blog 10: wiki project
Your wiki team proposal is due Monday. Use this blog to give the class a preview of what you are going to be working on. This can help because it will give all members of your group a chance to individually express their ideas on what the group project is (thus making sure everyone is on the same page or figuring out where there are discrepancies).
Next week when you respond to these posts, please give groups constructive feedback and questions to make their project stronger.
Next week when you respond to these posts, please give groups constructive feedback and questions to make their project stronger.
posted by cmartin at 1:28 PM
29 Comments:
Innovations in Gaming Control Technology and its Influences and Effects on Players and Player Interaction.
(long, but sums it up for the most part).
Myself, Blake, Cesar, and Jen seek to examine the timeline of controller innovations, beginning with the single-button days of Atari and evolving to the free-motion gyroscopics of the upcomming Revolution. Although the density, graphics, and sound of videogames has helped to immerse gamers in their virtual worlds, the influence of the controller often goes overlooked. Remember the arrival of analog control on the first Playstation? How about the physical immersion created by Nintendo's Rumble Pak? In our presentation, we hope to address these and many more as we seek to identify control's biggest moments, and most importantly, how it has affected games, interaction, and our emotions while playing.
Our wiki group project will be dealing with prejudices in media. We will be focusing on four specific different areas in which people carry certain prejudices and carry them out through different types of media. These four areas are the following: gender and sexuality, ethnicity, religion, and socio-economic status. With the U.S. quickly becoming cultural diverse, Priti, Jon, Villmarie, and I thought that this would be an interesting topic to take on. We find it interesting that although the U.S. is moving towards this accepting society, media still seems to show the opposite at times. We will explore how these prejudices are depicted and the effect it can have on our society.
My group has chosen to focus on online, web based, internet communities and the impact they have. We are going to research what makes them so addicting, interview creators, and experiment with our own profiles. We are specifically looking at Myspace and Facebook which seem to be really popular for people our age and younger. It should be very interesting to learn more about the intricate workings of online communities such as this and to see the reactions to the extreme profiles that we create. I think our project is actually going to be fun. I think we need a team name...
Josh, Jordan and myself have narrowed down our team proposal to politics and the media. Although, this theme is fairly prominent, it keeps popping out at us all the time. We want to focus on the extreme media that is available through the most recent technology. One can not hide from computer news, television, newspaper, phone messages, magazines and radio. It just is not possible to escape. The problem is that alot of the media news is so skewed, that one is unable to come up with their own clear thoughts and ideas, as your mind is being bombarded by media headlines. Which brings us to the point that what one is constantly hearing about, is the headline that makes everyone pay attention to or do a double take. Recently, with a Supreme Court nomination, this person's legal career was picked over carefully, and the two most right winged decisions that she ever made that could put us back in civil rights issued were thrown to the front. We now have several national leaders under inditement, actually one today, maybe more tomorrow. Completely different outcome, from the 60's and 70's in that the media is able to validate some of the misapropriate behviors of government officials. So, we have lots to bring into question, both the negative and the positive of politcs and the media. More to come.
Our group is studying the effects of online social communities such as myspace and their effects on member's face to face interactions. In addition to what kate said above, I our group will also focus on the role of anonomity in such groups. What people say they are on myspace is not able to be verified. We will also study the effects that this aspect of online communities have on its participants.
Our group is looking into gender in sports media and how this affects the population as a whole. As we talked about in class, there are differences between the way men and women are portrayed in sports media, but this is not where the disparities end. There are discrepancies in salary, coverage etc. that we think should be looked into. This is not some femi-nazi diatribe about inequality and injustice, rather a study of what the audience (including children) actually takes away from watching and reading about sports. For example, do sports foster the use of stereotypes in pop culture?
As Bianca said, our group project focuses on prejudices and discrimination in media. We will be looking at various forms of media such as television, newspapers, music, movies, etc. Our project will involve four main categories of prejudices: gender/sexuality, ethnicity, religion, and socio-economic status. Despite the amount of diversity that exists in the world and its perceived acceptance, there are still obvious prejudices that individuals, religious groups, and even countries are faced with through the media. We will discuss issues such as terrorism, gay and lesbian relationships, and racism. Our group will further examine recent events in the media that address these issues and their effects on society.
Like Mala said, she, Julia,Jennifer, and myself will be discussing Sports in media, with emphasis on gender. It was part of a heavily debated topic during Julia's discussion a few weeks ago, and we decided we wanted to take a closer look. Within this topic there are definitely numerous angles that one could take in researching, but I think we have decided to be more general, to make sure that the overall findings are consistent.
Our group is doing discrimination in the media. We're going to be looking at how the media reflects society's problem with prejudices. Specifically, I will be covering ethnic/cultural prejudices in the media and how they are portrayed in movies, advertisements, video games, and TV. I think it's important to be aware of the world and alternative lifestyles besides our own instead of being closed off to it or poking fun at it. I hope that this presentation will be an eye-opener to the class.
Well I am in the group (Name TBA), with Kate and Stephen, who have touche don most of what we are going to do. I would like to also add that we are going to be talking about how a lot of new web communities have sprung up, and have latched on to the popularity that Myspace and Facebook have brought about. I know 2 kids from my highshcool who have started one, and if anyone else knows of some brand new sites, let us know!.
our group is focusing on the evolution of the video game controller and how it has changed the level of interaction that players experience. i myself had overlooked the importance of the video game controller, as many people do. in most general discussions and reviews about games, the sound and graphics are emphasized, leaving player controls in the dust. this should be an interesting project and i'm looking forward to presenting our findings.
Chris introduced group 3's topic very well. I would like to just clarify for everyone else, that we will be concentrating our wiki group project on how these advancements in technology have ultimately affected the user's experience which encompasses emotions, thoughts, and reactions to such new ways of gaming. We will also travel down the road of "not-so-of-a-hit" technology that still has had an effect on gamer and gaming development.
Wiki group 4 is tackling the role of media in politics. We are attempting to cover a wide range of mediums such as, t.v, radio, or film. I believe much of how the United States sees politics is based upon the media coverage by news stations or TV shows and movies that attempt to depict our government in action. Most people have some experiences with this topic and can probably think of at least one bias they have about government soley based on what the media has presented to them. My particular area that I'm examining is the projection of actual government through tv and film. Also talk shows and other groups that talk politics on tv.
I really feel that Kate, Steve, Hamburgular(Vanessa ;-)) and I have started on a really good foot for our web project. There is no point in regurgitating what our project is about, but one thing i definately know is that everyone looks excited to put their two cents into this project. We already have a business meeting arranged for a future date, our website looks pretty snazzy and we're all adding plenty of input to our project almost daily. The Web communities seem to have a lot to offer these days to students and people of all ages, and we're ready to explore the positive ideas behind the websites, as long attempting to exploit the low points as well.
Hey, how does "worst online predators, ever." sound for our team name?
tennison,
when you guys were up in front of the class talking about your idea to go undercover and discover the role as a online community groupie, all i could think of was that online predator commercial. it's a really neat idea, but borderline really sketchy. Also, if anyone reads this, I'm interested in hearing feedback about our media and politics topic. Class kind of cut it short so I didn't get to hear a lot of ya'lls input. I fear that our topic may be slightly too broad to cover everything. So if anyone has a solution for narrowing things down, I have open ears.
by the way, tennison. I'm pretty much yanking your chain, it was really just quite humorous to me. One of you guys should play the role as the guy who chooses to be a celebrity instead of an actual person.
Chris,
I am really impressed with your topic idea. It seems like you have a good grasp on what you want to do with the project and know exactly where to find the information. I think the controller is something that people tend to forget about when reviewing types of media, but essentially, is the most important part. I look forward to finding out more!
Vilmarie,
Like I said in class,I have a book that devotes an entire chapter to how different races are portrayed in media. Let me know if you want to borrow it!
Good Job to everyone in the class!
Josh...
I just wanted to suggest you focus some of your efforts on celebrity events and how they are portrayed through the media. THey can be very political and are often the ones who speak their opinion the most and influence many young people. JUst something to think about...
--in response to Kate, Tennison, Stephen, and Vanessa--
I think your choice of topic is quite interesting. Your specific subject stands out to me because I think it hits close to home. Most of us could probably relate and it would be helpful for us to learn more about communities we ourselves are involved in. Good job.
P.S. Thanks Tennison for recommending "A League of Their Own", it was a great movie.
--Re: Chris--
I really enjoyed your groups proposal presentation. I never really have thought about how innovative gaming controlers are. Most people focus on the game or the console, but if you think about it, its the controls that make the game what it is. I also like your topic because it is very different and soemthing that most people may not notice. When thinking about your topic I can see just how much the control shapes the way I play games. For example when Im playing a racing game on my xbox and feel the contoler vibrate with the texture of the road, it makes the game that more realistic. I am looking forward to seeing your groups final presentation. Good Luck!
In response to everyone:
All the group presentations were great, since all the topics are interesting. I was surprised at how different all the ideas were, I thought some would overlap, it just shows how different perspectives can be!
Great topic with obvious necessary changes especially in marketing, due to the socio-ethnic diversity which as you say is becoming increasingly predominant. Strange that you mention the media still not demonstrating these changes, as all of a sudden, I am noticing a lot of diversity in the media with many products that have been shown as predominantly used by the caucasian group. I think you are right that in general the media has had prejudices which have focused on showing topics/products by certain races representing specific socio/economic groupings. Can't wait to see what you come up with, especially recent trends.
Re: Stephen's post
I think it is very important that you guys focus on the anonymity aspect of online communities because often, that is the very reason why people join these communities. You might want to search for articles or interview students around campus and ask them if they've had any problems with stalking because of the amount of personal information they make available in these communities. I'm looking forward to your group's presentation!
In response to Priti and group-
I think that something you can talk about is how a lot of time Italian characters are mobster killers. It seems like every movie and a lot of TV shows depict Itlaians like this, and it definitely not true to life. Another one could be how movies and Tv shows depict southern people. Like being really dirty and uneducated. For example, the new show called "My Name is Earl."
You guys have a great topic and am sure will cover a lot of interesting things, good luck.
In Response to Bianca and Group:
I find your group’s presentation to be very interesting. Discrimination is prominent in media than people actually know. The areas you have decided to all concentrate on are some of the more important issues around. Socio-economic problems have been seen with the recent hurricane destruction, especially with the destruction in New Orleans. Also, gender and sexuality may be a more recent basis of discrimination of America, but definitely one of the more dramatic when it comes to changes in society views. Ethnicity and Religion also play a very large part, even with each other. I look forward to seeing what your presentation holds, also, Bianca, I have served on the HRC North Florida Committee (human rights coalition) so if you need any additional information on Gender and Sexuality discrimination I’d be glad to help you out. Good job guys, I look forward to this.
The wiki group presentations should each be very interesting - there is true variety in the topics we'll be covering. It should be neat to see how each group presents their findings.
As I was thinking about good advice to give, I realized something that's very important: as each group does research, if they don't go too far in depth (i.e., they only find online sources) then there will ironically be media influence in their findings. It would be good to find scholarly research done on each of the topics: media's influence on ________, with data to support each idea.
I think it will be interesting to examine the effects of predjudices on media. One thing I find puzzling is yes, more shows, commercials, movies, etc. are becoming more "culturally diverse," but they tend to portray characters in a stereotypical manner. Why is that?
The same goes with sports media's portrayal of athletes - why are men presented as masculine, women as mothers and daughters?
Again, all of the presentations should be great, and it will be exciting to hear (and see) each group's perspective on their topic.
--response to Kate--
I think this is a really hot subject right now. I am interested in the kind of results you guys find out. As I was telling you guys in class, Friendster is another one of those communities. Also, for your research a focus group might be insighting.
In Response to Chris, Blake, Cesar and Jen...
Ever since all of you presented your topic in class, i was intrigued on what your group was going to present to the class, because it is a very broad and interesting topic to research on, from my opinion. The best feedback that i could give you guys is to try to be selective in what controllers you are going to use in your research, since there are a plethora of controls to choose from. Another cool thing is to do is to compare and contrast the effects between arcade and console play.
RE: Stephen Ramaley
I really like your interesting approach to the project and doing something unique by acquiring new identities. It is definitely a useful way to support your topic and to obtain information otherwise impossible. One problem I have though is that with communities such as MySpace and Facebook, it may be difficult to fully flesh out these identities. I would have liked to see you adorn some type of gamer identity, such as in a game like World of Warcraft or FFXI. In these games, personalities, politics, and popularity status play huge roles. If your image is damaged, news can travel over the entire server and soon enough your gamer identity and character are both scarred forever. I have seen numerous players quit playing games like these because they ruined their reputation to the point that playing was no longer possible. Others would not help them to progress and some would even make it a point to socially humiliate them online. I really see MySpace and Facebook as useful tools, but somewhat lacking in the ability to create a new identity. Then again, maybe I'm just bias and would like you to explore a more video-game route.
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