Reaksyon sa isang blogpost

Maganda ang punto mo Jervis sa pagsabing kinakailangan na nga ng mga bagong teorya na akma sa ating pag-aaral ng midya. Subalit, kinakailangan ding isaalang-alang na halos lahat sa mga guro ng ating kolehiyo, partikular na ang ating departamento, ay hindi pa handa sa mga makabagong teoryang pang-midya o siguro ay mas akmang sabihing hindi nagpapakadalubhasa sa mga teoryang ito, at si Propesor Canlas pa lamang ang wawasak sa lumang paradigm ng mga pananaliksik kung sa pag-gamit ng mga makabagong teorya ang iisipin.

Nais ko lang ding ibahagi ang nasabi ni Sir Choy sa aming klase na baka raw ay magkaroon ng kolaborasyon ang departamento ng brodkasting at ang departamento ng aralin sa sining upang mas mapalawak pa raw ang mga teoryang maaring magamit ng mga mag-aaral.

Sana lang magpatuloy pa ang mga kurso kagaya ng Komunikasyon 150 upang mas mabigyan ng malawk na perspektibo ang mga mag-aaral sa mga teoryang maari nilang magamit para sa kanilang tisis ngayong undergraduate at maging sa mga postgraduate nila.

Binabati ko si Propesor Canlas sa maayos at matibay na pundasyon ng mga teoryang kaniyang inilatag sa ating klase. Nagpapasalamat ako sa kanya at maging sa inyong mga kapwa ko mag-aaral dahil aaminin ko, boring mang basahin ang mga paksa ay naging makabuluhan ang pagkakatuto ko dahil na rin sa ating interaksyon sa loob at maging sa labas ng klase. Mabuhay tayo!

PARA pumunta sa orihinal na blogspot, i-click ITO.

I am an Ostrich: When my offline self meets my online self

I find the results of the Web Behavior Test interesting because it did not only narrated some features of my being a Web Ostrich but it also also made me realize that even in real my real life as a person I can say that yes, I am a web ostrich. This is a story when my true self meets my online self. 

I took the exam this morning during the discussion on our project (sorry guys) and it really took me off the discussion because I needed to focus due to an annoying tactic that the exam had- it also tested one's patience. I just got the result by now because the dormitory where I live had a technical difficulty on its WiFi connections. 

The examination results said that I am fast moving, sociable, and specialized. Now let me explain why I find the results interesting and why it really caught me from the time I registered to BBC.

Here are my descriptions according to the result of the test:

Fast-moving - We can tell from your results that you are a speedy surfer - one of the characteristics of the Web Ostrich, whose real-world counterpart has an impressive top speed of 45mph.

Sociable - The web is a social place. You take full advantage of this when you search for information by using social networks and other sites whose content is created by its users. Real-world ostriches are also highly social, even keeping eggs in each other’s nests to share the burden.

Specialised - The real-world ostrich is a true specialist, highly adapted to survive in hot, dusty African grasslands. You might not be at risk from lions when browsing the web, but you are still very focused. From your test we can tell you do best when you concentrate on one task at time, rather than several things at once. (SOURCE)

Here are my reactions to each descriptions wehrein my real self collides with my online self.

Fast-moving - I can confirm that I am this speedy person when it comes to searching stuff online particularly on academics. This is because I am eager to arrive at the results immediately. Though, the Lab Experiment may be true because most of the time I know what I am researching but sometimes, I lack the relevant information needed. In my real life, this is true. I wanted to do tasks as soon as I get them but when my mood changes and I become a procrastinator, I often lose the task given.

Sociable. Yes. This is another aspect of me which I find interesting since whether it be online or offline, I think I am sociable enough. the Lab Experiment says that I tend to spend most of the time in Social Networking Sites -which is true, and that I use the contents made by web users, too- which is also true. I believe that these trust sites are not only significant in connecting with people but also in drafting your career. In real life, I also spend long time with my friends and dorm mates chatting and laughing with them. 

Specialized- Maybe yes, I tend to focus much without even thinking if something might harm me just because of my eagerness to achieve or reach something immediately. In real life, I can also adapt to new spheres and environment, even to people like their behavior and sorts,  just like an ostrich. 

I can say that this Wen Behavior Test did confirm some of my real-person habits and made me realize how the online collides significantly with your offline life. This is more of a self realization examination wherein you will be able to realize the other side of you that you thought did not exist. 

I like this test even though it was long and sort of tested my patience. I almost gave up but I just thought that I needed to finish this badly. I like the way the survey form was made, as the lab said, it's very scientific, very positivist. I wanted to design a similar test like this in the future, but only to focus on Filipinos online. I hope the class will be featured in the next episodes of Virtual revolution. Or maybe, just maybe, we can come up with a similar show like that once we graduate.  Right, Ma'am Data, classmates? :)

See the original post by the author HERE.
No self plagiarism intended. 

Facebook Funeral

My classmate in Internet studies class had a really interesting topic on his webpage assignment. A Facebook funeral.

He is Wacky, a person who is on the first glance will give you an impression on him being a chick-guy but he is way beyond that. This guy is profound and intelligent.

On his assignment, he showed a video wherein a character who died in real life had a funeral on a video game War Craft and the attendees who organized the funeral online were killed by another troop in the game. Ma'am Data and Margie said that there is already an application on Facebook wherein when an account holder has died, his or her page can turn into a Memorial what you have to do is to report that the owner is already dead.

I was also intrigued about this. What if I die? Who will handle my accounts online? How will this blog be without someone who handles this? I cannot imagine death, really. Thinking about it makes me sad, because in real life, we will really die, it's just that I am not yet ready for that.

Anyway, our Comm 150 class today was essential and my classmates' insights on each other's webpage assignment really contributed to each others awareness and knowledge about this phenomenal media- the Internet.   

Early Productivity

I know the tile seems bizarre but I am happy though I am so sleepy now. I already did in advance a paper which is a major requirement in my BC 181 or broadcast criticism class. I thought it was due today but thankfully my professor postponed it and said we need to have a break with all the theories we just discussed. Goodness, I only finished three and a half of the required four to five pages. Now I can research more on my topic. I woke up three minutes earlier than what I set up on my alarm. I finished my paper at eight in the morning. Thought it was a slow process due to the fact that I needed to keep myself awake.

Now I am at the library of the College of Mass Communication for me to do another requirement, this time for my Communication 150 or internet studies class. I hope I can finish this one as early as possible for em to have plenty of time to take a sleep.

Why I like New Media Studies

This is my research interest, as of now. I know I will love this as long as I love the internet and the web.
I just talked with my professor in BC 148  (Interactive Broadcasting class which I took last semester) and Comm 150 (Internet and New Media Culture class which I am currently am taking this semester) Professor Data Canlas.

She introduced me to a lot of interesting ideas regarding the internet and the World Wide Web last semester in our BC 148 class, and for now, she still continuous to share her knowledge about the online media to class. Today, as our class ended, I got to talk to her one-to-one regarding her research interest which I am also interested in.Though in our conversation, I drew what differs my research  topic from hers. She is into the convergence of the new media and the mobile phones and the social effects thereof; while my topic interest is on participative new media.

Even last semester in our BC 148, Ma'am Data inspired me to be involved actively in the cyberspace because it is not being studied on and the scholarly papers at the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication are mostly focused on the mainstream media. I learned from our conversation that researches on the internet are focused more on the commercial side of it. She mentioned famous individuals online such as the Internet Marketing Consultant Mr. Carlo Ople and the Blogger Ms. Janette Toral.

This interview is connected to my interview in Fulbright Global UGRAD Exchange Scholarship scheduled next week, on the first day of December! And I am so excited yet anxious about it so I am into researching more about the stuff that I needed to clarify- if any, regarding my dossier.

I am praying that I will be chosen as one of the grantees of this scholarship because I want to learn more and acquire a broad perspective regarding this body of knowledge which is I believe available at the United States  of America and is only limited here in the Philippines with the reasons I mentioned above herein. I also wanted to share whatever knowledge that I will acquire in the scholarship program to the Filipino people and to the Philippine media.

AUGUST 1991: The WEBvolution begins

Photo available here. Used here non-commercially, for academic purposes only.

                   I found it interesting that eight days before I came out from my mother’s womb on the 14^th day of August in 1991, Sir Tim Berners-Lee publicly introduced the World Wide Web or the WWW[1]. The World Wide Web is made out of billions of data such as documents, photos, music, videos, that were interconnected by to computers all around the world, enabling the users to share files whenever and wherever they may be. [2]  It is quite intimidating to know that the web’s years of existence is the same as my existence in the world.

                I say intimidating because during the first class meeting on the 9^th of November in our Communication 150 class, I realized that we encountered the web and the internet late for our age, and in our generation. For my case, I first encountered the web when I was a 6^th grader when we were tasked to search for something for our subject back then. Yes, it was 2004 and the web was 13 years old already and again, yes, I was also 13 then.  

                Looking at how the web started, you may not even believe that the proposal was at first doubted by the boss of Sir Tim burners-Lee, yet the success is truly significant in the lives of the people in the current century. This is an excerpt from an interview to Sir Berners-Lee by Dr. Aleks Krotoski wherein the web inventor showed how happy he was upon the first flight of the web on the 6^th of August, 1991 as shown in the TV series produced by the BBC entitled The Virtual Revolution[3];

“I get it all wired up then that was the big switch… through the switch the lights went on… and that was the web taking off across the world. People started to log on and typing hypertext and I could feel the power of all these links spreading across the planet and we just have to hold on tight… and a call came from BBC… to cover the incredible uptake.”

               

                Although looking at how big the impact of the web in our life today, it is still seen as not encompassing some of the traditional media such as the television and the radio.[4] But I think it is because as compared to the traditional media, the new media is younger when it comes to the domination aspect. Because looking at it, as young as it may be, the influence and the impact it has made to the people is much bigger than that of other media.  

                As a “Digital Native” or as a person who is born and raised in a world of digitalization, as what John Palfrey and Urs Gasser called it in their book Born Digital[5], I am happy how our life has become more comfortable especially in doing academic works wherein a single click may lead to thousands of ideas ready to be acquired online.  It has also broadened our horizons because what was difficult to achieve before is now a single search away, even in our capabilities on doing some things such as buying expensive books and music. My mother would always tell me that I am blessed having such gadgets and internet because I can chat with and see our relatives who are miles away from us, virtually.

                If the web has its good sides, it is undeniable that it has also bad sides. The most important is the privacy of the individual who publishes almost everything on the internet. According to my professor in my English 30 or my English for the Profession class, Prof. Dr. Helen L.  Lopez when I asked her if I can publish my written output made in class online, she was against the thought of publishing it online. She said that my privacy can be intruded and that the paper I wrote might get criticisms and if other finds it unworthy to be published, then my reputation and also the University’s reputation might be ruined. I was unable to express my point to her. I believe that the web gives an opportunity for us to express ourselves and to let others know what we think or what our opinions are on certain issues.

                According to Stan Yee, our culture now is a “share everything” culture wherein the private data about us is easily disclosed to public which in turn might be subjected to exploitation and abuse[6].  I believe that it also relies on the information that you are sharing online and the settings you establish on the media or channel that you are publishing it on.

                Even there are negative sides on using the web as a medium on expressing yourself, I am still happy that the internet and the web help everything from doing a simple to the most complex actions, easy. And even though I was born with the month and the year when the web was also born, I can say that as I grow old with it, I get to study how it evolves and how it can deeply penetrate the lives of the people particularly its users- the very fact that we are of the same age helps. In short, I am part of making and even witnessing how it evolves!

               

               

---

[1] “Internet History” available at Computer Hope website at http://www.computerhope.com/history/internet.htm; Internet, accessed 9 November 2010.

[2] “WWW” available at the Computer Hope website at http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/w/www.htm; Internet , accessed 9 November 2010.

[3] The Virtual revolution is documentary series which has four episodes. It was presented by Dr. Aleks Krotoski. For more information, check the website of the series at http://www.bbc.co.uk/virtualrevolution/.

[4] “ Is the Web the ultimate propaganda machine?” available at Dr. Aleks Krotoski’s website at http://alekskrotoski.com/post/event-digifest-is-the-web-the-ultimate-propaganda-machine; Internet, accessed 11 November 2010.

[5] “About the Book” available at the Born Digital website at http://borndigitalbook.com/about.php; Internet, accessed 15 November 2010.

[6] “Are You Checking In- or Out?” in Reader’s Digest Asia’s Guide Tech section, November 2010, 145. 

XXXXX

A REPOST from the UP Cybernomads website at http://upcybernomads.blogspot.com/2010/11/august-1991-webvolution-begins.html. The author decided to post the same content in his own blog site for the future references. 

What a Night

So I thought after jogging at the acd oval, I will be able to read the articles that my classes require us to read. But no. I was able to make a blog site for my Comm 150 class. And I discovered the blog site of Ma'am Data. Yes, finally I will add something to my assignment in class! :)

The Mainstream and the New Media

As I browse the web to search something for my assignment, I encountered again one of my crushes when it comes to online and new media, Dr. Aleks Krotoski. We will encounter her in one of our assigned short films. Ma'am Data introduced her to me last semester. I would like to share this to you since I find it intresting because we are more exposed to the mainstream media than the new media, in general; and Dr. Krotoski's insights are very significant especially that we are studying the internet and the new media culture at the same time we are also studying the mainstream media.

Photo available at the BBC's Virtual Revolution website.

No copyright infringement intended. 

Used here for educational and non-commercial purposes only.

"...the Web has the potential to be the ultimate propaganda tool, but it’s not there yet."
-Dr. Aleks Krotoski

Dr. Krotoski talked in her article "Is the Web the ultimate propaganda machine?" (see link below) about the mainstream media as compared to the use of the web as an alternative propaganda tool. I believe she and Ma'am Data has the same philosophy about the use of the web as a propaganda machinery.

  
"We don’t want governments in our Web! It’s a rhetoric-free platform! We populate it, for us and our interests! We don’t want it to be used to manipulate us!"
-Dr. Aleks Krotoski


If there is one thing that I learned ultimately in BC 148 or the Interactive Broadcasting class is that we should be targeting the 'known institutions' and use the web to tear it down. Just like what Dr. Krotoski stated above, we don't want spinternet to control us!


HERE IS THE LINK:
http://alekskrotoski.com/post/event-digifest-is-the-web-the-ultimate-propaganda-machine

FIRSTs on the First Day

This day is my first day in class this semester in my first subject, too, wherein our first topic was about our first encounter with Internet. So here's the result of the first class activity.

The first question for the activity was, "When was the first time you encountered the Internet?" We were divided into two groups so that we will be able to get to know our classmates better and to know the intensity of our "relationship" with the internet. Our group was composed of Marji, Jara, Wacky, Gelly, Jervis, Kath, Marjo, and Jamay. Majority of us did encounter the web during our elementary days when we were curious about the stuff and when we first made our e-mail, visited websites such as sfogs, and connecting with family as what Jervis told the group. It was also when Wacky first downloaded a Pokemon stuff and when Marji did Meteor Garden stuff online.

Our professor, Ma'am Data was taken aback by that fact that majority of us had their first encounter with the Internet during elementary years from 2002-2004. She shared that her first encounter was on 1994 at the College of Science Library when she sent a message over the net. Lucky for us now that we have an access in almost everywhere within the College of Mass Communication.

GOING STRONG.
The current relationship with the internet is "going strong" as what Jara said. I came to sum that there are basically two purposes of the internet for us, according to the discussion. First is that it is used for connection. It slowly changes the cellphone as a medium for fast communication because Skype is now available and it's free and you are able to view the one you are talking to. You will also meet a total stranger  wherein the traditional "know-the-name-first system" when meeting someone is also changing to "guess-me" or "this-is-my-codename" system. Second it is used for entertainment such as to watch television since most of us are dormers wherein television is scarce or even not available at all. Hence, we rely on the internet to watch the programs we'd like to watch on TV.  Marji pointed out that television can sometimes be delayed since some programs were already online and she was able to catch up on these programs online.

FIRST ASSIGNMENT.
Yes, assignment was also given on the first day and that is to search for the month and year when we were born about what was happening online then and share our thoughts about it. I also volunteered to make the Yahoo groups of our class and I find it relevant for us to immediately check the syllabus which will be uploaded therein. Tell you, billions of readings are included therein.

PHENOMENON.
The class discussion was so interactive and also very opening since I discovered a lot from my classmates and even new points laid out by Ma'am Data. I am hoping to learn more about this phenomenon, the virtual revolution as what Dr. Aleks Krotoski would say. Ma'am Data keeps on pointing out that there really is a change that is happening and we are part and in the middle of these phenomena. And we will be part of a solution or contribute something to it, hopefully beyond and even inside the class.

Now that excites me so much!