Sophie's Blog

Blogging

2006-05-31T16:04:00.000+10:00

Well, I guess this is goodbye. Please, there’s no need for tears so console yourself. I have quite enjoyed my time blogging and I’ve gain skills I didn’t think I’d have, way back in March in my first blog. Before virtual cultures I hadn’t blogged before, nor, had I ever posted in a chat room, all that has changed. Since the beginning of semester I have become a member of the Russh forum, and critiqued it existence in the virtual world. Our class has taken part in a real time chat about the content of this subject, which was… interesting, maybe it strayed just a little bit off topic (for more information, please refer to my previous blog about nintendogs). I hope you’ve learnt new things about the internet, just as I have. Before this semester i new nothing about many of the internet concerns we have been learning about. I have found the debates surrounding governance and internet protocol particularly interesting, I knew nothing of ICANN and the massive role they play in the use of the internet, or, even that there was a centralized body watching over internet governance. buy that same token I was completely unaware of the significant following in MMOG's or that the use of end user license agreements were so one sided. In addition to this I'm amazed at the indymedia following, I knew that traditional media was often letting the public down due to corporate ideals, but i had no idea there were so many different levels of internet news, right down to the peer to peer reporting.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to reflect on the readings, which I have sometimes quoted from in this blog. I think the wide range of readings we have available for the class has been great. Although I don't always agree with the authors, there opinions have guided me through the lecture content, and vice-versa; without the lectures i would never have been able to understand the content of this course. So thank you John and Christina for your time and sometimes dumbed down language for us not so technically savvy.

It has been an interesting, and occasionally controversial semester, I have learnt alot about new media technologies and cultures and i wont go back to my internet free (semi-free) life, now i have crossed the digital divide i will stay on this side of the fence.
Thank you all for reading!
Bye!
Soph

Post Secret

2006-05-30T22:56:00.000+10:00

Hi,
I know everybody has seen it, and it's nothing new.... But I had to put it on my blog. (does that count as a secret?)
Soph
Post Secret

Virtual Cultures

2006-05-30T22:42:00.000+10:00

Today I thought as a special treat we could look at the new media cultures and their effect on the old media cultures, just as a sort of wind down, this is due tomorrow kind of thing. It's easy to see the way new media cultures are changing the face of old media cultures and the way in which we, the consumer, view them. To really examine this we need to firstly look at what encourages the consumer to move to new media cultures. I found the ideas of Shenton and McNeeley to be poignant when looking at new media cultures. Taken from the Flew reading, they discuss some of the reasons behind peoples choices to join virtual cultures, they site these reasons
"1. the opportunity to form friendships and relationships that may be perceived as being more difficult to develop in the 'offline' community
2. the ability to play with persona
3. the capacity to circulate new ideas among a group of like minded people
4. the chance to find people who share the same interests, however obscure or odd they appear to others
5. the search for romantic and sexual relations
6. the ability for those who feel marginalized or persecuted by society to express views and disseminate opinions, in ways that are not possible through mainstream media outlets.
All of these reasons for involvement in the online communities would seem to reflect dissatisfaction with the limitations of 'real' communities." (Flew: 2004: p69).

So are we moving away from the old media communities, or just finding new ways to experience them? Marshall offers us hope, stating that once upon a time when television was the new media (yeah right, like television was ever "new") everyone was frightened that consumers would no longer look to radio, but even today, the radio is still a utilized media. (marshall: 2004: p 29)

Machinima

2006-05-30T22:13:00.000+10:00

Hi!
I just realized I haven't done a blog about machinima! I must put a stop to this right now and quickly think of something to say. But what? I think I've been vocal enough in class to make everyone realizes that I know nothing about gaming communities. I did, however find the machinima love story that John played in week three really funny. The idea of machinima isn't lost on me however, I find it fascinating when technology is created for one use, in this case for the development of skills in online games, and then used for an entirely different reason. The technology, as John said in week 3, was designed to help players develop skills in their game playing by allowing them to film and watch past moves, however, players began to use the machinima technology to create movies from their games. As in the case of Tristan Pope, who directed "not just another love story" machinima piece.

It's so hard to believe how much controversy this one movie created. After making the machinima movie (which is an ordeal in itself, when you think about the hours of organizing people, getting everyone playing at the same time- but then, if you take into account the Sal Humphreys lecture you'd find it harder getting them OFF line! Then the editing and story-boarding! It's just like a job) Pope would then posted it on the Blizzard World of Warcraftwebsite, which was fine, until they watched it and realized it was unethical to show a sexually advanced movie, machinima or otherwise on a game played by kids. Parents and concerned players went into uproar, so Blizzard decided it was wise to stop kids from gaining access to "not another love story". But here in lies the problem, Pope, and all his helpers put hours of work into the machinima only to have Blizzard ban it, and ask them to stop making such movies. Understandably, Pope wasn't impressed, he and his followers began boycotting WOW, spreading the word and looking to take their business elsewhere. What were Blizzard to do? They were potentially going to loose thousands of players and, therefore, money. The outcome is one for all virtual communities to examine, they spoke to Pope and his followers and came to an agreement, Pope was allowed to continue making machinima movies, and, if the content was suitable for minors, post it on the WOW site. The 'not another love story' movie could still be downloaded, but not on the Blizzard site, thereby appeasing both groups.
This should explain a little about Blizzard and the machinima movement, with particular mention of Tristan Pope and his controversial machinima movie 'Not another love story'.
Thanks!

Participatory Cultures

2006-05-28T19:27:00.000+10:00

Hi everyone!
I hope you’re all well and that the stress of end of semester isn’t getting you down. I was thinking about this weeks first lecture overview and how close we’re getting to the end of semester, it’s almost scary. This is my final semester and, like everyone currently studying, I’m getting a little bit stressed out. It’s too hard to do work consistently over the whole semester; I know very few who successfully get to a subjects close without worry. But enough about that lets talk about this weeks lecture. John tried to quickly go over the content of the lectures he took, all of them in only an hour and a half. It wasn’t easy! But I want to pay particular attention to new media culture theories in this blog, and I’ll make an effort to write another one tis week focusing on the other areas he examined.
One of the questions John asked in the lecture “are new media cultures emerging due to the technology? Or is this because of the social?”
I’m not exactly sure how to answer this question, as it is really all areas being shaped and transformed by each other. Without the need, there would be no reason to develop the technology, without the social aspects; there wouldn’t be a base for the culture, and without the culture, why would the social be flourishing in such a way. To examine this we need to look at all areas surrounding the cultures themselves and he `Internet, why ahs this technology affected so many. These are…
Transformation and social organization
Practices
Networks
Hegemony and the cultural and economic struggles attributed with the internet and the digital divide
Communication
Knowledge and exchange; and all the complexities that go with them
Identity; gender identity, social identity and the powers of anonymity
Power relationships; money and the corporation- which seems to be the enemy in this class; I don’t think I’ve ever felt like a bohemian sticking it to the man, down with corporate attitudes before, and I’m in visual arts!
But what does al this mean? And, how does it affect the way in which we manage and control these new medias? (This is a question of protocol, and I think I’ll save it for another blog…watch this space)
Marshall has looked at new medias and the changes that have occurred since they have been widely developed, and sites on example of new media communities uniting as the 1999 WTO meeting in Seattle to discuss globalisation and world trade agreements. A mass of protesters came to voice their opinions on such a travesty in human rights. But how did they all mobilise? This protest was international, interracial and full of people from different backgrounds, often speaking in different languages. They meet and mobilised via the internet, this new media source had created such a following of users already, that it had the power to unite so many people, numbers of which hadn’t been seen since thev1930’s. (Marshall: 2004: p34)
“It functions pull together multiple points into moments of connected structure and coherence that can disperse as quickly as they are congealed. The assemblage facilitated through the internet allowed for the development of the Seattle moment and the periodic reappearance of this politics at other international trade meetings that have occurred in Quebec, Genoa, Melbourne and Washington over the last half-decade.” (Marshall: 2004: p34)
But what does this all mean?
Basically, Marshall is discussing the ability for the internet and the new media’s to inform and connect us all, it has no barriers through race, culture, class and nations, but instead, in theory, is utopian, fast passed and all accepting.

The Digital Divide

2006-05-28T18:38:00.000+10:00

Hello!
Hope everyone is well today, I’m feeling very indulgent! As far as indulgences go it’s not very exotic, but this time of year with all the work I’ve got to do it’s all I have. I’m typing this as I sit in the sun, drinking my morning coffee. It’s so cold this morning and I live in an old Queenslander so we are freezing every winter. So a quiet spot to work in the sun seems very special to me, plus I’m not stuck in the computer rooms at uni, trying to concentrate, stay quiet and not daydream all at the same time which can be very distracting.
Today I thought I’d blog about the digital divide, thrilling I know, so I wont bore you any longer about the state of the weather and get into the meaty stuff!
The digital divide isn’t something that we, living in a privileged society often think about, I remember John commenting in one of the lectures or tutes (they all melt into one after awhile) about how he desperately misses his internet access when he is away from the computer. Enough to have withdrawals after a 24 hour hiatus. After reading the Marshall chapter on new media cultures it’s easy to believe that this is only due to a socioeconomic divide, but it can be so much more. Money is often only one part of the problem. Flew describes the digital divide as "questions of inclusion and social exclusion from such forms of interaction and participation, as well as questions of identity and the self in virtual environments." (Flew: 2004:61) My mother can’t text. It’s not as shameful as it sounds really. As a matter of fact she doesn’t know how to use many of her mobile phones features, how can she? There is only so much one can do when the equipment in question is only turned for the two minutes. I remember when I was in year 12, I snuck my phone into class and sent her a text requesting she pick me up, as I was sick (not sick enough for the school office though, but enough for my mum). She replied 9 times! The first 5 were a jumble of letters and numbers, and the next 4 were “yes”, but she had to sent it a couple of times, just encase it wasn’t working. Mum is actually alright on the internet, though only able to do the things she needs to, like paying a bill or searching for accommodation in Noosa. But this divide, the 'age related digital divide' maybe easily changed. Most of the people that fit into this category have the technology, or at least access to technology. So I had a look on google to find internet help desks and learn how sites, I found one called learn the net, which seemed really interesting. It's quite a simple interface, with the choice of three languages, mini courses and a list of the top ten reasons for using the internet. I have to say there not the best reasons, I've never used the internet to "rate the worlds worst parked car", which happens to be the no. 2 reason.
Here is my list of the top ten things I do on the net.

1. Email - always fun
2.Check my bank account , pay bills, banking, another life changing one
3. Look for Jobs - Seek.com seems to have the best listings for Brisbane
4. Watch the fashion parades; I wanted to put this at number one, but I decided number four makes me seem like less of a flake (just barely)
5. Celebrity gossip and clothing- refer to number 4.
6. Download uni stuff- the amount of times I do this really should be up there with one, but its even more boring than email so it was shunted to 6.
7. Podcasts and ipod radio: Ipod radio is on the list to the left in the itunes folder, you can play a radio broadcast through the internet depending on what your favorite music genres are.
8.Ebay; say no more
9. Book accommodation; my cousin Anna went to the UK last month, her accommodation was completely booked and paid for online.
10.Google; no matter what the topic, fun can be had by all.
If you want to tell me what your favorite list is comment!
Soph
References
1. Flew, T. 2004. Virtual Cultures from New Media. An introduction. Melbourne. OUP
2. Marshall, D. P. 2004. New Media Cultures. London. Arnold.

2006-05-26T15:16:00.000+10:00

Hi everyone!
Just thought I’d let you know I’ve been having troubles getting on to the computers in the house with the internet access. Dad is a graphic designer and runs his own business; H Art graphic design, he has been really busy so the internet computer have been occupied until the early hours of the morning. I have been writing posts on the laptop, but haven’t been able to put them up… Sorry John and Christina! They’ll be there soon in one big block! So watch this space, and forgive me for my absence!
Soph

Chat Sessions

2006-05-26T14:55:00.000+10:00

The chat session assessment has been really hard. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I’ve found the fast-passed chat really hard to keep up with. I hope that doesn’t constitute writing off topic! Because by the time I’ve thought about what I should say, and typed it, the conversation has moved on, and my little comment is left out there feeling exposed and unnecessary.
I haven’t been involved in chat before, so I think that’s why I’m being left behind a bit (but then isn’t everyone? The tute group is so big, with so many people trying to post something interesting, entertaining and on current topic it runs very quickly). I wasn’t allowed on msn, my mother was desperately frightened I would chat to paedophiles) so I never bothered posting on any others, I was always scared mum would walk in, see I was on a chat and die of shock! How do you plan what to say? It’s all in the moment, even though you know what the topics are you never know what will happen when everyone starts typing, I didn’t even know what nintendogs were until today! But they are very cute! I suppose if you put them into the context of proximity and unit living, it’s the closest thing to a pet dog many will have… but maybe just a little of topic.

Urban Village

2006-05-18T16:28:00.000+10:00

Hello all,
Just like everybody else I have about one million other things to do... but with slightly more pressing due dates so I'll make this quick. This weeks lecture was kinda different to those we have had so far. Firstly, we had Marcus Foth as guest lecturer, which was a change, secondly the content was a little different too. Looking at the impact place, community and technology have on each other in a four part lecture was very different to the purely online worlds we have experienced so far. I found the content of this lecture interesting, but left feeling the need to ask so many questions. With particular emphasis on the Urban Village in Kelvin Grove I was wondering how necessary is it for communities to link up via the internet in order to make ties within their own home? I suppose I'm not a candidate for a project such as this, as I live in a highly social community. My street is similar to say 'Happy Days' or maybe even "Ramsay Street" if you take out the drama and instead add children under the age of 12 fjumping about, playing football on the front paths. Forgive me for sounding naive but I assumed that most people in suburbia lived like this?
But then in saying that I'm the perfect candidate for a project such as the Urban Village, as I'm a uni student, intrinsically linked to my space (the university), I can, like everyone (especially the unneighborly people in my class; just jokes ) find it difficult to take that step between person I say hi to, to friend I spend time with. So, by that denomination I would find the internet a great way to link with those I live in the same building as.

I did a little google research, and found two such examples of Urban Villages, one in Las Vegas, and the other in Leeds. I would definitely suggest taking a look at the Leeds model as it looks at jobs created though this new use of technology. I promise that next time a blog, I'll have more to talk about and include some more advanced research.
thanks for reading!
Soph

Group Presentations

2006-05-15T20:05:00.000+10:00

Hi,
I was thinking about the virtual communities we created in groups and realized that I hadn't blogged on it yet! Horrors of all horrors! So I ran to the computer in-order to utilize another subject for blogging. Firstly I'd like to congratulate everyone in my class as the presentations and ideas were really good. I'm amazed at how many ideas we manages to come up with for the communities, and how many niche markets there are on the internet that are currently untapped. I did have a favorites though. The fairfux group were great. They offered a solution to the media problems of todays society, and helped the general public stay informed without corporate interests interfering. They also managed not to fall to far to the left side of the argument. By paying their journalists, they also limit problems of authenticity and reliability. Web news such as
Indymedia
, for example, are often questioned about their sources, reliability and basis. But I feel, by using journalists for the reporting, and allowing the general public to chat about this on the forum, they're changing this. I found it reassuring too that they were looking to employ young journalists, as they can often find it so hard to break into the industry. It was obviously something close to the first speakers heart. He articulated the thoughts and feelings of the community so well. I think they explained the work done behind the scenes well too. They described the work force needed, set-up costs and establishing a clientele. This set them apart from some of the other groups who didn't articulate the business plan as well as the creative ideas.

The ideas for the community were quite varied too. The fairfux example I've already given, a Brisbane music network, a mapping forum, a web-space for share-house living, and a forum for QUT students to make friends on. So, after all that, I just wanted to say well done everyone. The talks were all entertaining and fun, they informed and delighted. Well, until next blog.
Bye,
Soph.

Internet Governance and Protocol

2006-05-12T13:20:00.000+10:00

This week’s lecture was tough, I found the content really hard to understand, but thankfully, John tried to make it as easy as possible. When looking at internet law, it’s difficult to understand how a corporation like the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), can exist within such a supposedly, egalitarian space. From what I can gather, ICANN is a privatised American company which in essence, rules the internet. They are the final body of law to the internet and govern those who use. Part of this governing is the ownership and distribution of domain names and spaces (i.e. Australia’s domain space is .com.au). I was really surprised that so many nations across the world are allowing American governance over a global internet. To hear that recently there were changes to the hold ICANN has over the internet society and yet the matter of domain names was left in their power, was to me, incredible. I suppose I always envisioned, a UN of style internet governance or, at least a somewhat collaborative system. But then isn’t that the point? The internet is seen as a peer to peer, non-hieratical system, but, as a society we need a level of governance. Without it, wouldn’t there be chaos? I hope that with time and internet growth the global society shall see this as an injustice and continue to strip ICANN of such overwhelming power… Like Robin Hood, they can take from the rich (power rich in this instance) and give to the poor. Maybe this is already happening. On my serch to find the ICANN homepage I found the icann watch site. This is a site devoted to the movements of ICANN legislation and how it works. Have a look, it contains some strong internet speak, looks at legal terms, and may even been a little one sided, but aren't those anti-establishment arguements always like that?
until next time.
Soph

Virtual Community Report.

2006-05-11T13:50:00.000+10:00

For the past few weeks I have been a member of the Russh Australia virtual community. Similar to the online fashion community based on the magazine Vogue, this online community revolves around the pre-existing market from the Australian fashion magazine of the same name. Which is where I heard about the community. It seems most of the members stem from their subscription list and avid readers. Russh has 186 registered users to date and has been in operation since September 2005.

The majority of members are Australian, though I found two from Southern Asia after running through the members list. The forum is aimed at a fashion forward market of 20-35 year old women, with a moderate to high disposable income. It has an easy to use and simple interface; discussions are small, which gives the community a feeling of selectness and exclusivity. Russh promotes a friendly environment and I’m yet to witness anything other than mutual affirmation, not a flaming in sight.

Members communicate in the forum by adding topic questions. These fit under the subject headings chosen by management, I haven’t seen any topics that don’t compliment these headings, or any unnecessary postings. Other members then post answers or comments to this, they can also send each other personal messages.

One of the features of the Russh community I liked is that they have a space for real time chat with editors from the magazine. So far this has only happened once, by the fashion editor in March, considering the age of this community I expected a little more enthusiasm from Russh in general, and not a one-time chat. To make it better, and help to unify the members, a monthly, or by-monthly real time chat would help to promote higher use of this community. This higher us would cause members o chat more often and help create tighter bonds, by giving them reasons to keep returning to the forum.

The main aim is for members to share fashion, beauty, health and entertainment information, which I assume the magazine makers read to get ideas for their next issue, which, as John has discussed in previous lectures, is a smart way to utilise their fan base, but for it to be truly effective they must take a stronger leadership role in the community. Another improvement could be to link back to magazine content more frequently. Talk about fashion photography or even post editorials and images left out of the magazine, for only the virtual community to view.

Looking at the Amy Jo Kim reading, this community is missing several key aspects, which successful communities should have. The first would be a tagline (Kim, 2000 p5). The magazines tagline is “Australia’s best fashion magazine” which doesn’t really apply in this circumstance. But, by deconstructing the layout of both the magazine and virtual site (forum and main page) it’s easy to see certain trends start to emerge. To begin with, the overall feeling is fashion for fashions sake; it takes on only fashion stories, with little or no mention of relationship advice or ‘agony aunt’ style editorials. The focus is on modern day looks with a 1970’s twist. This twist is found everywhere, page layout, website design, even the content seems to be based in this era. It gives the whole project an artistic and instantly recognisable persona. This works well and helps us to define Russh Australia’s purpose. Which is to relay fashion trend advice, whilst still keeping a stylised, artistic tone, so as not to be swept up in the trends itself. Russh is uniquely Australian. Keeping to mainly Australian trends, using Australian writers, photographers and models give this magazine an edge in the fashion market. We need to look at how to relay this into the online community. One way to promote this unique identity is to ask guest writers, models and designers to have real-time chat in the community space. Or to link Australian companies involved in the fashion scene to an open links page. To which members can add their favourite Aussie sites to make this an interactive venture. The tag line should be something along the lines of “Russh online, Australia’s best interactive fashion community.” This would identify with the existing magazine tag line, but be about the website.

Another feature, which help bring clarification to the communities identity, would be an editorial page, to which people could post their letters to the editor. The editor could reply and maybe even post small editorial notes, this could include updates and diary-like entries about the process of making the magazine. Meetings with designers, stylists, parties etc. could all be mentioned to give the community and insider feel. By being a part of Russh online, they are a part of the entire Russh community, not just posting to other readers, but also including themselves in the editorial process.

I believe that although these measures are expensive to implement and maintain, the community will thrive. At the moment there isn’t any online advertising. This can be added by the use of banners across the screen. Editorial space can plug products, and designers can pay to speak in real-time chat with community members, as this will raise their public profile, and can even take the place of focus groups. All of these measures can aid in paying for extra staff for the community. If the forum’s creators implement these ideas, I have no doubt their member list would increase tenfold, usage by said members would rise, and overall they would be offering a new online community for the fashion forward which doesn’t currently exist in Australia. This may even translate into higher magazine sales. I know we didn’t need to include any of this, but it occurred to me after all the work we have done in class and communities we have designed in groups, that this community, though enjoyable, could be so much better. I shall be keeping an eye on this forum, as I found myself enjoying the posting space, and talking to the members about interests we have in common. As not too many of my close friends can stand my diatribes on accessories any longer.
Soph

Reference:
Kim, A.J. 2000. Chapter 1: Purpose. In Community building on the web. pp 1-26. Berkley. Peachpit Press
Scott, C. ed. 2006. Issue 11 Russh Australia May-June 2006. Sydney. NDD Distribution

Creative Commons and The Gray Album

2006-05-05T16:10:00.000+10:00

The reading 'The Gray Album: copyright law and digital sampling' by Matthew Rimmer (Rimmer, 2005) describes the difficulties in overzealous copyright laws and how they can stifle creativity. He use The Gray Album as an example of sampling other artists work to create a new piece of music. The 2003 album, produced by
DJ Danger Mouse
uses samples of The Beatles 'White Album' and Jay Z's 'Black Album' to create something new. This was released on the internet and immediately met with cease and desist letters form the music owners EMI. To counteract this and assert there rights as artists, the internet sellers and sharers of DJ Danger Mouse's work held a protest called 'Gray Tuesday' in-which they allowed all to freely download the album. This was a huge success and
'The Gray Album'
had well over 100 000 copies downloaded (Rimmer, 2005 p41). The EMI legal team subsequently sent DJ Danger Mouse a lawsuit. This is where the legal implications of copyright become blurred. In this situation the artist, DJ Danger Mouse, used substantial portions, rifts and vocals from
The Beatles White Album
and
The Black Album by Jay Z
. But this isn't always the case. There are many examples of artists using samples of other's work in their music. The difference is often the size of the sample, and the impact that sample has on the overall piece. (Rimmer; p42-43) Despite this, there are many more examples in-which copyright has stopped 'mash-ups' and music sampling.
In one such case the judge stated that "a balance must be struck between protecting artists interests, and depriving other artists of the building blocks of future works. Since the advent of Western music, musicians have freely borrowed themes and ideas from other musicians." (Rimmer; p43) Here enters the importance of creative commons.

This week’s lecture looked at web politics and the reproducing of digital information. I found this to be quite topical to the unit content and possibly a lead up to past lectures. In particular, this lecture gave me a better understanding of Sal Humphreys lecture on Massively Multi-user Online Games (MMOG’s). Christina discussed end user license agreements, as used in MMOG’s, the ‘walled garden’ concept and in particular the outdated use of copyright and the emergence of ‘Creative Commons’.

Creative Commons has filled the void between the Copyright Laws which confine information to the private sphere, and those with out Copyright, so free to use information. Creative Commons acts as an intermediary between the author or producer of intellectual property and the user of that information. The example used on their website is The White Stripes album being reproduced with a new artist playing bass guitar over the original work. Here, The White Stripes gave permission for this to be done, but if your unable to contact the producer, Creative Commons license can give you the ability to use the information within certain fields. In other words the information can be used as long as the producer retains certain rights, protected by the Creative Commons agreement, but no where near as stringent or harsh as that of the Copyright Laws. I agree with Christina and Sal that Copyright Laws and End User License Agreements are too one sided, they protect only the original producer of the content and not the consumer or viewser, but I would love to look at the producers rights in greater length. It seems we are only getting a one sided argument. Though Christina touched on this subject I would love to know more.

References

Rimmer, M. 2005. 'The Grey Album: copyright law and digital sampling', in, Media International Australia, No.114 February , pp.40-53.

A fun Blog I just found

2006-05-02T23:14:00.000+10:00

I have just found this blog and I thought it was rather cool, though I'm not sure I could be bothered making one myself. It's called http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4686/1648/1600/RC2.jpgThe Satitorialist's basically a site devoted to street style in New York City. I thought it was interesting and some of the photography is rather good too so check it out if you have time. I also thought it was cool snice it has the same background and set up as me... it's always nice to know that the fashion foward bloggers of New York have similar blog background choices to me... even if they are limited for choice. I'm starting to realize how fashion focused my blog is, but it's only because when I do go web surfing I look up fashion. It sounds so shallow, so next week I'll look up something truly interesting educational and much more interlectual.
Soph

QUT Socialite

2006-05-02T21:05:00.000+10:00

After Fridays tute and John’s warning about time running out for blogs I thought it was time I jumped online and started to write more. I was thinking about the tute and the group orals that we heard and I feel, well, a little disappointed in my fellow students. After presenting our oral on QUT Socialite, the online community for QUT students, there was apparent confusion regarding the purpose of Socialite. The online forum is designed with friendship in mind; it is not a place to display uni work. The only reason it has any affiliation with academic fields is because it is attached to an academic school. It may have ties to academic material (such as the 'study buddies' and 'special events' forums) but I thought it was a great way for students to interact proactively within their faculties and the institution. I was a bit disappointed after everyone asked what we would do if students came in and started ‘slagging off’ their tutors and lecturers. The plan was to make it a space for friendship, between tutor, lecturer and student. I’m saddened that students in our class don’t feel they could use this forum without being able to say mean things about their teachers. This is no representation of their own personalities I’m sure, they were only playing devils advocate. Still, I do hope that this negative representation of QUT society is not true. I suppose the thing that I found so strange is that I have never been in a situation in class that students have been negative towards other students ideas. What happened to solidarity? It wouldn’t have been a problem if the criticism was constructive, but it was given without offering alternative ideas. I still think that QUT Socialite was a good idea and hope that the QUT Guild utilize the online QUT Community when trying to source new members and ideas for the survival of the student guild. Anyway, I shall try to keep my blogging a regular occurrence from now on.

Trainz Lecture

2006-05-02T20:30:00.000+10:00

Lecture 8 was a really interesting view of how a fan community can shape the way a product is created. I have to admit, I didn't think that product managers really cared this much about their fans, nor did I imagine that fans could have such an impact on production system. In this weeks reading "Gamers as Co-creators: Enlisting the Virtual Audience- A Report from the Net Face", by John Banks the aim of Auran (the company creating Trainz) was "... to enlist the passions and commitments of fans in extending the online networks that is to contribute towards the popular (and therefore commercial) success of Trainz upon it's retail release in late 2001." (Banks p 195) It was especially interesting to see how a company can utilize the fan force without exploiting them in end user lenience agreements, like we found in the Sal Humphreys lecture about MMOG's in week 6.
The
Trainz game is an interesting model in itself. A gaming company surviving in such isolation from other gaming corporations is quite a success story. Amazingly, as John pointed out this seems to be partly due to the Trainz game's large fan base, and the method's they took to keep the game chugging along (no pun intended). After having a look at the Trainz website, I noticed they had many features aimed towards their fan base. To the left they had links to areas within the web site, which include the community link, the forum, downloads and shop. All of which are aimed at the online community, it growth and managing it's sustainability. John also mentioned that Lego has a similar method of maintaining fan support and interest. Using fan created control software for the
'Lego Mindstorms'
toy, has generated a wide fan base for the Lego company. Even die hard fans creating their own blogs including release dates and teaser information.
The Long Tail
Is one such site. Chris Anderson even includes a link to his book 'The long Tail' which is either about sales or about blogging. It's hard to tell, but go along and have a look for yourself.

Banks. J. 2002."Gamers as Co-creators: Enlisting the Virtual Audience- A Report from the Net Face"Brisbane. University of Queensland Press (188-212)

My Virtual Community

2006-04-05T23:22:00.000+10:00

I'm not totally sure how to use my blog space yet so this is just a quick link to show you the online community I have been chatting with (is that what you call it?) the site is an Australian fashion magazine site and so far, though I have only posted twice) it's been fun. The people on the forum are all Australian, or traveling Australians and they're all interested in fashion, and in particular the emergence of Australian fashion labels in a world market. russh,is a fun forum, so please feel free to go have a look, my member name is Sophie and the image I added here is of Lauren Bacall, and shows up on my postings. Which I think is pretty nifty, all this new blogging and internet forum stuff is happening pretty fast so I hope I can keep up. Let me know how you think I'm doing

My First Blog

2006-03-31T13:44:00.000+10:00

This is my very first blog, which, after looking at what other people have put in their blogs is quite unusual. But this is not only the first time I’ve created my own blog, but it’s the first time I’ve commented on a blog as well. I hope that this space will turn into an open discussion about the unit kcb201; Virtual Cultures and will link to the content explored in the lectures and tutorials.
So far I found the subject really interesting. I’m not a very pro-active user of the internet, as I said before this is my first blog entry. I manly use the internet to email friends I’ve already established, and to look up news, movie times, fashion stuff and even occasionally to check out eBay.
As you can see this has been a new experience for me. I find the ideas of networked society and changing consumers from passive users into pro-active ‘veiwsers’ really interesting, I rarely think of what the internet has done for consumerism and popular culture, or how it has aided a shift in consumer patterns. Please fell free to comment on anything said in my blog and add to any arguments I make about the classes or anything else… thanks for reading!