Interactivity of the Internet

The Internet has provided us with endless opportunities to generate things we never could have imagined. To personalizing your own sneakers to creating an virtual community on Second Life, there is so much you can do. The interactivity of the web has created a new culture, and with that there are certainly pros, as well as cons.

In his writing, Mark Andrejevic introduces the idea of an iCulture. Between iCommerce and iPolitics, Andrejevic highlights the interactivity of the Internet and the way society has been transformed by it. We are now cultural producers and consumers through our use of the web. This has created a huge boom in e-commerce because now consumers can generate their own personalized products. This is a great marketing scheme for companies. The interactivity Internet users now have with companies and other users has created an interesting culture of synthetic worlds. Aside from the business progression through the Internet, there has also been a large rise in social communities online.

Although the interactivity of the Internet is a great help to e-commerce, virtual worlds have begun to put a strain on real life relationships. The strong interactions users can find online cause them to zone in and ignore the real world around them. Edward Castronova writes, “synthetic worlds already seem to impose significant relationship stress.” It is hard to have a relationship with someone off-line, if they are constantly spending time in an online world. Being engulfed in a game like Second Life is much different than dealing with someone who is constantly reading a book. The book does not interact with the reader, but the avatars in an online community do. It appears that some people rather spend time with these online avatars than with those around them. That is what puts a strain on relationships.  

By taking a look at these different points of view, it has really shown me that the Internet is both a blessing and a curse. Going back to the personalized sneaker example, I myself have created a Nike iD shoe online. I felt like I was just another producer at the Nike company and it really made me want to buy the shoe. However, I still would much rather speak with a real person and have there help in creating the product. I do not like to trust a website to assure my order is perfect. I have also immersed myself into Second Life to experience the communities that have formed on there. It was crazy to see how much time people actually spend in SL. I can never imagine myself  forming strong relationships in online communities. I guess my biggest concern is it is hard to trust everything you find on the Internet.

In the end, I would still rather see a product in person before I buy it. I would still rather talk face-to-face with a person instead of their avatar. I understand we have to deal with this new generation of e-commerce and these new synthetic worlds. I am just worried we are going to let them overpower us. People no longer go outside and smell the roses, for lack of a better phrase. We are all attached to our devices. We have to find that healthy divide between real life and virtual life. If we are so focused in these synthetic cultures, we will miss all of the amazing things the real world has to offer.  

Living With Virtual Worlds

Online worlds at one point in time were known as an escape from reality for the introverted and tech savvy youths that lowed for a connection. As we come to the end of 2013, it is evident that this is clearly no longer the case as popular virtual worlds such as Second Life and WoW have cultivated millions of members. What happened? How could this be?

With increasing amounts of technology being brought into our culture, a new generation has evolved. Divided attention between split screens has become somewhat of a norm and it seems as though people are more isolated than ever before. These are important societal trends to pay attention to because with all this over consumption of technology has created a competitive business place for marketers and strategic businesses looking to find ways in profiting from never-ending online behavior. In “Three Dimensions of iCulture”, Mark Andrejevic discusses interactive marketing as a strategic business function in efforts to keep track of consumer behavior. He discussed that whether your purchasing a shoe from Nike.com or engaging in some other online activity where there is a commerce system involved, there are marketers are observing and examining these behaviors. “Interactive marketing is, as one retail consultant put it, “a great way to insert the consumer into the process of product development.” (Andrejevic, p.25) So as there has been a substantial growth in both online worlds and communities, there has been a strong correlation with an increase in consumer spending online. Second life in particular has stapled its name as the largest virtual world that offers a place of trading and other sorts of transactions. Second life has offered its community a way to interact enabling users to be creative and engaging with one another. “The promise of interactivity is that viewers can be cultural producers as well as consumer—that, furthermore, their participatory consumption can be creative and fulfilling.” Thanks to the Internet and numerous cheap easy-to-use do-it-yourself computer programs becoming increasingly widespread (Andrejevic, p.27).

Personally, what I have found to be the most captivating about virtual worlds is the authenticity of each location. For example, when I visited the Titanic I was amazed to see that all of the avatars were following a formal dress code, and the boat was extremely large (like the real ship). Primarily it was the atmosphere itself, fancy attired avatars slow-dancing to romantic songs with beautiful scenery in the background. I felt ash though a part of  a special community. Later I danced at the front of the boat with another avatar and I felt as though I was Leo Dicaprio, or should I say “Jack Dawson” as my avatar slowly swaying side to side. In “The Business & Culture of Online Games”, Edward Castronova states that “Atmosphere is often critical to a worlds’ success; if it is going to make us happier, the world needs to convince us that its system of human and AI mentors and friends provides legitimate partners for our emotional investments. We need to be immersed in a fantasy lore to pull that off” (Castronova, p.4). Jokes aside, I genuinely enjoyed my experience there and with authentic environment such as the Titantic it is easy to understand why millions indulge on Second Life everyday. Overall, it is imperative to recognize the exponential growth that virtual worlds have made in the past few years and that as our culture becomes more engaged with technology, more businesses are going to compete and invest in marketing online.

Is Second Life really our second life?

It’s strange. Just like Castranova’s article states, “now that we have this technology, we have the ability to build societies under any physical conditions we wish (2005).” It’s an epiphany I’ve reached after my experiences in Second Life. I mean, I already knew you can really build and do anything you want in Second Life: build houses, an identity, a family, friends, societies, communities, anything! The extent to which this was possible was something I did not realize. You could really create your own culture or society within Second Life! The fact that this is possible in Second Life means that Second Life is the closest parallel to reality right? Of course not!

What I’ve realized from using Second Life is that the Internet itself has created its own separate world from reality where intangible things can be made tangible. With technology, we are able to project ourselves into a different world that could be all the same or all the different to our realities. I mean, even the online games we play and the forums we join are evidence of new identities and new communities being structured. We have the choice of whether or not we want to be the person we are in reality in the online world and we also have the choice to do whatever the Internet offers us to build societies, join communities, learn a new activity. And those choices allows us to essentially build the Internet just how we built our own societies in reality.

“The promise of interactivity is that viewers can be cultural producers as well as consumers (Andrejevic, 2012).” This is what users of the Internet crave because we love to create and build things that we can only imagine. And the Internet is the greatest canvas for that because there is so much interactivity and freedom. The fact that there is actually a Second Life game is redundant because our second life is the Internet itself. The Internet has manifested itself as another world next to our reality. Why do people marry in online games and form such strong relationships and tight-knit groups in the online world? That’s because it is just as real as doing those things in real life; there is still an emotional connection to people through a virtual platform just as much as the reality platform. In Andrejevic’s article, he talks about how commerce, culture, and politics are integrated into the Internet simply because we can create those things on our own.

Relationships, Connecting, and the Significance of the Internet

The online world is big network in which we can communicate easily across vast distances in real time. Many consider it to be one of the greatest tools of all time like the light bulb or refrigerator but the internet breaks away from those inventions. The internet has become this world we can live in through where we share and store information with audio, visuals, and emotions. It has become something so massive in the way we are able to immerse ourselves that it has become another world. This can be somewhat of a problem when it comes to real life relationships.

“If two people are supposed to be in a relationship but one spends much more time in a synthetic world than the other then there is a de facto distance” –  ( Castronova p 256)

The internet can connect people but at the same time disconnect.  I am an avid internet user, texter, gamer, I immerse myself in technology. I don’t always have time for it but I spread it out in small increments because I believe the internet has interesting ways for people to connect actively with other real people. However I do know people who religiously live within the internet and it creates rift in relationships they have. Someone hundreds of miles away can be more connected to me because of the internet although I may not have seen them for years versus a friend who lives a dorm room away and lives behind their device for weeks. You would think that with such close proximity there would be this greater connection between us but it is hard to communicate when the internet allows you to escape into any world you can have imagine in some ways a better world that is personalized. So this can create an issue. This great invention used to bring us together has also been used for people to escape from reality into a much more enjoyable place of their choosing. Although this isn’t great, this is real. Why can’t we connect well? For a long time internet was a part of our life just a tool but now it’s almost its own entity and we abused it for so long and relied on it that each other generation less and less people know how to truly interact with one another so the range of communication went from slim, wide, and now only individuals we care for with no one that is considered a scrap connection. This is significant because its real, it matters, and we need to manage it better before years from now it becomes the only form of connecting.

This video is of comedian Aziz Ansari telling a story about texting his friends and how troublesome it can be.

http://teamcoco.com/video/aziz-ansari-texting-dating

The Internet and Synthetic Worlds

The concept of online living for this weeks readings interested me in and of itself. Prior to this course I was familiar with online gaming but I never was an active gamer or cared to become one. After reading various articles assigned early in the course there is no doubt in my mind that there are users who do become completely immersed in the world of online communities but I can not see these worlds becoming so populated that it would impact the real world in any dramatic type of way. However, the two articles did make some interesting a though provoking points.

The Andrejevic article, Three Dimensions of Culture, discusses iCommerce, iCulture, iPolitics, and iMonitoring. Each of these concepts discusses the relationship between gathering information and the Internet, whether its for production, consumption, or feedback. Recently I was booking a trip to Las Vegas for Spring break. I was obviously doing a lot of research on flights and hotels, like a typical person would do before planning a trip. Over the next 24-48 hours of Internet use, I noticed I was being plagued with ads on Facebook, Google, and other various websites about Las Vegas deals and shows, etc. We all know this is not a coincidence. Nothing on the Internet is private and if companies and businesses want to find out the preferences and wants of their audiences, they are going to do it. The only thing that bothers me about this aspect of the Internet is not so much the bigger companies monitoring my online behavior, but that they can access this type information for free to essentially make their companies more money but when I want to access a free movie online it’s becomes a crime.

The Castranova article discusses a lot of the major reasons why online gaming and synthetic worlds will affect us and why we should care. I think the author makes some compelling arugments, but personally I don’t think synthic worlds will have such of a great impact on the real world in any amount of time. Within a synthetic world romance can be found, entire new worlds can be built, and money can be made, however I do not feel that online gaming is popular enough among individuals to create said impact. Even if things like “managing a complex organization” but being present in a synthetic world for enough time to see benefits requires a substantial time commitment and within the U.S. majority of the population is concerned with getting and education and getting a steady job. There is no time to sit for hours and hours of day and run around as an avatar. 

Another reason I have experienced with synthetic worlds that will prevent their popularization is the poor level of quality. When I go on Second Life the screen is so buggy and freezes all the time it is almost impossible to do anything but walk around. When we read that IBM article and how the incorporated SL into their organizational structure as a training tool, I could not understand how they were able to achieve anything because I have had the worst experiences with the platform in general. The only thing I can imagine is that they have some other type of SL system that has less bugs and runs more smoothly.

– Victoria Gingeleskie 

The Web- Is it as safe as we think?

Why should we care about the online world? What is it about the World Wide Web that makes us so drawn to it? Why is society so fixated around the concept of the Web today? Throughout this week’s readings, authors Adrejevic and Castranova attempt to answer these difficult questions in their own unique ways.

In the article “Three Dimensions of iCulture,” author Mark Andrejevic discusses the many different concepts revolving around the internet culture we all live in. The first of these concepts is known as iCommerce, in which companies like Nike and Proctor & Gamble use a sense of online “interactivity” in their advertisements. Such ads serve to promote a relationship between themselves and customers. However, Adrejevic also warns that allowing users the chance to interact with ads also helps companies like Nike the chance to gather data on their consumers’ preferences. Such a concept also relates to the second topic Adrejevic discusses- iCulture. iCulture delves deeper into this concept of audiences being used by company ads, in that interactive advertisements allow companies the chance to profit from the ideas of their customers. One of the last discussed subsections of iCulture is known as iMonitoring, which appears to be the most intrusive of the three. iMonitoring involves everyday online websites such as Facebook and Google, covertly recording information on our online activities without our apparent knowledge. All in all, Adrejevic’s article discusses how companies utilize interactive ads and online websites to exploit their customers’ trust, ideas, and privacy.

Inversely, Castranova’s “Synthetic Worlds” discusses the dangers of online worlds in particular, such as those created from video games like Second Life. Castranova notes that synthetic (online) worlds have been rapidly growing in popularity these past few years. Throughout a variety of examples, he summarizes his ultimate fear that synthetic worlds will soon become so popular that they will inadvertently intertwine and blur the line between the real world we exist in. That said, Castranova also notes the potential good such intertwining can do as well, namely in the field of education and research (allowing educators a virtual, limitless space to communicate and conduct experiments).

Upon reading both articles this week, I was a bit dumbfounded to discover just how frightening the World Wide Web can be. Society today has become so reliant on the Web that many of us fail to realize how it’s being used to exploit our thoughts, and reduce out sense of real-world personableness. Such dangerous impacts actually remind me of my days as a gamer in middle school, where I used to be obsessed with a virtual environment called Rumble Fighter. In the game, players explore a virtual landscape and battle each other of their free will. Throughout my two years playing the game however, I can confess to that I obtained quite a bit of cash-op, or Rumble Fighter currency, to enhance my abilities in the game. Rather than paying for said currency with real cash however, I instead obtained it through the use of online survey providers, who exchange things like cash-op if a user completes a variety of random corporate surveys based on opinion. Though at the time I had no idea why filling out surveys equated to cash, I now realize the cash-op trade was a ploy to learn more about me as a consumer. The gripping interactivity of online games like Rumble Fighter, paired with the consumer manipulating mindset of big name companies really tarnishes the concept of the World Wide Web we’ve come to know and love in today’s modern time.  

One of the many survey websites out there today that “pay” user’s to fill out surveys. Many websites like these collect a variety of consumer data on unsuspecting users.

 

Immersion: Older than Books Themselves

Technology has done wonders, especially in the last few years. However, many repercussions have been created because of advancements in technology. Zizek mentions many including misuse of information and deception. However, much good has come from the advancements being made. “The technology, even in the space of a few years, has kept coming up with eye-opening changes” (Castronova). 

Castronova talks about how much learning and what great educational purposes technology now allow. I do agree with this, that technology allows many others to gain knowledge than ever before. This can be said however, about many types of knowledge. There are the book facts which many are able to access, and then there are conspiracy theories, gossip, scandals, and so much more that people are gaining knowledge about because of technological exposure. “And all of this learning can happen at a distance, from any sport where the Internet is accessible” (Castronova). 

Where I disagree with Castronova is when he states “synthetic worlds are also methodologically superior teaching and training tools” (Castronova). If this sentence did not include the word ‘superior’ I’d be more inclined to agree with this statement. It is true that much learning and training comes synthetic worlds. One example is the stimulation worlds pilots use to train or the battle field stimulation that the army uses. However, though this training is important and key, it is not superior to other methods of training which enforce different elements. For instance, would a pilot be fully trained without actual air time? His time actually flying a plane would be a invaluable source of training, that maybe superior to his stimulation training. However, I think it comes down to the person and their learning methods at the end. 

Castronova states that “much of learning requires immersion and immersion is what virtual worlds do” (Castronova). I do agree that immersion is required to learn. However, anyone can immerse themselves in something. I can immerse myself in a book and still learn just as much. Immersion is a choice and a sign of commitment. Those who immerse themselves in virtual worlds do so by choice; the same immersion can be done in a different tool of learning. Immersion has been done for years by people into different things; virtual worlds are just another thing on the list of things that people have immersed themselves into. 

late posts

Week 7: Online Culture

This week readings are about a specific idea of different “online cultures”.  The Internet is a broad place and has a “spot” for everyone pretty much.  There are so many different types of online cultures and norms.  Regardless of your race, hobbies, culture, anything there is something for you to be a part of online.  In Boyd’s reading one topic that stuck out to me was the merge from MySpace to Facebook.  This part stood out to me the most because I agree with how it was called “ghetto”.  Boyd states, “The notion that MySpace may be understood as a digital ghetto introduces an analytic opportunity to explore the divisions between MySpace and Facebook…” (4) Obviously there was more to explore than just people saying “okay MySpace is ghetto I’m gonna move to Facebook” and that’s exactly what Boyd wants to accomplish.  In Sydell’s article she discuses a totally different culture of the Internet.  The online gaming world is a totally different ball game from the social media world.  I feel as if they have similar qualities in a sense of communicating via instant message or AIM, but other than that they are different.  They are two completely different concepts.  One is working towards a goal, completing levels, unlocking things and beating the game.  Another is just posting your life on line via statuses pictures and such.  Online gaming is just as much of a moneymaker as social media is.  In her article Sydell states, “Online computer games are an over-$300 million industry and growing. World of Warcraft, or WOW, is a massively multiplayer online game, or MMOG, that has more than four million registered users.”  Each culture online creates its own audience and users.  In my opinion all aspects of the Internet are popular, and your culture will reflect on what part of the Internet you most use. 

 

Week 8: Online Community

In my opinion the idea of an online community can be helpful and hurtful, it just depends on the situation.  There are many different kinds of online communities; there is a place for everyone.  I think that if you are in a positive environment online it is possible to form friendships and be beneficial to your life.  It can be used as a mean of support.  In Baym’s article, Communities and Networks, it is stated “Most online groups are not so tied to geographical space, yet people who are involved in online groups think of them as shared places.” (75) The people involved in these places all feel a sense of closeness to one another because they are sharing ideas and thoughts.  Possibly thoughts that they feel cannot be shared anywhere else.  To me, this is a helpful type of an online environment. You are creating a bond with others who have similar interests as you.  On the other hand, in McCabe’s article, Resisting Alienation, he confirms the idea of comfort by saying, “Individuals with eating disorders feel safe and comfortable in places where the outside world cannot intrude on their behaviors.”  (7) This is an unhealthy type of online environment because no body is reprimanding these people with these disorders.  They may realize that what they are doing is wrong but no one is stopping them, or helping them.  They are all in this group together for support from each other, because they are all doing the same thing and they all view themselves in the same way.  I feel as if this is extremely unhealthy because they are not gaining any help and will just continue to get worse. 

 As for online and offline communication I feel as if it depends on what kind of group they are in.  The eating disorder community I feel would be more comfortable stating their issues online because they are hiding behind a computer screen, they are not forced to discuss any issues in person with anyone.  With other communities it is possible for them to meet online and offline, depending on what kind of community.

 

Week 9: Virtual Ethnography

 If you plan on doing research on an online community you must first become familiar with the community.  I feel as if you have to have some knowledge about the community you are in before going there, this is how you will know what questions to ask that wont offend anyone and will be appropriate.  Once you gain enough basic knowledge about the community it will be much easier for you to develop more in depth questions that will help you further your research.  One tactic that Denise Carter used was asking the people in the community to fill out questionnaires.  Then she states, “In addition to the questionnaires I asked 22 of the inhabitants to write me short stories or monologues about their personal relationships in Cybercity, thus simulating an open-ended interview process.” (151) By asking these open ended questions this gave room to receive more answers and research, as opposed to a question that can only be answered with one word.  Once you continue to keep going back to the same community, this will build credibility and make the users trust you more, which will make it easier for you to receive more fulfilling answers.

WEEK 12: ROMANCE AND SEX

In class we have talked about online communities in Second Life and how for users this is not just a game, but another reality. This week’s readings talked about romance and sex online. In today’s society we still encounter and hear about racism, prejudices, gender stereotyping and homophobic slurs in regards to romance and gender. Therefore, it is not at all surprising to me that this intolerance and discrimination exists in Second life as well.

One would think that because users of Second Life have the ability to construct their own society, cultures, communities and social norms that they would not follow in the footsteps of our real world inequalities and issues. However, the following article  affirms  that gender discrimination, objectification, homophobia and racism are present in the online world of Second Life.

The Brookey and Cannon article explained that there is a lot of online play that objectifies women and discriminates against LGBT members. This article reminded me of real life interactions and prejudice regarding men/women, LGBT, and differences in general. The article says that in Second Life it is not uncommon for women to be objectified, LGBT to be marginalized and different races, like Furries, to be discriminated against. I personally have not spent enough time in the virtual world to notice everything that this article discussed, however, I did notice that when I was shopping for new clothes most of my options were provocative, revealing and scanty. The “Post 6 Grrls” that Brookey and Cannon talk about are overly sexualized and are selling themselves more than the little bit of clothing they are displaying. This was the first time I realized that Second Life is like the real world and the video game industry in which women are known to be objectified.

On a more positive note, Gross’ article is a reminder that the online world can be used to bring people together to form communities. Whereas the LGBT community might not feel comfortable outing themselves publicly, the Internet has provided multiple communities via chat rooms, games, sites, etc. where they can gather and interact online. Gross’ article explains that the Internet allows LGBT members to get information and gather as a community with a sense of privacy. For people who might feel more vulnerable to prejudices and don’t feel a sense of community in their real life, the Internet has provided a community and a sense of belonging for many LGBT members.

While Brookey and Cannon’s article shows that a virtual world can mirror the real word in regards to gender discrimination and prejudices, the Gross article gave light to the fact that the Internet has the ability and the reach to create communities that combat the social norms that exist offline.

 

 

*This is an example of the Post 6 Grrls. When I went shopping for my avatar many of my options for clothing looked exactly like what this avatar model is showing — skimpy outfits on a woman that is overly sexualized. This is similar to how magazines display models and how video games portray women.

love and romance in second life

Before this class I really had no knowledge of second life at all.  The only thing that I ever heard about it was from an episode of Law and Order.  After being in this class for almost an entire semester the one article I will never forget was when a man killed his second life wifes “affair” because he was so upset about it.  Even thought he was married and had a real family in real life.  The only time that I encountered anything sexual on second life was in the begining when I was creating my avatar.  I thought it was strange that you could purchase body parts for your avatar, then I realized why they allowed this.  I got the impression that sex was a big part of the virtual world but I personally did not interact with it on my field trips.  All of the other avatars that I interacted with seemed mostly to themselves.  Granted the places that I went to would not have been the time and place to act promiscuous

I think the virtual world is the easiest place for homosexuals to communicate because there is no room for judgement, and they know they can find their own “community” here in this world.  This leaves little to no room for judgement or harrassment becuase you are with others who are the same as you.  Unfortunately this is what some people must resort to because they are so uncomfortable and others are mean.  Even in Brookley’s article he states the same thing, “Unfortunately, this theoretical perspective does not account for those who use their agency to reproduce the traditional roles and norms found in real life.”  Some people are so uncomfortable being themselves in the real world that they turn to this virtual reality to feel a sense of comfort and to feel loved.