This blog is going to be centered around how social media has affected its massive explosion in user sine-ups and people buying Minecraft. First a little video to get you acquainted with Minecraft:
As you can see its nothing amazing, just simplistic blocks with no real goal. What Minecraft does do is stimulate the users creativity and gives the user control on its surrounding. This form of open world entertainment stimulates the user to want to share and explore there creations in the world they cannot, but they are so proud they seek affirmation from peers.
The hypothesis is that the average Minecraft user must go outside there world and share their connection with a disconnected world. Minecraft users seem to amass at Reddit.com/r/minecraft, notch's blog (the soul creator of mine craft), or even on youtube.com where people by the masses are posting pics and videos of their creations. For example, the subreddit for Minecraft has exploded, going from only about 100 people to over 7000 in only 2 weeks, along with the rest of the internet curiosity with this little game developed by one man. This game has stimulated people to join together around a common interest and thus is a social media.
The reason why people should watch this expanse and growth in this area of social media is that it is massive and unprovoked. Seemingly overnight one man has become a millionaire based on a simple game he had the passion to make. How can this be harnessed in the future? Who will be the next Notch? What makes people who play this single player game so rampant about sharing it with their friends and convince them to buy it as well. I believe its a combination of freedom that isn't found in real life and the stimulation of creativity where the modern blue collar person doesn't have the medium to express. When a person creates they often feel a need to share there creation and this is what drives them to show off their 'art' to there friends and a since of accomplishment comes with this affirmation from there piers. Their for they strive for a large audience ie the internet as further affirmation.
Humans are social creatures and thus must socialize that is why a Minecraft has evolved in to a new social media.
Thanks,
Isaac
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Wiki Wiki Blog Post
This week is a very Wiki Wiki week and meaning the online living encyclopedia. First a little context in to what Wikipedia is and why its a living encyclopedia, Wikipedia is a collection of user created and edit information, its always changing, and constantly evolving. The entire encyclopedia is hive mind build of an encyclopedia by hordes of internet-goers who have options and facts. The process that occurs is some one creates a article and than another edits .. than another .... than another. Evolving from a general mass to a smooth polished work of art.
To day this blogger joined the masses in editing an article. Here is my additions to the reddit wiki:
[
(the popular subreddits is the addition i made http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reddit)
I'm going to let this sit over night and see how it evolves. What the hypothesis is that some one some one will go in there and make the article look more polished and not so much a 20 min article edit.
--about 24 hours pass--
Okay, so its been a day and no one seems to have modified or deleted my post. it seems that ether no one noticed that the article had changed or the people who did thought it was a good addition and didn't need to be changed, ether way a contribution was made that fed in to the mass of information that is Wikipedia. This was a failure in regards to the original hypothesis, but a successful contribution. Though on more controversial topics it is a growing trend that they are constantly edited by everyone so much so that the moderators lock down the article to changes so as to not corrupt the information by bias parties constantly editing.
Wikipedia it seems is like a large city full of millions of people (users) and millions of buildings (articles) and is growing and changing all the time with each article addition and each modification. This is a recent innovation in social media where it pertains to how communities and thus societies are formed around ideas and the exchange of information. How a lowly user can help shape the face of the virtual city scape for ever making an imprint for a larger goal.
EDIT: SUCCESS
some one touched it up as i knew they would!
(and here is the new ok-go music video)
To day this blogger joined the masses in editing an article. Here is my additions to the reddit wiki:
[
(the popular subreddits is the addition i made http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reddit)
I'm going to let this sit over night and see how it evolves. What the hypothesis is that some one some one will go in there and make the article look more polished and not so much a 20 min article edit.
--about 24 hours pass--
Okay, so its been a day and no one seems to have modified or deleted my post. it seems that ether no one noticed that the article had changed or the people who did thought it was a good addition and didn't need to be changed, ether way a contribution was made that fed in to the mass of information that is Wikipedia. This was a failure in regards to the original hypothesis, but a successful contribution. Though on more controversial topics it is a growing trend that they are constantly edited by everyone so much so that the moderators lock down the article to changes so as to not corrupt the information by bias parties constantly editing.
Wikipedia it seems is like a large city full of millions of people (users) and millions of buildings (articles) and is growing and changing all the time with each article addition and each modification. This is a recent innovation in social media where it pertains to how communities and thus societies are formed around ideas and the exchange of information. How a lowly user can help shape the face of the virtual city scape for ever making an imprint for a larger goal.
EDIT: SUCCESS
some one touched it up as i knew they would!
(and here is the new ok-go music video)
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
This week in the thick of things
This weeks blog is supposed to contain a 'trackback link' which gives a ping to an original author that was sited in the blog but information from Wikipedia "One notable blogging service that does not support trackback is Blogger. Instead, Blogger provides 'backlinks',[2] which allow users to employ Google's search infrastructure to show links between blog entries." So seeing as Blogger doesn't allow 'trackback linking' so it was decided that this other form will be used in hopes that there will be no penalization. Hay look it was used below!
Digressing to last weeks topic, The Restoring Truthiness rally is full steam a head and is further trying to get Colbert to hold the rally on the date 101010 which translates in binary to 42 the 'perfect number.' (from the book 'Hitch Hikers Guide to The Galaxy' Follow the link for more info ) There newest Social media blitz is by attempting to get thousands of people to donate to Steven Colbert's favorite charity Donors Choose.org. The goal in doing this (TL;DR version i.e. too long didn't read) is "TL;DR Donate money = Help Kids = Impress Colbert = Restore Truthiness!" you can read more about this on the Colbert rally website.
In other news, before the conclusion, there is a quick quote that was brought up in class and that is "If you are not paying for it, you're not the customer; you're the product being sold" meaning that free services like Google and others that don't require you to pay for them are indirectly making money off the information that is gathered by you using them and selling that information off to marketing teams and large corporations. The point of bringing it up now is to let you the reader marinate on it and its meaning before further elaboration in next weeks blog.
So, In conclusion, Blogger doesn't have 'trackback link's', The Restoring Truthiness rally is on the move seeing as no one has given up on it quite yet, and keep thinking about that quote.
(yet another funny picture)
Digressing to last weeks topic, The Restoring Truthiness rally is full steam a head and is further trying to get Colbert to hold the rally on the date 101010 which translates in binary to 42 the 'perfect number.' (from the book 'Hitch Hikers Guide to The Galaxy' Follow the link for more info ) There newest Social media blitz is by attempting to get thousands of people to donate to Steven Colbert's favorite charity Donors Choose.org. The goal in doing this (TL;DR version i.e. too long didn't read) is "TL;DR Donate money = Help Kids = Impress Colbert = Restore Truthiness!" you can read more about this on the Colbert rally website.
In other news, before the conclusion, there is a quick quote that was brought up in class and that is "If you are not paying for it, you're not the customer; you're the product being sold" meaning that free services like Google and others that don't require you to pay for them are indirectly making money off the information that is gathered by you using them and selling that information off to marketing teams and large corporations. The point of bringing it up now is to let you the reader marinate on it and its meaning before further elaboration in next weeks blog.
So, In conclusion, Blogger doesn't have 'trackback link's', The Restoring Truthiness rally is on the move seeing as no one has given up on it quite yet, and keep thinking about that quote.
(yet another funny picture)
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
OPERATION STRIKE OF TRUTHINESS!
Social media has many uses some people use it to connect with friends and family and other like corporations use it to "connect" to there target audience, but what i want to introduce to day is a new from for media blitzing i.e. social media blitz that has sprung up in recent years.
The social media blitz is a new grass roots effort to promote an idea, site, or product. It can be harnessed by any one at any time and its entire success is dependent on the users. Generally it starts small like a few tweets to get the word out or a face book group to show support for which ever movement. These tactics were widely exploited in the 2008 election with Obama who posted YouTube videos and successfully turned a dark-horse candidate in to an icon and later the President of the United States.
What sparked this particular topic was when i joined the movement "OPERATION STRIKE OF TRUTHINESS!" which is a response by his fans against the ignorance of the bias conservative fox media. That is beside the point though and if you would like any more information click this link: THE LINK. The website eurges people to:
This is a push to get people to take notice of there issue and by blitzing it causes the news media to pay attention. As we have seen in recent years more and more news and more conventional forms of media have payed greater and greater attention to the activity of the web causing such grass roots efforts to take a more prominent roll in society.
thanks,
Isaac S.
(heres a funny pic)
ps: if thats not the type of quote your looking for let me know ill change it
The social media blitz is a new grass roots effort to promote an idea, site, or product. It can be harnessed by any one at any time and its entire success is dependent on the users. Generally it starts small like a few tweets to get the word out or a face book group to show support for which ever movement. These tactics were widely exploited in the 2008 election with Obama who posted YouTube videos and successfully turned a dark-horse candidate in to an icon and later the President of the United States.
What sparked this particular topic was when i joined the movement "OPERATION STRIKE OF TRUTHINESS!" which is a response by his fans against the ignorance of the bias conservative fox media. That is beside the point though and if you would like any more information click this link: THE LINK. The website eurges people to:
At EXACTLY 12:00PM EST (9:00AM PST) On Tuesday, Sept 7th 2010
do the following:
First, if you use Twitter, click here or Tweet
"Restoring Truthiness at http://www.colbertrally.com".
Then go to Google and REPEATEDLY search for "Restoring Truthiness"
Do not stop until you get carpal tunnel.
This is a push to get people to take notice of there issue and by blitzing it causes the news media to pay attention. As we have seen in recent years more and more news and more conventional forms of media have payed greater and greater attention to the activity of the web causing such grass roots efforts to take a more prominent roll in society.
thanks,
Isaac S.
(heres a funny pic)
ps: if thats not the type of quote your looking for let me know ill change it
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