“A group of ppl living together as a smaller social unit within a larger one, having interests, work, etc. in common.”

·      Ex.  Organization (sorority/frat), academic (Lamda Pi eta), sports/hobbies , church groups

       Being a community member?: Symbiotic relationship (how comm. Together), sense of support, can be intentional or non intentional 

     What does online culture mean to you?- online romantic relationships, social networking sites (fb, myspace), gaming (competitive culture), blogs, shopping (commerce online)

-a group of individuals with similar views, beliefs, values, etc. who interact online.  They have a "shared understanding" for something

        Online or viral community: a social network of individuals who interact online, potentially crossing geographical and political boundaries in order to pursue mutual interests or goals.

      Internet based- accessing the Internet and communicating on it 

      Online or viral community: a social network of individuals who interact online, potentially crossing geographical and political boundaries in order to pursue mutual interests or goals. 

-Internet-based

    Website that allows users to create a public or semi-public profile on that site and form relationships with others within that virtual community.

·       Public vs. semipublic (can decide who can or cant see your profile, privacy settings).

·       Semi- because nothing is completely private online 

       Text based: (with some visual) social networking community- Facebook, Twitter, can blog

      Visual/video: (with some text) social networking communities- Flickr!, YouTube, etc.

        Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games: (MMORPGs)- WoW, EverQuest

        Virtual Worlds: Second life, There.com

       def: human interaction through computer technology.

       Communication b/t 2 or more people who interact via separate computers through the Internet or a network connection (useful for career goals, life goals, personal goals, relational goals, etc.) 

characteristics: 

      Sychroneity (instant messaging, immediate) vs. asyncrhoneity (email)– time

       Real vs. fantasy personas- interacting as yourself vs. taking on a fanatical character

     Anonymous (not presenting true self  ex. skype-can use just to search, can talk to strangers) vs. identified persons (email, chat, IM-list of friends)

      One-to-one vs. group comm. Formats (chatroom, etc.)

     Text vs. video vs. voice-based (or combo)

      Psychological reality is greater (ch.1): Computer is not as artificial and is serving as a real life, suspension of disbelief (we know actors play characters in movies but during that time we’re willing to believe in their story, in order to enjoy have to)

·       When interactivity is high (psychological reality increases)

·       When voices, pictures, movements are included instead of just typed words.

·       With greater speed & frequency of response (if it’s instant/instant feedback, that’s in real time it feels more authentic). 

ú       Cyberlove: a romantic relationship consisting mainly of CMC (real commitment)

ú       Cybersex: all types of sexually related activities offered in cyberspace (on it’s own is casual).

·       Could involve just looking up porn-viewing images 

Study: Psychological Characteristics of Internet Dating Service Users

More likely to use Internet dating websites/services:

-People who are more sociable (desire to form relationships)

-Singles with high self-esteem and who put some value in romantic relationships-     (motivated to go out there and form a relationship).

-People with low self-esteem and who consider romantic relationships NOT to be an important part of their life- (Scared, not confident and view being in a relationship is important but scared of failure, less likely to go on).

*Self-worth*-self esteem is tied to this (what we think is important)

Studied: shyness, sociability and relationship development

Found: ·       CMC offers reduced-cues environ.

o      Shyness or social anxiety (might be easier to meet online first)

o      Physical unattractiveness

o      Stuttering, tone of voice

o      Visible handicap or deformation

·       The “shy-sociable” individual

o      Report closer, more satisfying relationships online than those who are not shy and sociable – someone who is shy and have difficulty getting to know people but desire social interaction

Studied: strategic mis-representation in online dating

·       Types of misrepresentation:

o      Personal assets-Men more likely

o      Relationship goals-Men

o      Personal Interests- Men

o      Personal attributes- Men

o      Past relationships

o      Weight- Women (bc men prefer thinner mates)

o      Age

Why misrepresent?: self-monitoring, fitting in, concerned w/ what others think.

        Issues of intensity, self-disclosure, authenticity (whether emotions real), and identity.

        Potential for emotion in cyberspace

·       In FTC relationships, privacy conflicts with 2 major emotional features: closeness and openness.

·       These conflicts are weaker online- provides and opportunity to guard privacy while increasing emotional closeness and openness.  

privacy openness issues: people have a harder time letting their guard down, but online there's more potential to be open bc can decide whether to interact with them again. 

More potential for shy individuals or individuals lacking confidence in relationships, because they can get to know people first, then meet if they choose.  There's less restriction. 

Studied: A Virtual Death and Real Dilemma:  Trust, Identity and community in cyberspace.

Ethical issues?- deception, trusting people you meet online, Debbie Swenson received gifts and other stuff bc she was pretending to be sick

o      CollegeBlog.com- blog

o      17yr old hs student basketball star suffering from Leukemia

o      Hoax

       Debbie Swenson- created online “character” of Kaycee (1999-2001), woman pretended to be her and would receive calls from doctors, etc. (deep emotional connection)

o      Demonstration of real emotion in online culture & the danger of deception.  

·       “a Sanskrit word that refers to the incarnation of God, but is more commonly used to mean a manifestation of the self.” (klang, 2004)

o       primary identity cue in online env. 

def:       Greek God Proteus: sea god of many shapes

·       Protean- the ability to take on many diff self representations

      Proteus Effect

·       Conformity to individual identity cues (height, weight, etc. compared to social norms, conform identity to that norm)

·       Taking on behaviors that we perceive to be consistent with the attributes of their avatar, online representation

o       Attractiveness, height, gender, race/ethnicity 

        Experiment #1: Attractiveness

·       Virtual reality (VR) interaction

o       Interpersonal distance: People w/ attractive avatars walked closer to confederate

o       Self-disclosure: People w/ attractive avatars revealed more info. Than did those with unattractive avatars.

o       When have an attractive avatar, more likely to be really friendly, more intimate, confident/comfortable.  Less attractive less likely to share thoughts.  Confederate is the other person

     Experiment #2: Height

·       VR interaction

o       Confidence: Taller avatars were more likely to make unfair $ splits in the 2^nd round of the “ultimatum name” (negotiation task); also less likely to accept unfair spilt.  (more confident to ask for things, take control; unfair split: more $ for taller) 

How our identity melds with our online space and offline identity

        Movie: “Identity Convergence” – physical combining with virtual self identity

·       Second Life: real $ spent to buy space, relationships

·       GPS: integrated systems (even in the car- our identities are at the core b/t the physical and network environments)

·       “Core intersection b/t those physical and networked environments”

. 

ú        Themes that came up:

1.              Identity exploration

2.   Social comparison- tendency to compare ourselves to others (ex. Think of when I’d compare Charles+me vs. best friend kim+dane’s relationship), compare to peers.   Some people might do this to boost their self-esteem (like “my grade was better than my friend’s in bio class”)

3.              Expression of ideal aspects of self- who you want to be, maybe haven’t completely achieved, who you are working towards being.

a.     Positive: Opportunities for emerging adults (18-24) to realize possible selves. 

b.     Negative: Increased pressure for female sexual objectification (like posting pics online), and intensified social comparison may negatively impact identity development (think: Angela-would post pics of her in her slutty bikinis of her basically naked to try and get compliments…..attention whore)----comparing popularity to others and might do things like this to get attention/more activity on their fb.  

presence: a psychological state in which virtual objects are experienced as actual objects in either sensory or non-sensory ways.  "virtual presence and telepresence"-feeling of presence in virtual environ., high quality simulation 

Typology of Presence:

ú        Physical: overlooking the artificial nature of an object or environment

ú        Social: Overlooking the artificiality of mediated humans or simulated non-human social actors

ú        Self: virtual selves are experienced as actual selves.  Virtual self can influence actual self.

·       Ex. Playing Oblivion Game and creates a character and knows she’s not that character but for the time being identify with character. “Oh I got killed.” 

·       Personal transformation- Video about Second Life user Rita

o       Gives us a chance to take risks and change with no costs-authenticity (participate more meaningfully).  Virtual self directly impacts her life, based off ideals for life.

Self-comparison with avatar and real identity 

Types of Online Relationships:

       1) Online relationships intended to find offline partner

        2) Enjoyable, superficial cyberflirting and cybersex.

       3) Serious online romantic relationship (no intention to transfer offline) 

·      Myth

o      Cybersex is a separate legal jurisdiction

·      Fact

o      Conduct that is illegal or a violation of policy in the offline world is just as illegal or a violation of policy when it occurs online

So yes, they have different consequences but are punished for violations.

Emotions Online:

       Issues of intensity, self-disclosure, authenticity (whether emotions real), and identity.

       Potential for emotion in cyberspace

Cyberinfidelity (Ch.9):      Issues to consider:

·       Morality of imagination

·       Psychological vs. moral reality online 

Future of Romantic Relationships (ch.10):       the marriage paradox

·       the level of personal happiness and marital satisfaction and success.

·       Cyberspace may provide:

o       Ways to find long-term partners

o       Ways to enhance marriage

o       Alternatives to marriage

o       Marriage makes men live longer

·       Paradox- healthier, happier yet such high divorce rates

·       People that tend to be more sad/ pessimistic don’t reap the same rewards in marriage than those who are happier and more optimistic. Sad indiv. Might be hoping that taking the next step will make them happier…

Massively Multi-Player Online Games-       Play in an online/virtual world (not playing against a computer, playing against people and build alliances/relationships)

Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games: (MMORPGs)- WoW, EverQuest

ú        Player Data:

·       Avg age:35

·       Gender: 60% male, 40% women

·       “normal” not idolated, unhealthy individuals

ú        Game Data

·       75-90% of games have some kind of violence; nearly half have “serious violence”

·       Narrative themes and stereotyping

ú        Less latinos and minorities in games than TV 

        uses and gratifications theory:

·       young adult female players:

o       less driven by social motivation- weren’t drawn to social interaction (as much as males) 

o       played less frequently

o       not as drawn to game competition

an exploration of gender diff in players’:

     social role theory and uses and gratifications

ú        young male players

·       more drawn to games for social interaction (talking about it with friends)- counterstereotypic

o       Confirms Lucas and Sherry’s findings

  Many similarities b/t male and female players     

Possible age difference

 ·      different ages play for different reasons

Types of Games and their effects (from Lee chart, table 22.1): 

1) Violent games for entertainment

-neg:hostility, anxiety, aggression, lack of empathy, physiological responses, prosocial behavior  

-pos:catharsis 

2)Non-violent games for entertain.

-neg: addiction, gender stereotyping, physical health prob.

-pos:training, sociability, therapy, spacial visualization, cognitive abilities

3) Educational games

-pos: learning, motivation, memory retention 

 lack of empathy toward violence

·      desensitization—repetitively playing these aggressive games

o      less emotional response to victims and violence

              -catharsis: playing video games makes your real life less aggressive (no evidence for this)

          -Violence Exposure: 70-90% of video games contain violence. About 50% contain serious

       violence.

           A Content Analysis of Race/Ethnicity, Gender, and Violence in Video Game Advertisements

·      frequency AND nature of portrayals (excluding characters whose identity could not be identified)

o      who is absent from the video game landscape? Who’s represented/overrepresented?

·      82% white, 1% latino, 8% black, 7% asian, 2% native American

o      asian males most violent

·      ads upheld some long-standing media stereotypes

         The Effects of Sexualization of Female Video Game Characters on Gender Stereotyping and Female Self-Concept

·      Lara Croft in Tomb Raider: Legend

o      She’s brave, courageous, smart, strong, independent like a man

o      In the game she changes outfits (sexual outfit, winter outfit) and is still dominant and aggressive in both outfits

·      Playing the sexualized Lara increased gender stereotyping and decreased female players’ self-efficacy

o      Decreased female’s short term feelings of capability

o      Sexualized characters can negatively affect players 

Effects of Exposure to Stereotypes

-things to consider:

·      Estimations

o      Underestimate the number of minority individuals that live in the US if you live in more of a white culture

·      Identification

o      A lot of the time you don’t have someone in the video game who looks like you to identify with

·      Stereotyped judgments

·      Reinforcement of pre-existing stereotypes (or creation of)

o      Reinforced we already have and they’re activated by video game portrayal, making us more likely to use them

·      Effects on self esteem and body image

o      Men more likely to objectify themselves

·      Accepting or rejecting affirmative action

o      Looking at real world issues

·      Acceptance of “rape myth”

o      The girl asked for it, she had it coming, she really wanted it

·      Adopting behaviors

o      Violence stereotypes of becoming more aggressive

·      Influences on life choices

o      What you can do in life based on the people in the video games

        Game experience varies based on your avatar selection (personality and preferences reflected)

·       Race and class selection

·       Gender

·       Appearance

ú        Based off the avatar you pick in influences how you play and how people treat you.

Men pick women avatars more often than women pick male ones. 

Because you are in some way socializing via a network.

The role of the group is to build alliances, build power through numbers.  Sometimes they are present for a sense of belonging

               -the player

·      the individual solo player level. you control the character and what your game play will be like.

ú                -the group (5 types on p. 37)

·      pairs: you and another character

·      pick-up groups: players don’t know each other or don’t know each other very well and have found one another by using the games group tools. Random.

·      friend groups: players know each other fairly well and don’t share any formal alliance.

·      guild and ally groups: smaller guilds drawn from bigger groups (?)

·      hybrid groups:

o      Why do people join these groups?

§       Practical (you can’t go very far on your own), gives you a sense of belonging (social experience of gaming)

children

·      most of the time they’re not in school, they’re spending on video games

·      falling asleep in school because they stay up late playing games

·      not keeping up with assignments and failing to do homework. Worse grades.

·      choosing to use computer or video games rather than friends

·      dropping out of other activities

·      becoming irritable when not being allowed to play

        -adults:

·      playing is characterized by intense feelings of pleasure and guilt

·      obsessing and being preoccupied with being online even when you aren’t

·      hours played is increasing and disrupting family/social/work life

·      large credit card bills for online services

·      feeling of not being in control

·      financial problems

·      feeling detached from real world intimate others

ú                -physical symptoms:

·      carpel tunnel

·      sleep disturbances

·      back and neck aches

·      headaches

·      dry eyes

·      failure to eat regularly or neglecting personal hygiene and health

·      problem video game use (internationally)

·      online survey

o      156 people (8%) of respondents were identified as problem users

§       these problem users played longer than they planned

§       played more frequently

§       played even when they didn’t want to or felt it would be a bad idea

§       played online role-playing games

§       found it easier to meet people online

§       had fewer offline friends

§       had high caffeine consumption

o      Curiosity—sensory and cognitive

§       Increased their motivation to play the game and play more often

§       Have a sense of being there

o      Reward

§       Can satisfy users and reinforce their motivation to play, usually by virtual items

o      Belonging

§       Users sense of affiliation with the community, social need to belong

o      Obligation

§       Sense of duty you feel to other group members online, social obligation to help other members carry out other tasks

o      Role-Playing

§       The more committed people are to playing in character and the role playing experience, the more you want your character to succeed. Those drawn to role-playing were more likely to engage in gaming activity that could be considered addiction

ú        def: intentionally created with potential educational outcomes w/ serious goals (prosocial outcomes).

       Motivates and educational

·       Learning (the motivation, kids are more excited about learning, engages kids in school), job training

·       Classroom/academic lessons

·       Games for health

·       Games for change

Peacemaker as a game for change (video): Can take two different roles, prime minister, etc.  A game about peace (Israelis and Palestinians)

 Save rainforest, “green patches,” farm games on facebook (potential for games for change here)

Training: games to help prepare paramedics for traumatic situations, alternative technology that applies to architectures,  educational games, for college student (racing game for an engineer course-they have to program the car, using formulas from the exam and the final is racing the car to see how well they can compete), training games (virtual worlds in a space, prototypes to the tech they use in the real world-show technical support how to fix, saves money

Video games can be used as persuasive tools and parents feel that kids think that it's an actual portrayal of war but really it's just a fun version of it where you don't get killed.  So it's somewhat unethical to promote to kids using something that they are emotionally attached to.  

ú        Connecting properties of serious games with educational outcomes

ú        Multimodality: a property of serious games that allows for presentation of content knowledge on a digital gaming environ through a combo of visual, auditory, haptic & other sensory ways

ú        Interactivity: a property of serious games that allows for comm. b/t an indiv player and the digital gaming system through diff forms of activities

ú        findings:

·        multimodality positively correlated with interested in learning, increase learning

·       interactivity increase learning 

International law, most often, consists of deciding which country’s law should apply.

Within the US,  50 states each have their own laws.  Known as “conflicts.” 

United States:  prohibits child pornography, terrorism, and is fairly strict about copyright law.

China: prohibits information on Taiwan and Tibet, for example; prohibits pornography; but is pretty weak on enforcing copyright and trademark laws

France and Germany: prohibit the sale of Nazi materials.

Singapore: bans pornography and political discussions during elections.  

UK: has very strict libel laws.

Allocation of Internet resources (IP addresses, domain names) that must work anywhere

Coordination of law enforcement activities (e.g. to fight hackers)

Guidelines for cyber-security

Assistance to less developed countries (funding, training, and information)

Fair procurement and trade rules

Intellectual property protection

Children's Online Privacy Protection Act-specifically protects the privacy of children under the age of 13 by requesting parental consent for the collection or use of any personal information of the users.

CIPA-Children’s Internet Protection Act -seeks to protect children (and adults) using school and public library Internet computers from visual depictions that are:

Obscene

Child Pornography

Harmful to minors

Grabbing up domain names

Law: Today, a trademark holder is entitled to reclaim a domain name without payment.

The rule is “first come first served” for companies with same/similar trademarks

Copyright Law – protects original “works of authorship i.e., literary works, musical works, dramatic works

Direct Infringement – includes wholesale reproduction and distribution of copyrighted works.

Contributory Infringement – knowingly encouraging infringing activity.

Vicarious Infringement – violation occurs when operator has the ability to supervise users, but chooses not to for financial benefit.

myths: Finding something on the net means it is okay to copy without getting permission

When someone puts something on the net it means they want you to use the material, and therefore you can do anything with it.

It’s okay to copy material of a website without getting permission.

It’s okay to use copyrighted material on a personal website as long as there is no fee to visit the site.

-Age requirements 

-Offensive language and content

-Obey rules of the game, of the space

Because culture is intersecting with commercial interests. Players are becoming co-producers in the game world. 

This implies that there could be copyright and property rights issues. Bc it is becoming more blurry who should own proper ownership.

-People are able to create their own unique avatars and virtual lives so they are basically serving as a producer.  

-Also, people are able to create and buy stuff through games like Second Life-build houses, companies (Intellectual Property).  

-Consumers are able to attach their own equipment to Internet websites (like EverQuest Fan Fiction)

Taking themes, story lines, characters, etc. that are already existent and changing it and recasting it somehow.     

Ex. Players created their own "rape scene" in the EverQuest Fan fiction (stories created by fans using the characters-a fan made a disturbing story and posted it on the website) - Female was raped and husband killed perpetrator.  Afterwards EverQuest had to remove that Fan Fiction.  

Ex. Cartoon porn

Opposing aspects of online romantic relationships: (BZ)

ú       Distance vs. immediacy

·       Similarities of actual interaction:

·       Differences: online there’s a sense of distance (diff places) vs. right there in front of them within their space. If no internet connection no communication but can meet up w/ others in real life.

ú       Lean and rich communication

·       Online comm. Is leaner (in book-bc when talking with text can’t tell nonverbal beh. & emotions)

·        but one ex. Of how online is richer (bc cant rely on nonverbal aspects of comm.)- Need to provide more info (have to explain how you feel and go into detail vs. crying)

ú       Anonymity and self-disclosure

·       You can be whoever you want to be online and it can be anonymous.  But in some cases self-disclosure is increased online (less inhibited-good for ppl who have social anxiety and shy it helps ppl like that, can feel more comfortable & no consequences/risk-free-bc can stop talking to them).  Can involve deception

ú       Deception and sincerity- easier to lie about yourself online.  But also because there are less risks people are more likely to open up since they have no idea who you are so it can be more of your real self.

ú       Discontinuity and continuity- Don’t know have that sense of where that person is when you log off.  It’s more continuous in face-to-face relationships. 

ú       Physical vs. mental investment (mostly for romantic relationships)- Physical responsibilities are less (if any at all) online.  But mental can be just as high. 

          virtual worlds (VWs) refer to computer-simulated, graphic based, virtual environments that are accessed by multiple users (Jung & Kung, 209)

-online environment that has game-like immersion and social media functionality without game-like goals or rules

            features of virtual worlds

·      1. Illusion of 3-D space (not like pong or frogger)

·      2. Shared spaces

·      3. Persistent world: carries on without you

·      4. Avatars that serve as visual representations of users

·      5. Users experience immediacy: interactions in real time

·      6. Synchronous communication: interactive chat tool

             Players of virtual worlds have become residents of virtual worlds, and what were once fantasy worlds over time have become mirrored worlds

·      Worlds complete with social and financial dynamics that seeped out from cyberspace into real space (pg. 12) 

How are virtual worlds used in education?

·      1) Communication spaces

o      interactive chat tool, communicate live

·      2) Simulation of space (spatial)

o      physical space to meet

·      3) Experiential spaces (acting on the world)

o      social aspects as well as job training, technical training ex fix a part of something

 Issues to consider:

·       Morality of imagination- inserting a fantasy into what’s going on. Is that the same thing as having an interaction with someone online?

·       Psychological vs. moral reality online-Sometimes the other person isn’t aware of that.

-cyberinfidelity may increase over time because it can be considered not cheating to some ppl and is easy to keep secretive.