Presentation Responses 3

Mark M.:

I like how you used the Love Canal incident to show what environmental activism (or lack of it) was like pre-Internet. I think you could look more into specific websites or more phone and other mobile-based apps that allow average people to make a difference. There is an issue where many people think that the problem is too big for them to impact on their own, and you could try to address that.

Sarah:

Asking different people how they present themselves online is a good source of data given your topic. I personally talk online as if I was talking to a friend, so it's much more casual, where in person I might be a little more professional or use different vocabulary if I'm in person. Maybe looking into how other people talk online versus real life could be something worth looking into.

Cassie:

You could possibly look into the comparison between learning on a social networking site versus previous offline teaching methods. You mentioned how a social networking site can bring out kids that don't normally talk in class, this could be a good focus for the paper. If you wanted to elaborate on this big point you could see how being online can remove the anxiety of talking in public or in a classroom and see how it affects different kids.

Dena:

There is a lot of legalese in your argument, and you might need to focus it down a little. Maurice suggested picking a specific law and focusing on that, going more in depth to the implications of it. Or I think Julie brought up a very good idea and focus on how due to these laws you mentioned, social networking sites are leaving you on your own. There is nothing you can really do about online bullying on these sites because the hosts cannot be held accountable, you can then bring in the law information to show why you're left on your own, which is the main argument.

Michelle:

Good job using an argument that is very focused on a specific use of digital interfaces to bridge the gap between physical and digital space. It's like a different form of the digital divide, making computer interaction easier for new users because they can relate it to the physical world.

Brittany:

Your paper sounds a little too much like a report right now. You had a lot of great facts and info on the topic, but you might want to make it more argumentative. Perhaps talk about what the use of mobile marketing says about our society and where we might go. Then you could use the great example of Minority Report, which funny enough I wrote down only about 15 seconds before you talked about it and showed it. You are then open to talk about the positive or negative aspects of direction we are heading.

Mark B.:

Rather than focusing on how Blizzard is changing WoW, you could use the changes as examples for the main argument of social interaction in online games. You can also mention how more serious players sometimes go out of their way to accomplish something tough, like soloing an instance like you said. What does this say about gamers as well? We want to accomplish something that is a challenge, yet the game is being oversimplified. At what point will it become too easy and watered down that Blizzard starts losing a large portion of their serious players?

Chris:

Very interesting topic, I never really thought about the different divides we create for ourselves online in our communities. You could compare how we categorize and form groups with other people of similar interests and backgrounds in real life and how we continue it online.