Writing Assignment 13: Government 2.0?

So the question from Slashdot was "With the announcement that President-Elect Obama will record his weekly address as a YouTube video to be posted at Change.gov, questions arise as to how an Internet-fueled candidacy based in part on a platform of government openness can begin to use technology to make government transparent. Aside from popular Slashdot policies, such as Net Neutrality, how do you think government (either in the United States or elsewhere) can best utilize technology to engage the public and make government more transparent and accessible?"

I think this is something that creates a wide array of different emotion. This is something that has never been tried before and I think that’s a good thing. If Barack Obama is viewed as an advocate for change, well this is a good start. When you think about what people expect from Obama it’s an over abundance of change that they’re looking for. This is a time to embrace every alternative and view it as a possibility instead of disregarding it because it’s different. A reason that things haven’t changed much I think is derived from a certain amount of fear that, we don’t know what will happen if we go down that road, but what if it does work out?

I don’t believe that all aspects of government should be transparent but, some aspects should be and either way I think the public should be more involved than they are. I think the public should involve themselves more than they are and I think the public should be portrayed as more involved than they are at times. The government could include the public more by the utilization of our current technology as Obama intends to. Open the floor to discussion via Email, Instant Messenger, etc., obviously screening inappropriate material proposed that may be proposed by some but, get that immediate feedback. Know what the people want by listening to them. So what do you think this suggestion or plan of action of Obama’s will do, to record his weekly address as a YouTube video? If anything he’s going to by reaching a whole other demographic who can view him whenever, post a comment for or against something they’ve heard. This could really start something if you think about the anonymity of the associated users and the element of fear or ridicule removed from speaking one’s mind truthfully and honestly. This is a whole other ballpark.

Now if this is the beginning of a trend , then so be it. If this is an approach that President-Elect Barack Obama wants to take, It’s okay by me. I trust the fact that if this man whom is about to lead our country wants to utilize our communication technologies to help us not to hurt us. Another view of this is , think about what it could do for the telecommunications industry. It may push them to strive for requirements for future communication devices to a higher standard. “Trying to keep up with time”, and it may improve the quality of many things that are already thought to be high quality. This concept of the use of YouTube may also mandate that internet have a more efficient connection and streaming of material. Quicker, faster. That’s where we are now, where will we be.

Hey either way, no matter what happens, I’m rooting for this to work. I’m rooting for Obama to succeed. I think it’s time that we begin to embrace and support rather than degrade and put down the differences between us. I think that Barack Obama is that difference, he knows that and that’s what he’s attacking. It’s a cause for hope and hope for change.

Writing Assignment 11: Internet Gaming and Virtual Worlds

I would have to say that the concept of these virtual communities an interesting one. Who would have ever thought that something as simple of a concept could be so appealing to so many individuals. If I’m not mistaken, second life is a simulation of an economy within society. And from the article in Newsweek, Joi Ito said, “Yes, it's just a game, The way that the real world is a game." So basically he’s saying that virtual worlds are simulated forms of real-life, as real-life is a game. Does anything sound wrong about that or is this a good tool to see how people may actually be within a society when there is anonymity and an allowance for the bending of rules when the consequences aren’t real for acts of misbehavior. I don’t know maybe my perception of the virtual worlds is unclear, the article about the rape in cyberspace was like reading Greek to me and I just couldn’t follow who was who and, I don’t know.

Anyway, the fact that it seems as though people are spending so much time on the programs is that it appears to distort their perceptions of what’s real or tangible and what’s not; this is pure insanity. How are these games so appealing that people won’t even get up to eat? Like in “The Unreal Estate Boom” article where the man paid “real” money for an imaginary house and property, WTF. The article said he spent more than a week’s earning of wages from his actual (real) job to make this purchase. I would say that this is a major intersection of where real-life and “virtual” economies have crossed. Part of an example within a search for virtual economy on Wikipedia was that an attorney was banned from second life in 2007, this guy sued the developers on the basis of, “depriving him of his land” keep in mind this is imaginary land.

However, Edward Castronova, is an economist at Indiana University in Bloomington, whose interests now are mainly in creating such economies for experimentation purposes. His latest is a simulated world known as “Arden”. Arden’s purpose is to run economic experiments. Basically, it’s to develop an economy and incorporate aspects of the real world, such as inflation and aspects of supply and demand.

The purpose of these experiments are to test the affects of how laws will influence individual behavior, and also to test new forms or assumptions of marketing theory. I think Castronova is heading in the right direction and the “virtual” economies are something novel and there’s a need for them to be dissected, analyzed and interpreted. This is something that can benefit us but we need the reasons, we needs reasons as to why these virtual worlds are found to be so appealing, what is it that makes individual users act in certain ways when it comes to involving themselves. Is it the fact that it’s something to just take up time or that its fun? Or is it the society has become individualized into practicing these games or virtual worlds secluded and distancing that real life contact or face-to-face interaction that appears to be dwindling away in the coming generations. Either way, this is something that requires the devotion of research to obtain a better understanding what really occurs with the usage of these "virtual" worlds in relation to the human psyche.

References:

Dibbell, J. (January 2oo3). The Unreal Estate Boom. Retrieved 4 November, 2008, from Wired Web site: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.01/gaming.html

Levy, S. (2008). World of Warcraft: Is It a Game? Retrieved 4 November, 2008, from MSNBC Web site: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14757769/site/newsweek/page/3/print/1/displaymode/1098