Week 7 - 4th September - Essay Topic

For the online essay assignment I have chosen to deconstruct and analyse the essay question:

1. Does the extensive use of computer/video games have an adverse impact on the health of young people. What are the most recent papers? Clarify what all sides of the argument claim and only then offer your reasoned opinion based on facts.

Week 6 - 28th August. Political Activism

Post 1)

Local Member for South Brisbane: Jackie Trad (ALP)

State representative of Queensland:  Sue Boyce (LP)

Federal Representative Queensland: Premier Campbell Newman (LP)

http://www.qgd.qld.gov.au/nma006.html

When will the NBN reach your area? The NBN will reach the area of South Brisbane in December 2013 and finish work in March 2015.

What are the benefits of the NBN?

The benefits of having the NBN would be higher connectivity and internet access in my area.

http://www.nbnco.com.au/rollout/rollout-map.html

E – Petitions:

You can find a variety of current and close online E-Petitions at this government website: http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/work-of-assembly/petitions/e-petitions

I recently signed the ‘Saving Koala’s” E-Petition, because I feel it is important to protect and support the native wildlife of Australia. Signature number #9340104.

What are the Australian Government's plans to censor the internet (the so-called "Clean Feed")?

The government and the current communications Minister Conroy are pushing for an internet filtering system that has the potential to block out 1000-10,000 URLS. The system is argued by critics to be a waste of tens and millions of tax payer dollars if this ‘clean feed’ filtering system was to be approved. Although its key purpose would be to protect children from inappropriate material and predators, it is argued by critics that regardless of ‘clean feed’, predators and hackers will still have access to them.

You can learn more about this issue at: http://nocleanfeed.com/learn.html

Or subscribe and contribute to the Blog at: https://www.efa.org.au/category/censorship/mandatory-isp-filtering/

Post 2) Cyberpolitics and E-Democracy:

Week six has been an interesting and insightful one. I found the tutorial and discussion questions pretty intriguing as I have never thought about my role in regards to e-petitions and writing to my local member. I didn’t know too much about my local members and what they represent and what they stand for. It was pretty unnerving that I actually couldn’t answer any of the questions without a goog-ling them, even though I do watch the news regularly. It made me reflect and think about how many political issues that never make the mainstream news. It made me glad to gain this information as it has made me more focused and aware on things that I thought a low level civilian like me had no say in, that I can actually have a say in issues and voice my opinions via the internet. I think it’s interesting how the internet and connectivity and even social media can change and serve as a platform for political activism.

Week 5 Task Responses, 21st August.

Survey Rationale;

This survey on social media use was created as I was interested to collect information on how, why and what my fellow peers use social media for.

I have sent ten emails out to my friends and family to seek to find why social media is popular and what main uses do people have for it.

So far I have had zero responses to my survey.

Task 2)
Which social media do you use regularly?

At the moment I currently use Facebook and Instagram most regularly. They are interlinked websites and they are a good way to keep in contact with your friends and see what they are doing from day to day. Instagram is more based on photos where the only writing that is involved is captions or other peoples comments on photos, while Facebook is reading, writing and photos.

What do you get out of Social Media?

I guess I am a little ashamed to say it, but I love the stalking factor of social media. I like that I know what people are doing, what they are eating and where they are eating it. I found it’s a good way to pick up on new trends and trendy areas. It is a platform where lots of different people and tastes come together and we can all share our knowledge, tips and thoughts with each other via photos or status updates.

Is your use of social media going up? Down? Changing to a different platform?

My social media use at this current time is actually going down. Maybe because I am getting a bit older (21-22) and have other things to worry about rather than taking selfies (photos of myself) and putting them on the internet. I also don’t feel the need to have a lot of attention anymore, as opposed to when I was younger (17-19.) In many ways I think I am genuinely starting to grow out of most things that used to attract me to social media originally. At this point in time I use social media (Facebook mostly) to keep in contact with friends and family who are overseas.

Task 3)

This week’s lecture started off with some discussion about social media and more predominantly it turned into, social media vs. the news. The imperative role of social media was discussed in the quick widespread global news of Michael Jackson’s death in 2010. As many people found out about his death via the internet and social media sites, rather than on a news story on the television. It was really quite interesting as a few years ago; breaking news would have to have first been filtered through journalists and then delivered to the public via newspaper, radio or television. These days all you need is a smart phone handy to deliver breaking news and access to the internet. It got me thinking about to how daily newspapers are becoming a redundant source for news and how long it will take for television news programs to suffer the same fate, even though they are very relevant today, they too will probably not have a place in years to come just like newspapers have become less popular every year.

It is easy to suggest that with over six billion people in the world and with the help of the internet, the world has turned into a global village and everything has become ‘Glocal.’ With the word  ‘media’ becoming a broad term and now not limited to television, radio or newspaper it has diversified the meaning of communication. This is pretty cool.

-Traditional media vs new media. (2011, Sep 06). Daily News, pp. n/a. Retrieved from    http://search.proquest.com.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/docview/887539018?accountid=1454.

Week 5 - August 21st - Survey Monkey !

I want to know what you all think of Social Media. Take this survey to help me find out your thoughts! Thanks!

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.
 

A bit of Daft Punk 'Tecnologic' to brighten up the Blogosphere

Week 4 - 14th August

Post 1)

What is Cyberspace?

As discussed in Martin Lister’s article, New Media: a critical introduction (2009) cyberspace is discussed as ‘a working concept.’ This ‘working concept’ is described as a new media world that allows one to escape into a community like atmosphere that is separate and unlike any other (Lister et al.) Although critics of cyberspace may argue it contains dystopian like features, anti-social elements and potential threats (such as cyber predators), it is used by many to escape their mundane and daily routines. Further into the article it is speculated by theorist Kevin Robins that cyberspace is no more than a ‘rhetorical or ideological construction’, the term ‘cyberspace’ seems to resonate a variety of meanings, meanings (or a relationship) that seem to be only developed between said technology and the individual who uses it.

To ease tension between the varying definitions of ‘cyberspace’, it can be commonly agreed that cyberspace is the space we are "in" during computer-mediated communication (What is Cyberspace?, Michael Bauwens, 1994.) Although there have been many elements of cyberspace that have been scrutinized, Bauwens argues that the idea of cyberspace allows and assists our society in bringing down barriers between language, gender, race and hierarchy (Bauwens 1994.)

I think it is very logical and relevant to have a discussion about the meaning of cyberspace. Whether or not people agree or disagree, it is very arguable that cyberspace and cyber-culture exist.


-Lister, Martin et al (2009) New Media: a critical introduction, London: Routledge, 237-42, 281-3.
-Bauwens, M. 1994, "What Is Cyberspace?", Computers in Libraries, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 42.

Post 2)

Overview of Cyberpunk/Cyberpunk Timeline:

I found the readings on Cyberpunk to be pretty cool. It's like the 'action star genre' of the cyber world.  Lately there seem to be many books/movies created and based around this genre, a recent cyberpunk-ish themed movie that I enjoyed watching was, The Girl with Dragon Tattoo, the movie (originally a book) is based on a rebellious computer hacker. My understanding of cyberpunk is that, cyberpunks are the rebels and activists of the cyber world.

	01/01/1928	The First use of the word 'punk'	The use of the word 'punk' in the early days signified a criminal.
	07/01/1982	Burning Chrome Published	Burning Chrome was published in 1982 by William Gibson and in 1983 it was nominated for a Nebula Award.
	11/02/1983	'Cyberpunk ' short story published	A short story is published by Bruce Bethke in Amazing science Fiction stories. It was supposedly the first use of the term anywhere.
	06/28/1986	John Shirley baffles the elders	in 1986 ,during the Science Fiction Research Association Panel, John Shirley baffled the elders when he said "Cyberpunk or Cyberjunk".
	02/14/1997	Cyberpunk Manifesto Released	In 1997 Christian As.Kirtcher released a Cyberpunk Manifesto.

Reference:

http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/five-history-moments-in-cyberpunk-cyberpunkreview2007-available-athttpwwwcyberpunkreviewcomwikiindexphptitletimeline-accessed-on-the-27th-aug-2012 

Examples of Cyberpunk in 2012

The Russian punk band ‘Pussy Riot’ recently made world headlines when the all-female punk band protested in public setting against current Russian President, Vladimir Putin. The anti-Putin protest resulted in the arrest and prosecution of all three band members and as a result the international community erupted in outrage.   The women are currently still detained in Russia and are facing at least a two year jail sentence for crimes against Russia.

This is all for exercising their right to freedom of speech? It is clear that totalitarianism still exists and Russia is extremely behind the times.

 

Week 3, 7th August 2012.

1) Which of Stephen Stockwell's books are in the Griffith library?

- Stockwell, S., 1954 2005, Political campaign strategy: doing democracy in the 21st century,Australian Scholarly Publishing, Melbourne.

2) Cite three academic books that might provide useful material for an essay about Jean Luc Godard's Alphaville. On which campuses do they reside?

- Morrey, D. 2005, Jean-Luc Godard, Manchester University Press, Manchester. (Available at Nathan Campus.

-MacCabe, C. & Godard, J.L., 1930 1980, Godard; images, sounds, politics, Indiana University Press, Bloomington. (Available at South Bank and Nathan Campus.)

-Brody, R., 1958 2008, Everything is cinema: the working life of Jean-Luc Godard, Metropolitan Books, New York. (Available at Nathan and South Bank Campus

3) What is a book that will assist you to find out about possible research methods to explore social media?

-Media research methods; measuring audiences, reactions and impact.
-Gunter, B. & Sage Publications, i. 2000, Media research methods: measuring audiences, reactions and impact, SAGE, London.

4) Stephen Stockwell writes about politics and the media, particularly in Australia. What database would you use to find his first academic article about Brisbane in a national journal? What year?

Database; InformitArticle Reference; Stockwell, S. 2007, "Alternative Media in Brisbane: 1965-1985", Queensland Review, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 75-87.

5) What is the latest medical thinking about internet addiction? What data base did you use?

6) What are IT engineers thinking about surveillance cameras? Identify a theme you could write an say about and cite three papers that would be useful?

(Task 2)

BRB (be right back) Friendster?

Like many social networking communities that have been wiped off the charts with the popularity and the rise of new social media trends, Friendster, once popular in 2002 (predominantly) in Asia has crumpled in recent times just like Myspace. Friendster at its peak had 1.5 million users, which at the time was a great number for people in the early millenia and was mainly used for communication and social networking purposes. Although it is argued that Friendster (MOL) is a survivor of the dot.com boom (Sarah Mishkin 2012), it has become even more unfrequently used as the years have passed and social media communities such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have surpassed the once popular networking site. However bleak it may look for the social networking organisation the CEO and co-founder of MOL (Friendster) referred to in Mishkin’s article as Mr Banagh laments confidently that  'Yeah, but it's still strong in Asia' (Mishkin, 2012.)

Although there is still hope for the social networking site with its rival Facebook interested in buying shares in the privately owned company, it is very likely that, the once front runner and pioneer of social networking which existed before Myspace and Facebook, is unknown to younger internet users (Kate Askew 2011.) Is Friendster another victim of Web 2.0? Stay tuned.

I personally have not used Friendster and have never had a Friendster account. However, it is easy to join parallels and see similarities between the demise of Friendster and other once popular networking sites such as Myspace. I was once a Myspace user before I had Facebook and used Myspace at the height of its popularity. I personally can not predict what will be cool after Facebook has suffered the churn of technology, maybe I will leave that up to Web 3.0 to decide?

Askew, K. 2011, Pushing the boundaries of dotcom valuations, Sydney, N.S.W., Australia, Sydney, N.S.W.

Mishkin, S. 2012, "How Malaysians online are staying best Friendsters for ever", FT.com, , pp. n/
(Task 3)

Revision of Required Weekly Readings/Tutorial Discussion;
Sue Halpern; Mind Control and The Internet.

This week’s tutorial and weekly article shed some light on an interesting view of how individuals can and are being controlled and manipulated by the internet. As a result of this reading, these questions were raised as debate and discussion;

How might the internet be controlling our minds?

As discussed in Halpern’s article, there are many techniques used by organisations that are implemented to collect user’s personal information (one technique which is referred to in the article as ‘data mining’.) A lot of companies (such as Google) rely on this collected information for internet advertising purposes. The article further discusses that companies can profile their desired audience on the internet by categorising users via what the user/s search on the internet, companies are doing this in the quest to find their ideal consumers to purchase their products, utilising key words that the user has typed previously to target demographics. Furthermore, Halpern argues that Google use similar invasive data mining techniques to profile it’s users to accommodate the users pre-existing views and ideologies. This is concerning as described by Halpern, as it leaves little room for debate, innovation and a lack of challenging and thought provoking ideas when it comes to individual users using the internet. It can be argued that by feeding the masses with same thought ideologies and not leaving room for education on new topics and ideas, that the masses are being kept docile and controlled as there is no thought provocation processes available to them. By the internet controlling and not presenting a possible two sided argument, it leaves little room for users to be well educated on topics and therefore they cannot make informed decisions and opinions. (Halpern, 2011, pg2,3.)

Is commercialisation destroying the web or is the web improving the way we do business?

In the ever evolving world of technology many businesses would be doing themselves disfavour to not be accessible to their markets in the online world. Most businesses of today can be found on online platforms with many businesses to date being solely operated online, for example many online clothing stores. It is practically essential in the competitive business market of today to at the very least have a website, email and Facebook for your company. With more people connected to the internet constantly and the power distance relationship gap being lessened (overseas purchasing online etc.), it is quite possible for individuals if they pleased to, to conduct their lives and live online permanently. However it does create a complex and a lack in social interactivity. Soon enough we will be dealing with computers more than dealing with humans face to face. Examples of these are becoming increasingly present all throughout the society of today, a key example would be the ‘self check-outs’ that you can find at leading super markets.

Does internet advertising really influence us?

I guess in many ways internet advertising does affect individuals to some degree, I think it just depends on whether individuals are active or latent towards it. Although a majority of the time there is a negative stigma that goes along with internet advertising and products purchased on the internet, because you can’t see what you are purchasing and you can’t determine whether if it is an adequate product or even a real product. However, with the boom of online shopping and online trading, purchasing and the advertisement of products on the internet has become more of the norm practice and has become more reliable in the past five years. I think as more people are using the internet it is easier and cheaper for companies to access them through online advertisement and spam as opposed to expensive billboards and television commercials.

Article Reference;

Halpern, Sue (2011) "Mind Control & the Internet", New York Review of Books June 23.