Getting Involved

It has been identified that creating a compelling online experience for cyber customers is critical in gaining a competitive edge on the internet.
We have been looking at Csikszentmihalyi’s theory of Flow (1977) which describes it as a process of “optimal experience”.

One paper on 'Flow’ describes it as a feeling of alertness, effortless control, unselfconsciousness, and performing at your best. When an individual is in Flow a sense of time, and emotional problems, seem to disappear and a feeling of transcendence, or oneness with the activity, is present.
Using this definition it is easier to summarise the activities which result in a state of “flow” like reading a book, shopping, sex, sport… or - more relevant to IMS - surfing the internet or playing on a video game.

Unlike an activity such as watching TV, Flow needs to present some kind of challenge or goal: an activity that we desire or want to be involved with.

Motivation seems to be the big factor in the state of Flow. This implies that we actually need to be actively involved something for it to become a high skilled and challenged activity.
Walking around the Uni and trying to get people’s attention while they are on PCs shows Flow in process!
People ‘zone out’ all other factors and become highly involved with that particular activity. Arguably they may not want to be doing that particular work nor find it pleasurable. Nevertheless, there is a large motivational push to be engaging with the activity.

So it would seem that Flow is not always a pleasurable experience……

The more pleasurable examples of Flow seem to be when we are engaging in the activity for its own sake.
Talking to people on MSN is an activity which requires application knowledge (ability to use the softqare programme) and the challenge of conversation. Does this mean we enjoy this pleasurable feeling of Flow more then a highly motivated yet less voluntarily instigated version??

Ok Then...

Ok, so we have been asked to create our very own blogs to share with the world our life stories and interesting ramblings. I have noticed other people make them before, and always wondered what the point was?

They seem pretty egotistical. Does anyone really care what anyone else has to say? Or are we just speaking to an empty audience?
Then again, I seem to have proven myself completely wrong as I have bothered to look at other people’s.

So maybe we do care?
The stalker-ish nature of these things is always the bit that scares me, the ability to get aquainted with people we barely know or have never met… and then for their goings on to actually interest us all seems a bit bizzare.

I think there is a stigma attached to getting interactively involved with internet applications. No-one really wants to be an internet “Geek” as it implies they don’t have a “real” social life (as compared to a virtual one) and that their friends are derived from forums, myspace, and chat rooms etc.
As I’m sitting in the library now I have just overheard a conversation (I swear this is true):
Person A- What u doing?
Person B- I’m singing up to Facebook.
Person A- Oooh I’m on Facebook add me as a friend.
Person B- Ok, how do I do that?
Person A- I will show you… Also, Myspace is better. Get on that, too!

…And at closer inspection neither Person A nor Person B, looks like my picture above!

In recent years I think this stigma seems be disappearing. More people are accepting these applications and seeing the possible benefits of being involved. I justified setting up a Myspace account for the music: the way you can stream live tunes from the bands/ artists sites in real time seemed to be a good idea.

However, I come unstuck when I realise you don’t need to have your very own page set up to be able to do this. This only worries me more as it seems I’m obviously enjoying the things I thought were pointless. I like the fact that I can share photos with mates and add profile songs and backgrounds :S
I even know that the colon and the letter S are meant to be a worried face!!

Are we ALL becoming geeks… and are they now COOL?