Yep, you read right. This is probably going to be my last post here. Whilst I have enjoyed this module, and am glad I got a taste of blogging, I just don't think it's my 'thing'. Although I've defiantly gotten involved more in communities outside of the university, I think I've been more of a 'browser' on the module forums. I've been reading what's been happening, but as with all the communities I'm a member of, I only really post when I have something to say. This blog must either be a attracting a lot of 'browsers' like me, or none at all :p.
So whilst blogging has been an interesting experiment for me, I'm afraid this is goodbye. Hope you enjoyed it while it lasted.
I often stumble across a piece of news which is interesting and related to online communities. I make a mental note of this, and usually blog about it a few days later when I have time. I was reading the news on my phone when I found an article detailing a French site I though I should give a mention.
Peuplade stores peoples locations on a google map, in order for people who live near each other to meet in real life. I thought this was a really interesting idea, as it sort of turns the concept of the internet on its head. Usually, the internet is about meeting people virtually who usually live very far away. This site seems to use the internet in order to meet people in real life who live close to you.
Whilst I've not been able to try the site out myself, as I can't read French, the idea sounds very modern, whilst at the same time managing to keep to traditional values of meeting people in a real life community. I don't know if I'd use a site like this or not myself if a British one appeared, but I'd certainly look into it.
BBC News (2007) Parisian neighbours meet online [internet], BBC. Available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/6233429.stm [Accessed 10 January 2007].
It's my opinion that it does, and I'll explain why.
I'm going to be using religion as an example, but I'm sure influence through online communities is happening in other areas too. In recent months, I've noticed a massive increase in the support of atheism on sites such as digg, youtube and google video. Whilst searching for a completely different topic, I found this (Rundle, M,2007) page, which explained exactly what I'd been noticing. People have been posting videos of Richard Dawkins for example, and posting them on popular video sites. Soon after, social bookmarking sites such as digg make them popular. This has obviously made what's being said very accessible, which has given the topic of atheism a huge boost in online discussion.
Whilst digg (in my opinion) has defiantly helped raise certain topics into people's minds, sites like youtube take this further. For example, there has been one video on youtube (shown below), which challenges people to deny the existence of God. Currently, this video has 627 responses. Whether most of the responses are denying God or not, it has absolutely raised the profile of atheism, and will have influenced at least some people in some way.
(BlasphemyChallenge, 2006)
Keeping with youtube, some users devote almost all of their videos towards promoting, or at least raising awareness of one goal. CapnOAwesome (CapnOAwesome, 2007) defiantly has this approach, and while he says he's not trying to convert people to atheism, I'm sure he's had that effect on some people at least.
I'd like to know other peoples thoughts on this too. I know I used atheism as a heavy example (not too much hope), but I'm sure there are lots of other examples out there too.
CapnOAwesome (2007) CapnOAwesome [internet], youtube. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=CapnOAwesome [Accessed 10 January 2007]. BlasphemyChallenge (2006) The Blasphemy Challenge [internet], youtube. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7QVbJnSPQE [Accessed 10 January 2007]. Rundle, M (2007) Digg and YouTube Powering Atheism 2.0 [internet], Available from: http://businesslogs.com/web_20/digg_and_youtube_powering_atheism_20.php [Accessed 10 January 2007].
I guess technically, this is my second posting here in the same day. I'm on a roll :D.
The topic of this post is how people conceal their identity online, and how people react when they find out that someone has been 'faking it'. I think the best example of this that I know of is Lonelygirl15 (Lonelygirl15, 2007) on youtube.
Lonelygirl15's whole image on the internet was fabricated by some film producers in order to create a fictional video blog. They decided to not tell people that what she was saying in her videos wasn't true to make it feel more 'real' to people. However, when the truth came out, most people responded (Renetto, 2006) very badly, and felt like they'd been lied to.
Whilst I can see why many people were annoyed, I also think they caused far too much fuss over it. As far as I can see, they weren't happy because they were under the assumption that her video blogs she was making were true. This wasn't the case, so they therefore felt lied to. However, I'm guessing that if they knew this from the beginning, then her videos wouldn't have been anywhere near as popular.
The reason I'm not annoyed or upset Lonelygirl15 had a whole team of film makers behind her is that as far as I can see, it really doesn't matter. I don't watch videos for their truth, I watch them for their entertainment value, so since I've never met this person, it doesn't matter to me whether what she says is true or not. It would be different if a real-life friend of mine made up who they were of course.
Whilst I don't conceal my online identity by creating a cover story for myself and lying like some people might, I simply filter what some people are allowed to know about me.
(doulostheou777, 2006)
doulostheou777 (2006) Lonelygirl15 comes out! [internet], youtube. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8evwzGCemqI [Accessed 02 January 2007]. Lonelygirl15 (2007) Lonelygirl15[internet], youtube. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=lonelygirl15 [Accessed 02 January 2007]. Renetto (2006) LonelyGirl15 is a FAKE... PLEASE WATCH!!! [internet], youtube. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z05X9nNNXLU [Accessed 02 January 2007].
First off, happy new year to you all. I was meaning to do this post yesterday, but unfortunately it didn't materialise, but happy new year nonetheless.
(rhettsmith, 2007)
I read digg a lot, and I've had this article (Cheng, J, 2006) from their saved in my bookmarks for while a while now, just waiting for the right time to be used. It discusses how people view relationships that began online. Although 2,000 US participants responded, it doesn't say how many of them are actually involved in online communities, which is a shame. I think the thing that surprised me most though was that 43% of those who participate in online communities felt as strongly about the friends they met online as the off-line ones. Perhaps this figure would look different if we knew how many said they participated in communities online.
Looking back on it though, most of what is said seems pretty accurate, for me at least). I probably know more people online than most, due to being an active member of the counter strike community, and of course, using IRC and VoIP because of it helps a great deal. However, I don't think I participate in any of my online communities off-line, neither have I gotten involved in much social activism because of the internet. The only thing that I've yet to do, but probably will, is to meet someone face to face who I first met online.
Cheng, J (2006) We love our Internet friends, really [internet], Available from: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061130-8326.html [Accessed 02 January 2007]. rhettsmith (2007) New Year [internet], Available from: http://www.rhettsmith.com/blog/archives/images/new%20year.jpg [Accessed 02 January 2007].
