Class Notes 10/13/15

Dr. Reneta Lansiquot will stop by next Tuesday 10/20.

Post the response blog to the reading and to the museum visit.

Read:

 

Definitions

Multimodality- describes communication practices in terms of the textual, aural, linguistic, spatial, and visual resources – or modes – used to compose messages.

Icon-a person or thing regarded as a representative symbol of something.

Iconography- the images or symbols related to something.

real-time-the actual time during which something takes place <the computer may partly analyze the data in real time

taxonomy-is the practice and science of classification.

folksonomy- is a system in which users apply public tags to online items, typically to aid them in re-finding those items.

 

Our class might be featured on the OpenLab Spotlight section

One person to present on one of the readings.

 

 

Twitter moments to keep in mind

timely vs. real-time

editing vs. presenting

accessibe

curated

recent news

surfaced content

hashtag

searchability

more than one dynamic with interactive

expansion of original literacy

Memes- take into account how means go viral and how to incorporate it into your meme creation.

 

There needs to be more dynamic to interacting with content not only liking a post.

**Keep in mind the strategy that are often times used in social media.**

 

NEW ‘MOMENTS’ IN TWITTER

As a non-Twitter Tweeter, I must say that the new feature is quite refreshing. The usual chaos of Twitter has always been a turn off for me. According to, Twitter’s Moments Will To Tame the Chaos, by Farhad Manjoo,

“The feature, called Moments, tries to transform Twitter’s chaotic timeline into a series of narratives that are easily navigated by people who aren’t familiar with the service’s strange rituals.”

Now with this new addition it is easy to filter through the piles of trending content;  at a first glance shines lights on the changes in the filtering process of hashtags and the actual nature of a hashtag, the archiviblity of twitter, the curating of these said moments, and the actual meaning of a moment. However, it does raise the question of how all this content is being complied:

  1. How are these moments being filtered?
  2. Are “moments of the moment” based on the number of tweets?
  3. In what ways does this addition differ from other Social media feeds that offer the same categorical trending feature?
  4. Is this a loss or a gain for Twitter in the sense that they lose their identity of being the social media that allows users to bounce from one topic to another, or is it a gain because it opens to being a more organized and better structured medium?
  5. How are these moments curated and by whom?
  6. Are moments viewed in different ways via different mediums (smart phones vs. computer screens)?
  7. How long do these moments last?
  8. What are the ethical responsibilities of Twitter in this new feature to Tweets and their content?
  9. How has the Terms and Services changed based on this addition? Has it changed?

How do you feel about this new moment in Twitter’s history? Where do you think it goes from here? How long do think it will last? Will Twitter’s Moments only last a moment?

Class notes 10/8

Agenda:

!!Reminders!!

  • Check the schedule to catch up on all previous work.
  • Comment on Blogs and other content on our OL
  • Catch up on readings or get familiar with future readings

 

How Social Media is Ruining Politics

Questions?

  1. What restrictions or freedoms does it afford?
  2. Does it verify or confirm our existing viewpoints?
  3. What kind of democracy is being promoted?
  4. What is being gained / loss by these changes?

Claims;

You end up gathering or flocking to people who are like you and share your views.

The message ends up lost and unclear on social media.

Social media has become more encompassing, taking over.

Regulates what we see as well as our responses.

Think of social media as a window, you can only see what’s outside the window. Meaning we only see what’s filtered through other  mediums.

These things are not helping us get more involved or informed on social issues or politics, it’s benefiting the companies and big name brands.

Communication becomes less meaningful and more superficial on social media.

Gaining, speed, updates and access to news

Loosing, quality, pernicious content

Social media places more information in peoples hands however they have to know how to use it, better yet WANT to use it and access vital information.

Peer Input;

“(Jodieann) Social media has the power to drastically change how we think, and it effects our individual self. Disrupting who we are as people.”

“(Mariah) Social experiment on asking people who the current political leaders are, and how shocking it was that many did not know. Going to show that we are not more informed because of social media.”

“(Pam) Quick news stories, they come as us so fast they’re not as important as they were in the past”

“(Ashey) DeBlasio (mayor) had a mainly social media campaign, grabbing team attention and new voters attention” >Fola (replied) admitted her voting for President Obama based on popularity and his image, not by doing political research.

Jones and Hafner- Chapters 8 and 10

Chapter 8-

(Page 117)Online Affinity space- discourse system, theres a way of going about operating in these communities. A starting place where people come together to build, interact or communicate to build relationships.

Cultures of use- conventions norms and values that grow up around a particular group of users. Each affinity space has its own set of them.The better you are at understanding these the better you will be at communicating.

Discourse system- using different tools, to get your message across. Communicating in a community. Ideaology, face systems, forms of discourse and socialization. For example don’t take things at face value, look further into them.

Face System- how people interact or get along with one another. Interpersonal connections.

Forms of discourse- How the communicate, online, in person ect

Socialization- how people learn to communicate within that discourse community. Online communities use the apprenticeship method, learn on the job. The relationship between the self and the community is important.

We often participate in multiple discourse communities, learning to adapt to each one. We also flock to ones we relate to or are interested in joining.

People try to learn the rules and gain skills in the forms of discourse to climb in within the group.

Media ideologies: With the shareability of online communities your messages can be spread or perceived in ways you didn’t intend. You cant look at just one medium, they effect each other. There’s no one way to use the tool. Each culture will have its own definition of what’s “socially acceptable”

With each downside or folly of one medium there  is advance in another. These networks cant stay the same, their use and communities evolve and change over time. Different networks lend their abilities to different professions and groups.

Informational vs relational: do you want to get information or spread your idea or voice. Meaning are you using a platform to get information or to spread it.

(Bottom of page 121) Approaching different platforms, everyone has a different view on how medias are used (twitter vs facebook) The media you chose to share your information will determine the audience it will reach and the response it will get. The idea against technological determinism, it will determine partial uses but it really depends on the community.

Online communications can sometimes amplify cultural divides or differences, what was once a small scale issue can now be shared globally. Discussions about traditions, culture practices and ideology can take center stage.

We reinforce our values and cultural norms online, however being online gives us the ability to share our views on other cultural norms, sometimes creating controversy sometimes creating smaller or sub groups of larger communities.

 

Prezi Presentations: Ashley and Mariah presented on 10/8 the rest of us will present on 10/13 (for more information on each presentation click the persons name!)

Fola – Discussing Pintrest

Ashley – Discussing Instagram

The terms and service of instagram- many many communities on instagram but not all understand what happens to their media. You own your original content. When facebook bought IG there was great upset over the privacy practices. Device identifiers or cookies collect data connected to the operating system, meaning this is why you get “just for you ads” and things that seem oddly tailored to you. IG has access to any device you log onto, they may store it an share with third parties (apps or sites affiliated with IG legally)

Jodieann – Discussing LinkedIn

Pamela – Discussing Facebook

Mariah – Discussing Tumblr

Fandoms- built around a general or shared interest, they create media posts based around that shared idea. Very vocal and interested in sharing the best of the fandom. Tumblr is a global platform. Tumblr doesn’t take your posts you own them. Tumblr tracks the popularity of fandoms, whats trending, whats coming up.

Samantha – Discussing Twitter

Vocabulary

Fortuitous: By luck or by chance

Tribalistic: A multi view point community

Pluralistic: One view point community

Kindred : Like minded people

Ideaology: The study of ideas

Cloistered: grouped together but separate

Pernicious: bad or harmful

 

The Ins & Out of a Privacy Policy

The Ins & Outs of Instagram-Prezi

Instagram is the snapshot into the lives of its users however few understand what they are signing up for. The privacy policy of Instagram has been controversial since it was acquired by Facebook. In the past 3 years privacy lines are still being crossed. This breakdown of the privacy policy will show some of the concerns users are having with this platform.

 

Prezi 🙂 

I have used Prezi for a presentation several years ago. After a 4 year gap I did have to spend some time relearning how to maneuver the site. I actually prefer Prezi to Powerpoint because it allows more creativity in how the presentation flows. I love the zoom feature and the surprises that can be added to a presentation with the amount of space that is available in one path. The most confusing part of the experience was customizing paths and trying to rework and delete content.

Pinterest : A Virtual Inspiration Board

https://prezi.com/zmsl04agazgi/pinterest-the-social-scrapbook/

Pinterest is essentially a photo-sharing site where users can catalog ideas. It’s easy as uploading, saving, sorting, and managing photos, primarily known as “pins” on the site through collections known as pinboards. Pinboards are usually organized around a central topic or them making it accessible for other users to find and add the pin unto their own board as well. Boards range from food & recipes to tattoos and cars. The range of themes and topics are endless. There’s nothing that you can’t draw inspiration from on this social network.

 

http://www.fastcodesign.com/1670681/ben-silbermann-pinterest

The image above, provides an overview of the social network’s demographic with nearly 80% of Pinterest’s users being women, most between the ages of 25 and 54, according to Google Double Click Ad Planner.

Prezi vs. Powerpoint

I found myself struggling to use Prezi and didn’t like how time consuming it was. PowerPoint is my ‘go-to’ software when making presentations because its simple to  and doesn’t come with a whole lot of baggage like Prezi. Powerpoint is without a doubt more user-friendly. The interface of Prezi was a bit overwhelming when I first made an account because it was not a program I was taught to use in school. I had to watch a video before I could begin with my presentation. I have to admit, even after watching a video I was still overwhelmed and frustrated because of all the animations, zooming, templates, etc. I think I’ll stick to using Powerpoint as the simple slide themes can be redesigned to look more professional and modern, while the straight progression of the presentation makes it simple for anyone to follow.

Facebook “Rules”

Facebook contains many popular components such as the wall, which is essentially a virtual bulletin board. Messages left on a member’s Wall can be text, video or photos. Another popular component is the virtual Photo Album where photos can be directly uploaded. Although there is no limitation on quantity, Facebook has the right to remove any inappropriate or copyrighted images.  Facebook also has an interactive album feature that allows its member’s “friends” to comment on each other’s photos and identify (tag) people in the photos. My presentation entails some of the main features and rules of Facebook, predominantly, its origin, uses, and data policy.

Creating this project on Prezi instead of PowerPoint was challenging for me. I have used Prezi before but this time, I went even further and tried using the Prezi CSS editor feature.  I like that it gives me a big space to zoom in and out and that it flows flawlessly from slide to slide; however, it does have deficiencies such as limited fonts.  Although PowerPoint is much easier to use, once you get the hang of Prezi, it looks much more professional and effective.  Overall, I give it the thumbs up provided you have training!

Image result for thumbs up

www.clipartpanda.com/categories/smiley-face-clip-art-thumbs-up

https://prezi.com/lschyqw7gu3e/facebook-rules/

 

 

 

LinkedIn: Can You Recommend Me?

LinkedIn: Can You Recommend Me?

LinkedIn is considered to be one of the most important platform for being an professional with over 1,000,000 active users. For many professionals who seek credibility often times ask past co-workers, mentors or professors for recommendations.  Many users who have recommendations stand out to recruiters. It is very significant because professionals seek validation from past/current employers. Another community within the LinkedIn community is the group capability. Groups allow liked-minded professionals to join in on important discourse related to their fields or wherever their interests lie. In the presentation I pose the question do groups play a role in exclusion of certain users?  But at the same time recommendations and groups play an essential role in how you represent yourself.

 

Prezzi

To my surprise, I found Prezi to be difficult. The presentation software same seemed easy when I first set up the account even the introductory how it works presentation to be exhausting. It was very interesting trying out Prezi for the first time. I had no idea idea what template to choose so I chose the most basic one. While using the basis template of Prezi, it still went over my head. For one thing, the zoom feature is my least favorite, it goes up and down and I’m still getting used to the set up of the software. In a way, I can understand the popularity with Prezi, it does allow certain features that Powerpoint does not like the movability of it, the cool storytelling of it, redirecting of the arrows. I say this not to discount Powerpoint because of its simplistic, organic features. Most traditional businesses tend to use Powerpoint, I think several start-up companies would love Prezi.

It was a great experience to try a new software— pretty cool! I’d be very impressed if someone takes the capabilities of Powerpoint and Prezi and create a super presentation software but in the mean time I’ll stick to Powerpoint for now.

 

 

Twitter: The power of a retweet

http://prezi.com/rbn9g9rp3tdo/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Abstract

Twitter, launched on March 21, 2006, is a popular social media platform which has millions of users world wide. Twitter is unique because posts are limited to 140 characters, meaning you have to say what you want to say and get to the point.Twitter is used by many organizations to reach their customers, fans or supporters and to gain new marketing strategies. A powerful aspect of twitter though is a users ability to retweet posts, meaning you can forward, share and comment on things ranging from political posts, breaking news, weather and things as simple as comedy. Retweeting is both a blessing and a curse because a positive message as well as a negative one can be spread relatively quickly. There is no stopping a post once it gets going, even if the original poster removes the content its been copied so many times getting it back is almost never an option. However all in all twitter has a positive reputation in the social media community and continues to build its brand. Retweeting or just tweeting in general is specific to Twitters brand and it’s how people distinguish where a personal social media content came from. Donald trump has a major following and his tweets both good and bad get dragged all over the Twitterverse sometimes within minutes, showing just how quickly a retweet can spread.

Prezi Summary

This presentation was the first time I had ever heard of prezi let alone used it. I have to admit it was a bit of a challenge because it proves to be much more complex than power point. In my first ten minutes I had circles flying all over my screen, talk about overwhelming. Once I got the hang of it though I organized my content in sequential order, starting at what I was going to be talking about and then the sub topic within it. I typed out all the content and then I fixed the sizing, font and spacing. Once I had all my content in those tricky little circles I played with moving them around the screen and seeing where they looked best but also made the most sense. My big blunder though came when I added the background after I placed the circles, meaning I had to totally redo it when I chose the background.. oops! After all was said and done though I thought prezi was kind of cool though I didn’t find it to be more professional than power point.

 

Tumblr : What you need to know about fandoms

Tumblr: What you need to know about fandoms

Fandoms are an essential part of the Tumblr discourse community. They in themselves create smaller discourse communities within Tumblr. They achieve high levels of participation and attention generation. They also create vast amount of various medias. In this presentation I will be showcasing my findings of how the Tumblr fandom communities work and how the fans interact within these communities. Fandoms are critical part of the Tumblr community in what they offer both in both creativity and production.

Reflection

Prezi was a new an interesting experience to say the least. I found the software to be very new and exciting. It was very different from the other presentation software that I had used before. In my eyes it seemed a bit more creative in the way it bounced around and the color schemes it offered. Although, it was a new experience and a good one at that I do not think I would be using Prezi again. The way it bounced around, zoomed in and out was hard to toggle with. The constant in and out motion was hard to follow and confused me. I wish that there was some sort of tutorial that help me understand the software more indepthly.

I experimented to the best ability with animations, transitions, and audio. I saw some similarities with the software that I have seen in others before; however, I wish that there were tabs to indicate functions instead of clicking to find out what functions were actually available. All in all, I found the experience to be very different yet very creative. If all the problems I encountered could be fixed I do believe Prezi would be a go-to site for me presentation.

Class notes

My sincerest apologies, for the delay in posting these notes classmates, but here are the class notes from 10/06:

To begin with:  !!REMINDERS!!
DUE TOMORROW
• 5 Minute presentations on Social  Media Platforms
• be sure to choose a specific part to embellish upon
• write abstracts for presentation and reflections on your experience with using Prezi  software 
• remember to re-read the ‘how social media is changing politics’ article along with the chapters from Understanding Digital Literacies Textbook ( Hafner and Jones)
• also if you haven’t done so yet tag all past posts and comment on classmate individual blog posts.
CLASS DISCUSSION 

The Buzz Blog/Bloggers advice for blogging

  • create a connection between what is seen and what is written
  • edit to enhance and embellish, to attract an audience
  • ask yourself what is really important about the post?
  • try to create a narrative

Brianna Vasquez

  • create a content strategy
  • work through person and mental challenges
  • be a part of the audience feedback

Mandy Mei

  • Bridge between what you are writing and what you want to introduce to post
  • understand physicality
  • promote yourself