Final Project Link

For the purposes of fulfilling our final project requirements, I chose to research the subject of MMORPG addiction.  Attention was paid to its status with the American Psychological Association  and publicized incidents that brought the issue to the limelight.  Primarily, I analyzed the reasons behind this addiction, separated into internal and external factors, and the issue of responsibility is discussed, but is not a central focus of the paper.

I had originally intended to use Second Life as an additional example to the “typical MMO”, but eventually found it would essentially become a separate paper entirely, as Second Life’s format is rather unique.  Luckily, Second Life is being used in classes and discussed in papers more and more, so hopefully anyone interested in that can find a useful text.

Please use the link below to access my paper.  A Works Cited is included in the document.

dlfinalproject

Assigned Readings for August 5

A World of Witnesses

I found this article very interesting, as I never considered the possibility of using cellphones for such a varied number of topics. I knew certain aspects, since community / amateur journalism is a big move on a lot of news websites right now, but I was unaware of their uses in political elections, terrorist activity and health workers. All of this was informative and helpful to me, in the sense that it gave me a greater understanding of our technology and its uses.

I also found a comment on the article extremely interesting; a reader brought up the possibility of a ‘little sister’ rather than a ‘big brother’, and I think that its a fairly unique concept (and a good pun). It is enticing, the idea that greater surveillance technology could be used by ordinary citizens to combat civil rights violations and illegal activity, rather than such technology being used to subjugate and control those citizens. At the same time, the sensors in mobile phones are more powerful and wide-ranged than I expected, and I’m not sure I am comfortable with all of that.

Questions:
1. Consider the use of cellphones in the recent film “The Dark Knight”, as well as the wiretapping scandals with telecommunication companies and the federal government. Given the double-edged nature of powerful technology that is always with us and always on, does the knowledge that cellphones are capable of much more than simple calls cause you any concern?
2. Do you expect this kind of citizen participation will have impact on security forces, law enforcement or surveillance / alarms?
3. Do you expect this kind of citizen participation will have an impact on crime?

The Daily Me

I thought this article brought up a good point, even though I was already aware of how much control we now have over what we receive from the media. I have always considered this a positive thing, that I can now have access to a wide variety of different views on things like politics, philosophy and sociology, that I can be exposed to perspectives from across the globe, and even that I could spend all day watching sports or funny animal videos if I am so inclined. Essentially, we have more power than ever before, even the power to remove the source of income from television stations (advertisements).

This article presents the possibility of a negative though, and I was blind to never consider this inevitability. Rather than exposing themselves to different perspectives and new ideas, people are fully capable of removing all dissenting opinion and all uncomfortable information from their life. This makes them happier, I would imagine, but the end result is a culture full of myopic egotists living in their own tiny worlds. It may make people happier on an individual level, but it keeps things exactly that; individual. I question whether such a decision could ever be a step forward for humanity or human society.

Questions:
1. Do you think it is possible that advances in technology could actually distance us from other people, and create the opposite of a ‘global community’?
2. Do you use technology to gain access to views you’ve never known, to focus on information you already agree with, or a bit of both?

Web of Activism

I already knew about viral marketing, but this article brought my attention to the kind of sneaky advertising that imitates grassroots movements. I knew such things existed, obviously, but I did not realize it was so lucrative for professional companies to imitate amateur efforts. The irony there is spectacular.

I was sad that no attention was given to more overt and yet more interesting viral marketing schemes. Two from 42 Entertainment are the first to come to mind:  ILoveBees.com a website that was launched to promote Halo 2, and their Dark Knight alternate reality game to promote the release of The Dark Knight. They were essentially puzzles and riddles that required extensive user participation before revealing exactly what was being advertised. Both managed to keep visitors extremely interested in what was essentially a convoluted and overcomplicated marketing scheme, and there is little more that advertisers (or advertisees) could ask.

Questions:
1. Do you think that viral marketing is dishonest? Is there a way to regulate it, if so?

Why Democrats Rule the Web

I knew about Obama’s clear lead in terms of his utilization of new technology and reaching the youth through online content, as well as McCain’s difficulty with it. I also wonder how well the current campaign truly reflects an overall trend, as I know that McCain as an individual has stated he is not very tech-savvy. It is important to realize that he fully admits that he knows very little about computers and online interaction, which means his campaign is not going to be focused very hard in that direction. I’m not surprised that plans to change this were underway, nor that those plans failed. His wife, for example, uses a blackberry constantly, but he knows very little about what they can do. I feel that the article did not really answer the question of WHY they rule the web, but rather HOW. It explained what they have done to gain such a big lead, but not why it happened.
Questions:
1. Do you think there is a greater democratic presence online than there is a republican presence, or is this largely about the current election?
2. What steps should the Republican party take to close this gap?