The Problem of Content

            As we move into a society where virtual interaction with objects in cyber space dominate a child’s interactions, and mind driven imagination is rarely noted, how is this affecting are society. Often the concepts of how video games affect young minds is explored in the context of violence, but rarely is it discussed on a world-wide scale how it affects education. James Paul Gee addresses this very subject in his book What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy.

            “I was born in 1948. So, for heaven’s sake, what am I doing playing video games and, worse yet, writing about it?” Gee asks himself this question in What Video Games Have To Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. Gee defies the common perception that video games are a waste of time, amongst people of his generation, and embraces video games as a medium to teach us about learning and literacy. Gee breaks down the concept of learning by defining the many processes necessary to learn. Gee claims that video games have something to teach us because they engage the player in the many principles of learning during game play. In the end, Gee claims that video games in three ways. First, that they excite “learning to experience (see and act on) the world in a new way.” Second, that with video games we are “gaining the potential to join and collaborate with a new affinity group.” And finally, video games are helpful to “ developing resources for future learning and problem solving in semiotic domains to which the game is related.” The author focuses so heavily on discussing how video games teach us that he fails to discuss what they teach us. With this failure to discuss what video games teach us, Gee is merely using video games as a medium to explore the process of human learning, as opposed to what video games have to teach us, as he claims.

            “Problem of content” is one of the many terms Gee addresses and defines. Gee describes the “problem of content” as, “work that does not involve such learning is ‘meaningless play’.” Gee attempts to dispute the perception that video games fall into this category of lacking content. He describes games such as Pikmin, where the central character controls an army of little red orbs, and Max Payne, a first person shooter.  Using the claims of the author himself, what do these games teach us? Well in the instance of Pikmin, we gain experience utilizing an army of little orbs to find pieces to an alien spacecraft. This is not applicable learning in a human environment. In theory, Gee’s idea about video games having the ability to teach us is true. The “problem of content” stands in between video games teaching players in Gee’s sense, and what they actually teach us. If video games really did teach people about learning and literacy, then they would not have the same entertainment value. They do have the capability to teach us as described by Gee but no game player wants to engage in video games in the way gee describes. Therefore, the content of video games reflect the desire of the players and lacks the content that is required in order for Gee’s theory to be applicable.

Odd Future of The Internet

We have spent lots of time discussing technology, especially the Internet affect society. But one thing we have partially overlooked in our class and readings is how the Internet has opened up people’s ability to affect society. Internet applications such as Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube, and music blogs such as HypeTrak, 2DopeBoys and The HypeMachine have begun to challenge how people are introduced to new media and have introduced to society a new era where individuals have the power to show the world something unique unadulterated by large traditional media corporations. Not only have we seen this develop in an entertainment realm but also in a political realm. I would like to discuss two figures

 I would like to in this blog talk about something I have seen progress on the Internet over the course of this quarter. I have seen over the course of this quarter an individual emerge via the internet and challenge traditional notions of how artistry is performed and developed. This individual is actually just a 19 year old kid named Tyler The Creator of OFWGTKTA or just Odd Future for short. Tyler The Creator, who also goes my Ace the Creator, Wolf Haley or just simply The Creator, first and foremost is by far one of the most multi-talented, hilarious and disturbed people of the digital age. He is the headman of the rap group Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, a crew of 12 Los Angeles teenagers ranging from the 16-year-old Taco Bennett to the 20-year-old Hodgy Beats. But Tyler is much more than just a rapper. He is a producer, director of all music videos, which of the several he has made two went platinum on YouTube just last week, twitter extraordinaire, moderator and creator of the bands website and publisher of all the groups CDs and Mixtapes. Tyler has utilized all of his talents to create a beautiful collaboration. The group has self produced all of their music, videos and publications and with their own blend of humor, talents and unique charisma transforming themselves from a bunch of stoners with a keyboard and a video camera into an Internet sensation and dominant force in today’s world. They are unlike anything before them and will undoubtedly be imitated but never duplicated. It is indescribable how fast they have captured the hearts of people worldwide, and it would be impossible if it were not for online element they employed. The OddFuture.com Tumblr page is unique and different from anything else I have ever seen. I remember beginning to follow the group because I was so amazed and baffled yet entranced by their behavior, humor and ridiculous style of rapping. The Tumblr, Twitter and YouTube channels of all of the members allowed them to promote and display the baffling content without needing a record deal, allowing them to accumulate fans slowly but surely in a compounding manner for months. Slowly but surely they gained hype all across the Internet creating buzz with everything they did. Because of the Tumblr and Twitter they were able to shamelessly promote themselves while still staying true to their unique style, maintaining the elements of their essence that is so appealing. Here Tyler shows the baffling humor and musical stylings of the group with the music video for the song French. Then Tyler goes off on the now infamous Yonkers video. Warning: Highly Offensive and Explict Content!

All the while they slowly built up a fan group willing to pay $5 to see them play live shows, allowing them to continue on without a record deal, published on their Tumbr and Twitters to hungry fans who ate up every bit of content they could get their hands on. It used to be and to some extend still is, when I logged onto the Internet I would go straight to Facebook, then OddFuture.com, then Twitter, then finally Google.  OFWGKTA’s internet campaign enabled them to self-publish their own content, which allowed them produce content exactly how they desired an in their own unique style. This is essential to their success, for as a long time fan I would instantly stop listening, following, watching if I thought traditional media edited or influenced the content. The beauty of Odd Future lies in the unique ridiculousness that intertwines with music talent. Now after an appearance on Jimmy Fallon, a couple Kanye tweets, and a slot at this years Coachella music festival have to be the world’s largest unsigned rap group. Their success is uplifting but their influence is what is really important. They have shown millions of kids the power of internet promotion and have changed their perspective on life and the world, creating a new generation of kids yelling Wolf Gang Kill Them All challenging societal notions much in the manner that Punk music did. Because of the Internet, Tyler and his motley crew of street wear toting fat blunt smoking renegades voices are heard worldwide influencing and affecting the way young adults think and act. And that is the beauty of the Internet.

Technology and Social Interaction

            In some ways I feel that technology has hindered the interpersonal skills of today’s youth. Certain things I see make me think that kids especially pre-college don’t know how to talk to each other anymore. That interpersonal jokes have been replaced by YouTube videos of people injuring themselves. That passing conversations have been replaced by status updates, and pick up lines have been replaced by profile matching. It is advertised now by a popular online dating service that now 1 in 5 relationships start online. When I heard this I found it overtly pathetic and representative of all that is wrong with our society today. However, on the other hand of this debacle one sees a significant population that are now happily intimate with another person that they would never have met in an interpersonal context. So are online dating sites desolate place for pathetic people to go, or are they incredible? I honestly can’t tell which they are. An extremist part of me feels that these virtual relationships are a pathetic cop out enabling lonely people to cling onto the idea that they can find romantic fulfillment with going out into the world and facilitating relationships by exposing themselves to rejection. Yet, there exists a an echoing within my brain saying: Be happy for these people, they are able to find love from the convenience and comfort of cyberspace, how can you say that these virtual relationship are any less meaningful than interpersonal relationships. Or am I misinterpreting entirely, Are these sites merely supplemental to the romantic lives of those who use them? Is this not the question behind all social technology, are they being used to accelerate and supplement the social and romantic lives of the citizens of cyberspace Or are they being used as a crutch and in doing so deteriorate the social skills of today’s society?

            I think this is a critical question to the development of our society, whether the internet enhance the social capabilities of the citizens of cyberspace or be used as a crutch hindering the social skill of our society? I think that only time will yield the answers to these questions. But like all questions about populations, generalizations do not give them justice. Their will in all likelihood there will be some who utilize the social capabilities to accelerate their interpersonal relationships and expand their capabilities, and there will be some who use it as a crutch to support a deteriorating set of social skills.

Social Networking and Privacy

In terms of Internet and privacy, my train of thought always aligned with the view that privacy is not needed unless you have something to hide. I never felt that I had anything to hide; therefore I never considered privacy online to be a major factor or of major significance. The concept that when you post a facebook status, picture, tweet or blog you are potentially posting it to the entire world never really scared me. Rumors of employers and colleges viewing applicant’s facebook profiles worried me slightly, but seemed outlandish and I figured that there was nothing on my facebook that was atypical of any other student my age would display. However, little by little I slowly started realizing that the content of my facebook page did not reflect the complete well-rounded adolescent I wished to present to older persons of authority. This was in many ways not even my own fault. The nature of facebook is social, and just as many college students partying and drinking are a palpable portion of my social life, and to the dismay of the appearance of my Facebook page rarely do people take pictures of you studying. I found that the majority of the content on my Facebook page was party related and showed a mere portion of the individual it represented. In this way I began to begin to realize the importance of privacy, especially on Social Networking sites. These social networking sites are a place for people to interact with their friends in a manner that is typical of their relationship. The content and attitudes I express in an informal social environment with close friends differs significantly from how I interact in a professional environment. I feel that it is entirely unfair for employers to evaluate a applicant based on content from a Facebook page because they are transferring information from a social realm and assume that it reflects the individual’s professional capabilities. However on the other side of the spectrum, if someone posts pictures and information online that can be viewed as evidence of a alcohol or drug problem that could hurt the company or is demonstrative of likely behavior that would be harmful to a company it would be risky for a company to hire someone without investigating them on a Social Networking site, such as Facebook.

The goal of the Internet was to share information quickly and across great distances. We have achieved and surpassed this goal beyond any and all expectations. We have expanded and broadcasted ourselves to the world, and only after we have displayed all that we please to share with the world we consider the repercussions of disclosure to the universe. While in some ways I feel that the notion that if you have nothing to hide you don’t need privacy is applicable to the internet, it is an interesting debate. For in some ways when one actively participates online they are sacrificing some privacy in order to interact with others online. But at the same time information about people who do not choose to share it online is exposed and that is indeed a violation of privacy. I have several friends who choose not to use Facebook, Twitter or blogs but information about them and private information can be found if the Internet was to be scoured. It is a new dilemma of the modern age, for many a times I have over shared onlined and regretted it heavily. Just as we learn to use moderation interpersonally we must learn to moderate the content we post online because privacy or no privacy that is something our generation needs to learn to do as the Internet is here to stay and we need to learn to use it appropriately.

Media Diet

I am consuming some type of media at all times. In recording my media diet I have seen that only when I am in class, at a party or engaging intpersonally with a friend, I not consuming some kind of media. I do not watch much Television, but when I do it is usually in bulk periods of 3 hours or more. I read only what I am assigned for classes, and that seems to take up infinite amounts of time. I am not a big TV watcher or pleasure reader, but the Internet is where I am consuming the most media. I am constantly hooked up to the Internet. Only when I am sleeping am I not online in some form. I use Facebook and Twitter all too much. I use The Hype Machine sometimes for hours at a time. I follow dozens of music and film blogs. I follow numerous humorous blogs; I follow ski blogs and political blogs. I access practically all of my information online. I receive it much faster online than I can anywhere else. Twitter has become my news. Whatever is trending I look up and it usually is an up to the second update on any situation whether it be international or domestic politics, a tragedy, a musician, a film, an event involving a public figure, or even a humorous quote.

In the process of documenting my Media diet, I realized just how dependent I am on online media and social media. I believe that the immense amount of online media I consume is merely a corollary of the times. I am in every sense of the world a citizen of the digital age. My mind is plugged into cyberspace and I consume and generate online content at all times. I read an article analyzing a segment on the Late Show called “Jaywalking.” In this article the author discussed how today people know less information than ever before, despite the fact that there is more information available at ones fingertips than ever before. The author belittles the youthful citizens of the digital age. Clearly, resent this sentiment. I may not know the dates of important treaty and holidays, which the youth of previous generations could recite. However, I do not need to know such things. While I may be bound to the internet through Internet consumption I am liberated from such monotony via this enslavement to the digital age. For when I plugged my mind into cyberspace I also plugged it into all the information available in cyberspace, making it my brain’s personal external hard drive, with all the information of the Internet waiting to be accessed at a moments notice.