Geocaching: Does it make it easier or more difficult to communicate?

After experiencing Geocaching for the first time I am quite intrigued. It amazes me that we can use so many types of technology and yet still have a difficult time deciphering messages. For example, I was the reporter for my group and I was tweeting while we were searching around campus for the cache. Even though I was tweeting in what I thought was great detail, the central station could not understand the context of my messages. This played an important part especially when it came to interpreting the clues that individuals were tweeting. The clues were fairly simple but not being able to communicate face to face made it difficult to solve the puzzle. I never knew that something like geocaching existed, but it was a lot of fun and definitely a learning experience. I had never really participated in a game that depended on using technology to communicate with others in order to win. You would think that as advanced as technology is it would make it easier to communicate, but maybe it is still up to us to clearly express our ideas.

The Experience of the Emerging Technology Poster Session

Going into every project during college you have certain expectations on how you think it is going to go, what might go wrong, how easy or difficult it may be, but then sometimes you are wrong. I am not technology savvy so when the assignment of emerging technology poster session came up, you could say I was not thrilled. Needless to say, I found the Skiff Reader, an emerging technology that was very interesting to me.

The Skiff Reader is similar to the Ipad but it is flexible, more durable, personalized, and could have a huge effect on educational institutions and students. Right now the Skiff Reader allows the user to download their favorite magazines, newspapers, periodicals, etc. and eventually could lead to downloading textbooks as well. What's so great about this technology is that it may have the capability to download all of your textbooks on the Skiff Reader and only carry 1 lb. around campus instead of a 25 lb. book bag.

Also it is giving society exactly what we ask for! We want personalization, we want ubiquity of access, we want to always be connected to society and know what's going on. The Skiff Reader provides us with that capability. It satifies the "always on" feeling that society has when it comes to technology. Also with our crazy college lives there is always something unusual that happens and luckily the Skiff Reader is extremely durable, scratch proof, crack proof, and can be dropped and not break!

The experience of explaining my technology to other students during the poster session was very helpful for a few different reasons. First off, it helped me learn our lecture material because I had to teach them about my technology and how it connected to class. Also it was fun! I never thought I would say it, but it was, I was knowledgable on something that never would interest me at a passing glance. But most of all I felt accomplished when it was all said and done, my poster was efficeint in attracting "tweeters" and getting the information across clearly. Thank you for providing me with this experience.

How the Media is no longer sitting on the front porch

Back in the day our parents used to play in the front yard, while their parents socialized with the neighbors on the side walk or on the front porch. When is the last time you saw that happen? Well it’s probably been a while because times are changing, life is more fast paced, kids are playing Wii inside, parents are working long hours or prefer to relax and watch Food Network inside rather than socializing with the neighbors. This was exactly what lecture addressed when concerning a main issue related to media and community. The issue I would like to address is that the media is recreating our communities through the media that is available to us today.

Through new social medias we are able to get rid of inequalities of many sorts including race, gender, age, socio economic status, because online you can have your privacy settings to where no one is able to access this information. Media is also improving education, for example when we set up a Wiki in class to help everyone study for the Midterm. Before this class I had no idea what a Wiki was, but thanks to social media we are now able to collaborate our knowledge and ideas to better our education. More people than ever are participating in social media because it does provide a sense of community when you have a hectic schedule and don’t get to see your friends. By all of us using all of these media tools we are helping the e-commerce each time we use a media tool.

So the thought I would like to bring to point is that the media is reshaping what we now know as community. A community now consists of individuals that follow your weblog, students that contribute to your Wiki, people that follow your Tweets. Will we ever return to the front porch scenario? Probably not, but are we just as connected as before in our social media community? Couldn’t my tweet feeds be my front porch?

The Influence of Social Networking on YOU!

Using social networks is becoming an everyday activity that we do not typically think twice about. In lecture we discussed how influential we are to others in our social network, and how influenced we are by others. It was said, who you know affects what you know. I can think of a specific instance with this because I am exposed to various websites and numerous people through the people that I know.

My friend Katie sent me a request to add a webpage to my Facebook and by doing so she exposed me to the information on the website along with the other Facebook users that visit the same website. Anything that I contribute to that website others see and now have the knowledge that I have shared. The people that I communicate with or at minimum are just exposed to, affect what I know because they can talk about a certain topic on the website, and then I am informed about that topic.

Information, attitudes, and behaviors are also transferred through a social networking technology. Anyone can express information, and through that you might be able to see their attitude towards a topic, and also if they take action; We are influenced by it all.

Use technology and collaborate YOUR knowledge!

The Internet has allowed us the ability to expand our knowledge by working together, sharing information, and producing new knowledge. I believe we all take for granted the ability to obtain information at any time, quickly, and at the click of a button. The beauty of the Internet is that one individual can be in Japan while working with another individual that is in Indiana and they are able to collaborate their ideas and share knowledge with one another. Another aspect about technology and collaboration is that it has become a way of life.

We send emails, instant messages, host a video conference, along with many of forms of communication and it has become a way of life, not just using technology. When you send an email to your co-worker to see what time the meeting is, you are subconsciously working together to make sure that you get to the meeting at the right time and your co-worker is working with you to make sure you know what time to arrive at the meeting. Highly intelligent technology is usually only available to a few individuals that can afford it, but now the way that businesses and people communicate is becoming mainstream and like I said before, a way of life.

With the power of the Internet it makes it possible for more people to have access to more knowledge and also allows more individuals to work collaboratively on various projects. Sunstein claims that this is known as Infotopia; obtaining collective knowledge via collaboration. There are many aspects of collaboration that we participate in without even realizing it. For example, when you are video conferencing with another individual you are able to brainstorm, and pick out the strong ideas while throwing out the weak ones in order to come to a solution; you are producing knowledge. Deliberation, also known as talking as a group, can occur through an email, an instant message, a memo, among many other forms of technology. Often enough we are more concerned with the knowledge being shared than the technology that is allowing us to share that knowledge. Technology makes it possible for us to collaborate and come up with the best ideas in the most efficient manner. I wonder, if technology was not as advanced as what it is today, would we be limited to the knowledge that we have, and the knowledge that we could share? Next time you use technology to collaborate your knowledge, take a second to think how you would communicate without technology.

Is Complete Convergence Possible?

After discussing convergence in class it really made me question the possibility of it. In class we talked about how convergence is an ongoing never ending process. I honestly think that at the rate that our technology is progressing I could see it being possible that almost everything could be accessed by one device. Think about it, as of now the iphone has multiple applications for banking, music, entertainment, games, pictures, and basically anything else you could possibly want. Of course you will still have people that will use desk top computers and read the actual physical newspaper, but then there will be those technology hungry individuals that crave the new convergence.

Again I want to verify that I am not saying that there will one day be one piece of technology that dominates over all of the other forms of technology. I am saying that I think it is possible that you will be able to access anything from one device, whether that be a phone or another piece of technology. There will be people out there that will pounce on this device as soon as it is available because everyone wants an easier, user-friendly, fun, small, portable device where they can take care of anything that they need. It is only a matter of time, as mentioned in lecture before technology is every where. Some countries will access it slower than others, but eventually it will reach all parts of the earth, and when that happens the demand will be even greater. The reason being is that usually once individuals have access once to a highly intelligent piece of technology, they will want it.

Everyone knows that the use of social media is addicting and I believe we can tribute some of that to convergence among our technologies. With creators of these technologies getting more and more innovative and coming up with easier, fun, and interactive ways for people to communicate the trend for social media and highly intelligent technological devices will continue to grow. Is convergence who we thank for this? Or have we allowed ourselves to accept the proposed idea of technology being a necessity?

Twisted Insight to Weblog Story

After reading the NY Times story entitled, "A Beautiful Life, an Early Death, a Fraud Exposed" I feel that I have come into a twisted world where no one knows the difference between real and fiction. Countless individuals read about a girl named Kaycee that was battling leukemia and fighting to stay alive. Based on what her readers thought, she was a friendly, strong, independent girl that just wanted to share her story with the world and express her experiences with battling leukemia. Little did they know that this was a complete hoax. A mother invented Kaycee as a fictional character and claimed to not have any intentions to hurt anyone in the process, it was pure entertainment.

This story has made me question just what is true, and what is not. The followers of Kaycee's weblog felt for her, sent her care packages, and offered to even pay her a visit. How can people feel so connected with someone through the internet that they feel the need to send them a care package? It is difficult to wrap my head around, but after reading an article from Judith Donath it began to make sense.

The woman who made Kaycee up may have just wanted companionship and so she created a character that she knew people would fall in love with and would want to follow. In a sense I believe that this woman may have been searching for her own identity and by creating Kaycee so that she felt that she was part of a community. As Judith said if readers know about a writer's motivation it will greatly affect how they view what is being said. Although in this case, the readers did not know of the woman's motivation of pure entertainment, and in return she caused heartache to readers around the world.

It is interesting that such a connection can be made between strangers and that social media is the culprit. Because we have the ability to connect with complete strangers, we also have the ability to affect their lives on an intimate level. The idea of what is true and what is not should definately be questioned when communicating with people miles away that are hiding behind screen names.