Digital Nation Commentary

Here's a link to the Digital Nation video and the commentary from people about the video.http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/forum/2010/02/reactions-to-digital-nation-1.html#_comform

Web 2.0 Discussion Questions

1. I think that user-generated content will continue to get better simply because technology continues to get better. Eventually user-generated content will lose its amateur look and begin to look more professional. This will eliminate this ad style because there won't be much of a difference in the quality of the professional and the amateur. Production values may remain low for a while as they match user-generated content but they will increase as amateur quality increases.
2. The article I read was off of Yahoo.com and was about the credit card reform. I would tag this article with terms such as financial, reform, interest rates, banks, credit cards and recession. The article was tagged by other people with terms such as marketing, business, smallbusiness, strategy and smallbiz. This seems to indicate to me that people tag articles with terms that have very broad meaning and relation to the article rather than more specific terms.
3. Transparency in the social media world is so important because users dont like being misled or ignored by sites. Users need to be able to trust a site or they will less inclined to use it. If they are neglected, then the site will lose business and people will be more willing to go a competitor. I think transparency is more important in the offline world because business make more money and have more business in the offline world. Also, there is more attention paid to things in the real world. Misleading customers and losing trust in the offline world could result in a very large loss of business and crisis. This is something that could ruin a business. Transparency and honesty are crucial in both situations, but I think it is more important in the offline world.

Digital Nation Extended Analysis

I dont think that there is any debate that people are spending more time now on media use then they did before. This is certainly a result of convenience with people having constant access to media. One thing that is talked about in the video is that this seems to lead to people in my generation having a shorter attention span and not being able to put together complete and extended thoughts. An example of this is how we always cut our writing up into paragraphs. The problem that I have with this example is that I feel like I have always been instructed to use paragraph in situations such as writing an essay. I think that this is simply a result of teaching rather than lack of attention span.
One thing that has been created as a result of the infusion of so much technology is programs such as World of Warcraft and Second Life. I think that the use of Second Life as a way of meeting with people without having to fly everyone to one location can be beneficial if it can be done without sacrificing productivity. I do not think that people spending enormous amounts of time on something such as World of Warcraft can be viewed as very positive. I think that getting so detached from the real world isnt really a good thing. Despite this, if there arent any real problems caused by being on the computer for such extended amounts of time, I dont think this could be viewed as something that needs to be stopped.

Digital Nation Analysis

The analysis and evidence presented in the first two segments of Digital Nation is certainly very interesting and raises a lot of questions about the way we spend our time. Everyone is constantly on their computers or using some form of media to stay in contact with friends or colleagues. People are always trying to balance these things by multitasking. With the amount of time that people spend on their computers or just using forms of media in general, if there are any problems with this behavior, it could be very widespread. This is certainly something that should be studied.
While this subject is an important one that needs to be examined, the documentary conveys how difficult it is to do so. Without conclusive facts, it is difficult to take all the opinions completely seriously. I think that most people are better at multi-tasking and balancing things then researchers give them credit for, but I also think that there are certainly people who are not very good at it. It is also certainly a concern that the amount of time that we spend using media could be harmful.
This documentary does raise some valid points. One problem that I think it has, at least through the first two parts, is that it doesn’t present both sides of the issue. The two filmmakers seem to be focusing exclusively on one side of this argument. It is always important to show both sides of the issue so that people don’t think there is only a single accepted opinion when there isn’t. Through the first two parts of the film, this is a failure by the two filmmakers.

This collage is meant to represent the content and message of the new Sony VAIO notebook. It includes all elements of a computer, as well as audio capabilities, the ability to play and store music and play Blue-Ray movies. All these elements are contained in a notebook that someone could use almost anywhere.

Web 2.0 Terms

User generated content refers to media that is created and published to the web by amateurs independently, rather than by professionals working for a website.

Long-Tail refers to the fact that most content that is available online finds some audience, regardless of how specialized or how small of a niche it may cater to.

Network as platform refers to platforms that give users unlimited space for storage and the chance to express themselves and broadcast their media however they may like.

Folksonomy is a system of classification derived from the practice and method of collaboratively creating and managing tags to annotate and categorize content.

Syndication refers to a practice in which material from one website is made available to several other sites.

Mass Collaboration is a group action when a large number of people work independently on a single process.

Computer supported collaboration is research that focuses technology that affects groups, organizations, communities and societies.

Social software refers to websites such as Facebook and Myspace that allow users to share information and data with each other. This can also refer to sites such as Youtube or Amazon.

Content vs. Message

For each of the three products mentioned in the last post, there is both content and message. Sony's new VAIO notebooks include content such as speech, video, entertainment, text, digitial images and audio. The message from this device is that it allows for added enjoyment of the notebook because of its improvements that resulted in better quality. A negative message might be that it is hurting the industry that manufactures DVD and Blue-Ray players. People might feel less inclined to buy something that has one function when they can buy something that has several functions.

The content for Apple's new iPad is somewhat similar to that of the VAIO, though not all details of the product have been disclosed yet. It's content will include video, as well as internet access, text, digital images and audio. The message from this product is that it will allow for added convenience when it comes to accessing the internet, reading books, listening to music or any number of other tasks.It also is a more portable computer and easier to carry. A negative message is that it may make people too inseparable from computers.

Sony's new BRAVIA televisions have content such as movies and HD images, as well as text. Positive messages from these televisions include added convenience and quicker access as a result of movies becoming available sooner. Also added enjoyment of television due to a better image. A negative message from these new televisions is that they might make people even more reluctant to get out of the house rather then simply stay in.