These days, if you’ve got a medical concern, health problem, or a question on diet, exercise or better nutrition, the internet is right there ready to give you answers, information and advice for free. Only last week, when discovering a friend of a friend had developed shingles, I was immediately searching Google, seeking information of it’s symptoms, severity, and if it was contagious (medicinenet.com 2011). This method of using a general search engine, has become the most popular starting point for general health information (Laurent et al, 2009).

However, as Warner 2011 notes, ‘with the constant posting of illegitimate content (Hamelink 2006), being connected and having the facility and ability to easily search is not always beneficial.  With this in mind, Leong reminds us, that the internet is not a solution to medical treatment, but is changing the process for us; giving us a place to start for information, so as to be more informed when speaking to a doctor or seeking further medical advice.

This ease of information without the cost of a Doctors bill, the ability ask questions and to self diagnose, is further informing us and individualizing health and well being (Lewis 2006), but should not be relied upon as the final word… if pain persists… please consult your real Doctor.

References:

Hamelink, C. (2006). “The Ethics of the Internet: Can we cope with Lies and Deceit on the Net?” In Ideologies of the Internet, K. Sarikakis & Daya Thussu, pp. 115-130. New Jersey: Hampton Press.

Laurent. R, Michaël & J. Vickers, Tim. 2009. “Seeking Health Information Online: Does Wikipedia Matter?” American Medical Informatics Association. 16 (4): 471–479. Accessed April 11, 2011. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2705249/.

Leong, Susan. “KWB206 New Media: Internet, Self and Beyond: Week 6 Lecture Slides: Health and Well Being”. Accessed April 11, 2011. http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/

Lewis, T. (2006) Seeking health information on the internet: lifestyle choice or bad attack of cyberchondria? Media, Culture and Society, 28(4), 521-539.

medicinenet.com, “Shingles” Last accessed April 11 2011, http://www.medicinenet.com/shingles/article.htm

Warner, Daniel. 2011. “Sick New Media” April 11. Accessed April 11. http://kcb206danielwarner.tumblr.com/

Week 5: Allow me to introduce…myself

As Leggereit mentioned the world is now connected.  Where once the fight for rights, beliefs and our lives, may have been isolated to our corner of the world, the development of communication devices and into that of New Media, has given those connected, a window and a voice into all corners of the world.

Information production and distribution has changed since the invention of the Gutenberg Press from a many to one, to New Media’s many to many (Leong 2011). It not only enables us to have insight into political affairs of the world, but also to expose them and develop political transparency, like in the case of Wikileaks, where anonymous uses can contribute leaked confidential information (Wikileaks 2011). This ability opens up the debate of social ethics in new media, and keeps it ever changing. Social ethics can be seen as the reflection of moral choices which shape the way in which societies organise themselves (Hamelink 2006).

There is argument that social media makes us less effective as activists in the political arena. While this may be true for some, it does not mean that committed activists cannot use social media effectively, and as seen in recent protest movements in India and China, it was not used as a replacement, but as a way to co-ordinate it (Shirky 2011). 

References

Hamelink, C. (2006). “The Ethics of the Internet: Can we cope with Lies and Deceit on the Net?” In Ideologies of the Internet, K. Sarikakis & Daya Thussu, pp. 115-130. New Jersey: Hampton Press.

Leong, Susan. “KWB206 New Media: Internet, Self and Beyond: Week 4 Lecture Slides”. Accessed March 28, 2011. http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/

Shirky, C. (2011). “The Political Power of Social Media: Technology, the Public Sphere, and Political Change” in Foreign Affairs. Volume 90, Issue 1;  pg. 28, 15 pgs.

Wikileaks. 2011 “Wikileaks” Last accessed March 28, 2011. http://213.251.145.96/

Today’s New Media machine gives us the chance to access and create content from places and in ways like never before.  You might have bought the digital copy of the new Radiohead album recently, months before it’s physical release (Radiohead 2011) - digital music sales in Australia alone increased by 30% in 2010 (Bennet 2011), or may be watching otherwise inaccessible Bollywood movies online (Singh 2008), all from the easy access of your smart phone.

A film can now be funded online (Born of Hope, 2011), and YouTube has given us all the chance to be creators of content (Internet Killed Television 2011).

Games like World of Warcraft have enabled us to live an alternate life in an online gaming world (Nardi 2010), and Xbox Live puts us in a world-wide competitive arena. With this alternate connectivity and interaction it’s no wonder games like Call of Duty: Black Ops grossed over $360 million dollars in sales in it’s first day (Schwartz 2010).

Music, Games and Films make up a large part of our lives and our everyday interactions. They are not just forms of entertainment, but parts of our identity. What’s your favourite film? Who’s your favourite band? Are you an Xbox-er? The answers to these questions are part of who we are, and determines who our friends are.

References

Bennet, H. “Digital Music Sales Rise 32% in Australia” Last modified February 18 2011. http://www.hughsnews.ca/digital-music-sales-rise-32-percent-in-australia-0017727

Born of Hope.  http://www.bornofhope.com/Community.html

                  (accessed March 21 2011)

Internet Killed Television, Last Modified March 16 2011.  http://www.youtube.com/show?p=7H59sBsmEaA&tracker=show0

Nardi, B. “My Life As A Night Elf Preist: An Anthropological Account of World of Warcraft” Last modified July 5, 2010. http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3064/2574

Radiohead.com, Last Modified March 2011. http://www.radiohead.com/

Schwartz, W. “Call of Duty: Black Ops Day One Sales Gross Over $360 Million” Last modified November 11, 2010. http://attackofthefanboy.com/news/black-ops-day-sales/

Singh, M. “Bollywood’s Viral Videos” Last modified February 14, 2008.   http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1713342,00.html

This week’s lecture and readings focused on the performance of self through online social networking sites, and the presentation and connectivity of one’s online identity.

The ability to present ourselves via online Social Networks has brought with it a new multifaceted complexity to the already complex social order of displaying our connections. Donath and Boyd (2004. p78) state that by making one’s connections visible to all of the others, social networking sites remove the barries of privacy we may have between different facets of our lives.

This brings with it the concept of how we may act if our physical lives were completely transparent to the outside world, a construct becoming ever more obvious as our connections through online social networking become more integrated into everyday interaction and identity.  In describing visibility on the online social stage, Pearson (2009) refers to the glass bedroom metaphor and how one’s social networking performance can be viewed as an active or silent audience, or interacted with through invitation into the room.

From this transparent stage, our identity is our performance, and we let the audience see what we want them to see.  Hogan (2010) explains this online performance on the level of exhibitor and curator, as the content of one’s identity can be arranged and displayed to represent only our desired qualities.

References:

Donath, J. Boyd, D. 2004. Public displays of connection. BT Technology Journal 22. (4): 71-82. Accessed March 13, 2011. http://smg.media.mit.edu/papers/Donath/PublicDisplays.pdf

Hogan, B. 2010. The Presentation of Self in the Age of Social Media: Distinguishing Performances and Exhibitions Online. Bulletin of Science Technology Society, Vol 30 no.6. Accessed March 13, 2011. http://bst.sagepub.com/content/30/6/377

Pearson, E. 2009. All the World Wide Web’s a stage: The performance of identity in online social networks. First Monday Peer-reviewed Journal on the Internet 14. (3): 1. Accessed March 13, 2011. http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/2162/2127