Week 6 wrap

This week has been a bit of a blur. Work has been crazy. We have been restructuring news and sales and as I mentioned previously I feel I have been fighting a losing battle trying to convince leadership to incorporate some technology into their process changes. I have also inherited responsibility for mentoring several managers who are "at risk" based on performance and reluctance to the changes. From a Human Resource Development standpoint, it has been a good few weeks despite the long hours, because I got to test out some of my new educational chops on creating new job descriptions and using ADDIE to facilitate the changes. Now down to what I have worked on this week. I posted five blog posts. Because of my news background, I was drawn to an article about how publishers can better use social networking tools to get news out there. I also made three discussion board posts. I also finished up the book chapter.

How do you keep track of all your websites?

We've talked about Web 2.0 tools such as delicious and diigo as ways to keep up with your Websites and information you've found on the Web. This article discusses the Web 2.0 curation tools. One of the sites covered is Scoop It. It is kind of a combination between Stumble Upon and delicious because you can set up topics and it will crawl the Web for you making suggestions on sites you might be interested in. There is one draw back, Scoop It is in beta testing and you need an invite to use it.

Discovery of a new useful blog

I ran across a new blog (to me) this week: the social flow blog. This week, there was a post about how news publishers can better use social media, like Twitter, to spread news. The research shows that just because you have a large following doesn't mean every post will reach a huge audience.

Using pseudonyms online

The buzz about Google+ deleting accounts using fake names raises another question. Why do people wish to remain anonymous online. There can be a variety of reasons. Off the top of my head, someone who is a public figure like a teacher, police officer or public administrator might want to remain anonymous for security reasons. danah boyd has an interesting blog post on the subject.
Speaking of Google+'s policy of suspending suspicious names, you will interested to find out that many of the names are legitimate. Sounds like Google needs to rethink this policy or else Google+ will dry up just like Google Wave. Check out this informal survey.

Web 2.0 and work environment

It has been a busy few weeks at work as we are fundamentally changing our production structure and processes in the newsroom. Other changes will follow in the coming weeks. The idea is how to become more efficient at what we do. That said, I feel sometimes that I am fighting a losing battle trying to integrate the available free technologies into the framework. For example, Google calendar is way reporters, photographers and editors can all view the assignments for the day, week, etc. This replaces the (in my mind) the huge grease board in the newsroom where someone has to be responsible for taking assignments, making changes and keeping the board current. The beauty of the Google calendar it is mobile. Photographers and reporters can check their assignments and update them from the road. Additionally, we have nine other newspapers in Florida. the talk is to go to a more regional management approach. Using Web 2.0 tools can make collaborating on assignments much easier so that newspapers 150 miles apart can easily know what each other is doing and share stories and resources. Back to my original point about the losing battle: I felt frustrated trying to convince a high-level editor that this method was better than her grease board. Eventually she yielded, but said she would need extensive training. I never realized that fear was holding her back all along.

Wrap up of Week 5

I spent a lot of time on the electronic journal this week. I made seven posts. Those posts included an update on the rocky start for Google+. They should be sensitive to this feedback because they have not had a lot of success with their previous excursions into social networking. I also really enjoyed the prompt for this week's discussion on copyright, authorship and public domain. I dug up a few good articles and gave my personal views on the matter. I come down on more items in the public domain because I think it makes for a more productive and vibrant society. I also noted in two other posts how one government (China) was being held accountable through social networking tools by its "netizens" and how another government entity (Seattle Police Department) was using social networking (Twitter) to be more transparent in their operations.
I also made 6-7 posts on others journals. I had been lurking all along and decided it was time I participated in a few.
Finally, I found time to complete the reading assignments and do a lot of work on my book chapter. Sadly, I merely lurked on the blackboard discussions this week.

Would you like Twitter posts that send out police scanner updates?

The Seattle Police Department experimented with just such an idea last Tuesday when they tweeted all of their emergency calls during a 12-hour period. There were 478 messages in all, about 40 an hour. I read that other cities are planning to experiment as well.

Here is a NY Times article on it.

Social networking liberating Chinese citizens?

An article Friday's New York Times reports how nearly 26 million messages have been posted on Weibo about the high-speed train crash Thursday that killed 39 people and injured 192. Weibo (prounounced way-bore) is the Chinese equivalent to Twitter and is more closely related to a Facebook/Twitter mashup than just a Twitter knock-off. Chinese government officials immediately began covering up details of the crash, censoring the initials Weibo postings and burying train cars even as the wounded were being rescued and treated. However, because of the incredible speed that social networking tools can spread a story the Chinese government could not stop the immediate forwarding of weibos and the corruption surrounding the tragedy began to leak out. China is now apologizing and promising those responsible will pay for their misdeeds. China originally blamed the tragedy on the weather, but now has said it was faulty equipment and poor training. Japan has had high speed rail for years and never had one fatality.

Copyright laws restrict creativity

This whole discussion of copyright, open access and authorship has caused me do some additional reading and form some strong opinions in favor of open access. Neil Netanel says a “robust society and participatory society” contains everything from union and churches to social movements and schools of thought. Creative expression fits neatly within this array of these groups. Netanel believes slimmer copyright laws would lead to a larger public domain, thus increasing public discourse. A large public domain provides the public at large to participate in the democratic process and manipulate the works available and create new and exciting work in the process.

Copyright laws reduce the size of the public domain and restrict the public to a nation of consumers rather than contributors. This leads to a culture where the few control the ideas and intellectual property, which is a dangerous prospect for a democratic society. William Fisher’s essay “Property and Contract,” he lays out a series of ideals that make an attractive intellectual culture. Those ideals include a rich array of artistic and creative public works and vast amount of ideas driven by public discourse and adding to the cultural diversity of the nation Without fairly unrestricted access to those ideas within the public domain and the freedom to use them at will, it thwarts the growth of culture.

Fisher, W. W. (2004). Promises to keep: Technology, law, and the future of entertainment. Stanford, Calif: Stanford Law and Politics.

Netanel, N. (2008). Copyright's paradox. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Economics and Public Domain

The economic debate over public domain can essentially be reduced to one element—motivation. Is one motivated extrinsically—by profit or fame, or intrinsically—for the sole satisfaction of making the contribution.
Capitalists might argue that intellectual property is a public good that everyone has access to and can own. Because it is a public good it costs nothing, therefore no profit can be made on its production. This is why government must place rules on its production, so there can be incentive to produce more intellectual property. However, the capitalism viewpoint follows too closely to the economic principal espoused by Adam Smith 250 years ago—that man is motivated by self-interest. In doing so it completely discounts the impact of the intrinsically motivated.
Wikipedia is a prime example of how successful the intrinsically motivated can be. When one proofreads and edits an article on Wikipedia, they are doing so for the personal satisfaction associated with making a difference. They volunteer their time and receive no monetary benefit for their actions. This is not to say that all intellectual property should be free, but the cost of input should be kept as low as possible to ensure a healthy public domain. If we exclude the millions who would contribute intellectual property strictly for the “good feeling” they get from doing it, we are limiting access and society suffers from lack of participation.

Netanel, N. (2008). Copyright's paradox. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

End of lurking

So I received some comments this week on some of my posts and realized how much I liked receiving feedback (human nature and all). So today, I went around to a bunch of the blogs and posted comments on other classmates' blogs. There is a lot of interesting stuff being posted out there and, yes, it felt good to post and not simply lurk. Conversation is a two-way street, at least that's what my wife tells me.:)

Google under fire for suspending Google+ accounts

The Wall Street Journal reported today that Google+ users are in a "roar" over Google suspending accounts for using fake or suspicious names. One of the accounts suspended was William Shatner's; another was L.A. Times correspondent A.V. Flox. It seems if Google deems your name to be a fake they suspend your account and then it is up to you to prove who you really are. (Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?) This seems pretty heavy handed and not a good way to launch a new product. Here is a sample of how this policy can have unintended consequences.

Subvertising Facebook ads

Ever get sick of how Facebook thinks it knows what you are interested in by the personal information you put on your account? Theresa Valdez Klein has created a campaign of subvertising to combat Facebook's practice. Theresa is a marketing expert who noticed after she changed her relationship status from "in a relationship" to "single" she started getting these ads that were in some cases mean. For example, one said "Stop Driving Men Away." Her subvertising ads are designed to make people feel better about themselves and less guilty about the choices they have made in their lives.

Week 4 wrap

This seems like a busy week, but I haven't made that many posts to the Blackboard, though the two conversations I participated were lively. I look back and see I did a lot of reading; some for community paper, some for research on my book chapter and then there were a lot of Blackboard posts and required reading to keep up on this week. I put out a call on my blog this week for people to weigh in on a good social media company policy, but so far I haven't had any takers. I am pretty happy with the work I put in on the community paper. My favorite thing this week was trying out the Google extras and in doing so I have my new favorite Web site: Google Art Project. If you haven't tried this, you must--it is amazing! They have taken photos of famous works of art across the globe at various museums. You pick a museum and you are standing in the middle (3D) and you can select an artwork to view. You may also click on the art work in a side panel. Even better is you can zoom in and see great detail of the art work. For an aspiring artist like myself, this is a real treasure. Way to go! Google.

Evaluating content

When evaluating Web content I think it is important to use several different methods to authenticate the accuracy of the information. The very first thing I do is to find out who the author of the Web site is. I do this for two reasons. First, I want to know if the person can be considered an expert on the subject. What type of credentials do they have? Have they worked in a position to afford them unique knowledge on a subject? Have they earned a degree in a specific field? The second thing is I want to know if the person has a hidden agenda. Is the person writing the information from a personal point of view without reference to facts? Is the person trying to share their ideology and pass it off as factual content? If I am satisfied with the author I will usually take it one further step – check out a few other Web sites to see if they corroborate the information I am reading.
My face-to-face method for judging in-person content differs significantly from my judging of online content. In a face-to-face meeting I am interacting with the person. There is a give and take where I might question them deeper to see if the expertise is there or their content hangs together. If they start stumbling or exhibit unusual behavior such as shifting feet, eyes or changed body language then I might begin to doubt what they are telling me. I will ask questions like “Where did you hear that?” or “How do you know that?” Their feedback on that will tell me if I can trust the information.
Even though I evaluate face-to-face content differently than Web content I think it is notable that I do not accept each piece of information as absolute fact without some type of filtering process. It is only when I have established trust between the source – online or in person – do I lower my filter and accept information as fact.

Social Media and Work Policy

I have a conference call next week with corporate HR where we are going to discuss writing a company policy regarding social media. Obviously from an HR standpoint there ares some concerns about employees spending work time on social media sites, but also there is issue about how much can your employer intrude into your personal life. There has already been some litigation in cases where employees have posted items about their work environment and been fired, only to have the courts rule in favor of the employee.
In the publishing business, there is another set of issues surrounding what gets posted by journalists and how journalists source materials - many are using social media sites to gather background on story subjects.

Anyway, if you would like to offer your ideas about what a social media policy should look like at work, please respond to this blog or e-mail me at marnold@chronicleonline.com. I may use your thoughts as input in my conference call.

Who needs mnemonic devices when we have the Internet?

An article published in the journal Science this month discusses how the Google effect is changing the way we remember things. One of the authors talks about an idea Wenger wrote about 30 years ago called transactive memory where we rely on others to remember things for us. For example my wife remembers birthdays and I remember the names and stars of movies. Eventually, psychologist Betsy Sparrow was able to show people were adept at remembering where the answers were stored easier than the answer itself. Now with Google, it seems the answers are always stored right at our fingertips. Will this affect memory in the future if we becoem so reliant on Google and less reliant on our own memory? Or, will we just use our brain in a different way by remembering where we saw the information so that we can get there quicker. My wife will still need to remember birthdays, but my IMDB app has taken over the responsibility of remembering the name of the person who directed "Rebecca."
Here is the link to story introducing the study. (If you want to read the study itself, you have to have a paid subscription)
By the way, Hitchcock directed "Rebecca."

Week 3 wrap

This week I posted three times to bulletin board and read through all of the other posts on Blackboard.
I wrote three posts on my blogsite. In one post I followed up on Shirky’s mention of social media being used for political protest with a news story in the New York Times that talked about a series of protests in Belarus. I also detailed an idea I have pitched at work that uses produsage as a concept. I am also following quite a few tweets and also and contributing to my online community (Bleacher Report/College Football/Florida Gators). I have also been steadily lurking at my other online community (SEC Blog).
I read all of the materials assigned for the week.
Finally I completed my produsage website and paper.

An idea I have had for about a year - Citrupedia

A wiki could be useful in my current profession for a number of purposes. One of the most relevant could be an interactive wiki (maybe Citrupedia) where we would start a stub on people, places, businesses, etc. in Citrus County. Readers and our staff could constantly update the folks as things changed. The people could be politicians (current, former, alive, deceased), celebrities, movers and shakers, top administrative folks, famous and infamous – the sky is the limit. Places could include tourism, landmarks, swimming holes, government points of interest (courthouse, jail, etc) and anything else someone wanted to create. We have had celebrities live here and visit here (Elvis filmed a movie here – Follow That Dream – and the courthouse they used is now a museum), so that would be fun as well. Once it was started, we could also link our stories we post to the site. That way if a person was mentioned, say the Crystal River city manager, then his name would be linked to his Citrupedia page. It could be quite useful during election seasons.

Some issues we might face would be storage. We would need a server to handle the activity. Vandalism would be a problem and in the beginning, there would be a need for some company resources to get the thing started and monitored. Also, additional resources would be needed to link names to the site. Finally, I would think the company would look for ways to make money with Citrupedia essentially destroying the concept. One of the best things about this is others create the content for you and we shouldn’t be allowed to profit on their work. The fact that readers are engaged and working on the project and that other readers benefit from us linking to the site should be enough. We are building community trust, providing a service to readers and growing our readership, even if it is unpaid and online.

Cheesy Poofs, South Park and commercialism

Comedy Central is teaming with Frito Lay to create a new brand of snack food - Cheesy Poofs. Yes, the snack food favorite of Eric Cartman and his buddies on South Park. Comedy Central is doing it as a way to recognize the Year of the Fan (and pat themselves on the back) during the 15th season of South Park. Because South Park's typical viewer is 18-34, Comedy Central is using social media to involve the fans. They have a Facebook page and a Twitter following. On Facebook, fans are being asked to create their own avatars that make them look like South Park-drawn characters.
This is one way commercial companies (Frito Lay and Comedy Central) can use social media to piggy back on the success of a product (South Park and now Cheesy Poofs). Though the campaign might be short-lived, it will still make money and open the door for other companies to follow suit.

Social media and protest

Shirky discusses in Chapter 7 of his book "Here Comes Everybody" how social media is being used to facilitate political protest. On Wednesday, July 13, anti-government Belarusians staged their latest in a series of political protests. A group of people gathered just before 8 p.m. in Yakub Kolas Square in the capital of Belarus, Minsk. Their instructions on a web site that organized the protest said do nothing while waiting, nevertheless plaincothes police filmed the crowd. At 8 p.m. the protestors phones began to beep, buzz and play music. Some protestors were hauled off to jail to face charges on who knows what. The New York Times news story said social media directed protests are a growing trend in the Russian bloc countries.

Week 2 wrap

This week I spent less time posting on the bulletin board, but did some extra reading for two of the four posts I made in Blackboard. I did read through about 75 percent of the other posts on Blackboard.

I wrote three posts on my blogsite. In the second post, I followed up on the initial prompts both from the blog prompt and discussion board prompt in my discussion of produsage and presented an example of how principles of produsage could be used in a commercial setting.

I participated in my one online community (Bleacher Report/College Football/Florida Gators), making five posts during the week. I visited and read the new posts on my other online community (SEC Blog).

I researched and downloaded six peer-reviewed articles for my book chapter. I have read four of the papers all the way through. I visited and explored more than a dozen websites with related materials to help with my book chapter. While researching the book chapter I found an article that would be helpful to everyone working on the book chapter and posted a link to it on my blog. During my research, I ran across Second Life and realized it could be useful for my produsage paper and signed up for it and tooled around on it for a couple of hours to get familiar with the site.

Useful resource for book chapters

While researching my book chapter yesterday I ran across this peer-reviewed article (A Framework for Web 2.0 Learning Design) that can be a benefit to any EME6414 student currently working on book chapters in our wiki. The article frames how Web 2.0 tools can be used to accomplish the goals/outcomes designed by teachers in their classrooms. The authors talk about various taxonomies of learning a teacher might want as an outcome and what types of Web 2.0 tools might help accomplish that outcome. If you have trouble with the link above you can find it in the electronic library at FSU.
Here is the abstract:
This paper describes an approach to conceptualising and performing Web 2.0‐enabled learning design. Based on the Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge model of educational practice, the approach conceptualises Web 2.0 learning design by relating Anderson and Krathwohl’s Taxonomy of Learning, Teaching and Assessing, and different types of constructive and negotiated pedagogies to a range of contemporary Web 2.0‐based learning technologies. The learning design process can then be based upon the extent to which different Web 2.0 technologies support the content, pedagogical, modality and synchronicity requirements of the learning tasks. The model is resilient to the emergence of new Web 2.0 tools, as it views technology as only a mediator of pedagogy and content with attributes to fulfil the needs of the learning episode. A range of possible use cases, categorisations and examples are offered to illustrate the learning design concepts and processes, in order to promote more savvy and expedient application of Web 2.0 technologies in learning and teaching contexts.

From Production to Produsage

In his book "Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life and Beyond: From Production to Produsage" Axel Bruns discusses the future of produsage and how it might be adapted to commercial enterprises. He talks about examples presented by other authors like Hippel where produsage principles could be used in certain phases of the industrial process. Designing a product is essentially a process of sharing ideas, information and creativity. Produasge principles can supplant the traditional design process for any commercial endeavor. For example, a single-family home construction company is designing a new line of models for an upcoming home show. They want to come up with a different home design that maintains an architecturally pleasing look, but is also practical and houses new ages interior design concepts. The company could put a kernel of an idea out using Web 2.0 tools that suggests that they are wanting to build the perfect 21st century home. They could supply blueprints, budget information and photos of artists renderings and let the amateur/professional interior design and architect communities have at it.
The one area where this gets sticky is incentive. If the company makes money, who will want to donate their time to the project. This is where the commercial entities need to make some type of compromises when harvesting the hive.

Produsage in my profession

The concept of produsage is already being used to a certain degree professionally by the company I work for – Citrus County Chronicle. One example is the letters to the editor. This is content strictly produced by users who do not get paid for their work and decide on their own to contribute the content to the newspaper, which aggregates and publishes the letters. The newspaper, though, applies filtering rules to the content. Letters cannot be over a certain length and must be of good taste and not slander another person. Another method of produsage is our Sound Off section. We have a dedicated phone line that tapes calls from users who sound off about any topic they choose. The user has the freedom to speak on any topic or issue and can remain anonymous. Again, these items are filtered before being used commercially by the newspaper. Comments cannot exceed one minute in length and must be in good taste and not slander another person.
The question you might have is how are they improving or building on a product? My answer would be that they are providing content in the form of opinion, much like a blogger does and those who comment on that blog. This content is something consumers want (according to our surveys, the opinion section of the newspaper is one of our highest read and many people buy the newspaper just for that section).

Week 1 wrap

This has been a very busy first week in EME6414. I spent some time on the bulletin board introducing myself, post my blog URL and corresponding on the class discussion. In all I contributed 12 posts. During some of the discussion, other classmates and I discussed how the journalism profession is changing and related our discussion to the readings from Shirky. I also read two articles that Louise gave to me regarding how some newspapers are still handling social media improperly and how one newspaper chain is embracing social media. Thanks Louise!
Also, I have a Twitter account, but had not been using it. I made three posts this week and began following several other people including some art site tweeters, Dr. Deenen's Twitter account and danah boyd's Twitter account. Speaking of danah boyd, I did some research on her and posted it to my blog. I also watched a video about one of her talks where she discusses how important it is to understand social media and how it relates to students. I also posted the video on my blog.
I also visited all of my classmates blogs and became followers where I was allowed to sign up.

Pope Benedict XVI sends first tweet

The Vatican, which already has its own website, Flickr photo feed, YouTube channel and Facebook page has added tweeting to the holy arsenal of getting Christ's message out. Pope Benedict XVI sent out his first tweet (in an iPad no less) Wednesday launching the Vatican's foray into yet another realm of social media. It is amazing to me how connected the world is becoming and it is important that we begin to understand how all of us can use social media to our advantage, whether it is getting the word out about religion or using it as an instructional tool.

danah boyd - social media researcher

While reading through this week's materials I kept seeing the name danah boyd pop up - first in Henry Jenkins piece and then later as the author of the second piece on the history of social networking sites. And finally, I found that Shirk mentions her in a later chapter of his book. I was intrigued partly because she did not capitalize her name and second because most researchers in this field would have to be fairly new to the social media academia. It turns out Jenkins was her advisor at the MIT Media Lab where she earned her Master's degree.

On boyd's website I found that she is known as as a researcher who "examines social media, youth practices, tensions between public and private, social network sites, and other intersections between technology and society." From reading about her I surmised she is fond of the Creative Commons movement and has posted links to all of her published works including her 406-page dissertation. boyd's work is important in helping us to understand social media and how it can be used effectively in instructional design and human performance.

Here is a video of Boyd talking at a 2009 Penn State Symposium on the topic: "Teenagers who are Living and Learning with Social"

Introductory post Web 2.0 Week 1

Hi classmates (and the world),
This is the first entry for my Web 2.0 Electronic Journal.

This is not my first blog. I have created blogs for classwork and personal use. I currently maintain two personal blogs: one on the Gators football team, "Ode to the Gators;" and one ("Michael Arnold Art") as a companion to my Simply Art Online website that showcases my artist of the week. The first blog is for fun and the second blog helps monetize my website by driving traffic there and providing an additional link.

One of the questions posed as a prompt this week is "Do you consider yourself a leader or follower in this realm, or something else altogether? Why?"

This answer can be yes and no. It depends on the context I use when considering the question. If I compare myself to all bloggers who have come before me and the magnitude of some bloggers audiences then I am definitely a follower because in that large of a community I am following the lead of others. However, when I compare my blog activities to coworkers, friends and family then I would be a leader because in those communities I stand out as the exception and not the rule.

Finally, for today's initial post I will answer this prompt: "Discuss what you hope to get out of this class."

First, I will give the expected answer and that is that I hope to further my knowledge of Web 2.0 technology and how it relates to the world of instructional design and how it can be used in the classroom.

On the other hand, I would have taken this class regardless of my major because as a newspaper publishing employee I realize that social media has had a great influence on the future of my occupation. I would like to understand it more, both the social phenomenom it has become and the tools that comprise its network, so that I can somehow manage to advise those in my organization on how they might find a way to coexist without becoming completely irrelelvantto the masses.