Practicum Post 7_Morgan Wille

Overall, I have really enjoyed learning about social networking sites. My last key takeaways are below!
Dailybooth.com- Great site! I am definitely going to stay on this site after this practicum. I think its fun to look back on pictures (its like my own little picture diary). You also can meet people from all over the world and see what they're up to. I've made a lot of friends and enjoy the simple connections we have made. For example, if someone is having a good day, I like to comment and tell them about mine too. Or if I'm having a bad day, people have written little words of support or "happy quotes" to make me feel better. If im able to stick with the site, it will be interesting to look back 2-3 years down the line at my first practicum post for CA 346 ;) The picture on the left is the my "picture of the day" for today!
eHarmony- I think i've come to know everything about online dating. It is very different from dating in the real world, but I think its a great outlet for people that are maybe a little anti-social at first or don't have the time to go out and meet people. I also discovered that a lot of people interested in meeting people in other places than just a bar. I can definitely understand where these people are coming from. Many of them don't want to waste time (especially if they are in there 40s or 50s). Also, I noticed that its a great way to meet friends in the area if you just moved and don't know a lot of people. eHarmony is unlike other dating sites in the sense that most users who are on it, are really interested in gaining meaningful friendships or relationships (or both!). Although the site is pretty complex and takes a couple weeks to get acquainted with, I think it appeals to a lot of people and in some cases, actually works!
Gotryiton.com- This site is awesome, hands down. I really hope it becomes more popular because girls need to know about it. It is a great resource to get advice on outfits (in the fitting room at a store or even at home) when you don't have others around. Also, people give an unbiased opinion and it gives you suggestions from fashion experts. It's not really about meeting friends, but about gaining a close group of confidants that you can trust for fashion and clothing advice. Although it mostly deals with clothes, I can definitely see this site expanding to hair styles and maybe make-up suggestions.

practicum 7 Dan Tochen

So all in all i think ive learned about all i can about senior citizens in the internet. There is alot that they need to look out for such as scammers and viruses that could easily trick them, but at the same time there are plenty of people the internet claims as "senior" citizens who do understand how to use the internet, and well at that too. The main thing is that the internet classifies senior citizen as 55+. The internet and technology is classifying age groups now. There are also senior citizens who despise the use of the internet because they are not comfortable with new technology, they prefer face to face talks, the telephone, or even a good hand written letter. Most of them have access to computers, or the internet. So some of their choices to not use the internet is not because it isnt there, they actively chose not to.

Practicum #7 Olivia

The last thing I looked at while studying children's use of the Internet dealt with Facebook again. I was interested in seeing how many children who had a Facebook used their cellphone to update a status, load a picture, or post on a friends' wall. I was shocked by how many middle school students that I know and am Facebook friends with used their Iphones, Blackberry, or Droid powered phone. I actually am friends with a lot of younger Facebook users because the kids that I babysit who have Facebook friend me a long with their friends.

I am so surprised at how many people who are so young have cellphones. When I babysit, I notice how all of the girls are on their cellphone surfing the Internet. I think technology use among children is on the upward trend. It is important that the Internet is kept safe because of so many younger users. I hope parents are monitoring what their kids too-because most websites are pretty safe, but some are questionable.

I enjoyed following children's Internet use because I remember when I was their age I spent most of my time playing dress up and board games.

Practicum #7 - Michael Hayford

So summarizing what I've found over the semester with the collective intelligence community I've been following, sheepshead.org. Overall this collective intelligence community follows Pierre Levy's model, or at least for the most part. While at first I had trouble finding a place in the community, I eventually found an area where a plethora or information was shared among some of the members. This area didn't contain any of the members who tried to chase new members out, or any members who thought they knew everything there was to know about the game. What makes this game so interesting for me is that there is always a new strategy to learn or a way to play that you might not have known before. Overall my time in this community has been great and while I already knew the game when I started I can definitely see myself continuing to follow the community. This community has also made me curious to seek out other groups and possible learn something new from a different CI community.

Practicum #6 - Michael Hayford

So recently I've noticed that there hasn't been a whole lot of activity going on in terms of blog posts. I found this strange because for a while there was a flood of people who wanted information about the game as well as just wanting to talk strategy and share tips and pointers. While this seems to be slowing down the community I'm hoping that it doesn't spell the end for it.

Something interesting that I found via the website is an offline game that you can download and play against computer players. So far the game seems to follow all the rules, or at least the rules that I play by. This is great because while the overall community is starting to become more accepting, this game can allow those who know almost nothing about it to learn and get better before confronting people about tips and gameplay. More so, this allows people to get their feet wet before they jump online and play with other people.

While there hasn't been much in terms of posts on the blog, what is being talked about is the Osama Bin Laden incident. While this by no means is a political blog, it's interesting to get the perspectives of people all over the globe. People from many countries in Europe have posted their feelings about it and I think it's great that people are coming together to express their opinions and chat about what they think is going to happen next.

Practicum #7_Andrew Jacobs

For my last practicum post I have been experimenting with private messages on Superfuture and Hypebeast. The difference between private messages and regular posts on forum walls, is that no one else besides you and the person you sent the message to can see the message. Therefore, it is like an email between you and another person.

I experimented with messaging experienced users, ones with a high number of posts, and unexperienced users. I mainly asked them questions about what they are wearing in a certain picture, where to get it, how to size etc.

My experience has been really good since almost all of the experienced users have responded to my questions. Most of the unexperienced users responded too. This shows how the communities can really nurture new members.

I find that when you ask a legitimate and interesting question, no matter how experienced you are, people generally will respond.

It is nice to see how you can actively participate amongst a group in a large forum and have one on one interaction as well. This mirrors real-life communities because you can talk to all your friends at once and then you can interact with just one, which is more personal.

Overall, my experience has been very illuminating and I feel I have been accepted as part of these online communities. If you are interesting and post meaningful comments, just like in real life, people seem to take notice and accept you.

Practicum #7 - Paul Puglisi

I guess in my final blog post, I will summarize my thoughts on Kongregate. I found aspects of it to be very entertaining. I am a fan of mindless casual games, so that aspect of the site appealed to me. I am not all that into RPG's or MMO's, which the site also features, but I think it is good that the site includes these games because it allows for them to appeal to a wider demographic. The networking aspect of the site was not very appealing to me. I tried to make conversation with other players in the chat room features and in the in-game chat, but most often they were not very willing to make conversation with me. Those who had created games were willing to talk with me, but eventually the conversation turned to how awesome their game is and how I should play it. The forum/message board feature was interesting. A lot of discussion went on there. So many topics were discussed, including non-gaming/serious topics, which I thought was a little weird. Creating games myself was very difficult, so I was unable to participate in that aspect. Overall, personally I think Kongregate serves the purpose of entertainment and distraction. However, I can see how game creators enjoy the participatory and networking aspect of it.