Practicum project

So this is probably the worst possible time to be freaking out about the practicum project, but I am. I don't really know how to use Flickr!! AHH! Hopefully within the next two days I can figure out how to pull a 7 page paper out of online identity on Flickr....yikes.

Community on Flickr

Flickr is a great example of a strong online community. It is a site that anyone and everyone that is interested in photography or the sharing of photos and videos can go. Users can connect with people that are interested in the same things that they are, usually photos or videos, and can support each other by communicating on the site. By commenting on others' pictures, users can gain feedback and create online relationships with other Flickr users.

Site Review-Flickr

The site review I signed up for was photo and video sharing so I created an account on a website called Flickr. It is a photo and video sharing site that is a part of Yahoo. Signing up was free and easy, all I had to do was create a Yahoo email account and I was in. My user name is kimzcmc and I had the ability to create my own profile. It reminded me of Facebook in a lot of ways. You can add a "buddy icon" which is the equivalent to your profile picture on Facebook. You can also specify whether you are male or female, and whether you are single or taken. There is also a "describe yourself" area where you can write a paragraph describing yourself however you want. You can also find contacts just like you find friends on Facebook. One of my contacts on Flickr is Kelly, so I can see his photo stream. There is also the option of commenting on others' photos and I commented on a photo of Kelly and I that he has on his photo stream.

When it came to actually sharing photos, you can upload photos from your own personal camera or, like I did, you can use pictures that are already online like off of Facebook. I only have three pictures on my photo stream, but that's because I was having a hard time uploading from my camera and then we did our site review presentation last week so I haven't really been on it a lot.

However, I did find several cool features in the time that I was on the site. There is the option of editing the photos from your photostream and to do that you can use the Picnik application. Using this application, there are literally tons of ways to edit and change your photos. You can change the color and tint, you can distort the image, add text or even snow or rain to your photos. Some of the features on Picnik were free, while others required that you purchase them.

You can also search for things that you are interested in, and chances are there are groups with hundreds if not thousands of photos for you to check out. For instance, I clicked on the beaches group and up popped hundreds of pictures of different beaches that Flickr users had uploaded. I think this site is cool because it is an outlet for professional photographers as well as the everyday camerman who just snaps random pictures.

online identity

I logged onto Facebook to compare one of my friend's online identity to her offline identity. From what I could see, she represented herself accurately on Facebook. The activities and interests posted on her profile matched up with what she does on a regular basis offline. She is in a sorority and she has that on her profile as well. Basically, if you were trying to get to know my friend based only off of what she has on her Facebook profile, you would get a pretty good idea of who she is.

Another example in the difference between online and offline identity would be an acquaintance of mine from high school who I am friends with on Facebook. We really don't know each other very well and rarely talked in high school, but every time we are on Facebook chat at the same time he'll try to start a conversation with me. I think it shows that a lot of times people have more confidence communicating over the internet than they do in face to face communication.

Similarities in PC stories

After reading a couple of people's personal computer stories, I found that most people our age started using computers in elementary school. Most had computer class through high school, but then began to use computers for communication: instant messaging, email. Now we all use the computer on a daily basis, mostly for access to the internet.

Personal Computer story

My first experience using a computer was back in elementary school. We had computer class once or twice a week in which we would practice typing and play games, educational or just for fun. I remember using the typing program Mavis Beacon and it was sort of a class contest to see who could get the highest words per minute. The first game I remember playing on the computer was Oregon Trail and I loved it. The first time I used a personal computer at home on a regular basis was in middle school. We had a computer at our house and I would use it first for instant messaging, and then as I got older I used it for email, school work etc. I did not become a big internet user until well into high school and now I’m on the internet quite a bit every day.