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For the most part, I am a big fan of technology. When it comes to computers, I sometimes struggle in using them and certain software, but I believe that technology helps a lot of people and does a lot of good for society. That goes for everyone, even the millenials that are under constant scrutiny for being “locked in” to cell phones, social media, etc. Technology can in fact do a lot of good for people, and this class has proven that to be true.

My feelings about this topic were affirmed during one of our early Shirkey readings, “It takes a village to find a phone.” Just the fact that all the way back in 2006, technology and social media were used to track down Ivanna’s lost phone, proves that technology is headed for amazing things.

But, like almost everything, there is a negative side. Evident in the article, “future of reputation”, the internet comes with certain downsides. One of those being the question of privacy. Things become difficult with technology because anyone can post anything at anytime.  Sure, things can be removed, but they rarely actually are gone forever. So a person’s private life can easily be exposed to millions of people with literally a few clicks of a computer mouse. That is one of the more negative things I have learned in this class, but useful no doubt.

Finally, in conducting my research for my final paper, I have been pleasantly surprised to learn what good technology has done for people with disabilities. So much so that communication would not be possible for some. So while technology might be bad at times, we would be in a rough place without it.

 

I have a lot of experience with video production, so I was not really worried when it came to starting to put this together.

As I stated in my last post, I am researching the communication between video game players through a headset that players frequently use, and how that effects game play.

Using the same two people I took still photos of, plus one more, I got to work. I got some footage of my “actors” setting their equipment up, and navigating the game screen. I also got a couple head shots of them playing, along with some NAT SOT so you can hear what they are saying while they play the game.

So my viewers can get a better idea of how the headset equipment is used, I took some footage of the guys plugging it in, and enabling any settings that they might need to change in the game itself.

Much like taking photos, I learned a lot about this technology while I was gathering all this footage. Taking video, and actually listening to what they are saying while they play, really helped me get a better understanding of how this technology is used to communicate, as well as improve video game play.

For my feature  story, I will be researching how using a headset to communicate to other players while playing video games effects the game play.

While this is not necessarily a subject I am familiar with since I do not play video games that often, I have a few friends that are use this technology all the time. I started with my roommate Tanner, who probably spends eight hours of the day playing video games, and has a select few people that he communicates with through a headset. I began to observe him and how the headset changes the way he plays the game.

I began to snap a few photos. I took some of the headset itself, to show that it has an extendable microphone that sticks out from the left-ear side. I then took some of the screen, specifically a display that shows in the game exactly who is on a headset. A small icon also changes shape when a person in the game is talking.

Finally, I took some pictures of Tanner’s facial expressions while he played. Sometimes, he would have to take a second and place his hand over one side of the headset, so he could hear better. My friend Topher was over at this point, and I did the same thing with him. I have a ways to go in this project, but this first step really helped me learn a lot about this type of technology.

When conducting an interview, it is important to follow a couple guidelines. First, in terms of the questions, it is important to be considerate in asking appropriate questions at the appropriate times. In addition, before even beginning to ask questions, have the interviewee say and spell their first and last name. This is helpful not only for writing a story on the interview, but also recording a voice over for the story, so you don’t pronounce the name of the interviewee incorrectly.

At the start of the interview, ask questions that aren’t going to take the interviewee by surprise. Start with questions that they are easily expecting you to ask. In doing this, you will earn the trust of the interviewee, and it will become easier to get the more important answers down the road.

At this point, it will be easier to get the answers you need from the interviewee. You will have gained their trust, and therefore they will be more confident in opening up to you. Ultimately, follow these couple easy steps will prove to be very beneficial to you as an interviewer, and you will have served your purpose as an interviewer.

 

Communication technology will always be evolving, so humans will always need to evolve with it. That being said, studying new communication technology will always benefit us as humans.

In addition, these days people always feel inclined to be a part of the “next best thing,” and that absolutely applies to communication technology. People are always gonna need to communicate with each other, so changing and adapting to new communication forms is essential to human life.

When the smartphone first came out, it was a new form of technology that nobody had seen before. Not even anything similar had been released prior to the Iphone. Since nobody had seen this type of technology, people had to learn how to use it. Back then, it was hard for some people to do that, and it is still difficult for some today.

If people don’t learn to use to use technology as it changes, I believe that it will be very hard for us to advance as a society. Studying new communication technology will make it easier for those who struggle with technology to stay with the times, and help society advance as a whole.

After reading “The future of reputation” by Daniel J Solove, and “It takes a village to find a phone” by Clay Shirkey, I noticed a common thread. Both of these articles prove that communication through technology makes a big difference in how society communicates today.

To start,  communication through new technology has an uncanny ability to enable a new form of “group-formation.” I believe that this is largely done through social media. Through social media, people are able to unit with those who share similar beliefs and interests. They then have a stable platform in which they can share ideas, pictures, and they can also work together to plan events in support of their cause.

In the article “It takes a village to find a phone” by Clay Shirkey, an interesting concept is presented. Shirkey refers to Tim O’Reilly’s concept of “Architecture of participation.” Architecture of parcipation simply put is the transfer of professional class’ abilities to the general public. This is evident in this article because Evan is not a journalist, yet he was able to bring this story to millions of people through the web. In addition, he tracked down the person who stole the phone without being a private investigator.

After reading these two articles, I learned that it is very easy for people to put information out there for everyone to see. You really don’t have to be an experienced journalist if you want news or a story to reach large quantities of people. Much like “It takes a village to find a phone”, “The future of reputation ” shows that even through a small time blog, news can reach millions of people. People also begin to feel motivated when they see things online that might concern them. Blogs in particular are great for connecting people of a certain demographic, and also by where people are located. When people see an issue that they believe they can fix, that is what motivates them, and sets things in to action that can ultimately prove very positive for society.

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