Monday, November 23, 2009

Final Thoughts on Finished Social Network Project (3/3)

First, I'd like to say by finished I mean completed awaiting review. Overall though I think we did a great job on our project and we don't have to change that much. Everyone did their part and pulled their weight. We all easily agreed on what we should do for each component of the project. We all found great multimedia items for the site, such as youtube videos, music, and pictures relating to our topic. I really liked how fun and easy Ning is to use. Creating it was very similar to creating a facebook page. The blog portion is a great way to post developments, facts, and opinions on our topic, and the message boards are easy to use and a great way for people to get involved in the online community. Facebook causes was another thing I liked about the assignment. It was fun to see how people can come together and raise awareness, and even money, in one of the largest and most recognized social networking sites. Everything was easy to find and use on Ning, and Facebook causes was easy to use as well, for the most part. Overall our group worked together very well, and I think we completed a great social networking site for a cause.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Ning Network: Facebook Causes (2/3)

For my group, I chose to create the Facebook Causes group. Upon completing the creation of the site, I have to say I was very underwhelmed with the interface. I didn't even know how to get to it from the main Facebook page, and the customization options are far worse than that found on Ning. However, I did like the fund raising option that facebook causes presents. Also, by having causes directly connected with facebook, it is possible to reach a larger audience. That is why I think getting Facebook causes going is essential to this project. By using the Facebook interface, we can reach a vast audience and hopefully persuade them to join our cause on Ning, so we can really have a true online community that supports our cause.

Thoughts on Ning Network (1/3)

My first thoughts about Ning is how it really is a great way to spread information about a cause. With a blog area, message boards, facebook-style personal profiles, and picture/video sections, this really is a great place to start social networking for a cause. To me, it seems like the ultimate information ecology. We can provide information to a large group of people, who can comment on it and add their insight, which we could possibly use to enhance our site. It is also a great place to interact with other people in your online community. Your personal page on the site is very similar to a facebook page, which can lead to fun and jovial interaction between members. I believe that with the recent boom of social networks, it is only a matter of time until this catches on and gets huge.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Discussion Forum Topics

Here are 3 topics I think would be appropriate for the discussion forum:

1.Work-at-home Scams
2. Nigerian E-mail Scam
3. Phishing (A type of credit card scam)

Monday, November 16, 2009

Topics I could write a blog post on related to scamming

These are 3 topics I think would make a good blog post relating to scamming:

1. Work at home scams (i.e. Twitter scams)
2. Tips for online scamming prevention
3. The top 1o online scams and how to avoid them

Friday, November 13, 2009

Initial thoughts on Ning

Ning seems like a great social networking tool. It has a very interesting premise, but I think it's one that can work. I like the idea that you can not only join, but also create, social networking sites geared towards your personal interests. I think it will be a great tool for helping construct a site and getting people involved. I would really like to use this site and really see what its about.

Thoughts on Boyd and Bennett

Boyd and Bennett brought up many good points in their respective articles. They had a lot in common when it came to how to use social networking tools for political action. In politics, it is important to find your audience to help resolve an issue, and you would usually need a lot of backing. Both articles stressed that with the advances in technology, the internet, and social networking, now would be a great time to take advantage of that. With social networking, it is easier to track down people with similar interests and makes communication much easier with the use of message boards and in-site messaging. They both stated that we should change with the times and start to use social networking to promote political causes.

Where they differ is that Bennett spoke about using social networking and the internet not only for politics, but for teaching as well. He suggested that we should stop educating students like they did in the age of our elders, and move to more advanced teaching. He believes that showing young people what can be achieved and the potential that can be reached with social networking and internet skills will result in more people getting involved in political and other practices. Both were great articles that taught me a lot about how social networking can be used, other than wasting time with my friends.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Thoughts on Social Networking

Before reading the article about social networking, I had a completely different opinion about what social networking was. I thought it was only things like facebook, myspace, and twitter. I had no idea that things like YouTube, Flikr, and Livejournal were social networking. However, after reading this piece, it made sense to me why these sites would be considered as such. You go on those sites and connect with other people. While it may not be the same set-up as a facebook or a myspace, you can still connect and chat with other people and post thoughts and feelings in an interactive environment. I was also surprised to see that social networking is not just an American fad. An example is when I checked out the site Hyves. Hyves looked very similar to myspace, but it was in another language. It showed that social networking is catching on all over the world. I also liked how they discussed the business end of it, and how money can be generated in the future. I like using social network systems myself, as it is a good way to stay in touch with friends. This showed that there is a lot more to social networking as well and it was very informative.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Causes I Would Raises Awareness For...

Here are 5 issues I'd like to raise awareness about:

1. Marijuana Legalization
2. Dogfighting
3. Date Rape
4. Autism
5. Police Brutality

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Final Reflection on Completed Proposal Memo

As a whole, this project was very fun and taught me a lot. I think part of the reason for our success was that everyone really pulled their weight and did what they said they would do to the best of their ability. We all got along really well, and shared similar ideas and suggestions that made this new site come out great. For my piece, I had to do the initial proposal memo. As I stated in my earlier post, the peer review showed I did a lot right for the memo, but I was still missing a few things, namely descriptions of specific design and rhetorical analysis terms. Having already had a professional tone that outlined all of the details about what we planned to do about the site and why, all I had to do to make the best it could be was add in those terms. So, I added in the terms where they applied in the memo, gave a brief explanation of what the term meant, and why it applied to what we doing. All in all, I now feel like the memo is the best it can be, and followed the guidelines for the assignment perfectly. I think as a whole, we have done a fantastic job redoing this site, and I think you'll be very pleased with what our group has done.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Thoughts on peer review and revisions

If it wasn't for the peer review session today, I think things may not have gone as smoothly with this project. By seeing other classmates sites and reading the feedback they gave us, we realized that there were many things we could/needed to do for the site. We realized we could changed the background colors, and we should use more pictures to help pull the audience in. For me specifically, I got great insight into how to fix the proposal memo. Although I made it all professional sounding and structured it very well, I had forgotten to add key terms to the memo. I plan to go back and revise the memo to include those key terms and how they relate to how we fixed the site. It was definitely very beneficial to have an extensive peer review like this, because it allowed us to learn more about designing and redesigning a website, as well as what type of terminology to use in my proposal memo.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Reflections on Proposal Memo for URI Surf Club

I have written most of the proposal memo for the URI Surf Club site. By writing this, I have not only increased my knowledge of electronic environments, but also my writing style in general. By writing this memo, I have really gotten in touch with the rhetorical and critical analysis of a website, such as how to make it aesthetically pleasing and how to fix websites that are not easy to navigate and use. As for my writing, I used persuasive writing techniques to explain to the owners of the site what is wrong with it, why its wrong, and how it should be fixed. This knowledge has not only helped my writing style, but has also helped me with basic website design. I have learned how to rhetorically analyze how websites work best. I have also learned how to incorporate that into different forms of writing. This has been a fun and educational learning experience for me.