Crowdsourcing-Dividing Communities

Today's reading and discussion in class was extremely interesting.  As I read the article I found an immense amount of information that helped inform me of a large and growing money making method that is shaping the future of the Internet and business not only in our communities but throughout the world.

Reading through the article I began to imagine myself being involved in a crowdsourcing company making extra money.  In deed this is what many people have come to realize and actually do, making the websites flourish and grow.  This interaction not only brings the average joe out of the background and into the foreground (if their work is any good) but it brings together ideas, thoughts and designs from all over the world, all at the fingertips of the computer.  But does everyone have that opportunity?  Does it bring together communities or does it divide and hurt communities while bringing together a larger group of Internet users?

While this was going through my head, the idea of Walmart and its known way of bringing its business within a community came into my mind.  Walmart has been found over the years to enter a community, close knit and bound with local stores run and owned by the locals who earned a decent living, truly giving to the community.  When Walmart comes into the town, they lower their prices to get the customers from the local shop owners, drawing away money which eventually destroys the hometown stores.  Yes, Walmart will employee many and many locals to work in the store, but the pay for what they do is much less than fair and often the help does not have a knowledge of product they sell or even have proper customer service skill, as the locally owned shops did have.  Over time the corporation raises the prices of products back up to where they were, and the city turns to be much worse off then before dealing with higher prices for lower quality merchandise, horrible customer service and a corporate entity that can do what they please to the susceptible locals.  Crowdsourcing in a way is doing the same thing, but on the Internet.  Look at istockphoto.com, for example.  They accept photos from anyone, amateur or professional and sells it for much less than one would pay for the same product from the local professional photographer.  This seems good for those that do specifically call themselves professionals, but hurts the professionals in ways just like the Walmart diagram I explained above.  Once the online company has run its competition out of business, they can then in return raise the price back up of the photos, which might very often be done by amateurs.  I feel in some ways the use of crowdsourcing could have this effect on the community and in the world wide perspective, giving the amateur professional status.

Realizing who has access to the computers and the ability to run the programs necessary in order to participate within the crowdsourcing group is alienating many people.  People of varying ages that either have no computer or knowledge to participate in a crowdsourcing group, people with low income and no computer facilities, etc. are all part of the large group of people not involved in this money making business.  Will this change anytime soon, I don't know, but I highly doubt it.  Those making and participating within crowdsourcing will have it to themselves.

These issues are at the forefront of crowdsourcing and its affect on community and how it is dividing communities apart from each other, while bringing those privileged together to work in groups gaining more money.  Will my imagination of getting involved in crowdsourcing actually happen?  Who knows.... Anyone wanna start designing hats?...

Internet-Harmful or Helpful

The Internet has brought many good things to people throughout the world.  From connecting people from various places to the ability to receive news from anywhere in world, it has literally given new freedoms to the individual.  On the downside, there are problems that have come with the good.  Identity theft, money scams, just to name a couple.  But what about social interaction between people?  Has it hurt or helped the social relations and business of individuals and groups?

In the article by Philip Brey that we read in class about the social and cultural implications of the Internet on society, he has a list of both perceived benefits of the Internet and perceived harms of the Internet.  He speaks to the point of the harmful effects of the Internet on social relations and how it hurts face to face relationships because people will take less time and effort when offline.  I feel that this is very true to an extent.  Many people use the Internet as a way to communicate with others, yet they still seem fine from doing it.  Facebook has been the latest craze in staying in touch with old friends and developing relations with new friends you meet everyday at school, work and in everyday life.  It is seen as a tool to help enhance, but sometimes that is all that people will use.  I personally have found myself being both ways with the use of Facebook.  While I have and kept in touch in people from years ago to people I just have recently meet, it helps me keep in touch because I wouldn't have otherwise.  On the downside, I have found myself to be slacking in some areas of social interaction from Facebook too.  Because of the fact that I can see their status updates or look at posted pictures or items on their page, I can understand what is going on in their life right now.  And if I get enough motivation, I sometimes will send them a message or chat for a brief second on Facebook Chat.  Some of these people were good friends, people I would otherwise call if not meet up with in person because I would want to have that interaction with them to see how they are doing.  For that reason, I have found my social interaction being hindered by the Internet.

Myspace has developed into a way for people or groups to get their music, photos, videos, ideas, etc, out into the general audience, helping their interaction with people everywhere.  Not only does this help them with the public, but helps generate publicity with companies and individuals who want to promote them on a higher level and make them bigger.  There has a been a big influx of music groups that have come from being popular on Myspace to now having their hit music heard over the radio.   I have several friends with bands that have Myspace pages, with their music, band and personal info, tour dates, etc.  The Internet has created a new resume for these people, helping them to be seen and heard and how the general public views them. 

There is no clear cut understanding of whether the Internet is harmful or helpful with social interaction.  It allows for both good and bad, but that definition to an extent is different for each person.  Find that out for yourself and adapt to it.

Technology, Politics, Society

Reach in your pocket, and you'll find a cell phone, with many capabilities that enable you to stay connected to other people via telephone, email, chat, and the list could go on.  Open your book bag and you can grab out your laptop, which only will enhance your ability to keep in touch with the world.  This type of scenario is common these days not only among college students, but is widely growing throughout different age groups.  With this capability of being connected, it brings out points in the readings from last week about the political and social implications of this growing phenomena.

In the article written by Winner, one of the ideas he brought about in the reading was how computers and that technology in general has changed how we interact within and affected the retail sector within our community.  Cell phone stores are popping up all over the community.  People in all ages have embraced the use of cell phones, even shutting off their landlines, completely relying on their cellular phones.  No longer do you see phone booths on the street or outside of buildings.  Interaction between people within the community has evolved to where people can talk or text whenever and wherever with no limitations.  Another example within the community of how technology and computers have changed retail business is the rise of Red Box DVD automated rentals.  One dollar rentals that you can get any time of the day and that you can return when is convenient for you has driven several movie rental stores out of business.  Winner wrote this article as a political idea and political stance that is looked at by some as a way that the Internet, computers, and technology should be handled.  As my group discussed this article, we did not think that it was the way we would the technological world run.  I did find a lot of the points that Winner brought up as valid and a great insight into the changes that have occurred and that are still coming for technology and society in the future.

In the article about Hackers Ethic and their way of looking at how technology should be run, it brings out their idea of how anyone can be involved in technology.  Catch is, not everyone has the privilege to access technology, hence dividing people.  But they feel that information should be free and open with no restrictions.  After reading and discussing with my group their beliefs, I feel that the hackers are almost anarchist.  They don't want anyone in charge, regulating, but in reality whoever has the most technology and most influence would have the most power.

The Magna Carta reading was intense, but held some of the ideas of democracy in its theory of how technology should be handled for society.  It talked about the marketplace and how it drives the society to change technology.  Like in the article by Winner, one subject brought up in the Magna Carta was the idea of how the new technology has replaced old methods, questioning which was better.  Adding to the other examples of how technology has shaped and changed society, is again back to the cell phone and its use for the releasing of information to a wider public faster than old methods.  Just last week as i was walking to class, I received a text message from a number of someone I did not know.  After opening the message, I read about the Utah legislature proposing to raise college tuition.  The text went on to encourage me to gather with other college students at the Capital the next morning at a certain time to protest it.  Whoever sent me the message used technology for political reasons.  Before the use of cell phones, it would have had to been done by flyer, word of mouth or television.  From the modern use of cell phones and texting, messages can be sent to a large group of people in an instant.  Using technology to try and inform people to engage them in political action is one more example of how society is using the technology to their advantage.

With the different theories of how technology should be handled as it affects society and its interaction with our everyday activities, it is hard to know which way is the best.  While each of the articles had valuable methods, no one of them is ever going to be perfect.  It is true that technology is shaping how people interact one with another.  While some of these advances help connect communities, others are dividing society from true interaction from each other.