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Examining results from several surveys, Nancy K. Baym’s chapter “Digital Media in Relational Development and Maintenance” argues that online relationships have similar potential for intimacy as offline relationships, but most often act as a supplement to offline relationships, offering additional unique, asynchronous spaces with varying levels of relational commitment. Baym concludes, however, that people who … Continue reading
In “Affordance, Conventions, and Design, Donald Norman argues that the usability of a device’s design boils down to three major concepts: the model, the constraints, and the affordances. Since the appearance of a device should provide clues for its operation, a designer’s job involves knowing how people relate to an object’s functionality. Affordances refer to … Continue reading
In “Approaching Genre” John Frow begins by conveying the implicit rules of understanding a rhetorical text: “the knowledge the reader is expected to have is intertextual: knowledge of earlier reports and earlier controversies” (7). The readers, through their common understanding of prior events, form a discourse community that both creates and decodes meaning, thereby continuously … Continue reading
My Little Pony is a series of toy ponies initially intended for girls, and first introduced in 1981. Since then, My Little Pony has grown beyond toys—it has created games, movies, even a television (TV) show. The TV show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic was created and intended for little girls, however, its fan … Continue reading
The newspaper articles about the Bronies I have come across focus either on the fact that males like My Little Pony and try to trace the origins of the “virus” or attempt to determine the outcomes the new fandom brought about in terms of gender changes. In its mini documentary about Bronies, The Guardian searches … Continue reading
Text From Dog is a Tumblr site created by October Jones offering screenshots of text message conversations between October and his dog, Dog. Topics are generally dog-related (chasing balls, postmen, etc.) and frequently involve Dog’s alter-ego Batdog. The texts use a minimal amount of chatspeak, and frequently involve swearing. The site doesn’t accept outside submissions, … Continue reading
When people think of LOLcats, they probably think of the image memes that grew out of 4chan’s Caturday tradition. LOLcats are one of the longer-lived internet memes, still going strong over 7 years after the first LOLcats were posted. Even though LOLcats peaked in 2009, it’s still widely understood that the internet is made of cats. The … Continue reading
So, we r goin 2 talk bout LOLspeak Grammar. Yez, Im bean serious, but we r going 2 talk abot dat in an academic wai. U mite ask wut iz LOLspeak. Itz teh language ov teh LOLcats, teh language dat “fuffly animas” r supposd 2 speek if they cud speek. Itz wut ur readin nao. … Continue reading
In the United States, the regulation of online privacy is complicated by the fact that Federal laws sometimes differ from state laws. Online privacy is generally seen as falling under the Fourth Amendment, or the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures. Since … Continue reading
In this article, Aimée Morrison discusses the link between “the story of the self and the broader public discourses” in personal mommy blogging, as well as aligns and diverges from Lauren Berlant’s ideas on women’s culture (37). Personal mommy blogs “operate as intimate publics” where women are involved in self-expression and community development (38). They … Continue reading
New Media Genres 