Guava Glom

Digital America 

[guavaglom-blog]

[guavaglom-blog]

[guavaglom-blog]

Digital Time Travel

I made my Facebook account on January 22, 2008. I was a freshman in high school at the time. I remember when my sister joined Facebook. It was when Facebook was exclusive and you had to be invited to join. I only switched over from MySpace when my friends did. Most of my posts were cringe city. I posted about being bored, asking for people to text me. I would talk about talking to strangers online-which wasn’t so weird before the world became aware of child sex offenders preying on kids online. 

Most of the photos I posted were of hyper-edited selfies. A lot of bathroom mirror pics where the mirror is disgusting. There were also some pictures of my friends and people I went to school with. When we were bored we would take pictures in class. I must have taken my camera to school because back then phone cameras were terrible.

The style of my posts were “is doing ____” or for example “is bored”. In 2008 that’s what people were posting. Today we would post a real sentence. Or just say “bored”. Our profile names are seen in a different way today. They used to be part of the conversation. We would be talking in the 3rd person about ourselves. Today we would talk in 1st person. 

My posts back then are a lot different from today. I used to post statues about everything in my life. It was a lot more personal. The only people who saw those things were my friends. I did’t have to worry about my future. Now we know employers look at our profiles so we don’t give away so much. Now I only post pictures on Facebook. I never make any text posts. Mostly because a lot of people I’m friends with I don’t actually care about. Some of them I barely know, most of them I used to know and haven’t talked to in awhile. I don’t care for those people to know what’s going on with me. When I want to talk to people I text, Facebook message, or Snapchat. 

[guavaglom-blog]

This was from a reddit post about gender stereotyping starting as young as 3 months. 

[guavaglom-blog]

[guavaglom-blog]

Going Dark 3/25

[guavaglom-blog]

Liveblog 3/18

1:32- Know Your Vote presentation

1:34- Inform people about political issues. Try to get people to vote without persuading them to?

1:36- Free and no ads so voters aren’t influenced.

1:37- Points based on informing yourself and quizzes to see if you retained the information.

1:40- I really like this idea. The biggest problem in our voting system is voter turnout and the second biggest problem is uninformed voters. This game works to combat the second problem. This is a clever idea, and would be more helpful maybe than pushing people to actually vote. We need more informed voters to elect officials who will solve our problems in ways we actually want. 

1:45- Voluntier presentation

1:46- Try to get people to volunteer more. Helps community and benefits the volunteer. Feeling like you’re betting yourself and have a positive impact. College students are actually more likely to volunteer than vote. Probably because they’re required to for classes though.

1:50- Helps match people with volunteer organization. This is really cool. Would it be with a type of personality quiz? This is just really neat. 

1:51- Players have profiles-looks like a social media profile. This would draw more people in. 

1:52- Resume building, has LinkedIn aspects

1:54- Great presentation. Very good idea. I think different sponsors could also be local businesses.

2:00- Call of Duty: Drone Strike presentation

2:01- Recruit device to bring drone pilots to the military? Drones might be better for the US military, but is also more dangerous to civilians during attacks. Should we be promoting this? We talked about military recruitment via games being problematic. Makes soldiers feel like war is a game when it should be considered more personal- killing humans has strong negative implications. 

2:04- I can see this being popular because war games generally are popular and they’re building on the Call of Duty franchise.

2:06- What’s the problem being solved- understanding the plight of soldiers? Or is this a recruitment tool? 

2:08- Training tool

2:10- Good presentation. Don’t like the idea. I think this is problematic to war-game mentality, dehumanizing people. 

2:13- Bringing awareness of collateral damage- is this the issue trying to be solved?

2:14- Feed The World presentation

2:14- The video was very cool and unexpected!

2:16- We have enough food to feed everyone, but we’re not helping the needy. Didn’t know this! That’s horrifying.

2:20- Maintain a village- evolve into city and feed your population

2:21- Points converted to real money and made into real donations.

2:22- Great idea!

[guavaglom-blog]

Beyond the Limits Keynote

I attended the No Limits conference and went to the keynote speech by Meenakshi Gigi Durham. Her speech was called “Pleasure and Danger: Sex, violence, and ethics in the age of digital media.” She explored topics such was how we are intimately connected to technology-such as the use of technology for sexual pleasure. She also talked about how technology determines our self image (a la plastic surgery as a product of new technologies, and the use of media to pressure people into getting it). Another one of her main themes was the perpetuation of sexual crimes by technology. 

I agreed with her statement that we are intimately connected to technology. There’s a giant market devoted to the technology based sex industry. Although prostitution is still a huge market, I feel like Cam Girls and Cam Boys have built on that market. It is basically online prostitution. You asked the individual to take actions, and they do so in exchange for money. Different actions cost different amounts of money. This is a very intimate connection to technology. You are using it as a device to pleasure yourself. In someways I think it can be more intimate than real life prostitution. There’s anonymity, so you can request your deepest fantasies, and potentially have it be a more satisfying experience for you. But it’s also less intimate because you’re not looking into the other person’s eyes being vulnerable with that person.

I don’t agree with her argument that technology determines our self image. She used the example of breast augmentation and Heidi Montag. She argued that technology has advanced enough to perform this surgery and media pushes people into having their breasts augmented. She said this is the same for all plastic surgery. She argued that without technology, people wouldn’t alter their bodies and they wouldn’t want to alter their bodies. I think this is a dangerous claim. People have been making body modifications for centuries. Way before technology was around. For example- tattooing, body piercings, lip plates, scarification in Sudan and Ethiopia, the elongation of the neck with brass rings in Kayan tribes, foot binding in Imperial China. Body modification is not a result of technology. She also tried to argue that people only alter their bodies because of the media. In the Q&A session she elaborated that she believed that tattooing is different that surgery because it is a personal alteration that is meaningful whereas plastic surgery impersonal. I really believe this is totally and completely false. For example, people opt for mastectomies for a wide variety of medical and personal reasons (i.e. cancer, back problems due to large breasts). Most importantly, mastectomies and breast augmentations are surgeries that some transgender people decide to have as a step in their transition. This is incredibly personal, and in no way because of media pressures. Throughout Durham’s speech she was viscously discredited transgender individuals and was transphobic. Countess times she called transgender people “transexual” which is an outdated term originating from the transphobic medical community. Sex refers to our genitals assigned at birth and gender refers to our internal sense of identification as male, female, both, or neither. 

Durham also spoke about the ways that technology perpetuates sexual crimes. The internet keeps child porn alive and also is used for human trafficking. The question is whether we should limit the scope of the internet to cut down on its use for crimes. It would limit our freedoms, but also protect the vulnerable. Sex crimes are illegal, but can’t be punished online because of anonymity. I think we should be limiting the internet so that people can’t partake in sex crimes. The opposite side of the argument is that when the government starts to limit our freedom, we can lose other freedoms. I don’t think this will happen, but even if it does I believe its the best thing for the general will. The destruction to the victims of sexual crimes is far worse a problem than it is positive for the perpetrators. 

[guavaglom-blog]

Liveblog 3/16/16

1:34- Trash Smash presentation

1:37- Help prevent pollution. It’s an environmental disaster. Mobile puzzle game. Will be successful because mobile games are addictive.

1:39- The background is very cleaver. Polluted version of what you’re working on, then turns into cleaned up version of the background. Really like this idea. Very smart.

1:41- Freemium game. In-game purchases are treated as donations. That’s how you help the world. Encourages willingness to donate. Selfish Selfless act. 

1:44- End of presentation. Awesome game. Great presentation skills. Very cool graphics.

1:47- Supply It Presentation

1:48- Trivia adventure game. Mobile, but also real life like treasure hunt? Explanation of the game was kind of confusing.

1:50- Once you gain a certain amount of points, you can send school supplies to Africa. This is a good cause. Could be more specific about which countries in Africa. There’s also other countries in need. Eventually would you expand?

1:55- Need to increase education in Africa to fix other problems.

1:56- Q&A Who are you marketing this to? Only school age kids?

1:58- The Motivators presentation. Combat college obesity.

1:59- Depression isn’t cause by body image. Depression is a mental illness. Poor body image can be a trigger. 

2:02- It’s a mobile app called “Spark” Modeled off of FitBit

2:04- Leaderboard across campus. What stops you from cheating though? Since you’re choosing your own points. 

2:05- Prizes interact with campus.

2:05- People won’t cheat because no results

2:07- My group’s presentation.

[guavaglom-blog]

Visit Original Link

I have to deal with bugs and I am so afraid!!!!!

[guavaglom-blog]

Pleasure and Danger Liveblog

5:10-In theory gender, sexuality are limitless. In reality, many limits.

5:13- Idea that you’re free on the internet. No limits because you’re anonymous. Free to explore identity.

5:15- Experimentation online with identity is exciting- seducing. Though, anonymity can be misleading. 

5:16- Body and technology are interconnected. Surgery, pleasure enhancers, woven together.

5:18- Historical forces determining technological world- morals too though? Change with the times.

5:19- Technologies change us. Changes our sense of being. Literally changes us- i.e. breast augmentation. 

5:20- Sexting, Cybersex, Cyber Porn- technologies are “desiring machines” Intimately interacting with technology. 

5:21- Technologies determine how we think about our bodies and also how we think about ourself. Can compare yourself to millions more people than ever before. Tell us how, who we should be. 

5:24- Media is technological and cultural. Elements of daily life.

5:26- Technology structures our life- we need a phone in order to survive socially and professionally. We live around our technologies. Synergy.

5:27- Bodies aren’t fixed. Self separate from body? Enmeshed with body? No distinction between self and body? Mutually dependent on each other. Healing through plastic surgery. Now we can represent ourselves as we are.

5:34- “Miss Digital World’- mythical women compete to become most beautiful?

5:35- Extreme plastic surgery- Heidi Montag. Body remodeling. Not all men’s doing. Women have internalized patriarchialism. Femininity gained through body modification.

5:37- Trans femininity gained through the same means as cis women. 

5:38- We should look at how technologically changing our bodies is normalizing Thin, big boobs and butt, blue eyed blonde fantasy. 

5:40- Racialized and gendered components of the technological world-modern society also.

5:40- Is sexting like a love letter? More vulgar. Less romantic. Always ends in a climax though.

5:43- What about child pornography- powerlessness of the victim indefinitely as images are always out there.

5:44- Technologies perpetuate sexual crimes, human trafficking (women, children). Technology is empowering the already powerful.) Should this be expected, should it be controlled? It is already but the internet-deleting something for good is near impossible.

5:46- Question and Answers

5:47- Tattoos claiming our body- same damage as body modification? Not the same. Is a trend-similar. Class aspect. Historical moment of popularity. Agency in tattooing, meaningfulness of a tattoo. Tattoos are personal. Enforced mode of body modification though with body modification. But what about personal surgeries. There’s a racial and gender power structures that dominate the kinds of surgeries we get. 

5:49- Criminal regulations of sexting between minors? What about when sexting is available to wider arena? When sexting between minors is available to adults- That’s child pornography.

5:52- What about surgeries for transgender individuals? That’s a personalized surgery.

5:55- What are the vulnerabilities, power relationships at stake?

5:57- How do we make the sex industry safer? Can we make it empowering instead of exploitative? It is empowering in some ways. But we need to regulate sexual violence-online and real world.

[guavaglom-blog]

Liveblog It 3/11

1:32- Sam started her Gone Home presentation.

1:38- Gone home is a non-traditional game. First person exploration. Strong female characters. Inclusive game rather than exclusive (which is the norm). “Anti-game”

1:42- I’ve played this game. It’s really type of game. Adventure and exploratory. I don’t think it has a long enough play time. Question of how you know when it’s over-You know. You piece together information throughout the game, but at the end all is made absolutely clear.

1:45-Story that you can live-Gone Home. Enjoyable because you don’t have to fight, figure out action moves.

1:46-If you like Gone Home, you’ll probably like Lifeless Planet and The Stanely Parable. It was really cool to see someone present on this game. Haven’t played any of the other games presented on.

1:49- Professional gold mining in China for World of Warcraft. Gold miners are hated. Is this because of racism?

1:53- Yes, it does seem very racist. It would probably be received better if they were American. Strikers against farmers is very reminiscent of Pogroms, lynching. Should we blame the buyers of the gold instead.

1:54-But what about the economic aspect?

1:56- Farmers aren’t playing the game traditionally. Does that mean they’re breaking the rules though?

1:56- Anti-asian sentiment is very previlent for farmers. No racist sentiment for US buyers.

1:58- Why hatred against Chinese laborers and not mine owners? “No Andrew Carnegy exclusion act.” Minorities are targeted. Carnegy is Scottish, nativist argument doesn’t hold up.

2:00- It is heavily racialized though-when they strike they scream Chinese gibberish.

2:00- #GamerGate-culture war over internet. Depression Quest game.

2:03-Backlash against game developer Zoe Quinn of Depression Quest. Ex boyfriend diatribe accusing her of cheating on him- SO. No one cares when dudes cheat. Criticism on her because of her gender. 

2:07- Gamer identity-misogynist. Definitely! Go to the video game section of Best Buy, any store-all directed toward men. Unrealistic sexualized animated women characters. Army combat games-which until recently women were banned for being in combat in the army.

2:09- Women gamers receive death threats. 

2:11- Harassment of women in Gamer Gate. Docking-giving out addresses. Violent speech. “Campaign of Harassment.”

2:15- “What it’s really about is journalistic ethics” is the retreat argument. This is bullshit. The story of her cheating is an accusation. Not confirmed truth. Even if she did cheat, who’s to say that she did it for favorable reviews. If these people COULD write reviews on her game specifically. This is all because she’s a woman. If it was a dude accused of cheating-No one would care, ethics wouldn’t be questioned. And definitely if it was a man, he definitely wouldn’t be issued death threats. This is all very infuriating. 

[guavaglom-blog]

Visit Original Link

Can someone just show us how to be adults??

[guavaglom-blog]

Visit Original Link

Spoiler Alert!!! 

Spoilers for 11.22.63 episodes 1-4.

[guavaglom-blog]

Visit Original Link

SPOILER ALERT!!! 

Major spoilers for RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 8 Episode 1

[guavaglom-blog]

Visit Original Link

Spoiler Alert!

Spoilers for RuPaul’s Drag Race seasons 6 and 7.

[guavaglom-blog]

Wait, What? McGonigal Ch. 3 & 4

1. Randolph Nesse “believes that depression may be an adaptive mechanism meant to prevent us from falling victim to blind optimism...” What would Nesse’s reasoning be for depression caused by the death of a loved one? Do you think depression can be more than mental illness? 

2. If productivity is what makes us happy, is productivity the meaning of life? Are we being productive while being in relationships or is love an totally different thing?

3. McGonigal says that World of Warcraft is a great game because it gives you a goal, tells you how to accomplish said goal, tells you why your goal matters, and there’s a guarantee that you’re capable of accomplishing the goal. She says that this allows people to be excited about living. Is it possible to achieve this is real life? Is this idealism unrealistic? If it was the government regulating this goal setting, would we become more of a communist or socialist government?