Archive for the ‘sociology’ Category

Second Skin – film about Virtual Worlds

Friday, September 18th, 2009

Intro

Those who’ve met me know I can bore for England on Second Life – e.g. people laugh when they hear my SL avatar is called Tandoorichicken Masala.

You might have seen this summary of virtual world-related posts (on this blog) I put together recently. I really should check out some other virtual worlds, but for now, for me, it’s SL.

Second Skin

Can’t remember where I read about this, but I came across a reference to Second Skin, a documentary film about Virtual Worlds:

Second Skin takes an intimate look at three sets of computer gamers whose lives have been transformed by online virtual worlds. An emerging genre of computer software called Massively Multiplayer Online games, or MMOs, allows millions of users to interact simultaneously in virtual spaces. Of the 50 million players worldwide, 50 percent consider themselves addicted. From individuals struggling with addiction to couples who have fallen in love without meeting; from disabled players whose lives have been given new purpose to gold farmers, entrepreneurs and widows, Second Skin opens viewers’ eyes to a phenomenon that may permanently change the way human beings interact.

In March 2008, Second Skin premiered opening night of SXSW. Without any news of a theatrical or DVD release, Second Skin landed extensive coverage in Newsweek, NPR, Wired, BBC, The Dr. Phil Show, Boston Globe, Variety and dozens of other major media outlets. Second Skin was also voted the #4 Documentary of 2008 by internet juggernaut Ain’t It Cool News.

This August, Second Skin will become the first widely released movie about virtual worlds- a movie for the 50 million gamers who spend most of their time in virtual worlds, and all those curious to understand this phenomenon.

[btw slightly peeved that I was at SXSW and missed it!]

Trailer

Eye-opening – even for a trailer! Looks like a balanced view of the whole phenomenon.

Potential Christmas present?

If anyone would like to buy this for me for Christmas, here is the link ;-D :
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Posted in collaboration, downside, education, games, interesting, metaverse, psychology, research, second life, sociology, technology, virtual worlds | Comments

United breaks Guitars; share price dips (allegedly)

Monday, July 27th, 2009

I realise that for many of your seasoned observers, this is old hat.

However, having been told about this at lunch yesterday by Caroline’s Daughter and Son-in-Law, I thought I would have a look into this, as it appears to be part of a growing trend of smart people employing social media to get heard.

Long story short: United Airlines breaks musician’s guitar; musician claims restitution; gets stonewalled by United; writes song which goes viral on YouTube; United caves in; lots more people buy musician’s music.

The story can be read about here, on the Musician’s website; the video is below. At the time of writing, it has had 4,225,709 views.

Apparently United’s share price took a pasting, which has been attributed to the negative publicity.

There’s a bit of doubt about this here and here, but I think you get the general point! The fact that there is a debate about this demonstrates how important Social Media is becoming in determining reputations, and tipping the balance of power in favour of consumers.

The Times summarises the situation from United Airlines’ perspective:

The company is trying to put a brave face on things. On Twitter it admitted its mistake and announced that it was donating $3,000 to a music charity. A spokeswoman tweeted that she liked the video: “It is excellent and that is why we would like to use it for training purposes so everyone receives better service from us.”

And for anyone considering consumer complaint videos on YouTube in the future, Mr Carroll recommends the key of D.

 

Posted in Business, Social Media, Web 2.0, blogging, customer service, downside, media, sociology | Comments

How Teenagers consume media and other stories

Friday, July 24th, 2009

Last week there was a bit of a to-do when a teenager, working as a Summer intern at the investment bank Morgan Stanley, was suddenly propelled to his 15 minutes of fame by the MS PR machine. His report below was published and kicked off a mini media storm (well ok, some City analysts were interested).

Great spot by my former colleague David Gentle:

@justingsouter http://bit.ly/8phZA did you see this about teens? fascinating!

[btw, it’s worth clicking on the ‘full screen’ button on the top right of the Scribd widget, as it makes the documents easier to read. Click on the cross (again top right) to close full screen mode].

How Teenagers Consume Media

To be fair, these are concise and interesting observations, and not having any bairns of my own, and Caroline’s having "flown the nest", for me it’s insight. Perhaps it’s also a minor tipping point in terms of Social Media being taken seriously?

In the spirit of balance, Roo Reynolds gives a rather fine round-up of contrarian view to young Matthew – How teenagers consume media, apparently.

Another report, this time from Nielsen, paints a different picture – which would appear to warm the cockles of traditional broadcasters etc.:

Nielsen Study: How Teens Use Media (June 2009) — Read in "Full Screen" Mode

So, overall some food for thought, as these are the Consumer of the future (and present, of course!).

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Posted in Business, Social Media, Web 2.0, Yoof, interesting, media, mobile, music, sociology, technology | Comments

Are Women Taken More Seriously On The Web?

Monday, March 16th, 2009

PRESENTERS

* Blagica Bottigliero – Edelman
* Karen Chu – PlayFirst Inc
* Laura Roeder – roederstudios.com
* Carly Kocurek – University of Texas at Austin

DESCRIPTION

Women used to have to get our foot in the door THEN prove that we deserved to be there. With blogging and social networking, we’re now able to portray a more cohesive picture of our views, interests, and skills. Have blogging and social networking changed the way that women are viewed and treated?

Posted in Social Media, Web 2.0, collaboration, digital mission, interesting, psychology, research, sociology, sxsw, technology | Comments

From Flickr and Beyond: Lessons in Community Management

Sunday, March 15th, 2009
PRESENTERS
  • Heather Champ – Flickr
  • Mario Anima – Current TV
  • Matthew Stinchcomb – Etsy Inc
  • Jessamyn West – MetaFilter
  • Micah Schaffer – YouTube
DESCRIPTION

Companies across industries are developing and fostering online communities, recognizing the benefits of connecting with customers on the Web. Unfortunately, not all communities thrive to become a successful vehicle for businesses. Leaders of top online communities from Flickr to Facebook will discuss top best practices for managing online communities.

Posted in Social Media, Social Networking, Web 2.0, collaboration, digital mission, education, enjoyable, research, sociology, sxsw, technology, tools | Comments

Series of Web 2.0 articles in bdaily

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009

Web 2.0 by Daniel F. Pigatto.

Photo credit to Daniel F. Pigatto

If you follow my Twitterstream, you’ll have seen I’m putting together a series of articles on Web 2.0.

Today, the first one is published, via bdaily’s e-mail and web channels.

I will be re-publishing the articles on this blog, and putting a summary page on the top-right so that you can find the articles more easily.

They are my personal take on the whole shooting match, and are designed to aid and inform, so please don’t flame me!

That said, I’d love to get your constructive feedback, so please fire it over to me via a comment below, or the contact form.

web 2.0 is web 0.0 future

Photo credit to Will Lion

Posted in Business, Cloud computing, Social Media, Social Networking, Web 2.0, blogging, collaboration, customer service, digital nervous system, enterprise 2.0, facebook, groundswell, ideas, innovation, mashup, north east england, second life, serious games, sociology, technology, tools, twitter, video, wordpress, work | Comments