I think the idea of the Joga Bonito Nike campaign is really interesting. My dad and brother are big into soccer, both playing and watching, so I hear a lot about their frustrations with players “flopping” and playing unfairly. It would be cool if this idea, a simple phrase, ultimately led to changing the game for the better. It’s awesome that the internet and all of the soccer communities helped the campaign reach across the globe.
GregoryHouse is an insane medical genius with more inner demons of his own than anyone could possibly realize. Does this assist or hinder him with his diagnostic work? Will he ever truly find happiness? Is his apparent disconnect with any form of emotion a front? These are all typical questions that are discussed on forums devoted to the hit FOX series, House M.D. Because of the complex plot and its popularity, a multitude of communities are continuously taking root online. Specific character analyses are discussed in great detail, the thought process of the writers is taken into account as characters come and go, and individual opinions are readily debated. This being said, social networking enriches the ability of House fanatics around the globe to interact and feel as though they belong to a group of individuals who possess the same love of the show. Members utilize these forums to discuss in depth their particular feelings towards the medical drama on various levels.
In the virtual bubble of the internet, voices find a forum where their opinions can be heard and valued. Entries submitted are judged based off the words on the page, the content and the intelligence behind the ideas, rather than unfair disqualifiers based upon bias, such as appearances. Because discrimination is considerably less present within the online House communities than in reality, a welcoming environment is established and members are eager to feast their eyes and ears on new viewpoints. Of course, with these viewpoints comes disagreement, but just as disagreement aids in the diagnosis of the team’s patients, it also helps to form strong bonds amongst strangers. When a patient appears with an unexplained illness at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, a rush of ideas flood the white board in an attempt to produce an effective treatment. A plentiful amount of hypotheses are shot down left and right, but this simply assists in arriving at a final diagnosis. Debate within the forum conversations, although not vital in saving a life, provides the members with an insight on viewpoints other than their own. This maintains open-mindedness within the group and establishes a connection between participants.
Many of these different viewpoints come into play through the discussion of relationships. In particular House and Cuddy have an undoubtedly complicated relationship full of ups and downs. With such dysfunction and surprising twists and turns within the plot, exciting conversation abounds online. Members discuss personal opinions regarding the relationships, encountering commonality and disagreement. Content of opinions aside, the universal concern for what will occur next allows for forum members to form a bond with each other—likely a more stable bond than House and Cuddy possess. Touching on the love life of Dr. House and Cuddy, one active member wrote, “I want them to work. I really do. So they can have all the drama they want as long as they work it out in the end. That’s all I need” (four20, 2010). Countless others replied in agreement. Some however, expressed that the strained relationship needed to end in order to provide the show with a new energy. These characters become real in the minds of die-hard fans and the forum message boards provide an equally obsessive community for each member to feel at ease discussing intricate details of the medical drama.
Dr. House, although a critical component to the series, is not the only topic frequently examined. New characters are also a major component of the discussion boards. Season eight marked a considerable cast transformation, ridding the show of a few long-included characters and hiring younger replacements. Needless to say, an alteration this extensive did not occur without its fair share of controversy. As the first episode of season eight premiered, people swarmed the message boards to express their love and disgust of the newest addition, Dr. Chi Park. One elated fan exclaimed “Wow, what a perfect character! Oh my gosh, she’s passive-aggressive! So she is basically unphased by House’s cutting remarks” (Patty, 2011). Obviously this was not everyone’s take on the matter, for a disgruntled fan argued, “I fell asleep watching this one. If this is indicative of what’s in store for Season 8 then I don’t think there’ll be a season 9. How anyone can like Dr. Park is beyond me” (Majestyk, 2011). Even though there is obvious opposition, everyone is respectful of one another, recognizing that everyone’s opinion is valid. This level of courtesy allows the individual viewpoint to be maintained, for disagreement does not necessarily mean judgment, although House might argue that claim.
Argument is a regular occurrence for Dr. House, for he and Wilson are constantly engaged in altercations about anything and everything, but somehow maintain a mutual respect for one another. This goes for the online communities as well. Debates allow members to ally themselves with others of like opinion, but also encourage participants to consider new perspectives. The diversity of members’ backgrounds results in a vast array of opinions. The vast array of opinions sparks debate. The debate leads to a deeper understanding of the show, which ultimately creates a sense of community for those involved.
Just my observations, until next time!
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First of all, what a great show! Good choice. I thought it was really interesting that a lot of the online conversation entailed elements of the actual science within the show, rather than the plot itself. When comparing the House M.D. forums and the Big Bang Theory forums, there are definitely similarities!
I like that you took a different approach to your presentation! Instead of just listing off things you noticed within the community you taught us what actually made it a community. It’s interesting that somebody decided that there is specific criteria to qualify as a community. Nice video at the end too!
Storify Presentation-DIS Boards
I thought it was extremely interesting that people connected online and organized extravagant cruise events such as delivering gifts to each other on specific days! It’s a really fun idea, although it would be a little weird to be receiving gifts from a stranger. I also thought it was kind of funny that people who have never been on a cruise and don’t plan it were participating in the message boards simply for a community aspect in their life! How did you decide on this particular topic?
“Blogging created an ecosystem where people became known for their blog identities.”
-dana boyd
This quote from dana boyd’s article, “A customer Service Nightmare: Resolving Trademark and Personal Reputation in a Limited Name Space”, stuck out to me. Many people utilize pseudonyms online to maintain anonymity and to be unique. Since two people are not allowed to identify with the same username within a website, each user establishes their individuality partially with just the pseudonym. It is easier for me to remember a made up word, such as dana boyd’s “zephoria” username, than it is to remember her actual name. Using these fake names allows the particular user to potentially gain popularity faster. She claims that she “inadvertently built a reputation linked to zephoria”, but that she’s not always allowed to identify with that name because of a cluster of messy rules regarding domain names. Monitoring usernames on such a large scale is definitely a tricky task to accomplish, but hopefully they figure out a new tactic to sort through the mess. Possibly utilizing the list of strategies provided by boyd?
What I also found interesting about this article was the mix of informal and formal speak. Each time she inserted the word “cuz” I was caught off guard, for it seemed out of place in the context of the article. I’m sure that there is a reason for such informal phrases to be included within the article, but for now, I’m not quite sure what that reason is.
Eli Pariser’s TED talk made me realize a lot about how the internet is editing the information we receive via search engines and social networking. I always knew that Facebook catered to people’s individual interests by editing the newsfeed and ads along the sidebar, but the google search on Egypt that Pariser talked about was particularly surprising. It is insane that one person can search “Egypt” and obtain websites that simply provide basic information about the country, while another person of similar background will receive information regarding the politics and major events of the regions.
With this “filter bubble”, discovering new information will become an increasingly difficult task. Because information that each user receives is geared towards their previous searches and online activity, what happens if he/she wants to break the mold and find sources that talk about something unrelated to anything previously explored? Of course, there has to be some way of filtering data, for there is a ridiculous amount, but as Pariser said, there should be a mix of what shows up with searches. We need to see a bit of everything, including potentially uncomfortable/disturbing topics, to know what is occurring in the world and truly connect online.
(Source: ted.com)
Etsy is such an awesome idea! I had never heard about it before your presentation. I think it’s interesting that the site integrates forum communication and a shopping experience for it’s users. Also, your artwork is phenomenal! When did you start using this site?
I had never heard of sabermetrics before you talked about it. I think it’s really interesting that new statistics are constantly being created, for I usually think of stats as something that is set in stone rather than a changing science. The video was pretty funny as well!
I think it’s really cool that a cappella music is becoming more popular because of TV shows like this! Also, the fact that the groups on the show communicate with their fans via Twitter is interesting. It definitely allows for a more direct relationship with the fans, and maybe even gets the individual groups more votes if they use the resource well. The performances were awesome! I’ll for sure be watching more of them.
