Wikipedia

How do Wikipedians form consensus?


coming soon....

An Early Goodbye

Here comes the end to my blogging adventure..

It has been a new and cherished experience.. where else would I have succumb to the power of blogger.com!

I hope you have learnt some fascinating new things from my work on here.. who knows, we might meet again one day...

So farewell for now!!!

Traditional vs. New Media- The Showdown

In the Internet age a common question has become apparent, does it make sense to read a newspaper?

Even though 'new media' seems to be overtaking 'traditional media' in the communications horse-race, I have often been confronted with the issue that 'online and global media is killing the newspaper'. Traditional news media is faced with several dominant issues that are influenced by the rise and uptake of the new economy. As the new economy embraces ideas and thoughts, rather than physical capital that was the past, intellectual resources are taking the forefront (Rifkin, 2000: 1). Once dubbed 'the most stable variable apart from sex and date of birth', newspapers are declining due to a number of factors such as the cost, concentration of media and the introduction of online mediums such as blogs, forums, wiki's and online editions (Tunstall, 1971). According to Schoenbach, Waal and Lauf (2005), the widespread introduction of daily online newspapers has helped attract the younger generation; online newspapers will replace printed dailies in future generations as the printed version is not attracting young audiences.

We all know that more and more people are turning to online mediums, with their ongoing development, efficiency and superiority of the Internet (particularly Web 2.0), newspapers are lagging behind with major news breaks and current affair events and the speed of the distribution patterns of daily newspapers is incompetent in comparison to its online counterparts (Tiffen, 2006). Once the dominant channel in media, newspapers have little choice in having to reinvent themselves as the digital media age continues to dictate the future (Hartigan, 2007). A particular form of new media that is becoming an issue for traditional news media is citizen journalism and open source, mainly news blogging. Blogs are a form of online writing, reading and publishing, that promote self expression and leave the field open for people or ‘citizen journalists’ from all walks of life to create their own or contribute on others if permitted. Cunningham & Turner (2006) describe blogs as being, “an online journal, that offer new ways to distribute news, ideas, images, and sounds, and to comment upon, and link to, others work” (272). An important aspect of society these days, blogs free up the ‘playing field,’ kick off new practices and unwrap new spaces for a mass of communities with varied interests. The world is changing, the public wants to be part of the process, contributing to content and sharing information, the term 'passive audience' has become dirty (Hartigan, 2007).

You only have to log onto websites such as perezhilton.com or tmz.com to satisfy your latest celebrity news and gossip craving, or add Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to your Facebook to view the Labor parties current situation, and you can even receive constant worldwide news coverage on websites such as current tv or ninemsn. Overall, these online news sources offer everyday publics' or 'citizen journalists' to bypass governing media bodies to voice their opinions and deliver open sourced news. As Bruns (2008) explains, Internet fan sites, blogs and open source publishing all stand as indicators that the Internet sites with the highest levels of investment in resources do not necessarily research the widest audience. Not only this, but mainstream media like CCN and daily newspapers have turned to blogs and 'citizen journalists' for reliable and up-to-date sourcing, and are using these online mediums as a determinant for public opinion. As Hartigan (2007) explains, "newspapers are far from dead" but the challenge for the traditional media is to become part of the online scene (Hartigan in AAP, 2007).

In my opinion the decline of printed newspapers was inevitable, with the increased accessibility and growth of the Internet, online mediums seem more attractive. Newspapers are not dead, nor will they soon be forgotten, but they will one day permanently shift to global and online media.

References:

Cunningham, S., and Tuners, G. (2006). The Media and Communications in Australia. Crows Nest: Allen and Unwin.

Hartigan, P. (2007). Online Age Revolutionising Traditional Media. Australian National News Wire (AAP). August 7.
http://gateway.library.qut.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&dc=anh&AN=74C252985&site=ehost-live
(accessed May 12).

Rifkin, J. (2000). The Weightless Economy. In the age of access: how the shift from ownership to access is transforming modern life. Sydney: Penguin.

Schoenbach, K., Waal, E., and Lauf, E. (2005). Research Note: Online and Print Newspapers: Their Impact on the Extent of the Perceived Public Agenda. European Journal of Communication. London: SAGE Publications.

Tiffen, R. (2006). ‘The Press’, in S. Cunningham and G. Tuners (eds) The Media and Communications in Australia. Crows Nest: Allen and Unwin.

Tunstall, J. (1971). Journalists at Work. London: Constable.

Citizen Journalism- Quality Evaluation

How do communities evaluate quality?


It has to be said that this questions can be answered on many different platforms and in a million different ways. For the purpose of this blog, the question will focus on 'citizen journalism' with regards to community quality evaluation. Citizen journalism is an act that has turned into a horse-race between 'little' bloggers and 'big' media.

Citizen Journalism is generally known as 'participatory' journalism', the act of citizens playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analysing and distributing news and information. Best classified as journalism created by non-journalists. The 'act' generally includes DIY media content such as stories, images and video sources, open publishing and public discussions where commenting plays a very strong and important role (Bruns, 2008). As Axel Bruns explains, "citizen journalism and its allied forms of open news coverage (including news-related blogs) have developed a sophisticated array of processes, tools, and technologies for doing so, which are in place in different configurations across the Websites of the movement" (70).

Citizen journalism is an extension of a long-term trend, started from hard-copy/printing media, the activity has increased with the upsurge of Web 2.0. Personally, I celebrate the practice as it challenges mainstream media and brings real issues into light. It also allows 'us' citizens to bypass media governing bodies and red-tape to express ourselves in full form. As Bruns (2007) explains, "this dearth of alternative perspectives in the mainstream media (snidely abbreviated as 'MSM' by many citizen journalists and news bloggers) has become one of the major motivating factors for the establishment of prodused alternatives to industrial modes of news production" (71).

The question of credibility and quality often comes into consideration because of its sources- the 'citizen' journalism. Sourcing and credibility is often the underlying factor for community insecurity and open source unreliability. Katty S sums this up perfectly in some of her findings as she explains that, "The quality of any citizen journalism project reflects the contributions of those who choose to participate, and such projects can be havens for triviality or unreliable content. At the same time, many users are inclined to trust material they find online, particularly if it is called “news”. Look at examples such as Indymedia and Wikipedia, who are often questioned and critised for 'poor quality' content, but are still considered some of the most used, quoted and researched information sources on the Internet. When evaluating 'content quality' it is important not to police the system, otherwise the 'collaborative processes' often become like their controlled mainstream counterparts.

Overall, citizen journalism has both its strengths and weaknesses and I believe that it is an individuals choice to decide what sources to trust, read, believe or take-in. Mainstream media is often 'controlled' and misrepresents the truth or 'plays-around' with the story to adhere to audiences and regulatory bodies. All in all, I believe it is vital to have a variety of sources to help distinguish proper news and current events in all perspectives.

I know that I would be lost without my healthy daily dose of perezhilton!!

Internet Advertising

Advertising- Will Internet replace traditional advertising?


Advertising is derived from Latin which means 'to turn the mind toward'. Advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, good and services by an identified sponsor. Advertising has always been shaped by technology. Radio did not replace newspapers but served to different audience needs, likewise with TV and the Internet. There are many changes that come from the Internet revolution, accepting the evolution from a simplified marketing/advertising concepts to a communication concept. It is now a process wherein the advertising agency enables, engages, facilitates, sustains and rewards interactivity between consumers and advertising throughout the entire consumption cycle.

Communication message becomes multidimensional and transaction, from intrusive communication to invited conversation. The beauty of open source and produsage is that consumers are actively seeking out and requesting advertising better known as 'invitational advertising'. Web advertising has become the greatest phenomena in advertising, through many different mediums, here are some examples:

- Banners and buttons, skyscrapers, pop-ups, direct e-mail, web commercials, video streaming, games, dynamic buttons, audio, radio and online TV.

According to Bauer and Scharl (2000, 31) and Holeckova and Li (2005, 77) a website must initially uphold east of access and an understandable technical system whereby connection to a website is quick and easy. Whereas an overly sophisticated website is more like to diver users away as the majority of users do have excessive understanding of complex technologies (Siegel 2006, 295).

Personally, I believe that the Internet has already changed the face of advertising, but it has not and will not replace traditional advertising for generations to come. The lack or speed of Internet connections in some markets will take years to catch up to western countries and the growing anti-spam or pop-up ad blockers can definitely stall the 'effectiveness' of the online advertising process. Finally, in today's era there are no set practices for consumers, with so much open source media, consumer patterns and response rates are unpredictable making it even harder to measure success or failure of certain advertising.


References:

Bauer, C. and Scharl, A. 2000. Quantitive evaluation of a Web site content and structure. Internet Reseach. Bradford, 10 (1): 31.

Holeckova, K. and Li, S. 2005. Evaluation of UK car insurance brokers’ websites: some preliminary findings. Marketing Intelligence and Planning. Bradford, 23
(1): 77.

Siegel, C. F. 2006. Internet Marketing – Foundations and
Applications. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company

Open Source and Commercial Production

How source work (as an example of community produsage) different from commercial production?

Open source work aspired as an abstract from open source culture which is a creative practice of activity which is predominantly focused on free 'sharing' of created content. Open source is generally centred around participatory culture, where participants can modify content and and redistribute or share it. The upsurge in open source work is a result of 20th century's battle between restrictive intellectual property laws and policies such as copyright and modern creative practices. The idea pf 'open source' often correlates with the term 'free' as produsage has resulted in free and open-source software that has allowed creative commoners to adopt free intellectual licensing techniques. Ultimately, this has resulted in a widespread of content information and creation which has pushed the business model to provide services around the software, unlike with closed 'commercial' source models where the business models resulted in selling finished software packages. Commercial produsage is sometimes more beneficial as it does not rely on size and viability of a 'community', unlike open source work which is often developmental in areas that are of most interest in the community. Benefits and differences of open source work include:

- Faster development and a greater resource horizon

- Ability to explore multiple solutions quickly

- Development in direct response to user requests and suggestions

- Immediate release of new revisions

- A growth of greater transparacy

- No costs of software purchase and upgrades.

(Bruns, 2008).

A Pirates Treasure- Music, Movies & More

A topic that has been a forefront of media and communication is 'piracy', a robbery not committed at sea- music, movie and TV pirates are considered thieves, plain and simple. It happens when you download movies for free, burn free downloaded CD's from the Internet and even when you jump online to watch that missed episode of your favourite show. What happens when people download or stream free online when they can't afford to go to the movies, or even when they live in countries where everyday shows like 'The Simpsons' are regulated and banned by governing bodies? They are still considered thieves!

Music piracy has been a major hotplate in media since the 1990's, with movie piracy hot on its heel. However, in today’s era, technology has been advancing society and businesses- but not without a price. Speedy Internet connections, high capacity storage availability, and underground peer-to-peer networks on the Internet have opened the gates of piracy wide open (Al-Rafee and Cronan, 2007). The MPA (2005) describes piracy as the unauthorised downloading, taking, copying or use of copyrighted materials without permission and recognised the act as a growing international phenomenon with serious consequences. The most costly and damaging of all is the experience dubbed 'Software Piracy 2.0', a type of digital piracy defined as
'the illegal copying/downloading of copyrighted software and media files' (Cronan and Al-Rafee, 2007: 2).

Since the introduction of the 'original' peer-to-peer media distributor Napster in 1999, the music industry has taken the hardest hit in pirated digital downloading. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), there was a 31% decline in music sales from 1999 to 2002, which was primarily a result of piracy (Feuilherade in Al-Rafee and Cronan, 2007). Today file-sharing programs have paved the way for piracy by torrent-based websites such as Limewire, and Mininova. Due to the growth of Internet and file-sharing a new type of pressure has been placed on the music industry with most media industries opening digital music stores such as iTunes. However, this 'fluid' phenomena has now taken a competitive peak through a battle of digital rights management and price wars over which online music store will have the best prices. Still, it has to be considered that some digital stores pump their prices higher, therefore pushing consumers to download illegally.

In an attempt to shut-down piracy, initiatives such as 'The Industry Trust' have been established to try and tackle copyright breaches, and protect intellectual property. Furthermore, bands such as Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails are releasing their albums free on their websites in an attempt to make piracy useless. Following in similar footsteps, Coldplay has released a few free 'preview' songs from their new album 'Viva La Vida' for a week but insists they will not do a 'Radiohead'. All in all, in this avalanche of peer-to-peer file sharing and free downloads where music insiders leak albums, and the ever rising participatory culture and growth of Web 2.0 it is evident that digital piracy is here to stay.

It is in my opinion that piracy itself was unavoidable and the growth of digital piracy was to be expected. Firstly, cost-efficient and timely attributes have made digital piracy attractive options to everyone, not just those with minimum access to music. Furthermore, the music industry's shift to digital and their 'modern' distribution patterns will provide an ongoing piracy legacy.

References:

Al-Rafee, S. and Cronan, T. (2007) 'Factors that Influence the Intention to Pirate Software and Media'. Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 78, pp 527-545: Springer.

Motion Picture Association of America (MPA). (2005) https://mpaa.org/piracy.asp (Accessed May 15, 2008).

Gaming Culture & Web 2.0

The electronic gaming culture is a growing phenomenon of a new media that has been inspired by video and computer games. The gaming industry has increased in popularity over the years it has resulted in a frenzy of enthusiasm that has escalated in a passionate gaming sub-culture. Today, the impact of the gaming culture of video and computer games has influences television, politics, Hollywood and even popular music. As the gaming culture has exploded it has often endured many skeptic theories and negative attention.

Electronic gaming is a media sensation that has been completely influenced large masses of individuals all interested and influenced by computer and video games. The expansion of technology and the upgrades in electronic material have caused a mountain of popularity and ultimately picked-up many social fads and consumer created content. The gaming culture has expanded with the introduction of new technologies such as Web 2.0 and has impacted most societal groups with its’ large ability to interact and socialize worldwide, resulting in an upsurge in gaming social networks and user-created content.

As Jenkins states, "much video game play is social", funnily enough this is contrary to most popular belief. Almost sixty percent of frequent gamers play with friends. Thirty-three percent play with siblings and twenty-five percent play with spouses and parents. Even games designed for single players are often played socially, with one person giving advice to another holding a joystick. A growing number of games are designed for multiple players — for either cooperative play in the same space or online play with distributed players. Gaming researchers have invested many hours observing online communities interact with and react to violent video games, concluding that meta-gaming (conversation about game content) provides a context for thinking about rules and rule-breaking (Jenkins, Undated). It is evident through the information above that ‘normal’ social interaction is governed and practiced through gaming cultures even with the lapsed fantasies presented on the gaming console.


Jenkins, H. (Undated)."Reality Bytes: Eight Myths about Video Games Debunked." PBS,
http://www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/impact/myths.html.
(accessed, May 8, 2008).

Web 2.0

How is Web 2.0 different from Web 1.0?

The vast change from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 has not only changed the face of business but has completely altered the online environment. Tom O'Riely perflectly outlines his view of Web 2.0 as 'the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform and an attempt to understand the rules of success on the new platform'. Web 2.0 technology is a modern trend throughout the World Wide Web and web design that provides a platform for collaborative technologies and information sharing that not only facilitates creativity but also provides a home for online communitites that ultimately promotes content creation and collaboration among it's users. These collaborative technologies and concepts have ultimately led to an evolutionary generation and palimpsestic development of collaverative online communities and the growth of social software such as wiki's which collect, connect, share knowledge.

Web 2.0 websites enable users to interact, unlike Web 1.0 which is just used as a platform from retrieving information. 'Produsers' can now build on the interactive facilities of 'Web 1.0' to present 'online networking' computer technology. Web 2.0 websites generally characterise a user-friendly interface, where most sites include the social-networking perspective. Web 2.0 is now classified as the 'particpatory web' whereas Web 1.0 is characterised as a information source.

O'Riely exhibits the following rules of Web 2.0 as...

1. Don't treat software as an artifact, but as a process of engagement with your users.

2. Open your data and services for re-use, but others, and re-use data and services of others whenever possible.

3. Don't think of applications that reside on either client or server, but build applications that reside in the space between devices.

Overall, the emergence of Web 2.0 technology has greatly impacted on a new societal change preferably seen as DIY communitites. The growth, evolution and development of various domains include bases such as open source software, online publishing (blogs, open news), media sharing and creative practice ( YouTube, Flikr), knowledge management (Wikipedia, del.icio.us), geotagging and viral marketing which are changing the face of not only online technologies but offline culture as well.

GET A second LIFE!!!

The line between the real world and virtual reality is becoming harder to draw. Web 2.0 or social software offers the public an online platform to connect in a wide range of genres such as music, social networking, careers, sports, film and television, and ultimately helps create millions of different cultures. In today's online era, you rarely have to go far to make yourself known on websites such as Youtube, or make a million new friends on MySpace, and even start a romantic relationship on AdultMatcher.com. Given the various open source phenomena, it seems that this is not enough, companies are now introducing entire life-altering worlds at the click of a mouse. Secondlife.com is the latest phenomenon that allows you to be virtually reborn, it is often described as a mix between The Sims and MySpace where users are digitally transformed into characters known as 'avatars' (Secondlife.com). The online community allows you to interact and meet new people, work, shop, buy and sell land, and even engage in sexual activity- basically anything you would do in the real world and more.

The popularity of Second Life has completely escalated with over 13 million worldwide registered accounts, not only this, the virtual residents of the digital continent trade, buy and sell in 'the marketplace' which currently supports millions of US dollars in monthly transaction with the in-world trade of the 'Linden Dollar' (SecondLife.com). The introduction of this virtual community has provided the basis of a 'significant paradigm shift' (Bruns, 2008), where the rise of social software stands to have a profound impact on social practices, the media, economic and legal frameworks (Bruns, 2008). The perfect example is in the produsage and produsers, as residents of Second Life retain intellectual rights they are surrounded by their own and fellow community members creations. As Bruns (2008) explains, "Second Life operator Linden Lab's decision to break with standard industry practice in allowing its community to retain copyright over its contributions is commercially exploiting produsers without remuneration or acknowledgement"(p. 4).

This context of user-led content creation needs to be challenged as real-life problems are beginning to plague the virtual world. Second Life enthusiasts are realising the world as having limits, with activity such as illegal gambling, tax-free commerce, child pornography and bestiality currently practiced in the virtual community. You only have to hear the words 'age-play' to be concerned with the open-mindedness of the virtual reality, the practice has recently come under serious scrutiny as it has been discovered that adults are engaging in sexual activities with avatars made to look like children and the lack of law and limits makes it unlikely to press charges (Terdiman, 2006). One of the major appeal of Second Life is the freedom and privacy of the online community making it harder for the website to restrict illicit activity without loosing registrations.

Even with its ignominies, I personally recognise the significant of Second Life as a useful online tool. The collaborative environment breaks down the boundaries between producers and consumers and allows participants to share information and knowledge, become filmmakers, musicians, university students, tycoons and housewives. As with any online community there are problems and scandals but you only have to see the formation of a complete online economy to really realise the value of this virtual phenomena that allows people to be creative, worldly and free. All in all, if this trend persists, the balance between mass and networked media will continue to further shift in favour of us 'citizens'.


References:

Bruns, A (2008). The Future Is User-Led: The Path Towards Widespread Produsage. (http://produsage.org/files/The%20Future%20Is%20User-Led%20(PerthDAC%202007).pdf
(accessed May 13, 2008).

Bruns, A (2008). Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life, and Beyond: From Production to Produsage. News Blogs and Citizen Journalism: Perpetual Collaboration in Evaluating the News (p.69-100). PeterLang: New York

Terdiman, D. (2006). Phony Kids, Virtual Sex. Cnetnews.com. http://www.news.com/Phony-kids,-virtual-sex/2100-1043_3-6060132.html
(accessed May 14, 2007).

Online Communitites

There are three specific questions that will be addressed...




Why do online communities organise themselves?



Firstly, in the networked environment individuals have limited ability to change certain areas such as technoloculture frameworks and are generally bombarded with information overload. Conversely, in online communities, people are able to create their own technocultures whilst easily managing and evaluating information and gaining strength in numbers (Bruns, 'Online Communitites', 2007). As explained by Bruns in the week 6 'Online Communities' podcast, the benefits of online communities include: new forms of personal and community identity, community interests, new forms of collaboration and social organisation, active user participation as content creators, ability to operate in fields of interest neglected by mainstream media, business, politics, research etc., and the ability to build cooperative networks with other communities. As Ridings and Gefen (2004) explain, 'social psychology has found that people join groups in general for both feelings of affiliation and belonging as well as for information and aid in goal achievement'.

How do online communitites organise themselves?

When looking at online communities it is important to analyse the impact of community power. Evidently, the upserge of online communities has escalated in an transferral from offline to online powers in relation to factors such as cultural institutions, media practices, knowledge management, political movements and even economic factors (Bruns, 'Online Communities, 2007). Amy Kim (2000) proposed the following memebership life cycle for online communities, she explains that members of virtual communities begin their life in a community as a visitor or lurker (in technical terms). After breaking spending some time in the community people become novices and beging to participate in the community life. After some contributions for a sustained period these contributors become regulars and if they break through another level barrier they are seen as leaders and after contributing for some time these people become elders. A similar model can be found in the works of Lave and Wenger, who illustrate a cycle of how users become incorporated into virtual communities using the principles of legitimate peripheral participation. They suggest five types of trajectories amongst a learning community:

Peripheral (i.e. Lurker) – An outside, unstructured participation

Inbound (i.e. Novice) – Newcomer is invested in the community and heading towards full participation

Insider (i.e. Regular) – Full committed community participant

Boundary (i.e. Leader) – A leader, sustains membership participation and brokers interactions

Outbound (i.e. Elder) – Process of leaving the community due to new relationships, new positions, new outlooks.

What does it require?

good morning.. good afternoon.. good evening & good night

good morning... this morning was pretty slow.. amazing but slow.. i hate traffic.. nearly 2 accidents...

good afternoon.. im currently here.. uni is fun.. hard.. and the calamari here is good... and this is the start of my new and exciting world of blogging for this particular little subject called Virtual Cultures.

good evening...not here yet.. but will be... assignmenting fun & maybe a bit of facebook action..

good night.. i don't know about tonight but last night was.. ended it with some free krispy kreme donuts!!!

So enjoy my 'educational' and hopefully insightful future blogs!