Final Project

Rationale/Reflection for the final project (500 words)

After completing my final project I had many questions and thoughts about social media and general networking. Throughout my career in college I have taken a variety of classes focusing on the transition from analog to digital, digital/analog communications, digital/analog networking, and more. These courses have helped me gain a better idea for how people “really” make connections. My project had me asking in the end, are our online lives that different from our “real” lives? What is real? Is our life online, just as real as our life off-line? The introduction of the thousands of new social networking sites over the years have allowed us to share pictures, news articles, stories, books, songs, videos, etc… more easily via the internet.

When working on our project we wanted to gain a better understanding on how social networking sites affect student’s lives. At first glance sites like Facebook and Twitter seem like time-suckers, but in actuality there is a completely valid form of communication available online that has benefits to real-life communication. Online there are no barriers, or norms that one has to follow. The network they are involved with defines the rules, and user’s identity is unique.  In real life, people unconsciously have to follow the social norms and rules of engagement that help our communication work.

Social networking was an interesting topic to focus on for this assignment. Recently, I read an article that informed me that facebook.com currently has one quarter of the entire internet’s, page loads. That means every fourth page that is viewed on the entire internet accesses facebook. A facebook inter released a drawing of what the world looks like, created solely by friendships to different users around the planet.

In the picture above, we actually see that facebook has literally created their own world. The world of friendships. Even if someone doesn’t have fresh water, electricity, or even a proper home, they still may have a facebook account. I am curious to see what the future has in store for us. Will facebook survive in the future? How will facebook relationships change in the future? Will our lives on facebook effect our real lives?

We continuously hear how we have to be careful with what we post online. With sites like facebook and twitter, it is literally as easy as one click to post anything to the internet. That published information is almost accessible by anyone, and that information can be used for/or/against me. Can my facebook life prevent me from getting a job? Now that I am almost a graduating senior I have to be careful with how my digital life influences me.

Even celebrities are using social networking. From Ashton Kutcher  to Chad Ochocinco to Stephen Colbert. They all make significant contributions to online social media. The things that these people post are influential to their followers. Before social networking only limited people had voices, but with social networking everyone has a voice. People have become celebrities from their online lives. It almost seems like anything is possible via the web. I look forward to learning as much as I can about this topic because I do believe this is an extremely important subject to focus son. This is a completely new form of communication that we are just learning about, and it could effect everything in the future of communcations.

Hypothetical Project Revision (you can chose from projects 1, 2, or 3 (1000 words)

For this reflection we are asked hypothetically if we were going to change one of our projects from the semester, which one would you redo and why. After finishing this class I felt that the first project was the most fun and creative then any other project. We were simply asked to create a stencil to remediate the media. First we designed and created a stencil graffiti and we remediated that argument/message and then we had to take pictures of the stencil “in action.”

For my original project I created an original stencil design. I wanted to use my creativity and try to do my own “art project.” I am very passionate towards music and politics, so I tried to incorporate both ideas into a stencil. I tried to remediate my own slogan of, “drop beats, not bombs.” This slogan came with an original stencil design and logo. I was extremely happy with my end product because I created it by myself. The idea was my own, and it was unique to my interests. Even though this idea is important to me it may not be a topic of interest for others. Hence I am remediating it through a different form of “media” to the public.

If I were to redo this project I would have come up with a different idea for a stencil design, and slogan. After completing my project on social networking I have become very intrigued in studying digital communications and networking. It seems that over the course of the past ten years that our “real lives” and “digital lives” have combined. In the past people tried to keep there digital lives separate from their real life. With the increasing popularity of social networking sites (i.e. facebook, twitter, foursquare, gowalla, myspace, etc…) the more interested people have become on their friends and there every move, thought, and conversation they may have.

Recently I have learned that facebook officially has one quarter of the Internet’s viewing share. That means that every fourth page that is opened in total on the Internet is viewing facebook. Facebook has moved into your own home. Everyone is on facebook. Your mom, dad, and even grandparents may now have accounts on facebook! Facebook by no means is a bad site. It is an amazing website. It essentially utilizes the Internet for what it is meant to do. Network and pass data through a network of computers. Facebook is no different; it essentially networks people so they can share data (i.e. photos, videos, messages, chat, etc…).

For my new project I would have focused on social networking. I would have simply asked the question, “who are you on the internet?” This simple question I believe would have people questioning their personal web-life. Are you being careful with what content you are sharing publicly? Is your account information private? Kids like me do not think about this questions, but you should be always be thinking about this. Potential employers can see this content and quickly judge you before meeting you. As an almost graduate (graduating in May 2011!), I have to be careful with my digital life. My digital life can cost me positions in the future and can damage my future. I am always being careful with what content is being posted. Everything that is posted on the Internet is semi-permanent.

Have you ever googled yourself? Go now to google and type in your name. What can you find about yourself? Anyone can do this, even an employer. It is simple. Googling yourself has become a common thing for people to do when meeting new people. Your online life can be damaging and revealing. Your digital life can put you at risk of possible cyber crimes.

My stencil would have an original design that looked like a facebook profile page. Instead of content being on the profile it would as the question of, “who are you on the internet?” The profile would include general looks, like a profile picture, friends, wall posts, etc… People would look at this stencil and be instantly drawn in because it looks like a facebook profile page. Viewers would be drawn to the question, and they would think about there digital lives.

I believe that this would be successful in presenting my argument/message to the public. People need to be careful online, and need to think twice about what they are posting to facebook and twitter. Your online content is a ticking time bomb, and you are lighting the fuse.

Course Reflection (1000 words)

I have never taken an Informatics class before. This was my first class I have ever taken at school within the informatics department. At school I have taken a variety of classes that focus on digital and analog communications. Through these classes I have learned about new media, culture, and society. “Digital media is an immensely pervasive and powerful form of communication that despite its rapid growth has yet to reach most of the world’s population.” I believe that focusing on this topic is important because this new found communication can effect our future. Learning about both new and old communication technologies have helped me focus on how these technological systems will develop and be used over time.

The reason why I decided to sign up for Informatics 303, Writing Across the Media, is because I wanted to learn more about how people are specifically communicating with new forms of media. “The ability to communicate effectively in multiple types of media is a crucial part of literacy in our society” (INFO 303 course description). If one does not learn about a new form of communication it is possible that you will not adapt correctly with societies new found digital trends.

Since 1990, the introduction of the Internet has literally become a virus that has infested anyone that has used this potentially limitless medium. The introduction of social networking sites over the past 5 years has completely changed how people interact and socialize through the Internet. Taking Informatics 303 has helped me learn more about this mysterious form of communication.

Overall, after completing this course I would have to say that I did learn a lot about writing across the media, and I learned a lot about the variety of forms of communicating via the Internet. When entering this class I was unaware of the technical information that is semi-required to taking this course. Throughout the semester we had to complete multiple assignments that required us to present our course materials through designing multimedia presentations. The creation of videos, sound, photography, and text were all used during the presentation creating process. Prior knowledge of using movie creating programs (such as iMovie/Final Cut Pro), image editing programs (Photoshop, iPhoto, Aperture), and sound editing programs (Garageband, ACID), etc… These programs and more were used consistently throughout the semester.

If one walked into this course without previously knowing these skills would have made this course difficult. Since I am a bit of a nerd I already had previous experience and knowledge about these pieces of software. The entire computer aspect of the course was easy for me to grasp because I personally understand that content on a better level then the average person. I would recommend putting a warning up on the course blurb explaining the course on the University website. Not understanding how to create a video, image, or podcast will hurt your grade and set you back in the course.

Even though using these pieces of software may take some practice the addition of these projects made this class worthwhile. I feel that it is very important for people to learn, and use, as a collegiate level skill set. These skills are important and should be taught to everyone. Knowing these skills are completely invaluable and have helped me create amazing presentations that are professional enough for my personal career portfolio.

I feel like this course has some real potential on campus. I really enjoy the course structure right now, but I feel like the use of groups hurts the class. When choosing groups at the beginning of the semester the students were not given an opportunity to choose group members, and were simply given random groups. Even though this is the fairest form of creating teams, it made it difficult as a student to complete my work. Prior to this course I did not know anyone in my group, which made it very difficult to find time to meet up and work on the many projects we had to create throughout the semester. To solve this problem I would simply not have any groups, or give students the option to work alone on an assignment. The videos and podcasts were fun to create, but the time it took to set up group time and meetings became more difficult as the semester went on.
I felt that the course readings were a good addition to the class, but I felt like the amount of time spent in class on them was limited. The course readings helped us learn about a variety of new ideas, theories, and people that influenced the communications field. Since we did not talk about the readings the entire semester I felt like we were not able to talk about the readings enough. I think that having more homework assignments that require students to do writings on each reading is important. Having students comment on our writings about readings would help us engage in the course content.

I would love to see how this course develops in the future. The general idea and content that is shared works. I feel that the course can be improved for the better. Creating a social network in the class would help students connect on a different level, and allow students to converse about educational material on online media. The more students can learn about this subject, the better. Learning about computers, the Internet, social networking, creating Internet content, and more are all helpful in the real world. At school I study advertising, and I plan on pursuing this in the future. Taking this class has helped me learn a lot about the advertising industry, and learning this skillset will help me advance in this industry in the future.

Thanks for a great semester Professor O’Connor!