Blog 6 - Research Plan

Research Question

Is it possible for a person to earn a profit through online selling? More specifically, is it possible for any person in the country to buy something on eBay and make more money on the same item by re-selling it on eBay? How is it possible for one person to be able to make more or less money selling the same item on eBay?

Statement of Purpose

This guide will demonstrate the importance of buying in the physical world as well as the virtual world. It will also show how re-selling in the virtual world (eBay) will maximize a potential profit rather than re-selling in the physical world.

List of Information Needed to Gather

For this project, I would need to get sources about how eBay works, safe and smart buying and selling tips, information about the different kinds of buyers and sellers, and different marketing techniques.

List of Premliminary Sources

http://netforbeginners.about.com/cs/buyingselling/a/eBay101.htm - This is like an eBay for dummies guide.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/twi3/chapter/ch06.html - This source gives information on buying and selling online.

Plan for Gathering Information

I plan to find information through search engines such as google and yahoo, reading e-books, and reading through eBay guides made by buyers and sellers who have experience in my topic.

Blog 5 (More) Search engine thing

Who uses the site?

1. http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/twi3/chapter/ch06.html - Those who want to be educated on buying and selling on the internet.

2. http://netforbeginners.about.com/cs/buyingselling/a/eBay101.htm - Beginners on the internet.
Where are they?

1. Wherever there is access to a computer.

2. Wherever there is access to a computer.

What do they want from the site?

1. Tips on safe buying and selling on the internet

2. The beginning of and tips on safe buying and selling on eBay.

How does the text of the site address the users?

1. The text is from the book “The Whole Internet: The Next Generation”.

2. The text is a guide about eBay’s beginnings, do’s and don’ts, and what a transaction is like.

How do the graphic elements of the site address the user?

1. The article shows graphics of the book and of various buying and selling sites.

2. The article was more with text and a few advertisements not regarding the topic.

Blog 5: My Topic/Class Feedback

I am thinking about doing my project on buying and selling on the internet, specifically on eBay. This is an interest of mine right now because it enables me to get certain things I may want and re-sell things I don’t need. I guess I would talk about the different strategies about smart buying and selling, and then relate it to good marketing and how to make a profit. I can also tie this to Bolter and Grusin’s article and show how buying and selling have evolved from being in the physical world to being in the virtual world as well.


Comments: I like your topic. Buying and selling on the internet is a common practice that many people these days have become familiar with. It has revolutionized the way people live.
Question: Are you also going to cover the issue of SCAMS on Ebay? I actually lost money, when I sold a book on ebay. Two months after I sold a book, the buyer claimed he never received my book. After two months, I didn’t have my tracking number anymore. Ebay took out over $100 from my account. – A.C.

-This is a good topic because everyone is familiar with EBAY and online shopping so when talking about it, your audience will be familiar with what you are talking about and will be able to use the information you come up with. I like your take on showing how buying and selling has evolved from a physical world into a virtual world, you could definitely use the concepts we talk about in this class for that.

QUESTIONS:It will be interesting to see which strategies you choose for effective buying and selling, will you be highlighting the negatives as well as the positives? –M.A.

I think you should talk about the negatives onbuying and selling on eBay too. The first and last time I ever used eBay (years ago), I bought a 112 CD and it never came in the mail. The guy got my money but then deleted his account somehow. He had good feedback too. Then there is my brother who buys and sells off eBay almost everyday. This connects perfectly with our class.

Blog 4 (Part 3): My Interests/Future

I enjoy eBay. Alot. There is just something great about being able to find things that I like such as basketball jerseys, DVD's, and even older video game systems for great deals. This in turn gives me more bang for my buck. And bragging rights. Also I would find things for cheap and re-package and re-sell them for a profit because these angelic clowns (I use the word "Angelic" because only an angel can give me such fantastic deals; and "Clowns" because only a clown would sell these things to me a such a low cost) didn't know how to market it correctly.

I also enjoy playing and watching sports. More so watching now than playing when I was in high school. I enjoy watching basketball, football, and some baseball. I like to bowl (I bowl Wednesday nights with my Dad) and playing pool (I'm actively looking for a table on eBay. I found an auction so cross your fingers and hope I win it at a ridiculously low price). I like to lift at the gym (I've been there for over 3 years). I also enjoy hanging out with my girlfriend and being or watching anything funny (Comedy Central, YouTube).

As far as my future, I am a communications major and I want a job that involves utilizing my writing skills. I want something that gives me a sense of security. Also very importantly to me is being able to entertain people in some sort of capacity. I enjoy satire because it is writing with humor, yet it has a point to it. I also realize the classes like Marketing, P.R., and Interviewing helps me in how not to sell myself short. Writing in Cyberspace is vital to my writing because I realize that the internet is the future and anything to educate me more about it now will be allow me to embrace it more in the future.Possibilities I could write on are maybe about smart buying on eBay as that has been a major interest for me as of late. Another thing could be about satirical writing or anything satirical or humorous for that matter and relate it to the internet (YouTube).

Blog 4 (Part 2): The Vocabulary of Comics

In his work "The Vocabulary of Comics", Scott McCloud talks about the idea that images are not what we think they really mean. He also expresses himself not through a traditional essay, but through comics. He basically says that we the reader put ourselves into what we see to in other words fill the gaps. This explains why we see a detailed character in a comic and a basic character in comics as human--because we see human qualities to them. This can also explain why we relate to more basic characters that the detailed ones in that we see the basic ones expressing the raw emotions that the detailed ones try to convey in a more direct manner.

From a philosophical standpoint, we as readers cannot confuse words and symbols with what the actual concept is. For example a wedding ring represents marriage, yet if one throws the ring away, it doesn't neccessarily mean the person throws the marriage away. Words and symbols can confuse people about what the thing it stands for actually means.

Blog 4 (Part 1): Why Heather Can Write

Harry Jenkins's article talked about the "Potter Wars" which consists of a. Teachers and librarians fighting against religious groups' wishes to ban the books from libraries and classrooms; and b. Warner Bros. attempt to ban fan fiction because they believe it is a copyright infringment. The idea of fan-fiction was brought up which in this case, takes the Harry Potter characters and puts them in a cherished environment that helps the writer deal with their own life issues. It is like a therapy for some writers who want to create their own scenerios for their favorite characters.

Heather Cowver started "The Daily Prophet" on the web as a fan-fiction site for Harry Potter. The issue that many have about fan-fiction is where to draw the line from a legal standpoint. We do have freedom of speech and press so I believe that fan-fiction should be allowed to be written at least for personal use. It should be allowed to be shown to others (in the real world like friends). Finally it should be allowed on the internet for other fans to see as long as there is no money being made. It crosses the line of infringement when these articles are published for money or not in the real world because anything published in the real world will result in someone making money. I.E. A writer donates their work to a magazine, but people give money to buy the magazine so the magazine in return can theoretically make money on this.

Blog 3 (Again) Rheingold "Smart Mobs: The Power of the Mobile Many"

This article talked mainly about the idea of smart mobs in relation to technology. In the Philippines the then president Joseph Estrada was peacefully overthrown by smart mobs of the country. Basically citizens of the country who were dissatisfied with Estrada's policies got together through text messaging and organized a time and place for a rally against him.
In class we had the pleasure to do a search on the different stories about smart mobs. I came up with the fact that these groups usually are meant to be secretive although governments have now become more educated and aware of them. Also, although there are some serious smart mobs that serves a purpose, most of the ones I found were all done in humor.

Blog 3: Glister Summary

"The Nature of Digital Literacy"

Glister's article "The Nature of Digital Literacy" starts off with the means of how information traveled in the past. People who could afford them gained knowledge through books. This became more widespread with Johannes Guttenberg's invention of the printing press. Glister argues that the internet only helps further the power of printed material instead of taking over it by calling it "the double helix of the twenty-first century's intellectual revival". Glister feels that digital literacy is a way to contact other people who would either not connect in a quick manner or not connect at all. An example is how people respond sooner to e-mails rather than phone calls because it is easier and more convenient. He says that digital literacy can take things like print material, photos, and music and can condense all of it to store in less space than print can. Digital literacy takes print literacy to a more up to date level by understanding a wide variety of formats. Glister uses the idea of a paradigm to explain that people will shift their ideas about finding information in print materials and incorporate that with finding information on the internet.

Summary of Woolley

Woolley’s article sums up everything that makes up what the idea of “cyberspace” is. First he goes into the concept of the global village where time and space is not needed to carry information, but rather electricity. He described technology as an extension of the body and the idea of networks, which help carry information from one area to another, as an extension of the nervous system. Networks found there way in projects such as ARPAnet and in NASA. Secondly, Woolley compared a computer virus to AIDS in that it is a code that affects the insides of a computer much like AIDS does to an immune system, and can spread through a global village much like AIDS can between people. Next, stocks via computers proved to be more unpredictable as compared in two different situations in 1987 and 1989 showing that no one person is in control. Finally, he talked about how gold and money can be expressed through electronic symbols and currencies can now float without having to be tangible.

1st (Real) Blog

Writing in cyberspace certainly differs from writing in meat-space. If someone wrote a journal in meat-space, it hypothetically only involves the person writing it where that person can put more personal thoughts down knowing others cannot see it. A blog online can be considered remediation as Bolter and Grusin described, of a personal journal. It can involve more graphics and texts and more people can view it. But the blogger can choose how personal it can be for others to see. If I had an urge to expose a personal thought, I would write it in a notebook rather than post it online or on a website like Myspace. The thing about the internet is it's no-holds-barred. People can say whatever they want like in on eBay for example, a person can leave a negative feedback filled with expletives whether it is true or not for another person knowing that nothing will happen as opposed to someone saying the same things in person to a seller at a store. This kind of ties in a couple of Wooley's ideas. Nothing is regulated the internet.

Blog 2: Summary of Bolter and Grusin

In Bolter and Grusin's article "Introduction: The Double Logic of Remediation" the duo goes into the idea of how society wants to multiply and erase mediation. This occurs when it erases media by multiplying it. An example of this is how society used storytelling through word-of-mouth and tried to erase through a new form of storytelling in books. The next advancement in this chain would be audio books and then movies and so on and so forth. Each form of media fight to stay around by using techniques to make a person feel as if he/she was there.

Another form of remediation occurs in newscasts for example. When newscasts began it used to be an anchor informing people of stories in society. Now it has turned into a high-end type of show that features hypermediacy, which consists of graphics and texts while the anchor reports. This leads to Bolter and Grusin explaining the concept of immediacy, which is where a person can get an immediate sense of an idea without any interruption. Different forms of media strive for immediacy to get people to use their form whether it be verbal storytelling, reading a book, or watching a movie by hypermediacy to get the person (s) to feel a certain sense of liveliness.

Part of Blog 2: Summary of Heim

In Michael Heim's article "VR 101", his focus is about is over use of virtual reality and what it truely is in its technical sense. Many things are virtual such as cell phones, internet chat rooms, and e-mail all have become apart of a "universal vocabulary". Yet Heim says that the strict definition of virtual reality pulls together the meanings of the word in this "universal vocabulary". "VR" as he calls it is first a technology before a confusing idea. Since the "universial vocabulary" of VR is apart of our culture, a broad definition of it is dominant in our society based on the experiences of our society.

Heim says VR in a strict sense "creates an experience made possible by fast computers". The three characteristics of VR Heim mentioned were immersion, interactivity, and information intensity. Immersion isolates one's senses to make a person feel as if he/she were in another place. Interactivity is where a computer can change a scene's viewpoint as fast as a person can change their perspective. Finally information intensity is the sense that a virtual world can create an artifical existence with intellegence. Heim says this also spawns the idea of telepresence, which is a technology that make a person feel present in another place by using his/her senses. For example the telephone is a weaker sense of telepresence because it involves only two people and sound. A stronger example would be a conversation over the internet with a camera and a microphone because it involves more people, sound, and sight.

Other things Heim includes about VR are Helmets, which are head-mounted devices that allow a person to look anywhere in the virtual world. An alternative to the helmet is the CAVE where a person is in a room with surround sound and a screen all around to emulate an environment. Networks and simulators give a better feeling of presence as well as interaction. Heim gives many examples of clarifying what a true sense of VR is as opposed to what society's version is.