Hello everyone!
Today is going to be my final post on this blog...
Monday,we uploaded with Mette the last pictures that were missing on our pages while Leda and Khristina were trying to set up a conclusion. By the end of the class, as a group, we made a list of what was missing or had to be added/formated on the WIki page. On thursday, after handing in our essays, I met Mette in the university library and we went throught the entire Virtual4 wiki project together. We added the missing pictures in the bibliography, some links and most important of all, we wrote the conclusion.
I remember our group had a pretty slow start as we couldn't decide on an exact topic for our project. The Internet is now part of our daily life; it is part of a large picture, therefore it was difficult to focus on a specific subject that without digressing into too many areas. After consideration, our group agreed to mainly focus on a particular social networking site (Facebook) and how it relates to the idea of "community" and "identity". Each week, after doing more reading and research, new ideas popped up in the group and were added.
Regarding the actual design of the project - I first didn't like the "look" of our Wiki at all... I found it too simplistic in terms of design compared to last year's projects Nigel showed us in class. Now, after adding pictures/links/boxes, I am really satisfied with the look and content. This feeling of satisfaction appeared last week, when we realized that adding simply a table or picture on a page could significantly change the esthetical aspect of it. Small changes made incredible differences.
In terms of group work, as I wrote in my previous post, it was a good experience in terms of working with people you don't really now. Except with Mette, I never worked with Leda and Khristina and despite some general misunderstandings at some point of the project, we really tried to produce a piece of work reflecting everyone's points of view and research. I think we handled our differences pretty well and used them to see issues in our subject from various view points.
It was interesting to see how theorists such as Howard Rheingold that we explored in this module, have also been studies in our thursday class with Chris Sam. Both classes helped me get a better understanding of modern online communities. I was writing an essay about Cyberpunk literature and how themes strongly embedded in that literary current - such as Utopia/Dystopia; community; technology disrupting the social order of things - could be related to our contemporary society. Because of the Internet's greater accessibility and use, one may argue if an online community such as Second Life is not a modern human constructed Utopia? We have seen in our group project that new technologies are disturbing our traditional/face-to-face communication. With a group of young people such as the Fluokids (first postings), who cannot spend a single minute without checking their emails/blogs or MySpace profiles, one might wonder if they are not living two parallel lives. Is Second Life really a Utopia as one can entirely reconstruct its physical appearance and personality? Is it a mean of escape from reality? Can one have a Second life account and not isolate himself from the "real world"? Is the Internet creating a new space parallel to our "real"/traditional world? All these questions are part of debate emerging from today's developments in communication and information technologies.
I just reread chronologically my postings and I am really surprised by the length (but also the content) of each of them. I first wrote short sentences/paragraphs and progressively it became much longer, personal and reflective. When we first started blogging - or as soon as we set up the blog in class!!! - it was for me the scariest process in the world!
Now, to be honest, I would love to set up a personal blog besides by Facebook account. Why? I think a non academic blog is much personal then an account on a social networking site. It is also much easier to set up and post pictures and videos! I remember when my best friend in Paris set up a personal blog during her two months world trip with her father. I though it was great! as I could follow her journey online with loads of pictures, comments, and personal reflections on what she is seeing around. She travelled to India straight after Japan and found it really hard to cope with the reality on the poverty around her. This blog gave her the opportunity to express her deepest emotions - and later she told me - to "survive" to the changes she was experimenting during her short world trip.
I think for me, this blog gave me the possibility to dig deeper in the subject as it was not only about our Wiki project, but also about general issues raised in class in relation to terms such as "community", "identity" or "groups", etc. One of the reasons why I would consider keeping a blog in the future it that it permits to be critical/reflective of yourself and obtain a broader picture of a subject you are analyzing.
Sunday 9 December 2007
Sunday 2 December 2007
Week 8 - finalizing the group project... and reflection
Problems with the Wiki
Monday, as agreed, Mette and I started putting all the written work on the group wiki page while Leda and Khristina were looking for additional videos and pictures we could add. Since the beginning of the project, Mette has been the one taking care of our wiki page so we agreed that I would help her. We experimented quite a lot of problems when editing our wiki pages and therefore it took us longer then we though to put the work up. Even if we are working on wiki and not building up our own Html page, formating the text and posting links was not as easy as it seemed to be. For example, some parts of the text appeared underlined or in another color when copy/pasted from the word document and then were really difficult to change on the wiki. We are putting a lot of effort in the presentation of our project but we worry a bit about the grading. Other groups seem to be using Html for their pages and therefore their group project can seem to be esthetically more appealing and sophisticated then ours.
Unfortunately, Mette and I had to leave earlier to talk to the second year students about our work placement reports. Before leaving, we agreed with Leda and Khristina that they were going to upload some pictures/videos on the Wiki and start assembling the key points of our introduction/conclusion for the remaining half an hour of the class.
Reflection….
Since the beginning of our group work, the main issue that caused tension within the group was the referencing - and it has been quickly solved.
This week, personally, I felt really disappointed by the miscommunication and misunderstandings regarding the work that had to be done for the following lesson. It was the first time that I felt so much nervousness within the group.
Last week, we all sat down and went through our entire written work to see what was missing/what could be added and everyone was appointed particular tasks. I had to do some changes in the Virtual Communities document and send it off to the members who then had to do some changes themselves. I know that everyone has its own issues, preoccupations, jobs, other assignments to do, etc. - so I understand if one week a member is not able to do something but it is important to inform the group if you do so. There is a solution to everything...
To be honest, this term has been very hectic for me in terms of work and time management. I am really stressed and exhausted – like the rest of the class I think! – As we had quite a lot of written work to do for other classes throughout the term. I have also started doing my research for my dissertation and I have to finish before the end of the term my applications for postgraduate studies. I am really pressured by time by the Universities because you have to apply early in order to be even considered!
Favorite part of the project… J
My favorite part of the project - or the part I most enjoyed contributing to - was when I interviewed with Mette the students outside of the university. I have always liked journalism and I have been practicing my interviewing skills through other practical courses during this degree (Radio, TV Production, Cultural Criticism, etc.). I am really happy that we had the opportunity to add the students' opinions as they bring an interesting contrast in our project to the theoretical perspectives coined by theorists such as Rheingold, Castells, Anderson or Calhoun. I think the practical courses of this degree helped me to map out my career goals and find out more which areas of media and cultural studies I enjoyed the most. I know I am supposed to reflect on this Multimedia Project Module, but I though it might be interesting to see how it participated (with the other courses) to my personal development.
Throughout the project, my role was mainly to do online research and chose some study cases we could focus on. I really liked doing research on the Internet reminded me of my last year’s work placement when I was working as a Trends researcher for about 5 months and had to search the web (blogs, online magazines, etc.) for emerging consumer trends. The only part of the project that I found a bit boring was the editing. As I said in my previous posts, we had problems with referencing and with the “harmonization” of the written work. I spend a lot of time rereading and rewriting some parts of the project. We also had numerous quotes in some sections of our project, so it was important to rewrite in our own words some of the theories found in books.
Remember – TIME MANAGEMENT and communication…!
I have learned this term and from this course is the importance of time management. I am happy that we divided work between each other every week and then edited it before planning further research. I found the emailing within the group very productive and less complicated then working directly on the Wiki. Despite last week’s tensions, I hope this group work is going to end on a positive tone. Group work is important in terms of developing communication skills and show your capacity to interact and adapt to each other within the group. You have to be careful with the words you use when commenting on other people’s work to that it does not appear patronising, intimidating, too critical, rude etc.
When looking at the overall outcome of the project, I think we managed our differences quite well. It was the first time I was working with Leda and Khristina (I have already been doing projects with Mette) and despite some miscommunication, the problems were quickly solved!
Next Monday: 3rd of December!
Next Monday’s class (last session already!) is going to give us the opportunity to finalize our project. Everyone in the group has agreed to map out main points for the general introduction/conclusion (we already started a list of what we wanted to include) that we are going to write all together Monday morning. We are planning to work on the project the whole day as a group.
Well girls, if you read my blog, this is the last week before the end of the term… so “courage” as we say in French – we are going to be fine! J
Monday 26 November 2007
Good picture we could put on the page with the student interviews.
http://www.weblogcartoons.com/cartoons/facebook.gif
Monday 19 November 2007
Week 7!
Since Wednesday, Mette and myself have done the "student survey" at LCC. We asked students outside of university about what they thought a "Virtual Community" was . Most of the students seemed to be very confused by the word "virtual" and were much more responsive when we changed it to "Online Communities". As soon as we mentioned "Online Communitites", students asked: "Oh, ok, do you mean MySpace or Facebook?". It was interesting to see that students associated "online communities" only to these social networking websites. Most of them had an account but not all of them used it. We are in a University in which communication, networking and exhibition of your work is very important in order to find a pathway in the media industry. Because of this, I was really surprised that not everyone was keen to use these websites. Personally I have Facebook and I find MySpace too complicated. I think MySpace is more about listening to music/watching videos/finding out about vnues or concerts and maybe talking to people you have never met, whereas Facebook seems to me more private... On Facebook, I have created a Media and Cultural studies group for our class which permits me to send messages to the members regarding issues about the course (as I am the Course representative of the class). The problem is that not everyone in the class is on Facebook, therefore I have to email people as well... but I still get quicker responses from my Facebook messages then from emails. People seem to be checking their Facebook profiles more often then emails!
After all these issues, it is difficult to come to a general agreement around the use of social networking sites...!
Since the meeting, we have been communicating with members of the group via emails and have been progressing in our work without having to meet each other outside of classes. With Khristina, we emailed our work and received prompt responses from Mette and Leda. As soon as changes were made, the documents were e-mailed to each of us. Everyone seemed to be really stressed out regarding the project but progressively it was coming into existence. In my opinion, the aim of our project is now clearly defined with specific study cases.
Having been editing the documents, I now think it is important not to add information but to "harmonize" our already written work. On monday, we are going to put all our information on our group wiki and make it as interactive and interesting as we can. Because it is an online project, we have the chance to add different media such as pictures, links or videos. We have clearly defined sections with bullet points and are trying to avoid having just a big written paragraph (not very attractive to read).
It was difficult not to write too much, cut down on theorists quotes, make the project more personal and not to simplify the different theories. At the beginning of the project, we asked ourselves a number of questions (in the introduction of the project and then in the different sections) that we were surprised to find answers to most of them.
TO ADD TO OUR WIKI
Dangers of Facebook on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMWz3G_gPhU
How online community websites such as MySpace or Facebook are used by theifs to hack in for example bank accounts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYz6Q_q2UQA&feature=related
Have a read again:
http://webcommunityforum.com/
REFLECTION ON BLOGGING
There are only two weeks left and I am surprised how my attitude towards blogging has changed. I remember being very scared to write my personal reflections regarding the project/class discussions/questions because I felt too "exposed" as anyone could read it. progressively I started writing more and more as it helped me to keep track of the work I was doing. I also received feedback from Nigel :-)
Next week - monday hopefully- we are going to finalize our project and ask Nigel for quick feedback if it is possible. The written work is now ready- we have to work on the presentation now and link all our work together.
After all these issues, it is difficult to come to a general agreement around the use of social networking sites...!
Since the meeting, we have been communicating with members of the group via emails and have been progressing in our work without having to meet each other outside of classes. With Khristina, we emailed our work and received prompt responses from Mette and Leda. As soon as changes were made, the documents were e-mailed to each of us. Everyone seemed to be really stressed out regarding the project but progressively it was coming into existence. In my opinion, the aim of our project is now clearly defined with specific study cases.
Having been editing the documents, I now think it is important not to add information but to "harmonize" our already written work. On monday, we are going to put all our information on our group wiki and make it as interactive and interesting as we can. Because it is an online project, we have the chance to add different media such as pictures, links or videos. We have clearly defined sections with bullet points and are trying to avoid having just a big written paragraph (not very attractive to read).
It was difficult not to write too much, cut down on theorists quotes, make the project more personal and not to simplify the different theories. At the beginning of the project, we asked ourselves a number of questions (in the introduction of the project and then in the different sections) that we were surprised to find answers to most of them.
TO ADD TO OUR WIKI
Dangers of Facebook on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMWz3G_gPhU
How online community websites such as MySpace or Facebook are used by theifs to hack in for example bank accounts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYz6Q_q2UQA&feature=related
Have a read again:
http://webcommunityforum.com/
REFLECTION ON BLOGGING
There are only two weeks left and I am surprised how my attitude towards blogging has changed. I remember being very scared to write my personal reflections regarding the project/class discussions/questions because I felt too "exposed" as anyone could read it. progressively I started writing more and more as it helped me to keep track of the work I was doing. I also received feedback from Nigel :-)
Next week - monday hopefully- we are going to finalize our project and ask Nigel for quick feedback if it is possible. The written work is now ready- we have to work on the presentation now and link all our work together.
Wednesday 14 November 2007
Wednesday 14th November: group meeting...
Today, as agreed, I was supposed to meet Khristina and Mette in the library in order to work on our group project. Leda told us she couldn't come as she was moving houses so she send us a document on "Online identities". Mette told us at the last minute that she couldn't come as well as she was feeling really ill but that she would do some work at home. She asked us to email her our work and tell her what she could add/do to make the project progress.
Regarding the work done on Wednesday... I went through the written work that has already been done and also added some of my own research. There was a lot of editing to do as everyone writes in different styles. I made my best to
-harmonize the work (grammar, sentence structure...),
-make it visually appealing (bullet points, paragraphs, titles...)
-clarify our different points (introduction, questioning, different theories...)
-rewrite the introduction
The main problem I encountered was with Leda'a work as she did not reference her sources. In her document, she put only the year of the book she took the quotes out without puting the page numbers. In some cases, other details were missing. I think it is really important to reference correctly so I send her an email asking her to go through her references and add the missing information.
By reading all other people's work, I realized people had entirely different styles of writing and that it was important (for each person in the group) to go through each others work in order to bring a new perspective on it.
Regarding the work done on Wednesday... I went through the written work that has already been done and also added some of my own research. There was a lot of editing to do as everyone writes in different styles. I made my best to
-harmonize the work (grammar, sentence structure...),
-make it visually appealing (bullet points, paragraphs, titles...)
-clarify our different points (introduction, questioning, different theories...)
-rewrite the introduction
The main problem I encountered was with Leda'a work as she did not reference her sources. In her document, she put only the year of the book she took the quotes out without puting the page numbers. In some cases, other details were missing. I think it is really important to reference correctly so I send her an email asking her to go through her references and add the missing information.
By reading all other people's work, I realized people had entirely different styles of writing and that it was important (for each person in the group) to go through each others work in order to bring a new perspective on it.
Monday 12 November 2007
Week 6
It is already week 6! time passes by so quickly!
Roles in the group are pretty defined by now: Mette and Leda did theory research, Mette has also been updating our wiki page, whereas Khristina and myself have been looking online for links, images, videos, ... (in other words, specific examples of virtual communities).
Today we discuss in the group things we could add/change in our wiki page.
So far, we all agree that it needs to be more interactive. We also want to make our research easier to read by playing with the layout: bullet points, subtitles...
We also had the opportunity today to look at last year's projects - that looked really impressing by the way! We saw concrete written work and some realized that it was not as academic as they thought it should be. I think it helped the class to have a better understanding on the outcome of the project.
Roles in the group are pretty defined by now: Mette and Leda did theory research, Mette has also been updating our wiki page, whereas Khristina and myself have been looking online for links, images, videos, ... (in other words, specific examples of virtual communities).
Today we discuss in the group things we could add/change in our wiki page.
So far, we all agree that it needs to be more interactive. We also want to make our research easier to read by playing with the layout: bullet points, subtitles...
We also had the opportunity today to look at last year's projects - that looked really impressing by the way! We saw concrete written work and some realized that it was not as academic as they thought it should be. I think it helped the class to have a better understanding on the outcome of the project.
Sunday 11 November 2007
Reflections and work done this week...
WEBSITES
I found it really hard this week to find a "bad" and a "good" website.
In my opinion, instead of looking at a poorly designed website (easy to find when you use Google), I started thinking about websites that I personally had difficulties with when I was navigating online. I have been to both of these restaurants and I have never been so disappointed by a restaurant's website like with Sketch.
WORK DONE.. PLANS... EVOLUTION OF MY PERSONAL FEELING REGARDING THE BLOG..
Following last week's session, we decided to include, after the theoretical definitions of "Virtual communities" a list of definitions from students from LCC (not from Media and Cultural studies) that I had to interview last week.
Unfortunately, (and I apologize to the group), I was not able to interview the students last week as I was focusing on a seminar that I was presenting.
Despite not being able to conduct the interviews, I read through Leda and Mette's work and noted some changes that could be made.
I also continued my research on the existence of different "groups" within a "virtual community". This expression can be contested of course as there is certain confusion between the terms "group" and "community".
What do we mean by "community"? - Does that involve more personal investment then if you are part of a group?
In my opinion, a community is a group, BUT a group is not necessarily a community.
For example, our class is a group, but except our studies, there is no particular specific criterion that keeps us "united”.
I am happy that this project is finally taking a shape and I am looking forward for Wednesday when we are going to put all the information as a group together. I have started lately to enjoy the idea/concept of blogging! Really! I was feeling so uncomfortable at the beginning because a personal reflection -for me- was "personal"! Not to be posted online for everyone to see.
My view has completely changed as now this blog helps me to keep track of my work and post information for my group. I hope I am not repeating myself - but it is something I think about whenever I am writing on my blog. I observed in the group that I was not the only one who's feeling regarding the blog evolved throughout the weeks.
Only slight disappointment: I do not receive a lot of comments!
I found it really hard this week to find a "bad" and a "good" website.
In my opinion, instead of looking at a poorly designed website (easy to find when you use Google), I started thinking about websites that I personally had difficulties with when I was navigating online. I have been to both of these restaurants and I have never been so disappointed by a restaurant's website like with Sketch.
WORK DONE.. PLANS... EVOLUTION OF MY PERSONAL FEELING REGARDING THE BLOG..
Following last week's session, we decided to include, after the theoretical definitions of "Virtual communities" a list of definitions from students from LCC (not from Media and Cultural studies) that I had to interview last week.
Unfortunately, (and I apologize to the group), I was not able to interview the students last week as I was focusing on a seminar that I was presenting.
Despite not being able to conduct the interviews, I read through Leda and Mette's work and noted some changes that could be made.
I also continued my research on the existence of different "groups" within a "virtual community". This expression can be contested of course as there is certain confusion between the terms "group" and "community".
What do we mean by "community"? - Does that involve more personal investment then if you are part of a group?
In my opinion, a community is a group, BUT a group is not necessarily a community.
For example, our class is a group, but except our studies, there is no particular specific criterion that keeps us "united”.
I am happy that this project is finally taking a shape and I am looking forward for Wednesday when we are going to put all the information as a group together. I have started lately to enjoy the idea/concept of blogging! Really! I was feeling so uncomfortable at the beginning because a personal reflection -for me- was "personal"! Not to be posted online for everyone to see.
My view has completely changed as now this blog helps me to keep track of my work and post information for my group. I hope I am not repeating myself - but it is something I think about whenever I am writing on my blog. I observed in the group that I was not the only one who's feeling regarding the blog evolved throughout the weeks.
Only slight disappointment: I do not receive a lot of comments!
"Good" and "Bad" websites: 2 examples
In order to decide what a "good" and a "bad" website is, it is important to set certain criteria.
- Design
- Ease of navigation
- Accessibility to information
- Representation of the "brand"
I chose to compare websites of two "fashionable" restaurants: the "Kong" in Paris and "Sketch" in London. Both restaurants have a good reputation and are seen as more "innovative" places in terms of decoration, food fusion, and events.
At first glance, both websites seen to present similar criteria:
Nice interactive design, music, originality that correspond to the restaurants' "branding".
For me, Sketch's website is too difficult to navigate on. When you click on a certain section, it is very difficult to come back to the main menu. In order to find specific information, you have to explore the different links of the site - the information is not immediate. In my opinion, you can have an original and interactive website like the Kong without using pop ups.
I personally feel a bit lost on Sketch's website as whenever you click on something, it opens new windows. If you close a window, you go back to the intro of the website (AGAIN you hear the same music and wait for the loading of the information).
"Bad website":
http://www.sketch.uk.com/
* It is a restaurant with French owners and you cannot even change the language (only in English)
* Poor navigation:
- It is hard to go back to the main menu
- New windows keep opening up (you loose the track of where you are)
- Frustrating
* Not lack of information but difficulty to find information
* It takes too much time to get accustomed to the website's navigation
"Good website":
http://www.kong.fr/
* Clear, straightforward information
* Nice design
* Can be viewed in French or in English
* Easy access to different sections of the website
For both restaurants it is important to build a strong image and have a good website representing their values/quality/brand online. Often, you can judge a restaurant by the quality, design and services of their website. You can see whether or not it is fashionable/hype and if the food in itself is good (online menu, presentation of the chef, photo gallery, online reservations and so on).
For Sketch, I think the website is "overdone" and therefore difficult to navigate on.
- Design
- Ease of navigation
- Accessibility to information
- Representation of the "brand"
I chose to compare websites of two "fashionable" restaurants: the "Kong" in Paris and "Sketch" in London. Both restaurants have a good reputation and are seen as more "innovative" places in terms of decoration, food fusion, and events.
At first glance, both websites seen to present similar criteria:
Nice interactive design, music, originality that correspond to the restaurants' "branding".
For me, Sketch's website is too difficult to navigate on. When you click on a certain section, it is very difficult to come back to the main menu. In order to find specific information, you have to explore the different links of the site - the information is not immediate. In my opinion, you can have an original and interactive website like the Kong without using pop ups.
I personally feel a bit lost on Sketch's website as whenever you click on something, it opens new windows. If you close a window, you go back to the intro of the website (AGAIN you hear the same music and wait for the loading of the information).
"Bad website":
http://www.sketch.uk.com/
* It is a restaurant with French owners and you cannot even change the language (only in English)
* Poor navigation:
- It is hard to go back to the main menu
- New windows keep opening up (you loose the track of where you are)
- Frustrating
* Not lack of information but difficulty to find information
* It takes too much time to get accustomed to the website's navigation
"Good website":
http://www.kong.fr/
* Clear, straightforward information
* Nice design
* Can be viewed in French or in English
* Easy access to different sections of the website
For both restaurants it is important to build a strong image and have a good website representing their values/quality/brand online. Often, you can judge a restaurant by the quality, design and services of their website. You can see whether or not it is fashionable/hype and if the food in itself is good (online menu, presentation of the chef, photo gallery, online reservations and so on).
For Sketch, I think the website is "overdone" and therefore difficult to navigate on.
Monday 5 November 2007
Week 5 - Reflection, research, the group project is coming together...
Links regarding Facebook and communities within Facebook:
http://webcommunityforum.com/
==> very interesting article about a company having Facebook fridays to encourage networking.
http://elgg.net/csessums/weblog/9412.html
Plans:
As a group we are meeting next week and we are going to put all the information we have together in a coherent way. We are going to structure our information and see what is missing/could be added or delete it.
Outline of the project:
Online communities = definitions, questionnaire
Communities/Groups - what is the difference?
- is a community a group but a group is not necessarily a community?
Question of identity
Conclusion
http://webcommunityforum.com/
==> very interesting article about a company having Facebook fridays to encourage networking.
http://elgg.net/csessums/weblog/9412.html
Plans:
As a group we are meeting next week and we are going to put all the information we have together in a coherent way. We are going to structure our information and see what is missing/could be added or delete it.
Outline of the project:
Online communities = definitions, questionnaire
Communities/Groups - what is the difference?
- is a community a group but a group is not necessarily a community?
Question of identity
Conclusion
Week 4
Last week I was absent as I had to go back home due to family matters. I warned my group in advance and we decided upon which research I was going to undertake. The class wiki permitted me to stay up to date to what has been covered in class and to do all the reading.
Reading Jean Lave's and Etienne Wenger's concerning "Communities of Practice" made me think about several issues. In my opinion, it is through interaction tat we become "street smart" and not only "book smart". It is important to be aware of the people around us not only because they bring us new knowledge/perspectives, but also because we are all part of a community in which we have to grow/learn/interact/live/work...
Is it possible to have that same sense of community online? Common interests bound groups together but is face-to-face interaction more enriching (socially/intellectually). Can online interaction be part of the educational process?
My research:
I continue doing research on different online communities.
I tried to use the online database (Jstor) to find some articles but my passwords did not work so I have to ask the IT person in the library for help.
Our project:
It starts to have a certain format (introduction, body, conclusion)
We are starting to build it up.
Reading Jean Lave's and Etienne Wenger's concerning "Communities of Practice" made me think about several issues. In my opinion, it is through interaction tat we become "street smart" and not only "book smart". It is important to be aware of the people around us not only because they bring us new knowledge/perspectives, but also because we are all part of a community in which we have to grow/learn/interact/live/work...
Is it possible to have that same sense of community online? Common interests bound groups together but is face-to-face interaction more enriching (socially/intellectually). Can online interaction be part of the educational process?
My research:
I continue doing research on different online communities.
I tried to use the online database (Jstor) to find some articles but my passwords did not work so I have to ask the IT person in the library for help.
Our project:
It starts to have a certain format (introduction, body, conclusion)
We are starting to build it up.
Wednesday 24 October 2007
Week 3
QUESTIONS THAT ROSE FROM MONDAY'S LECTURE
The idea of “giving something for nothing”.⇒ we use hotmail, google, MySpace for free for ex. What do they get in return?
Is a virtual meeting less dangerous then a real/face to face meeting?
What do virtual communities bring to users? (Make friends? Create yourself an entire new personality? Business opportunities?…)
Second Life: what does it bring to people? Commercial tool? Does being/spending time on Second Life cuts you out of the reality? After spending so much time online/chatting “virtually”, can you still interact with people in person, or is it too intimidating?
Second Life could be something we could explore in more detail in our group project.
REFLECTIONS
I realised this week that I was getting more secure with the idea of reflecting on this blog. It gives me the opportunity to organize myself in term of work/time/research. It allows me to see my progress (but also the group’s progress) throughout the weeks. We went from one idea (focusing on the Fluokids) and ended up with completely different plans.
We realised this week that it would be difficult for us to focus on the “Fluokids”. The main problem with this emerging youth group is that there is not much information online, especially in English. Their main blog is in French and I am the only one speaking French in the group. Also, most of the information provided is about their upcoming parties and not about the history/creation of the group.
We decided to construct our project in the following way:
Have a core structure based on theories (definition of online communities/ idea of nationalism/shared identity within a group; then introduce different examples supporting these various statements.
Should we include a debate maybe?
Are we going to find “black and white” information or is it all going to be biased?
What do online communities involve? Economy/advertising/manipulation of big companies?
Mette is going to make some research in Benedict Anderson’s book; “Imagined Communities” that she already knows.
MY MAIN CONCERNS FOR FUTURE WORK/REASEARCH
Find reliable sources.
Focus our project on the “Online Communities” = not to overlap (too much) with the theme of “Identity”.
RESEARCH FOR THIS WEEK:
We tried to map out an approximate outline of our group project. According to the outline, we divided research among ourselves:
Mette is going to put on our group wiki a first approximative outline of our project.
All members of the group have different areas they have to research on.
I have to:
Look at online journals regarding “online/Virtual communities” through Lexis-Nexis (University’s online database)
Research about:
Second Life – very visual/ “virtual”
MySpace – more creative
Facebook – basic graphics
Moodle
Elgg
Other interesting online communities
The idea of “giving something for nothing”.⇒ we use hotmail, google, MySpace for free for ex. What do they get in return?
Is a virtual meeting less dangerous then a real/face to face meeting?
What do virtual communities bring to users? (Make friends? Create yourself an entire new personality? Business opportunities?…)
Second Life: what does it bring to people? Commercial tool? Does being/spending time on Second Life cuts you out of the reality? After spending so much time online/chatting “virtually”, can you still interact with people in person, or is it too intimidating?
Second Life could be something we could explore in more detail in our group project.
REFLECTIONS
I realised this week that I was getting more secure with the idea of reflecting on this blog. It gives me the opportunity to organize myself in term of work/time/research. It allows me to see my progress (but also the group’s progress) throughout the weeks. We went from one idea (focusing on the Fluokids) and ended up with completely different plans.
We realised this week that it would be difficult for us to focus on the “Fluokids”. The main problem with this emerging youth group is that there is not much information online, especially in English. Their main blog is in French and I am the only one speaking French in the group. Also, most of the information provided is about their upcoming parties and not about the history/creation of the group.
We decided to construct our project in the following way:
Have a core structure based on theories (definition of online communities/ idea of nationalism/shared identity within a group; then introduce different examples supporting these various statements.
Should we include a debate maybe?
Are we going to find “black and white” information or is it all going to be biased?
What do online communities involve? Economy/advertising/manipulation of big companies?
Mette is going to make some research in Benedict Anderson’s book; “Imagined Communities” that she already knows.
MY MAIN CONCERNS FOR FUTURE WORK/REASEARCH
Find reliable sources.
Focus our project on the “Online Communities” = not to overlap (too much) with the theme of “Identity”.
RESEARCH FOR THIS WEEK:
We tried to map out an approximate outline of our group project. According to the outline, we divided research among ourselves:
Mette is going to put on our group wiki a first approximative outline of our project.
All members of the group have different areas they have to research on.
I have to:
Look at online journals regarding “online/Virtual communities” through Lexis-Nexis (University’s online database)
Research about:
Second Life – very visual/ “virtual”
MySpace – more creative
Facebook – basic graphics
Moodle
Elgg
Other interesting online communities
Thursday 18 October 2007
Generating ideas...
Fluokids
I read loads of articles about this group in Paris and thought it would be interesting to have a quick look at what they do:
http://www.dazeddigital.com/projects/digital50/article.aspx?a=539
http://www.fluokids.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/fluokids
it is a whole new generation of young kids who cannot spend a minute without having constant access to Internet/MySpace/ Emails... they created a "party community" which communicates online and meets in different Clubs around the world to party!
I read loads of articles about this group in Paris and thought it would be interesting to have a quick look at what they do:
http://www.dazeddigital.com/projects/digital50/article.aspx?a=539
http://www.fluokids.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/fluokids
it is a whole new generation of young kids who cannot spend a minute without having constant access to Internet/MySpace/ Emails... they created a "party community" which communicates online and meets in different Clubs around the world to party!
Week 2: preparation/organization of the group project
Monday: we had the first meeting in our group regarding the group project. For the moment, no specific roles have been attributed to the members of the group except for Mette who is going to take care if the site/product design. We want to wait a little bit until we have a more precise idea of what we are going to focus on in the "Virtual Communities" theme.
We started our communal Wiki page and agreed to name our group "Virtual4". For the moment, the group seems to agree/compromise on different decisions. I hope this project is going to be the result of real group work in which we can count on each other in terms of advice/help/support/information finding. It may sound strange that I stress the idea of unity in a group, but I have experienced previously some difficult situations regarding group work.
For today, we have decided to browse individually through some ideas and meet in order to start mapping out what we want to focus on.
We started our communal Wiki page and agreed to name our group "Virtual4". For the moment, the group seems to agree/compromise on different decisions. I hope this project is going to be the result of real group work in which we can count on each other in terms of advice/help/support/information finding. It may sound strange that I stress the idea of unity in a group, but I have experienced previously some difficult situations regarding group work.
For today, we have decided to browse individually through some ideas and meet in order to start mapping out what we want to focus on.
Monday 15 October 2007
Week 1 ... reflection
I find it quite intimidating to reflect on my work by using a blog as for me, personal reflection is something very personal.
I think having a blog and communicating information through it to my group is going to be easier then writing an email as we can post music, videos and links.
I am in a group with Mette, Leda and Khristina. Our theme for our project is "Virtual communities".
For next week, we each have find ideas about Virtual communities so that we can start mapping out more precisely what we want to focus on in our project.
I think having a blog and communicating information through it to my group is going to be easier then writing an email as we can post music, videos and links.
I am in a group with Mette, Leda and Khristina. Our theme for our project is "Virtual communities".
For next week, we each have find ideas about Virtual communities so that we can start mapping out more precisely what we want to focus on in our project.
Monday 8 October 2007
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