JOMC449 Final Project

If the entire class was a Tumblr blog, what would that look like? By: Lizzie Goodell

[jomc449-blog]

Sources

Tumblr info

http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2013/01/02/david-karp-on-tumblrs-growth-monetization-mentors-and-future-plans/

http://www.inc.com/magazine/201106/the-way-i-work-david-karp-of-tumblr.html

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/baig/2014/11/04/tumblr-david-karp-talks-socialmedia-diversity/18406825/

Pew

http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/04/17/us-views-of-technology-and-the-future/

Tumblr images and reblogs

https://www.tumblr.com

Sources for class viewings and discussions 

http://jomc449fall15.web.unc.edu

(My posts are detailed and make sense when read without narration, so I didn’t think they required extra notes. Any other links I used are imbedded in the Tumblr posts.)

[jomc449-blog]

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow 

As you can see from the quote below, Cory Doctorow values the importance of a young mind. In Little Brother, the main character Marcus is in high school, but he manages to change the world, at least a little bit. 

Little Brother also emphasized the need for young people to have a private place to chat about controversial topics online. While Tumblr is far from private, it is a place for young people to convene and talk about what interests them, rather that me pop culture or Snowden. 

[aseaofquotes]

Cory Doctorow, For the Win

[jomc449-blog]

Lilyn Hester - Google

As you can see in the picture above, I just searched for Lilyn Hester on Tumblr and found zero results. 

This seemed a little surprising to me because Hester is important. She is helping Google expand and be innovative by having managers in all parts of the U.S. including North and South Carolina. 

Tumblr also tries to be expansive, even though it only has offices in NYC and LA. But Tumblr does have an entire job devoted for finding innovative blogs from all over the world and featuring them on Tumblr home pages. 

Like with Google, I suspect that Tumblr has a lot of jobs that no one would even think could be a real job. 

[jomc449-blog]

The American public anticipates that the coming half-century will be a period of profound scientific change, as inventions that were once confined to the realm of science fiction come into common usage.

Pew Report by Aaron Smith - “U.S. Views of Technology and the Future”

Pew Report

The Pew report I reported on had to do with some outlandish and some not-so-outlandish ideas of the future. 

Tumblr is big on science fiction, and big on new inventions. Earlier, I gave just a few examples of how Tumblr users are freaking out over Google Cardboard. Just think of what they would do with teleportation or humans controlling the weather. 

Tumblr is also known for taking everything just a step further. Bloggers might see something like Cardboard and say, what if it could do this, or turn into this? 

I see this everyday in terms of fandoms and shipping unusual fictional characters. For example, I’ve recently become obsessed with the musical Hamilton about Alexander Hamilton. But one scroll through twitter, all of a sudden Hamilton is in love with his best pal John Laurens or his enemy Aaron Burr. 

But in terms of technology, a scientist or developer could potentially get ideas from Tumblr users, or a blogger could use Tumblr to start a blog about future developments. 

But this Pew report also stated that the most optimistic group about the future is ages 30-49, which is slightly over Tumblr’s younger age range. So Tumblr might be a way for people to discuss how technology is ruining society as well. 

http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/04/17/us-views-of-technology-and-the-future/

[jomc449-blog]

Digital Cosmopolitans with Ethan Zuckerman 

Zuckerman says that we consume much more domestic news than we do international news, despite the fact that we have unlimited online resources. 

Tumblr is just one of many unlimited online sources. 

Like I’ve said before, Tumblr is not traditionally used as a news outlet. While there is certainly news on your dashboard, which may include links to articles or just blogs posts of people pouring their hearts out, neither domestic or international news prevails here. 

But Tumblr does capture the big picture, meaning big things in the news, whether that be Ferguson or Paris. People are talking about it, so they’re posting about it. 

Tumblr is also known for BuzzFeed-esque lists which simplify things, so Tumblr could be used as a resource to understand confusing cultural events such as Syria. 

Tumblr is much like Google - if you search for a topic, you will find results. It’s up to you to sort through which results are true and credible and informative. 

Zuckerman also spoke about bridge figures with his example of Picasso’s Cubism and West African masks. Tumblr is really good at connecting two seemingly unrelated things. Sometimes that connection is just between movies and TV shows, but at the root of it, it shows how things that seem far away, like international news, affect things that we know and love at home. 

[jomc449-blog]

I am sad because Spoonflower doesn’t have a Tumblr!

But here are some cool Tumblrs created by designers who sell fabric on Spoonflower:

http://mytinyowl.tumblr.com

http://vincentdesjardinsdraws.tumblr.com 

[jomc449-blog]

#NOEMAIL

Some contradicting quotes from Mr. Karp:

“I used to suck at e-mail. I'd let e-mails pile up, get overwhelmed, and miss important messages, or forget to reply. So I set up filters on my e-mail, and that's been working pretty well. Now, my inbox gets e-mails only from people in my company and from my girlfriend. A folder called Robots gets anything not written by a human, like bank statements and Google Alerts. Most everything else goes into the Unsorted folder.”

“We mostly use e-mail to communicate. I love e-mail, because it doesn't interrupt anyone. The fewer distractions, the better.”

This goes against two of your points:

If something is really important, you should talk in person AND don’t email someone you can literally see from your desk. 

Tumblr is fun, not something to replace email – no one really uses personal message factor on Tumblr. In my 6 or so years on Tumblr, I’ve never received a personal message.

[kyle-in-color]

[jomc449-blog]

McLuhan and Morozov 

Tumblr is obviously a medium, and a popular social media platform. I would post or reblog things on Tumblr that I would never post on Facebook or Instagram. Tumblr is a place for strangers to interact without putting faces to names, so anonymity also affects how people interact with the medium. 

As far as Morozov, I’m not sure if Tumblr can and cannot help spread democracy, although it does keep me up to date on some important events. But for every 10 silly posts, there is maybe 1 serious one, so Tumblr is more of just a place to have fun. But Tumblr is also so easy to use, that anyone can create a blog about whatever they want – so the possibilities are endless.

[jomc449-blog]

Citizen Four/TOR/Journalism After Snowden: 

Tumblr doesn’t have much in terms of privacy settings, pictured above. It’s pretty basic. 

Tumblr is known as a place where you share things – that’s Tumblr’s entire purpose. So you can’t really go into blogging and then be mad that you find out people are stalking you.

Tor: Tumblr can kind of relate to TOR because it can often be hard to find the source of a great post, meme or video. When it’s liked and reblogged so much, you can only see the last person that reblogged it, and that doesn’t mean they were the creator. Like TOR, the more people that use it, the harder it is to find the source.

I wasn’t very active on Tumblr when Snowden released the NSA information, but I’m sure his identity was one of the few truly “serious” issues that Tumblr users shared stuff about. And it also made a lot of people start blogs on Tumblr about privacy, thereby getting the word out there to people who aren’t as up to date about Snowden as they should be. Tumblr also focuses a lot about fiction, so I’m sure there are blogs devoted to works like Big Brother, and people can learn about important issues this way as well.

[jomc449-blog]

14 Regular People Who Became Memes

Here's how they handled Internet fame.

IMPORTANT

[jomc449-blog]

Memes

Tumblr is where I first started seeing memes.

People post them in response to peoples’ comments or online quizzes or funny pictures. It’s an easy, funny way to portray how you think about something quickly.

Since Tumblr is mainly reblogging and scrolling and liking, speed is essential. On Tumblr, you are not going to type out a response to a post. You’re going to post a meme that sums up your thoughts in a way other people will relate to. 

Because memes are so current, and considered one huge inside joke with everyone else who’s active online, you have to stay up to date with current events and pop culture to understand Tumblr. 

That’s why you don’t see many parents on Tumblr. In my opinion, the one “web culture” thing that parents will never really understand is memes. They just aren’t active enough online. And over half of Tumblr’s content is memes. So parents tend to stay away.  

[loaneca]

My very first ship! <3 <3 <3

[jomc449-blog]

Duncan Watts – Paradox of Success: 

Tumblr is really just a bunch of hipsters gathered in one place. What happens in a place where everyone is a hipster?!

Obscure ideas become mainstream. Even ideas like shipping Thor and Loki...

Tumblr is the place where small ideas can become mainstream. Tumblr can offer an explanation to why certain films or ideas became more popular than others - enough people reblogged things about it OR the movie just allows for really great memes. 

 But it’s also the place where people can go to feel less alone in their ideas. “Wow, you ship these two super obscure novel characters? Me too!” I use Tumblr as a place where, after I’ve already collected my likes and dislikes in the real world, I go and find blogs and people that somehow feel the exact same way. 

Tumblr isn’t always about what’s popular or what’s not, but it does have the power to make something unconventional very popular.

[prostheticknowledge]

Cyborg Dating

Playful VR project by SNDRV requires a couple taking a walk, one with a Google Cardboard headset and the other with GPS instructions on their smartphone (you will even see brucesterling trying it out) - video embedded below:

Visitors of the Impakt Festival could go on a “Cyborg Date”. They could take a walk through a virtual forest which was situated at GPS-coordinates in the city centre of Utrecht. Navigating was a joint effort. The person wearing the Google Cardboard could see where to go, but the person guiding could see how to go there, avoiding obstacles, people and bicycles. On the way, they both were informed about the progress of the ‘date’. They were given suggestions on what to say, and at certain interactive spots buttons appeared. A rose could be given to the human guide. The contents of a picnic basket could be shared. And at one point en route, the forest could be switched to nighttime, to subtly nudge the date towards a romantic ending.

More Here

It is part of a collection of experiences by the artist collectively called OutdoorVR exploring the possibilities of VR in the real world (although fully aware of the possible absurdities it can produce) - you can find more here

[jomc449-blog]

Google Cardboard virtual dating?!

[the-divergentseries]

IMPORTANT: TODAY ONLY - Buy your #InsurgentTickets at fandango and receive a FREE limited-edition Insurgent Google Cardboard to experience the 3D/360 #ShatterReality VR app! http://insur.gent/fandango

[jomc449-blog]

Movies are offering Cardboard!

[prostheticknowledge]

Customizable Cardboard VR

dodocase have put together an online editor to edit the look of a Cardboard VR unit:

DODOcase has just launched a new tool to allow you to completely customize your very own PopUp Virtual Reality Viewer. The superfine finish on our all white cardboard is the perfect canvas for creating anything from a personalized viewer for a techie friend to 1,000 branded viewers for a corporate event. Whatever the need, we have viewers for you. And now you get to have your say in the design process too. 

You can check out the online editor itself here, and more info about setting up your own here

[jomc449-blog]

Customize your Google Cardboard! 

[jomc449-blog]

Can Tumblr relate to Google Cardboard???

The answer is YES. 

1. Through shared experiences on Tumblr, I can feel as though I’ve been a place or watched something, even if I haven’t, which is maybe kind of similar to virtual reality.

2. After searching Google Cardboard on Tumblr, I learned a lot about it. Cardboard fits into the idea of nerd culture things becoming mainstream cool.

Check out some of the things I found on Tumblr: