Three Dimensional Realm

The new media world of Second Life takes users to another dimension. You no longer have to just chat or post news; you can also become an avatar. The avatar can walk, fly, and transport you to various places. The user can make the avatar look like them. I chose brown hair and a new dress to represent myself. Once I established my avatar it was time to explore. I got to meet other avatars and talk to them; however I thought it was strange because you really didn’t know who they were in real life. I feel that Second Life cannot be substituted for real life relationships. Other than getting to meet more new people and forming an online network, I do not really see the purpose of Second Life. I cannot imagine having to pay actual money to participate in this program if the consumer wants to have a full experience that can only be found in real life relationships.

This online media has yet to have as many users as Facebook or MySpace, but I think that over time it will continue to grow. Perhaps it will become the next big online revolution once more people catch on.

Have you “liked” Facebook yet?

Facebook has become one of the top social networks on the worldwide web. Everyone becomes both a producer and a consumer. As an active participant on Facebook, I use it to keep in contact with friends and family and to expand my network. It’s as easy as posting a short phrase called a status update. Users can also post pictures, comment on others status or pictures, and even upload videos. Facebook is continually changing and enhancing its user options. It seems that everyone is doing it.

                Facebook has been in the news lately with the new movie The Social Network, which is based on the invention of Facebook. However, Facebook was also featured in the NY Times regarding when users breakup. Relationship statistics show breakups hardly ever happen on Christmas day, but most often occur two weeks before Christmas or a couple days after. I wonder if this has anything to do with gift giving.

                Also, Facebook users spend over 700 billion minutes per month on the site says the Times. It has been stated that something doesn’t occur until it has been posted on Facebook.  The big question is, how much do you broadcast on Facebook?

Can you Digg it?

                The number one book marking site, Digg, has become part of News 2.0. Digg is a site where users can discover, select, share, and discuss articles. It has become a new way to generate news and articles can gain fame by moving up through a ranking system. Articles are “liked” and if enough people like a certain page then it will be featured on the front page of the site.

                Digg makes news more personalized or “my news.” The stories featured on the site tend to be smaller news stories and users use an info stacking technique when digging through the site. The best way to describe Digg is that it is nontraditional, diverse, and a form of democracy. Other websites are like Digg, such as Reddit, Delicious, and Fark. Overall, these sites are big focus groups.

                Advertising has also become part of these online sites. There is some controversy regarding conflicts of interest and deception. For example, some stories that get tons of Diggs could be linked to advertisement firms giving money so that the public will view their agenda. This has resulted in censorship within the sites networking.

                In the end, Digg is truly based off of publishing things now and filtering the material later. It has become a top ranking site that is visited daily by many. The best part is the users are what make the site operate because it’s based on “you.”

What is Wikipedia? Is it accurate?

Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia. Users are continuously modifying it. In order to make a change on Wikipedia, one does not need to be an expert with a degree in a particular field. This has caused much controversy. The question that evolves is, is the information on Wikipedia factually correct? The answer is the information is correct some of the time. However, the Encyclopedia Britannica is also not entirely correct. In one study that was conducted, expert-written pages of the Britannica had three errors per article while Wikipedia had four errors per article.

Regardless of these results, Wikipedia is still questioned as a reliable source, especially within colleges. Professors want students to dig deeper then Wikipedia and use academic journals. Students must learn to verify all information used in papers. Some universities are taking this idea to an extreme by creating rules that if a student uses Wikipedia, the consequence will be a grade deduction.

I believe that colleges have a right to recommend that students use certain research data, but I do not think that they should enforce consequences based solely on the student’s source of information. As long as a student does not plagiarize, I think they should make the final decision on the paper’s content and where it came from. However, if they use information from Wikipedia and they did not double check its accuracy, a grade deduction is appropriate if it is wrong.

This debate is continuing to increase and I wonder what Butler University will do regarding Wikipedia in the future.