Week 5

How do issues such as authorship, copyright, and open access impact your desire, ability and willingness to engage in produsage, both personally and professionally?

I don't think that authorship, copyright, and open access would decrease my desire to engage in produsage on a personal level. I feel like I contribute as much as I receive...so the benefit is there for all parties involved. For example, sometimes I will post a question on Facebook and await contributions from my Facebook friends. Other times, I look for questions/comments my group of friends will post and I contribute answers or advice.

Professionally, I am not sure how I would feel about contributing something for "free". However, I think it would depend on the situation. I can see how users may not be for an open access environment if they are contributing on a "free lance" basis. However, if they are contributing as part of a paid job, the pay and the recognition at the job may act as the benefit.

Social Networking Rules

Since I have been contributing more to Facebook and lurking on Twitter, I have learned so much about the culture of these sites. It has been so interesting to see the types of status updates people post, because it reflects what people think is important. I have also enjoyed seeing how other users interact with each other on the sites.

I was in a meeting at work today when someoe told the group that a few co-workers had been complaining about the office on their Facebook pages. My manager was apalled and proceeded to discuss the importance of online etiquette.

This made me think back to when I transitioned from college to the workforce. Before I even started interviewing for positions, I edited my Facebook page by removing all "college-type" photos, comments, etc. I think people often forget how much their Facebook page (or any other similar profile) reflects who they are as people...and that it cannot always be separated from their jobs.

After considering this, I decided to do some research on social networking etiquette to see if there was anything outlined...and to see if anything has changed since I first entered the social networking world. I found a great article!

http://collegetimes.us/50-social-networking-rules-for-college-students/

Week 4 Participation

General

• Worked on and submitted community paper
• Continued to "lurk" on Twitter

Discussion Board

• Responded to Julie's post in "Who's in charge?"
• Posted original post to "Informal Learning, Expertise, and Certification"
• Responded to Jennifer's respose to my "Informal Learning" post

Blog

• Week 4 post
• Pro-Am post
• Twitter article post
• Participation post

Great article for those new to Twitter

http://www.doshdosh.com/ways-you-can-use-twitter/

Since I still consider myself new to Twitter...and since I still feel as though I am getting the hang of it, I did a little research. After the communities assignment, I had spent significant time "lurking" about the site, but I still did not feel as though I fully understood all of the benefits the site could bring to users.

This website provides a general overview of Twitter, problems with it, and 17 ways to use it. I have to admit, I never even considered most of the uses. Just reading them, along with their descriptions, gave me a much broader perspective of the application. I can see now how the site can be a valuable asset to not only individuals, but all kinds of businesses as well.

Pro-Am Power!

Leadbeater and Miller's article discusses the power of Pro-Am and how it is not confined to the high-tech developed world. I particularly benefitted from the example of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. I find that it is very easy to take advantage of the freedoms and luxuries we have access to every day. I don't think twice about having a checking account, a bank account, a credit card, a mortgage, and a car loan. However, Grameen bank noted how traditional banks found providing small loans to poor people was unprofitable.

The explanation of Grameen's "barefoot bankers" is a great way to describe a Pro-Am workforce. It stresses the importance of Pro-Am by explaining that had Grameen used traditional models, it would have only reached a very small proportion of the population, rather than 2.8 million people.

Week 4

How do you judge the value of expertise on the web? Does it differ from your expertise in face-to-face settings? Why or why not?

At the moment, my fiance and I are trying to register for wedding gifts. Since a lot of this is done online, we have relied heavily on users' reviews of particular products. In order to gauge the users' "expertise" on a particular item, I pay attention to the language they use to describe it. For instance, we liked a set of flatware that was rated 4 out of 5 stars. When we read the reviews, all users had given 5 stars except for one user who rated the flatware 1 star. Her review stated that she thought she was getting an entire set of flatware for $51.09, not just one place setting. That was her only reason for rating the flatware 1 star. After reading her review, her credibility went way down. I no longer considered her review valuable because it was obvious she was not an "expert" in this area.

This real life example illustrates that it takes a little extra work to determine expertise on the web. And even after you have done everything you can do to determine it, it may still not be completely accurate. Someone who posts something to the web could be getting all of their information from other sources...this doesn't mean they are an expert, it just means they know how to research.

Face-to-face settings are different. In face-to-face settings, you have much more opportunity to ask questions and receive answers. For instance, if I had gone to Pottery Barn in person and spoken to a salesperson, I could gauge their expertise by firing off question after question. You are also able to observe someone's body language and tone of voice. All of these things together helps the user to determine the expertise of the user more quickly and perhaps even more accurately.

Week 3 - Participation

Twitter

• Posted my first 2 "tweets" (even though I have no followers..haha)
• Continued to lurk to familiarize myself with the concept
• Added more followers
• Checked in every few days

Facebook

• Began to become a more active user and contributor
• Posted several "status" comments
• Posted comments about several friends' posts and pictures
• Became a little addicted...

Discussion Board

• Posted original post to "Tweet? Tweet?"
• Responded to John's response to my post
• Posted original post to "Barbie" discussion
• Commented on Rejoice's post in "Wiki, produsage, etc"

Blog

• Week 3 post
• Responded to Bryan's response to my week 3 post
• Posted about my Twitter experience
• Responded to Kem and Allyson's responses to my Twitter post
• Posted about Shirky's chapter on "Failure for Free"
• Week 3 participation post

Failure!

"The overall effect of failure is its likelihood times its cost. Most organizations attempt to reduce the effect of failure by reducing its likelihood" (Shirky, 245).

Shirky goes on to discuss how open source doesn't reduce the likelihood of failure, it reduces the cost of failure. I have never considered this before...but the fact that there may be little or no cost for failure is a pretty good argument for use. It is amazing to think that, in an open system, the cost of deciding what to try (the time is take employees to discuss, etc) is greater than actually trying the idea.

Also, as Shirky mentions, if the cost of failure is less, there may be more opportunity for additional exploration. This important when considering the amount of time and effort that goes into the development of new concepts.

My Twitter experience...

So, I have been experimenting with Twitter over the past week. I am still not quite sure what I think of it. I find it very interesting when it comes to news and entertainment. Some of my favorite news programs post recent stories or news flashes, so it is nice to keep up with important information. I have not yet experienced academic benefits.

The most challenging thing so far has been getting connected with people and finding people to follow. Currently, I am following 8 people and I have 1 follower (who is completely random?). I have tried searching a few of my friends' names, but I have been unsuccessful. Apparently you have to know there Twitter name or e-mail address. Like most people these days, I have no idea what my friends and family members' phone numbers are...much less their Twitter names or e-mail addresses (everything is in my iPhone!).

One situation it would be beneficial in is an internship course. If all classmates had different internships, they could Twitter about their daily experience as it happens. It would be so interesting to see people's experiences in that form.

Week 3

What uses might a collaborative wiki or blog have in your chosen work environment? How would they support learning and/or performance? What would be the design and implementation challenges if management tried to do this? What would be the design and implementation challenges of a user-initiated effort?

In my work environment (insurance claim adjusters) a blog would be really helpful for discussing the handling of certain claim situations...particularly state-specific laws/ordinances as we handle claims for all 50 states and Canada. Because of the size of our department, along with the area we service, inconsistencies can be an issue. A blog would be a resource claim adjusters could use as they handle claims from state to state.

If management tried to implement this, their challenge would be how to keep the blog best organized. Who would be the contributors? Who would monitor the blog to make sure it was consistent and that the posts were quality? Also, because of the nature of our work, a blog such as this would be subject to subpoena should any of our claims go to court.

If users inititated this effort, they would have all of the issues management would have, but it would be even more complicated due to the number of users. Someone would have to take ownership of the blog to address consistency issues, etc. It would most likely be impossible to allow all claim adjusters to contribute to the blog for the reasons noted above, however, their information is what would be valuable.

Week 2 - Participation

• Signed up for Twitter account and "lurked"
• Explored the Wiki created by Kenny

Discussion Board

• Commented on Brust's post (Free Riders)
• Commented on John's post (What is the internet? What is Web 2.0?)
• Commented on Tiffany's post (Free Riders)

Blog

• Week 2 Post
• Replied to Kem's response to my post
• Posted in response to Ch. 6 in Shirky
• Responded to Tiffany and John's responses to my post
• Responded to DD's response to my post
• Posted about produsage and Brun's article
• Commented on Tiffany's blog
• Followed several other classmates' blogs

What is a produser?!

I have to admit...before this course, I had no idea what a produser was or what they did. Now I consider myself to be a produser in training! Brun's article was particularly interesting. I liked the portion on page 3 that discusses the four key characteristics of produsage. One of these characteristics was the fluid movement of produsers between roles. The description of this characteristic helped me to identify my role as a produser. I can easily see how I move from participant to user...and may one day be a leader.

"Technology didn't cause the abuse scandal..."

This quote comes from chapter 6 of the Shirky text (pg. 153). As a Catholic, I found this chapter to be particularly interesting. Shirky says that technology did not cause the abuse scandal, but it did alter the spread, force, and duration of the reaction. This applies to other situations as well. For example, I often hear people saying "there is so much more crime these days". While I think there very well may be more crime now than there was in, say, the 1950s, I also think about how in the 1950s people did not have the technology to hear about crimes that occurred anywhere else besides their local community. This tends to skew the reality of how much crime is really taking place in the country and world.

Week 2

How might the concept of produsage be applied to your life (personal and professional) as it stands today? Are you already a produser? If yes, what do you do? If no, why not?

Right now, the extent of produsage in my life is Facebook and The Knot. On Facebook, me and my "Facebook friends" will build upon each others comments to learn about anything from weekend plans, to cooking tips, to traveling advice. The Knot hosts chats about, of course, wedding planning! Since I am attempting to learn to cook, thinking about honeymoon destinations, and planning a wedding, all of these apply to my personal life.

Since I participate by contributing information, I do consider myself to be a produser. However, I am interested in learning even more about produsage and additional ways it can benefit me personally and professionally. Although I have checked out Twitter on a surface level, I am seriously considering using Twitter for my produsage assignment. It will be interesting to learn more about it and to see how it can be used as a learning environment.

Week 1 - Participation

This week I participated in the following ways:

• Discussion board - introduction post
• Discussion board - commented on several classmates' introduction posts
• Discussion board - posted an original post on "Hype? Or Hope?"
• Discussion board - "Hype? Or Hope?" - commented on Wade's post
• Discussion board - "Hype? Or Hope?" - joined Julie and Kem's discussion
• Discussion board - posted an original post on "Information vs. Instruction"
• Discussion board - "Information vs. Instruction" - commented on Kenny's post
• Blog - created blog and posted introduction post
• Blog - signed up to follow several of my classmates
• Blog - posted response to Week 1's question
• Blog - commented on Wade's post
• Blog - commented on Natalina's post
• Blog - responded to Bryan's comment on my introduction