I found the week 8 reading one of the most useful in terms of ‘finding my community’. Becoming a part of something online sounds super easy, however until you actually attempt it you realise how difficult it can be. Oatway highlights the best road to take when it comes to trying to engage in an online community, he refers to it as The Big Five. In brief, he discusses bloggers which is an identity we are all building on within this course. He also mentions the use of professional social media groups, and what makes them gain maximum followers. You’ll notice online groups that are open to the public receive the most attention, for obvious reasons. Of course the more keen bloggers will find interest in private communities, which Oatway encourages readers to try and join.

Oatway believes the best way to interact with a community is to of course, follow them first, but also keep track of what is posted. When comfortable begin commenting and replying to others with the community and hopefully you’ll soon “begin to find your place”.

Oatway, Jay, Apr 26, 2012, Mastering Story, Community and Influence : How to Use Social Media to Become a Socialeader Wiley, Hoboken. 97-109. ISBN: 9781119943457.

If I had to define an online community Cowbird would have to be my first example. With over 87,000 stories and 73,000 authors, anyone can read and contribute to all the online content. Of course you’re encouraged to create an account or ‘become a citizen’, however visitors are more than welcome.

What I like the most about this rather large online community is the ability to search a keyword and 9 times out of 10 get results . The layout of their website is also very easy to navigate and explore which makes it far more appealing.

I feel as though Facebook works as my own personal community, where I can choose whom I wish to share my stories with. Not only can I write freely to my ‘friends’ but the addition of Facebook Groups allows you to get closer to a certain collection of people. For example, I am involved in multiple ‘groups’ including, RMIT Media, Dingley Dingoes Netball etc. Within these groups I have the ability to share specific information with the people who have the same interests as me.

Comments can be made and before you know it interaction occurs and a community is created.

A loved hobby of mine is photography, something I considered as a career path however decided I’d just keep it as a side passion. I get asked occasionally to photograph people, and last weekend I was happy to work for one of my favourite little families. Chris and Rick required family photos of their nearly one year girl Eliza. Pretty perfect looking family right there 😉

What it means: How the globe has been contracted into a village by electric technology and the instantaneous movement of information from every quarter to every point at the same time. It describes one world interconnected by an electronic nervous system, making it a part of popular culture.

Marshall McLuhan predicted the global village before it actually happened. Marshall McLuhan was the first person to popularise the concept of a global village and to consider its social effects. His insights were revolutionary at the time, and fundamentally changed how everyone has thought about media, technology, and communications ever since.

Facebook could be considered a ‘village,’ they have record of every action you have involved yourself in on Facebook. They now bring up ‘memories’ which remind you of something you posted on that day years ago. Anything you upload, comment on or post is recorded and becomes part of your ‘community’.

The use of hashtags also demonstrate this by bringing all of something similar to the same page or place. For example, you can search a hashtag and suddenly have access to posts regarding that topic. Not to mention the large interaction across the WWW, on site can link and share to another etc.

Reflection:

Networked Media has provided me the opportunity to creatively express my thoughts and opinions online. Having completed Media and Communications 1 & 2, I already had a media factory blog set up. This made things a lot easier for me in terms of understanding how to personalise pages. In saying that, I was still required to make some changes to my Blog. What I’ve come to understand so far is that no matter what my thoughts are, I’m allowed to document them on my blog however I like. After an unusual ride on the train one morning, I blogged about the lack of communication there is on public transport these days. And how it almost seems frowned upon to start conversation with a fellow commuter. I also wrote a post about how much I dislike using the library.

However, aside from all the random posts there were some where I attempted to  engage with the course content, whether it was inspired from the lecture or within tutorials. I found my post regarding ‘what makes a blog engaging’ rather ironic. As I was literally typing the words, I was wondering if the blog itself would be engaging to readers, quite a mind twist. Within this blog I referred to two other sites where I explored the one I liked and why, and then the one I disliked and why. I think comparison is the best way to really discover personal preference, especially if you can articulate why or why not a certain element interested or attracted you. In addition to this I also looked into creative commons and learnt a lot about copyright. I never knew there were so many different rules and licences, companies and even individual artists need to obtain.

It was important for us as students to individualise our blogs, this included posting audio, images or video that highlighted the kind of person we were. Anything remotely personal that told our audience something about us. Whilst doing this, we were able to experiment with our technical skills i.e. embedding media into posts. I often found myself inserting images to add visuals to some of my blogs. I also embedded one of my youtube videos into a post, which really wasn’t as difficult as I thought.

Other technical skills included creating widgets, categories, pages etc. I have multiple categories down the side of my page which help navigate readers. I specially have a Networked Media page which takes viewers straight to my posts regarding this subject. Throughout the semester so far, I’ve found the technical side of my blog fairly manageable, however I often struggle to come up with a concept to blog about. I look forward to reading the Networked Media Blog every week as it gives me ideas for my own writing. The freedom of speech is the most exciting element about blogging on your own page, I just wish I had more to say.

Bibliography:

• Learn about CC. (2010). Creative Commons Australia. Retrieved 7 April 2016, from http://creativecommons.org.au/learn/
• Kelley, M. (2016). Engaging Blogs. prezi.com. Retrieved 7 April 2016, from https://prezi.com/bsh6dof2wg-0/engaging-blogs/
• Twelve Blue: Michael Joyce. (2016). Eastgate.com. Retrieved 7 April 2016, from http://www.eastgate.com/TwelveBlue/Twelve_Blue.html

Following on from my earlier post regarding IVF treatment and women wanting babies later, lets discuss single mums.

Now I hate the fact that there’s always a stigma surrounding the phrase “single mum”. There is absolutely nothing wrong or embarrassing about being an independent parent. I’m not going to look into the daddies leaving, no, I want to look at all these woman who are choosing sperm donation as a parenting option. As I said earlier, these days many woman are career driven therefore either don’t have time for love, or are simply not looking for love. Eventually one day when they have reached success in their field of work they begin looking for love in their life. This doesn’t mean a man (or woman) for some ladies. A lot of mature aged woman just want a baby. No daddy. Luckily for these kinds of women there are options, sperm donors being one. In addition to this, you can even freeze your eggs, so that they stay fertile whilst you don’t.

I can see the pros and cons of this kind of conception. On the one hand, I’m so glad woman have the opportunity to have their own child whenever they like. On the other, I find it extremely unfair to raise a child knowing they may never meet their father. I couldn’t live with something like that over my conscious.

This article posted by the ABC discusses the downside of sperm donation in depth.

Learn more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-07/dingle-the-reality-of-sperm-donors-is-hitting-home/7006906

Like most people, I find the concept of life absolutely fascinating. The miracle of birth stuns me, however the way science can impact this so called ‘miracle’ stuns me even more. I have a very high interest in conception, pregnancy and birth. I myself have certainly never had a child, however when I know someone is expecting, I’m all about the questions. I’ve found myself most interested in IVF lately, as my family friend just gave birth to a beautiful baby boy thanks to their help.

I found an article from the US which includes research by the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART). It shows that more Americans than ever are choosing to have children via IVF as opposed to traditional pregnancy. According to the latest data, a record 165,172 IVF procedures took place in the U.S. in 2012, more than one-third of which resulted in successful births. Now of course, the success rate varies usually based on the woman’s age. It’s no surprise to look at the figures, we know a lot of woman are choosing to have babies later in life. Many woman are career driven in this modern age, as opposed to decades ago where is was ‘normal’ for women to stay at home and have babies from the age of 20.

Despite this data being collected from the US I’m certain Australia are following a very similar trend. With all the constant technology improvements, and extended life expectancies, let’s not be surprised to see the number of IVF success stories sore in a few more years.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/044012_test-tube_babies_in_vitro_fertilization_pregnancy.html#ixzz456JUnmSL