Facebook
I initially set up my Facebook account because my oldest daughter really wanted one. Personally I found the most challenging part of Facebook the friend requests. I don’t feel the need to have everyone I have ever ridden a subway with or walk past on the street part of my friends. Kids actively seek out higher numbers but it is not about the quantity it is about the quality. This was one issue that my daughter and I faced. There are those acquaintances that are not particularly a good friend that are requesting access to your life for sometimes their own reasons. I told my daughter that if you wouldn’t share something with them at school that you would share with your circle of friends, then don’t accept them. This becomes its own sticky social issue. We came to a compromise and she has different levels of friends limiting who sees what. I very infrequently go on to “see what I have missed.”
MySpace
The MySpace home page was visually over stimulating with all of its content crammed together. MySpace claims to allow you to customize your own space. It connects you with games, music, video, TV, celebrities. I found a friend that had a space and used it to include his blog. After already having a Facebook account I felt that MySpace was somewhat inferior to Facebook. One video about the new MySpace logo really focuses on creating a space that is representative of you.
LinkedIn
This is professional networking site that makes it easy to be part of a business community that allows you to find past colleagues, find a new career opportunity, and ask advice of others within your field. This site really takes the saying, “It’s all about who you know.” to a new level. The nice thing about LinkedIn is that it sends you daily updates to your designated email if there are any changes, posts or new professional connections with people in your group.
Ning
Ning is a social website that you can use to inform individuals and encourage conversation while allowing for money raising opportunities for an organization or cause. This site is presently being used by the Republican National Congressional Committee, Ellen Degeneres, the Epilipsy Foundation, and Hershey’s just to name a few. When I went to sign up for the free 30 day trial, they wanted a price plan commitment. Since I don’t foresee myself using this tool, I didn’t sign up for an account.
This tool seems like it really protects its members from non-members searching and viewing member info available. I didn’t like that I couldn’t really view actual examples of pages to get a better understanding visually of what Ning offered. I feel like a better visual example even of a mock one would be very helpful. (What little I could see was viewed from the 2 inches of screen homepage above and below the box to sign in.) Anne Rice's site was down for maintenance, and both Barry Manilow and the Christian Authors and Readers had a sign in for members on their pages. I also didn't want to give credit card info in case I forget to cancel my "free 30 day subscription," so I didn't. It did seem like a blog to me. My only thought in regards to the social aspect is that you have to be really committed (monetarily as well) to join and will definitely find people with similar interests.
World of Warcraft
The installation took over 2 ½ hours. After the first ½ hour I decided it would be a better use of my time to multi-task by making dinner. Every page offered an upgrade to the pay version. I chose to be a human huntress because my main purpose in this role playing game was to have a bow and arrow. I had the hardest time trying to talk to people and then getting my reward. On the 10 day free trial you couldn’t ask others for help, so I just kept clicking buttons until a right mouse click on the person gave me the quest. I found it unfair that I could only target one person at a time while the ork’s were double-teaming me. I saw my spirit at least 5 times in the hour I played it. The first time I died I lost my wolf and I really miss him. Marshal McBride keeps sending me on these missions that it seems his own troops can’t handle. I feel like ork fodder! I recovered some cool weapons, coins, and clothing. I went to training for my new sure-shoot crossbow and I claimed a quarter-staff. At the request of one of my bystander daughters, I hit the space bar and learned how to jump. I used this skill in my fighting. I’m not sure how effective it was, but I think I freaked the ork out, right before he killed me. It was a busy day in the realm.
GaiaOnline
The hardest part of this online world is coming up with a name. Just when I think I have one I like, someone else has it! Uggh! Like I couldn’t tell the airplane wasn’t going to blow up. Not a very safe land if the person parachuting next to me says, “Don’t worry, this happens all the time.” I felt very controlled when Bob the cat landed on my parachute. I wish money did grow on trees. Barrett tried to steal my hermit crab. Ok, I actually gave it to him by mistake but he didn’t argue when I took it back. Thankfully, both of my younger daughters are sitting over each shoulder so not a move goes by that isn’t heavily scrutinized. Oh yeah, I’m having fun! I think my capacity to make any rational decisions about hitting the save button is limited by their constant advice. Help!
Ragnarok
From the sound of the name I expected Vikings of yore or something out of Lord of the Rings, but what I saw on the home page looked more like an edgier version of Japanese Animee than on GaiaOnline. What a nightmare to get into! The initial download was easy, the installation took a while, and then I was presented with 3 different versions. It was hard to find any information about how to go about installing and setting up the game. It was not user-friendly. The help that they did provide was very simplistic and not very helpful. I finally figured out that I had to register before I could finish the set-up. The registration didn’t actually register you for Ragnarok, it instead registered you for Warpportal. From there you then had to sign up for the game Ragnarok. Accessing the game from Warpportal allowed you to buy points to “power up” your game to get added stuff. Through trial and error I came to the realization that Valkyrie was the free version. Exhausting!
Now for the game…I should have stopped before the installation. There were 6 traits that you were able to change, however if you wanted a higher intelligence score, your strength score went down. For every point increase there was a counter decrease. I couldn’t seem to find how to enlarge the graphics bigger than a 4 by 5 inch window. Within that window there were other pop up information that you needed. When a message from someone in the game like my guide Sprakki appeared, it took up just about all the remaining screen space. While I only made it to Level 3/Novice Level 2/Experience 3.3% I feel that I got a good idea of the game. I like the idea of quests, but these seemed overly simplistic. When I finally was done playing, I couldn’t leave the game because my curser was trapped within the limited screen of the game along with me. I had to call my husband for help. This wasn’t on the help screen, but then again, not much was. I can’t image that anyone would buy the cost game after a marketing tool like this.
Chat Roulette
The site was very simple, meet random strangers and talk to them. The simple green wallpaper screen, similar to something you would see at your grandparents’ house, with your visual and audio choices was the priority of that screen. I needed to download the newest Adobe player but compared to the role-playing games it didn’t take very long at all. I was not comfortable having my camera turned on or mic so I just viewed who was on there. I only saw guys ranging from probably teens to maybe 40ish with one group of mixed 12 year old boys and girls. Without a picture, most of the 10 people skipped me until I came to one teen. Once I realized that I was watching something extremely indecent, I quickly ended my session on Chat Roulette. I think that this is a good tool to be aware of and I am glad my children were not in the room. On this site, you really are playing roulette with what you will see and hear. Be warned!
Omegle
Simple premise, start a chat, text or video with a stranger. On the main page they even mention that you can say as little or as many personal details as you want. Here we go again! On my third chat I was told by a stranger to, “Try the fun, adult version of Omegle!” I will pass. The 4th person I met seemed normal and was not overly friendly. He said that he liked and dislike Omegle because of the people. Because there was the option of no video on either side I felt more comfortable when I chatted with a stranger. I am still not a fan of these chat rooms.
Second Life
Second Life (SL) is a very complex online virtual reality. After creating my virtual me, I went through a 6 step training program to learn the basics of operation. While I took to flight right away, there were many other things in SL that were challenging. The hardest thing for me was trying to wear something or changing clothes. My virtual me even had her scalp exposed because I didn’t know how to edit my hair. Thankfully, the two friends that I made on my first day were extremely helpful and were often available to walk me through another catastrophe. While other interactive experiences this week seemed awkward or scary, I found this experience to be fun. I used my time to approach random individuals and start up conversations about just about anything. I found that everyone I met was at the very least polite.
I told many people that I was using my time to explore SL for an assignment. Many gave me suggestions to various sites or took me there. My new SL friend, Sosuke, was very generous. She helped me immensely and even gave me a Porsche and a Sailboat, among other things. Sailing was so much fun. I sometimes explored with a new friend or sometimes went alone. (I even went zip lining and road a killer whale, as you can see from my pictures below.) I was extremely lucky to run into a doctor that told me about his SL medical teaching class that uses SL patients and a hospital to simulate a real medical environment and patient symptoms. His program is only in its second semester, but has received great reviews so far. My conversation with him sparked my interest in the educational aspects of SL, so the next day I took a tour of the Imperial College in London. After changing into scrubs, scrubbing in, and checking on the patient I earned a medical facemask. The educational potential for this type of environment is still evolving. I was very impressed.
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