Week 3- Part 1- Analysis of magazine forum 'More Magazine'

The message board/web forum of more magazine is (as far as I've seen/assumed) all female. The message board has a very ‘girly’ theme too it as well- very pink! A lot of the topics brought up seemed to centre around the same sort of topics featured in the magazine- mainly men/sex/relationships. However the main kind of discussions that I found were people asking advice about things. Of course there were still the usual ‘what do you think of so-and-so product’, but it was mainly a place for girls to talk to each other like they would their close friends, discussing personal problems, or embarrassing ones. This links us back to the ‘hiding your identity’ online, and it seems to be a good place for girls to discuss their embarrassing sexual problems etc without anybody finding out who they are. I see this as a positive aspect- the girls on the forum obviously felt that their problems were too embarrassing to discuss in front of their friends, and yet they managed to get some useful responses back from other members.

Of course there are still the usual nasty comments, but it seemed mainly relaxed and informal- many of the girls were clearly younger- early-mid teens, despite the magazine being aimed at adults, and this was evident in the way they typed, using ‘text speak’ and informal language. I noticed some young teens almost wrote on the message board to seek almost a mother figure, asking questions like ‘what do you think I should do?’

Week 3- Part 2- Analysis of magazine forum 'More Magazine'

Nevertheless, I noticed that many of the ‘stories’ a girl would post seemed to almost brag about things, which I found interesting- maybe the message board is also a place for someone to exaggerate on a story- nobody there can prove them right or wrong-because nobody knows who you are! And it could be a place where you can make yourself sound more interesting and ‘show off’ in front of people. I assume that these types of girls are also mid-teens, as opposed to adults, due to the immature way they framed their sentences.

I assume that the older users of the message board are the ones giving advice. I noticed that usually, the person who started the thread seemed very attention-seeking and immature, whereas the people replying often gave realistic, useful advice, very much like a real-life scenario (a younger person asking an adult for help or advice).

Link to the forum: http://www.moremagazine.co.uk/forum/default.asp

Week 2, Topic 2 - Am I an advanced user?

I don't think I am an advanced user of blogs/forums. That's not to say I struggle with writing, or using new media, particularly on the Internet, because I actually do find it easy to communicate online. I think quite a lot of people in today's society do, simply because it happens so much- we are brought up around new media, and we learn to communicate without being face-to-face. (Although that's not to say some people are happy with it, as some people simply aren't confident writers, or struggle with spelling and grammar). Writing down your thoughts is so much different to speaking them face-to-face, you have to compact your thoughts and juggle them into easy-to-read sentences!
Another good point that Sunny made was that you tend to be much more formal when using blogging/forums. There are still the odd few who type how they talk (with accents and the lot!) but i actually don't think people take them seriously, because it takes so much effort to read and understand them, most people don't bother!
Looking through other blogs on this website, you can tell how experienced some people are- simply the design of their pages are enough to show this. I don't feel like I struggle with communicating on the Internet, as I believe we've all gradually learnt this new literacy over the years-our generation has grown up with new media, and new media is still growing, meaning we have to keep learning new literacy in order to keep up with it!

Topic 2, Week 2- Disadvantages of forums/bogging

As mentioned in the previous post, there are some positive points about blogging and forums, such as being able to write down your thoughts how you like, when you like.... On the other hand, like mentioned in the lecture notes...what is to stop a forum being dominated by an elite group? I do think it's much easier to get across what you need to say without being rushed or forced to speak up though, and nobody can interrupt text....they can only ignore it!
However, another problem with this is that i don't think people can always get their point across in the right way when using written language. Like Livingstone says, we may have to learn new forms of literacy, to be able to compact our thoughts and words into short, interesting, easily-readable sentences or paragraphs. It can be hard to put the right emphasis on the right points, and some people just generally find it harder to put their feelings and opinions down in words- particularly if you're not a confident writer.
Knowing that we have a tutor to supervise (Dave in our case!) is a positive thing for some people, as it's much easier for them to correct you on a particular point, rather than waiting until half way through the semester and waiting for your grade back on an essay, at which point it's too late!
On the other hand, some may feel nervous, knowing our tutor can read anything we write, and may be nervous about writing something wrong, and being corrected in front of anyone who reads their post.
In short, forums and blogging seems to be a more public and open version of a seminar- you have no choice but to write down your opinions, and anyone can read this.

What do people think about how public it is??

Do people think this is a GOOD thing (it encourages people to contribute and gain confidence) or a BAD thing (it is easier for people to judge what you're writing about)??

Week 2, Topic 2- Blogging and Forums

I think Livingstone's point about us changing the way we communicate online does have some truth behind it...although i don't know to what extent this is. I don't particularly think the change is that huge, but it's bound not to be exactly the same, because, quite simply...it's not! Communicating to somebody in real life can hardly compare to communicating via the internet, for many reasons....
In the sense of the online forums and blogging, that we're doing within study groups, i personally feel that it doesn't feel as much as a 'turn-taking' conversation as it should- maybe this is just because people aren't really used to it yet, and are not consistent with their posts??
One thing about the forums etc that i think is positive, however, is that in seminars, or other real-life senarios, people can often be talked over, or drowned out by louder, more confident members of a group. Using a forum lets people get their point across much more easily, as there is no real time-limit (as opposed to the hour-long seminars in which you either have to say all you want to say, or you sit and listen to others talking!)