Conceptual Research & Reflection Project

Concept #2 : Your audience's use of communication

"Informational exchange consists in the content of messages but also the uses (intended or unintended) to which information is put.”

Messages are continually passed from sender to recipient on the internet through various forms of outlets for personal and business related matters. Outlets commonly used for personal reasons would be email, networking sites (Myspace, facebook, Bebo, Orkut), blog pages (blogspot), instant messaging applications (msn, Mirc) and now businesses are not only using their websites as a way to attract consumers they are also using more web based tools which initially would have been used for personal use such as those mentioned above.

Email marketing is used to reach a businesses target audience. Businesses would research their target audience in order to tailor each email to make it more effective. Effective meaning the recipient of the email will do what the email was intended whether this would be to sign up for a promotional mail out, go to an event or buy a product etc. Therefore to get their audience to use the email they could cater their message to better suit their audience such as the language it was written in (targeting different nationalities), add cartoons or pictures (engage) and adding links to make the email interactive and easy to follow.

Websites are a useful resource for audiences to collect information but how to get the audiences there? Landing pages were developed for this reason so the designers would need to anticipate what content will cause the greatest effect by showcasing a little of what they offer or creating one to just stand out, all constructed with the audiences use in mind which in this case would be to immediately look at the website.

In this unit I have experienced very straight forward emails such as "Add my blog", "Here's my msn address- add me!" These statements say to me exactly why the email was created and what they want me to do with it. Other messages sent not only on the email but throughout many outlets on the internet are not as straight forward. Signing a petition for a cause for example, the cause will be the main focus and message to put across however as it is supported by a company you are not only signing the petition and sending it to a friend but you are making their brand name more known which could in turn build a larger customer base and increase profits.

When trying to convey information effectively you need to think of who your audience is, what your audience will do with your information and how to best put that in your message. The message will contain the key information with added prompts on how they should use your message whether it be to file it away for future references (new store opening could go there later), creating urgency for them to respond immediately (promotional sale) or allowing them to respond in a certain period (a competition).

Site one: Mission Australia and Bayer's transform the homeless campaign / ABS, ‘Counting the Homeless’, 2006.

An email marketing campaign to transform the lives of the homeless was sent to me recently prompting me to support their cause. You would add your name and make a butterfly to place over a map of Sydney which would represent you as a supporter of the campaign. In partnership with Missions Australia the major sponsor for this was by Bayer. They constructed a site dedicated to obtaining a target of 60,000 butterflies because once the 60,000 was reached Bayer would donate $60, 000. Bayer could have donated the money without creating the campaign however the unintended message behind the campaign was that Bayer is a good and reputable company and next time I want to purchase something and the option was there for me to choose a Bayer product.

Site two: Global Village Sydney (Universal English College) / Global Village Universal English College, 2008

The above website is a website about an English college in Sydney. It informs the viewer about the college, the location, programs and courses they offer, who works there and happy alumni students. A college's website like this one is designed to inform and attract students to study with them. The messages which tell me that it was designed for this reason are the layout of the site and how it was arranged. Your eyes begin with an introduction to the left of the page, then with the information about the college (courses, programs price) followed by the enroll section like it is the end of the process for you on the site and prompting you to enroll.

Concept #5 : The mobility of electronic digital data

"Advanced Internet communicators always think about the ways in which their own exploitation of the technical ease of mobile data can impact on other Internet users, seeking to ensure that technical possibility is not simply substituted for effective communication requirements."

Conversational communication on the Internet can be as fast as chatting face to face and so can other ways of communicating such as the ease of transferring electronic digital data from one communicator to the other over email, websites and networking sites. The mobility of electronic digital data has simplified many of our actions thus making transferring data quick and popular to do.

Email (for some people) can be the main communicative way of interacting whether it is for personal or business reasons for the simple ease of everyday use. In addition to the points already noted on the concepts page, certain technical possibilities make replicating and sharing information easy which can be productive however this ease of mobility can also cause problems which can make situations less productive. Examples of this are carbon copying too many recipients in an email (causing confusion to those it wasn't directed to and further discussion), sending a reply with a comment which was meant to be forwarded to another recipient, replying to all (copying in someone you didn't want to) – the technically possibilities which make email so mobile have caused more work and complications for both the sender and receiver. With the reliance of sending emails and use of communicating via electronic devices this would to some extent impact on the way colleagues and/or friends speak with each other for instance becoming less confident in speaking or body language less friendly including no eye contact.

An easy way for friends to catch up using the Internet is on the many social networking sites that have begun to pop up of the last couple of years. Sharing and transferring data has been made easy with the combined options of real-time chat, posting and forwarding pages and the instant update broadcasts. Other websites used as libraries make the process of finding information quick and easy, with more variety. Sites such as Bloglines, Flickr and youtube are all used as a library to share information to search for data. Bloglines allows their subscribers to follow different bloggers listed on their site. Members receive new post updates and summaries of the posts you have selected to follow. Instead of you searching for each post in a different web window it is all arranged for you on one site allowing data to be transformed more easily and quickly. Flickr is a large online photo gallery and youtube is a place to put up videos both allowing users easy access, the ability to share electronic data and also transfer data and URL's through other sites such as My space and facebook.

Site one: Facebook used to find defendants in Australian court case / AFP, 2009

The Internet has opened up new ways of finding information with such ease and accuracy. In this case a judge ruled that it was OK to serve documents to a couple on facebook as they have been un-contactable at their last known address or other contact details. This case is useful to me in writing about this concept as it expresses how the mobility of data has not only given the AFP an easier and faster way of contacting the defendants but explores how the Internet is evolving and changing our uses of electronic digital data.

Site two: Flickr / Yahoo!7 Pty Limited, 2009

There is said to be millions of subscribers to Flickr and the link above takes you to the sharing page to the online photo gallery- Flickr. This is one of the sites I mentioned above which allows people from all around the world (with access to the internet) the ability to share and exchange information with the ease of one website. The photos can be downloaded and then passed onto others not known to Flickr through other electronic devices like email.

Concept #7 : Netiquette

"Good communication practice on the Internet is not something one 'learns' but something one 'practices' so as to teach others, less familiar than yourself, how it is done."

Netiquette is the combination of two words Internet and etiquette although some say network and etiquette either way it means "the set of rules about behaviour that is acceptable when writing an email or talking to people in a chat room" (The Cambridge online dictionary; Cambridge Unity Press, 2009) I would add to that by saying netiquette is for most interaction over the Internet not just email or chat rooms.

Many have written a broad introduction or tried to write a set of rules to netiquette however as everyone has their own opinion of what is socially acceptable, netiquette would be more of a guide than a set of rules. I would expect most people to be already practicing netiquette without even knowing it such as greetings and goodbyes, polite conversation, not being rude or discriminative, writing information about someone or copying information written by someone else with their OK to do so, essentially the basics to etiquette. Other aspects more defined to the Internet would be using lower case letters (not capitols as it looks like your YELLING at them), don't forward spam, don't change text if forwarding an email and as it is hard to put feeling to paper try not using sarcasm unless stating it in brackets.

Most conversational communication requires netiquette and as I said previously most of it would only come naturally as we are already familiar with etiquette however would other forms of online communication also need etiquette such as websites and other web based promotions? Maybe in this instance watching ones behaviour is called having a code of ethics not necessarily a set of rules. Rules such as capitalization wouldn't really be applicable in this case as they would grab someone's attention which is what they want to be able to promote. To me it is easier to think of netiquette when opinions and feelings are being expressed so if we are using a website as an example the blogging section would need netiquette.

It is true that some people are more sensitive than others so it can be quite hard to know if they will get your 'drift' if you are making a joke or for those that have been using the Internet for a longer time understand your Internet abbreviations such as LOL (laugh out loud). I found when using the discussions page on the Curtin site I was double checking and rewriting my threads and messages so as to not offend anyone. I don't have a crude mouth or bad taste in jokes by any means however in these circumstances (open forums) it is sensible to be considerate of others.

Site one: Netiquette Guidelines by Sally Hambridge / Hambridge. S, Netiquette guidelines, 1995

From researching different writings of netiquette on the Internet I came across Sally Hambridge's document many times, even on Curtin University's website which shows me that it is recognised as quality writing and a good place to start. Guidelines such as this are definitely great for introducing people to netiquette or for more advanced users of the Internet to brush up on the netiquette skills however I feel it is only part of the process as you will learn more being interactive with others on the Internet and email, your actions are an example for others to follow and vice versa.

Site two: Getting fired because of a joke email/ Chilling in DFW, Yahoo! Inc. 2009

I came across this discussion when looking at the consequences of not following Netiquette. The different views and opinions of the people in the discussion reinforce to me that everyone has a different view of what is right and what is wrong. Some believe it was OK to send that email as everyone else was doing it so they shouldn't have been singled out and fired however others think they shouldn't have done it in the first place and deserve to be fired. This situation reinforces that because opinions can differ dramatically and you are unclear of what behaviour is right and wrong than you should just treat others as you would want to be treated.

Concept #17 : The impact of text-based real-time chat

"Communicating in real-time with text enables a form of 'authoring of the self' that is similar to the processes of face to face speech but which is much more amendable to authorial control, experimentation and reflection. Further, text-based communication carries with it the possibility for multiple, differing conversations occurring simultaneously, relying on the ability of the human brain to deal with text much better than speech."

What makes it popular? A user can follow what is said easier and you can go back and re-read if you have forgotten something. It gives you the ability to reply with a more thoughtful answer than if you were speaking face to face and adding more quality to it in the form of URL's and pictures.

I have touched on this in an earlier concept however with a lot of written communication you would think to some extent that it would impact one's ability to communicate verbally as there is less time to think of a reply, no ability to re-read what was said and more time to think about everything else that is going on around you so for some this would be a more intensive situation. People that have a problem with social interaction such as those that suffer from social phobia (The Social Phobia/Social Anxiety Association, 2009) would probably feel better speaking and expressing themselves online as they are able to focus only on the conversation taking place. This is an advantage and a positive impact to being able to "prepare a reply thoughtfully" for both the sender and recipient however it seems another impact of social interaction is bullying unfortunately it also works the other way as the bullies have more time to think of a response and the ability to have numerous people chatting to one person at the same time.

Technology here has allowed real-time text based chat to replicate face to face communication. Unlike face to face communication we are able to look at facial expressions for additional meaning however with only text to read and interpret it can be hard to tell what the sender/author means.

Text-based chat has also introduced new text based abbreviations commonly used on chatting, informal emails and phone messaging. As most text-based conversation is rapid we allow ourselves to use the shortest possible amount of words and letters to make a word. They would include: U (you), L8 (late), 2 (to, too), QT (cutie) and common phrases like LOL (laugh out loud), TTYL (talk to you later), hehehe (laughing), J L (smiley faces) allowed more emotion to be expressed.

In this unit I was thinking about the introductions we each wrote when we first started in a threat and then again on each of our blog sites. An aspect to text based chat is it truth that we are told and say to others- how real is the person you are talking to? Are they really who they say they are? Fair enough if you know the person however meeting people online can create alter egos to make them feel more comfortable and confident about who they are and that's what the Internet can promote- anonymity.

Site one: facebook / facebook, 2009

When facebook recently updated their system they added a new application to include test-based real-time chat with everyone on your friends list. Initially facebook only had areas to communicate in asynchronous ways like posts on pages which everyone can see or a more personal approach of sending a private message (like you would as an email). To me when I hear something was upgraded I think it is better, more advanced so to me, facebook has proved the popularity of real-time based chat and is a preferred way of communicating.

Site two: Bullying Online/ The Australian, News Limited, 2009

In a more negative light to text-based chat the above site introduces and reports on bullying on the Internet in 1997. It allowed me to understand one of the negative effects to communicating real-time through text and explains that 13 year old girls is the likely age to be bullied online. Unfortunately as bullies are in the safety of their own home it gives them move of a platform to push their bully persona and their tactics onto their victims. As this report was written in 1997 I was curious to know if it had increased and I didn’t find any solid statistics however there are many sites created and dedicated to bullying online which to reflects that it is still an ongoing issue. Sites such as bullying , reach out and Be Safe Online.