virtual worlds like secondlife.  Thank you for the wonderful explanations and the introduction to a new aspect of online communities.

 

I am very much in to the open source technologies, and it was a pleasure to see the actual products of the community contributed open source thingys in action.  I found these virtual communities on the web, and there is a whole lot more.

à       Virtual school

à       Virtual hospital

à       Virtual florists

à       Virtual library

à       Virtual enterprise builder

 

I particularly liked the last one the virtual enterprise builder.  Though, this was not free, I think this is an optimal way of organizing ones resources without committing funds to a rigid structure.  Many organizations spend lot of money on unfeasible organizational infrastructures due to the promising nature they present.  However, the virtual enterprise builder minimizes this risk. 

 

I also liked the wikipedia blob on the virtual reality.  the article sort of summarizes the topic in a simpler manner and offers a basic understanding of the technologies and initiatives out there.

Week 11

The main focus of a social network is building online communities of people to share interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others, and which necessitates the use of software.  In the recent past, whenever the topic of social networks is raised our thoughts are automatically switch and attuned to online communities.  That is because most of the “Talked about” social networks are primarily web based.  The most common phenomenon is “Message boards” that allows people to move along a thread of thought which sometimes takes a form of blogging or chatting.  What I have noticed is, at least in my opinion, channels such as instant messaging and texting is mostly used by the younger generation, where the mature public depends more on blogging and listserve type channels

Apart from being a user or a participant of these communities individuals and institutions can also become hosts of social communities. Currently, there are many commercial social networking software available that ranges from CA $50 to couple of thousands. And, these software allows users to

• Instant Message

• Personalize profile

• Customize site layout

And, get higher site ranking in popular search engines as well.  With a dedicated server, users can host these networks with databases that consist hundreds of thousands of members. 

Some of the commercial values proposed by these applications are

• help deploy own social network on a viral Social networking platform
• improve new user acquisitions, stickiness, user retention
• user participation
• and, similar benefits

I posted some of my thoughts on security and other such concerns of social software last week.  Therefore, I might detour from this theme this week, and explore more on the readings and case studies.

 

Amanda, you were right.  I have forgotten to synchronize my time and i was 5 hours ahead of Canadian time….. huh!

Week 10 – social networks (online security )

I was browsing through to see more on this week’s topic.  And I found some interesting stuff.    

Have you come across these e-social networks?  I thought it was really cool

à       futureofthebook.org that discusses interesting posts – this part of the blog is relevant to our topic

à       Bakespace – a social networking site for people who like cooking. This does not interest me, but may interest some of you

à       Respectance – to share memories, this also allows people to pay respect to people that you adore – they have one for Hemmingway

Further, I thought the below materials may interest you as they are on e-identities, an aspect that I am interested in

à       Federated Identity – this has very little to do with any of our topics but I thought this was a very cool thing to share, as it could be a possible future for online business networks.

à       Wikipedia article on online identity

à       A collection of peer-reviewed research studies on social networks

à       I stumbled upon this great page published by ALA check it out.  It has a very good collection on security issues with respect to web and online communities.  I have also tagged it on delicious this is only in case you miss it.

à       Online discussion on online social networks

à       This is the COOLEST a tool on visualizing SNW –

o      Vizter 1

o      Vizter 2

I guess I am calling quits on this subject.  This has been my problem; when I am into something I can not just stop exploring.  So, I am officially ending my researching on social networks. 

Week 10 – Jane, Daka, and Alex posts

This course has set me out on a new spree of exploiting these networks and, I must say, I do admire these tools and the potential benefits of them.  They provide a great vehicle of communication as well as on sharing and fostering knowledge.

Hay Daka, I too still depend on e-mails a great deal when it comes to communication that matters.  I am a little skeptical on relying solely on these tools (Facebook, etc.) for stuff that I really want to get across to people; simply because, I am pretty sure that people check their emails on a regular basis, but when it comes to these community mediums – I have my doubts.

Though I have been on Facebook for sometime, not by choice but by requirement for another course, and have received a couple of wonky proposals – probably due to misinterpreting my profile, I have yet to experience the “soliciting” experience that you have mentioned. However, I too am not that crazy about expanding my online-acquaintances-network to people that I have nothing in common with.  Similar to Alex’s post, I have w….a…..y too many people on my Facebook account, and I have no idea who they are.  I certainly don’t want to how someone’s day was, when I have no idea who on earth that person is. 

Commenting on Jane’s and Alex’s posts, I totally agree with you guys on Willams’ article. People can and will abuse anything and everything. I just don’t get these educators that still keep hanging on to the boring traditional teaching methods.  I am not implying, in anyway, that technology should be the determinant of our future, but every good thing should be held up.  And, the Internet & Web are great spaces when utilized for the right purposes.   It is ironic that educators call themselves educators if they are suggesting putting a stop to advancement and blocking emergence of new knowledge is the way to go – weird isn’t it.   

With respect to “Identity Production in a Networked Culture”: are people really honest about everything they say on a public space?  There are two main aspects to this argument– deliberate and unintentional.  I think, the profiles might be distorted as users would deliberately leave out the bad-stuff – that is what I would do, but I do not understand the reason for publishing falsified information. 

I also read another blog that discussed the same phenomenon which led me to another study that looked at a different aspect of identities distortion on electronic spaces, which was unintentional on the users’ part.  I too, like Alex, never really gave much thought to this aspect of network culture.  However, I was dubious about what people say on Web.  

I am pretty sure there are many other facets to Web and identities than meets the eye.  Then again, when you really consider the whole issue of identities, isn’t the fact hidden and camouflage identities are significant reasons for people to be more drawn to Web-based communities, where they can express interests more openly, without inhibitions under their concealed identities.

And, as an end note, Yes Alex, socializing IS far more fun than school work.  I miss those days…..

 

Hi Amanda, I was just wondering, why the date is appearing as 14^th, when it is still 13^th.  I am not sure whether this has been happening throughout, I only noticed it today.

Revelation …………..

Hi guys it is Tthe Friday the Thirteenth ooopsy!

 

I know this may sound flaky, but, I HAVE to share this ….. even if it makes me look like an idiot!

In the beginning of this course I mentioned that how I do not share the passion may have on blogs, but today, for the first time in my life I understood what people are talking about.  How, social software and blogs could play a daunting role at certain times.  Let me tell you why the sudden change of heart…..

I heard this song “Vincent” or “starry starry nights” many years ago, and I was haunted by that song ever since.  I did not understand the full meaning of the song as it was mostly based on abstract concepts of the artist, Vincent.  Further, I do not have a theology background.  But, there was something about this song …. I could not overcome.  Today, I found a blog that discussed the lyrics of this song……. that is when it hit me…..some kind people have explained the meaning of the song and published the lyrics…. How wonderful!  Blogs ARE a great way of sharing things and learning things that you are most passionate about.  It creates various threads of thoughts in different directions and sets you out on exploring on them. 

It is funny how a single incident within a split second could change your whole perception on something.  So, I hear all of you out there……..loud and clear…… I formally apologize to everyone for being a skeptic all this time.

Now, I have a sudden urge to read the biography of Van Gough and understand how his mental illness played a compelling role on his work…. hmmmm ….

Hi Amanda, I was just wondering, why the date is appearing as 14^th, when it is still 13^th.

Week 10 – Social networks – readings

               It is almost possible for one to be misapprehended that social networks exist only within the Web-world.   Though Social networking is a growing field of study that seems to make a huge buzz among the contemporary community, the phenomenon of Social networks has been around since the dawn of time, only the identification of the term is new – human civilization was based and found upon sharing, storing, and dissemination of individual knowledge.  I certainly was under a false impression that social networking is mostly used by teens to “stay cool” and by professionals as a vehicle of knowledge generation.  This idea is backed up by the articles Barrett, whose piece humorously exemplifies how popular these tools are among the teens; Williams’ article exhibits his personal enthusiasm and pride he takes in being a part of the network almost at its inception.  I certainly was surprised to realize that Web social networks are a common place for everyman.  This notion of social networks attracts contemporary professionals from various industry segments.  And, these individuals are attempting to explore helpful and secure methods of using these tools. 

              As mentioned in Roush’s article DOPA and other legislations are trying to stop the abuse of the useful intentions of these tools.  However, Jenkins raises a very valid contention to DOPA.  When analyzing the matter even on the surface, I too accept that legislating exclusion strategies may hinder the potential usage of these networks, and the irony is these social networks were founded upon the principle of inclusion and proliferation.  However, with all due respect to security and individual privacy, I am biased towards Jenkins on this matter; simply because my personal belief is alleviating the disparity of access to knowledge is the future.  Moreover, our profession, information science, is based upon this concept.  I do not think I have enough knowledge to agree or oppose the matter; I should be better read on the topic to table my thoughts in a constructive manner.  However, one does get a comfortable feeling about the social networks and about its future upon realizing that there are active initiatives that are emerging to make these common spaces more secure.

Week 10 – Social networks

Nice presentation guys.  It made me feel bad about my blog (ooops!)  

It is wonderful how yasns wiki uses social network to construct the “history” of social networks.  This was a very good blog and it also gave me the bright idea of how to collect and pool knowledge by different people on subjects that I am interested in.  Though, the blog contributors traces the early inception of online social networks to 1988 AOL, I had trouble finding materials to backup this statement; however, the blog by Christopher Allen, a blog that I trust and keep track of frequently gives some insights on the social software history.   I have to say that I do not like Hi5.  Though I am not crazy about Facebook, it does provide benefits –  I particularly like the way it allows discussions threads on topics in a very user-friendly manner.  Since these are the networks that I have used for a considerably long time, I am unable to critic on the other networks.  

It is disappointing that how everybody concentrate on the north-American based organizations when it comes to technology.  There are many social networks and initiatives that are non-American based, south Asia in particular.    

I also encourage you to take a look at the below materials, a couple of links for some of the articles I read on Social netwroks

• News release on 3D social networking by Mobinode.  
• Social network conference Website in Asia
• Businessweek article on cloning of popular networks  
•  A blog on social network stats

One of the businessweek articles mentioned that firms are installing enterprise software that automatically tracks employee e-mail to unearth potentially useful relationships with executives at other firms for sales purposes.   Other than job posting networks executives also use these sites to re-establish contact with former colleagues and to open doors to new relationships.

Week 8- Comments – Qingyi, Mike, Leah, and others

As mentioned by others – great post Qingyi.  Very clear, especially the table.

When I read through the comments and thoughts of the group, I realized that we all seem to share somewhat similar feelings about the topic and on the readings, though there were variations.

We all seem to agree on the advantages and the future of folksonomy and how much the contemporary e-reader relies on these tools.  We also seem to share the same thoughts on the limitations of the traditional categorizing tools and how these folksonomy mitigate these barriers through their flexible and democratic nature that was brought in by the user communities.  Some of the other predominant thoughts of the group were

• For Folksonomies no expertise are required
• The revolutionary of  Folksonomies
• Gaining insights to others thoughts and behaviors
• Leverage the “long tail – As mentioned by Mike and his argument on not everybody is on the web and into tagging.  However, though everybody is not an e-reader, similarly many of these non e-readers are interested in tagging or categorizing either.

 It is also interesting how the wisdom of crowds seem to have captured most of us, including Leah!

Week 8- Comments – Iris

As you’ve mentioned it is interesting considering the way Carol Ou discusses how folksonomy could be useful in categorizing e-journals. Categorizing e-journal otherwise could be a tedious job because their dynamic and fluid nature.