Social Media and beyond

Time to hop on or be left behind!

The recent trends and development of social media has definitely left me in awe... so many mediums, so many choices, so many different ways of achieving the same thing. Its interesting to look back when the only major social media available was journalism and the television. Looking at the way things have developed now we have the internet which alone hosts several possibilities of communication and interaction with communities. We have the mobile phone allowing communication on the fly at a moments notice, we have virtual realities which simulates interaction in the real world through avatars.

Perhaps the one element that has brought about the exponential growth of social media in my opinion is definitely the....

Back in the day when a floppy disk was considered a lot of space

 With the introduction of the computer, technology began to advance at an alarming rate! Soon the internet arrived and from there various forms of communication sprung forth eventually reaching the technological advancements of today!

Now we got glowing stuff and sleek designs!

 This brings forth the question of the evolution of social media. I can only see good things coming from the way things are developing right now, in particular the advancement of virtual realities. As things are general it involves the computer and a keyboard and mouse, perhaps game-pad if you will. When the development of visual signals transferring directly to the brain where what you think becomes reality is a very interesting prospect for future development.

Think of how the they simulated the environment in the movie the matrix, being plugged into a device and then experiencing things as they are...without the obvious backlash of physical injuries sustained in the virtual world.

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The possibilities and usages of such a device has many benefits:

• For one many people who have been disabled or lost limbs can freely use limbs generated in the virtual reality.
• One could simulate environments not realistically possible
• Train a discipline within the environment: sports, martial arts, hypothesis
• Military usages as well: conditioning soldiers by desensitizing them to bloodshed  in the simulated environment
• Psychological usages as well: re-enacting a time period which went badly for a client and changing the outcome into a positive re-enactment 

Of course there disadvantages with everything:

• Possibility of addiction and rejection of reality
• Enactment of illegal fantasies: rape etc
• Legal issues: commits murder, arsonist in a simulated environment
• Moral issues: Spouse cheating in a virtual environment?
• Brainwashing and forced conditioning via simulated environment
• Psychological/medical: Can too much virtual environment feedback into the brain cause brain problems?

Until that time comes we can only speculate and hope for the best, as things are social media is quite adequate in its purpose. The question to ask are we relying on it too much as a replacement for face-to-face interactions and true friend?

All that left is to look at social media and beyond!

Virtual reality...a second life?

Talk to the hand! A nice way to welcome newcomers :/

Virtual reality can be divided into two general categories: one is the simulation of a real environment for training and education while the second is the development of an imagined environment for a game or interactive story. Generally its a reality that is either simulated or created to the point that a person becomes immersed in that reality. There are many examples of virtual reality but in for this entry, ill be focusing specifically on second life.

Second life an an online virtual world developed by Linden lab, players are given a vast world in which they can explore through a customized avatar of their creation, the  avatar can interact with their environment and other avatars. Virtual worlds like these thrive on a community based level as the social aspect of the game is generally the focus. What sets Second life apart from other virtual worlds is that one can own virtual property and convert Linden Dollar (The currency of second life) to real life currency. This feature is one aspect which makes Second life appealing, the ability to earn income through a virtual world.

A success story by a user known as Anshe Chung, the Second Life persona of entrepreneur Ailin Graef, one of the virtual world's biggest success stories.

almost identical...kinda

 This user actually managed to make quite a profit by buying virtual property and renovating/building the area and selling it like a real-estate agent boss!
Props to her for making things work in a virtual world!

Second life is can be considered by some as more than just a game or virtual world, some literally act as if its their second life....
This has manifested in various ways, such as communities being formed, online marriages and deep social interactions between users. The appeal lies in the ability to create an idealized self and behave in a world where you have a clean slate, a new start if you will.
Projecting ones desired identity onto an avatar is not a new thing, as most people playing games with customization options will choose to do so. What sets second life apart is the virtual reality setting, and free building ability and many more provided you have enough Linden $dollars$!

Wow  for only $8.30 US ill get $2000 L, gotta love those exchange rates :O

 There have been other simulators out there that have attempted a virtual reality premises, such as the Sims series, Flight simulator...err....and some other ones I guess. Only gripe i have with online virtual realities is whether the chick your supposedly talking to isn't some random fat dude with a secret fantasy that involves cyber sex with other males.
Second's life scope on virtual reality is quite daunting when considering possibilities you can achieve within the games premise, even more so when you got the cash to blow for it. It makes me look forward to future developments of the virtual simulation genre, especially once technological advances kick in where it engages all 5 sense with motion capture control. Until such a development occurs, we can only speculate the future of virtual realities and their impact, priority in our lives.
Here's couple in second life that have begun the marriage ceremony.

So just to make sure...your a chick right?

Mobile Phone EVOLUTION!

Food for thought, right now imagine you didn't have a mobile/smart/android phone...could you continue your daily life without hassle using other means for communication? Of course you can...its just pretty damn inconvenient!

Mobile phones have become an integral part of our daily life, partly due to its multitude of features that allow a much convenient form of communication. Right now with your smart phone (provided its not the old skool bricks that only allow you to play snake as far as apps are concerned) you could probably check social networking sites, browse the internet, book flights to Kenya and watch the latest episode of your favorite sitcom...all in one device!

Need plane tickets? need Facebook? need to buy illegal immigrants? we got it!

It wasn't always like this however considering the exponential growth in mobile and communication technologies. The first phone was huge and was like a brick, the next few were of the relative same brick model and cars even had in-built phones, IN-BUILT phones! Literally built into the car itself, my god it was considered flashy back then but now it would look like some old turd car wasting space. Just to show the size of phones back I found a nice luxury brick phone model for you viewing pleasure.

The rare and legendary BRICK phone :O

The purpose of mobile phones essentially served two purpose at the time of its conception, convenient communication on the go, as it became commercialized it became a status symbol. Only rich and successful people carried mobile phones in its early days. It must have been cumbersome considering that if it evens fits in your wallet, makes it looks like you got massive quadriceps...on one leg. Despite that flaw it was a marvelous tool that revolutionized communication technologies and would later become a staple part of our daily lives, and to a certain degree an extension of our body, Robocop anyone?

Guns, mobiles,microwave? Got it all in here

Cyborgs eh? Wont be surprising later on if we can somehow build technology into our bodies, though that would later on cause major complications on social, legal and societal levels. What could be considered human, would cyborg be classified under legal law? How does one behave or treat cyborgs? Those are just food for thought of the implications of mobile technology advancing. Despite the improvement of phone models becoming slimmer and more compact and bursting with technological advancements. Has communication improved, or dulled or social senses when interacting face-to-face. In fact I notice it quite often that is quite normal to interrupt talking with someone in front of you to engage in a call with someone miles away! That is absurd considering the person with you right now, like in front of you giving his attention take lower priority then the one who doesn't bother to meet up with you and instead calls.

Its no surprise that mobile phones have brought many new possibilities on different levels affecting our personal lives, however one must take care as the possibilities come with their cons and risks. Communication is incredibly important but remember to value those who have gone out of their way to meet face-to-face, get the priorities right!

Politics in social media

Politics in social media, an evolution? or perhaps just another weapon in the arsenal of professional bull-shit artists. Facebook and YouTube have been introduced into the political sphere as legit tools in augmenting political campaigns, the problem? Most of the politicians don't know their way about, I mean have you heard of John Edwards? He was the first guy to introduce his candidacy through YouTube.

Yeah this guy....

Too bad only a few people ever watch it, so he was left in the dark...like those YouTube videos that get views below the 100's. Despite that it didn't deter the onset of politicians using the mediums of YouTube and Facebook to get their messages across, I mean its a good idea in attempting to reach a wider, younger audience. However unless the content is interesting, most will bat an eye and proceed to the next viral video. In most cases a video containing a politicians embarrassing moments are more likely to be viewed than their announcement of candidacy or campaign. Politicians began to utilize every piece of technology for reaching the masses in a bid to gain support for their political campaign, with YouTube being the platform of choice. It was believed that a YouTube presence not popularity, PRESENCE was essential in gaining support from younger audiences. So what ended up happening is a burst of politicians uploading boring videos, with all the view counts going to videos which involve Politician bloopers.

A variety of social mediums

Now don't get me wrong, utilizing all of the available resources to achieve a goal is a splendid idea, just... maybe they didn't do it right. When using a medium one is not familiar of, one must first consult thou expert on such subject! Better yet look at examples, and see how the mediums community does it. As only through understanding and realizing the flow of things can one create a truly fitting piece in said medium as well as break outside the box with SUCCESSFUL results. The result ended up being politicians using their old school approach on the modern medium, formal and boring. However there were some politicians who got it, I'm looking at you Obama!

You ain't got shit on me Dawg!

One could say that Obama's campaign utilized social media very effectively including video streaming sites such as YouTube. In this particular situation, Obama managed to rouse the young adults of America to vote and become interested in politics with his hip presentation and style. It wont be long until other politicians will learn from his example and begin interesting campaigns online. The hard part is building credibility online as once something is upload online it can stay there indefinitely, meaning image is incredibly important. One slip-up seen by a person can be shared with millions online, and everyone loves slip-ups, screw ups more than success when your a spectator. Through the evolution of technology politics just got more complex bringing a host of new possibilities and risks. Meaning once again trolls shall be involved in undermining the political sphere as such is the case in any online source.

  

Producing Produsage

Produsage...yes not producing or producer but produsage. I swear its legit the word, even look it up on google! The concept of produsage is a quite hard to define, its related to production, distribution and consumers. Its not specifically one of those terms yet its a combination of them. To bring your head around the idea of produsage, lets take a look at the traditional value chain which consists of Producer distributing products to consumers. In the produsage value chain it goes content is produced by a producer in which user can access said content, in which that user can become a producer producing content which can be accessed by other users. Following me here?

Thing kid is confused legit!

In essence Produsage is when users can become producers and consumers at the same time, a  prime example would be wikipedia: a website consisting of user generated material which is regulated, evaluation, updated by the sites community. Produsage is most applicable in terms information or online production. Its most relevant to information as information and data are rarely ever considered a completed product, perhaps an opposing information contests the validity of the previous information product? In such a case it would be deemed best to amend said data? or perhaps a variable previously not considered has significant influence over prior data? These kind of factors is what makes information an in-stable resource, and the practicality of produsage shines here. The website of wikipedia is regulated and updated by its community, in constant evaluation by a large amount of users its relevance and accuracy would be quite high provided the community intends to keep it that way.

 

Troll face gotta love em

There are many other examples of the uses of produsage; wikipedia, facebook, twitter, devianart etc. Axel Bruns a prime researcher in this field explains the benefits of produsage in business, he states that it can lead user-led innovation (Due to the high number of users, one is generally bound to be a genius), crowd sourcing (communities attract people and many other miscellaneous things), viral marketing (who doesn't like the Hitler says videos?), Boost to brand recognition (I'm sure the majority of the world recognized Facebook, so long as they internet... its even in the auto-correct), improved brand perception (If a lot of people know it, its bound to be popular). Some the threats to having produsage is the lack of control due to high user generated content (it may be hard to moderate or filter content if the business is going a transparent honest approach). If you screw with the community expect backlash (no-one likes people kicking their dog except themselves).

Produsage however isn't something that can grow by itself when you create the environment for it. It requires the right environment, an open honest transparent environment which allows the exploration of ideas or concepts. It requires the tools needed for self-regulation, editing and moderating. Supporting the community through communication and giving content for them to work with, lastly the one thing that will kill any community, exploitation...should be avoided at all costs.

Wiki LEAKAGE!

Now its time to explore wiki leaks!

What is wikileaks? Well basically its an international online not-for-profit organization that publishes submission of private, secret and classified media from anonymous sources. It launched in 2006, and since then has been the internet robin hood of information.

 

I steal from the rich and give to the trolls!

Some of wiki-leaks notable works are the publishing of gunfight footage from the 12 July 2002 Baghdad airstrike. 40,000 documents called the Iraq war logs which basically detailed every recorded death in Iran, as well as a variety of other controversial material. But what is the purpose behind this publishing besides giving the general public information it wouldn't bother looking for unless it made headline news? Of course there are THOSE people that actually do something with the information, just don't count on this guy to do something.

Yet another human male that refuses to interact with women

Ignoring the geek above, wiki leaks goal is generally along the lines of "bring important news and information to the public". What classifies as important can range from person to person, but that said, people dying in Iraq would seem important to those that believe it is relevant or have some sort of worldly sense of justice. It does however provide a gateway for sneaky alley rats to divulge sensitive information if wiki leaks anonymous policy rings true, could be good news if your into stocks I guess.

This brings the issue of is knowledge of sensitive information, beneficial to the general public? What advantages does it bring, what are the repercussions of said information going public? Also do the corporations or organizations get a a say in this? Most likely not, considering they are hiding the information in the first place, at what point does information become intellectual property or has protection for privacy.

As everything is generally stored in data and computers nowadays, the risks involve in attaining information are considerably low in contrast to the days without digital technology. Back then it usually involved stalking said sources until they spill the beans or infiltrating a society for several years to gain trust and eventually being let in on the secret. Now all you need is to download some software, get yourself a geeky nerd that has a flashy computer and you can even hack NASA!. Screw hanging around for several years, building up in ranks just get on your home desktop and start up the hacking program! 

In that sense wiki leaks could be considered a database of hacked or stolen information, providing cover to the contributors. It was going to be done eventually, there is a robin hood in every age. That said the data is supposedly important enough to warrant public attention and in that regard they are doing a good thing....I mean come on. its free.

 In this age of information wiki-leaks can be considered as free cash, you just got to hope that the information will be relevant and help you somewhat.