#Hashtag

Are Hashtags useful? and if so How? and to Whom? These are the questions asked in the article
Are Hashtags Actually a Useful Social Media Engagement Tool? http://www.siliconcloud.com/blog/bid/92928/are-hashtags-actually-a-useful-social-media-engagement-tool?source=Blog_Email_%5BAre%20Hashtags%20Actuall
The writer, Keenen suggests that they are not and his argument is solid. They may direct traffic and generate interest around a campaign but they also are our of the original creators control once they are posted and begin to circulate. They also don't serve much function except to take up space. So why do we use them? Well, I would say that it doesn't matter why; We just do. They have become part of the pop culture of the Internet, a cool way to introduce a topic and share it and now it has become part of our experience of the Internet and the way we communicate. Once something has become a part of our shared cultural experience it is difficult to remove it, it becomes associated with other elements of our daily experience and developes the quality of a ritual. Thats what I think hashtags are to us now, a part of the ritual of online communication.

Response to the Article: Technology's impact on Disaster Relief

After reading the Article Technology's Impact on Disaster Relief, (http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/community/b/tsblog/archive/2012/10/31/technologys-impact-on-disaster-relief.aspx) ,  it is easy to see the many ways that technology and in particular social media can help with communication in disaster relief efforts. From interactive maps that show flood areas to sites like Twitter.com that allow people to communicate during a disaster there are many new ways to use these technological advances to assist people in the wake of a disaster.  The article does not address however, the potential negative impacts that increased reliance on these tools could have. Not everyone, has access to these options, the elderly and those living in poverty are two groups in particular that may have limited experience with or access to new internet based tools and are also some of the groups most vulnerable in a disaster. By relying too heavily on new technology do we risk missing, ignoring or replacing other avenues of communication to help underserved populations during a disaster? By focusing only on the pros do we miss the limitations of these methods of communication?

IOLE Group Work

So far so good on our final project. I feel very lucky to be in a group that seems to have it so together. I hope that I don't just have a false sense of security, but I think its safe to say my group will be well prepared for our presentation. Communicating on FB has really helped us to keep up on the project even while juggling multiple schedules not to mention time zones. two weeks ago we met up in SL to discuss the format of our presentation and agreed that we would like to have more of a participatory audience experience than a standard pp presentation. Last week everyone had their slides in for review and they all look great! Now we just need to put it all together and invite people to come. That is what I will be working on over the next couple of days. I am looking at the best ways to generate interest in our presentations on SL. I can't wait to see what the other groups have come up with and how they will approach the topic.

SL Project and Communication

My IOLE http://virtualenvironmentsmodule.com  group has been connecting outside of class now for a few weeks and we have been making good use of Facebook to communicate ideas. We are also using SL but not as much. It is difficult to find times when we are all available to meet given our busy school/work schedules. Facebook has been a useful and practical way to keep each other updated on progress and ideas. We have set up a FB group for our project where we are able to leave messages, plan for meet ups and bring everyone up to speed when meeting up isn't possible. As we all already had Facebook accounts and were familiar with the platform, it made for easy communication without the need to learn a new program.

2. SL location Review

During my time getting acquainted with Second Life, I  have visited a variety of different places. I would like to address here, three very different locations and my thoughts on how they compare and how they fit in to the wider world of Second Life.

One place that I found remarkable for its accuracy is Venezia City http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Yumix%20Prada/138/107/22

Here is a photo I took in RL Venice

I recently visited Venice in RL and I stood in this very same spot on the Rialto Bridge looking over the Grand Canal. The view in this SL created Venice is very much the same. The narrow streets ending canals and the souvenir and clothing shops that line the streets are just as I remember them. What is noticeably lacking  are the tourists taking "selfies" every few feet. When I stood on this bridge in RL I was surrounded by people jostling to get a better view. This is an experience I have frequently had in SL, in which I visit a "recommended" place and find it virtually deserted no matter what time of day or night I choose to log in. It is somewhat disconcerting to see a place one has been and has experienced in  RL and then see that same place in SL, looking very much as it does in reality, but almost as if all of the humans have been removed. The sensation for me at least is one of discomfort, that makes me contemplate the ephemeral nature of human life in comparison to the things we make and leave behind us. Embedded in this thought process is the question of the permanence of virtual worlds, will this Venice out last the real life version?

                                                                          This is my own "selfie" in SL Venezia

Moving on...

Another location I  visited in SL is 2014 Easter Town http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Elizabeth%20Town/66/75/22

This is an example of an entirely fictional place that takes elements of the Easter holiday and Louis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland to create an entirely unique and fantastic environment. This particular space was designed for the Easter Holiday for 2014. The name implies that this is one of a number of virtual spaces that exist for a particular time or event. The purpose and ascetic of this space is in direct contrast to "Venezia City".  Interestingly this location had several other SL citizens visiting while I was there and seemed to be generating some interest. 

The last place I would like to address has elements of both of the above locations, but also has some aspects that make it really very unique. Creative Fantasy at Shadow Brook http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Shadow%20Brook/171/211/26 is a beautifully designed fantasy space. It has natural outdoor settings, quaint cottages, walled gardens with unicorns and other fantasy creatures. Where Venizia City is a realistic representation of a RL place, this is a believable fantasy. It is believable in the sense that it is carefully rendered and includes natural settings that could exist in some form in RL, but that would never actually be seen together in such a pristine state. It is much like the 17th century Dutch floral paintings, in which carefully rendered flowers are portrayed in a vase arrangement that looks believable but would in fact have been impossible due to their different growing seasons. It is an idealized version of the most beautiful aspects of the natural world. The times I have visited this location, I have been the only one present in the area. The solitude adds to the ethereal sense created by the design, although it is likely that it was the intention of its creator that many people would visit. 

These three very different locations showcase a small number of the possible types of SL experiences one can have. While these places really don't address the social aspects of SL that many users are after, They appealed to me for their ascetic and experiential aspects.