Categorizing My Life Through Blogs

I've come to realize that I've been categorizing my life based on my blogs. That is, I write certain things in one blog and not another. I currently have three blogs. Two are on Blogger - one for my daily life, the other for school (this one), and the last one on LiveJournal for the writer in me.

The daily life blog is a picture blog full of photos of myself, my family, and my friends. From time to time I scribble inanities or musings in there. It's quite pitiful because no one ever leaves a comment. However, my friends do read it I believe.

The school blog is full of assignments. The sort of cheem (or profound) sounding stuff you'll find a stupid kid writing in a desperate attempt to impress. In fact, I've got a friend who has been counting the number of "insofar"s I've used in my assignments. I apparently introduced him to the word.

The LJ writing blog is great for blogging about my writing exploits. It's a great community. Definitely more lively and interactive than Blogger in my opinion. People drop comments freely and are more than happy to share their thoughts with you or give you assistance.

Perhaps it's the neat-organizational-freak in me that's acting out through my blogging. It's telling me that everything in life has to be categorized or compartmentalized. That it's neater this way.

Or perhaps it's me showing different sides of myself. The fun-loving side, the academic side, and the writer side. There's a difference between the last two by the way, writing is my passion and hobby - it isn't as much of a chore as assignments are. Although I have to admit that it seems like a monumental task when I'm faced with writer's block.

Well, now that I'm done ranting, I'll go post this on all my other blogs. A first!

Qn: Do you find yourself doing what I'm doing? Blogging in different blogs to show your different circle of friends the different sides of you?

In case you're interested here are my 3 blogs:
Personal - http://felsong.blogspot.com
School - http://felsong125.blogspot.com
Writing - http://felsong.livejournal.com

QotW10: One of My (Second) Life's Greatest Failures

Orientation Island: Appearance Castle

I have to say that Second Life (SL) is fun if you know your way around. Sadly, I'm a non-computer game freak. In other words, I'm a computer game idiot. As much as I enjoy escapism into a virtual or make-believe world, SL just isn't my cup of tea.

I did have fun choosing my avatar though. For easy identification I created Felsong Anatine. Felsong for me and Anatine because it was one of the first few names on the list that sounded pretty. As I was unable to graduate from Orientation Island, one of my life's greatest failures, I took my time making my avatar pretty instead.

For starters, I tried to make her look like me. Bangs for my recently acquired fringe, rather long hair, and perky boobs! I was tickled pink by the instant breast enlargement and shaping that SL provided. Instant lipsuction treatments for trouble spots like thighs as well! It's little wonder that I've only been seeing hot girls and guys around. I chose a fuchsia top with belled sleeves because that's one of my favorite colors and the sleeves gave it a vintage feel (all the rage right now, I think). Did a bit of layering with the white tank underneath (something that's difficult to do in hot and humid Singapore), and threw on a pair of jeans and black boots for good measure.

I met two guys who happened to choose the same avatar, bumbling around Orientation Island as well. One was from Tokyo, the other from the Philippines. I called them the identical twins. Both were equally hot, and equally clueless as I about SL. Which goes to show that good-looking people aren't exactly very smart. Haha. Tokyo guy asked me about getting around, so I tried to help him as best as I could then said goodbye.

I quite enjoyed flying around though. It gave me a feeling of freedom. Like a bird, if you will. I finally took a snapshot of my avatar sitting in a throne-like chair in the Appearance Castle. Partly because the 'throne' was put there for that very purpose, and partly because I like fantasy-ish stuff.

I do hope to immerse myself in SL again so long as the service improves here in Singapore and my computer doesn't crash every five minutes.

QotW9: Seen, Sent, Shamed?

What is Citizen Journalism?
Citizen journalism is “the act of citizens playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information" according to Bowman and Willis (as cited in “Wikipedia: Citizen journalism”, 2007). It is unlike civic journalism, which has an obligation to society that goes beyond the reporting of news or facts (“Wikipedia: Civic journalism”, 2007).

Having learned about blogs, peer-to-peer, and wikis while researching for my numerous essays and research papers, I have come to realize that the aforementioned are all forms of citizen journalism. In my opinion, blogs come closest to citizen journalism. After all, “they are clearly written by human beings with genuine human passion” (Gillmor, 2004). These ‘voices’ are from numerous individuals that are part of the greater society at large, and are thus relatively representative of the general public.


Is STOMP an ideal form of citizen journalism in Singapore?
Judging by the deluge of information, photographs, and videos on STOMP.com.sg; I have come to the conclusion that despite the fact that citizen journalism has become an almost integral part of our daily lives – especially since the advent of mobile phones with photo-taking and video-recording capabilities, many of us still underestimate its prevalence and overlook its reach. It is little wonder then that many have fallen and continue to fall ‘prey’ to trigger-happy citizen journalists.

Seemingly straightforward, citizen journalism with regards to STOMP actually raises some ethical issues. For example, would taking videos of unwitting offenders of social etiquette be counted as a gross invasion of privacy? Furthermore, as spontaneous as citizen journalism is, would it not be less objective since the citizen journalist is hardly likely to interview all parties involved. In fact, it is more likely that these ‘journalists’ would impose their own moral values upon the subjects of their ‘news’ instead of hearing the other side of the story.

Unknowingly mooning the world, literally.

STOMP was started shortly after the latest General Elections, a possible attempt by the Singapore government to emulate its political rivals and their successful ventures into Internet campaigning. As the online subsidiary of the national English paper, STOMP, like its hardcopy counterpart, is more or less within the government’s iron fist. Politics – always a touchy subject in Singapore, and its effects on citizen journalism with regards to STOMP during the next general elections waits to be seen.

Thus, STOMP is a form of citizen journalism in Singapore, but it is definitely not an ideal one. It is the former because it encapsulates what citizen journalism is all about – spontanaity, indignation, a desire to bring certain issues to the attention of others. However, it falls short in that it is hardly political, an area that requires greater openess in Singapore, and toes the line of the privacy issue.

How would you improve it?
While the political issue would be harder to deal with, the issue on privacy could be easily remedied. For one, citizen journalists should protect the identities of their ‘news’ subjects and not use STOMP as a veritable wall of shame. They should also be wary of what they post, bearing in mind that STOMP is a national forum of sorts. After all, what is a citizen journalist to do if he is sued for invasion of privacy? In short, having a respect for the privacy of others and self-censorship is imperative.

Shaming a parking offender

Another improvement that can be made is to include a political page. As far as I can tell, citizen journalism in relation to STOMP extends only to the mundane goings on in Singapore. Where are the videos of Meet-the-MP seesions? Or interviews with members of the opposition party?

In conclusion, citizen journalism is alive and well in Singapore through STOMP, but it still has a long way to go before it becomes an ideal form of citizen journalism.


References
Citizen Journalism. (2007, March 28). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved March 29, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_journalism

Civic Journalism. (2007, January 30). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved March 29, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civic_journalism

Gillmor, D. (2004, July). We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People. Retrieved March 28, 2007 from http://download.nowis.com/index.cfm?phile=WeTheMedia.html&tipe=text/html

QotW8: Yawning Bread's No Yawn

Blog’s Title: Yawning Bread

Blog's URL: http://www.yawningbread.org
Blogger’s Name: Au Waipang
Blogger’s Occupation: Citizen Blogger
Blog’s D.O.B.: October 1996
Technorati Rank: None (Technorati does not consider it a blog due to its URL). However, it has 1,855 links to it.

The general tone of this blog is critical and focuses largely on issues that are related to the gay community. A homosexual himself, Mr. Au relates and analyzes the impact of global events on the gay community in a more or less impartial manner while underscoring the local government’s homophobic tendencies, as well as, the growing of acceptance of homosexuals in Singapore.

In one of his recent posts on the prosecution of gays in the early 1990s, Mr. Au supported his assertion that the jailing and charging of gay men were unjust and deliberate by scrutinizing numerous newspaper reports regarding such incidents. He then stated that “The Straits Times seemed to see it as part of its nation-building role to make an example of these hapless men” by publishing the names, jobs, and photographs of the accused, as well as, describing the actual acts in graphic detail to induce disgust in its readers. It should be noted that he substantiates most of his posts with surveys, studies, and news articles.

This particular post garnered numerous comments, many of which disagreed with his stance on the issue. For example, a comment by Boon stated that:

“After reading your article, my impression of gays is a world filled with sleaze and casual sex. If your intention is to pin the blame on the Government, it has failed to gain my sympathy.”

Instead of being offended, however, Mr. Au replies that he merely states “the empirical: that there is indeed a lot of sleaze, casual sex and paid sex in this world”, and that he tries “to write without making moral judgements of others”.

The conversations that ensue following this entry is a debate of sorts, whereby individuals offer their two cents worth or refute what has already been said. This open discussion follows the tone which Mr. Au has set by being both critical and logical as well.

Do blogs allow for greater democracy in Singapore?

In my opinion, blogs may allow for greater democracy in Singapore especially when they pertain to parts of the community that tend to be marginalized, namely women and gays. However, this is only the case online in virtual Singapore, where government surveillance is more difficult to maintain, and blogs harder to litigate.

According to Alinta Thornton, male dominance of the Internet is still the case in many countries (Thornton, 2002). This is the case in Singapore as well. Think about it, of the famous bloggers in Singapore how many are female, much less gay?

Fortunately, although “studies have pointed out that the absence of gender cues in bulletin board discussion groups does not eliminate sexism or even the hierarchies of gender that pervade society generally” (Poster, (1)), the gender balance is changing rapidly due to the Internet and blogs. This is because depending on the topics discussed, bloggers tend to signify their status “by using signifiers external to the Internet” such as, academic standing and published works, or “by internal signifiers” like the worth of their contributions and their style of expression. In other words, such methods of establishing identity and building online reputation may be the reasons behind “the diminution of prevailing hierarchies of race, class, age, status and especially gender” (Poster, (1)).

This gradual disregard for gender works in the favor of YawningBread.org as it champions the rights of gays – members of society who often go unheeded, especially in Singapore. As aforementioned, the fact that electronic beings are difficult to govern increases the possibility of changing the nature of political authority, and thus democracy in Singapore.

In fact, according to Poster, “the Internet seems to discourage the endowment of individuals with inflated status”. This is apparent from the undermining of scholarly authority formation “by locating and disseminating texts on the Internet” (1). It can thus be inferred that blogs such as Yawning Bread may subject political authorities to a similar fate.

Despite this optimistic view of the possible effects of blogging on democracy, I find it difficult to fathom much change coming about in the real world of Singapore. While the last national elections proved interesting due to the large number of blogs that documented the rallies and campaigning efforts of the numerous political parties, highlighted the biased reporting by the local media, and provided the masses with information about the opposition; the People’s Action Party (PAP) still won the majority of parliamentary seats.

However, the number of people who supported the opposition exceeded the PAP’s expectations, highlighting the fact that blogs and other modes of online communication did play a large part in getting the opposition’s message across to the public.

This example alone shows that despite having an impact on democracy in Singapore, blogs and other online media are not yet powerful enough to bring about political changes in real life.

In conclusion, blogs do allow for greater democracy in Singapore, insofar as the members of the public are informed of non-mainstream political ideals. However, the implementation of such ideals is still a work-in-progress.

References

Au, W. (2007, March). The good ol’ days of jail and caning for immorality. Yawning Bread. Retrieved March 23 from http://www.yawningbread.org/arch_2007/yax- 722.htm

Poster, M. (1) Cyberdemocracy. Internet and the Public Sphere. Retrieved March 23, 2007 from http://www.humanities.uci.edu/mposter/writings/democ.html

Thornton, A. (2002, October). Does Internet Create Democracy. Retrieved March 23, 2007 from http://www.zip.com.au/%7Eathornto/thesis_2002_alinta_thornton.doc

QotW7: Flitter, Twitter

Introduction
According to Rheingold, an online community is “a social relationship aggregation, facilitated by Internet-based technology, in which users communicate and build personal relationships” (as cited in Lin & Lee, 2006). It is driven, more or less, by the same motivations that drive the gift economy. This includes anticipated reciprocity, increased recognition, sense of efficacy, and communion – understandable driving forces of the online community, as it is one of the platforms upon which the gift economy is built.

Communication
From the aforementioned definition of an online community, it is my opinion that social networking sites like Twitter are online communities. This is apparent upon my signing up for an account with Twitter. After submitting the necessary information about myself, I was asked to provide an update about what I was doing. This would enable me to inform my friends about my current activities and thoughts. Furthermore, I could keep in touch with my friends and receive updates from them “via phone or instant messaging” (“Wikipedia: Twitter”, 2007).

Interpersonal Relationships
The fact that Twitter is bringing about a convergence of communication media makes it clear that its main purpose is to increase interaction and foster interpersonal relationships between its members. According to Boorstin, “the advance of technology brings nations together and narrows the differences between the experiences of their people” (Fernbeck, & Thompson, 1995). Twitter is such advancement in technology as it has successfully removed the barriers of geographical distance and time difference. Thus, its provision for communication and interaction via the Internet makes it an online community.

The result of being able to communicate and interact over Twitter is apparent from the public discussions or private conversations that can be carried out for as long as it is desired with “sufficient human feeling”, leading to the formation of “webs of personal relationships” (“Wikipedia: Virtual Community”, 2007).

Pseudonyms & Reputation Management
The only thing that sets Twitter and its ilk apart from traditional communities besides the absence of a physical presence is the use of pseudonyms. Having studied about online identities, I have learned that pseudonyms are popular as they enable individuals to build reputations for themselves, and continually interact with others online. Consequently, as pseudonyms are inherent in online communities, it is safe to say that Twitter is such a community as well.

In addition, it should be noted that any sort of online identity requires reputation management. On Twitter, the number of friends and followers a person has is indicative of his or her reputation. Since reputation management is “the process of tracking an entity’s actions and other entities’ opinions about those actions” (“Wikipedia: Reputation management, 2007); Twitter’s “Public Timeline” which enables others to monitor a person’s communications on Twitter and his or her friends’ replies, makes it an online community.

In conclusion, Twitter is an online community as it allows for the communication and interaction of individuals, creates interpersonal relationships over time, employs pseudonyms, and requires reputation management.

References
Fernback, J., & Thompson, B. (May, 1995). Virtual Communities: Abort, Retry, Failure?. Retrieved March 14, 2007 from http://www.rheingold.com/texts/techpolitix/VCcivil.html

Lin, H., & Lee, G. (December, 2006). Determinants of success for online communities: an empirical study. Behavior & Information Technology, 25, 6, 479-488.

Online community. (2007, March 14). In Wikipedia, The Free encyclopedia. Retrieved March 15, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_community

Reputation management. (2007, March 1). In Wikipedia, The Free encyclopedia. Retrieved March 15, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reputation_management

Twitter. (2007, March 14). In Wikipedia, The Free encyclopedia. Retrieved March 15, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter

QotW6: My Dirty Little Secret

Introduction
Rosen wrote about the Portraits of Grief published in the New York Times after 9/11, an attempt “to give a snapshot of each victim’s personality, a life lived”. On the other hand, its critics contended that the Portraits “had managed to homogenize them instead” (Rosen, 2004). Instead of dissecting the rights and wrongs of the Portraits of Grief, however, we should attempt to understand the motivations behind the individual’s willingness to reveal personal details to complete strangers.

Motivations
It is my understanding that people are so eager to become members of the Naked Crowd due to social proof – where “we view a behavior as correct in a given situation to the degree that we see other performing it” (Cialdini, 2001). With the rise of the blog, as well as, social networking sites like YouTube and MySpace, it is little wonder that so many people are posting snippets of personal information online.

Individuality & Self-censorship
Unfortunately, in their attempts to stand out from the crowd and make themselves identifiable as unique individuals, many netizens have not only forsaken their privacy but may have caused others to misunderstand them as well. Individuals are unique insofar as they are able to express their individuality, an element of self that is difficult to accurately share with others in its complexity. This problem is compounded by self-censorship, an imposition that makes one present an image of their choosing to the world. Thus, many of them are “judged out of context” (Rosen, 2004).

Sousveillance & Me: A Mini Case Study
“Personal sousveillance is the art, science, and technology of personal experience capture, processing, storage, retrieval, and transmission” (“Wikipedia: Sousveillance”, 2007). By taking photographs and videos of ourselves and others then uploading them – to blogs, Facebook, and YouTube, to name a few, we are actually enabling others to infringe upon our privacy.

I recall my surprise on the first day of school when Kevin flashed a picture of myself I had recently uploaded on to Facebook. Till then, the ease with which a total stranger could access my personal profile and consequently my blog, had not crossed my mind.

From the aforementioned, it can be inferred that I have yet to take the necessary precautions to ensure my privacy online. In fact, I have purposefully posted my blog address on the various accounts I have on social networking sites. Fortunately, I have yet to have had any truly nasty experiences from posting my personal information online.

According to the results of a content analysis conducted on blogs created by teenagers aged between thirteen and seventeen, teenaged bloggers “reveal a considerable amount of personal details including real name, age, and location, as well as a variety of ways to contact them”. Even more worrisome are the revelations of their personal lives that may result in “cyberstalking, sexual predation or cyberbullying” (Huffaker, 2005).

Personally, I have navigated the Internet ‘minefield’ by refraining from posting my address or telephone number on any social networking site and even my personal blog. At most, I reveal my email address and blog address, avenues which I can easily make private by blocking unwanted individuals or password locking, respectively.

Conclusion
In conclusion, I have realized that it pays to be aware of what information I put online for the world to see, and that there is a fine line between building a believable online identity and forsaking my privacy altogether.

References
Cialdini, R. (2001). Influence: Science and Practice. Allyn and Bacon: Singapore

Huffaker, D. (2005). Teen Blogs Exposed: The Private Lives of Teens Made Public. Retrieved March 9, 2007 from http://www.soc.northwestern.edu/gradstudents/huffaker/papers/Huffaker-2006-AAAS-Teen_Blogs.pdf

Wikipedia: Sousveillance. (2007, February 7). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved March 9, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sousveillance

QotW5: Stranger Than Fiction

My Online Identity

An online identity that I have claimed as my own is FelSong. A combination of my first and last names, it is a name that my online friends best know me by, and has become a nickname that those who know me in real life use. This online identity of mine is situated in my email, my blog, my IM, the forums I participate in, and is also the penname I go by when writing on fanfiction.net.

According to Rebecca Tushnet, author of Using Law and Identity to Script Cultural Production: Legal Fictions: Copyright, Fan Fiction, and a New Common Law, fan fiction is “any kind of written creativity that is based on an identifiable segment of popular culture such as a television show, and is not produced as ‘professional’ writing.” (McCardle, 2003) Thus, a fan fiction writer is someone who produces such literary work.

Homepage of http://www.fanfiction.net

While the “canon” or the original work from which the fan fiction author borrows is properly credited to its creator (McCardle, 2003), any work of fan fiction is not officially acknowledged by copyright. In fact, “fan fiction infringes on copyright protections” (McCardle, 2003). However, as some courts have ruled that “the ultimate purpose behind fan fiction writing is to satisfy innate desires, not to make a profit” and fan fiction writers can claim that what they are doing constitutes fair use, the copyright problem is fuzzy at best.

To return to the discussion of online identities with regards to fan fiction, I refer to the fact that only the original creators get due credit for their work. Fan fiction writers such as myself have to depend solely on the online identity or pseudonym that we use, as well as, the fan fiction we produce, to build credibility and to gain a following for ourselves. To do this takes time and a dedication to creating literature that others like myself enjoy. Therefore, Judith Donath hits the bull’s eye when she writes that “one is far less inclined to abandon an online presence that had taken great effort to create” (Donath, 1996).

Reputation

As aforementioned, fan fiction writers establish a reputation through their writings. If their works are well-received they would slowly gain a following. Fanfiction.net enables the fan fiction writers who post on its web site to set up a profile page that lists their works, their own favorite fan fiction authors and stories, and the communities they participate in. Furthermore, it provides an email notification service of newly received reviews or personal messages.

My profile page on fanfiction.net

This means that I am able to communicate with my readers – answering whatever questions they may have about my work, giving them clues about future plot developments, or introducing them to my other writings. This ‘immediate’ and personal way of communicating with the very people who share my passion for a particular “canon”, makes my online identity more than just a name that appears on the screen but a real human being.

Identity Theft

The creation of “FelSong” as my online identity sets me apart from other fan fiction writers and enables fans of my works to easily search for my other writings. It also means that I am able to create a ‘name’ or a reputation for myself through my fan fiction not only through fanfiction.net but via related forums and my blog as well. My desire to gain more readers for my fan fiction through the creation of an online identity that seems real and credible is at odds with my desire to maintain my privacy. I refer to the Manifesto for the Reputation Society’s definition of the inbound reputation or “reputation that others have about me”, and its claim that the inbound reputation is a shifting balance between my right to privacy and the right to share and collaborate with others using this same reputation (Masum & Zhang, 2004). However, this is hard to do as I employ the same online identity throughout most of my online transactions or activities.

In fact, an online search using Google turns up links to my numerous online activities using my online identity "FelSong".

The loss of my privacy is one such risk I have to take if I wish to become a more accomplished writer. After all, “a key perk of being a fan fiction author is getting feedback from other authors and readers within the fan fiction community” (McCardle, 2003). This means, that I face an added risk of having my online identity stolen; a risk that grows as my reputation for writing good fan fiction grows as well. A person who wishes to steal my online identity has only to discover my password. With that password, they can easily flame other fan fiction authors using my pen name or post ‘troll’-like remarks on the forums I participate in. More importantly, they could post fan fiction under my name, possibly lowering the standards that my readers expect of me.

In conclusion, my online identity is something that I have carefully cultivated over the years, and am immensely proud of. It allows me to be easily recognized by those who read my fan fiction, and sets me apart from all the other fan fiction writers. Should this online identity ever be stolen, I would be hard pressed to create another online identity as I would need to invest time and effort into informing my readers of the theft and the subsequent change of my online screen name, as well as, reclaiming my writings as my own.

References

Donath, J. (1996, November). Identity and Deception in the Virtual Community. Retrieved on February 19, 2007 from http://smg.media.mit.edu/people/Judith/%20Identity/IdentityDeception.html

Masum, H., & Zhang, Y. C. (2004, July). Manifesto for the Reputation Society. First Monday, 9(7). Retrieved on February 19, 2007 from http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_7/masum/index.html

McCardle, M. (2003). Fan Fiction, Fandom, and Fanfare: What’s All The Fuss? Boston University, 9(2). Retrieved on February 19, 2007 from https://www.bu.edu/law/scitech/%20volume9issue2/McCardleWebPDF.pdf