matthewwilliams01-blog

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Take a Vertigo-Inducing Walk into the Infinite Inside Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Rooms at David Zwirner Gallery in New York

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18 Terrifying Old Costumes You Can’t Unsee

Costumes were scarier back in the day. These photos prove it.

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Tumblr Post #10

Hello, my name is Matt Williams and this semester I have been researching the internet, social interactions and copyright laws.

I feel my best work this semester is my Narrative Inquiry paper because it is where I forged many of the ideas that I researched further in my Literature Review paper.

I recommend you begin with the first tumblr post relating to Cooley. This is the where I first learned of many of the concepts that would later form the basis of my Narrative Inquiry and Literature Review Papers and is the subject that was most intriguing to me overall.

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Tumblr Post #9

I think some important points to keep in mind while creating my E-Portfolio are:

To create the portfolio so that it appeals to the audience. The portfolio needs to reflect what it contains, in a visually-pleasing and intuitive way. This I think is the most important aspect, as it helps to create the impression with the reader.

To try to know the audience as best as I can. 

To understand how the assessment will work.

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Final Project Ideas

I think it would be interesting to do more with the online and offline identities concept. It might be cool to do a video or a paper on it. Im not very good with video though, so it might be difficult.

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Quick Write 10/29

At this point in my essay, I am still organizing and writing. I have all of my research documents gathered and ready and I have read through most of them. As of right now, I have discussed one fully, and one partially. I still have much more to write. I can't say I have any obstacles to overcome, other than time constraints. Tonight and tomorrow, I will continue to work on my essay. i will spend some time Wednesday morning proofreading it.

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Online Identity vs. Offline Identity

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Faith Hilling is a South Park episode about the evolution of memes.

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Tumblr Post #7

How does YouTube and Web 2.0 generation change the way we think about copyright issues? 

Do you think it is possible to try to enforce copyright infringement laws in a digital age where it is so easy to share and modify other people’s work/ideas?

Is “remix culture” essentially stealing?  Why or why not?

Which ideas from Lessig’s lecture were most interesting to you?

I think there are far too many copyright issues on YouTube to count. I don’t think it is really possible to enforce copyright laws on the internet simply due to the vastness of the internet. In the past, copyright infringement was not nearly as common. Try making a copy of a vinyl record, or of a book, or newspaper. It’s much harder to infringe upon copyrights of analog material; however digital is as simple as “copy” and “paste”. This is why I believe copyright infringements are so commonplace nowadays, it’s just so easy. It is likely due to the ease of it that it has become so common; if it were harder, not as many people would do it. I don’t believe remixing is necessarily stealing, but I don’t think it’s right to just go ahead and use someone else’s work without them knowing. I think this primarily because most remixes are alterations of the original piece, and these alterations make it more of an artistic expression than mere stealing or copyright infringement. People take other people’s work and rework it to make their own statements online. I think that’s fine. As for Lessig’s lecture, I liked how he made the point that “we can’t make our kids passive again, we can only make them pirates”. Basically stating that this remixing isn’t going anywhere and it’s better to embrace it rather than try to fight it.

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Tumblr Post #7

In “Semi-Literate Youth? Not so Fast”, Lunsford discusses how the internet is not actually making people less literate, but more literate. She states how the internet is a new medium for writers. People write much better when they know that their work will be read by many people than if it were to be read by one. This is especially true when someone is writing about their own lives or experiences, as many do online.

In “The IRL Fetish”, Jurgenson discusses how it is becoming increasingly popular to be “offline” and that many people take pride in NOT having a Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or YouTube account. I like this idea, as I am one of those people to an extent (I do have a Facebook, and a Tumblr, but for the most part I enjoy being offline more than online).

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Tumblr Post #6

It's hard to say whether the internet is making us dumb or not. So much is dependent upon how one uses the internet. In times past, if people were having a conversation and someone mentioned something that they didn't know about, the subject would likely remain unknown. Now with the internet readily accesible, people will google just about anything they wonder about. It is this that makes us dumb, I think, because we eventually take it for granted that this exists, and eventually end up relying soley on the internet for a good majority of our knowledge.  

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Tumblr Post #5

I find the idea of having multiple identities online and in person to be very interesting. Its something I have thought about a lot since we covered the topic and it has led me to become a more "active" internet user overall. I also like the idea that video gaming can be utilized in an educational environment as a means of teaching. I think these would both be great to write about, and there could potentially be some overlap due to online gaming personas versus real personas.

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Tumblr Post #4

Gaming culture, to me, means people who play video games so much that they almost live within the virtual worlds. I have played video games throughout much of my life, but do not currently play them on a regular basis. I don’t play them mainly because I don’t like the virtual aspect of it. I think, overall, video gaming has its value in how it makes people concentrate in a way that is not seen in real-life. People are going to be more focused on beating a game than they would be on doing tedious work. I think that this can become more valuable if, as McGonigal mentioned, there were a way to channel this same type of focus into something worthwhile, such as solving problems for a corporation, or even country. Gee’s main points are how videogames help condition problem-solving skills, and how humans actually enjoy learning. He suggests that we can learn how to better manage frustration, by channeling it in the same way we would as if we’re playing a game. Rather than giving up, you press on until you accomplish the goal. In school, video games can be used to teach young children the alphabet, numbers, basic math skills, and even perhaps more advanced subjects such as history, science, or advanced mathematics. I thought the quote “No deep learning takes place unless learners make an extended commitment of self. Learning a new domain, whether it be physics or furniture-making, requires the learner to take on a new identity: to make a commitment to see and value work and the world in the ways in which good physicists or good furniture makers do” was very interesting. I had never really thought about video games in that way. Gee and McGonigal both share the idea that video games are capable of, and are currently, being used in very constructive ways, and have the potential to be an educational tool in the near future. I think they both value gaming culture in a similar way, they both see that it has a lot of potential that, once harnessed, could possibly change the world.

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Identity Quickwrite

I think the idea of having both an analog and a digital identity. I dont think there is just one identity, but perhaps multiple. I think that all of these ideas and concepts do not pertain to the population at large, but for individual people. For example, one person may have an identity more akin to that present in "Looking Glass Self" whereas another person may have a personality that is somewhat static and consistent regardless of who the person is interacting with. I think the key, fundamentally, is individual personality.