Archive for the ‘Social Media’ Category

Posted on September 17th, 2008 by by Aubree Lawrence

She Works Hard for the Whuffie: Free Labor in the Age of Peer Production

It’s a title possibility for my thesis. Maybe I’ll change my mind. If I do I’ll simply come back and delete the entry altogether. How very 1984.
Thankfully the title, according to the Emerson College Department Handbook for the Master of Arts in Media Arts Program, 2004-2005 (my official catalog year), is open for redevelopment during […]

Posted on September 8th, 2008 by by Aubree Lawrence

Particitainment. Not a Typo.

The most powerful hybrid of communications and entertainment is “particitainment”—entertaining communications that connects us with some larger purpose or enterprise. - Futurist Paul Saffo, Consumers and Interactive New Media: A Hierarchy of Desires, 1993
I like this term “particitainment.” I can already hear my peers groaning at the introduction of another term to describe participatory culture, […]

Posted on March 14th, 2008 by by Aubree Lawrence

Greetings Professor Falken! ::gulp::

This is fascinating to me. Those crazy kids, err, I mean, Researchers at Rensselaer are using Second Life as a platform to test an engineered, self-reasoning avatar. Yes, avatar. The little character on the screen that comes to life when operated by a reasoning human being, only… without the human being. His name is Eddie.
The […]

Posted on March 3rd, 2008 by by Aubree Lawrence

Just what are we calling for here?

The recent Slate article “The Wisdom of the Chaperones” starts with “It’s getting harder to be a Wikipedia-hater.” You might think that means that it’s moving in a very positive trend, but author Chris Wilson seems to believe we are all being charmed by an ‘illusion’ of democracy at sites like Wikipedia and Digg.
Wilson is […]

Posted on January 21st, 2008 by by Aubree Lawrence

PBS/Frontline: Growing Up Online

Sounds fascinating, though I’m very curious to see if Frontline can balance its attention-getting (fear-instilling) trailer by presenting the significant advantages today’s digital natives enjoy thanks to the tubes. Has the potential to be the next “Merchants of Cool,” or show the sinking of another organization (please no - you’re PBS) to the sex-sells philosophy […]