Week 9 –> Virtual ‘Anthropology’

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Second Life is the convergence of real and virtual life. Knowing that there are real people behind these avatars means real answers for why things are done can be found. This is going to be a main focus in the field trip studies. Understanding that Denise Carter’s lengthy investigations into Cybercity is something extravagant and outside the realm of what our purpose is, we will use her findings to understand how to get ours. Are avatars going to be honest when we ask them questions? Are some of the things we see going to be perceived correctly? These are things we might have to assume, because the places we visit that are popular might not always be so, and so on.

Understanding that my perception of what I experience is biased in ways that I cannot help, certain statements and theories may be presented from a specific, and possibly narrow viewpoint. This is OK though, as my methods will be formalized to my group members and we will all likely leave a destination with a similar vibe and understanding.

If we go in as a team with a plan, people will learn to respect us. Individuals will have their independent experiences that will vary, and some may be more respected or fit in better than others right away. This could be because of their dress or gender, or a host of other things. The point of having a group is to have some diversity of thoughts, focus, and ideas. Some obstacles we may encounter are language barriers, dress-code concerns, or untimeliness. If this happens, we will have to arrange to visit at another time, and be better prepared. Considering we hurdle these obstacles successfully, we should have no issue with ethical or respect related concerns. We might not ask the right questions right away. We might get lucky and see a bunch of action in the ‘nearby chat’ that affords us a data collection point. People will be receptive because the intent will be to gather information, but not in a forceful or offensive way. Nice conversation will yield better results anyway.

Between two mediums a great deal can be learned, the author speaks about them; “Interviews… focus groups” (Boellstorff 76). Using an interview type approach where I ask a lot of questions to the people around we in the places I visit, much will be learned. Some avatars might frequent certain places and be able to provide priceless insight into how and why things run they way they do in a given location. My focus group will be the classmates I go on these field trips with. We will ask questions of each other and develop a plan, and this will give our trip direction and purpose. If we use a “survey” (Boellstorff 77) format, we can each focus on different overall objectives and be able to get a larger idea of the location when we combine ideas in our private chat, or our post-trip discussions. Plus, with a survey, we can have consistency from destination to destination. This will afford us plenty of things to compare and contrast, making our fieldwork that much more substantial.

QR Codes and Bitly

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QR codes are great for many reasons. They allow one to have a quick link to whatever they want, they allow access into venues (via wristband or ticket), and they can be used virtually or in print. These codes are incredible. I will put one on the next set of business cards I print, linking to some of my previous work, to my LinkedIn profile, Google+, or maybe to my blog! While on vacation over the summer I received a wristband for access into a venue and they had QR codes on them that were scanned as we entered. On the IPhone, there is an app called passbook. Which actually comes installed on the phone when you initially start it up. Tickets for games such as the Rutgers football games can be purchased and sent straight to this app to be scanned on your way into the stadium. This is a great feature because it saves paper and is convenient. QR codes are a great way to market and advertise because your audience becomes instantly intrigued and wants to discover what is behind the odd looking image. I have heard of people using QR codes on their resumes to link to LinkedIn profiles or other virtual platforms to showcase previous work. 

Bitly is a great service as well. Bitly takes any URL and shortens it to just a short link. Mostly used for micro blogging, such as twitter, Bitly is convenient, and easy to use. Bitly links can be identified with seeing “bit.ly” in part of the URL.  Bitly I have used in tweets in the past, however, Twitter now has their own service that shortens links.

DO IT… DO IT… *scene* animated from Starsky and Hutch

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scene from starsky and hutch movie

 Link to my GoAnimate video

This is a scene remade and animated from the movie Starsky and Hutch with other celebrity figures playing the roles of Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller. By only having option available for using the free account to limit the amount used to make a remake of a movie scene. Difficulties included not being able to choose appropriate voices, appropriate background, amongst other software limitations. Some research was necessary to make the scripts line up in order to make it known which scene it is. Overall, not too hard, more time consuming than difficult.