Women's Changing Role in the Digital World

The digital media world has changed dramatically from the 1990's to now, and with it, so has the role that women play in it. From my experience as a Photo Center Technician for two years and going to school to major in Digital Media Technology, I have observed most everything pertaining to photography and the digital media world.
What I have noticed during my time stuck in the Walmart Photo Center, is that most of the local photographers (at least in the Chipley area) are prominently female. I am not exactly sure why that is, or why I even noticed to begin with since there are so many customers that come in. But most of the customers that have businesses and that we receive copyrights from are indeed female. Now, this may be because of the creativity that inhabits female minds or maybe it's just because their husbands buy them Photoshop Elements 9 and a Nikon D40 so that they can go to town on it. Maybe it is that they women have more patience to work on projects that take a lot of time on the computer. I know I get thanked enough by older men as I scan in their pictures for them at the Instant Print kiosks and all they can say is, "Wow, you girls really know what you're doing!" or, "I don't know what we would do without you here." Probably figure it out yourselves, or give up and call management. I might just be noticing since the only other people that work in the Photo Center are four other women besides myself. But, whatever the case may be, females are making more of an appearance in the photography business.
From attending Gulf Coast State College the last two years, I have noticed that there are a lot more female programmers, animators, web designers, etc that are around today. Most of the people that I talk to online that make web pages and whatnot are female. I did not realize that I would have so much competition coming into this career until I stepped into my Photography class and my 3D Animation class. There were only a handful of males in the class and the rest were female. And here I thought that my lazy days of staying up late at fourteen to memorize HTML code so that I could make pretty pages on Gaia or Livejournal would pay off! I am hoping that when I actually get my degree and get out in the world, I will not have to compete with any of my fellow classmates. I have anxiety problems, so they will most likely get the best of me.
I see more females working on computers on the news or on television shows. As in the television show Criminal Minds, there is a woman who works on the computers non-stop analyzing things NAME. Not too long ago, I saw an Art Institute commercial where this woman was talking about how she wished she could "get her dreams for gaming to become reality". Me too. But, it was the fact that a female wanted to go into gaming that was so surprising to me. Not many women enjoy gaming as much as others. I have always been the nerdy girl to stay up late getting lost in the beauty of a cut scene from the Final Fantasy games or falling in love with one of the Dynasty Warrior characters while I read up on their history. It is not movies or books that do that for me (I never even cried when I watched the Notebook), it is video games. Except for Disney movies, which, I believe that there must be some kind of all female company that works there to make such cute and adorable movies.
Women's roles have been changing since the dawn of time and will continue to change. Not only in other fields, but in the Digital Media world as well. Who knows, since Steve Jobs left Apple maybe there will be a woman CEO soon to come. Possibly Infinity Ward or Treyarch will lose most of their company and women will be making most of the new Call of Duty games. I know if I were apart of it, there would be nothing but Call of Duty Zombies all the time from then on. But, I am really hoping for the future where there are a lot more women coming into the business of digital media. And possibly, maybe another Naughty Bear game. I know that game had to be mostly female thought, there is no way a man could think of that much cuteness and violence all at once.

Twitter, Trending Topics, and Hashtags

In Twitter, the hashtag (#) are like tags with which you can emphasize on a certain point in your tweet. It can also be used as a link to group a specific subject into one easy to access area. For example, when I tweet something like "Hey, @google is releasing its own smartphone and it's called #Nexus #One !". Here @google refers to the company Google (since they've have a Twitter account, it's always better to mention their Twitter account than just Google). The hashtags - Nexus and One - emphasize what the tweet is all about. Hopefully you get the idea! Twitter officially didn't support hashtags until about a couple of months ago.
Coming to trending topics, these are the hottest topics of discussion all over Twitter. Say for example, when New Moon was released and everyone started tweeting about it (either as "New Moon" or as "#newmoon) - it became a trending topic.

New Tech, New Talk

                I’m sitting at home and suddenly, Fiona Apple’s Parting Gift, is playing in the background.  I know I have a text.  Even though this technology has been around for a number of years, I still experience that moment of amazement that someone thousands of miles away sent me a message just seconds ago, and I have it instantly! I can write messages back and forth with family I would never have even known about if not for the technology of Myspace and more recently, Facebook.  A single thought travelled all the way from Hawaii in less than 5 seconds, and I can respond just as quickly. My typing skills are awesome :)  We use old skills of mankind to enhance these messages.   We use symbols, “hieroglyphs” to express thoughts, feelings, excitement and how we actually want our messages to be read.   Is it a joke? LOL.  Do you feel bad about what you’re saying L?  Are you sending out love? <3 <3

                When I first started using Myspace, people all over the world found me, wanting a connection with family they never knew, I was overwhelmed.  I loved finding old friends that I hadn’t seen or talked to in over ten years.  I could even sneak peeks into people’s lives that I didn’t really want to friend, but definitely wanted to know what happened to them after high school.  (Yes, I was a Myspace “peeping tom” and now currently do the same on Facebook.)

 This simple technology has changed the way we communicate with each other tremendously.  We have even added words to our vocabulary or use old words in a new way. Like for example, “friending” someone, or “defriending” them.  “Like” has probably never been used more in its history, not even in valley girl heaven.  We are able to share so much of ourselves, our families. Live little bits of each other’s lives.  Keeping up with someone without ever actually having to talk to them.  Incredible. 

Though that does bring in the negative side, we don’t have to talk to anyone and still feel a sense of involvement.  I feel like I know people I have never met and probably never will.  I don’t have to go out of my house for school, or work, and thus losing the opportunities to meet other “real” people.  My social quota is filled without any effort at all. Well, except for a few clicks of a mouse, liking, sharing and posting occasionally. 

Having children, one of who is in 8^th grade, the issue of cyber bullying is also a big concern for me.  I have yet to let my son have a Facebook page because of this concern, even though many of his friends do.  Bullying will never go away, but at least before children or adults, had a refuge.  Once you were home, you were safe from the bullying, that’s no longer the case.  Now you have immediate, hurtful writing that can be read over and over again. 

So what does this all wrap up to? What is my consensus of these technologies? Well like any major achievement in history, it is what we make it.  Use it to be a better person, have fun, share your lives.  Give yourself time to think about what your words really are saying before you put them on-line for all to see.  Oh, and hit me up on Facebook.  See ya around J

Krista Oneisom, Internet Marketing CGS2069

eSports - Going Mainstream or Strictly Niche?

    eSports…? What is this? Well, I can tell you. It’s Internet Sports, or rather competitive video gaming. It isn’t something I made up, or something that is even new. It’s been around. Most people just haven’t noticed it yet. Korea did though – their booming PC Café’s plus the sales of Starcraft I (a PC video game) propelled eSports to a new level – television channels playing pro match ups and superstars being born.

    Many Korean pro gamers make a living off of it, and even now American pro gamers are starting to make a substantial living off of their genre of choice (e.g. Justin Wong, pro fighting game player, and member of Team Evil Geniuses). However, some might still look at it at the end of the day say, “it’s just a video game.” Isn’t Poker just a card game? High-stakes Poker is a huge thing here in the US and is something started out as a game amongst friends. What makes it exciting is the introduction of money. The same goes for eSports for the most part. Evidence in that comes from the recent DoTA 2 tournament hosted by the creators, Valve, in which they put up $1,000,000 dollars to the winning team. That’s a nice chunk of change for playing a video game with some friends.

    Some other things that really add to the excitement of eSports are the way they are presented and the energy that is shown by fans at the events. This is most evident when seeing the flux of streaming tournaments online at Justin.Tv. When seeing a main event series like Evolution for the Fighting Game scene, or the Major League Gaming series for Starcraft and Counter-Strike, you see commentators that actually view the games like a sport. They go play by play telling viewers what is happening and all the while pointing out flaws in a player’s strategy. Which as an actual player, this really helps, and as a new watcher of an eSport, this helps a person to gradually understand what is taking place roping you in more to the energy of it (a streaming tournament match in Marvel Vs. Capcom 3). This should sound familiar if you ever watched football, basketball, or any other arena based team sport.

    With all this in mind, and all the steps that competitive gaming has taken forward since the days of competition strictly being at the arcade machines or with your friends in your living room, can it go fourth and become something worldwide as competitive poker, bowling, pool, soccer, and so forth has? Or is this something that is just another fad, just pushing too hard to be more when it’s ahead of its time? Let me know what you think!

Shawn Haywood

p.s. I think it's going mainstream! :-D

Having Fun With Nickjr.com

While being a husband and father of six children, it is almost impossible to ex scape the enticing bait that t.v shows provide. From off the wall reality shows; to adult cartoons, it seems that television is continuing to move far away from educational shows. Shows that teach kids valuable learning tools such as: Sesame Street, Electric Company, and Mr. Rogers Neighborhood to name a few. These shows teach kids how to count, read, and use their imagination. I am glad to say that through digital media I have found an outlet of ex scape for my kids called nickjr.com. Through creative interactive web program like nickjr.com which is a web site for Nickelodeon kids are giving access to valuable tools.


Nickjr.com is a good digital media tool because it allows them to interact with some of their favorite characters and shows from Nickelodeon. Instead of sitting in front of a hypnotizing show tube, nickjr.com thru provoking games that challenges kids to actively use their minds and have fun at the same time. For example there are games that enhance memory and problem solving skills. There are painting games that help kids familiarise themselves with using colors to paint their favorite characters and objects. The good thing about that is if they do not like the colors they have chosen, they can always be erased instead of completely starting over. Nickjr.com also provides some of the same shows as seen on t.v but watching them on the computer gives a on-demand type of feel.

Nickjr.com helps teach kids to familiarise themselves with using the key pad and mouse of a computer. The programs are broken down into sections which range from shows, games, and learning exercises. The only down side that I have found with nickjr.com is not the site, but trying to pry away my kids from the computer once they have logged in.

Challenging kids of today to think carefully, be creative, and to use their own imagination seems to be a lost priority in todays society. With the help of web sites like nickjr.com all hope is not lost. Thanks to digital media, futuristic learning is only fingertips away. Overall nickjr.com recieves two thumbs up for being a lighthouse in a age of dark television.

Twitter: Changing the World

@Jack : One could change the world with one hundred and forty characters.

       On February 8th 2007, a small crowd of family and friends read online that exact, simple "tweet". It was on that day Jack Dorsey and his companions realized that Twitter would redefine communications and become one of the most important forms of social media in the world. Indeed, I believe Twitter has changed the world. It has joined together people from all walks of life.Tony Hawk, the Dalai Lama, Lady Gaga, Oprah Winfrey, Pope Benedict XVI, your cousin and the peacock that escaped from the Bronx Zoo in New York all "tweet". My dogs even have a Twitter account! Yep, I went there. The real beauty of Twitter that brings people together is that it is so simple. Fast and easy real-time updates in the coveted one hundred and forty character form are sent directly to your cell phone via text message; no smart phone needed! This is good news because according to a new study by PEW Internet and American Life Project, only 35% of all cell phone owners sport a smart phone. Pew Internet Study  Twitter's short format messages insure that no text goes beyond a one page viewing area on a cell phone. This design is perfect for pay per text plan users or plans with small data packages. You can complete your messages with a picture or have a real-time location added to your "tweet" thanks to Twitpic and Google Maps.
       During the 2008 elections, Twitter changed how Americans kept up with their favorite candidates. Canidiates and their parties heavily used social media tools to keep track of their followers, answer questions, organize campaign events and keep tabs on the competition. Even though Twitter was fairly new to the general public, Barack Obama's total Twitter followers numbered 118,107 during his campaign giving him a landslide Twitter victory over John McCain who only had 4,942 followers. The 2012 elections are sure to generate a lot of tweets since many of the candidates have already started Twitter accounts for their campaigns. Social media Obama vs McCain
       Twitter also changed the way that the world receives breaking news, news from space and disaster alerts. On May 12th 2009, the first space tweet from Mike Massimino @astro_mike was sent and NASA has been hooked ever since. Astronauts have tweeted pictures of the Aurora Australis dancing above the Earth. They also captured the furious Sarychev Peak volcano eruption and relayed information to help Air Traffic Control in the area. When the earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, news broadcasters and ordinary people were updating everyone through Twitter. In the aftermath, people on Twitter and Facebook organized relief efforts, reunited loved ones and kept distant family members connected with up to the minute information. Recently during Hurricane Irene, government officials, the Red Cross and FEMA asked people to reduce the burden on phone services by instead tweeting. CNET NEWS  This kept the phone lines available for emergency workers. With one hundred and forty characters, I believe Twitter has definitely changed the world.