Monday, March 22, 2010

I am mayor of 4sq

Last week I found a new application (or I do not know how to name it) called Foursquare. It is "a cross between a friend-finder, a social city-guide and a game that rewards you for doing interesting things. We aim to build things to not only help you keep up with the places your friends go, but that encourage you to discover new places and challenge you to explore your neighborhood in new ways." It is mobile application and through mobile phone you are checking-in on different places. You can also write tips (like bacon in xy restaurant is very good) or can collect badges (you become mayor of certain place, when you check-in more then anyone). You also collect points (for which is not yet known how to use them in real world) and it is interesting that some companies (like coffee shops or restaurants) are offering for example free coffee for those who become mayors of this place. So this application can be personal or can be another tool for different companies for making promotion. Oh and did I mention it is also compatible with Twitter and Facebook?

Of course this kind of application raises many different questions. Mostly questions about privacy and personal data. Maybe for some people this kind of real-life/on-line game is intriguing and funny to play but for me is a whole leap for making our real lives more and more compatible with on-line. Why would you share information where are you with everyone (well with your friends but if you share this also on Facebook and Twitter this "friends" become more loose concept)? Location is very sensitive personal data and should not be shared with everyone. So I think that 4sq is just another application which is pushing the limits of our real life. And also it is interesting that concept of gaming which is traditionally connected with online world and identity is becoming more in more interwoven with real life. If we think that Second World was new and controversial, 4sq is even more because of our personal data and security.

Monday, March 15, 2010

What we have in common?

Like every medium also internet has large, unconnected audience and members are divided by space and time. So internet can be a very useful tool for maintaining existing relationships and also can be used for making new friendships. In both we use computer mediated communication (CMC) which is closely connected with virtual reality. So we can say that internet is connecting people in communities and that is what we call virtual communities. Very simple definition of virtual community is that it is consequence of CMC where communication flow between unknown people which has in common some similar interests, needs and wishes. So for one virtual community there must be just one thing that participants have in common. This can be anything, from hobbies (like photography), music or film to parenting, gender (like female or male virtual communities) or studying. But the main question is how virtual communities are really created in comparison with offline communities?

I will use some ideas from book (which is actually MA paper) Skupnost, identiteta in komunikacija v virtualnih skupnostih (in English this is Community, identity and communication in virtual communities) from Tadej Praprotnik (he is professor of communication and new media on Institutum Studiorum Humanitatis (ISH) – Ljubljana Graduate School of the Humanities). And I also recommend this book for all who are interested in virtual communities or wish to write paper about them. Unfortunately this book is not translated in English.

Author is suggesting that virtual communities have two features that are copied from offline culture to virtual. First is that virtual communities are never created as something new, because they are founded on basis of preliminary formulated communities. The main motive for participation is wish for belonging to group and this wish is same also in offline life. Second (and in my opinion very important) is that virtual identity is not as free as we all think (you know the famous "On the internet nobody knows you're a dog"). Virtual identity is shaped with values, biases and meanings from everyday offline life so this all have impact also on virtual life. So virtual communities are somehow just derivatives of ideological pre-virtual setting.

But why are virtual communities so attractive, not only for users but also for researchers? In my opinion the main attraction is anonymity and lack of social pressure. People on internet can be what they are. They can be happy, shallow or even racist. If one community does not accept them, the other will or even they can make their own virtual community. Entrance in virtual community is so much easier then in real life, so much quicker and also even exit from it is possible. All you need is computer, interest and people. Commonalities can emerge later.

Friday, March 5, 2010

If you're not on Facebook then you don't exist?

Today I read an interesting article about Facebook (you can find it here and in Slovene here) which is called In the world of Facebook (well actually is interesting review of two books).

First the article is describing to-us-all known beginnings of Facebook in 2004 but what I didn't know and was new to me, is the exclusivity of it and starting elitism of it. Yes I knew that primary it was intended to Harvard students but I never thought off that kind of exclusivity the author is describing, that major attraction of the early Facebook came from its snob appeal and its high selectivity. Bourdieu was somehow right with his aesthetic gaze and class although I didn't think that also new technologies can become so stratificated and under that influence. Author is also comparing Facebook with Myspace, because the idea for both is somehow the same (social networking) so the question is, why is Facebook so special? Author is suggesting that Facebook was connected with education and higer class, when Myspace was connected with working class. Also pages of Myspace were more connected with popular culture and were more urban, while Facebook was more aesthetic and was like planned community in suburb.

Author is raising some interesting questions also regarding to privacy, politics, advertising and communication on Facebook. But for me most interesting is idea of "second internet" and Facebook connect function. It is somehow interesting and also intimidating that all your personal information and also all your clicks on internet are noted in huge database and you do not know who sees yours information and who is using and paying for them. This metaphor of "second internet" is really well-placed because all our data and information are in other "virtual world," which is not known to us. I think that debate around privacy on Facebook (and also internet) will be very relevant in future but users should know that like real communities also virtual communities has risk that everybody will know everything about you. Facebook is special in its functions and its consequences on every-day life, but the question remains, it is really indicator of our online existence.

If you're not in group of people in real life, that does not mean that you don't exist, but if you're not on Facebook that just mean that you can relatively safely use internet without being considered who has your information - and yes, you still exist. :)

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

About This Particular Blog And Some First Thoughts

Hello everybody!

This blog is one of assignments for course New Media & Society, which is taking place on Faculty of Social Science in Ljubljana, Slovenia (well just virtually, real lectures are taking place in the Netherlands). And first of all I should introduce myself. I am post graduate student on Communication Science - Communication, Media and Society program. I graduated last year in Media and Communication studies in Ljubljana and title of my diploma was Media representation of ethical consumerism.

In my four years of undergraduate study I had relatively large amount of courses, which were related to new technologies. I am personally very interested in new media, because I think that it has lot of consequences on our everyday life, from everyday processes like shopping to more delicate topics like democratization or public opinion.Regarding to this seminar I want to upgrade my existing knowledge and I also have plan to write my master degree regarding on new media.

I use some social networks sites like Facebook, I read some blogs (and now I also write one) and personally I try to follow novelties that are on internet. I am everyday surprised with new things that I discover regarding to technology or to changed life as consequence of internet. I also use online literature resources and social science databases like Sage or Ebscohost and I think that these are very handy for students.
Personally I am very interested in new consumer culture that has occurred and changed with spread of internet and online shopping. I would like to know what these changes are and what they brought to process of consuming. And I am also interested in virtual communities such as different forums in connection with consuming and if forums have influence on peoples’ consuming decisions and wishes. Topics that also intrigue me are those which are related to virtual identity. Do people really change their real identity for sake of being someone else on internet? Don Slater (author that wrote article about Social relationships and identity online and offline; also book about Consumer culture) is writing about disembodiment as a process where virtual identity divide from physical presence. So maybe is internet in field of identity fluidity next step of postmodern identity?

New technologies have a great impact on our life and it's not just technology the cause for society changes, but also consequence of them. And this blog will bring some critical writings about changes and about New media and society.

Thanks for reading!