MUDers

“Welcome to the wild side of cyberspace culture, where magic is real and identity is a fluid.” Chapter Five of Howard Rheingold’s The Virtual Community discusses the world of cyber cultures and its relations to human activity. In my opinion, these virtual gaming worlds present a huge social danger, especially for the college aged participant. It is an activity that is dangerously addicting. Rheingold argues that most of these MUDers “spend most of their walking lives in their alternative world.” MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons) were the main example throughout the article of an online social community. Within this world, users are able to create an identity as specific as your gender, social characteristics and physical appearance.

Most MUD users are males and usually college aged. I attribute this to the social shift that happens when you enter collegiate life. When coming to school here at Saint Mary’s, starting a new social routine was difficult. Where as in high school your day was pretty structured and filled with school and extracurriculars, college is a new experience that is open to many opportunities. For about the first month of school, I had no idea how to manage my time. I knew the priority was to go to class, but to find outside activity in a new, unfamiliar environment was difficult. Going from a very busy, high demanding lifestyle in high school to having complete freedom in college left me with enormous amounts of time to fill. This is where I see many student discovering online communities like Second Life or MUD. Because so much of a college student’s life is spent on the computer (writing papers, reading emails and so forth…) it is easy for them to create an alternative identity online which could occupy empty time that would have otherwise been spent in front of the television.

Although I did not join an online community, I did join Facebook within the first two weeks of college and I was hooked. I would just keep the web page up on my screen and refresh the browser every time I entered the room. In an article found on the Daily Vindette, the author discusses the addiction of Facebook (http://media.www.dailyvidette.com/media/storage/paper420/news/2006/08/31/Features/College.Students.At.High.Risk.Of.Internet.Addiction-2252399.shtml) Laura Braun exclaims, "Alcoholics have booze, drug addicts have cocaine and college students have Facebook. Just when students found a carefree activity to occupy themselves for those 45 minutes between classes a new addiction has surfaced. Internet addiction is on the rise and college aged students are highly at risk." Just like facebook, MUDers also have been criticised for being a high risk population for addiction. In Rheigold's article, he first and foremost examines the fascination behind the program. Why are people using this medium so obssesively? It challenges your real identity and allows you to develop a new person, if not multiple, to live the 'online life' the way you choose. You could be a 30 year old stripper or a 65 year old investment banker. In the MUD life, you can be a wizard, inheriting magical powers that in the real world, would never exist.

Even though Rheingold's chapter was interesting, I simply cannot imagine myself joining such a website. magic carpets and magic swords were never my thing. I will happily stick to my Facebook identity and real life Nicole. I like my authentic self and in no way would enjoy trying to juggle a duplicated version via the Internet. Although I appreciate this can be some college student's way to socialize and create an alternative identity, I feel it is better to continually develop the real life you that cannot just be closed with the click of the cursor.

Bud Light Presents

Ok, so I know this is in no way academic, but I thought it was hilarious so I HAVE to share...

Everyone knows the "Bud Light Presents" commercials right? you know, the ones where they salute a real man of genius? Well here is a new one:

BUDLIGHT PRESENTS: REAL MEN OF GENIUS..."Today we salute you, Mr. Myspace addict. You thought you could just log on once, but little did you know it would consume your life. Joining one pointless group was just not enough. Adding every person you never spoke to in high school, and people you've never met who live 3000 miles away just to be "virtually" popular. As if IM wasn't enough to feed into your stalker-ish behavior. Oooo look at you with your 14393 "friends". So go ahead, crack open an ice cold BUD LIGHT, Compulsive Away Message Checker Turned Myspace Psycho. It's too bad that you're not too popular at the bar, but in virtual reality, you'd be the life of the cyber party."


I think it's hilarious to see how much this whole obsession with social networking online has saturated everything in our 'real' world! Even our beer ads!

Is Blogging Another Man's World?

I am a 21 year old female, and can honestly say that I have never really been into blogging. For me blogging is not something I think about doing when I am on the Internet. I have never posted, read and responded to a blog prior to this class. I tend to find blogging to be some what time consuming and something my short attention span cannot handle. When I am on the Internet, I tend to overlook most blogs I come across especially if they are too wordy. The few blogs I happen to read tend to be juicy or important to me in some way, but I still do not comment or respond to the few blogs I do read. With that in mind and going back to last Tuesday’s readings, I think I would be classified as a “lurker” (creepy word for people like me) and not a participator in the blogging community (Blanchard 3). The reason I believe I am a “lurker” instead of a participator is because I am not a big fan of intellectual discussions/arguments, writing about what is on my mind, or giving detailed information about myself on a public space for others to see (Blanchard 3). I believe all the things I just mentioned provide fuel for blogging communities.

We are living in a time in which people want to be heard and want stand out. This is a big world and people always seem to be competing for things. Unfortunately, not everyone is heard, not everyone stands out, and not everyone wins. It is for this reason in which I think blogging has gained popularity. Blogs are people’s private/public space in which people can quickly and conveniently write blogs about whatever they choose. It is through blogs that people are able to express themselves without shyness, interruption, and can be heard by several of other people worldwide. Blogs are a place in which a person can show or discover his or her identity. For the most part, blogs can be a place for heavy debate, questions, thoughts, or as a place to keep record of day to day events. Unfortunately the thing is, now that there are so many blogs, not everyone’s blog is heard or given much attention.

In today’s article it is stated “that a ‘democratizing’ technology does not automatically result in social equality, and points to the importance of social and cultural factors surrounding technology adoption and use” (Herring 1). I agree with this statement. I agree with this statement because blogs are meant to be used by anyone how he or she pleases. Blogs are suppose to give everyone the same equal opportunity by allowing people to stand out, say what they want, and be what they want. Instead, I do not see this when I happen to run across blogs online. What I see is some extremely popular blogs, and then I see some blogs who do not have any visitors. Additionally, I tend to see more females and teenagers spilling their personal lives/thoughts online, and I wonder to myself- is this because women and teenagers are not heard in society so much as men? Is blogging online the only place women and teenagers are able to be themselves, and express what they want and still be heard because they cannot do so in society without feeling out of place? If this is the case, then why do the numerous blogs written by women and teenagers not get as much, if not more, attention than the few popular blogs written by men? Is this just another world in which a man still tries to prevail over women and teenagers, and blogging is just another form of technology that reiterates that? I hope not, but according to Herring’s article, and this article I am starting to think it might be that way.

P.S. To check out the only blog I tend to be a “lurker” at click here, and I am proud to say it is by a woman. =)

The differences between women, men, teens, almost teens.

When I was going over the reading for today, I was thinking about the graphs that there are in the reading where they show who and how many are using blogs, and online journals and etc.

I think that it is interesting to think of the reasons why the different demographics blog and why some don’t blog as much.

In the first graph, it is a graph charting the usage in teens verse adults and within that is female and male bloggers. Female users are more prominent as teenagers. I think that there is a reason for that which is related to the fact that teenage girls really want to talk. When it comes down to it, girls want to talk and since they are teenagers, it is a little awkward talking to either their parents or other teenagers, and by other teenagers I mean boys. The article that I found relating to this was in USA today http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2005-10-30-teen-blogs_x.htm.

I think that boys who are teenagers are also less likely to blog during those years because they are more awkward and like to be silent as opposed to talking. Teenage boys usually don’t even like talking on the phone, let alone getting them to write online journals.

As teenagers grow up, I think there is a social change between men and women. Women become more likely to stop blogging and men become more likely to start blogging. Men become more interested in things online and I think that is a reason why they start blogging more. I think they want to have a place where they can let out personal and even emotional things considering that is socially unacceptable when they do it all the time in the open and in real person. I think that women are socially allowed to do that kind of thing. It is almost expected for them to be emotional and personal when in public and in real life so they may be less likely to feel the need to do it online.

The other charts were quite similar and they expressed the same results. That at younger ages, girls are more likely to have weblogs of some sort and as they grow older, through the emerging adult to full fledged adulthood, girls simply fall out of the blogging communities. Boys however are less likely to belong to these communities as teenagers because of the socially awkwardness and the unmotivated ness to talk on the phone, online, or through text messaging. When these teenage boys grow up to be men, they are faced with the unacceptability of their emotions and feelings and live in fear of not being “real men.” Writing on the internet could potentially be an outlet for them to express themselves and still maintain their strong persona in the real world.

I think that is very interesting after reading this article to think about the differences between men, women, teenage boys, and teenage girls. There really is a difference in their abilities to socialize and to express themselves as a result of their age and I think that as they grow older it either becomes not as necessary or a an alternative route to expression depending on men or women. .

Ross Mathews: Self-Proclaimed Flamboyant Television Personality and Creator of "RossBlog"

Who Exactly is Ross Mathews, and how has blogging escalated him to virtual and literal stardom?

During Ross' senior year in college he earned a position as an intern with The Tonight Show - the #1 rated late-night talk show in the nation. His internship was spent doing the typical (menial) duties that most interns face, until the last day of his internship when he was informed by the head writer, that they believed Ross had what it took to be on television. He was told to leave immediately with George Clooney, whom he was to accompany to the premiere of "Ocean's Eleven." His assignment was to interview various celebrities as they made their way down the red carpet.

The premiere was an enormous success, and Ross was asked to cover many other highly publicized events, including the Olympics. During the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Ross started writing an extremely popular blog for The Tonight Show website. Ross was subsequently hired to blog full-time, has traveled the world as a Tonight Show correspondent, and is now described as "a staple of late-night television and a favorite of the public and celebrities alike."

Blood concedes, "By writing a few lines each day, weblog editors redefine media as a public, participatory endeavor" (130). RossBlog allows its readers to gain access to events that are typically off-limits to the public. Readers are able to get a glimpse into an ethereal world, feeling as if they are celebrities, even for a brief moment. Ross' silly, light-hearted commentary provides for, what Blood describes as "an unexpectedly intimate view of what it is to be a particular individual in a particular place at a particular time" (131). While the majority of us "common folk" will never get to experience what it feels like to be jet-setting with George Clooney, we can always live vicariously through RossBlog.

Although RossBlog is seemingly just a light-hearted account of the "marvelous and mundane details" of day-to-day life, Ross also covers current events of great importance. He participates in "the dissemination and interpretation of the news that is fed to us every day" (Blood 130), adding a unique spin to the stories.

For example, he covered the Writer's Guild of America in a somewhat personal manner. Ross described seeing many of his friends on strike and wrote, "After telling them all how much I support them, I took a picture with my blackberry and wanted to share it with you in order to put a real face on a story many of you are reading about in the paper or watching on the nightly news" (11/5/07).

RossBlog allows its readers to experience events that they would probably never have access to, outside the virtual world. Ross Mathews is able to insert his own views on current events and influences his fans to follow his example and "find [their] own opinions and ideas worthy of serious consideration" (Blood 132).

If the blogging world could escalate this college senior communications major to star-status, what could it do for us?!

Blogging about Blogs

I have experienced firsthand how powerful belonging to a blog community can be. Reading blogs has become an obsession of mine the last year or so. By doing so, I have fully integrated myself into an online celebrity gossip community. Celeb gossip blogs are becoming extremely popular, and I have found my place in a physical as well as online blogging community. People who read certain blogs religiously, like Perez Hilton and TMZ are connecting in person as well as on the internet. I will only discuss my favorite celebs with other friends I know are frequent Perez, TMZ, and The Superficial readers. Reading these blogs affords a user status among other celeb fanatics. If someone does not read these blogs, there is an assumption that the person is clearly behind in her celeb knowledge. The only way to fully participate in a celebrity-based conservation in person, is to have all of the up to date information. While the blog is important to me in physical conversations, I am more of an observer on the actual blog than a participant. I do not leave comments or replies to blog postings. My sole purpose while on the sites is to read the information provided. Even though I am not a contributor to the blog, I still feel like I am a part of it.

The blogs are considered the most up to date sources and to not be acquainted with them leaves you behind in your celebrity knowledge. These blogs are replacing weekly gossip magazines for me. While I will still occasionally buy an US Weekly or People, more often than not, the information in the magazines is something I have already known for days. The turn around time for the blogs is so much faster than the magazines, that it is entirely possible that the continued growth of blogs, could potentially wipe out competing magazines one day.

Blogging has become such an integral part of our generation that bloggers themselves are able to become celebrities. As a career blogger, Perez Hilton has done his own television special, has appeared on countless television shows including, The View, and is a common fixture in the weekly gossip magazines. Through blogging, a person who was once just reporting on celebrity scandals has now become a celebrity himself. That is a true symbol of how wildly popular blogs have become. In some cases it is not even the information itself, but the way the work is presented. The celebrity blogs have continued the traditional language of blogs as “irreverent and sometimes sarcastic.” It makes reading the blogs, not only a way to be informed about celebs, but it has an entertainment factor that continually draws me back.

The blogs have even evolved into something bigger than themselves. Most have truly become, as Blanchard states, “a website that is updated frequently with new material posted at the top of the page.” This style is incredibly conducive to following your favorite celeb’s antics. Frequent updating allows for the newest information to be easily accessible. Then as you scroll down the page, or move backwards to a previous page, it is a process of “catching up” on my celeb gossip. The accessibility of the blogs is also a huge factor in my devotion to them. I regularly check the blogs, multiple times a day, and checking them does not require a large time commitment. I am usually on my computer doing homework, or on AIM, so the blog reading can happen simultaneously. Reading blogs has become a large part of my daily life and their importance to face-to-face conversations will likely continue to grow.