The Sim-ulacra- A Life Beyond Reality

Users all over the world are interacting, forming relationships and using their imagination in the virtual world like never before.  People interact in imaginary worlds to interact with others, form friendships, to gain satisfaction, to go on adventures , to escape real life stress,  and go into a whole new dream world to be ‘’someone else’’.   (Yee N 2006).

A 3D world phenomenon known as the ‘Second Life’ is a world where real life humans create ‘’digital personas’’ of themselves known as ‘’avatars’’ who resemble real life identity.  (Second Life , 2003)

It’s a whole new world where one can turn their dreams into a reality by creating a world they want to live in.  This particular world was launched in 2003 by a man named Philip Rosedale who wanted to create a virtual world for people to ‘’pursue their dreams  and interests’’. ( Rymaszewski R, Wagner J A, Wallace M, Winters C, Ondrejka C & Cunningham-Batstone B, 2007  p 13).

People who sign up can perform many functions such as :

•  attend  marketplaces to buy clothes.
• have endless fun by going to various entertainment events.
• transfer real money for virtual money known as ‘’Lindon’’.  
•   buy land and  property to build businesses.

Second life as a virtual world has definitely replicated real life to a whole new level.  A common example is a real Chinese lady named Ailen Graef known as ‘’Anshe Chung’’ in second life who is the first millionaire from this world. What she did that made her so huge was by investing  ‘’virtual shopping malls, store chains and stock market investments in Second Life''. (Johnson P 2010 p.63) . In November 2006 a press release was set out stating how her ‘’virtual operation had developed into a real-life company , specializing in applications for corporate and education sectors’’.  (Johnson P 2010 p.63)

Even the biggest consumers known as  AOL, ABCTV, Showtime, Reuters, Virgin Records, IBM , Coca Cola, Adidas, Mercedes, BMW, Mazda, even a Sydney based company known as ‘’Project Factory’’ (a marketing digtal company) have used second life to promote their companies  and ‘’seek innovative ways to achieve added value to their brand’’ by promoting their businesses. (Johnson P 2010 p.64)

This virtual world also accommodates forms of entertainment such as dancing.  A crystal clear example is that second life has a club titled ''People Pool''. This particular club possesses characteristics of hiring club hostesses to do shifts. Avatars are taken under the process of submitting job applications and having  an experience of going to a ‘’job interview’’ .  This   example exemplifies the way in which Second Life is ‘’changing how we spend time in reality’’  by having a super economy based on property, shopping dancing and education.  The virtual world is using characteristics within the real world . (Johnson P 2010 p.64).

Social theorist Jean Baudrillards has a theory known as ‘’hypereality’’ which states that ‘’media represents more than the real’’ and produces and defines a ‘’new reality’’. (Taylor E V, Winquist E C 2003) .  The use of Avatars in a virtual worlds are being created by real human beings. People are ‘’performing an identity that may or may not be similar to the way they see or want to see themselves in everyday life’’.    (Danielsen M J & Deutschmann M 2009,p.160)

Avatars are characterized by four different things  (Danielsen M J & Deutschmann M 2009,p.161)

•  explorers who want to seek an adventure or share a journey with others.
•    socalizers who want to extend their networks by forming groups and throwing parties.
•    achievers who have a goal set to increase wealth, power and reputation.
•    controllers who want to compete and dominate the world.

The future for what Second Life has in store is a soaring surprise, either people are interested , or they are not bothered by it. Either way the doors are open for people who live in the real world to come out and explore a world that is beyond reality.

References:

1)   Yee Nicholas 2006 , ‘The Psychology of Massively Multi-User Online Role-Playing Games: Motivation, Emotional Investment, Relationships and Problematic Usage’, Avatars at Work and Play: Collaboration and Interaction in Shared Virtual Environments, viewed on 23^rd January 2013, https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:0WPb5cfVhxYJ:www.hci.iastate.edu/REU09/pub/Main/723/yee-psychology-mmorpg.pdf+&hl=en&gl=au&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgBkDOHuCSGVvD9Hnlo0XAuHKqI218BAQx3j2P91d1Asxk_XptFhkDZeHI6TROCo159fNe4Gv-DPZy1TjY2R75KTPKqxgJ9bkFh6XZ0TOvDFNlKiAqvc2WUS0HZAr3z7xFphPCA&sig=AHIEtbREuG4GjvLiakmVqjTtGr9j5J6LsQ

2)  Second Life , 2003 , ‘What is Second Life’, Second Life, viewed on 23^rd January 2013, http://secondlife.com/whatis/?lang=en-US

3) Rymaszewski R, Wagner J A, Wallace M, Winters C, Ondrejka C & Cunningham-Batstone B, 2007 , ‘Second Life- The Original Guide’, Wiley Publishing, New Jersey. 

4)  Johnson P 2010, Second Life, Media, and the Other Society, Peter Lang Publishing, New York

5) Taylor E V, Winquist E C 2003, Encyclopedia of Postmodernism, , Taylor & Francis Book, New York

6) Danielsen M J & Deutschmann M 2009, ‘Learning and Teaching in the Virtual World of Second Life, Tapir Academic Press, Germany.

Wikileaks!

Wiki leaks is an ‘’international non-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private , secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks and whistleblowers’’  (Lorenz, R, 2011, p.4)

This website was founded in 2006; by Julian Assange the creator, public face and director. Wikileaks  has published hundreds of thousands of documents based on the wars in Afghanistan , Iran and US which has caused controversy headlines. He believes that transparency is for the good of all people by exploiting free exchange of information to the world. This particular man was born in 1971 in the city of Townsville in North-Eastern Australia. He believes that ‘’exposing government secrets leads too greater freedom’’. (Liquid News Room, 2010)

However there’s more than meets the eye; Assange is more than a controversial figure and is known as ‘’the Robin Hood of Hacking’’. (Harrell, E, 2010,)  Being a mysterious figure this man has been involved with exposing confidential and secret documents . Assange began his career as a talented hacker at the age of 16.  In 1991 , at the age of 20 he hacked into a Canadian telecom company and was caught and pleaded guilty for 25 charges.

But despite his troubled past, this man wanted to ‘’let the truth be available to all’’. (Leigh Bureau Ltd, 2010-11) He believes that ‘the citizenry have a right to scrutinize the state…especially a state, hiding behind cloaks of security and opaqueness’’ (Leigh Bureau Ltd, 2010-11) Wikileaks has introduced a whole new model in the world of journalism where the site contains information by anonymous sources. He is definitely an activist since he believes that ‘information should be free and accessible to all , and ‘’must be free to publish.  (Leigh Bureau Ltd, 2010-11)

The Wikileaks mission statement is to improve transparency and to create  a better society for all people.  Henry Jenkins states that his theory of participatory culture is about having ‘’strong support for sharing creations with others, believing that contributions matter, caring about others’ opinions of self & work. We Must all believe that they are free to contribute when ready and that what they will contribute will be appropriately valued’’.  (Costa, C, 2012)

Social media plays a vital role in disseminating information…, let’s face it where would we be without it?  Today with governments in power in much of the world, and the increase of authority in democratic governments , Wiki leaks enables to ‘’empower citizens to bring feared and corrupt governments and corporations to justice’’ (Wikileaks, 2006).  Using digital technology allows individuals to ‘’connect with one another, to achieve common goals or interests, allowing anybody with access to the internet to share, publish and broadcast information’’. (Arpit , B, 2012 p.49) The future for Wikileaks is how each individual makes it to be. Conspiracies, secrets, instances, abuses  and other occurrences fall under the hands of people. Wiki leaks has opened the door for people to demand to get the word out there.

In my opinion everything we do in life, everything we fight for,  aspire,  whether it is in relation to wars, corruption in governments, economic balance, pollution, accidents, poverty etc, all require attention. Without the truth about how people are suffering, or why there’s so much destruction in the world how are we mean’t to act upon and make a change in the world without knowing important information. Isn’t it better if we all know what’s going on? So I say go Assange and Wikileaks for making it possible! Wikileaks states that ‘’the worlds media should work together as much as possible to bring stories to a broad international readership’’. (Wikileaks, 2006)

References:

1 ) Lorenz, R, 2011, The Cablegate Shock- Does Wikileaks Upset The ‘’Special Relationship’’ Narrative of Transatlantic Relations?, Grin Publish & Find Knowledge, Germany.

2) Liquid News Room, 2010,’ Is Julian Assange "The Robin Hood of Hacking"? A debate on TV’, Real Time Web News, viewed on 15^th January 2013 < http://www.nextlevelofnews.com/2010/12/glenn-greenwald-vs-fran-townsend-wikileaks-debate.html>

3) Harrell, E, 2010, Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange, Time World,  viewed on 15^th January 2013 http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2006496,00.html

4) Leigh Bureau Ltd, 2010-11,  Julian Assange, Leigh Bureau Ltd, viewed on 17^th January 2013 http://www.leighbureau.eu/speakers/jassange/jassange_ltd.html

5) Zone Alarm, 2011, What is Hacktivm, Zone Alarm, viewed on 17^th January 2013, http://www.zonealarm.com/blog/index.php/2011/08/what-is-hacktivism

6) Costa, C, 2012, Do New Media Make Our Culture More Participatory, EJC-Online Journalism Community, viewed 17^th of January 2013, http://community.ejc.net/profiles/blogs/do-new-media-make-our-culture-more-participatory/

7) Wikileaks, 2006,  About-What is Wikileaks?, Wikileaks, viewed on 17^th January 2013, http://wikileaks.org/About.html

8) Arpit , B, 2012,  ‘Review Paper, E-Government and Social Media as Openess and Anti-Corruption Strategy’, Vol 1 (1), pp. 48-52, Research Journal of Management Services, India.

Politics!

I'll be honest with you politics is definitely a topic that I don’t have much interest in. It's not something I would discuss while having a fancy cup of tea with family or friends. BUT doesn't it get you thinking why we hear about it day in and day out. Why is it that we see this topic everywhere? Well the answers obvious isn't it, the use of Social Media ! This has been the one powerful tool to supporting politicians,  campaigns, advocate organisations as well as getting the message to us citizens; regardless if we care or not. Social networking sites Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia, Wikilinks are among the most popular sites that have been used for political speech and conversation.

‘’A study done by Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project showed that 66 percent of social media users, or 39% of American Adults , engaged in some form of political engagement on social networking sites.’’ (Raine, L & Smith, A,  2012)

The use of Social media has enhanced ‘’democratic conversation and given citizens more of a voice in national debates’’. Social networking systems have shaped the way we think about candidates and specific issues. According to the Pews Research Centre 36% of users say social networking sites are important to keep informed with political news, 25% enjoy debating it to their friends, and 25% have become more politically involved after reading persuasive posts. (Wrtv6, 2012)

Its safe to say that digital technology has enriched ‘’political conversation and engagement’’ allowing people to get ‘’information that helps them evaluate candidates and policy ideas’’ as well as becoming ‘directly persuaded'' by it. (West, D, 2011,) President Barack Obama victories from the 2008 and 2012 election were pretty impressive. ‘’His campaign reached 5 million supporters on 15 different social Networks over the course of campaign season; by November 2008,  (WOW !) He obviously knew what he was doing to attract voters from all over the nation , but what makes him stand out from the rest of the politicians? What did he do to lure young voters in to make him win the 2012 election?

An example includes Obamas campaign releasing an outreach project named ‘’For All’’ directed to young supporters.  The campaign encourages supporters to post photographs of themselves and post them on social media sites by placing ‘’their hand placed  their heart and writing what progress means to you''. (Levy, P, 2012) The purpose for this was to overview issues which matter and need attention. As a youngster myself this captured my attention. With that campaign alone , Obama had a mission, vision and a statement for young people to keep moving forward. He stated that the younger generation will be making the difference for the future.  What a smart approach right ?

References:

1.       Raine, L & Smith, A,  2012, ‘Social Media and Poltical Engagement’, Pew Internet & Amercian Life Project, viewed 9^th January 2013, http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Political-engagement.aspx

2.       Wrtv6, 2012, ‘Research: Social Media Has Real Impact in Poltics,’ Youtube, viewed 9^th January 2013, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGmOTXsdg3o

3.       West, D, 2011, ‘Ten Ways Social Media Can Improve Campaign Engagement and Reinvigorate Amercian Democracy’, Brookings, viewed 9th January 2013, http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2011/06/28-social-media-west

4.  Levy, P, 2012, 'Obama Campaign Launches ''For All'' Intiative To Engage Young Voters, TPMLIVEWIRE, viewed 10th January 2013, http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/obama-campaign-launches-for-all-initiative-to-engage
5. BarackObamadot.com,  2012, '"Gotta" - Obama for America Radio Ad, viewed 10th January 2013, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDp4I74Ywbs&feature=player_embedded#!

Week 7 - Academic Group Poster