Emmac1's Blog

Thoughts on ‘Social news’

emmac1 — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:41:44 +0000

I had never heard of these sites before, and when I had a quick glance at them I did quite like the idea of them. The thought that there is website where you can post anything which will not be edited is quite a nice idea. I think many people, even in this country; do have worries about what news stories we hear about, and those that we don’t. On these sites, we have the potential can see a whole range of unedited stories. The interesting thing I found on the sites is that I had not heard about any of the news items posted. This really highlights to me the fact that the mainstream UK news really doesn’t give a broad reflection of news that is going on in the world.

I have to say I really did not like the ‘ Reddit’ site, mainly because it looked like a website full of junk and gossip, which I can get from reading a cheap magazine. I liked ‘Digg’ a bit more as it seemed to contain more political news which I am more interested in. Although I did like the idea of these social news websites, I think my expectations were quite high surrounding the contents of the news posted. I felt that the sites may have brought together a network of media savvy people who seek and share information about political scandal that those high up do not want the public to hear about. (I may be being slightly cynical of the media here!)

I think this idea of news being posted like this could really catch on. I think the social news sites do have at least the potential, to post great stories giving as different and interesting information on current affairs which we may not see on mainstream new. I think it gives freedom and power back in the public hands in terms of highlighting news that we wish people to hear about.

In terms of the future to journalism I think there could be an increase on this kind of unedited news. I have noticed that many TV new channels have increasingly sought to reflect the views from the public. On news 24 they often ask the public to text in any stores and send in photos that they feel will be of interest to the channel. However for journalism and social research it does create many risks. The unedited version, I assume would not be checked in terms of their accuracy and source. This gives people a tremendous amount of power to abuse ‘social news’. It is difficult to see however, how we can strike a balance between the two.

Thoughts on Social Networking Sites

emmac1 — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:39:58 +0000

Social networking sites are a hugely popular form of communication in the modern world. People use social networking sites for a whole range of activites from contacting people, sharing photos, expressing ideas and thoughts, and many more. I myself have a facebook which I use quite alot, I think it is a grat way to communicate to friends who you have not seen in a while or friends who live abroad or far away. Its a great way also to share your photos with a large group of people.

I discussed some of issues on the wiki realting to this topic, which I will reiterate here. One of the major worries over social networking sites is over privacy and how easily people can access your information. This is not something I feel is a major problem anymore, with people having the option to make their profiles private. Many social networking sites have reacted to these worries by introducing age rescrictions and tighter privacy options.

Engagement with the course Wiki

emmac1 — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:08:05 +0000

When first starting the Wiki I found it all quite confusing and complex. However, after a couple of weeks it seemed really easy to use and quite enjoyed reading other peoples contributions. I think if the Wiki was not a compulsory part of the course, I have to admit I think I would of shied away from using it due to my initals fears of not getting the hang of it. I am really glad that it has been a assessed part of the course however, as it lets you share your reading with others. It also takes the pressure of as well as you are able to find out a bit more about the topics from other people readings.

I have quite mixed feelings about the ability to edit other peoples work. I think to be honest I have faith in what other people have looked at and like seeing what they have found. I think I like the blog idea better where you can comment on others work, instead of editing it. Maybe though if you see an error that someone has made e.g. the wrong date, it is better that it is edited for everyones benefit including the writer as it was most probably a typo or silly mistake.

In terms of long term use, Its a great thing to refer back to and can see it becoming useful to look back on for the it review and even other modules. I would find it interesting to know what others feel about the wiki, especially about the editing part.

The role of academic journals.

emmac1 — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:39:25 +0000

In my undergraduate degree I often used journals for essays and other assignments. Admittedly it did not think about journals as being a lucrative business, where competition was so high to publish in certain journals. Instead I always thought of the publishing of journals to be a harmonious one where all academics share their ideas, and be able to inform others as well learn more about their academic interests.

Johns (2000) discusses the history of journals dating back from the first regarded academic journal in 1666, ‘Philosophical Transactions’. Around this time Rushmore had voiced his concerns around the validity of periodicals where there was a great deal of fabrication and exaggeration. He was then to go on to publish his collections where he believed its validity came from its cross referencing.

It was only in the 19^th century the term ‘journal’ was used to document research which was set apart from other documents by its peer reviews. As Johns (2000) points out, the printing houses main aim was not to produce books, but to make as much money as they could. They did this in a number of ways which ensured the dominance of the business. Journals were attractive to print houses as they were small pieces of work which were in regular supply. As the journals were small and relatively cheap, it was hoped more people would buy them (Johns, 2000). To ensure this security, companies introduced subscriptions so that people were supplied with all the copies they wanted from a particular journal. Companies then had a guaranteed supply of funds.

In modern times the future looks different with the transition to Open Access. This at first seems a great move forward, with free world wide access to information at the touch of a button. This in many ways is a great step to improving our wealth and access to knowledge. However Esposito (2004) discusses some of the worries surrounding the transition to Open Access. Many believe that all this will do is increase the amount that people will pay to publish their articles. This may drive out big numbers of people able to publish their work in journals (Esposito, 2004).

References:

Johns, A., (2000) Miscellaneous Methods; Authors societies and journals in early modern England. British Journal for the History of Science V. 33 pps. 159 – 186

Esposito, J., (2004) The devil you don’t know: The unexpected future of Open Access publishing. First Monday V9 No 8

Mind Maps

emmac1 — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:10:59 +0000

In my undergraduate degree, I used mind maps alot when starting an essay. I found it the best way to get your head around the question and brain storm ideas. It would give me a good idea of what sorts of things I wanted to talk about and give structure to the essay. Often when typing up an essay, I would refer back to the mind map to see anything I had thought about intially, which I had not yet discussed in the essay.

I have to say however the mind maps I used were often very rough, scribbled down on paper. I would normally have the question or topic in the centre and just branch off anything I thought. It will be interesting to do a mind map on the computer and in colour. I will probably find this a better way of putting thoughts into different sections, and make it more neat and accessible to refer back to.

Search Engines

emmac1 — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:22:27 +0000

When looking into search engines, I was initially surprised by the vast number of search engines that were actually out there. When you hear the word ‘search engine’, most people would think of ‘Google’, ‘Yahoo’ and ‘Ask.com’. Google is the world’s leading search engine at the moment, with millions of users. Today though, I am going to be looking at ‘Dogpile’, new and interesting search engine. ‘InfoSpace’ created the search engine ‘Dogpile’ in November 2008. It was originally designed on the idea of bringing you more effective search results, by collaborating all the major search engines like ‘Google’ together to bring a more comprehensive search. This devise is delivered by ‘Metsearch’ technology. As all the major search engines have very different ways of searching items, they bring about different results to the customer. This new search engine believes, by looking at them all, they can unpick the most effective ones for you the customer/searcher. ‘Dogpile’ works on a timesaving premise, so that the individual does not have to look through more than one search engines to find what they are looking for. It is clear to most that search engines are a big business, with large amounts of money to be made. Despite the vast number of search engines, it seems new and smaller search engine companies can still make money. Most search engines make their money through advertising a range of different products. The interesting thing about ‘Dogpile’ is that is raises money for animal rescue (hence the name) and so can be seen more as a charity than a money making business. In its first year it raised $200,000 for the cause of animal rescue. In 2009 ‘Dogpile’ became ‘Do Great Good’ which is completely concentrated on raising money for the charity.

Hello world!

emmac1 — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 11:48:22 +0000

Hi welcome to my blog. A little about me, well I’m 23 and just graduated from Stirling studying Sociology and Social Policy. I really enjoyed the course, and decided from there that social research was something I wanted to study further.
Aside acedemic life, I have not long started working for RBS. Not sure if it will be somewhere I will make a career out of but we will see what the future brings.
In terms of hobbies I love travelling and going on holidays as much as possible. Recently learned to scuba dive, and want to keep that going. Suppose it is another excuse to go abroad to warmer waters.