Facebook Frenzy

Hi, my name is Caton McKenna, and I am new to blogging and new to Comm 245. I am a junior communication major and AEM minor in CALS. Hopefully, I will become a journalist or marketing executive in the future. I enjoy traveling, reading, creative writing, sarcasm, movies and rainbows. It’s 12:46 at night, so I’ll be honest- I’m just trying to type fast. One time, actually, quite a few times, I have taken those speed typing tests- they get addicting. I love doing that though, especially the one with the monkey and the bananas.

Anyways, so, I guess that’s enough about me. As far as this assignment, I’ll focus on facebook. Facebook offers a virtual community to users. For me it’s kind of like screening calls. You see a friend or acquaintance’s name on your cell phone and have no idea what he/she is calling about. Instead of picking up, you let your voicemail do the talking. Hopefully the person will leave a message and you can decide whether it merits a reply. This leaves you completely in control and leaves the other person completely in the dark that you aren’t taking his/her calls. You have the power to halt the communication process by just listening to the message and gleaning all the necessary information from that. No vocal connection is needed.

So, I guess that’s a stretch, but I think it’s somewhat similar to facebook. It’s a one-sided conversation. You can anonymously check out any of your facebook friend’s information, photos and relationship status at anytime you want, for as long as you want, without anyone knowing. You have complete, I’ll say it, “stalking” power. Plus, there’s no remorse or consequence for looking (despite the complete lack of productivity for that hour, two hours, etc.).

For some, you care about your friend’s life and feel somewhat connected to him/her as he/she travels around the world and you click through his/her ajillion pictures. When you two meet, the pictures/information on facebook has already familiarized you with the trip, so your conversation can be shorter with your newly gained knowledge. Yes, I do believe facebook allows people to avoid or simplify conversations. The information on facebook is public, and anything on there is assumed common knowledge. There is no need for speculation, questions or conversation when all the answers you need are broadcasted on this website.

Additionally, facebook has become an outlet for complete and utter judgment of friends and acquaintances. Oh my gosh- I can’t believe she got married! What was she thinking? Does he think he looks attractive in that picture? Wow, someone gained weight. Again, judgment without remorse or tsking. You can peruse photos, info and wall posts, use your sleuth-like skills to deduce secret relationships, or tumultuous ones. You can make connections between people that you never existed and interpret any message’s connotation to your heart’s content. Facebook gives you the freedom to gossip with yourself.

Facebook is asynchronous, since participants do not exchange messages in real time. Additionally, facebook has persistence in that it remains in the web domain as a record or file of some sort. Finally, facebook has limited anonymity for the facebook profiler, but limitless anonymity for the facebook friendly “stalker.”

must've been asleep

Hi all,
Haha I forgot to say which environment I believe that I am participating in. I think the blogger environment mostly emulates why Wallace describes as the "asynchronous discussion forum."
sorry for the multiple posts!

You can find everything on eBay

Hi Everyone!

My name is Catherine Walsh, and I am a Junior Communication major. Although I am a junior, this is only my second year at Cornell; I transferred from University at Albany last year. Albany was a fun place, but I am happy to be at a more academic focused University. I am what people would call a “townie”; born and raised in Ithaca. Ithaca is an amazing town and I am really happy to go to school here. My parents still live in Cayuga Heights, so I can occasionally take the five minute drive home to do my laundry or have a good meal!

I love using the internet and think that wireless internet is one of the greatest technological inventions of all time! When it comes to the internet, I guess you could say I am like any average college student. I use the internet for research, to check my email and facebook, and to use IM. If I am typing a paper you can count on my facebook profile and IM buddy list to be open as well. However, I don’t really use the internet for anything other than the programs already mentioned. I don’t talk in chat rooms and have never participated in a blog (this is my first blogging experience). Where I differ from my peers is the fact that I have never used eBay, a major internet phenomenon. I don’t think I have ever met anyone my age who has not used eBay, which in itself proves the phenomenon.

In case any of you are also an inexperienced eBay user, the eBay website states “eBay is The World's Online Marketplace®, enabling trade on a local, national and international basis”. My understanding of eBay is that people post items for sale and other users bid on the items in timed auctions. After the auction has ended, it is up to the seller to send the item to the buyer, and the buyer must complete payment to the seller. You have to be a registered user to use eBay.

The phenomenon of eBay falls into several internet environments. The most significant environment is the World Wide Web. eBay, a website that can be thought of as a catalog for online shopping, connects consumers to millions of products, new or used. Another internet space eBay exists in is the asynchronous discussion forum. Users of eBay are given the opportunity to communicate by posting feedback comments after a business transaction occurs. For example if you buy a glass vase from a fellow eBay user, and they send you a broken vase, you could write this in the feedback comments to warn other shoppers.

Are eBay and other online shopping communities, which contribute to increased internet use, contributing to the reduction of family communication and social involvement?

Is the Internet making us more pop culture focused?

With more information at our fingertips than ever before about pressing, disturbing, and complex global issues we seem to have become a nation focused on pop culture oriented news. Buzz worthy sensational lifestyles, crimes, and trends often make the headlines on the webs most popular news source websites (i.e. yahoo.com, msn.com, and aol.com) before political, economic, and social crises both here and abroad. So this begs the question: are we just really celebrity focused pop culture junkies at our core or is the Internet making us more intent on these issues? I realize that with advent of mass media its figureheads have been put under the microscope by popular demand, but I can’t help but feel that people’s concern with issue is growing in breadth and intensity. (Yes, those adjectives came from the reading ; ) ) I find that most of my casual conversation with people in social settings is much more likely to digress into the latest pop culture gossip than into thoughts and opinions on current events. How about you?

Spam sPam sPAm!!

Hey! My name is Taek Kyun (pronounced tech) and I am a Junior in the College of Engineering. I am currently studying Operations Research and as my name’s pronunciation suggests, technology and gadgets are my thing. I grew up in the Bronx but I was born in South Korea. An interesting thing about me is that until this day, I have trouble differentiating between my left from my right, I need a minute or two to figure it out each time. It’s as if something in my head never clicked, and I’ve come to accept that I may never instinctively know which is which.

So, let’s move on to an internet-related phenomenon. How much email do you get daily? 10? 20? How much spam do you get? The topic of this discussion is spam. This phenomenon occurs in the “email space”. Ever since I’ve owned a computer, I was connected to the internet. Starting with America Online and NetZero over a telephone line on a 56k modem to a Cable Broadband connection these days, I’ve sorted through hundred of spam emails daily. Spam had never been a nuisance because of the many effective spam blockers but the extent that the companies go to in order to advertise their business is phenomenal.

Looking into it, I’ve discovered that a lot of the spam comes from websites using “tracking cookie” files that are loaded onto the computers when a website is accessed. These cookies return the user’s information and some recent activities to servers. The receiving servers then use the data to tailor advertisement messages to send out to the email addresses that were acquired. Personally, I believe this is a sleazy method and I can’t think of a single person who enjoys or even looks at the spam mail. This is a phenomenon because even when one carefully avoids websites or services that may generate spam, there is still a disgusting load of spam that ends up in the already congested inboxes.

When the spam blockers and the spam filters fail on the email servers, spam is able to serve its purpose. The people who send out the spam use interesting names and subjects in an attempt to catch our attentions. The most interesting part of spam is the persistence of some of these advertisement companies. I begin to wonder if anyone actually buys or even looks at the messages. I mean, some must, since the spamming hasn’t stopped. I wonder who would consciously sign up for or enlist themselves to receive information from the sketchier spams. In the email online space, spam plays an enduring role in cluttering the mail boxes with unnecessary advertisement. It is a phenomenon that they have been around for so long.

The humans are dead.

Hello, my name is Austin and I am a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. I am currently studying Information Science and exploring a possible minor in AEM. I am from Fairfax, Virginia which pretty much is to DC as Westchester is to NYC except fewer Jews. I love music (rock, hip-hop, jazz, house, indie, folk), DJing, hi fi stereos, cars, Entourage, Flight of the Conchords, standup comedy, and working out.

Like most of you I have never been on the writing side of blogs. However, I am somewhat of an RSS addict with Google Reader always ready to give me a fix. Feeling a little bit of withdrawal in my Psych class this morning I quickly browsed through blogs and feeds from Lifehacker to CNN Money to Digg. Through a twist of ironic fate I ran into this article. Minding the Meeting, or Your Computer? (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/business/yourmoney/26pre.html?_r=1&oref=slogin).

While it is not specifically about one specific online space, the article, written by a Microsoft employee, describes the ubiquity of laptops in meetings as well as classrooms and the common negative consequences resulting from having so much information at our fingertips. Thus our interaction with online spaces is simplified however our behavior in offline spaces may be affected

How can I keep myself from being distracted by my laptop when I am sitting in class trying to escape boredom?

The usefulness of bringing a computer to class is definitely there, you can take notes, go through lecture slides, look up terms in Wikipedia or have an intelligent, on topic AIM chat with other students in the same class (yeah right). The other side, however, is infinitely more tempting. This encompasses the solitaire playing, ESPN stat checking, email writing, AIM chatting, Facebook poking, or Youtube watching that I’ve do in class. Hey, I see you do it too. Putting aside the fact that I was guilty of the distraction caused by my computer, I think this article emphasizes how the more easily we can access information, the more time we spend processing it. This leads to less focus on the content of information but more time spent on categorizing the overflow of news, lecture notes, to do lists, etc.

I remember the days when schools banned pagers because the thought of having that much information accessible to kids automatically meant they were drug dealers. Professors that outlaw laptops from their classrooms would lose popularity faster than Lindsay Lohan. Limiting Internet access in classrooms would also limit the educational reasons for bringing a laptop to class. As laptops eventually replace planners and notebooks as the de facto classroom tool, professors will look at walls of Dell and Apple logos instead of the bobbing heads of dozing students. How will we tame the beckoning our technology to pull us away from what we should be doing?

"...the internet is not something you just dump something on. It's not a truck. It's a series of tubes."

Hi, interweb boys and girls and fellow student bloggers. I'm Siddhartha Bajracharya, a senior biology major in CALS, concentrating in microbiology. For what it's worth, I've yet to read the Hesse novel (thanks, I've got a copy already), and my name is pronounced entirely phonetically -- but most people call me Sid by way of convenience.

I don't know really quite what to say by way of further introduction, but from glancing over the previous entries in the Green Blog it looks like I'm one of relatively few non-communications majors here. I suppose my credibility in this class will come from having been a nerd from a tender age. There's a picture of me here in my local library's Internet Club, circa 1996: I'm in the white shirt in the middle of the picture, at about age 10. This is, of course, in the golden age of multimedia CD-ROMs, the Pentium chip, and AOL. The library's 128kbps ISDN line seemed inconceivably fast to me, and I didn't have so much as AOL at home. Today, I suppose I'm a senior geek, working at the CIT HelpDesk with Alex, who posted a ways down, spending my spare time kicking at my salvaged Linux server only to discover it went down because someone unplugged it, and realizing that you and I are probably among the last generation in this country to remember the day when we first got Internet access at home.

There's quite a few bits of Internets phenomena that I'm interested in, but I'll just touch on one here in this short post. I'm particularly interested in antisocial and disruptive behavior online, generally known as 'trolling' in web communities like chatrooms, discussion forums, and blogs, or 'griefing' in gaming communities -- what forms antisociol behavior takes online, what makes it distinctly and radically different from antisocial behavior IRL, who perpetrates these behaviors, and what motivates them. Trolling has had a long history online, appearing in virtually every type of online space Wallace cites, from its earliest appearances on Usenet to modern glorified MUDs like Second Life. Trolling has also taken an incredibly diverse variety of forms. from forum invasions run by the infamous Anonymous (briefly discussed by Jenna), extended taunting of bizarre borderline personalities, as seen on the now-defunct LJDrama blog, to something as simple as friendly-fire player killing in Counter-Strike. Trolls are generally deeply unpopular in the majority of Internet communities (excepting, of course, trolling communities), but trolling remains very common, to the point where being exposed to certain classic trolling techniques has become something of a rite of passage and part of Internet culture among Internet users. Furthermore, for such a well-known part of Internet culture, very little academic work seems to have been done on it (at least in my limited research).

Popping My Proverbial Blog Cherry-I know, the title is lewd;I apologize; but it’s relevant to my internet related cultural phenomena.Please forgive me

Hey Green Team. Let me hear you scream! Whew!! I didn’t hear anyone scream, but it’s fine because we are still totally the coolest blog group ever. I am Mathew Birnbaum and I am a junior Communications major, minoring in AEM—I know, shocking, right? I am from Long Island and no I have never called it strong Island and I really dislike the bad rap Long GIIIIslanders get. Why can’t we all just get along? I love all movies and love watching stand up comedy and comedic shows in general. I have been given the completely useless and ridiculous talent of being able to memorize and recite lines from anything humorous—shows, movies, standup—only after watching it one or two times. This talent has gotten me nowhere in life and tends to really irritate my friends, family, and anyone who is within an earshot distance from me. This is a quick shout-out for anyone who likes Flight of the Concords; I can do a near perfect rendition of Jenny specializing specifically in Jermaine’s voice. For anyone who doesn’t know of the show, I probably just sounded like a complete freak; Sorry.
As you can tell by my title, I sometimes have been known to cross the line. I don’t do it intentionally, it just kind of happens—or maybe I do it unconsciously, I truly do not know. Regardless, it is verrrry relevant to my internet phenomenon which is….drum roll… Internet Pornography. I feel like this topic is often overlooked, perhaps because it’s not really on the top of anyone minds (or at least that’s what everyone wants everyone else to think). Sex is undeniably a huge aspect of life and I think people who disagree with this or try to diminish sex’s influence in many of life’s little nuances are completely ignorant; without sex, there is no life. With the advent of the internet, pornography has been able to develop and evolve in ways never thought possible. Once, the only way to see a “lewd” photograph consisting merely of a woman’s exposed ankle was to put a penny in a metal contraption that if cranked, would kind of simulate motion. Now, you can type in the keyword sandbox into a tool bar and, no joke, and somehow get several thousand hits from pornographic websites. And it doesn’t end there. If you were to click on just one of these sites—not that I have ever done such an obscene act—computer software designed purely to make your life difficult will activate, creating several dozen other pop ups on your screen to other pornographic sites; some related, some very, verryyy unrelated. This new world of Internet porn exposes millions and millions of people to new sects and fetishes of porn that never even existed several years ago. I would be very surprised if this “pornographic revolution” with the introduction of the Internet has had no effects on our culture and society and I would like to explore these potential effects. This phenomenon, according to Ms. Wallace, falls under the online space of the World Wide Web, because the Internet, in concerns with porn, is predominantly being used as a library of sorts. However, as the Internet has continued to grow, both asynchronous and synchronous discussion forums and even interactive video and voice online spaces have become available. So long for now and beware of those pestering ad ware/spy ware pornographic website pop ups, because if you’re not careful, they’ll get you, O, they’ll get you alright.

Greetings Comm 245ers

Hello all, my name is Emily Meath. I'm a junior comm major. I'm from a town in upstate new york called Glens Falls. I'm not sure what I want to do when I grow up, but I had a pretty sweet internship this summer at Warner Bros. studios in LA, I really love to study film and popular culture, and I feel like the topic of this class is particularly interesting because the internet is such a dynamic part of all of our lives and I think it's important and challenging to try and understand a phenomenon when you are in the midst of it. So anyway, one internet-related phenomenon that really interests me is, actually, the whole idea of blogging, and the sort of psychological basis of who blogs, who reads blogs, who contributes, why, etc. One thing that first came to my mind is the celebrity gossip blog, Perez Hilton. I really have no idea who this guy is, I don't really care, but I stumbled across this blog (as many, many others do), and I immediately became hooked. I thought he was pretty funny, and I have to admit I'm a sucker for celebrity gossip, but it just amazes me that this nobody has become absolutely huge, he's practically a household name (or was at the very least an office name where I worked this summer), just because he sits at his computer all day, making fun of people, being sassy, and reporting boring news about celebrities that you can easily find elsewhere, and yet somehow this has basically become his career. A nobody sitting in his house complaining about celebs vis blog somehow becomes a c-list celeb himself. This sort of role that the internet plays as a world-of-opportunity is really interesting to me. And it just amazes me, the amount of people who can stumble upon and become hooked on the same thing...another example would be the incredible pace at which a youtube video gains attention (I think most people know what I'm referring to if I say "Chocolate Rain," or "Shoes"). It's incredible to me how people navigate and find things on the internet, and how quickly things gain popularity, or even more so how a website (or should I say asynchronous discussion forum) about obtaining a license to have a mongoose as a pet manages to get any hits at all. It blows my mind.

Facebook Addictions

Hi everyone! My name is Nick Fajt and I'm a junior in Engineering. I'm majoring in Information Science, Systems, and Technology. So far at Cornell almost all my courses have been in engineering and have kind of been skewed towards the more technical side of the academic spectrum. I'm really excited about this course because of its unique structure. It seems like a great change of pace for me.

An internet phenomenon that I've found to be really interesting is the often addictive nature of Facebook. Had the concept of Facebook been postulated 5 years ago, I think most people would agree that their reactions would have ranged from tepid to mild enthusiasm. Don't get me wrong... social networking sites are definitely a very cool resource. However, if someone would have told me 5 years ago that people would have full-blown addictions to Facebook and spend multiple hours a day on it, I would have laughed in their face.

Even though I have a somewhat cynical attitude towards Facebook, I'm must admit, I'm always surprised with how long I spend on it. Anytime I try to do a "quick check" of my Facebook, at least twenty minutes magically disappear, and I think I'm a relatively infrequent user. A number of my friends are on Facebook many hours a week (and some many hours a day).

You'd be hard pressed to walk into a large lecture hall at Cornell and not see at least of few students ignoring the professor entirely and surfing facebook. Many of my friends who have graduated and currently find themselves in the "real world" complain that their companies have "blocked" facebook like it's a form of illicit material.

The most amazing thing about Facebook is that although it's made a cannonball splash in the teen to college generation, it's hardly made a ripple in others. Anyone who has tried to explain facebook to their parents (or grandparents) has probably been gotten responses like "that's all it is?" or "I don't get it."

I think that the psychology behind the rise and infatuation of an entire generation is fascinating. It never ceases to amaze me, how the internet fosters technologies that were unimagined a week ago but are indispensable today. Anyways, with that being said, I should probably go check my Facebook.

A new place for compulsive shoppers?

Hello bloggers of the world! My name is Scott Gorski. I am currently a sophomore communications major in CALS. Throughout high school, I was extremely involved in newspaper, hence my decision to be a comm. major. Currently, I am not sure what I will do after graduating. I am from Long Island, NY and went to The Wheatley School in Old Westbury. I run (actually I jump) track for Cornell. My event is the high jump. Being on the team has been one of the best experiences of my life. This will be my first exposure to (as far as I know) blogging and the blogosphere.
Recently, I have been perplexed by the “online shopping phenomenon.” I can think of many distinct pluses and minuses to shopping online. This phenomenon has given birth to a new type of addiction, an outlet for compulsive shoppers, and a channel to pass time and be lazy. According to an article by Heather Green called “Where did All the Surfers Go,” the online shopping industry will be worth nearly 255 billion dollars by 2007. Today, you can purchase almost anything online—from clothing and electronics to cars, kidneys, and discontinued goods. Furthermore, there is a branch of online shopping that has grown so popular and vast that it could be considered its own Internet-related phenomenon. This branch of online shopping is online auction sites, such as eBay.
So what are some of the draws to such an activity? I would say the two most compelling aspects of online shopping are its convenience and vast product availability. The slight online shopping I have done has been a result of solely these two factors. For example, I needed a very specific cable for my computer in a timely fashion. Most stores don’t stock this cable, and certainly no stores which are in close proximity to me. Online shopping worked out to be my best option. Other attractions to the activity are its user interface. A shopper can view tons of different items in a relatively quick manor with just a click of a button. I know many friends who browse as a result of boredom or procrastination. These are only a few pluses to online shopping.
Onto the minuses, and I can think of many! Credit card fraud and the many issues which occur with shipping are two of the most drastic and scary minuses. In addition, there is always the issue of what if what you bought doesn’t fit/doesn’t work? In my mind, there is nothing like face to face costumer service, which is impossible with online shopping.
Online shopping was surely before the time of Patricia Wallace and her book, “The Psychology of the Internet,” thus there is no defined online space for this recent phenomenon. I believe she would create a new online space, along the lines of buyer/seller exchange or more simply an online shopping space. I have been somewhat of a laggard in the online shopping lifecycle. Though the market was quick to accept/adopt online shopping, I still prefer the old-fashioned shopping experience--walking in and browsing.

DC++ or Limewire?

Hi everyone! My name is Sarah Kate Mullins. My parents wanted to make my life difficult so they gave me two first names. The fact that I often mumble makes matters worse and when I introduce myself to people they sometimes think that “Sarah Kate” is one word and I have some sort of unique, hitherto unknown first name. I am a sophomore in CALS and technically, I’m still a biological sciences major. Now that that dark and depressing period of my college experience is over, I hope to eventually switch to communication and minor in development sociology.

I live on Long Island and honestly didn’t think my accent was that bad until I asked the opinion of an impartial observer and she cracked up laughing when I said, “cawfee.” I have sought solace in the fact that at least I don’t think water fountains are called “bubblers” like my crazy Wisconsinite roommate. And when I say, “Mary,” “Merry,” and “marry” they sound like different words.

When I arrived at Cornell, I thought I should put my otherwise useless ability to do well on standardized tests to good use so I became an SAT tutor for Cornell’s chapter of Let’s Get Ready. I am also the treasurer of Cornell Minds Matter, a mental health awareness organization. Any artists on Green blog may have seen me working at the Fine Arts Library in Sibley Hall. Perhaps I retrieved a course reserve for someone last year.

One Internet-related phenomenon that is of particular interest to me is the use of peer-to-peer file sharing networks. I’m not sure which of the categories defined by Wallace such networks would fall into. Many file sharing programs feature synchronous chats but the level of information sharing that goes on over these networks seems to go above and beyond Wallace’s definitions. Personally, I don’t know how to feel about downloading copyrighted material from other users. It’s fast, easy, free, and depending on how you interpret fair-use laws, illegal. I know the latter issue rarely crosses my mind when I just have to be with my self and center (clarity, peace, serenity, etc) and listen to “Big Girls Don’t Cry” immediately. I believe that artists deserve to be compensated for their work and I often have a hard time reconciling this with the fact that I haven’t paid for all of the songs on my iPod. I wouldn’t shoplift a CD from a store but have few qualms about downloading it for free. Why doesn’t it feel wrong? Is it because of the anonymous and impersonal nature of web-based interactions? Who do those songs really belong to anyway? Where should we draw the line? I hope some of these questions will be answered in class this semester.

I will see everyone tomorrow in Law Auditorium (if we all manage to make it there).

#1: Blank and Blank are now OFFICIALLY in a relationship.

Hey everyone! My name is Nanditha Ramachandran. I know, kind of a mouthful. I go by a multitude of nicknames so feel free to call me pretty much whatever you want within reason. I’m a sophomore Policy Analysis and Management major, and I’m taking this class because I’m starting a minor in Communication. I’m from a suburb of Chicago called Naperville, but I like to pretend I’m from the city. I’m not quite sure what I want to do with my life, but I’m thinking law school for now. We’ll see how I feel about that in a couple years.

So right after you read this blog, you will probably go try to find me on Facebook. I don’t blame you; I would do the exact same thing. Facebook owns me. It’s hard to classify Facebook in one of the spaces Wallace discusses, because nothing of its sort existed when this book was published. It’s a cross between asynchronous discussion forums, the World Wide Web, email, and something else foreign that hasn’t been defined. There are many aspects of Facebook that completely fascinate me and I’m sure that I will never fully understand, but one that really stands out is how much it means for people’s perceptions of relationships. A relationship is no longer considered legit unless it is posted on Facebook. Of course there are the rebels who just refuse to post their relationships altogether, but for the most part once it goes live on Facebook, it’s a big deal. News Feed will find a picture of the lucky couple and post it on your friends’ main pages like an engagement announcement in the newspapers. The walls of the involved persons will be full of comments from their so-called Facebook friends that go something along the lines of “OMG I love your new status” or “You have so much to tell me!”

First of all, if you were really friends, you shouldn’t need Facebook to tell you about a significant relationship in that person’s life, but that’s beyond the point. Why does it even matter so much? How did it come to this? Is it really worth all the attention we get when you posting an amazing, new relationship, when you have to deal with the same level of attention if and when you change that status back to “Single”? It's definitely nice to share your happiness with your friends, but I am currently “Married” to my roommate because she didn’t want to deal with putting up her "Single" status again after she broke up with her boyfriend.

To be honest, in my one year of having Facebook, I have yet to have any relationships to post, so maybe it’s something I just won’t get until the opportunity arises. For now though, I will continue to wonder at the power those words “Relationship Status” have over people.

The guy who posted right below me wrote about the same thing...woops.

Open the door, dear. We just want your brains.

Hi, my name is Yang Zhang and I'm a freshman at CALS majoring in bio. My interests... hmm... let me think on that one for a second... I love music in general and piano in particular. Used to only listen to classical, but now I'm broadening my horizons to include more contemporary stuff. Like rap. Yes, radical, I know. I love improvisation stuff and spend time everyday on the piano. I also like graphic novels and horror movies and tennis. Who's got cable and is able to watch the US Open? Well, aren't you the lucky one. Anyway, my money's on Federer. As always. Big fan of him.

Two summers ago, out of boredom, I started looking into Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games, or MMORPGs. I’ve never been overly computer-savvy, and downloading gaming softwares and setting everything up just seemed too advanced for me. Not to mention I was too lazy. And the internet at my house was fatally slow, so any downloading ended as my patience waned and I moved on to more interesting things. Like solitaire.

But that summer… gosh, I must have been really bored. I actually looked up the list of MMORPGs on wikipedia. Being the un-computer-savvy cheap miser with a strange liking for blood and gore (yes, I’m pre-med) that I was, I picked Urban Dead.

I thought the ride was going to be a lot more thrilling than it actually was. Urban Dead is about a city called Malton that is quarantined due to a virus break-out that turns people into zombies. The players can pick roles as zombies or as human survivors. Humans can get killed and become zombies, and zombies can get revived and become humans. Thus the game is a perpetual war of human vs. zombie. The city is basically just a grid, so the graphics are quite dull.

I would have quit this boring game a long time ago if I hadn’t joined a survivor group named Department of Emergency Management, or DEM. It has thousands of members and is actually pretty systematic in the way it takes in new recruits and distributes personnel. The group communicates through asynchronous forums and people work together to hold key buildings in the city and fend off zombie masses. People share their daily experiences and alert each other of dangers through posts called sitreps (situation reports).

Now I have to manage time to check Urban Dead everyday. I mean, people count on me to be active and save their butts when I see zombies break into their safehouses. What started out as a game is now where I meet up with friends / teammates and compare notes on how to headshoot an oncoming zombie.

Ezra Cornell is no longer in an open relationship,

Hey, I’m Andrew. I’m a sophomore in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. I am majoring in communications with either a minor or double major in Applied Economics and Management.

I see that a few people have already chosen to write about Facebook, probably because it is the online space most of us spend half of our day in. It is an online space beyond any that Wallace could have envisioned at the time our text was written. It combines the many characteristics of other types of online spaces, such as asynchronous chats.

Facebook gives you a way to find out almost anything about almost anyone. With nothing more than a drunken recollection of a girl’s first name and perhaps what dorm or sorority she’s in, you can easily find out every intimate detail of her life the next morning. If you want to get to know someone better, you can easily obtain a full list of all of your mutual friends. If you want to join a club or organization, you can easily scrutinize each of its members beforehand. Facebook also acts as a simple way to keep in touch, or communicate with any of your friends regularly.

However, I find that Facebook’s most interesting property of all is the relationship status. A relationship is now not considered “real” until it is put up on Facebook. On the plus side, this phenomenon makes it almost impossible to ‘forget’ about your significant other and not expect your new friend to find out the next morning. On the other hand, it makes it almost impossible to keep your own business private. While the obvious answer would be not to post a relationship status if you didn’t want to announce your involvement to the entire world, the custom of entering these relationships has become a completely ubiquitous social norm. Thus, it would not be unreasonable or unexpected for one member of a relationship to take extreme offense if the other did not want to enter this cyber-union.

One interesting and creative response to this feature is to enter a bogus same sex marriage or engagement. This situation is becoming increasingly more common, and leaves any would-be-stalkers without any real answer as to your availability.

$Green$ group is blingin

Hey, this is RJ Rowland. Feel free to call me Rob, if you like. I’m a senior Communication major, minoring in the shameless exploitation of my Irish heritage to scavenge free booze and Lucky Charms. It figures I got Green group. I transferred into Cornell last fall, after hopping around the Atlantic coast for a few years attending community colleges. I currently live in Wilmington, North Carolina, right on the coast, and it took a little convincing to me pull away from the beach. But, so far, Cornell’s been worth it.

I’m a huge fan of sports and love to play just about anything, although my favorite is tennis (Go Roger!). I grew up in Clinton, New York, which is about two hours northeast of Ithaca, where I ran track and played soccer for four years while in high school. I love to dance and watch movies and am still listening to the alternative rock CD’s that I bought back in the 90’s. Oh yeah, and I don’t own an iPod. Yikes.

I suppose what interests me most about the development of the internet is how it has introduced the possibility of widespread dialogue between various perspectives the world over. The net is an immense lexicon of all of the world’s collected knowledge—the digital footprint of globalization. How will humanity react to this sudden overload of perspectives? We’re a generation that exists in a world that is super saturated with information. How will we learn to correctly manage these countless claims to truth? How will we learn to discriminate between what is true and false on the internet (or elsewhere as information becomes so accessible)?

Centuries ago, before the advent of contemporary mass media technologies, people relied on interpersonal dialogue, debate, and discussion to reach conclusions about the knowledge and information that reached them. That went away for a brief spell, when mass media such as television, newspaper, and radio dominated public access to information—for the most part, everyday citizens did not have the resources to dialogue with large communication entities. The internet has changed this: we now have a cyber Agora, so to speak…a global forum. It is a medium for public discourse that can compete with the traditional mass media.

I believe that the internet is just the tip of the iceberg and that it foreshadows a future of human interconnectedness in a world that is growing smaller every day.

Myspace.com like the drunk at the bar

Hi my name is William Martin, I am a senior at Cornell University. I study Communication but more specifically Information Technologies. Cornell University is located in Ithaca NY which I also happen to be a native of. In my time growing up in Ithaca NY I have been through many journeys, a common bumper sticker you will see around here is “Ithaca NY 10 square miles surrounded by reality” I guess I could be considered one of those that make Ithaca what it is. According to some at Cornell I have “weird” piercings for a guy and sometimes but not always dress completely different then the rest of the student population here at Cornell. I know I am not the only one like this here, there are others. I consider myself an honest guy; I am 100% honest all the time. If I feel like I don’t want someone to know what im thinking I don’t lie I just keep my mouth shut. However if asked I will tell. I have always been really into a huge variety of things, but more specifically one of these things is computers. I got my first computer when I was 10 years old which I consider odd considering I was driving cars around fields at the age of 8… one fascination I have always had with computers is how people communicate using them. Myspace.com is one of these communication tools I have used and communicated with. Myspace.com is a Internet website people make profiles about themselves and often time attempt and do meet others to socialize with and sometimes even more. When I first made a myspace.com account made it for these reasons and very quickly realize I could use it for more. I now do use myspace.com to talk to people and communicate if some soul feels they wish to talk to me, I however very rarely initiate a conversation or ask people to be my friend. Music is a huge part of myspace.com and also my life. On myspace.com I usually only search for new bands that spark an interest to me, I find it so interesting how many small and unknown bands have music on there. It is a great tool to promote and spread their music, I personally know of 5 local bands that have became reasonably known because of myspace.com, they use it to promote their music AND ITS FREE. I guess the reason I kinda gave up on the whole meeting new people on myspace.com is because so many people just surf around looking at pictures and sending people messages with, Your hott! Your Cute! Do you have AIM Blah blah… People don’t ever even take the time to read the words and get to know something about the person before they start sending messages that just make them look dumb. I actually put in my info that if you wish that I respond to your message to send me a message with the title clipse… so I get and idea if people are really interested in you for you or for something else… to this day I have only received 6 messages with that title in the last 6 months… It is just so amazing that with all that can be done to expand horizons and get to actually know people better when you may not have the strength to talk to them people still act stupid and ignorant like they are drunk at a bar and see a beautiful soul walk by…

My life as a Sim

Hey everyone, my name is Ashley Garvey and I’m a sophomore studying Communications. I have absolutely NO idea what I want to do after graduating from Cornell. I’m from Plymouth, Massachusetts (yes, where the pilgrims landed in 1620). I use the word “wicked” as an adjective and I lovelovelove the Red Sox. I play on the softball team here at Cornell, and we’re really good so you should come watch in the spring. My favorite television show is Grey’s Anatomy, and I just started getting into Entourage.

There was a point in my life that I spent hours and hours per day on the computer, playing one [very addictive] game. This game, my friends, is called The Sims. The Sims can be described as a “metaworld” or a “MUD”, for it allows you to create your own world and life in one sitting. I especially like the game because I can be any person that I want to be. I can be Mike Smith, the player pimp who lives in a 25-room mansion, and also has six girlfriends on the side. Or, I can be Michelle Smith, the housewife with three kids who is a mascot for a soccer team.

But the question is, why is the Sims so addicting? It’s probably the fact that you can create your dream life with one click of the mouse. What may not be attainable for you in reality may be one promotion away in the game (as long as you get that one charisma point by talking in front of the mirror for 3 hours). However, the game is not as easy as it sounds. It is almost like have a pet human, because you have to direct your character in the game to eat, sleep, use the bathroom, go to work, etc. Failure to do so may result in the death of your Sim.

All that I know is that it is painful to drag myself away from the computer screen to go back to my boring life. It hurts to snap back to reality where I am not Jeff Jones, president of Simsville. And did I mention that I’m a kabillionaire and my mansion has 15 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, 6 kitchens and an indoor pool? Oh yeah, and that’s my Benz parked in the driveway. Pfft, I wish.

A Blog About Blogs

Hi everyone! My name is Emily and I am from Tenafly, New Jersey. Tenafly does not smell bad, just as most other parts of New Jersey do not smell bad. Anyway, I am a sophomore majoring in communication, and I am quite excited about this blogging business. The entertainment and fashion industries are serious interests of mine, and for that reason I have interned in fashion for the past three summers. On that note, the internet-related phenomenon that I’ve chosen to discuss is the fashion and entertainment news blog trend.

Blogging is a relatively new mode of expression, and in the last few years the fashion and entertainment news blog genre has really taken off. PerezHilton.com, Jezebel.com, Fashionista.com, and TheSartorialist.com are just a few prominent sites of this type. No matter what you’re looking for, these pop-culture obsessed bloggers are ready to fuel their pop-culture obsessed readers with the latest paparazzi snapshots, fashion trends, celebrity gossip, and style tidbits. With every star that develops an eating disorder, gets charged with a DUI, becomes hospitalized for “exhaustion”, or accidentally(?) overdoses on painkillers, bloggers stand by, ready to electronically jot down the details for the masses to consume. Thank you, Lindsay Lohan.

As interesting and hilarious as I find some of these celebrity and fashion forums can be, I also can’t help but wonder: when did these people become experts of celebrity psychology? Who died and made them Kings and Queens of the Popular Culture Universe? For instance, blogger Perez Hilton (a pseudonym for Mario Lavandeira) has experienced considerable fame in the last year or so. Hilton’s site gets so many hits a day that his name has transcended the internet blogosphere. Media outlets like television and magazines talk to him and talk about him, causing the face of this asynchronous discussion forum (Perez encourages his readers to provide comments and feedback) to become a ubiquitous part of the world he loves to hate. Perez Hilton has caused me to seriously doubt this generation’s ability to ever understand the idea of overexposure.

As Robin Givhan, The Washington Post’s Pulitzer Prize winning writer, points out in the latest issue of Harper’s Bazaar, when one enters “fashion blog” into the Google search engine, a staggering 135,000,000 results appear. It seems pretty clear that these sites (whose powers of diversion hover around the Facebook level) aren’t going anywhere… yet.

My first name can be used independently of my last name.

Hey everyone! ;) <-- (emoticon inserted in order to seem less cold, and to make my introduction more personal) My name is Tim Scott, I am a junior in CALS, majoring in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and I transferred here last year from the University of Rochester. Like many first name last names, I suffer from a first name last name union. It's just part of life for the "Tim Scott"s of the world. Anyway, my interests are varied, but if I had to say what my main interest is it would have to be horses. I've been showing competitively since I was 8, and am currently a member of the Cornell Polo Team. I have two horses, my 14 year old Thoroughbred, Polly, and my 3 year old Warmblood, Eppy. They're pretty awesome.
Anyway, an internet phenomenon that is of interest to me is the world of online gaming. These games are the metaworlds, as referred to by Wallace, of the modern era. The drug, er, I mean game, that I will be focusing on is that of World of Warcraft, aka WOW, aka electric crack. What is it about online gaming that sucks people in so entirely and completely? Now I will admit, although I'm not proud of it, I did experiment when I was younger, I mean, what kid hasn't? It was fun and a lot of my friends were doing it. I was fortunate enough, however, to pull my act together before I had a serious problem. Not everyone around me was quite so fortunate. My older brother is a level 70 shaman recovering addict, and he gave up WOW a few weeks ago, cold turkey. I'm very proud of him.
As exaggerated as these statements may seem, any WOW player can testify to how absolutely enveloping the game can become. People often forsake activities that are necessary to ones general well being and survival, i.e. sleep, showering, or eating food that requires more than one hand, in order to get in a few extra hours of playing time. Players frequently choose to abandon all socially expected routines in order to immerse themselves in a world of fantasy. It seems that for many online gamers, the friendships and relationships that you develop online can substitute for real world relationships. WOW players have a sense of community and camaraderie, which exists because no one can understand their devotion to their chosen lifestyle except other WOW players.

Meet n' Greet Continued..

ooops! I forgot to say what puzzled me about the internet.
I think it is puzzling how on the internet we read into the lack of iming as "omg he does not want to talk to me" when truth of the matter is someone may or may not be infront on their computer. With the lack of direct interaction internet conversations enable a person to misinterpret various things about the person they are talking to and draw many incorrect conclusions which seem to be veered to the more negative side of things! It's strange.

Video Streaming

My name is Brittanie, and I’m a nineteen year old sophomore Communication Major in the School of Agriculture and Life Sciences. I live in upstate New York, about three hours west of Ithaca, and I come from a family of four kids (three girls and one boy). I’ve got a dog, two cats, and some fish.

It’s interesting how the internet is now not only a source for a social life, but useful for shopping, auctions, board games, research, etc. Having grown up my entire life without cable TV, I’m specifically interested in the streaming of television shows through websites like YouTube and other such popular destinations. Nowadays, one doesn’t need a television to watch his or her favorite TV shows anymore – he or she is able to catch reruns almost instantaneously, so free time is gained to get other things done, like homework or extracurricular activities. My father even refused to pay for cable my freshman year of college here at Cornell, so this year is the first year I’ve ever been able to have cable (I live in a house with five of my friends).

Not only did I miss out on popular television shows, I rarely found out about major news before my friends did (we didn’t receive a newspaper daily either). My internet is a source of checking up on events from around the world, catching up on shows every now and then, amongst other things such as (much to my parents dismay) shopping. Media such as movies, TV shows, commercials, advertisements, and political campaigns alike can be found on sites such as Myspace, Facebook, and a number of other domains that advertise products.

As for the future, I expect that the internet will expand and keep on making our lives just a little bit easier. I think communication will take place regularly through video chatting and that other such means of communication will evolve to become everyday norms. I’m excited to see what the future has to offer to our generation.

It's my fifth time checking emails.

Hi everyone, I am Soyoung Lee. I am a junior majoring in Operations Research and Information Engineering (Thanks Angela. I did not know the department name has changed.^^) and minoring in Information Science. Before talking about my fifth time checking emails, let me talk about myself. I was born in South Korea. I moved to New York City in 2000. Most of the time I tell people that I am from NYC; they think I live in Manhattan. However, there are four more boroughs other than Manhattan in NYC. Among those, I live in Queens. Although it is very likely that many of you would not recognize the name, I went to Forest Hills High School. As the name implies, I had walked up the hill for four years prior to experiencing slope in Cornell. So, it did not take that long to adapt to the tiring commute to Central Campus from Becker. (For those who are new to Cornell, Becker is a dorm in West Campus.) Now, I dare to wear heels on slope. I like listening to Japanese pop-songs(aka J-pop). When I listen to J-pop, if I understand its lyrics, it feels very nice as if I have found a dollar on the ground. (I hope you understand what I mean.-_-;;) Actually, this is what made me learn Japanese. One day, my friend and I found Japanese karaoke in Manhattan. We went there with a folder filled with printed lyrics in Korean. Since neither of us knew how to read Japanese, we had no other choice. It looked quite awkward to see a pile of papers next to a microphone and my friend holding and reading papers to sing a song. Yes, I wanted to learn how to read Japanese fluently in order to have fun in a karaoke without any inconvenience. Although the initial motivation was not quite academic, now listening to J-pop and learning Japanese are my hobbies. I also like taking a walk. Last week, I was not able to go to gym in morning since it opened late. Instead, I went to the lake area in between North and Central Campus. It was very nice there. There were lots of greens and colorful flowers. If you have free time and are willing to do so, I recommend you to visit this area where there is a small piece of land in the middle of the lake. I spent about five minutes just looking at the tiny island.
An Internet-related phenomenon that I am interested in is why I check my email so often while I do not check my mail box more than once a day. Almost every time I open my laptop I find myself logging in my webmail and other email accounts as well to check whether I got any new mails. And if I send an email to others, I became to expect them to send me a response quickly. It seemed like people around me and I built an image that a person who does not check his or her email often is not diligent. (#3-The online space that it takes place in is Electronic mail. Since Electronic mail has been around since about the time Internet was born, there is no need to define new dimension.) I wish this class gives me a clue to find out why.

Meet n' Greet

Hi Everyone!
This is my first time blogging so sorry if it takes me a while to get the hang of it haha. My name is Whitney Brenner and I am a current Junior at Cornell. I am in the AG school and am currently an Atmospheric Science major attempting to switch into Communications. I know this probably seems like an odd switch but I have definately found that I am more interesting in the Communications major and perform better as well.
Originally I came to Cornell because it was a great school and at the Atmospheric Science program. I figured if I didn't like the subject once I got to intense studying then Cornell would provide me with equal, or even better, education in other areas.
It turned out the physics and calculus did not agree with me.
While I still enjoy reading about weather patterns, I found that this more it was more of a hobby then a career interest. I needed more interaction with people then I would ever get in a career dealing with atmospheric science.
Every year I enjoy Cornell even mor. Coming from a graduating class of less than 60 it is refreshing being on such a large campus. At the same time after I joined a sorirty and many nights out its was amazing how small even Cornell could become.
I am taking COMM245 because a) it sounded interesting and b) it fulfills a requirement for the COMM major.
If you would like to know more just post! :)
Whitney

This blog is taking up my facebook time

Hi everyone! My name is Brandon Chiazza and I am a junior transfer student to Cornell. My hometown is Rochester, N.Y. and my previous institution was Monroe Community College--also in Rochester. So far, I've enjoyed my short time here at Cornell. I am in CALS and am a Communications and AEM major. I'm not exactly sure what I want to do after graduation, though I'm sure that those majors will give me some options. I love to play music and am looking to start a band here so please get a hold of me if you're interested!
As far as an “online space,” I find facebook to be one of the most contemporary and interesting (although maybe not so original) of the web phenomena. Besides MySpace, facebook is one of the most diverse and extensive sites of its nature.
Why do people like facebook? I think it offers people a less interactive way to communicate despite it being an effective way to stay connected with people you normally wouldn’t stay connected with. Although you may only friend someone once and never speak to them again, I wonder how many parents in the previous generation can have the accessibility of the majority of their high school class with a quick post on a wall or a quick search for “friends”. Facebook along with other websites alike have altered the future of communication.
But aside from the obvious implications from facebook, there has been a sort of addiction to the site and although Wallace’s “online spaces” are somewhat outdated, I think she brings important perspectives to the Internet with her “taxonomy” of the particular corners of the web as well. The addiction comes with the psychological affects it has on us. How often do you check your wall to see if someone took their time to comment about you? How often do you check to see if anyone has befriended you or even count how many friends you have? It is changing the way we perceive ourselves. Are we being trained to be more self-centered?
I also find it interesting that as we have progressed, it has become increasingly more difficult to label websites and aspects of the web as she has. If one were to try to label something like a facebook, they would have to include it in a few different of the online spaces. Wallace writes on page 4, “although there is much overlap between and variation within environment types, they differ on certain fundamental characteristics that seem to affect the way we behave when we experience them.” These “fundamental characteristics” that Wallace describes still exist, however the inclusiveness of every website brings some of these fundamental characteristics together (we find a Google search bar through Cornell’s homepage or a YouTube video application through Facebook).

Blog post 000001 binary solo

Hi!  

My name is Aleksandr Kalininskiy and I'm currently a junior in CALS.  I was a biochemistry major for the last two years but am now thinking of switching over to information science and this is one of the initial courses I have to take.

A little bit about myself - I was born in Minsk, Belarus ("the last dictatorship of Eastern Europe") and moved to NYC in '98.  I went to Brooklyn Technical High School and was set on working my way up to a PhD in Chemistry but my interests changed and I switched to Biology here in CALS early on.

Sometime last semester I realized that the science research career path wasn't right for me either so I've been quickly working on getting my Info Sci requirements done.  This happened because I was working for CIT since my freshmen year and all the IT/Information things I saw at work really got my interest.  

When I'm not in class or CIT, I like to go outdoors, swim and play tennis or handball.  I tend to follow tennis as much as possible - back in the good old days of HS I played in several tournaments and trained daily.  Unfortunately that took a back seat to my edumacation and my skills have seriously deteriorated over the years.

I'm also a huge poetry lover.  I religiously re-read T.S. Eliot poems weekly because every time I will see something new in them.  If you haven't been exposed to Eliot yet, enjoy one of his most famous poems:

http://www.bartleby.com/198/1.html

That's about the gist of it.  I can very clearly see that Web Applications and novel uses of the Interwebs are the future.   So one of the reasons why I'm taking this course is to understand what makes the web tick.  I want to know why Digg, facebook, gmail, etc worked and why Friendster did not.  Whatever I end up doing in the future will inevitably involve computers and the internet so hopefully after finishing this course I will be able to take advantage of the web much more than I do now.

The internet phenomenon that I am currently interested in is email addiction.  I've seen this happen to myself and several of my friends - as the number of messages you receive in your inbox increases on a daily basis, you become more and more dependent on your email account.  As time goes buy, you want everything to be via email and won't consider other things as legitimate unless you were CC'd on the exchange.  

At that point, you have to constantly check your email because without it you are functionless.  The inbox becomes something of a giant to-do list.  This email addiction makes me personally quite dependent on computers and if I don't check my email every ~2 hours I become quite nervous and agitated.

What I have noticed is that Gmail in particular has built their service around that addiction.  Some Gmail features that show this include:  storing **all** your email by default; quick Google search which makes storing all your email actually work; conversations, which tend to group related email messages together so all comments discussing a single topic stay in one simple view.

Every person whom I've introduced to Gmail have become much more dependent on email as a means to keep track of events, contact friends, etc.  I don't check facebook until Gmail tells me there is something worthwhile.  I don't read news stories until I receive my daily top stories email from CNN.  

Now, RSS and IM with chat logging can accomplish the same thing - but email puts some pressure off of me because I don't have to reply immediately.  

In any case, I think this falls under a "life management" online space - sites and web applications that help you deal with and parse all the different events, news and discussions in your life.

Thanks for listening,

-Aleksandr

**post title is in reference to flight of the conchordes**

Video Chatting

Hi, my name is Rachel and I’m a sophomore in the school of Human Ecology. I am a human development major and have no idea what I’m going to do it but I’ve liked my classes so far. I’m from North Caldwell, New Jersey..exit 145 on the parkway (because everyone always asks). I played soccer and softball all four years of high school but now am just playing intramural soccer with my sorority AEPhi. I love most of the MTV shows: Real World, The Hills, Laguna Beach, and am obsessed with Sex and the City and Friends. This is also my first experience with blogs in any way so I hope it’s fun.
I am extremely interested in video chatting because it is something that I use all the time and at times don’t know what I would do without it. I think it is actually what helped my long-distance relationship survive for a good portion of my freshman year. There is something to be said for being able to see someone compared to just hearing their voice and this internet invention has made it extremely easy to do with just a little click of a button. It’s actually amazing at how easy it is to all of a sudden be shown a glimpse into someone else’s world all through this great phenomenon. With my boyfriend across the country in California last year and having to go over a month without seeing each other, I am extremely grateful for video chat. When he got a haircut I was able to see his new look, I was able to see his entire room and meet his friends, and I was also able to just look at him and make sure he looked at me in the same way. Without this opportunity, some of our connection may have been lost. Instead, when I got to finally see him it was as if in some ways we had never been apart.
While I obviously think that this is all great, it’s a little scary to think of how much I relied on video chatting for my relationship. Would we have broken up sooner if we hadn’t had this tool? Did I know too much about his life and more space was needed? Although at the time I thought I couldn’t live without it, I’m beginning to think that it’s a little invasive. I would be all sweaty from the gym without makeup on and my computer would start beeping at me saying I had an invitation to chat and I just couldn’t reject the invitation. Therefore, the video chat allowed my boyfriend to see me in what I consider one of my grossest states and that is something I am not a fan of.
If I had to categorize video chatting it would be in a synchronous chat environment, although it doesn’t quite fit due to many added features. There are the extra elements of the other person being able to see you and you having to respond quickly and there is no option for anonymity. This would actually be pointless because you have chosen to be talking to the person you are video chatting with. I think that video chatting really needs a new category of its own to be developed in order to accurately display everything it has to offer.

Just for Fun?

Hi everyone, my name is Mike and I’m currently starting junior year here at Cornell University. I’m majoring in Communication and pursuing a minor in Biology and in Business, I hope to go into biomedical sales someday. I’m originally from a small town in upstate New York called Perth; it’s 40 minutes west of Albany.
Outside of Cornell I work as a newscaster for WVBR-FM here in Ithaca as a newscaster, this semester I’ll be doing the news on Wednesday mornings. I’m also a member of the radio guild, the organization that runs and owns WVBR. I’m also really involved in Circle K International (CKI), which is an international community service organization sponsored by Kiwanis for college students (who also sponsor Key Clubs for High School students). I’m currently serving as the District Governor for the New York District; this means that I’m the leader for all of the other district officers in New York and that I serve as a liaison between the district and all of the CKI clubs in New York State. I’m also in charge of planning our three large district events each year. It’s a lot of work, but I really love doing it.
During my time here at Cornell I’ve had a lot of interaction with other people using the Internet and there is one instance where I am really perplexed by some of my friend’s actions and behaviors. I’m talking about the online gaming phenomenon with games that involve role playing, such as “Civ” and “World of Warcraft”. Last year I was introduced to these two games by my roommate and a few other people in my hall as they took on a character and essentially became that character and became extremely involved in these games. I tried to understand their obsession with it, but as time went on and their obsession only grew, I continued become more and more puzzled by it. I couldn’t understand why they all preferred to interact with other people on the computer, when those people were right down the hall, or why they would rather play their game than get dinner or go out with their friends on a Friday night. They would play until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, and I rarely saw my roommate pick up a book. The game wouldn’t end when they stopped playing either, their conversations centered solely on what was going on with their game or different strategies for their game at least 90% of the time; it got really hard to listen to over and over, and I am yet to understand their obsession and even possible addiction. These online games would likely fit in the online environment that Wallace defines as metaworlds because the games use a lot of graphics to create another world for the player and allow the players to socially interact with one another while playing.

this should be fun

Howdy everybody :)

My name is Angela Shi and I'm a junior, majoring in Operations Research and Information (name change!) Engineering. I'm from Canada, like as our professor lol, though I hardly ever say "eh" and I've never heard anyone pronounce "about" as "aboot". However, I do say "washroom" and "pop" and pronounce "z" as "ZED" and all that weird stuff. Since we have so much snow and ice up there, I really like to figure skate and ski, as well as play tennis when the weather is nice. When there was time, I loved to watch soaps and TV serials, especially those dramatic weepy ones that have all those incredibly unbelievable coincidences.

For several years I’ve always spent some time on the Internet each day, but since I arrived at college, that time has apparently increased exponentially. There’s just so much to do online; the checking of emails dozens of times a day, Facebook(though that’s waning slightly), MSN, AIM, online news, games, the list goes on and on. Not to mention the super important sites such as Blackboard and uportal. Currently my apartment still doesn’t have Internet yet, and it feels like I’m cut off from all the significant things that are happening around me.

One type of site that I used to visit regularly are those forums (or discussion boards) dedicated to soaps. Some really well done, established ones are pretty much like an online community with all the essentials, not to mention very unique sub-forums too. These forums probably fit in the asynchronous discussion forum that Wallace discusses, since the boards are made up of threads made by individual posters who in turn, reply to each others’ posts. Also, board moderators are an example of the mediating variable described by Wallace; they step in if a thread gets heated or if there’s bashing involved.

However, forums are not completely asynchronous. The threads are not slow enough that a topic would remain popular for months or even weeks. If lots of new threads are posted then the older ones would get pushed down to the next few pages, and are then forgotten.

There are many types of people who frequent these boards. The ones who usually aren’t registered and simply read other members’ posts are called “lurkers”. There are also members who post each day, spend time writing soap-related fiction, and make graphics. And then there are posters like me, who find forums very convenient and useful for information such as recaps, spoilers and video clips. As much as I like to frequent these sites, I can’t imagine giving my real name to the posters, especially exchanging personal information such as phone numbers. Some members even post to arrange meeting times for fan events all over the country. I guess the Internet really does transcend all boundaries. :)

Group behavior and knowledge building

Hello world (and fellow COMM 245 students),

I am Kevin Locke, a senior in Computer Science with a specialization in mathematics, originally from Montana. I am particularly interested in systems (think Operating Systems - e.g. Windows - fundamental parts of a computer system), networks, and parallel and distributed computing. I have been characterized as a bit of a geek, and I have to admit that I am probably only a few steps away from the stereotypical computer scientist. But I'm fine with that.

There are a lot of interesting phenomena in the online world that I find really fascinating, and don't even remotely understand (which is part of my motivation for taking this course). The one thing that I find particularly interesting as I am writing this entry is the behavior of groups on the internet. Group dynamics are interesting in the physical world, although much of the recorded and studied behavior is anti-social (e.g. riots). In the online world there is certainly some degree of anti-social group behavior, but I find the constructive and collaborative group behavior to be much more interesting.

Particularly, the "wisdom of the crowd" effect that manifests in collaborative information repositories such as Wikipedia and collaborative tagging in sites such as Del.icio.us as well as the recent "crowdsourcing" efforts in many disciplines in both commercial and academic areas. I'm intrigued by how a largely unorganized group of "average" (I am glossing over the many clearly non-average traits being selected here) people with differing areas of knowledge and interest can effectively compile, organize, refine, and create knowledge with such impressive results.

The ability of groups to tend toward a relatively sophisticated level of knowledge rather than the median level for the group seems somewhat counter-intuitive. Also, the ability of many online communities to move past interpersonal problems and disagreements seems to be much more effective than many design-by-committee efforts that are done face-to-face. Gathering a consensus in any group can be difficult, but somehow it seems as though many online communities can either continue without consensus or can reach at least a temporary consensus and move forward much more readily than groups acting offline. I don't understand why this should be the case, given that there is often more contention in an online setting than offline (copious examples of bike-shedding and flame wars omitted). The ability of these groups to function so effectively is remarkable.

This sort of group behavior manifests in nearly all areas of the online world that support user-contributed information, although the dynamics can be quite different across different communication media. In newsgroups, mailing lists, and forums, building shared knowledge is often done in a more debate-like way, which seems to more readily degrade into flame wars and confrontational situations. In shared information spaces such as wikis, the end result tends to be much more prominent and is constructed in a less confrontational and more collaborative way. Although there are edit-wars and other contentious behavior that does manifest on wikis, it seems to be significantly less than on forums and mailing lists. Another question that I would be interested in investigating is what traits of these different communication media encourage these differences in outcome and whether the lessons from one could be transferred to another effectively.

The Away Message

What is up green team?! First of all, I just wanted to say that I am having so much fun learning about each of you, and you have all kicked some serious butt in the posts I have read so far.

And now for a little about me. My name is Diane Pflug and I am a senior (this makes me feel old) majoring in biology. I am from Queens, NY and people often ask me to repeat the words "coffee" and "water" so that they can call me out on my accent. I spent my summer working with traumatic brain and spinal cord injured patients at a rehabilitation hospital close enough to home so that I could still enjoy the wonders and culture of NYC. I am also a huge fan of dunkin donuts, the beach, and spongebob (I even named my cat Patrick after Spongebob's best friend).

I have always been curious about the concept of the away message. Instant messaging is probably the 9th wonder of the universe (Facebook is 8th, in case you were wondering.) You can have a "synchronous" conversation with anyone from anywhere in the world and it's free (minus what you pay for your internet service). IMing even has its own lingo that has impacted other forms of communication- I know you all use an lol in a text or facebook message at least once in awhile. I can even remember a couple of times where I have slipped an lol into a "real life" conversation after I've been chatting online for way too long and I am still in im mode. Believe me, it sounds really cool.

There are so many perks (and pitfalls) in instant messaging. But the concept that intrigues me most is the idea of an away message. I can't remember if away messages have existed as long as instant messaging (does anyone know?) but I conclude that the away message evolved as a way to leave yourself online and connected while you are away from the computer so that other users can leave you messages, hence, the away message. I know, I'm brilliant.

But the away message has evolved into something more than just "I can't be here right now so leave me a message." It has become a way to let the entire online iming community know exactly what the heck you are up to. I know when my friends are showering, eating dinner, and doing laundry. Geez, I even know when my not so good friends are showering, eating dinner, and doing laundry. Some even include an entire itinerary for the day, such as "class, gym, class, work, dinner at CTP, library, maybe movie after?" Sometimes you can even find where the party's at by scanning your buddy list.

Now, I realize not all away messages are about what people are doing, and most are pretty entertaining to read. Personally, I usually do not disclose my whereabouts or what I've been up to. I'd rather use some awesome line written by Bruce Springsteen. But the fact of the matter is, I still put up away messages and choose to stay connected more of the time than not.

So my question is this: what drives people to be this connected all the time? What is it about human nature that makes people so willing to reveal things, whether they are the details of their everyday lives or a favorite movie quote with a group of mostly random people? Even more so, why do people take the time to read through everyone else's away messages? Are humans really THAT curious?

iChat: A Double Etched Sword

Hey everyone. My name is Jacob and I’m from Roslyn, New York. I am a sophomore communication major, but I am looking to possibly pursue a double major in Applied Economics and Management. I worked for a financial company this summer and really enjoyed it, so I might apply to double. I am a big sports fan. I played basketball and baseball in high school, but due to the fact that I am 5’11” and Jewish, I clearly could not continue to play sports on a Varsity level at college. Therefore I live my sport fantasies through intramurals and by rooting for the Yankees, Jets, and Knicks.

A relatively new internet phenomenon that interests me is iChatting. Last year before my freshman year began, my parents and I discussed getting a laptop. There are seemingly endless alternatives, whether it is a Dell, IBM, HP, or an Apple. I stressed to my parents that I would be happy with any laptop I got since I had never had my own computer before. Secretly though, I was hoping they’d get me an Apple, and lucky for me, they seemed to read my mind and purchased one.

One of the cool features that comes with the Apple is a built in camera that you could use to take pictures and chat live with other people via iChat, an alternate form of AIM. I became obsessed with this tool, as every day I would chat live with my friends from all across the country. It seemed as if we had never left Roslyn, as iChat kept all our interactions much more personal than IMing or texting ever did. I am still in awe of modern technology, as I cannot fully fathom how I, in Ithaca, New York, can literally see and talk to someone from Los Angeles, California at the mere push of a button. And now that iChat has been introduced into my life, I cannot imagine living without it. In years prior, when high school friends went to college, it remained hard to stay in touch and feel as connected. But iChat totally changes this, as I can feel like my friends are all in the same vicinity as me, just a click away. Just like it was back in Roslyn.

While I am a huge fan of iChat and videoconferencing, there is one disadvantage that just arose a few weeks ago. I came home one day during the summer to see a brand new Apple laptop in my parents room. My worst fears have come true- my parents would be able to videochat with me now, and actually see my face and all my surroundings. The thought unnerves me a bit, since my mom was always overprotective of me in high school. She always needed to know my whereabouts, no matter the time or place. Therefore as you can imagine, I loved going away to college and experiencing the newfound freedom that was handed to me. While videochatting with my parents is not the same as them being at my side or living under the same roof, it carries the disadvantage of direct communication with them. Don’t get me wrong. I love my parents very much. I just need space. Lots of space. So we shall see how this unfolds in the near future, and see how my mom reacts when I repeatedly reject her videochat invitations lol.

Hi, I am Xiangning Li, because of the hard Chinese name pronunciation, call me Tina if you like. I am a transfer student from China, major in Information Science in CALS at my junior year. I just arrived America about 10 days ago, and found Cornell really a beatuiful, clean and big place. Sometimes when people speak fast(I mean English), I can't quite catch it. And sometimes, when the professor says something funny and students laugh, I feel a little embarrassed cause I am not quite sure what he is talking about. Living in a foreign country, the beginning may be like this..........Personally I like music pretty much , all kinds, and play a little piano and drum set.

Causes i am not familiar with the popular America websites, so i may talk about something that shows on the Chinese websites. From last year there emerged a popular "Lotus Sister". Named Lotus, she is not famous for some flowers. This woman makes up herself very exaggerately and strangely and then puts her own photos, videos and even some short dramas onto the websites. Through the high clicks ratio, this "Lotus Sister " quickly became famous and earned much money. The following links can lead you to some of the pictureshttp://v35.blog.sina.com.cn/album/4b67409605000hgh
http://v35.blog.sina.com.cn/album/4b67409605000hmp or you can just copy 芙蓉姐姐 and search it in your Google.

It is said the moment Lotus Sister' blog published on Sina, the click ratio overran 100,000. And she soon became a famous all around China, and keeps the champion of web clicking for a long time. Nearly all the people say "Oh, my god, why would someone behave like this?""Odd"" awkward" "Abnormal"and all kinds of bad words are used to describe this crazy woman. But meanwhile, we keep seeing the photos, we keep watching the videos, and everytime we know there are new pictures and videos of "Lotus Sister", we wait no time to browse the webpage to find them. Then we say"Oh , my god, why would someone behave like this?" "Odd" "Awkward" "Abnormal"again. The click ratio keeps rising. More and more media are trying every methods to interview Lotus Sister. They let her make her "typical " post and dance her "typical" dance to win the audience rating.

Most people ask "What self-respect means to her?" At the same time, there emerges a new comment. Some people say she just does what she wants to behave and she does what we else are not dare to do. These people praise her for her braveness and trueness in this untruthful world. This may be ture, but I am afraid I can not easily agree with it.......

Soon after "Lotus Sister", a "Big Mouth " true name as Zude Song suddenly had his moment. He is famous not only for his ugly face but for he criticizes the dark sides of the society openly to the media. But I think this is more like a hype than a innovation seed.

There may be some psycology questions in it. Like, why we look down upon this behavior, but are eager even wait to see? Or like, is it ture that we conspue this action just because we are not dare to act like that? Or , is it ture that in our deepest heart , we want to do what they do, to express ourselves in a more free way? I am a little confused......

If you understand me and not tired yet...I may want to say something other things.

Sometime before, I knew I would go to USA with another person. Before we met in person, we send short messages(Is it called TXT message here?). You know, in China , sending short messages is really very very cheap. We send messages for a long time, and felt just like very good friends(at least I think so). Then we met. What I found was we actually had nothing to talk...and from then on, we haven't contacted each other for a long time. The feeling is just like, we may add friends in the facebook , sometimes you may chat with a so-called friend on Facebook , but when you meet on the street, you may even not be able to recongnize each other. I think about this kind of questions many times......Sometimes, we act as what we want to be on the internet, especially to strangers, for others can't see us. But when the opacity is broken, and the face is clear, every kind if pretendence is over. We may either become friends without mask or we are not friends any more. Things like this happen, although not often.

Internet is an intersting place to explore, when psycology is brought in, it becomes even more interesting ,more complex and more mysterious.

Tired of programming, browsing, a little thinking of what people think may be halpful.....^~^

Youtube domination

Hey, everybody. I’m Alice, a sophomore psychology major in Arts and Sciences. I’ve lived all over the country: Washington, Hawaii, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and New York. I’m a huge fan of figure skating, so if you know anything about skating, I will automatically like you. I absolutely love Coldplay, The Office, 80s music, and lame jokes. My boyfriend is also trying to get me interested in baseball (mainly the Mets). He still has a long way to go, but at least I can say that I’ve attended a Mets game.

An Internet phenomenon that I’ve always found interesting is Youtube. I had seen a few videos on Youtube before coming to Cornell, but I was not fully exposed to the site until I arrived in Ithaca for the first time last year, when I became friends with a guy who worshipped Youtube. His friends from home sent him links to videos daily, and he would always watch them and share them with his Cornell friends. Thanks to him, I started to appreciate Youtube for its beauty and ingenuity.

Youtube is a video site where anybody can upload their own homemade videos; in fact, its tagline is “Broadcast Yourself.” A large component of Youtube’s popularity is its accessibility. Anyone with a computer and Internet access can watch the videos on the site for free. Youtube does not fit any of Wallace’s defined online spaces. It’s a mixture of a media site with an asynchronous discussion forum. Of course, the main feature of the site is the videos that people post. However, sometimes the comments to videos are as entertaining as (and sometimes more so than) the videos themselves.

Youtube is always good for listening to music for free since it offers music videos; many people take advantage of this feature. If you look at the most viewed videos of all time on Youtube, a great number of them are music videos. I, on the other hand, have always been a big fan of the random videos that people make. People often come up with pointless videos that are guaranteed to make you laugh. In fact, some videos, like “Charlie the Unicorn” and “Average Homeboy,” have earned fame for their silliness.

But in addition to amazing stupidity, there are also fantastic works of creativity. The band OK Go earned worldwide attention when it broadcast a music video for its song “Here It Goes Again,” which features the band members dancing on treadmills. OK Go’s success explains part of the allure of posting a video on Youtube: if you put a video on the site, there’s always a chance that millions of people will watch and appreciate something that you’ve created.

Not an Addict?

I’m Hannah Weinerman and as a freshman, I’m still getting used to all the elements of Cornell and college itself. Last year I deferred my admission, spending it in Israel, which was unbelievable but makes it that much harder to get back into the habit of seriously working. I’m from Long Island, NY, like a typical Cornell kid (which I really didn’t think was true until I got here). I’m in ILR, hopefully going into public policy and quickly learning that the hype about all the reading is unfortunately accurate.

As a new member to the world of blogging, I find the whole concept of what Wallace calls an “asynchronous discussion forum” a bit bizarre. It’s extremely weird to think that a heated debate, let’s say for example why Team Aniston is better than Team Jolie, could be played out over a couple of weeks. It loses that momentum which is the excitement of a debate. We now live in the world of instant gratification and when things are so easily available, the slightest waiting period seems like the most interminable experience. What happens when you finally text your crush and you agonize until he or she finally responds? Coming from the perspective of being a little neurotic myself, not getting a response in that situation would have myriad of implications ranging from that person must not even want to talk to me or to just feeling rejected.

This idea of instant gratification got me thinking about the phenomenon of Internet addiction. I realized how much time I was spending online, when I once was procrastinating writing a paper, and all of a sudden I was on my Facebook looking at all 300 of my best friend’s pictures from Binghamton. I’ve heard stories from friends about how they are addicted to “MUDs” like “The Sims” and sometimes don’t move from their computers for almost eight hours. The fact that researchers are trying to get Internet Addiction Disorder (which originally was a fake disease posted by Dr. Ivan Goldberg to comment on the new phenomenon) added to the list of Mental Disorders is a clear indication Internet Addiction can really hinder people’s daily activities.

I don’t what sucks other people into the Internet. In my own encounters online, one major draw is that unless you blatantly make it known, no one knows what website you’re visiting or how much time you linger there for. It’s an almost creepy but captivating feeling when you get a voyeuristic glimpse into someone’s world and they’ll never find out what you saw. As cliché as it is, the whole world is literally at your fingertips with a click of a button. How much more instant gratification could you ask for?

Hey all,

Here is a short blurb that should hopefully introduce me to the world.

My name is Radhika Arora. I'm not in a normal college like most of you but rather I'm in ITD which means Internal Transfer Division for all those who may be confused. I used to be a mechanical engineer but am transferring to Communication. It's going to be a big change but I already know I made the right decision for me. I'm in a Greek organization (Kappa Delta) which takes up most of my time apart from school and work. I love to read (I'm a total nerd at heart) and my favorite thing to do besides that is testing out new food. I hail from a tiny town near NYC called Chestnut Ridge, but my heart still belongs to my original hometowns, New Delhi, India and Kathmandu, Nepal. I was born on an ironic day. In America, my birthday is known as Black Monday, the day the Wall Street market crashed approximately 600 points. In India, however, I was born on Dhanteras, which is a holiday in which money is celebrated and everyone buys silver.

I love the Internet. It is one of my favorite pastimes. However, there are a lot of phenomenons concerning it that intrigue me. One of them in particular has to do with Internet Love. The idea of people falling in love after meeting in a chat room, or through a match making site among other channels has always aroused my curiosity.

The idea that people can fall in love without ever actually meeting each other first and foremost challenges one on what the definition of love actually is. If someone believes that love is a meeting of two souls that instantaneously recognize each other, then yes, love can be found over a computer mediated interaction. However, if one defines love as getting to know someone through their words, actions and reactions, then no, love cannot be found over the Internet. The idea of true love found without a face to face interaction tugs on my heart since it allows for two people to love each other for their personalities (i.e. who they truly are) without allowing any prejudices. However, the cynic in me cannot believe that a person can be truly honest while interacting in a computer mediated environment.

Some may offer up the criticism that sometimes these people talk on the phone. Again, the phone is a technological mediated environment that takes away many of the factors we use in order to get to know a person such as body language.

Others may offer up the criticism that there is always web cam, or video conferencing. However, these can also be manipulated to the advantage or disadvantage of someone.

Putting aside the philosophical discussion of what love truly is as well as the problems with technology mediated interactions, I wanted to describe to you a few different scenarios that I personally have seen people go through when dealing with online love. The first one of course being the truly Utopian version

The Perfect Scenario - this is the scenario that all of us dream about when thinking about online love.

Person A and Person B meet online. They start talking. It starts off slow but soon they are talking every night about anything and everything. They soon transition to phone calls and even using the web cam sometimes. They decide on a meeting date. They meet, and it was as they dreamed, perfect!

This scenario almost never happens! The next couple of examples are more likely.

Person A and Person B meet online. They talk extensively using all forms of technology. They start dating, and almost immediately are telling each other that this is love. They visit each other rarely but only due to the actual distance between them. One day, Person A finds out that Person B had been lying all along. Person B actually had someone else and had not been in love at all.

Person A and Person B meet online. They get along very well. They are both teenagers who have much in common. A couple months pass by. Person B is pushing for a meeting. Person A is extremely hesitant but gives in eventually. When they meet in person, Person A realizes that Person B is in actuality a pedophile who was just looking for a teenager to manipulate.

These examples show why technology mediated interactions are just not enough to fall in love. In these interactions, there is always time to formulate answers, giving the person time to actually think before speaking. This causes the receiver to get a untrue perception of the sender.
There are quite a few online spaces that online dating can take place in. One being the world wide web with sites such as match.com. Another is electronic mail (e-mail) as many people use e-mail to send messages back and forth. Another is synchronous chats such as IM which is used by people to interact with each other almost simultaneously (real time). Lastly we have interactive video and voice which allows people to hear and see each other.

Hope you guys enjoyed my little (well maybe not so much) introduction to the world of online dating.