Progress

I'm currently working on the "gameworld" and "forum" sections of the site, trying to make them interactive.

Actionscript is taking up waaaaayyyy too much of my time.

I wanted to have heaps of areas that you could go these highly interactive places (chatrooms, social sites, microblogging sites, image boards etc), and you would be able do whatever you usually do these sites (chat with people, make posts etc) and possbily get trolled in the process.

But by the looks of it, definitly I wont have enough time (busy with two other assignments as well). So I'll probably have to cut it down to two or three three sections/pages. Which isn't very much, but hopefully the interactivity would make up for it. Hey, what can I do about it?

Its not that I lack the skills. All of this I can do, its just that I don't have the time.

More abstract pics

Pictures from World of Goo. I thought it was interesting how they portrayed the internet. Might be a source of inspiration later on when I'm making the background.

Response to comments

How do distinguish a between a troll and a legitimate member?
You can't, and that's the point. Trolls look like regular users and unless you get "attacked", by one you won't know.
It's meant to make the point that identity manipulation/hiding is so easy on the internet. Even if a troll is exposed, the troll could easily slip away and make a new identity.


Am I good with Actionscript?
Most of the scripting will be done in Actionscript 2.0, which I am... "ok" with. It's just that I tend to forget the syntax after a while.

All of the stuff I've mentioned I know is possible for me to do.
Stuff popping up randomly or clicking on stuff to increase your "score", is basically all that is happening on the site, and I know how to do that.

It's just a matter of if I have enough time to do all the stuff I want.

Actionscript test

http://www.swfme.com/view/1196972

Just testing some randomness in Flash.

Press the yellow button and 0-3 avatars will show up.

The point of this is to try and make the webpages feel more dynamic, by having a different number of avatars show up each time it is loaded.

Site influence?

Note: It would be better to read the previous blog first.

A possible inspiration for my site/concept is Forumwarz. Forumwarz is a browser based game where you take on the role of an Internet Troll and your aim is to be as obnoxious as possible.

Wikipedia link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forumwarz

I've only played this briefly for about 5-10mins but here's what I can recall.

The first task required you to troll an internet forum. Now, this internet forum was a fake, designed to simulate a real internet forum. Whenever you posted a troll message, fake participants would respond etc.
Various aspects of the internet within the game are simulated. There was even a fake "google" page, designed to look like the real thing, but it was in the game.

So how did this influence my concept?
Well, like Forumwarz, my site is an abstract representation of the internet. People (who aren't real) are represented as avatars and you can interact with them. It simulates the workings of the internet.

Also, the subject matter is Internet Trolls. However, unlike my concept, Forumwarz forces you to be the troll, rather than the other way around. But if I manage to get enough time I might also make it so that you can also browse the site from the perspective of a troll.


An idea:

Forumwarz is a game. You have a goal. But currently with my website, there isn't really a point browsing it.
So I was thinking of maybe incorporating an optional goal to engage the user a bit more.

There would be a "happiness bar" displayed near your avatar. Though optional, your 'goal' would be to fill up this meter.
As you visit various parts of the site and/or interact with other avatars, this meter will fill up. However, everytime you get attacked by a troll (or if you interact with a troll in disguise), a massive chunk would be taken out of your happiness.

Or if the user decides to browse the website from the perspective of a troll, he/she would then have to troll other avatars in order to gain happiness, and would have to constantly switch personas' to avoid be found.

It would interacting with avatars more meaningful.

Just a thought...

Project Concept

My concept deals with identity on the internet and how anonymity (lack of identity) on the internet can lead to internet trolls.

Why do internet trolls troll? It’s because they can get away with it. They can be anonymous, and the internet is prefect for masking one's true identity.
Sure, there are things like social networking sites, personalized pages and avatars to help you establish an online identity, but unlike reality, having an identity is not compulsory. You can just remain anonymous and not create online identity at all,

You are not stuck with a single identity either. You can establish many different identities online, and switch personas whenever you feel like it. You can establish an identity how you see fit. But when one has multiple personas, can they truly be called identities?
An identity is “the state or fact of remaining the same one”. But since you have more than one identity, how does one identify who you truly are? They can’t. Really, having multiple identities equals having no identity.

The ease of manipulating identities’ online and anonymous nature of the internet are things a troll can take advantage of. The point of this website is to show people that, and perhaps evoke a reaction to internet trolls.



The basic concept of the site is this:

The site is like an abstract representation of the internet. The user can navigate through the site by clicking on various objects on the screen. As the user goes through the site, he/she will see abstract icons (or avatars) floating around. These are abstract representations of other people browsing the “web”. The user will be able to interact with the avatars by clicking on them.

However, as the user moves around the site, there is a chance where they might get "attacked" by an internet troll (image of a troll would pop up in your face along with some obnoxious sounds). The trolls take on the appearance of an normal avatar and hide amongst the sea of anonymous avatars, so users will not know who is a troll and who isn't, making the point that how internet identity can successfully mask one's true identity.

It might not seem like a big deal the first time it happens. But as the user progresses though the site, more and more trolls will pop up to the point where it is too obnoxious to continue browsing the site.

Most of this will be done in Flash using Actionscript.

Mockup;

This is how a typical page of the site would look like. As stated before, it will be very abstract. The object on the left is an abstract representation of a game world while the object on the right is a representation of a forum. Basically, place on the internet where you can find trolls. These can be clicked on and will lead to other pages of the site.

The top bar displays your avatar that you have chosen as you enter the website. It is meant to make the user feel that it is the avatar exploring the site, and remind them that it is your online identity that other people see, and not your real identity.

A possible interaction with avatars; you can try to discover someone's identity by rolling over and clicking on them:

http://www.swfme.com/view/1115512

A mockup done in Flash to showing the floating avatars would look like. Note that the movement of the avatars will be much more meaningful (floating around points of interest) rather than just randomly scrolling across the screen as shown here:

http://www.swfme.com/view/1288122

Other sketches;

As the user goes deeper into the site, more avatars will be present, and so will the amount of trolls.
Also, just like the internet, the site isn't really structured. The user can go anywhere he/she wants.

Note that on the first, page is where the user will be able to select his/her avatar.

Abstract representations of the internet

Possible Style?

There were these two sites that I've visited a long time ago, and I really liked the style of it and the use of Flash. I can't recall the URLs, but they looked something like this:





The upper most picture I was think a splash screen. So initially there would be these small circles floating around in the center. It's a very abstract navigation 'menu'. As the user rolls his/her mouse cursor over the circle, the it would enlarge and the link name would be displayed. I thought this was interesting because it was like you were uncovering the links and discovering what was hidden under the circles. So now does this relate to my concept? Well, since my concept deals with anonymity on the internet, I was thinking of incorporating that Flash mouse over effect to make it feel like people are uncovering people's identities.

The lower image I recall was a Flash banner. There were dozens of these information bubbles that would start off at the back and slowly make it's way to the front. As each of these bubbles moved off screen they would start at the back again, giving an impression that you were swimming amongst a sea of information bubbles. When clicked, the bubbles would expand and information would be revealed.
This I also I thought could be something to incorporate in my site, to give the impression of browsing though a sea of anonymous people while surfing the web or as an abstract representation of the internet.

tut exercise

Before




After

VERVARIUM (700 word thing)

VERVARIUM, created by Christa Sommerer & Laurent Mignonneau, is an interactive web based art work created in Java.

http://www.interface.ufg.ac.at/christa-laurent/verbarium/index.html

The work itself is hosted on the website where anyone online can access it. It consists of two main windows and a text box. Any user can choose to write a text message in the text box and enter it into the work. Once submitted, this text is used a ‘genetic code’ to create a three-dimensional art form. On the left window, the user can see his/her form start to grow and manifest, much like a living plant. Depending on the composition of the message, this form could take shape in a number of ways. It could be short, long, organic, simple complex, or abstract.
Forms created by past users are collected in a collage on the right window. Every time someone generates a new form, it is merged into the collection to create one big abstract piece of art. Users can also click on various forms on the collage to view previous text messages that people have entered.

VERVARIUM, I would say falls into the category of art. It wouldn’t be considered design, as it serves no purpose. Design is when something is created to meet a requirement, but there are no requirements to mean here. It is more of an online experiment to see how online text messages would manifest if it had more visual form.
Most things that are considered art usually have a comment or message behind it, rather than an actual purpose, but what message would VERVARIUM be trying to convey? Since it is the users who create and contribute to the artwork, wouldn’t it considered be a tool for creating art?
VERARIUM as a toy is certainly one way of looking at it, but perhaps art is in the way people contribute to the work rather than the java applet itself.

Most online art/design forms that I’ve come across, whether it’s a website or something in Flash, deal with user interaction one way or another. VERVARIUM is definitely related as it requires for users to interact with it for there to be any art at all. The users are the ones giving life to the artwork by entering their text messages, slowly evolving it over time.
Works that use the web as a medium benefit from it reaching a wide audience from all over the globe. This is especially important in VERVARIUM as it deals with communication over the web. How would it look like if text messages from over the world were turned into a visualisation.
A specific example of an online art/experiment that could be related to VERARIUM, is NAG (Net.Art Generator).

NAG can be found here: http://nag.iap.de/?lang=en

Like VERARIUM, it can treated as a tool for creating net art. Users enter a title for a piece of art they want to generate. NAG then takes the keywords from the title and browses the internet for related images and finally composites the images into a piece of net art which is then stored in a gallery.
Also like VERARIUM, it relies heavily on its medium (the internet) for it to work. Online users are required to interact with the work and they both draws stuff from the internet to form its art.

My final project deals with anonymity on the internet, how because of that, it is hard to distinguish one from another. Instead of individual identities, they form a collective identity. VERVERIUM is similarly related. When people enter their text messages into VERVARIUM, they do so anonymously, and unless the person specifically states their name, it is impossible to differentiate a message from all the other messages. The text messages and forms from various people are collected and merged together to form a single image, forming a collective identity. Users can browse through this collage and read the text messages, but original author of the message/form becomes is irreverent as it becomes a single piece of artwork.
Another theme I might like to explore in my final project is how internet anonymity typically leads to trolling. Slightly related to VERVARIUM since there is nothing stopping people from entering inappropriate messages.

In the tut we were supposed to post some sites into our blogs, whether or not they're related to identity. So here they are.

http://www.superbad.com/
I thought this site was kinda interesting, how it was made from a seemingly random bunch of graphics and animations. It didn't have any structure and there was no way the user could go back. The only way to navigate the site. is to keep going forward.

http://www.webagent007.com/
This site doesn't really have anything to do with identity. But I really like the aesthetics of it, and the use of flash.

Why do people troll in the internet?

It's because they can get away with it. When one is on the internet they are anonymous. No one truely knows who you are unless you choose to reveal it. Sure people create online identities and all that, but in my opinion, its are just another layer between the world and their true identity.

An interesting thing I noticed is that while some people like to present themselves as the best as they can (Touching up their photos in photoshop and act all nice) there are others who like to create an identity online just act as obnoxiously as possible. An example I can think of right is now is how some people on Youtube create accounts just to upload tons of offensive material and comments on their channels to piss people off.

But I've noticed that trolling tends to happen more in places where people can remain anonymous and not even have to create an online identity. http://www.omegle.com/ for example, is a site that picks another random user at random and lets you have a 1 on 1 chat. Chats are completely anonymous and no personal information is shared, unless you choose to share it with the other person. You can imagine what happens most of the time...

Btw, for those who do not know what an internet troll is: it is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory or irrelevant messages on the internet with the intent of provoking others.

Haven't been able to post because I've been really busy.

So last tutorial we were supposed to get in pairs and discuss out ideas/concepts for our final site.

I had vague idea on what to do. Something to do with internet masking/hiding peoples identities. Or how when people troll on the internet they tend create a fake identity or anonymously (no identity. More on that in another post.

The person that I was paired with had no idea on what to do. Howver, the TV series Dollhouse was brought up. I've never watched the show, so I can't really comment on it. Apparently it had something do do with wiping people's memories and then imprinting their memories with new persona's. Even though they had no recollection of their past, they still had a sense of moral which remained. The idea was that identity is more than just the brain and physical stuff. Which kind of reminded me of the movie Face/Off, how when the characters had their faces were swapped, they still remiained the same person.

First Postttttttttttttttt

Ok, so this is my first post. What do I post on my first post? I don't know? Steal random images off the internet and post that? What kind of random images? Stuff to establish my visual style??

Wat. =/