Video Blogs

Here I just want to comment on two interesting videos that I found on web.

The first one called the "facebook song" is from Alison Jutzi’s blog. I found the words of the song quite funny, but at the same time it focused on the issues of privacy and how real friendships through social networking sites could be. Although it does not depict my point of view about facebook as I am really sympathetic about it, I have found this video a lot of fun and would like to share it with you. Here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWe-ZpEP58Y&eurl=http://alisonjutzi.blogspot.com/2008/10/could-american-politics-be-sexier.html

Another video that I would like to comment on I found on technorati.com where a young teenager is trying to explain what makes a blog really popular. He definitely tried to be funny and I think he succeeded in several cases, but overall some of his jokes seemed controversial, especially in the part where he said that to have a good blog you have to be a girl. Also, it looked to me that the video was a little bit too long. But as to editing the video clip I think he did a great job. Here is the link to check it out http://technorati.com/videos/youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Ds0uMCMZ8GUs

I wrote earlier in my expectations that I was looking forward to the part on video editing and videoblogging. I really think it was fun and I loved doing it. I am also excited to have my own blog and I think I will continue blogging and posting videos in the future. It is a great way to express yourself and communicate with others. I am happy that I took this class. It helped to learn what is new in this field and how I can use all these new technologies to make my voice hear. So, thanks a lot!

From the comments of other class participants I also felt that most of them are not that much excited about the idea of trying out second life. Some suggest it is a good cause to start a sociological research, others just wonder why should they do things in second life and not in real life. But the angle I also liked to look at things was Shannon’s proposal that from educational point of view it might be quite useful for a child. I just imagined for kids second life could be useful to see the international environment and especially, if English is not a native language for them, it gives a good opportunity to practice. So, I might share the site with my thirteen year old nephew who is studying English

As for social networking sites I have used facebook, orkut and linkedin. I am more active on facebook. First, I used orkut, but then I realized that facebook was much easier and almost all of my friends were registered on it. I really don’t know why other social networking sites are not so widespread. I just remember that when I used to tell my friends register in orkut they seemed reluctant, but all of them are very happy to be on facebook. I guess the navigation is much easier on this site and the community is bigger. I still keep my Linkedin account as I understand it is a professional network and I might need it one day, but I feel I have not explored it that much.

I heard about the Second life from the class for the first time and it was quite interesting to check what it actually was. I was amazed at the idea of creating a virtual world, a second world where people can create their own environment, their businesses and really lead a second life. However, after trying it out I decided that although the idea is great, it is not really for me. Unfortunately, it is not something that I would practice maybe because I am not excited about the thought to have a second life. I guess I did not quite like the idea of anonymity and the fact that you are communicating with strangers in the community.

video blogs

here are video blog addresses that I found interesting and would like to share
http://www.stanford.edu/group/ccr/blog/2008/10/the_cultural_of_american_polit.html
http://vodpod.com/politics/watch/1150683-video-brokaw-a-new-era-in-american-politics
http://alisonjutzi.blogspot.com/2008/10/could-american-politics-be-sexier.html
http://googlevideo.blogspot.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/videoblogging/summary
http://www.vblogsecrets.com/
http://ryanedit.blogspot.com/
http://hotair.com/
http://crooksandliars.com/
http://www.freevlog.org/

As an educational video I decided to show the choir singing a Georgian song at International House. With one shot I tried to show the environment and process of learning a song on a foreign language for students from different countries.