Monday, December 15, 2008

For our fifth essay, we were assigned to choose a Web 2.0 technology, and take on the job of educating others of this media. In the last decade there have been many new social networking sites, but none has had the impact that Facebook has. According to Boyd and Ellison, a social networking site is a “web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site.” This is a dynamic definition, but it outlines the basic fundamentals of a social networking site. This allows the average person to create a profile for themselves, as well as interact with other friends on Facebook. Throughout this essay I will be explaining the background information about Facebook, who uses is, as well as its pros and its cons. Social networking sites like Facebook.com, have allowed people to connect, and has advanced the possibilities of networking through the Internet.

According to mashable.com, Facebook was created by a former Harvard student named Mark Zuckerberg. It was created as a site where fellow Harvard students could meet each other easier. As the site grew, Zuckerberg brought on Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, Andrew McCullon, and Chris Hughs to help the expanding responsibilities. Since it became such a success he then expanded it to other Ivy League schools. Facebook then expanded the network and allowed every college to join, and now it is available to anyone with an email address over the age of 13. Barnes states “teenagers now use organized social Web sites to meet others and explore identity formation.” Recently there has been a surge of people joining over the age of 30. Techcrunch.com states that the age group of 35 plus has grown 98 percent from 2006 to 2007. Also, according to Facebook.com is now has over 120 million active users. There have been some controversies over who really created the social networking sights. There have been many lawsuits brought upon Zuckerberg, claiming that he stole the idea. Zuckerberg had a verbal contract with three other classmates attempting to create a site called ConnectU. Zuckerberg allegedly stole their source code, and was stealing their ideas. This lawsuit has been going on for years, and Owen Thomas claims Zuckerbergs main defense is that the statute of limitations has ran out.

As a frequent user of Facebook, I want to introduce you to some of the vast functions it provides. When first singing up for Facebook you create a basic profile for yourself, including information such as your gender, birthday, contact information, educational information, and even your relationship status. Then you start searching for your friends and sending them friend requests. This is used as a safety feature, and only the people you accept as your friends are allowed to view your profile. Facebook also allows you to upload pictures of yourself, and also allows people to tag pictures of you. There are many different features your profile has such as your “wall.” This is where your friends can come and write a little note on your profile. Today it is even possible to upload a video of yourself on your wall. This is bringing a whole new light on the way we can communicate over the Internet. Video posts make the message much more personal. It allows you to express your actual feelings in ways text cannot achieve. Facebook has things like the “mini feed,” which keeps you updates on things like friends tagged in pictures, new albums, new friends, and even ended relationships. You can join groups, send gifts, update your current status, play games, or even flirt with people by “poking” them. The features that Facebook has today are endless, even politicians have pages that allow the younger generations using this social networking site to associate with politicians.

There are many things that Facebook has brought to the table. First, it allows you to stay in touch with friends, and relatives across the country. You can even get in touch with old high school friends, or people you may not have been that close with. It allows you to form an informal relationship that might lead to further interactions. I check Facebook daily, and there are many times when I will think back to high school and pull a name out of a hat and friend them. That usually follows with a wall post something along the lines of “what’s up man, long time.” Facebook also makes promoting events easier. You can send out an invitation to your chosen friends with details about the occasion and the date and time. You can also respond to the invitation, so you can get an accurate number of people who will be attending. As well as invitations, you can now chat on Facebook. They have added an application that allows you to chat like an instant message with other friends that are logged onto Facebook. This is another stride that they have taken to attract more people. Facebook also allows you to create a profile that accurately depicts yourself. You can add your favorite quotes, movies, music, subjects, hometown, and high school. As a registered user of Facebook you almost create a snapshot of yourself that you want to present to others.

Facebook also makes meeting people easier. It allows you to break the ice with a person that you know by saying hello through the computer. Facebook is even used in the workplace. At the conclusion of my summer internship the company created a group called Cushman & Wakefield Summer Intern Group so that we could all keep in contact. The company wanted their employees to build and form relationships outside the office, in order to work more efficiently. As I stated before, even the Presidential candidates have pages where they present their positions on the political issues. Teachers are even interacting with students through Facebook. I was sitting in a History class earlier and the teacher was requesting that if students have any questions, please contact him through his Facebook page. It has become so easy to create a page that even teachers are breaching into this social networking world. The photo albums are a feature that has been with Facebook from the beginning. Facebook makes it extremely easy to upload albums, and tag people in the album. Speaking with a college senior at UAlbany, Shane Moriarty stated, “Since I live in Seattle, it’s tough to keep in touch with my friends. I really like that people can tag my friends in photos, which allows me to see them. Since I am not friends with a lot of the people from their school I would never be able to see the pictures.” Facebook has also now partnered with the company Research in Motion and created a Facebook application for BlackBerry users. You get alerts to your phone telling you when friends have confirmed you, or photos have been tagged of yourself. If you receive a message or even if someone writes on your wall you have the capability through your phone to write back. Facebook also has things like the friends you may know section, where is recommends people that are friends with a majority of your friends. This makes it easy to connect with those people you would not necessarily remember. Another application that Facebook has created is the marketplace. This is a place where people can go to search within their network for items to buy. Many people put up college textbooks, electronics, or even cars on the marketplace. It is almost like Facebook is trying to put AIM, EBay, and Flickr into one place.

There are also some negatives about Facebook. People are getting increasingly nervous of the things that are on their Facebook pages. Many times there are embarrassing pictures that become tagged, or foolish wall posts written on your wall. With the amount of people over the age of 35 on Facebook, and the chance that your parents and relatives will create an account has created a large amount of anxiety for college students. Also, prospective companies are now looking at people Facebook pages and evaluating whether or not to hire the employee. There are many things that Facebook provides you so you can prevent these types of things. You can make your profile private so there is no wall on your page, and you can also make your pictures private so that no one can see them. Also if you choose to have pictures that are viewable, you can untag ones that you do not want to be publicly seen. If there is questionable material on your page there is a great chance that an employer might not hire you.

Also, with the age necessary to register for a Facebook page being only thirteen, there are many people that are concerned with the issue of child predators. Parents should be increasingly concerned with the content that is on their children’s Facebook pages, as well is the people that they are interacting with through the website. Facebook also creates a lot of stress for people in relationships. Many times you can be tagged in a picture with a person they do not know and this causes speculations of unfaithfulness. A lot of the time girlfriends can log onto their partners account and sift through their messages, and wall posts. The “news feed” also allows someone to really keep a tab of what you are doing. It tells people what events you have responded yes to, or new friends you have, or even whose wall you have written on. If you have your “news feed” on a person can basically track what you have been up too, and even whom you are friends with. Sometimes I follow what my friends are writing on each other walls. The news feed keeps me alert, and up to date on which friends are talking to each other. This is another concern with many people, but Facebook has provided a feature that allows you to turn off you “news feed.”

In the last decade there have been major advances in the world of social networking sites. Web 2.0 technologies such as Myspace, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and Facebook were created. All of these different sites bring something to the table, but my opinion Facebook takes the cake. There is no other site that combines so many different aspects into one like Facebook does. Facebook has allowed people to expand the relationships that they have, as well as create new bonds with people they might never have spoken too. There are so many positive things that Facebook has to offer; that I believe it is one of the most influential sites on the World Wide Web. There are certainly many concerns that people will have, but Facebook is doing the best they can to create a safe, healthy social networking site. Facebook.com has allowed people to connect, and has advanced the possibilities of networking through the Internet.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

fbook

For our fifth essay, we were assigned to choose a Web 2.0 technology, and take on the job of educating others of this media. According to Tim O’Reilly “a set of principles and practices that tie together a veritable solar system of sites that demonstrate some or all of those principles, at a varying distance from the core.” In the last decade there have been many new social networking sites, but none has had the impact that Facebook has. According to Boyd and Ellison, a social networking site is a “web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site.” This is a dynamic definition, but it outlines the basic fundamentals of a social networking site. This allows the average people to create a profile for themselves, as well as interact with other friends on Facebook. Throughout this essay I will be explaining the background information about Facebook, who uses is, as well as its pros and its cons. Social networking sites like Facebook.com, have allowed people to connect, and has advanced the possibilities of networking through the Internet.

According to mashable.com, Facebook was created by a former Harvard student named Mark Zuckerberg. It was created as a site where fellow Harvard students could meet each other easier. As the site grew, Zuckerberg brought on Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, Andrew McCullon, and Chris Hughs to help the expanding responsibilities. Since it became such a success he then expanded it to other Ivy League schools. Facebook then expanded the network and allowed every college to join, and now it is available to anyone with an email address over the age of 13. Barnes states “teenagers now use organized social Web sites to meet others and explore identity formation.” Recently there has been a surge of people joining over the age of 30. Techcrunch.com states that the age group of 35 plus has grown 98 percent from 2006 to 2007. Also, according to Facebook.com is now has over 120 million active users. As a frequent user of Facebook, I want to introduce you to some of the vast functions it provides. When first singing up for Facebook you create a basic profile for yourself, including information such as your gender, birthday, contact information, educational information, and even your relationship status. Then you start searching for your friends and sending them friend requests. This is used as a safety feature, and only the people you accept as your friends are allowed to view your profile. Facebook also allows you to upload pictures of yourself, and also allows people to tag pictures of you. There are many different features your profile has such as your “wall.” This is where your friends can come and write a little note on your profile. Today it is even possible to upload a video of yourself on your wall. This is bringing a whole new light on the way we can communicate over the internet. Facebook has things like the “mini feed,” which keeps you updates on things like friends tagged in pictures, new albums, new friends, and even ended relationships. You can join groups, send gifts, update your current status, play games, or even flirt with people by “poking” them. The features that Facebook has today are endless, even politicians have pages that allow the younger generations using this social networking site to associate with politicians.

There are many things that Facebook has brought to the table. First, it allows you to stay in touch with friends, and relatives across the country. You can even get in touch with old high school friends, or people you may not have been that close with. It allows you to form an informal relationship that might lead to further interactions. I check Facebook daily, and there are many times when I will think back to high school and pull a name out of a hat and friend them. That usually follows with a wall post something along the lines of “what’s up man, long time.” Facebook also makes promoting events easier. You can send out an invitation to your chosen friends with details about the occasion and the date and time. You can also respond to the invitation, so you can get an accurate number of people who will be attending. As well as invitations, you can now chat on Facebook. They have added an application that allows you to chat like an instant message with other friends that are logged onto Facebook. This is another stride that they have taken to attract more people. Facebook also allows you to create a profile that accurately depicts yourself. You can add your favorite quotes, movies, music, subjects, hometown, and high school. As a registered user of Facebook you almost create a snapshot of yourself that you want to present to others. Facebook also makes meeting people easier. It allows you to break the ice with a person that you know by saying hello through the computer. Facebook is even used in the workplace. At the conclusion of my summer internship the company created a group called Cushman & Wakefield Summer Intern Group so that we could all keep in contact. The company wanted their employees to build and form relationships outside the office, in order to work more efficiently. As I stated before, even the Presidential candidates have pages where they present their positions on the political issues. Teachers are even interacting with students through Facebook. I was sitting in a History class earlier and the teacher was requesting that if students have any questions please contact him through his Facebook page. It has become so easy to create a page that even teachers are breaching into this social networking world. The photo albums are a feature that has been with Facebook from the beginning. Facebook makes it extremely easy to upload albums, and tag people in the album. Speaking with a college senior at UAlbany, Shane Moriarty stated, “Since I live in Seattle, it’s tough to keep in touch with my friends. I really like that people can tag my friends in photos, which allows me to see them. Since I am not friends with a lot of the people from their school I would never be able to see the pictures.” Facebook has also now partnered with the company Research in Motion and created a Facebook application for BlackBerry users. You get alerts to your phone telling you when friends have confirmed you, or photos have been tagged of yourself. If you receive a message or even if someone writes on your wall you have the capability through your phone to write back. Facebook also has things like the friends you may know section, where is recommends people that are friends with a majority of your friends. This makes it easy to connect with those people you would not necessarily remember. Another application that Facebook has created is the marketplace. This is a place where people can go to search within their network for items to buy. Many people put up college textbooks, electronics, or even cars on the marketplace. It is almost like Facebook is trying to put AIM, EBay, and Flickr into one place.

There are also some negatives about Facebook. People are getting increasingly nervous of the things that are on their Facebook pages. Many times there are embarrassing pictures that become tagged or foolish wall posts written on your wall. With the amount of people over the age of 35 on Facebook, and the chance that your parents and relatives will create an account has created a large amount of anxiety for college students. Also, prospective companies are now looking at people Facebook pages and evaluating whether or not to hire the employee. There are many things that Facebook provides you so you can prevent these types of things. You can make your profile private so there is no wall on your page, and you can also make your pictures private so that no one can see them. Also if you choose to have pictures that are viewable, you can untag ones that you do not want to be publicly seen. Also, with the age necessary to register for a Facebook page being only thirteen, there are many people that are concerned with the issue of child predators. Parents should be increasingly concerned with the content that is on their children’s Facebook pages. Another concern for people, who are in relationships, is that fact that Facebook creates a lot of stress in the relationship. Many times you can be tagged in a picture with a person they do not know and this causes speculations of unfaithfulness. A lot of the time girlfriends can log onto their partners account and sift through their messages, and wall posts. The “news feed” also allows someone to really keep a tab of what you are doing. It tells people what events you have responded yes to, or new friends you have, or even whose wall you have written on. This is another concern with many people, but Facebook has provided a feature that allows you to turn off you “news feed.”

In the last decade there have been major advances in the world of social networking sites. Web 2.0 technologies such as Myspace, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and Facebook were created. All of these different sites bring something to the table, but my opinion Facebook takes the cake. There is no other site that combines so many different aspects into one like Facebook does. Facebook has allowed people to expand the relationships that they have, as well as create new bonds with people they might never have spoken too. There are so many positive things that Facebook has to offer; that I believe it is one of the most influential sites on the World Wide Web. There are certainly many concerns that people will have, but Facebook is doing the best they can to create a safe, healthy social networking site. Facebook.com has allowed people to connect, and has advanced the possibilities of networking through the Internet.


Barnes. Susan B. (2006). A privacy paradox: Social networking in the United States. First Monday, 11. Retrieved on August 21, 2009 from http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue11_9/barnes/index.html.

Saturday, November 15, 2008




woooooo thats my girlfriend KIMBYY

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

bloggin'

A blog as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary is a “Web site that contains an online personal journal reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer.” In the book Blogging America, Aaron Barlow discusses the issues we may now encounter with the blogosphere rapidly increasing. One major problem that Barlow presents is that blogs are basically too easy to create, and they have no one governing the information in which they are presenting. (p. 36) Even without editors, the information presented on blogs mostly consists of factual information that enriches the knowledge of the visitors.

For our forth essay we were assigned to monitor and post on a blog of our choice. Being an avid New York Jets fan, I choose to monitor Jane McManus’s, Jets Journal. In this blog, Jane McManus provides an interesting perspective that an average Jet fan may not encounter. She attends the daily practices, and gives a diehard fan like myself a description of what each practice is like. She even reports on individual players, speaking about their personal side. This adds a softer touch to her blog. She is not just reporting on the scores, or lead stories. Jane takes the time to speak with the players so that fans on the outside can really learn about the players they love. She even takes time out of her busy day to respond to questions that are left on her blog. She has created a nice following of Jet fans who are interested in up to the minute information about the players and coaches, as well as the major storylines surrounding the team. In my seven days participating in the Jets Journal, there have not been any altercations between visitors, and I believe this to be a healthy, happy blog.

Barlow considers the low level of monitoring that appears on blogs a problem in the blogosphere. If there is no accountability for the information posted, then how will we know if the material is factual? I agree in principal about the issue of lack of supervision on all blogs, but throughout my time participating in blogs I have found that most authors pride themselves on the work in which they produce. There is always be some people that are posting complete garbage with the intent to throw off the norm, but in most cases authors care deeply about the topics they are blogging about. Its really common sense, if you want to have a blog that people come to regularly, and trust the things you are saying it is imperative that your information is up to date and accurate. Barlow makes this statement about bloggers, “they want to be taken seriously within the greater society, not dismissed as weirdo loners in their mothers’ suburban basements.” (p.37) Since starting this class I have thrown myself into the world of blogging. Weekly we have posting either summaries of our readings, or even essays about the topics we are learning about. I truly believe that the writing that I do for my blog is much different then writing I would hand into a teacher for her eyes-only. I almost try to put on this intelligent front, that allows me to appear more scholarly then I really am. I want the people who read my blog to respect my opinion on these issues, and maybe let the things I speak about affect how they feel about the issue. I believe that this feeling applies to many bloggers in the blogosphere, and causes them to act responsibly while blogging.

Blogging is a practice that is growing before our eyes. “Technorati, a blog monitoring service, claimed to be tracking more than 75 million blogs.” (p.35) That is an outrageous number, and it is growing daily. It has become extremely easy to set up a blog, and begin to post on whatever you would like. Many people are worried about the ease of blogging, concerned that without supervision, soon enough the information on these blogs will not be factual. They feel that bloggers will not be responsible enough to post accurate information. Personally I disagree, I feel that blogging can be used however you feel, it is a tool that allows you to create a page and contribute to the blogosphere however you choose. I truly believe that the people posting on blogs really care about there face and want to be respected. Therefore even without editors, the information presented on blogs mostly consists of factual information that enriches the knowledge of the visitors.



Barlow, Aaron. Blogging @merica: The New Public Sphere. CT.: Praeger Publishers, 2008. (Chapter 2)

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

reading for wed

In today’s reading entitled “Shout into the wind, and it shouts back,” by Lori Kendal the author speaks about the topic of Live Journal. LiveJournal is place where people can write down their thoughts, and it allows you to view others pages as well. The reading speaks about issues of private journal vs. public performance, efficiency vs. audience management, control vs. connection, and autonomy vs. the desire for comments. These are all issues that come into play when talking about blogs and LiveJournal. The author talks about all of these issues in depth, and makes logical conclusions about them.

I wanted to take some time and talk about the first issue discussed in the book, private journal vs. public performance. I think that this is very important part of the difference between a journal and a blog. In ones personal journal they tend it write very self-centered things. They talk about things that are very superficial, and not meant for anyone else’s eyes. Many times they would even be embarrassed if someone else read the entry. On a blog, or LiveJournal their work is out there so they want to put out a good front. They want their friends and family who read these LiveJournal’s to respect what they are saying. There are also different people who use LiveJournal for different reasons. They might not be posting about themselves, or their family, they could be speaking as a fictional character. You really can be whoever you want to be on these platforms of speaking. Before this class I never really knew about blogs, and I really think that they can be beneficial to people. Sometimes when you are feeling down, writing what’s bothering you down is a good thing to do. I know that I am thinking about opening a private blog just to air myself out sometimes.

Kendall, Lori. (2007). “Shout into the wind, and it shouts back.” Identity and interactional tensions on LiveJournal. First Monday, 12. Retrived on August 21, 2008 from http;//www.firstmonday.org/issues.issue12_9/kendall/index.html

New York Jets Blog

THE BLOG THAT I HAVE BEEN OBSERVING AND COMMENTING ON IS......jets.lohudblogs.com/

Jets Post

Today’s blog was about how the Jets signed long time cornerback of the New England Partriots Ty Law. Ty law was a member of the Jet for a couple of years, and then moved on to the Chiefs. This is very interesting bringing him in the week we play the Patriots, and there is a very good possibility that he will play. This is also seen as a move to mentor the young cornerbacks that the Jets have. He is a crafty veteran, and will show the young guys some tricks to the position. She also spoke about the relationship that Law has with our star corner Darrell Revis. They both grew up in the same town, and played for the same high school football team. There families are still very tight, and this is another example of information that you would not normally get from the newspaper. Again there was some audio from Ty Law, and other teammates about his pick up. I have commented a bunch of times on these blog posts, and there doesn’t seem like there is much discussion about the comments. Sometimes another reader writes something in response, but only one time she responded to the comments. I responded about how excited I was to have Ty Law as a Jet again.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Jets Blog 4

At halftime of the game she got onto her computer and blogged about the first half. It turns out the Jets did extremely well in the first half and were leading the Rams 40-0. She talked about some of the statistics that the players had, and how well the defense played. She then followed up her halftime post by creating a blog for the end of the game. This blog consisted of little clips of the player’s press conferences after the game. One thing that I really enjoy about this blog is that she actually puts up the Audio from the interview so you can listen yourself. I don’t know where else I would go to try to find the whole press conference. She ended the day with a very short post talking about the job security of the kicker, because our star kicker in coming back from injury any day now.

jets blog 3

On gameday she posted again about the inactives for the day, and she spoke about how we have two games in four days. She focused on how we should have had an ever better record if we didnt blow the game against Oakland in overtime. I am assuming that there will be a lot of commenting about the game, and about the next game that we have coming up.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

post 2

Today I logged back on to see if there were any new blog entries, or if there were any comments on the past couple new blogs that had no responses. To my surprise she didn’t not blog today, it is possible that she doesn’t blog on Saturdays. There were some comments on the posts from the other day about Kerry Rhodes and the haircuts that are Friday afternoon rituals. Most of the comments were making fun of the Jets “Flight Crew,” which is the cheerleading team on the Jets. Another post about a WR named David Clowney was commented on, talking about the concussions of Lavernanues Coles has had and when will it be time to give him the week off to rest and let Clowney play.

There is some really insightful information being spoken about on this blog, and it all stems from the actual blogger being knowledgeable on the subject. She sets the tone for the blog, and has a real interest in the New York Jets.

Friday, November 7, 2008

New York Jets Blog

I have chosen to observe the New York Jets blog called The Jets Journal, by Jane McManus of the Journal News. She posts about two times a day, talking about the New York Jets, and things that are going on this week with the team. What I really enjoy about this blog is she talks about the information that does not make it to the press. There was a story today about how Kerry Rhodes has a barber that he has taken from Long Island, over to New Jersey where the Jets practice facility now is. Also, it showed how many people on the team even go to his house after practice to hang out, bond, and get haircuts. This is a nice insight that Jet fans do not usually read. She also had a great piece on the new defensive tackle Kris Jenkins and his tattoos. There should more information, and this type of stuff should be more information about these great stories. Another great thing about this blog is that she is also very up to date on the injuries of the Jet players. She updates the blog daily speaking of who was practicing, information that is not usually released to the public.

There have been no discussions about the posts yet, but I am going to go back a couple days to see what was previously discussed.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Barlow Chapter 2

In chapter two of Blogging America, Barlow speaks about how many people in this day and age are actually blogging. The author states that Technorati claims that they monitor over 75 million blogs. He also states “If we keep up at this pace, there will be over 500 million blogs by 2010” (p. 36). He also speaks of whether this is a good thing or not. There are no editors, or people making sure that the information being put up on these blogs are even factual. The author goes on to talk about how people avoid putting garbage up on their blogs because they want to be respected. This is important because in order for your readers to respect your writing, it needs to be legitimate. He later speaks of whether a code of conduct would work in the blogsphere, and whether it would really keep people from acting disorderly.


The part of the reading that I found interesting was the point about how authors want their work to be credible, because they want the reader to respect them. We spoke about this in class the other day, and the majority of the class thought that they wrote at a higher level then they would converse in, in order to sound smart. We as authors want the audience that is reading our blogs to respect what we are saying. In order to do this we need make sure there are no errors in our writing, and the topics and opinions we have are relevant and factual. As I have written in my previous essays I feel that the issue of behavior on blogs will weed itself out. There will always be people who will disagree with your opinion about a particular topic, but as long as there is a respectful conversation going back and forth then that is the purpose of these blogs, to spread as many ideas as possible.

Barlow, Arron. (2008). Blogging @merica: The New Public Sphere. Westport: Praeger

Monday, October 20, 2008

Search Engines

For this third essay we were assigned to do research for the Web 2.0 technology that we had picked for our final essay. During the past week of class we have been speaking about search engines, and the reliability of them websites in which it returns. In this paper I will speak of the different results I received from the various search engines, as well as the relativity of the search. The Web 2.0 technology that I had chosen to research is www.facebook.com, because of the usefulness it has in my life. I will be conducting background searches using www.google.com, www.yahoo.com, and www.aj.com. I will also try to find information about this social networking site on Ebsco, a resource we have here at the University at Albany.

First I tried good old Google. This was an easy place to start considering Google is my search engine of choice, and usually returns some quality information. I decided to start this search off with the keyword Facebook. The first couple returned links directed me to the actual Facebook website, followed by the Wikipedia page for the social networking website. Wikipedia always gives you a solid base of background information about a topic, which is why; it is quickly becoming one of the most visited websites. (O’Reilly 2, P.2) It then gave me links for the company profile of Facebook, and finally to the New York Times Website, which surprisingly didn’t return me the information that I thought it would. I did not see any useful articles that would provide me with quality information about Facebook. There was on entitled, “Thanks to Facebook, Your Childhood in Park Slope in the ’80s Never Has to End” which focused on the functions of Facebook as a way to connect to old friends. Next was a webpage from Mashable, which provided great information about the background of Facebook. Satisfied with my first bunch of results, I then decided to change my keyword search to “History Facebook.” Returned first was the mashable article, as well as one from the International Herald Tribune speaking about the history, and lawsuit Facebook is now going through. It then had a hit from Connie Crosby’s personal blog, where she chose to some research on the history of Facebook, and provided a couple links in which she felt were useful. (the mashable one was first again) To be quite honest I was very happy in the results that Google produced for me, and it seems to me that all of the websites were very credible, and reliable.

Next I ventured over to Google’s biggest rival Yahoo. Yahoo is more of an interactive website in which you can login and it will produce news, and sports information that is designed for your characteristics. I tend to use Google for its straight forward approach to searching, but Yahoo certainly offers a lot more, so I am interested to see the successfulness of these searches. To be fair, I decided to use the same two keywords in which I used in my Google searches. Much to my surprise the results were not as effective as the Google results; there were no links to newspaper articles, or even some of the same articles I found useful from the Google search. I had the notion in my head that Google and Yahoo basically returned the same information when the same keywords are used. So I went ahead and added the word history to my search, and still no quality information. There was a Rolling Stone piece on the fight for the rights of Facebook, and even a hyperlink to a Facebook group for students having trouble with History. I was and am very disappointed in the search results that Yahoo produced. The very little information that I found to be useful took many pages of search results to find, and much more time then the Google search from earlier.

Lastly I tried www.aj.com hoping for some quality results, and for the initial search of the word Facebook, none were returned. More hyperlinks were provided to the actual website, the login page, as well as a part of the site for developers. So I went ahead and added “history,” hoping to find some valued information and a hyperlink to Chronical.com then directed me to that same informative www.mashable.com website. At least Ask Jeeves found some way to direct me to that website, unlike Yahoo. There seems to be many articles about the offers numerous offers Yahoo, and Google made to buy the site. There were a couple other Websites in which I failed to accept as credible because of the many advertisements on the side columns, as well as lack of credit to an author. Overall this was a fairly unsuccessful search.

The next place I choose to visit were the scholarly resources that our own University Library has to offer. I decided to use Ebsco, a database which searches the many scholarly journals that the University owns. Here is where quality information is to be found. Again I used the same two keywords, and right off the bat everything that is returned it from either a scholarly journal or a newspaper. From the search engines, the initial search of just the word Facebook didn’t really bring me much success, but on Ebsco there is a ton on quality information. I then added the word “history” and there were a bunch great results. One article called “About Facebook” I would certainly use, and in my opinion it is the best one I had seen during this whole experiment. Also returned was an article from Newsweek called “The Next Small Thing” which spoke about the advancements these social networking sites like Facebook have made, and predicting where it might go next. The problem I feel with these database searches is you receive a lot of great information regarding many different aspects of search, but never exactly what you want.

There were many things in which I learned from this activity on search engines. I gained access to many informative websites, and this activity encouraged me to go out and try other search engines that I would usually avoid. Not to my surprise, www.google.com retrieved me the most quality information. Many of the other search engines returned me websites with advertisements all over, people trying to sell me things, and even blogs that would not be appropriate for research use. I do believe that searching the library databases may take a little bit longer, the quality of the information is top notch. I would say using more descriptive keywords, such as “history Facebook” really helped the success of the searches. I deciphered through a lot of information during these searches, and I honestly believe that Google, and Ebsco are the best tools for gathering quality, reliable information.

O’Reilly, Tim. (2005). What is Web 2.0: Design patterns and business models for the next generation of software. Retrieved August 21, 2008 from http:/www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30.what-is-web-20.html

Monday, October 6, 2008

Search Engines: The end of the Encyclopedia

For Mondays reading we were assigned to read “The Internet: The Bascis” by Jason Whitaker, as well as” The World Wide Web: A mass communication perspective” by Barbara Kaye, and Norman Medoff. Both of these articles focused on the way in which people search the Internet to gain information, and also strategies to have successful searches. Whitaker refers to the Internet as “a huge national library- although one frequently lacking quality control.” (p. 48) This statement talks about the two large issues presented throughout this discussion. The author gives us 12 different search engines, all of which have their own different functions. Whitaker also discusses the use of search tips like using the words AND, or OR in your searches. (I was first introduced to this during a library tutorial for minerva) This may cause the hits to be more accurate in reference to the search. Kaye, and Medoff focus more each different search engines, and goes into detail about all of there characteristics. The author speaks of email lists, and newsgroups. (like we had previously monitored)
I would like to take some time to reflect on the whole idea of search engines, and how they affect our lives in this day and age. Only a few years ago the Internet was not the same as it was today, literally anytime I need anything answered I turn to www.google.com. Whether I am looking for a phone number, definitions, or even directions. I even have google as the homepage for my computer, and my blackberry. I would say personally I visit google ten times a day to find out information. The authors speak of the large amount of hits that a search may yield, but I must sat that rarely I do not get what I was looking for. I infrequently visit other search engines, but this article shed some light on other effective ones such as www.altavista.com, and www.yahoo.com. These search engines have made the accessibility of information speedy, and highly efficient.

Kaye, Barbara K. & Medoff, Norman J. (2001). The World Wide Web: A mass Communication perspectice (Chapter 2) Moutain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing.

Whitaker, Jason. (2002). The Internet: The basics (chapter 1). New York: Routledge.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Free Rider Problem Part 2

Through the years the internet has become one of the largest growing communication Media available. Everyday thousands of people log onto the internet and participate in online discussions. The free-rider problem is something that has been around since the creation of the internet, and is slowly becoming a non-issue. In this essay I will describe to you the encounters I experienced with the free-rider problem, and give you my opinion on its affects.

This week in class we were assigned to monitor a pre- World Wide Web technology, and react on the things we saw. There were many different social media available to us, but I choose to monitor a Usenet group. Usenet is a place where a bunch of people with the same interests can come and post messages about that specific topic. (p.111) Authors Peter Kollock and Marc Smith wrote “Managing Virtual Commons,” which presented many problems and solutions for the Usenet communities. According to the authors, Usenet has “grown exponentially, and currently consists of several thousand discussion groups.” (P. 111) Basically, you can go onto Usenet and find almost any group you are looking for. One major problem that faces the members of these Usenet groups is Free Riding. To me a free-rider is one who benefits from the work of others without doing their fair share, or actively disrupts a community. The group I joined was alt.sports.football.pro.ny-jets. This is a board where New York Jet fans from all over can come and discuss the happenings of their team. Over the course of the week that I monitored this media, subjects such as the coaching staff, New England Patriots, Chad Pennington, and of course Brett Farve were discussed. Opinions were thrown around, and some bad mouthing accrued. I decided to not join this group, but to sit back and watch the types of interactions that were taking place. From the beginning I knew it was going to be a very interesting experience because I am currently on a New York Jets message board on www.espn.com. I was very anxious to see the difference between the boards, and the way they operated.

Now let’s get to this issue of free-riding. Throughout my first two days observing the Usenet group, there were no clear cut signs of free-riding. Maybe I caught one person posting positive messages under a guest name, where no accountability was to be had. Zero spam, or off topic threads were posted and it seemed to be a happy little community. I figured that sometime during this period I would certainly encounter some sort of free-riding since it is such a large issue. Still, day three and four gave me nothing. But as I logged on this morning to do my final blog reaction there were a couple spam threads up, and some off topic discussions. I began to think why there would be four cases of spam in this one day, but none on the other. Do these spammers wait until after the Jet fans emotions are stirring a day after a brutal loss? Are they that smart? I came to the conclusion that it had nothing to do with that, a little bit of spam is just no big deal. Kollock and Smith discussed the different things a Usenet community might do in the face of free-riding and spam. Discussed by the authors were strategies such as penalizing them, kicking them off the group, ranting and raving at them, or simply ignoring them. (p. 124) Out of all of those options, the least likely I believed to happen would be to ignore them and hope they go away! Personally if I were a diehard member of this group, the frustration with spam would drive me through the roof. But not alt.sports.football.pro.ny-jets, all four cases of spam had zero responses. The members of this community chose to ignore spam such as, “Carmen Electra P*S*Y Flash,” or “Watch Videos and Earn Money on Super100sports.com.” These actions seemed to have worked. Shortly after those off topic post were added, normal conversation went on again about the Jets, and what do to for next week. It seems like this free-rider problem is not so much of a problem.

With the internet growing at the speed at which it is, and the communication media expanding faster than ever the occurrences of this free-rider problem will always be around. In my opinion the people today are so used to this spam that we take it with a grain of salt. We don’t give it the attention someone like Kollock and Smith might have in 1996. Its 2008, we deal with this type of junk on a day to day basis. I learned a lot from the time I spent observing this Usenet group, and was surprised with their reaction to their encounter with free-riders. It goes to show you the normalcy that we now have adapted for these types of nuisances.

Kollock, Peter & Smith, Marc. (1996) Managing the virtual commons: Cooperation and conflict in computer comminutes. In Susan C. Herring (Ed.), Computer-mediated communication: Linguistic, social and cross-cultural perspectives (pp. 109-128). Philadelphia: John Benajmins.

essay 2 blog 5

As I log onto my Usenet group for the last time, I notice some things that I have not seen in the previous four blogs. SPAM!!! There were four different accounts of spam posted ranging from “Britany Spears and her pink panties,” to “boobs webcams.” Surprisingly not one person responded to any of the posts. (Maybe they read Kollock and Smith lol) There was a bunch of talk of the game next week which was nice to see, and also some reactions from the Monday night football game. There was some apparent Farve smashing, and one topic calling for the firing of the head coach. I am going to do some thinking on why there was just spam on this one day, but not all the others. (That just sounded like Passover, I guess the holidays are around the corner.)

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Web 2.0

For Wednesdays class we were assigned to read a chapter by Tim O’Reilly called “What is Web 2.0.” In this chapter O’Reilly tries to explain the Web 2.0 technology, and the many ways in which it has advanced since the “Web 1.0” technologies. He states “This article is an attempt to clarify just what we mean by Web 2.0.” The author discusses how the whole idea started, and the founding meetings in which the basis of it was formed. O’Reilly also stresses that a “platform beats an application every time.” The power to control the actual platform, gives a company like Microsoft the ability to almost force the use of their programs. He speaks of the rise of blogging as a Web 2.0 technology, and the development Wikipedia.

In my reflection I wanted to focus on the topic of folksonomy, and how it affects my daily life. I find the invention of this “tagging” to be amazing. Every time I buy something on amazon.com, or eBay.com they store these key words, or items I bought. The next time I log onto their websites there are recommended items for purchase. I receive emails everyday from Amazon stating “save 50 percent on all blu-ray DVD’s,” or “don’t wait, pre-order Grand Theft Auto 4.” The way the web can now almost act as a human, and think like a human is mind-boggling. The invention of Wikipedia is another Web 2.0 technology that O’Reilly feels “changes the dynamics of content creation.” This online encyclopedia has almost everything, and I can even log on and make a change to a page. This new way of collecting information, using everyone intelligence is something could not be imagined pre Web 2.0. The breadth of its subjects is really endless. My best friend is an extremely talented college lacrosse player, and he even has his own Wikipedia page! (I must admit I have logged on and messed with it a couple times..ha)

O’Reilly, Tim (2005). What is Web 2.0:Design patterns and business models for the next generation of software. Retrieved August 21, 2008 from http:/oreillynet.com/pub.a.oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html.

Monday, September 22, 2008

essay 2 post 4

A little bit tipsy as a return from the bar disappointed in the Jets performance, I stumble onto my Usenet group to see what is being discussed. Still, not much discussion about the game itself, but increasingly more skepticism of Coach Mangini. There were a bunch of posts about the Jets sucking, or Electrician stating “someone take out farve’s knees, Jets suck.” There was also much discussion about getting a big time hear coach. Many fans are sick of Mangini, and want to throw a bunch of money at hall of famer coaches that are willing to still coach. The only discussion of the game was a message posted about the Jets blitz pickup, and how the offensive line struggled. It is only 11:51 pm, and I will check back in the morning to see if there is more talk about the game. (I’m not really that tipsy, just thought it would be funny to state).

essay 2 post 3

Here I am Monday morning and there is still no talk of the big game
tonight. There is one post about the punter, and how he is healthy and
active for tonight. There was more some Patriot trashing, as one poster
commented on how Randy Moss was sitting by himself on the bench near the
end of the game. The Miami linebacker Joey Porter was also mentioned
because of his bold comments about the patriots before the game.
Comments and predictions they actually executed on. I wish there was
more talk about the game, but I am assuming it will start heating up a
couple hours before game time when the pre-game shows are on.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

2nd essay blog 2

Today I chose to blog because it was football Sunday, and I wanted to see how the people reacted to the day’s games. The Jets do not play until Monday night, which is a very special event. Most teams do not even get one Monday night football game, so to see their team in the national spotlight is a special thing. Surprisingly there was no talk of the game, but more talk about the New England Patriots. The language was increasingly hostile, as I am guessing some patriot fans had logged onto the Jets board to defend their team. Jack Thomas even stated “Please do be getting facefucked by a cinderblock,” to describe what he thought about the Jet poster. Also, there was talk of how the Dolphins did not need Ex-Jet quarterback Chad Pennington because they ran all over the Patriots. It should be interesting to see if there is more talk about the game tomorrow.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

THE NEW YORK JETS

I have chosen the New York Jets usenet group on Google groups to observe and report about. I decided that if I was going to observe a group I might as well make it something I am very interested it. As I stated in my last blog, I follow a message board on www.espn.com on the New York Jets so it will be interesting to see the different opinions on the different boards. The activity on the board today was discussing the game from last week where the Jets lost to the Patriots. People were criticizing the coach’s decision to run it three times in a row. I am looking forward to seeing the development of these arguments, and observing the different comments these Jet fans have.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

The Basics

In the reading “New Media and Web Production” by Whitaker the characteristics of the new media advancements are explained. Discussed in this article are the functions of text, hypertext, digital imaging, audio, video, and the language in which these websites are designed. Explained by Whitaker are the same principals of web sites we have been discussing in class for the past couple weeks. He mentions the advancement of hypertext, how digital imaging has progressed to make websites more appealing. The author also speaks on video, and how it has made the Internet more interactive and the improvement of media players such as quicktime and realplayer. The author also discussed the HTML language how the web pages are formatted, and the development of new languages such as XML, and CCS.

I wanted to focus my response to the park of the chapter that Whitaker focuses on video and AV basics, and the technology of streaming media. I can remember the time when I used to sit in my basement and wait for the whole song to download. (I couldn’t survive the amount of time needed for a video without food and water..ha) Now we have things such as RealPlayers and Quicktime that allow us to listen to music right away. With the speed of the Internet now a day, you hardly have to wait at all for videos. There are many WebPages I log onto daily that have live streaming videos. Most of which just start by themselves, I don’t even click or download anything at all. This has made the Internet so much more appealing, and it allowed transferring of information free and easy. One other thing I would like to briefly touch on was the importance of hypertext in my day to day Internet experience. Every single day I go on websites such as www.espn.com, or www.laxpower.com and immediately I am presented with thousands of different links that take me to articles of various different topics. I honestly cannot imagine what the web would be like without this technology.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Free-Rider Problem?

In the chapter “Managing the Virtual Common: Cooperation and Conflict in Computer Communities,” Peter Kollock and Mark Smith discuss the difficulties encountered with the issues of cooperation on new computer mediated communication systems. Kollock and Smith discuss the subject of the free-rider problem, and whether cooperation can ever be possible. The authors also discuss the platform Usenet in depth, and explain the complex community it facilitates. The writers speak of the basic functions of Usenet, and they begin to talk about the problems they have encountered. They explain Usenet as a place where people can go and find a specific topic they are interested and post messages for others to reply too. The free-rider dilemma comes into play here, because there are many people who simply do not contribute to this community and just take advantage of its benefits. Kollock and Smith also talk about ways to manage virtual commons. In most successful virtual commons there are a set of rules that are stated, and there is some kind of way of enforcing penalties for these infractions. The one major problem is that there is no good way of really punishing these people, if the users in a certain topic want to make it private to post then it takes away from the interactivity and makes it more like a private bulletin board system. The authors mention the issue of group size, and the concern that if the group grows too large it will get increasingly difficult to manage. According to Ostrom, “the most important feature of successful communities is that they have clearly defined boundaries.”

From this chapter I learned a lot about Usenet, something I had no previous knowledge of. Also, I learned about the problems in which these virtual communities face. I read on a daily basis the New York Jets discussion board on ESPN.com. During this reading I related the material to my day to day experiences on this message board, and I found the description of Usenet to be very similar characteristics. Discussed in this reading was the problem of free-riders. I completely understand the problem of free-riders and plagiarism, there is no explanation for plagiarism by any means. But every day I log into this discussion board and read what’s going on today in team news, and opinions of long time educated Jet fans. There are probably over 50 people that post on a daily basis, but I simply log on and educate myself on the up daily news of my favorite team. Am I a free-rider? Why can’t I read others work and educate myself without being a free-rider? I confess I do not contribute anything to this community, but I don’t understand the problem with me learning from them, and I feel like this applies to someone on Usenet reading up on how to fix their mac.

Monday, September 8, 2008

The Diversity of the Internet

The Internet is a profound new technology that has changed communication throughout the world. The utilization of the Internet as a means of communicating really grew in the 90’s and has changed the accessibility and movement of information forever. Many people say that the Internet is different from television, or any other mediums of communication for that matter. There are many defining characteristics of the Internet that set it apart from other communication mediums. Perhaps the most significant is its ability for multi-party communicating. Communication on the Internet is primarily visual and not only used for personal communicating but also for public discourse (Adams and Clark 28).
Adams and Clark explain well in chapter two how the Internet does not fit neatly into an academia definition of a communication medium. A technology is constantly evolving, growing, and expanding the sphere of communication, information, and knowledge to all corners of the world (Adams and Clark 30). There are many characteristics of the Internet that make it unique and unlike other mediums. The characteristics are embedded in previous forms of communication, but put together with the Internet is what makes the technology so profound. The Internet is a “network of networks,” and has the ability to open up two-way communication unlike other forms of communication such as the television (Adams and Clark 29).
The Internet is multimediated, interactive, hyptertextual, digital and packet based (Adams and Clark 35). These five characteristics are prominent qualities that set aside the Internet from other communication forms. Rafaeli and Newhagen first introduced these qualities in 1996 as significant qualities, according to Adams and Clark. Multimediated is not unique to the Internet, however, it is taken to new heights and levels when compared to other things such as books with pictures (Adams and Clark 36). The Internet opens of the capability for people to use sound, graphics, 3-D images, life photos, videos, and text all at the same time (Adams and Clark 37). Adams and Clark use the webpage as an example to show the multimedia capabilities of the Internet. One may see video advertisements on the side of a webpage, while reading a textual article, which may include a video box… all while listening to your iTunes, if you want to. The ability to communicate by reading, talking, seeing, and hearing all at the same time is a very defining characteristic.
The Internet is also capable of hypertextuality. This means that one has the ability to link any source of information with any other using the Internet (Adams and Clark 37). Adams and Clark explain how the idea or theory of hypertextuality has been around since the 1960s, but has really only been utilized to a useful potential with the Internet (Adams and Clark 37). When on a webpage, one may have the option of clicking on a picture and it playing a video, or clicking an underlined word or link and being sent to another page with more information (Adams and Clark 37). The ability to link information together increases the accessibility of content and broadens the audience to whom it may reach. This aspect of the Internet has increased the public sphere of discussion greatly.
Perhaps the most interesting characteristic of the Internet is that it is interactive. With the Internet, people can determine where and when and what they do (Adams and Clark 38). You can also have the ability to respond or give back content. The interactive characteristic makes it a multi-party means of communicating. The ability to interact with the Internet is extensive. One can not only chose what to read or see and where to get their content, but they can have private messages or chats between other parties or people. People may also shop and make purchases and sales. You can enter personal information such as interests and receive information catered to your interests back (Adams and Clark 39). The interactive aspect of the Internet seems to be ever growing and expanding and allows a greater audience to utilize this means of communication. People can communicate from any corner of the world.
The Internet is also packet based. Packet switching is the technology used to send information over the Internet. The information is sent in groups or “packets” and therefore makes it secure and reliable (Adams and Clark 40). This unique technology is complex. The information is sent in packs on a route of networks and it is designed to know where it is going and get there…despite any attempts to block it. With that in mind, the content on the Internet is difficult or nearly impossible to censor (Adams and Clark 40). This is a unique characteristic of the Internet because it makes it a true means of communicating.
As confusing as packet switching may be to understand, it is only possible because the Internet is digital (Adams and Clark 41). Digitalizing information and content is why the Internet is possible and functional. Digital devices use numbers and codes to store information, using 0s and 1s. Digital encoding of information has many advantages. The information is clear and less vulnerable to damage and destruction. This makes the Internet unique as well because not only does it have a high capacity for content being sent, used, or stored but also the content is safe because it is digitalized (Adams and Clark 41).
The Internet is unique and has countless capabilities. The characteristics of the Internet combine to make an ultra medium for communication. The ability to give and take information, listen, read watch or write content and store large amounts of content all with one tool is significant to the world of communication.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Communication as a Medium

In this chapter, the discussion starts over the strengths and weaknesses of the Internet. Also, discussed was the medium in which the Internet is categorized. The author states that the Internet does not fall into any particular medium, it spans all of them. (Adams & Clark, 3) This is something that I agree with 100 percent, it is changing in so many interactive ways every day that it is impossible to group it into one medium. In the last five years of my life, the way in which I have used the Internet has went from that good ole dial up sound, to talking to friends through a camera or instant messaging. Being in my twenties and growing up in the technology age has been enlightening. To think back to what it must of been like to research information, get news, just communicate blows my mind. The difficulty they must have encountered makes me realize how lucky we are to have these tools at our fingertips. The reading went on to talk about the reliability of the Internet, and how accessible it is. The percentage of homes with Internet accessibility is growing, and I can see the day with it will catch up to the telephone. I believe that steps need to be taken to have more public places where people who do not have the privilege of the Internet could go and access the web. Also discussed was the speed in which the Internet travels. It has evolved tremendously since the early days, and now many people even have access on their telephones. The medium qualities where mentioned as well, focusing on six different elements. These six were multimediated, hypertexual, interactive, asynchronous, packet based, and digital. (Adams & Clark, 27) The one that I feel is most important is that the Internet has become hypertextual. This means that we can hyperlink, and have a web page that we can connect to all types of related information. To me hypertextualtily is so crucial for the Internet as we see it today, there are very few websites out there that do not take advantage of its benefits. In all honesty, I cannot picture a world without the Internet. It has not only connected, but it has enriched the way in which we communicate. Many disagree, and say we are losing out on interpersonal communication, but I feel we are just forming a new kind. Everything evolves, and the Internet is evolving the way in which we communicate.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

First Blog

The first reading assigned for today's class was a summary of the history of the Internet, and how it has progressed. Discussed was who were the first people to use the Internet, and what functions is was meant for. The difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web was also a main point of the reading. In the early years of the Internet it was created by the government to easily communicate in house. Each government agency funded its own operating system. One very important creation was windows 95. This allowed everyone to have an universal operating system, as well as Netscape which created a frame in which to view the Internet. Email is also a very important creation in the development of the Internet. Steve Walker was the first person to develop