So this is my last post on social networks and communities. And as all good things come to an end, it seems only right to end off with the Hayley's Top Social Networking Site Award.
After much deliberation (a whole 2 thoughts later) the outright winner is by far and obviously Facebook . No big surprise there...
Here are my reasons why Facebook is the best:
1) Its still addictive after a year whereas Myspace lasted about 3 months with me.
2) It is the best way to snoop on people.
3) Finding long lost mates and even though I never write them messages after the first 'hey, havent seen you in ages..' rant, I still get to snoop on them and get to rate who came out better, me or them? (come on now, we ALL do that!)
4)My mom gets to see the videos I produce in class. And I say my mom because I dont think anyone else is interested...
By the looks of things I'm not the only who agrees that Facebook is fab. There are nearly 250 000 members of the South Africa network.
But moving along, I also have other social network sites that I have enjoyed and will continue to enjoy. Youtube is great because there is such a vast amount of videos that there's virtually nothing you cant watch.
The clip from Youtube that I have loved most is a French clip, although I dont understand the language, it doesnt actually matter. Watch and see for yourself
Amazing.
And to think, if it wasn't for Youtube, the rest of world would have never seen this.
Over the past posts I have come to realise that social networking sites have become an intergral part of the digital era. It's an example of how the world has become a global village as we have the ability to communicate with other people all over the world in real time as if they were sitting next to you.
Since I will be moving into the world of photography soon, I'm guessing that my new favourite social network site might just have to be flickr. At the moment I dont have an account with the site but as soon as I establish myself as the next Obie Oberholzer, I'll be sure to share with the rest of the world.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Mixing it up
The only time that I ever feel old and out of touch with technology is when people, or should I say kiddies, talk about Mxit . The mobile social networking site has never really taken off with me but maybe that’s because my oh-so-up-to-date Nokia 3310 (read sarcasm) doesn’t quite support it. Anyway once upon a time I did have a cellphone that had WAP and 3G and I didn’t use Mxit then either. Although I’m not part of the Mxit generation, plenty of others are, mostly being high school kids.
As it seems most kids dig Mxit because they can chat away with their mates (or strangers) for as little as 2c a message. And since its mobile, kids can chat anywhere. All of a sudden Mrs Botha’s double biology period doesn’t seem so bad. Mxit is ideal for the teen market because its cheap, it’s tech-savvy, and it’s on your cellphone which means mom, dad and nosy little sister can’t read your messages.
Mxit, which was created by a South African, has become a phenomenon in this country, with nearly 5 million users. Mxit has become such a craze that even media giants have taken notice. Recently Naspers bought a 30% stake in the company. And according ITWeb, Mxit will soon be taking over the world, as the company plans to expand internationally.
But then there are also the critics of Mxit mostly being parents and teachers. You can almost hear the whine of 5 million angst ridden teens complaining “ah man, my ballies just don’t want me to have any freedom, like why cant I just, like, you know, use Mxit, why do they, like, have to try, like, control everything I, like, do hey?.”
But obviously parents and teachers have a point. They are concerned about their kid’s safety. There have been reports of young boys being lured by paedophiles (see here), young girls becoming addicted to sex chatrooms and schools over the country have raised concern over pupils not being able to concentrate in class because of Mxit (see here).
What I think is that Mxit has its pros and cons. On the pro side it is a great way to communicate with your friends as it is a whole lot cheaper. But because it is primarily used by teenagers and tweens, it does become a hunting ground for sicko’s. But then I believe it’s up to the parents to educate their kids that they must be wary of people they meet in chatrooms, especially if they plan to meet these people in real life. I don’t have all the solutions to the cons of Mxit, I do however wish I knew of Mxit when I was in high school.
As it seems most kids dig Mxit because they can chat away with their mates (or strangers) for as little as 2c a message. And since its mobile, kids can chat anywhere. All of a sudden Mrs Botha’s double biology period doesn’t seem so bad. Mxit is ideal for the teen market because its cheap, it’s tech-savvy, and it’s on your cellphone which means mom, dad and nosy little sister can’t read your messages.
Mxit, which was created by a South African, has become a phenomenon in this country, with nearly 5 million users. Mxit has become such a craze that even media giants have taken notice. Recently Naspers bought a 30% stake in the company. And according ITWeb, Mxit will soon be taking over the world, as the company plans to expand internationally.
But then there are also the critics of Mxit mostly being parents and teachers. You can almost hear the whine of 5 million angst ridden teens complaining “ah man, my ballies just don’t want me to have any freedom, like why cant I just, like, you know, use Mxit, why do they, like, have to try, like, control everything I, like, do hey?.”
But obviously parents and teachers have a point. They are concerned about their kid’s safety. There have been reports of young boys being lured by paedophiles (see here), young girls becoming addicted to sex chatrooms and schools over the country have raised concern over pupils not being able to concentrate in class because of Mxit (see here).
What I think is that Mxit has its pros and cons. On the pro side it is a great way to communicate with your friends as it is a whole lot cheaper. But because it is primarily used by teenagers and tweens, it does become a hunting ground for sicko’s. But then I believe it’s up to the parents to educate their kids that they must be wary of people they meet in chatrooms, especially if they plan to meet these people in real life. I don’t have all the solutions to the cons of Mxit, I do however wish I knew of Mxit when I was in high school.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Get thin or die tryin?
A touched a little bit on pro anorexic sites in my last post and that seemed to generate a bit of interest. And since I’m not anorexic nor have any desire to be one I can’t add a personal flavour here (I suppose I shouldn’t really use food puns…) I did however go to school with an anorexic, but I think its standard for an all girls high school to have the token ano.
Anyway, if you are a young teenage girl (or boy) the internet is a great source of information about getting into anorexia. Especially social networking sites that offer support and helpful hints to maintaining a waif like figure.
Social utility sites are fast becoming a portal for pro-anorexics to network with each other. I was amazed to see how many groups on Facebook there were that were pro-anorexic and the sheer amount of videos posted on YouTube that are “thinspo” (thin-inspiration) related.
What surprised/ shocked me the most was that on Facebook these girls who join these groups are openly stating their anorexic desires. And as I recall I don’t think I have ever heard a girl say out loud “I’m ano and proud!” Anorexic people never openly admit their disease –well certainly the ones I’ve known, normally you hear the “I have an overactive thyroid” excuse. So I was quite amazed that a lot of people on the web are out and proud of something that is normally so hush hush in real life.
What made me feel sick were the thinspo videos on YouTube. People post picture slideshows of their thin inspiration. Mary-Kate Olsen and Nicole Ritchie come up tops in thinspo along with skeletal models.
But anyway my point is not to slate anorexics. What my point is, is that shouldn’t social networking sites take more responsibility into what gets posted onto the sites. Anorexia is a mental illness and shouldn’t be allowed to be displayed as positive thing that girls should aspire to. Sure people have the freedom of speech but there should be a line as to whether what you are saying is intended to promote harm to other people. It’s a topic that highly debatable and I’m interested in what you all think.
Anyway, if you are a young teenage girl (or boy) the internet is a great source of information about getting into anorexia. Especially social networking sites that offer support and helpful hints to maintaining a waif like figure.
Social utility sites are fast becoming a portal for pro-anorexics to network with each other. I was amazed to see how many groups on Facebook there were that were pro-anorexic and the sheer amount of videos posted on YouTube that are “thinspo” (thin-inspiration) related.
What surprised/ shocked me the most was that on Facebook these girls who join these groups are openly stating their anorexic desires. And as I recall I don’t think I have ever heard a girl say out loud “I’m ano and proud!” Anorexic people never openly admit their disease –well certainly the ones I’ve known, normally you hear the “I have an overactive thyroid” excuse. So I was quite amazed that a lot of people on the web are out and proud of something that is normally so hush hush in real life.
What made me feel sick were the thinspo videos on YouTube. People post picture slideshows of their thin inspiration. Mary-Kate Olsen and Nicole Ritchie come up tops in thinspo along with skeletal models.
But anyway my point is not to slate anorexics. What my point is, is that shouldn’t social networking sites take more responsibility into what gets posted onto the sites. Anorexia is a mental illness and shouldn’t be allowed to be displayed as positive thing that girls should aspire to. Sure people have the freedom of speech but there should be a line as to whether what you are saying is intended to promote harm to other people. It’s a topic that highly debatable and I’m interested in what you all think.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
not my kind of community
I decided to google my name the other day and to my surprise the search resulted in hayley vos-nalle coming up tops which bummed me out because I wanted to be the top hayley vos. So anyway this hayley vos-nalle is somebody who belongs to AVEN which stands for asexual visibility and education network. Definitely not me.
So Aven is a virtual community (just a regular forum) of asexual people. According to the site “The Asexual Visibility and Education Network is devoted to creating dialogue among and about the rapidly emerging group of individuals who identify as asexual.”
So if you are asexual then you know there is a site for you out there where you can interact with like-minded people.
So since I would never join this virtual community, I decided to look up some other virtual communities that I would never join but might appeal to other people. So here goes my top 5 never ever will I join this virtual community.
Number 5: The Vegan Virtual Supper Club onflickr. Not that I have anything personal against vegan’s, I just think that it is probably disgusting. I like my meat and I like my cheese.
Number 4: Blogs on Alien Abduction and UFOs, the Paranormal, and Collective Psychic Impressions on Alien Abduction Experience and Research. Right…
Number 3: Anafriends. The pro-anorexic site that encourages girls that anorexia is all good. Ano’s alike can communicate in chat rooms and on forums. And with quotes on the page saying “the best thing about a donut is the whole in the middle” you have to wonder about people out there. Like I said before, I like my meat and I like my cheese.
Number 2: Loving ferrets. The online community that is dedicated to expressing one’s love and weird obsession to ferrets. Animals aren’t really my thing, especially ferrets.
And finally….
Number 1. The Tyra Banks show website. Ok this isn’t exactly the definition of a virtual community but people visitors of the site have the opportunity to comment on Tyra’s blog posts. Never would I ever commit myself to this. Her show….her forehead, I just couldn’t.
So Aven is a virtual community (just a regular forum) of asexual people. According to the site “The Asexual Visibility and Education Network is devoted to creating dialogue among and about the rapidly emerging group of individuals who identify as asexual.”
So if you are asexual then you know there is a site for you out there where you can interact with like-minded people.
So since I would never join this virtual community, I decided to look up some other virtual communities that I would never join but might appeal to other people. So here goes my top 5 never ever will I join this virtual community.
Number 5: The Vegan Virtual Supper Club onflickr. Not that I have anything personal against vegan’s, I just think that it is probably disgusting. I like my meat and I like my cheese.
Number 4: Blogs on Alien Abduction and UFOs, the Paranormal, and Collective Psychic Impressions on Alien Abduction Experience and Research. Right…
Number 3: Anafriends. The pro-anorexic site that encourages girls that anorexia is all good. Ano’s alike can communicate in chat rooms and on forums. And with quotes on the page saying “the best thing about a donut is the whole in the middle” you have to wonder about people out there. Like I said before, I like my meat and I like my cheese.
Number 2: Loving ferrets. The online community that is dedicated to expressing one’s love and weird obsession to ferrets. Animals aren’t really my thing, especially ferrets.
And finally….
Number 1. The Tyra Banks show website. Ok this isn’t exactly the definition of a virtual community but people visitors of the site have the opportunity to comment on Tyra’s blog posts. Never would I ever commit myself to this. Her show….her forehead, I just couldn’t.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
networking your kids
About two weeks ago I had to baby sit my two younger cousins who are both still in primary school. Like most kids their age they spent their leisure time watching TV and mucking about on the internet. On the internet the boys played mindless flash animated games and then googled just about everyone they knew. It got me thinking about how I spend my leisure time on the internet, I spend it on Facebook, gmail chat and googling potential love interests and ex boyfriends.
So besides being a stalker I spend my time wanting to interact with other people on the internet. So why should my kid cousins not want to do the same? Devon who is 12 had heard about Facebook but didn’t know exactly what it was. When I showed him I could see that he was soon interested but not exactly too thrilled because there weren’t any games.
So this got me thinking to kids’ social networking and virtual community sites. Surely there has to be sites that are dedicated to it. So I googled around and found Imbee. The site is like Myspace and Facebook rolled into one but only kids between the ages of 8 and 14. It works the same as the two sites, you add friends, create an avatar, join groups, blog, message people, listen to music etc. Like Myspace kids can even add celebrities to their list of friends.
Imbee, created by Industrious Kid, has taken precautions so that kids can network in a safe environment. Unlike other social networking sites Imbee is not free, this means that parents have to take out their credit cards in order for their kids to join after a free trial period. Parents also have access to a control panel so they can monitor and restrict their kids to whatever they want or deem safe. This way parents can have a big brother eye on what their precious darlings are doing. This way Imbee is protecting the site from becoming the Pick ‘n Pay for paedophiles.
So far over 25 000 active members use the site, so clearly kids think its cool and parents think it’s safe.
To read more check out these articles:
Imbee Launches MySpace for Kids
Imbee - Disney Is Investor
So besides being a stalker I spend my time wanting to interact with other people on the internet. So why should my kid cousins not want to do the same? Devon who is 12 had heard about Facebook but didn’t know exactly what it was. When I showed him I could see that he was soon interested but not exactly too thrilled because there weren’t any games.
So this got me thinking to kids’ social networking and virtual community sites. Surely there has to be sites that are dedicated to it. So I googled around and found Imbee. The site is like Myspace and Facebook rolled into one but only kids between the ages of 8 and 14. It works the same as the two sites, you add friends, create an avatar, join groups, blog, message people, listen to music etc. Like Myspace kids can even add celebrities to their list of friends.
Imbee, created by Industrious Kid, has taken precautions so that kids can network in a safe environment. Unlike other social networking sites Imbee is not free, this means that parents have to take out their credit cards in order for their kids to join after a free trial period. Parents also have access to a control panel so they can monitor and restrict their kids to whatever they want or deem safe. This way parents can have a big brother eye on what their precious darlings are doing. This way Imbee is protecting the site from becoming the Pick ‘n Pay for paedophiles.
So far over 25 000 active members use the site, so clearly kids think its cool and parents think it’s safe.
To read more check out these articles:
Imbee Launches MySpace for Kids
Imbee - Disney Is Investor
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Getting paid to blog
Over the holidays I spent two weeks interning at ITWeb in Johannesburg. On the first day I arrived I sat down at my desk, logged on to my computer and clicked straight away to Facebook. To my shock and horror ITWeb, like most other companies, had the site blocked. The whole office heard me wail out loud. So, just as I thought I would have to go cold turkey for two weeks, a kind ITWeb journo offered me an alternative. She introduced me to the site My Digital Life which she and all the other journos thought was the new crack.
My Digital Life is a social networking site that pays you to blog. My Digital Life works like any other social networking site, you sign up, create a profile and add friends to your list of contacts. Then all you have to do is start blogging away. Once you’ve posted a certain number of blog posts you attain author status. The My Digital Life community decides whether or not you worthy of earning some cash. Each time someone clicks on your blog you earn 10c and the cash becomes redeemable in blocks of R50. This is great news for struggling students to earn a bit of drinking money.
My Digital Life is not a bad idea for up and coming journalists. For those of us stuck in small towns like Grahamstown we have less access to getting our stories published than those who are in the cities. My Digital Life at least allows us to get our stuff out there. And because it’s a social network a like minded community can judge whether you write like, and excuse my language, shit or not. So instead of just putting up your thoughts, stories or whatever on a random blog that might never see any traffic (like this one) publishing on My Digital Life allows for feedback. And at least you know you’re bound to get some traffic as Amatomu lists (as of the 25 July 2007) My Digital Life as the 15th most popular blog site in South Africa.
My Digital Life is a social networking site that pays you to blog. My Digital Life works like any other social networking site, you sign up, create a profile and add friends to your list of contacts. Then all you have to do is start blogging away. Once you’ve posted a certain number of blog posts you attain author status. The My Digital Life community decides whether or not you worthy of earning some cash. Each time someone clicks on your blog you earn 10c and the cash becomes redeemable in blocks of R50. This is great news for struggling students to earn a bit of drinking money.
My Digital Life is not a bad idea for up and coming journalists. For those of us stuck in small towns like Grahamstown we have less access to getting our stories published than those who are in the cities. My Digital Life at least allows us to get our stuff out there. And because it’s a social network a like minded community can judge whether you write like, and excuse my language, shit or not. So instead of just putting up your thoughts, stories or whatever on a random blog that might never see any traffic (like this one) publishing on My Digital Life allows for feedback. And at least you know you’re bound to get some traffic as Amatomu lists (as of the 25 July 2007) My Digital Life as the 15th most popular blog site in South Africa.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Myspace, Facebook, Second Life agh please doll! Sooo last season!
It seems to me that virtual communities like Facebook , Myspace and Second Life are just fashion accessories that are this season’s must haves. Is there a point when these social utility networks become old and outdated and ‘so last week’?
For myself, last year was the year of Myspace. Only the cool kids had Myspace accounts. But the particularly ultra cool kids had personalised backgrounds and made friends with Zach Braff. Then this year the Facebook craze hit hard. And all of a sudden Myspace didn’t seem that new or cool anymore.
But how long will the Facebook craze go on for? Surely there has to be a point when the amount of friends you know reaches a maximum. And then what? When the site has nothing new to offer people will get bored and stop logging on. I know this happened to me with Myspace because it got to the point where only random people were asking to be my friend. I got bored with the site and stopped logging on.
The reason I started thinking of this topic is because I started thinking about the people who have left their jobs to start solely producing their income by selling virtual products on Second Life. Surely this is a major risk, because like Nelly Furtado says all good things must come to an end. The virtual world Second Life can’t go on forever because it is a fad, just like how the Friendster fad died. Fashion trends whether they are virtual or not follow the same life line. The trend emerges with the underground people who are in with the know, it hits the mainstream and explodes commercially and then as soon as the nine year olds start sporting the trend then you know it has died and has lost all sense of ‘coolness’.
Maybe I’m just a pessimist, but I don’t think that virtual communities are here to stay. Maybe the concept will stick around for sometime but I don’t think you’ll catch me logging in Facebook or Myspace in 3 years time. What do you think?
Interested in this argument? Check out this site that also talk more on the subject as well as here .
For myself, last year was the year of Myspace. Only the cool kids had Myspace accounts. But the particularly ultra cool kids had personalised backgrounds and made friends with Zach Braff. Then this year the Facebook craze hit hard. And all of a sudden Myspace didn’t seem that new or cool anymore.
But how long will the Facebook craze go on for? Surely there has to be a point when the amount of friends you know reaches a maximum. And then what? When the site has nothing new to offer people will get bored and stop logging on. I know this happened to me with Myspace because it got to the point where only random people were asking to be my friend. I got bored with the site and stopped logging on.
The reason I started thinking of this topic is because I started thinking about the people who have left their jobs to start solely producing their income by selling virtual products on Second Life. Surely this is a major risk, because like Nelly Furtado says all good things must come to an end. The virtual world Second Life can’t go on forever because it is a fad, just like how the Friendster fad died. Fashion trends whether they are virtual or not follow the same life line. The trend emerges with the underground people who are in with the know, it hits the mainstream and explodes commercially and then as soon as the nine year olds start sporting the trend then you know it has died and has lost all sense of ‘coolness’.
Maybe I’m just a pessimist, but I don’t think that virtual communities are here to stay. Maybe the concept will stick around for sometime but I don’t think you’ll catch me logging in Facebook or Myspace in 3 years time. What do you think?
Interested in this argument? Check out this site that also talk more on the subject as well as here .
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
My second life is madness
Until a few hours ago I my understanding of the term second life is when you die and go to heaven (or hell if you a bad ass). Second Life is also however a 3-D virtual community where people create avatars and interact with other avatars, create homes, businesses, go to clubs, go shopping, have sex -basically have a normal real life in a virtual space. Basically its the human form of the tamagotchi and every socially inept computer nerd’s dream.
In Second Life you build your own avatars and pretty much anything else you want to like cars, clothes, disco balls, lamps etc. out of building tools. Because you control the IP rights to the things you build, you can sell them to other users with the Second Life currency of the Linden Dollar ($L). But here is where things get a little absurd. Once you have accumulated enough Linden Dollars you can exchange them into real life American Dollars, the exchange rate at the moment is 300 $L to 1 U.S $.
The initial basic membership is free on Second Life, however every additional alternative account is a once off $9.95. But having a basic membership doesn’t let your avatar (or virtual self) to have much of a lifestyle because it means you can’t own land and therefore your avatar (or virtual self) will be homeless. So by signing up for the premium account for $9.95 a month you can buy land and build on it.
So as a South African I would fork out R71.69 (at the current exchange rate) a month to have a premium virtual lifestyle. Plus I would have to spend even more to buy things that I would be too lazy or incapable of building myself. It just seems crazy to me that people are willing to spend hard earn cash on something that isn’t even real. Business savvy people have jumped on the Second Life bandwagon by creating real life businesses that specialise in selling virtual products for characters. It’s mind boggling that people have created a living selling nothing for something. For more of this topic check out Business Week's My Virtual Life.
For another intersting blog see My so-called Second Life
Also check out Second Life's creators blog
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Identities and virtual communities
In my last post I touched a bit on identity in virtual communities. Well I found this interesting article online called Identity and Deception in the Virtual Community. The article makes some interesting points, some of which I’d like to highlight.
In the real world, the body is a ‘compelling and convenient definition of identity’. This is true because we often base assumptions and generalisations on people on how they look. How we dress is most often an indication of our personality and who were are. However in virtual communities we don’t have the advantage or luxury of being able to judge people on their body, or physical appearance.
Identity is an important element in communication as ‘knowing the identity of the people you communicate with is essential for understanding and evaluating an interaction.” When I go on Facebook and I sent messages and interact with my ‘friends’ I assume that they have the same identity online as they do in the real world.
The thing about online identities is that people are able to create a multitude of personalities and identities. A recent example of this is my lecturer Jude and the editor of Grocott’s Mail created false identities on the Grocott’s website. They posted comments under articles using their false identities in order to generate more comments and discussion on the site.
I think what this article is trying to make people aware of is that identities in virtual communities are not fixed and that they are not necessarily a true representation of the person sitting behind the computer screen.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Are virtual communites really the same as real life communites?
In the reading by Nathan Vivian and Fay Sudweeks called Social networks in Transnational and Virtual Communities they state that virtual communities are like any other real communities. They also say that people bring the same values to virtual communities as they do in real life communities. I think that it is a large generalisation and assumption that all people carry the same values to both types of communities. Virtual communities like Facebook do allow people to interact in a virtual landscape as they would in real life. Although in my opinion virtual communities allow people to create idealised versions of themselves. Virtual communities have people set up profiles about themselves, therefore have power and control over how they are seen and perceived as on their profile. Members of virtual communities often have profile pictures of themselves and written "about me" sections, this is so that other members can see what you look like and learn more about your personalities and likes. However this means that members have the power and control over how they are seen and perceived. Members have the power to decide what pictures of them of used and what exactly is going to be written to describe them. I often look at the profile pictures on Facebook and try read into what that person is trying to say about themselves, and how they want others to read them through the image. I feel that people try to embellish themselves in virtual communities; they create idealised versions of themselves. Often I will find people with model posed profile pictures as if to prove to the world that they are beautiful, or I will find people doing weird poses or drinking alcohol, as if to try show themselves as "weird, crazy, totally out there" types. Meantime half these people are just average Joes who are not anything special to look at nor are they crazy, witty, funny or whatever else they trying desperately become. So I don’t think that virtual communities and real life communities are exactly the same, because in virtual communities you have more power in the way that you want people to perceive you.
With regards to bringing the same values, I also don’t fully agree. The persona’s and identities that people adopt in the internet and virtual communities are not necessarily the same as real life. The amount of porn on the internet shows that people are into voyeurism, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that these are the same people are going to try watch their mates having shag. Let's be honest here, we've all seen porn on the internet, I have. But I certainly wouldn’t go into say Adult World and go sit in the viewing booth! This may not be a perfect example of the point I’m trying to make, and I will try think of better examples in coming posts.
Otherwise I'm, going to stick to my guns about people using the internet to create hyper-realities about themselves especially in the realms of virtual communities.
With regards to bringing the same values, I also don’t fully agree. The persona’s and identities that people adopt in the internet and virtual communities are not necessarily the same as real life. The amount of porn on the internet shows that people are into voyeurism, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that these are the same people are going to try watch their mates having shag. Let's be honest here, we've all seen porn on the internet, I have. But I certainly wouldn’t go into say Adult World and go sit in the viewing booth! This may not be a perfect example of the point I’m trying to make, and I will try think of better examples in coming posts.
Otherwise I'm, going to stick to my guns about people using the internet to create hyper-realities about themselves especially in the realms of virtual communities.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
I had to rush this post...
Over the next while I am going to be discussing social media, virtual communities and networks in my blog. Basically I want to look at sites like Youtube, facebook and myspace and how people use these sites to create virtual communities.
At the moment the facebook craze has hit Rhodes University hard. I for one am completely addicted to the site. Majority of the people I network with on facebook I see in person nearly everyday or have the opportunity to see them everyday, yet most of the time I’d rather communicate with them over facebook than in real life. This is is disturbing when I actually think about. This is one aspect that I would like to focus on, are people more comfortable in communicating virtually than in real life? Is this is first step towards living in virtual reality?
I think that virtual communities and networks allow people to feel that they belong to something, a special group. It is part of human nature to feel the need to belong to something, to know where one fits in the greater scheme of things. Virtual communities play into this idea and is something I would like to explore.
I am unsure where exactly my research into the topic is going to take me, but I am hoping to find some social and maybe even psychological impacts that virtual communities and networks have on users.
At the moment the facebook craze has hit Rhodes University hard. I for one am completely addicted to the site. Majority of the people I network with on facebook I see in person nearly everyday or have the opportunity to see them everyday, yet most of the time I’d rather communicate with them over facebook than in real life. This is is disturbing when I actually think about. This is one aspect that I would like to focus on, are people more comfortable in communicating virtually than in real life? Is this is first step towards living in virtual reality?
I think that virtual communities and networks allow people to feel that they belong to something, a special group. It is part of human nature to feel the need to belong to something, to know where one fits in the greater scheme of things. Virtual communities play into this idea and is something I would like to explore.
I am unsure where exactly my research into the topic is going to take me, but I am hoping to find some social and maybe even psychological impacts that virtual communities and networks have on users.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Multimedia journalism - first impressions and lessons learned
Working with multimedia is far more interesting than working with just a single meduim. Last year I specialised in Radio and by the end of the year i found myself getting bored with it. It became monotonous going out getting a story, editing it, playing it. By working with multimedia it creates so many dimensions to the story. I really enjoyed working with the visual part of it. As a former radio student it was awesome to see a story coming alive visually. I can see now that so much of what we see can give so much information about something that sound might not necessarily show.
But I did grasp how using different mediums complement one another and give added meaning. The photostories needed sound in order for them to have some sort of meaning or relevance. Sound also plays a powerful role in how something visual is represented. For instance the hypnotist photostory by itself with no sound just looked like a bunch of people hypnotised. But then we added a narrtive of Steph speaking in the way that he puts people under. Then we added a backing track of weird, dark almost gothic music. All of a sudden the photostory became creepy and almost sinister. It was great! Its amasing how you can change the mood of a piece and ultimatley the way people perceive something just by adding sound.
Working with multmedia is log process. Because we not limiting ourselves to one medium like the other specialisations it takes a lot more time in creating a packaged story. The writing has to be perfect, the pictures, the sound. All the different mediums also have to gel together and flow with one another.
So far I have had a good experience working with the different mediums. It makes creating a package so much more interesting and eclectic. Also I like that I am learning new skills and broadening my knowledge.
But I did grasp how using different mediums complement one another and give added meaning. The photostories needed sound in order for them to have some sort of meaning or relevance. Sound also plays a powerful role in how something visual is represented. For instance the hypnotist photostory by itself with no sound just looked like a bunch of people hypnotised. But then we added a narrtive of Steph speaking in the way that he puts people under. Then we added a backing track of weird, dark almost gothic music. All of a sudden the photostory became creepy and almost sinister. It was great! Its amasing how you can change the mood of a piece and ultimatley the way people perceive something just by adding sound.
Working with multmedia is log process. Because we not limiting ourselves to one medium like the other specialisations it takes a lot more time in creating a packaged story. The writing has to be perfect, the pictures, the sound. All the different mediums also have to gel together and flow with one another.
So far I have had a good experience working with the different mediums. It makes creating a package so much more interesting and eclectic. Also I like that I am learning new skills and broadening my knowledge.
SCIfest: The Vagaries of Reporting Science
Nothing completley erratic or unpredictable happened during the reporting for SCIfest. I think this is because Melissa and I didn't go into with a solid plan of action. We almost took things as they came so in this sense we were prepared for anything.
Before we actually went out and started reporting, I was a little apprehensive about doing science related stories as I left all things scientific back in Matric. But I found that there was nothing to be worried and that I'm not a complete dunce as I understood all the lectures. The DNA workshop felt like I was back in Gr 11 biology and I surprised myself how of much I actually remembered.
Things that happened during the course of reporting that were not according to plan mostly occurred with the technical side. The mp3 recorders can be very temperamental. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. Sometimes you get perfect sound, sometimes you get fuzz. I was not the problem, it was the machine! Also Melissa and I are clearly in the beginning phases of Parkinson's Disease because we both seem to be incapable of taking pictures that are not blurred. For the Junk Toys story we had to go twice to the lecture because we didn't have a single clear picture from the first time round.
Otherwise I felt everything went pretty smoothly. Other than saying last friday "oh we'll be in the labs till like 9.30pm latest" come 2am and we were still slogging at it. Reporting for Science is no different than reporting for anything else. You have to make sure that you understand what your story is ulimately about and then try relate it to a local context.
Before we actually went out and started reporting, I was a little apprehensive about doing science related stories as I left all things scientific back in Matric. But I found that there was nothing to be worried and that I'm not a complete dunce as I understood all the lectures. The DNA workshop felt like I was back in Gr 11 biology and I surprised myself how of much I actually remembered.
Things that happened during the course of reporting that were not according to plan mostly occurred with the technical side. The mp3 recorders can be very temperamental. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. Sometimes you get perfect sound, sometimes you get fuzz. I was not the problem, it was the machine! Also Melissa and I are clearly in the beginning phases of Parkinson's Disease because we both seem to be incapable of taking pictures that are not blurred. For the Junk Toys story we had to go twice to the lecture because we didn't have a single clear picture from the first time round.
Otherwise I felt everything went pretty smoothly. Other than saying last friday "oh we'll be in the labs till like 9.30pm latest" come 2am and we were still slogging at it. Reporting for Science is no different than reporting for anything else. You have to make sure that you understand what your story is ulimately about and then try relate it to a local context.
SCIfest: Reporting on conferences and events
Driving up the hill towards the Monument became a regular feature during the 10 days of SCIfest. What made the drive interesting was watching my petrol gauge below the red line and hoping that I wouldn't find myself rolling down backwards. But luckily my little Polo Playa managed to perform. With my car performing it duty. I had my own duty of reporting on conferences and events at SCIfest, most of which were at the Monument.
With Melissa in my team, the first lecture we attended was presented by Jane Badham on healthy eating. Not feeling so healthy myself from the night before I felt like a cop out siting there taking notes about having a healthy lifestyle. I think the organisers of SCIfest did a superb job of making this lecture on a public holiday as they probably knew that everybody was out jolling the night before. What better way to make people feel rotten about themselves. After the lecture Melissa and I spoke to Jane. Melissa did most of the talking (she didn't go out jolling the night before. Smart.) For this particular story we gave it a local perspective and focused on Makana's weighty issue. So to give more depth to the story we then spoke to Janet Kelly of the Rhodes Health Suite. What I found most interesting about Jane and Janet is that they both had a lot to stay about being healthy, eating the right foods, exercise and so on yet both of them weren't exactly Elle "The Body" McPhereson. Part of the project also meant getting pics of people eating (not many people obliged to this, I wouldnt blame them -who would want a pic of them stuffing themselves on the web?) people exercising in the gym (the jocks were very obliging to this) and people being sedentry (majority of students). This paticular story was interesting to do because I could relate what the story was about to my own life. Everyone wants to be more healthy and all that which goes with it. It makes reporting on a story so much more intersting and makes you put more effort when you have your own personal interest in the story.
Next up Melissa and I went to report on Steph Juncker the hypnotist. Steph had two shows at SCIfest, one being an actual hypnotist show and the other a lecture. Because you had to pay for the show, Melissa and I didn't have any tickets so I phoned up Steph and did a bit of bartering. We lent him a tripod, he let us in his show. I'm sure this type of thing happens all the time in the real world of journalism. The show was amusing naturally, watching people eat raw onions whole always is. The next day came the lecture after which we spoke to Steph. This is where a learnt another lesson about being a journalist. Sometimes you just have to let your personal issues with the person you are interviewing slide and just suck it up. After having comments thrown at us like "I'd do you" "I only do autographs on the bum, come let me sign you" and "why didn't I see you girls in the Rat last night" you just have to smile sweetly, giggle at the lame comments and try get him to answer our questions. Men, especially middle aged men, are generally perverted. They also seem to think that it is ok and normal to undress 21 yr old girls with their eyes, and do so blantatly. One day I will be 40 and I wont have to deal with this type of thing. So what I learnt about reporting for this story was that sometimes you just have to suck it up as not everyone you interview is going to be a decent person.
We also had planned to do a story on the scientific differences between girls and boys. The lecture was highly entertaining, but we didnt have an angle to make the story news worthy. So basically we attended a lecture and wrote down notes for our own interest sake. Sometimes a story gets scrapped at that's that. But at least I know now that girls are designed and programmed to have little to none spatial ability. The next time I parallel parking I'll keep that in mind when it takes me several attempts to get into the parking bay.
Following was Arvind Gupta and how he creates educational toys out of junk materials. Lucky for me the lecture was at the Albany Museum, so my car -still sitting on empty- didn't have to attempt the Monument trek. It was quite incredible watching him make pumps and all sorts out of rubbish that we normally discard everyday, also the fact that he doesnt use glue or scissors. The children there were equally entertained as the teachers and parents. This kind of lecture is the one that validates your role as a journalist. Because we come from a society where majority is in poverty, educuational toys are not an expenditure priority. So making these types of toys are beneficial to so many people in Makana and South Africa. And being a journalist helps to get that message out there to show people what they can achieve with ordinary things.
Finally we did our last story on DNA and how its used to determine paternity and solve murders. Melissa took part on the workshop and I took photographs. I think it was good that Melissa got involved because as a journalist you dont always have to take the observer role. Journalits can take an active role and be involved and participate. I think this way allowed for more understanding of the workshop than just trying to absorb all the information passively.
All in all reporting for SCIfest was interesting. It's nice to get out of the labs and go reporting outside in the field. Reporting from conferences also makes our job a lot easier because most of what needs to be reported on is said in the lecture, or something is said that can be delved into with more depth in the one on one interview afterwards.
With Melissa in my team, the first lecture we attended was presented by Jane Badham on healthy eating. Not feeling so healthy myself from the night before I felt like a cop out siting there taking notes about having a healthy lifestyle. I think the organisers of SCIfest did a superb job of making this lecture on a public holiday as they probably knew that everybody was out jolling the night before. What better way to make people feel rotten about themselves. After the lecture Melissa and I spoke to Jane. Melissa did most of the talking (she didn't go out jolling the night before. Smart.) For this particular story we gave it a local perspective and focused on Makana's weighty issue. So to give more depth to the story we then spoke to Janet Kelly of the Rhodes Health Suite. What I found most interesting about Jane and Janet is that they both had a lot to stay about being healthy, eating the right foods, exercise and so on yet both of them weren't exactly Elle "The Body" McPhereson. Part of the project also meant getting pics of people eating (not many people obliged to this, I wouldnt blame them -who would want a pic of them stuffing themselves on the web?) people exercising in the gym (the jocks were very obliging to this) and people being sedentry (majority of students). This paticular story was interesting to do because I could relate what the story was about to my own life. Everyone wants to be more healthy and all that which goes with it. It makes reporting on a story so much more intersting and makes you put more effort when you have your own personal interest in the story.
Next up Melissa and I went to report on Steph Juncker the hypnotist. Steph had two shows at SCIfest, one being an actual hypnotist show and the other a lecture. Because you had to pay for the show, Melissa and I didn't have any tickets so I phoned up Steph and did a bit of bartering. We lent him a tripod, he let us in his show. I'm sure this type of thing happens all the time in the real world of journalism. The show was amusing naturally, watching people eat raw onions whole always is. The next day came the lecture after which we spoke to Steph. This is where a learnt another lesson about being a journalist. Sometimes you just have to let your personal issues with the person you are interviewing slide and just suck it up. After having comments thrown at us like "I'd do you" "I only do autographs on the bum, come let me sign you" and "why didn't I see you girls in the Rat last night" you just have to smile sweetly, giggle at the lame comments and try get him to answer our questions. Men, especially middle aged men, are generally perverted. They also seem to think that it is ok and normal to undress 21 yr old girls with their eyes, and do so blantatly. One day I will be 40 and I wont have to deal with this type of thing. So what I learnt about reporting for this story was that sometimes you just have to suck it up as not everyone you interview is going to be a decent person.
We also had planned to do a story on the scientific differences between girls and boys. The lecture was highly entertaining, but we didnt have an angle to make the story news worthy. So basically we attended a lecture and wrote down notes for our own interest sake. Sometimes a story gets scrapped at that's that. But at least I know now that girls are designed and programmed to have little to none spatial ability. The next time I parallel parking I'll keep that in mind when it takes me several attempts to get into the parking bay.
Following was Arvind Gupta and how he creates educational toys out of junk materials. Lucky for me the lecture was at the Albany Museum, so my car -still sitting on empty- didn't have to attempt the Monument trek. It was quite incredible watching him make pumps and all sorts out of rubbish that we normally discard everyday, also the fact that he doesnt use glue or scissors. The children there were equally entertained as the teachers and parents. This kind of lecture is the one that validates your role as a journalist. Because we come from a society where majority is in poverty, educuational toys are not an expenditure priority. So making these types of toys are beneficial to so many people in Makana and South Africa. And being a journalist helps to get that message out there to show people what they can achieve with ordinary things.
Finally we did our last story on DNA and how its used to determine paternity and solve murders. Melissa took part on the workshop and I took photographs. I think it was good that Melissa got involved because as a journalist you dont always have to take the observer role. Journalits can take an active role and be involved and participate. I think this way allowed for more understanding of the workshop than just trying to absorb all the information passively.
All in all reporting for SCIfest was interesting. It's nice to get out of the labs and go reporting outside in the field. Reporting from conferences also makes our job a lot easier because most of what needs to be reported on is said in the lecture, or something is said that can be delved into with more depth in the one on one interview afterwards.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
accessibility of web pages
Why is accessibility of web pages of concern to you as a journalist.
Web accessibility is an important aspect in considering online journalism. As journalists we learn that news and information must be accessible to all people of a society. Everyone has the right to information and therefore online journalism should make sure that its content does not alienated people because of literacy or technology. New media and online journalism should be accessed by all who are able to be on the internet and should not be hampered by lack of technology. Web accessibility guidelines provided by the W3Cs informs journalists how to make web pages accessible to all. An important aspect in making web pages accessible is by making content understandable and navigable. “This includes not only making the language clear and simple, but also providing understandable mechanisms for navigating within and between pages.” (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0)
Part of making web pages accessible is by providing “equivalent alternatives to auditory and visual content.” This means that the journalist will need to know the elements (such as XHTML) in order to create equivalent information. Accessibility also means doing the markup sheets correctly and coherently as “using markup improperly –not according to specification – hinders accessibility”.
When creating web pages the journalist also needs to keep in mind that people with disabilities also need to interact with the web page. In the markup language the journalist needs to “clarify natural language usage. When the content developers [the journalist] mark up natural language changes in a document, speech synthesisers and braille devices can automatically switch to the new language, making the document more accessible to multilingual users.”
Making web pages accessible to places where technology has not caught up poses another problem to journalists. This is particular to journalists working online in Africa. Journalists dealing with this issue need to “ensure that pages featuring new technologies transform gracefully…that pages are accessible even when newer technologies are not supported or turned off.”
Therefore when online journalists create their web pages they need to keep in mind web accessibility for all users, whether they are disabled or lack the supporting technology. Journalists who have a knowledge of markup language enables them to make their web pages more accessible.
Reference:
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
http://moodle.ru.ac.za/mod/resource/view.php?id=8692
Web accessibility is an important aspect in considering online journalism. As journalists we learn that news and information must be accessible to all people of a society. Everyone has the right to information and therefore online journalism should make sure that its content does not alienated people because of literacy or technology. New media and online journalism should be accessed by all who are able to be on the internet and should not be hampered by lack of technology. Web accessibility guidelines provided by the W3Cs informs journalists how to make web pages accessible to all. An important aspect in making web pages accessible is by making content understandable and navigable. “This includes not only making the language clear and simple, but also providing understandable mechanisms for navigating within and between pages.” (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0)
Part of making web pages accessible is by providing “equivalent alternatives to auditory and visual content.” This means that the journalist will need to know the elements (such as XHTML) in order to create equivalent information. Accessibility also means doing the markup sheets correctly and coherently as “using markup improperly –not according to specification – hinders accessibility”.
When creating web pages the journalist also needs to keep in mind that people with disabilities also need to interact with the web page. In the markup language the journalist needs to “clarify natural language usage. When the content developers [the journalist] mark up natural language changes in a document, speech synthesisers and braille devices can automatically switch to the new language, making the document more accessible to multilingual users.”
Making web pages accessible to places where technology has not caught up poses another problem to journalists. This is particular to journalists working online in Africa. Journalists dealing with this issue need to “ensure that pages featuring new technologies transform gracefully…that pages are accessible even when newer technologies are not supported or turned off.”
Therefore when online journalists create their web pages they need to keep in mind web accessibility for all users, whether they are disabled or lack the supporting technology. Journalists who have a knowledge of markup language enables them to make their web pages more accessible.
Reference:
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
http://moodle.ru.ac.za/mod/resource/view.php?id=8692
Why is it important for journalists to have a solid grasp of the technical language of XHTML, etc. (Additionally, how will it make your skills more relevant in the African context)
It is important for Journalists to have a solid grasp oh XHTML for several reasons. Although today we can just simply use programs to do the work of markup language for us, it is beneficial to us to learn it anyway. In terms of learning XHTML in a journalistic view it “provides [us] with an opportunity to overcome any fear of technical jargon.” (Niles) What Niles means is that when we enter the working world of journalism we shouldn’t be afraid of dealing with technical jargon that we may feel we might not understand. Niles further states that “a reporter who surrenders when confronted with such technical detail is an easy mark for smooth-talking publicists looking to spin a story”. Although I don’t completely agree with Niles that learning XHTML will give me the opportunity to combat all technical jargon and not succumb to PR, I do agree that it is beneficial to learn technical jargon in order to be more understanding of it.
Learning XHTML as a journalist in an African context is also beneficial. Africa unfortunately has a low bandwidth, so therefore web accessibility is a big issue. “Bandwidth is the life-blood of the world's knowledge economy, but it is scarcest where it is most needed - in the developing nations of Africa which require low-cost communications… and even Africa's most well-endowed centres of excellence have less bandwidth than a home broadband user in North America or Europe, and it must be shared amongst hundreds or even thousands of users.”(Jensen) Therefore journalists need to know XHTML in order to format web pages so that they are more accessible to people in African countries. By not overloading pages with content, basic XHTML and CSS pages can be delivered fast and efficiently without using much bandwidth.
Learning XHTML can only be beneficial to myself. This is because I will have the basic knowledge as to how a web page works. It also enables me to work with multiple media and not only web pages. Secondly it also helps being a journalist in Africa because of the shortage of bandwidth, it brings you back to basics of getting information across.
Reference:
Mike Jensen http://www.africafocus.org/docs06/apc0612.phpRobert Niles http://moodle.ru.ac.za/mod/resource/view.php?id=8756
It is important for Journalists to have a solid grasp oh XHTML for several reasons. Although today we can just simply use programs to do the work of markup language for us, it is beneficial to us to learn it anyway. In terms of learning XHTML in a journalistic view it “provides [us] with an opportunity to overcome any fear of technical jargon.” (Niles) What Niles means is that when we enter the working world of journalism we shouldn’t be afraid of dealing with technical jargon that we may feel we might not understand. Niles further states that “a reporter who surrenders when confronted with such technical detail is an easy mark for smooth-talking publicists looking to spin a story”. Although I don’t completely agree with Niles that learning XHTML will give me the opportunity to combat all technical jargon and not succumb to PR, I do agree that it is beneficial to learn technical jargon in order to be more understanding of it.
Learning XHTML as a journalist in an African context is also beneficial. Africa unfortunately has a low bandwidth, so therefore web accessibility is a big issue. “Bandwidth is the life-blood of the world's knowledge economy, but it is scarcest where it is most needed - in the developing nations of Africa which require low-cost communications… and even Africa's most well-endowed centres of excellence have less bandwidth than a home broadband user in North America or Europe, and it must be shared amongst hundreds or even thousands of users.”(Jensen) Therefore journalists need to know XHTML in order to format web pages so that they are more accessible to people in African countries. By not overloading pages with content, basic XHTML and CSS pages can be delivered fast and efficiently without using much bandwidth.
Learning XHTML can only be beneficial to myself. This is because I will have the basic knowledge as to how a web page works. It also enables me to work with multiple media and not only web pages. Secondly it also helps being a journalist in Africa because of the shortage of bandwidth, it brings you back to basics of getting information across.
Reference:
Mike Jensen http://www.africafocus.org/docs06/apc0612.phpRobert Niles http://moodle.ru.ac.za/mod/resource/view.php?id=8756
HTML and CSS
The importance of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is that it creates the presentation and style of the document. CSS can only work if the structure of the document is in order. HTML is the basis and structure which CSS works from. “Before you can even think about the appearance of you web page, you need to think about the semantic or structural content of your page so that the HTML is “CSS-ready” (Debolt)
The importance of learning HTML and CSS is so that you don’t become confined to a programme. Design programmes are fine to work with, but they may only be compatible with web pages. By learning HTML and CSS a page can go anywhere, including “PDA, cell phone, or an aural screen reader” (Debolt)
HTML and CSS compliment and work with each other. CSS cannot be displayed on its own it needs the structure of HTML on which to work. HTML can be bland without the styling and design of CSS, as “HTML pages can be considered two-dimensional, because text, images and other elements are arranged on the page without overlapping.” (http://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Understanding_CSS_z-index)
HTML is useful because it is the structure the elements always remain the same. Through changing the CSS creates different styles and designs. This is clearly demonstrated by the CSS Zen Garden (www://www.csszengarden.com). There are many links of the same web page however all the pages look completely different yet carry the same content. This is because “the code remains the same, the only thing that has changed is the external .css file.” (csszengarden)
What else that is important to HTML and CSS is the way that you present your document. Pages need not be clustered and confusing, “a carefully structured HTML page is very simple and uncluttered.” (Debolt) What makes well structured pages is that the “HTML elements [have] almost no presentational attributes in the tag.” (Debolt). The presentation and design rules are implemented into the CSS.
What I have understood about HTML and CSS is that HTML is the building block, or skeleton for web pages and such. CSS is the design element that makes the page look unique and is able to add elements that are more appealing to the eye. It is important also to learn HTML and CSS is because it enables you to create content for a variety of media and not just web pages.
Reference:
Debolt, Virginia. 2004 The Early Bird Catches the CSS http://www.wise-women.org/tutorials /cssplanning
http://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Understanding_CSS_z-index)
www.csszengarden.com
The importance of learning HTML and CSS is so that you don’t become confined to a programme. Design programmes are fine to work with, but they may only be compatible with web pages. By learning HTML and CSS a page can go anywhere, including “PDA, cell phone, or an aural screen reader” (Debolt)
HTML and CSS compliment and work with each other. CSS cannot be displayed on its own it needs the structure of HTML on which to work. HTML can be bland without the styling and design of CSS, as “HTML pages can be considered two-dimensional, because text, images and other elements are arranged on the page without overlapping.” (http://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Understanding_CSS_z-index)
HTML is useful because it is the structure the elements always remain the same. Through changing the CSS creates different styles and designs. This is clearly demonstrated by the CSS Zen Garden (www://www.csszengarden.com). There are many links of the same web page however all the pages look completely different yet carry the same content. This is because “the code remains the same, the only thing that has changed is the external .css file.” (csszengarden)
What else that is important to HTML and CSS is the way that you present your document. Pages need not be clustered and confusing, “a carefully structured HTML page is very simple and uncluttered.” (Debolt) What makes well structured pages is that the “HTML elements [have] almost no presentational attributes in the tag.” (Debolt). The presentation and design rules are implemented into the CSS.
What I have understood about HTML and CSS is that HTML is the building block, or skeleton for web pages and such. CSS is the design element that makes the page look unique and is able to add elements that are more appealing to the eye. It is important also to learn HTML and CSS is because it enables you to create content for a variety of media and not just web pages.
Reference:
Debolt, Virginia. 2004 The Early Bird Catches the CSS http://www.wise-women.org/tutorials /cssplanning
http://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Understanding_CSS_z-index)
www.csszengarden.com
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
a discussion of new media
The uniqueness of new media to journalism is that it is a fast past medium that is highly accessible and has the ability to include a variety of media. New media can be roughly defined as the “synthesis of tradition and innovation”. (Kawamoto 2003:4) This means that new media takes traditional journalistic philosophies and practices and combines it with new technology. Also “this definition captures the historical and important function of journalism in a democracy, which is to inform and enlighten the public, and also acknowledges the evolving tools of the trade and literacy skills of the audience.” (Kawamoto 2003:4) Journalism needs to evolve as an industry and the technology which it uses. New media is the next phase in which journalism can evolve its technology. New technology doesn’t change the practice and values of journalism instead “new technologies take forward existing practices that particular social groups already see as important or necessary.” (Lister [et al] 2002: 81)
New media according to Anthony Mitchell has the ability to do a number of things that have social and political implications, including:
· It can encourage changes in attitudes and definitions of socially accepted behaviour.
· It can connect people with resources and information more efficiently and cheaply than old media.
· It can encourage people to take better care of themselves and to engage in less risky or destructive behaviour
· It can harness peer pressure through peer generated content.
New media, according to Abdul Waheed Khan, also has the ability to “[hold] a hitherto
unseen potential to empower the individual by providing greater freedom of information that can lead to innovation courses of practical action.”
However new media is by no means over taking or replacing traditional old media, nor is new media just “old wine in new wineskins”. New media and old media work on correlation with each other. “The traditional media and digital media are increasingly working in tandem these days, cross-fertilizing (or cross promoting) each other by driving audience members back and forth between them” (Kawamoto 2003:11) Journalism in a democracy serves the same function whether it uses new technology or the traditional older format. That function is to inform the public of news of social, political, cultural or economic importance. Mitchell emphasises that “[the] need for public service messages has not disappeared, but has yet to be transformed by the capabilities for precise targeting, distribution and innovative content creation that old media offers.”
A criticism or praise, which ever way you look at it, about new media is that it enables anybody to essentially become a journalist. The advent of blogs has allowed ordinary citizens to view their thoughts on particular issues or report on something. “Whether amateur reporting, commentary, and blogs qualify as digital journalism is open to debate.” ( Kawamoto 2003: 14)
New media is a primary phase of its existence and it so far it cannot be completely defined. What we can say new media is, is that it involves an incorporation of digital media. It is accessible and interactive. It is also the new wave of journalism that extends the concepts and values of old, traditional media into a new era of technological change. But it’s function is not to stamp out traditional media but instead work in conjunction with, and compliment it.
New media according to Anthony Mitchell has the ability to do a number of things that have social and political implications, including:
· It can encourage changes in attitudes and definitions of socially accepted behaviour.
· It can connect people with resources and information more efficiently and cheaply than old media.
· It can encourage people to take better care of themselves and to engage in less risky or destructive behaviour
· It can harness peer pressure through peer generated content.
New media, according to Abdul Waheed Khan, also has the ability to “[hold] a hitherto
unseen potential to empower the individual by providing greater freedom of information that can lead to innovation courses of practical action.”
However new media is by no means over taking or replacing traditional old media, nor is new media just “old wine in new wineskins”. New media and old media work on correlation with each other. “The traditional media and digital media are increasingly working in tandem these days, cross-fertilizing (or cross promoting) each other by driving audience members back and forth between them” (Kawamoto 2003:11) Journalism in a democracy serves the same function whether it uses new technology or the traditional older format. That function is to inform the public of news of social, political, cultural or economic importance. Mitchell emphasises that “[the] need for public service messages has not disappeared, but has yet to be transformed by the capabilities for precise targeting, distribution and innovative content creation that old media offers.”
A criticism or praise, which ever way you look at it, about new media is that it enables anybody to essentially become a journalist. The advent of blogs has allowed ordinary citizens to view their thoughts on particular issues or report on something. “Whether amateur reporting, commentary, and blogs qualify as digital journalism is open to debate.” ( Kawamoto 2003: 14)
New media is a primary phase of its existence and it so far it cannot be completely defined. What we can say new media is, is that it involves an incorporation of digital media. It is accessible and interactive. It is also the new wave of journalism that extends the concepts and values of old, traditional media into a new era of technological change. But it’s function is not to stamp out traditional media but instead work in conjunction with, and compliment it.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Computer Assisted Research
The crime stats shown between Grahamstown, Johannesburg, East London and Bloemfontein show some interesting results. Firstly the so called sleepy hollow of Grahamstown and its surrounding districts is one crime ridden place! Per capita Grahamstown has the highest incidents in all categories analysed of murder, rape, malicious damage to property and assault with intent. Although Grahamstown has the smallest population, you are more likely to be harmed than in a major city like Johannesburg. Bloemfontein, with the lowest statistics, is the safest place analysed.
Finding the data to be analysed was the trickiest aspect of the assignment. All the information was on government websites like saps.gov and statssa.gov but finding and accessing the information was not as straight forward. One difficulty that I encountered was the name changes of certain places, like Bloemfontein. Finding the populations of the areas was also not as simple to find. This is because all the areas except Johannesburg were coded. So I had to find what the areas were coded under to find out their populations, but luckily for me Galen had already figured this out and showed where to find it. Once I had found all the information, analysing it on Microsoft Excel was fairly easy. The programme is helpful because you only have to do the equation for per capita once and it does the rest of the stats for you. The only problem I found with the spreadsheet was how to label the cities on the pie chart. This was my first time working with Excel so I am unfamiliar with all the functions.
I am happy now that I can say that I have some knowledge of working with Excel and that it is not as daunting as it appears to be (even if I don’t know how to make labels -yet!) I have now discovered that it is a useful tool for analysing and sorting information.
Finding the data to be analysed was the trickiest aspect of the assignment. All the information was on government websites like saps.gov and statssa.gov but finding and accessing the information was not as straight forward. One difficulty that I encountered was the name changes of certain places, like Bloemfontein. Finding the populations of the areas was also not as simple to find. This is because all the areas except Johannesburg were coded. So I had to find what the areas were coded under to find out their populations, but luckily for me Galen had already figured this out and showed where to find it. Once I had found all the information, analysing it on Microsoft Excel was fairly easy. The programme is helpful because you only have to do the equation for per capita once and it does the rest of the stats for you. The only problem I found with the spreadsheet was how to label the cities on the pie chart. This was my first time working with Excel so I am unfamiliar with all the functions.
I am happy now that I can say that I have some knowledge of working with Excel and that it is not as daunting as it appears to be (even if I don’t know how to make labels -yet!) I have now discovered that it is a useful tool for analysing and sorting information.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
the importance of xhtml for new media journalists
It is important for new media journalists to understand XHTML coding because it improves the quality of their own skills. A journalist in any field should understand and incorporate the medium in which they work with. A radio journalist should understand how the recording equipment operates and how to edit on computer programmes. Such as a television journalist or a photojournalist should know how to operate a camera and the editing skills that are required. For a new media journalist the skills that we require is learning and working with computer literacy and the internet. This means that new media journalists should know computer language and computer jargon. Part of this learning and understanding is working with XHTML. Learning and using XHTML helps online journalists to be more in control of their work because it allows the journalists to edit and manipulate how the information appears on the site. It aids the journalist and the reader because the information doesn’t get filtered through a technician or middle man who might unintentionally change or alter the story. Learning XHTML can only but help the new media journalist because it is a system that others can use and understand. Other journalists can correct or add to a story online by using the coding system. It helps journalists all work on the same site or multiple sites because the coding is universal and not particular to one person. XHTML is important to new media journalists because it helps journalists in the collective.
http://www.shire.net/learnwebdesign/xhtml.htm
http://www.w3schools.com/xhtml/xhtml_syntax.asp
http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml-basic/
http://www.shire.net/learnwebdesign/xhtml.htm
http://www.w3schools.com/xhtml/xhtml_syntax.asp
http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml-basic/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
