Social Media and Noetic Theory: Collaborative Science Online
The ever-changing research and theories concerning noetic science are being explored through the assistance of social media sites. This allows users to share experiences and research, to communicate and discuss with other analysts and interested users to not only grow the community, but also the field of noetics. The sites concerning the theories of noetic sciences could be seen in the forms of two sub-communities, the private sector and the public sector.
The private sector or research based community focused on research studies and different theories with few opinions. They appeared to be mainly focused on their own personal work in their social media sites such as Dean Radin’s personal blog where he communicates his studies to the public hoping to receive feedback and criticisms. When viewing this commentary on the forums it was not unusual to see researchers comment on other blogs with theories and ideas. At the Institute of Noetic Sciences many researchers post their own experiments ideas, and sometimes actual data, to see the reaction from the community. An example of one researcher helping another can be seen in an article written by a relatively new researcher, Tam Hunt called Absent-Minded Science – Part I (http://www.noetic.org/noetic/issue-four-november-2010/absent-minded-science-part) and seen in the comments is a more advanced researcher Cassandra Vieten who gives helpful criticism and thoughtful ideas for the writer Tam to consider and implement in future research as seen in this comment.
On the other side of the spectrum is the public sector, those who are not researchers, but mere fans or interested people. In this community the user’s approval of noetic sciences are usually to the extremes, in a positive or negative light, or simply misinformed information of noetic science. These comments can be based off of personal feelings, personal experiences, research articles, and more. A simple example of enthusiasm towards noetics can be seen again at Dean Radin’s personal blog on a past post where a user, Tor, stated “Looking forward to reading this one!” a simple yet positive comment. Another comment, more in-depth, can be seen at another post where a commenter was questioning researcher Dean Radin’s study by pointing out possible flaws. These comments, although made by non-scientist/researchers can still have value on a public and research based discussions on online social media forums.
On the other hand some comments from this community can have a negative tendency towards noetic science. For example the blog WhyWontGodHealAmputees.com has an article on noetic science criticizing the credibility of the ideas. The site’s comments show a definite agreement in the article with this community, but overall can actually help noetic theory.
These examples in social media can actually help the growth of noetic science, not only of peoples’ knowledge, but also with the science itself. The two sub-communities, private and public sectors, make up this large community which can actually accomplish much for noetics. Because noetics have taken off on social media forums more people have access and are learning about the ideas of noetics. This in turn can create conversations online about these ideas and personal opinions. Sequentially, because researchers partake in the social media sites this allows them to receive more opinions and ideas to study and ponder thus enlarging the theories of noetics. If this process would be applied to other forms of sciences and mathematics it would help grow any field of study simply by the users of social media and the speed of online communication and online communities.
Fat Acceptance Movement and Social Media
Here is my storify… I’m not really sure how to post it so we’ll see if this works
http://storify.com/elliejlevy/the-fat-acceptance-movement-and-social-media
Hi Ellie!
I thought you gave a great presentation on a very current topic which needs to be addressed! One question I have on the Fat Acceptance Movement is how are the users/posters going to get the word out? Kind of like how the Kony 2012 project took off, how is this movement planning to reach out to the world? I truly believe this is a very interesting topic which could be a great way to help erase standards of looks and help people become healthier. Thanks!
Untitled: Collegiate Wrestling:Storify »
Collegiate Wrestling NCAA
by Carl Elmer
Hey Carl!
I thought you did an awesome job on presenting you’re topic. As someone from a small town in southern Minnesota, I can say wrestling was a major subject matter. I had actually used The Guillotine before to hear updates on state tournaments. Although I used it I never realized the immense community behind the site not only during state and regional tournaments! I was wondering, when it came to these sites, do you personally use them outside of class for techniques or updates of rival schools? Great job! Thanks!
So What…
In the past I posted a link to one of the online scientific debates I followed, but so what? Does anything of any real great value come through on these forums, or is it just entertaining to watch people argue? Well I can say over the past 4 months I learned much more than I ever realized about noetic theory.
Originally I believed the community was completely misinformed individuals only to learn many of the debates and criticisms actually are substantial to further research and development in this field deliberated by not only just researchers. When analyzing the comments and looking up research articles I found several different comments referring to past studies and how they could be improved or other possible studies that could be conducted. Sometimes all it took was a simple abstract idea or theory that would cause a new idea which could actually lead to a study. Although when it came to other side arguments (‘anti-noetics’) this causes researchers to be extremely precise on their measurements and to have evidence on their topic of study. With the growth of studies and new ideas, and more precision when it comes to methods and data analysis it is clear that the process of online debates on forms of online social media can be beneficial to this field.
Instead of just helping noetics this process can be applied to any field of study, such as physics, math, political science, almost anything! Because of the internet and online social media we can assess more details and share meaningful ideas to create a breakthrough in today’s modern world.
Anonymity Online 'Has To Go Away' »
A huge part of the online communities surrounding homeopathy was the lack of anonymity. This led to everyone claiming their posts as their own and over all bringing the community closer together. However, there are many other online communities and social media sites where it is ok to be anonymous but is it really a good idea to be anonymous?
In this article by Bianca Bosker, Randi Zuckerberg, Mark Zuckerberg’s sister and Facebook’s marketing director, discusses how we should get rid of online anonymity. She suggests that anonymity allows people to feel like they can say whatever they want without consequences and if people wrote under their own names they would behave better. There is also a comment made by Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO, that soon the government might “demand” people to use their real name online because it could be too dangerous to be unknown.
Personally, I believe that anonymity can create problems online and getting rid of it could be a good idea. However, I know that it will never happen. There are many arguments for both sides and in the end, it’s each individuals choice to decide if they want to be know online. Even though there are many members on the homeopathy forums using their real names, there are probably a handful that use an anonymous username. I just feel like it is important to take responsibility for what you say and when people use fake names it makes it hard to do that.
Morgan,
I can understand where you are coming from, for the communities I also followed often used full names not fake names or aliases. This element really gave my community of closeness with one another. With no anonymity it gave the sense of reliability and honesty of the users and their posts which caused less trolling and posts to have substantial value.
But I don’t agree with anonymity needing “to go away”. I believe anonymity can allow someone to actually be them self when they feel the need to be ‘hidden’ or forced to wear a metaphorical mask to conform. This can allow someone to be open without consequences, yes this leads to trolls and non-relevant commenting so like all major topics it does have its positive and negative aspects.
Regarding the article you attached I felt the need of anonymity on Facebook does need to go away, which I feel Randi Zuckerberg should (was?) addressing. So I guess I stand where it really depends on the website, they need to address the community as an anonymous community or a ‘real person’ community.
Online Experiments »
The ability to perform research from participants from all over the world in real time and to share the data with the world.
This is one of the experiments being conducted through Princeton University called the Global Consciousness Project (GCP), Dr. Roger Nelson, GCP Director.
Online Forums: Science Debates! »
For those of you who are scientifically inclined and like to debate you may enjoy this site I follow. I personally don’t post, but it is fun to see other’s ideas grow, be criticized, and modified.
My Storify!
Dear Writer 111ers,
how are you guys? check out my storify!!!
http://storify.com/acshinn/pole-vault-and-social-media
awesome!
Hello Aaron!
I must say I was shocked at the amount of online participation concerning pole vaulting. I never knew participants took to online communities for advice, but it makes sense! I was wondering have you ever posted or considered posting to help improve your own technique? Also how do you expect the community to change over time, especially with the Olympics this summer? Interesting topic!! Thanks!
BEN THERE, DONE THAT.: Reviews, Predictions, and Spoilers. »
It’s Gonna be Legendary!
Welcome to Have You Met Ted, the definitive source for everything How I Met Your Mother. This is your source for show news, episode discu…
Hey Ben!
Great presentation! I love HIMYM, but never realized the amount of social media sites dedicated to the show. I know with TV shows much speculation could be raised and was wondering if you noticed this ever caused disruptions and/or helped the community growth and discussions. Great presentation and great topic!
Untitled: Peace Corps Blogs »
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Hi Lydia!
I have always been interested in the Peace Corps. and was very interested in your presentation! When it came to your blogs you followed you said some commentators were outside the norm of the community (not family/friends/etc.) and I was wondering how these people commentated and connected to the community and how they were accepted. Also do you plan to partake in the Peace Corps sometime in the future? Thanks!
