Filed under: Entertainment
Filed under: News, Reflections, USC Annenberg Program on Online Communities | Tags: Annenberg, Community, Internet, Online, PBS, USC
This past week I read about a PBS special called “Growing up Online.” The special explored teenagers who were coming of age with the Internet and how it plays an integral part in their lives. The entire special can be seen online here.
As being someone who pseudo grew up with the Internet, I was surprised to find myself so … well, surprised by what I was seeing in the special. The first thing that struck me was the warning at the beginning advising that the special may not be suitable for young viewers and that viewer discretion was advised. I actually paused the special to think about this – a special about teens and kids online had a warning that this may not be suitable for kids.
The special covered all the expected topics such as sexual predators, increased cheating in schools, and parents’ concerns about not being able to monitor what their kids are doing. However, there were some topics that came up that either weren’t an issue when I was in my formative years or can only reflect on in 20/20 hindsight.
There was a good amount of discussion about how the Internet is simply an extension of these teens “real” lives – not a completely separate thing that they partake in when they’re not out playing sports, hanging out with friends or doing homework. This may seem obvious to people who think of the Internet in a similar manner and live their lives the same way. But to many parents, it is inconceivable that their children are anything other than what they know them to be “offline.”
The truth is, though, that many kids are now saying that they are only truly themselves when they are “online,” and it’s when they’re in their offline lives that they pretend to be someone they are not. One girl opened up about the fact that she is a follower of the Goddess Anna – a group of girls online who openly communicate about and support each other in being anorexic. It’s when she is in her offline life that she has to pretend to be someone other than who she really is, and her parents have no idea about her “real” identity. This is not always the case – a girl named Jessica told her story of becoming a MySpace superstar as Autumn Edows, a fictional persona she created in order to escape the offline life from which she felt completely alienated. As pointed out in the special, the Internet is always a willing listener who will always be there for teens looking for an outlet. No real life relationship can be there in the 24/7 manner MySpace can.
The special also discussed the concept of Cyberbullying, a concept that is completely foreign to me. It’s not that my friends and I didn’t argue online over email or IM in the early days of AOL and Netscape. But there was never the intensity of the situations outlined in the special. Life no longer keeps the hours it used to – people are working longer thanks to Blackberries, teens are exploring their sexuality sooner and more intensely as it seems “safer” in a digital forum when no real contact is involved, and kids are being bullied 24 hours a day not just between eight and three. The one thing that seemed apparent about Cyberbullying is that it never started and ended online – it usually ended in what appears to be an extreme state in real life. Two groups of girls that argued on MySpace via comments and messages for months culminating in a full-blown brawl at school that ended up being filmed and posted to YouTube. A young boy was being cyberbullied online for months until he found a website that showed him how to kill himself, which he did.
The one thing that is contemplative for me after watching this special is that children will always at some point think they are smarter than their parents. Of course, this usually ends up being totally untrue and admitted at some point later in life. That’s not really the case with the Internet. A lot of parents have no idea how to navigate life online, and because of that are generally terrified about all the potential dangers that may befall on their kids. This dichotomy is causing rifts in families, and many kids are finding ways to “outsmart” their parents when they are being monitored online. Parents are starting to realize that they may not know as much as their kids in this space and their fears are just that – their fears, not their kids’. This doesn’t mean kids know everything there is to know or that they won’t make bad choices when living their life online. I wonder, though, if the greater danger is this dichotomy in perception about the Internet between parents and kids where kids may not feel as if they can go to their parents for help or guidance because they think mom and dad may not “get it.”
Filed under: News | Tags: American Airlines, News, Southwest Airlines, wifi
I am catching up on some reading today, and am struck that two more airlines are going wifi this year – Southwest and American. I kind of thought American would be one of the last major carriers to jump on the bandwagon and am very pleasantly surprised. It must be to make up for how unbelievably horrendous of an experience it is to fly on their airline now – “you may hate us by the time you get to the gate, but at least you can email your complaint as soon as you sit in your seat so you don’t forget exactly how rude our employees were.” And for that, I am greatly appreciative.
I can’t find any news, but Scrabulous is alive and kicking. What a great way to start the morning.
Hellllooooooooo there. So I’m noticing that I have some font issues. By font issues I mean – the font in my first post is entirely different in size/style than the font in my second post. I’m not 100% sure how to fix this, as I’ve tried a handful of times. So, just as the web is all about openess so will I. So, I’m aware that there is a fontalicious problem going on, and I’m going to keep working to figure it out. Hopefully it’s not too distracting in the meantime.
Thanks.
NOTE (11:15pm): Ok, I think I’m on to something. Stay tuned … I may figure out a solution to this one yet. Amazing how it’s the little things that trip us up 
Filed under: Facebook, News, Reflections, USC Annenberg Program on Online Communities | Tags: Annenberg, Facebook, News, Reflections, Scrabulous, USC
Although there were some particularly interesting news bits online this past week – Yahoo was rumored and then confirmed to be laying off what could end up being thousands of people; a lot of money was handed out in VC rounds to companies like Slide and MixerCast raising the question of whether widgets are going to become passé or whether they will be turned into fancy ad solutions; and maybe most notably that the DGA reached a deal with the AMPTP making the writers wonder “Why the hell are we still out here walking around?” However, the most fascinating news to me this week was about saving Scrabulous – the Scrabble knockoff application that has achieved unadulterated Facebook stardom since its release last year.
This news may have gone unnoticed to those who have yet to discover the magic that is Scrabulous. Simply put – it’s not only a highly addictive game to play online (or on your mobile phone if you have a BlackBerry), but it’s the perfect paradigm for a successful application in this new space: it is an easy-to-understand game that keeps users coming back again and again to make their move as games are “turn based,” not to mention it’s highly social as users can chat with one another in a special chat window displayed on each game board. The application has over 600,000 active daily users, and apparently a hugely loyal fan base. Of course, it also happens to be a lot like Scrabble.
Last week, Scrabble founders Hasbro and Mattel threatened to sue Facebook claiming copyright infringement if the application is not removed by the end of the day on 1/22/08. It didn’t even occur to most Scrabullati (as many of the Scrabulous addicts call themselves) that Scrabulous creators Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla did anything wrong. Of course, in 20/20 hindsight it makes sense why the old world toymakers would be throwing a fit – except for the fact that hundreds of thousands of people now have a renewed love of their original product and some are even proclaiming having gone out to purchase said original product solely on account of having fallen in love with Scrabulous. But, that’s another discussion for another time.
What is interesting to me about this particular piece of news is the backlash that it has had within the Facebook Scrabulous community. The reaction has been so fierce, that it literally made mainstream news appearing in such publications as Wired, The Telegraph, BBC News and more. A group on Facebook called “Save Scrabulous” now has close to 50,000 members and a petition started online has over 7,000 signatures. All since last week.
I can’t put my finger on exactly why this is important yet, but I know it is. Forget about the potential business implications – translating non-online businesses into an online model – and what that means for those who are slow on the uptake. But in many ways, this feels like the birth of the next generation protest. The sit-in is dead and the Facebook protest group is alive. In other ways, to me this sums up why social networks are important – they allow for people with a common interest to all come together more effectively and efficiently to fight for that in which they believe. Scrabulous is almost a trite example of this as, well, it is just a game (although I personally take it very seriously). But using this as a model for other causes – political, religious, human rights – it’s mind blowing to think of the kind of power that can be generated by the Net. What is yet to be seen is does this power of the masses online translate into effect in the real world? It is yet-to-be determined how this will play out, but I think all the key players involved should make their move wisely, though – they may be setting a precedent for much larger issues they can’t even yet fathom.
Filed under: USC Annenberg Program on Online Communities | Tags: Annenberg, Blog, Blogging, Communities, Community, Online, USC
So, after much debate and personal turmoil I have selected WordPress as my blog of choice. Why, you ask? Well, I have a confession. It wasn’t my first choice. I initially opted for a tumblr blog (or as tumblr fans call them, tumblelogs). I actually LOVE tumblr – it’s super easy to use and makes the act of blogging even easier than it already is. And let’s be honest – blogging is as easy as thinking … as that is kind of what it is … a well thought out stream of consciousness. Whether one chooses to post her/his thoughts online is another topic of discussion. I also love the fact that tumblr expands the ways in which people can blog – either by traditional hand to keyboard, mobile device or instant messaging software. I actually have another tumblelog that I started for work and on a past business trip to New York was able to take photos from my camera phone and post them directly to my blog – with the same easy as sending a text message.
ANYHOW, I initially went with a tumblelog by the name moniker and my first post was about why I chose the name “The ShenBot.” (For all curious parties, click here.) But then I started trying to customize my tumblelog … and found it close to impossible. Sure it’s easy enough to change the site’s theme, but the straw that broke the camel’s back for me was trying to find a theme that had a blogroll (or in tumblr speak – a tumbleroll). I could not find a single one. Then it came to finding a custom theme or a hack in which I could manipulate the code. I am a fairly tech savvy person who works in this space on a day-to-day basis and I could not figure this out.
Blogrolls, it turns out, are extremely important to me. I have no idea why, but they are. I like the idea of being able to share sites that I love/like without having it worked into a post. I also like the idea that those sites will be easy to find instead of having to either read every post I have or conduct a search for something the reader may or may not know exists. So, in my world – blogrolls killed the tumblr star and here I am at WordPress.
One more confession – I actually love WordPress, too, but initially thought of using tumblr because it’s a spiffy little tool that’s on the up-and-up. I am not a fan of the Six Apart products – nothing against them, but I think WordPress is not only a more reliable tool I prefer what the platform offers in terms of user experience and customization. I also have a Vox account … I’m just not into it. I can go on and on about why I love WordPress, but frankly who has the time for that?
So here we are at The ShenBot. This blog was birthed as a requirement for my Master’s program – the Annenberg Program on Online Communities. However, I have every intention of using this as a vehicle for more than posting papers and thoughts on weekly readings. I am hoping that this becomes a space for me to vent, to critique, to praise and to discover new everythings.
