Virtual worlds have broken boundaries of the real world. Daryl Paranada,an associate web producer for Marketplace, writes an article reflecting on an excerpt from the book Reality is Broken.He discusses how games can make us better and improve the world by helping people to alleviate suffering and allowing a more “engaged” lifestyle.

I really do not agree with Paranada’s argument. First of all, sitting in front of a screen for so long is not good for anyone’s health.It has been scientifically proven that the light emitted from television screens causes over-stimulation in the brain which can lead to many behavioral illnesses including ADD and autism in children. Also, people are becoming “couch potatoes” and would rather sit in front of the television than go outside for a walk. Obesity rates are increasing alarmingly, especially in children who are playing video games any chance they can get. As the television is becoming more and more dominant in people’s lives, relationships are becoming less and less dominant. We are losing quality relationships with actual people to form relationships with people (or other objects/creatures/avatars) that don’t exist. This is what Paranada calls an “engaged” life. As people get more and more absorbed into this virtual world, they lose a sense of reality. For them, reality is broken. In the excerpt, even the author says that as people find their spot in the gaming world, they feel something is missing in the real world. Well, if you live in a fantasy any chance you can get, your expectations evolve and become relevant to that world. So, when you come back to the real world, you have fantasy like expectations. Also, gaming cannot alleviate suffering, it can only mask it. The suffering will always be there, even if it is in your innermost depths. All you are doing is ignoring it.

Life isn’t shaped towards your visions. You can’t control it or predict it and it’s definitely not perfect.That’s the beauty of real life; you have to accept it just the way it is.

I would never have thought that virtual worlds could help people understand each other better. William C. Diehls and Esther Prins wrote an article, “Unintended Outcomes in Second Life:Intercultural Literacy and Cultural Identity in a Virtual World,” for an academic journal, Language and Intercultural Communication. In this article, the authors explore the idea of how virtual worlds such as Second Life can promote intercultural literacy.Because many of the users are globally dispersed, a virtual world is a good place where people from all different types of backgrounds, cultures, and ethnicities can interact. By interacting with each other, they learn more about each other’s cultures and can harbor a greater appreciation for cultures other than their own. They also talk about how people form distinct cultural identities in these types of settings. In a virtual world, users don’t have to choose someone they resemble. They can choose to be of a different race, color, or gender and can go wherever they choose. By changing their identity, they can experience different cultures. They even bring up the question: can new cultural identities be formed in Second Life?

When I was reading this, it reminded me of my anthropology class that I am currently taking. It would be really interesting for anthropologists to study virtual cultures instead of real ones. This could really change how anthropologists study. Instead of immersing themselves in other real cultures, they can immerse themselves in virtual worlds and do fieldwork online instead of on site. I do think that virtual worlds can create new cultures. However, I do not believe that virtual worlds can help people really experience other First Life cultures. The only way you can really experience someone’s culture is to actually be a part of their culture for some time, similar to what anthropologists do. In the virtual world, you can’t taste other people’s food, hear their conversations and ways of discourse, touch their traditional clothing, or be a part of rituals. Culture is not virtual; it is something that has to be physically experienced.

I never play games online, its just not my thing. So, trying the game Second Life is a completely new and unusual experience for me. The first thing required of this game is to create an avatar, a second you. My avatar is a playful cat whose name is hellokitty787. She likes to go to art exhibits and travel the world for fun. In this game, you travel to destinations, talk to people, and do whatever you want to do, unlike the real world. This concept is really interesting and quite awkward at the same time. The first time I stepped foot into this virtual world, I felt really awkward. It’s hard to navigate, you have no idea what to do, and the virtual world isn’t really appealing to the eye either. I thought the virtual world would be similar to the real world in design or maybe even better. Second Life could really improve the design element of their attempt to imitate the real world. The world in second life seems to be too digitized and robotic.Back in the day, I used to play Neopets. It is similar to this virtual world concept, but I thought it was a lot easier to play and understand. It was definitely more appealing to the eye, had a lot more characters to choose from, and had easier games and activities.

But, I am still not a fan of virtual worlds. To me, it seems like a complete waste of time trying to be someone that you can never be. I think things like these could really lead to mental illnesses, especially personality disorders. Virtual worlds can ruin your real life by leading you to prefer fake people and places over real people. I am guessing hard core Second Life users probably have many ruined relationships.By getting whatever and whoever you want in the virtual world, your expectations probably start to soar really high to the point where the real world seems ridiculous and relationships start to lose value. People say they are doing this just for fun, but they have to be really careful that they don’t get too absorbed in such a false world.

The social media is used for just about anything. Chatting with friends, being invited to events, starting revolutions, and facilitating religious activism are just a few things the social media is being used for. Elizabeth Drescher,a religious studies professor at Santa Clara University, combines technology with religion in an article on her blog, Religion Dispatches. She talks about how social media is being used in religious communities, allowing for more personal communication and easier activism.

I can certainly relate this to my own religious community. In fact, I use FaceBook to see what local religious events are going on.  Religious leaders are also commonly found on FaceBook and other social media websites, making them more appealing to the youth. It is a lot easier to follow these religious leaders if they are using social media. It’s also a nice way to stay connected and share a personal feeling with these people that we normally wouldn’t have access to. A while ago, I had a question I wanted to ask a religious leader. I knew he was active on FaceBook, so I decided to inbox him my question. I thought he wouldn’t answer because he is a pretty busy guy and he had thousands of other fans to answer to. I was surprised to see a response to my question the next day; I really couldn’t believe it.  Normally, I would never get a chance to talk to someone like him. But, thanks to social media, I got a hold of him. Social media makes it a lot easier to connect to people that we usually have a hard time contacting. It allows for religious communities to come closer and interact because we can all be in one spot without time constraints. Social media also gives these religious figures a persona that a lot of the youth can relate to. It helps make religion accessible to the masses.

While doing research for our upcoming podcast hypertext project, I stumbled upon an article on Techsoup called “How to Record, Edit, and Promote Your Nonprofit’s Podcast”. Techsoup.org is a nonprofit website providing learning resources to those that are interested in making their own nonprofit organizations. I really like the idea that all  of these learning resources are available for free to help people start their own nonprofits. It’s tough to get any nonprofit started, and most people won’t be interested in the cause until there is a communication system such as a website or podcast. The website and podcast have to be interesting in order to get attention from the public. Although I am not in the process of creating a nonprofit organization, I still found the tips on this article pretty helpful. I have never made a podcast before, nor have I recorded or edited anything of the like. So, I really don’t have any knowledge in this field, which is why I found this article helpful. The author, Karen Soloman, a San Francisco based writer, gives a step-by-step overview on how to create and edit your own podcast. This article was very basic and I feel that it could include a little more detail, especially on the technical parts of creating your own podcast.

My favorite tip in the article was that the content of the podcast is the most important part. I think this is very true. You can work really hard on all of the technical aspects and getting all of the specs right, but in the end if your content isn’t so great, no one is going to listen to your podcast.

California is a state that is most often under-looked in terms of culture.However, California has one of the richest legacies that has been documented by many writers. Since many of these writers are not well-known, California too has not gained the fame it deserves. California Legacy Project is a digital initiative started by Santa Clara University staff and students that aims to shed light on California’s rich heritage through a series of radio podcasts.These podcasts are available to the general California public through the California Legacy Project’s website or by listening on the radio. These podcasts consist of readings from a selection of California’s native writers.

One of California’s, and arguably America’s, most famous writers is John Steinbeck, who is most known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Grapes of Wrath. A few of his quotes depicting California’s natural life are available on the California Legacy project website. One of the readings I listened to was a segment from one of his novels, Cannery Row, which depicted a scene from California’s ocean life. Another podcast I listened to was a passage from Grapes of Wrath, describing the valleys of California. Just from listening to these two passages, you can tell the beauty and the diversity that California exhibits just in its landscape.  From the beauty of the ocean’s dark blue waters to the grace of soft, rolling valleys, California is definitely a special place to be. As a California native, I often take these things for granted. Thank you, California Legacy Project, for reminding me of the California that seems to be forgotten.

Do you remember learning about the coup de etat in France or the days of the American Revolution? These were the ideal, historic models for revolutions. Now, when people look back in history, they will see a new ideal for spurring revolutions. Social media, such as Twitter has redefined politics. In an academic feature, “The Arab Spring”, authors Lotan, Graeff, Ananny, Gaffney, Pearce, boyd discuss the on-set of the 2011 Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions spurred by Twitter. These authors analyzed information flow from Twitter in order to see how the revolution actually worked.

The advance of technology has come so far in the last few years that many fields are being redefined and reshaped. We are redefining education, politics, science, the realm of work, and of course, ourselves. Social media first brought out a new way in how individuals showcase themselves in the online world. You can be defined by what your online identity is. In many cases, when people first meet you they probably “google” you to find out about you. Sites such as Facebook and Twitter not only have revolutionized how we view ourselves, but have moved beyond the individual movement to a more enhanced global trend.This is no longer the age of remotely “browsing” on these sites. Rather, they have become a medium to spur people to action.

I recently listened to a podcast hosted by The Nutrition Diva on podcast.com. The title of the podcast is “The Truth About Whole Grains.”  The speaker probably chose to talk about this subject in a podcast because it is easily available online for the public to listen to and her message can get around pretty fast. The Nutrition Diva hosts a series of podcasts on the subject of nutrition, mostly talking about tips of how we, the listeners, can stay healthy.

This particular podcast focused on whole grains. But, rather than educating her viewers on why it is important to be eating whole grains rather than refined grains, she argues about the whole grain myth. She basically says that whole grains are no better than white grains because they have the same calorie and sugar intake levels. I, as a biology major and a health conscientious person, do not  agree with her at all. Health is not about calorie counting or sugar levels, its about giving your body the nutrients it needs.

Podcasts remind of blogs, except they have an audio component. Like blogs, anyone can make a podcast regardless of their experience on the subject. I realize that there are a few blogs and probably podcasts too that have reliable information. This podcast was certainly not one of those from my point of view. The sad thing is that most people that are not educated in the subject matter may listen to her and think its okay to continue to think of processed diets as healthy.

I remember when I was in elementary school we had to complete all of our school work in cursive. Penmanship was actually considered a subject in which every student was graded. Writing today has certainly changed from a decade ago. Looking at current school curriculum, cursive is no longer taught at schools and penmanship is no longer emphasized because the field of writing has become digitized. We can clearly see how the use of technology is being taught earlier and earlier. In fact, I have even seen toddlers that can barely speak properly but are clicking away on their own laptops!

In an article, Writing in the Wild, Olin Bjork and John Schwartz explore how classroom dynamics and the field of writing are evolving as technology progresses. From writing in composition books to using tablets in fieldwork, technology is redefining the writing process. As the writing process is being redefined, classrooms must adopt to these changes by acquiring new technologies and experimenting with new classroom dynamics. As classrooms become more and more digitized, what becomes of field work and research? The digitization of writing not only changes the writing process, but too changes anything really associated with writing.

Yes, the use of technology does make writing and doing research a lot easier. But, the reliance on technology is leading people to lose manual skills, such as penmanship and using places such as libraries. I feel that if we completely digitize ourselves, a natural human element is lost and a robotic quality is gained.

Henry Jenkins, the Provost’s Professor of Communication, Journalism, and Cinematic Arts at USC, explores the formation of YouTube culture in his blog article, “Nine Propositions Towards a Cultural Theory of YouTube.” In his second proposition, he argues that Youtube has become a meeting point, a place where participatory cultures can come together, practice, and learn from each other. Although this article was written when YouTube was relatively new, Jenkins’ propositions are quite accurate even today. YouTube is definitely culturally collaborative.

One of the points I would like to focus on in the second proposition is the fact that YouTube users learn techniques from each other. When I first read this, my mind automatically went to what some of my friends do. In this day and age, if you don’t know how to do something, whether it be braiding hair or drawing a cartoon character, you go straight to YouTube to find a tutorial. Makeup and skincare tutorials are really common, as I have seen many of my friends flocking towards these videos. The producers of these videos have a big fan base as well. Here is a video by Makeup Geek, who is probably one of the best well known makeup tutors on YouTube. And, here is another one by Tiffany D, another well-known YouTube makeup artist.  It is really interesting to notice that although both are different makeup artists, they exhibit the same style of talking and showing products  to their viewers. And some of their viewers, such as a few of my friends, will actually go in front of a mirror or even videotape themselves mimicking the style and videos of the makeup artists. They are doing exactly what Jenkins is proposing: they watch someone on YouTube, learn his or her techniques, and make a video of their own in a similar manner. This is exactly how participatory culture evolves, where even the common user can learn and participate.

Video by Makeup Geek

Video by TiffanyD