Originally I had wanted to create a social media bot related to time management that would allow the user to keep track of how long they’ve spent on a social media platform, thus allowing the user to become aware of how long they’re online and possibly change their activity (if he/she realizes its too much). However, after last weeks Twitter bot exercise I decided to alter the goal of my project.

New Social Media Bot

EPIONE (epp – ee – o – nee)

This is a screenshot of the article.

One of the side effects of becoming too engaged in social media, such as Facebook (being the prime example), studies have shown that this leads to feelings of disconnect and depression (or as Sherry Turkle mentioned in the reading ‘Alone Together’ feelings of loneliness and urge to disconnect from the world).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/04/facebook-envy_n_6606824.html

Therefore using the ‘Twitterbot’ method we went through in class, my new objective is to create a new social media bot that encourages people.

Facts on the Greek goddess Epione.

When brainstorming this idea, I chose the name Epione after the Greek goddess of ‘soothing’ and mother of the goddess of health Hygeia in mythology.

Here is a screenshot of the bot’s Twitter site.

I intend for the Epione bot to run on Twitter, exist as a fictional character on the web (like the Johnny Bravo experiment), and search for hashtags related to sadness and reply to them with comforting or inspirational messages.

Examples of hashtags my bot will look for.

I could also use the ‘IFTT’ (If This Then That) system to post positive photos or images that will ‘brighten’ someones day to the Twitter site. I’ve already researched alternative ways or methods that the Twitter API can be used to do this. I took a look at a link posted on the class site for people who didn’t want to use code (heavily) in their project, and followed the link to the site ‘Round Team’ and another Japanese Twitter site but none of them seemed applicable enough to my the purpose of my bot.

I included other links to sites I looked at for research in case anyone else wants to check it out.

http://www.techcovered.org/how-to-create-your-own-twitter-auto-retweet-bot/

https://dev.twitter.com/rest/public/uploading-media

The original plan for the objective of my bot listed above has changed slightly. In the end, I Epione encourages and lifts the spirits of others through more artistic means. Although my intention was to use ‘If This Then That’ statements and the ‘retweet’ hashtag code, in the final construction of my bot I decided to go another route.

For the final alteration of my bot I gathered different pieces of Greek poetry to post on the bots Twitter feed using the ‘filebot’ code, and in the end brought it up to the server and calibrated the code so that a line of text from the poetry was selected at random to post every 3 hours. In addition I also upgraded the Twitter site so that it sounds more like an actual person with an account rather than a ‘bot’.

Here’s the site now after I made a few changes.

Creating this bot was certainly a challenge for me, however I’ve learned to consider and appreciate what goes into creating an application or a platform for social media, and has definitely piqued my interest into deploying other bots into the realm of social media.

For this exercise I chose to conduct an interview for the fictional cartoon character ‘Johnny Bravo’. In writing the interview I greatly took into account his overall character and considered how it would apply to the scenario of an interview.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with his character I included a link to one of the episodes of his TV show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnGnl-UElVA

Here are a few snippets from the interview I conducted,

If anyone wants to read the full interview.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zFqqI4OR0v6XWo39lZWeWWOnZRG3zJEjd-U-CKg6ZKQ/edit?usp=sharing

Continuing this exercise I wanted to create a page on social media that the character could visit and receive information on what he enjoyed or the products he liked in one location.

Here are a few of the recipes I created for the characters twitter page using the IFTTT site. It was quite challenging at first figuring out how to configure different recipes but after a few trial and errors I was successful.

And here are early screenshots of the recipes in action as well as additional activity on the twitter site.

Currently I still receive updates for the site and astoundingly I’ve noticed that people actually enjoy it. I’ve been getting constant notifications about new followers or responses that people gave to the posts the recipes have continued to make. However, not only am I surprised at the sites activity but how people are still responding to the posts even though they’re not tweeted by an actual person, but a bot. This idea really made me think about the concept of identity on the web and how people are able to conceal themselves behind facts that are fake or fictional (alias’s, avatars). If that’s the case how do we truly know who we are communicating with on the web?

Different points on this theory can be connected to one of the points made in the Radio Lab podcast ‘Talking to Machines’ on how machines and robots are replacing the roles of humans in relationships on the web and in the real world. One account given on the podcast describes how a man unknowingly fell in love with a bot on a local dating site and can be used to support the idea I mentioned earlier. Thus, the fact that a bot can sound convincing enough to cause a man to fall in love over the internet has definitely made me worry about the future of bots on the web.

We communicate with one another more than ever before in other states, and countries at the touch of a few buttons with the use of either our phones or the web. Some of the inventions presented in the past through film and science fiction have become our reality.

The way people communicate with one another has changed as a result of this advancement in social media and technology, and while they have had positive effects on our society, I couldn’t help but look at all the negative effects they’ve had as well.

Thus, when it came to brainstorming ideas for this project I found myself going back to this idea of bringing attention to the negative aspects of social media. For instance, I’ve begun to notice how smart phones have completely taken over the way we communicate and because of this I believe they’ve destroyed the traditional ways of communication in replacing, ‘face to face’ with ‘screen to screen’, and have caused people to become reluctant to actually using their phone as a phone.

Among the various theories depicting social media as a negative force in our society I’d like to focus on how long individuals spend on social media and because of the increased amount of time people spend on social media, relationships have changed drastically (as I’ve mentioned before).

So the bot I intend to create for this exercise would be to remind people of how much time they spend on different social media platforms like Facebook, Tumblr, or even Instagram.

When I thought more about this idea, I wanted my bot to not be pleasant in its reminder to the user of how long they’ve been online. That’s when I remembered the friendly Microsoft Word ‘Paperclip’. This Paperclip would always appear at the lower right hand side of the screen and spit useless information and reminders on how to do certain tasks within the software.

I’d like for my bot to be so annoying in its reminders that it causes the user to quit using the social media platform they’re using and stick with the amount of time away from it. That being said, I want this bot to have a programmed set of time that is normal for someone to be on (let’s just say Facebook) and after the user goes past that time I’d want the bot to pop up like a notification and remind the user that they need to log off. If they go past about ten minutes I’d want to see if its possible if I could program my bot to close the application (or just the tab window).

On the concept of time management and thinking about the name/mascot of my bot, the first thing that came to mind was the ‘white rabbit’ from Alice in Wonderland. This character is always time conscious so I think the character would fit perfectly with the idea I’m trying to portray with my bot.

 Therefore, the name of the bot will be titled ‘White Rabbit’.

In the creation of project Brain Stream, I’ve had my hands in many things. I’ve contributed to the idea for the overall project in tweaking the ‘thought to tweet’ concept, and worked on the prototype to be used for the video with sketches and gathering materials that would work for the device. Eventually the rest of the group decided that a ‘simple’ look for the device was best and settled on the headband I spraypainted silver (was originally white).

This is a photo of the final prototype I produced.

I had a part in creating the storyboard as well and giving input on how to go forward in shooting scenes for the promotional video for Brain Stream. In addition, I’ve also been present as an actress for various scenes of the video.

This was the storyboard I drafted while we were deciding on what scenes to include in the promo video.

The rest of my group met about twice on campus separate from class time and although I could not be there as a result of my commute and living off campus, I made sure that I was updated on what was discussed and pulled my weight in full.

Lastly, I wrote the summary that assessed our project and its meaning, and thoroughly went through the influences that affected the origin of Brain Stream.

https://www.courses.tegabrain.com/SS15/?p=871

I also mentioned how this device could be used in the near future in benefitting individuals with disabilities and aiding them in social graces, as well as discussing in depth the process of how Brain Stream came to be.

These are more recent sketches I produced of a future Brain Stream device for men and women.

In the development of this device we each took into account and thought in depth about the various ways in which humans interact with machines, and use them as extensions of ourselves to communicate within the virtual world. In society many avenues are taken within the virtual to satisfy different feelings such as loneliness, and even heart ache. Looking back to last weeks assignment with the Radiolab podcast titled ‘Talking to Machines’, we referred to many of the key points made in the transmission involving for instance, the way individuals become so infatuated with machines because of this need for companionship and the fact that people who are emotionally imbalanced turn to the realm of social media in the virtual. Thus the theory of social applications such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are becoming ‘interactive diaries’ for these individuals as was mentioned in the podcast.

Now more than ever, individuals have turned to social media to catalogue and record every waking moment of their lives whether it be through photos on Instagram, status updates on Facebook, and tweets on Twitter. In turn through this constant practice people have become completely attached to social media.

In the beginning, our plan with this device was to create something that allows people to recognize just how attached they’ve become to social media as an entity. We began generating ideas and concepts on how to develop an easier way to send out messages verbally without the use of a keyboard. We developed this idea further by speculating how the user of our device would be able to send thoughts into a social network without using their computer, tablet, or smartphone. The main example of the expectations we had for our device was to be able to develop and send ‘tweets’ with our very thoughts. In this we speculated that the user would grow annoyed with the device out of the realization of how many times they would have to say ‘tweet’ or ‘facebook’ in order to properly send out their updates. Of course this device started to become a lot more fictional in the discussions we had and as our ideas clashed and built upon one another, project ‘Brain Stream’ was formed.

 In developing a prototype we considered how this device would fit discreetly on the human form, and developed designs for different wearable items such as a hat, t-shirt, watch, and a necklace. Eventually we decided upon a head piece for the prototype to shy away from the sci-fi theme we were touching upon in order to make our device appear more realistic. I had many designs for how the prototype would look and developed something flashy in attempt to build off of a humorous approach we were thinking of when creating the promo video for the product. However, the group suggested that the prototype appear to be something realistic yet hidden from the eye. The headband I chose seemed to be the perfect example of this, being that it looked modern enough to not be considered as our device thus making it harder to identify in situations where someone might want to ‘tweet’ something to their page but can’t because of the environment (ex: the middle of class, job meeting, bathroom, etc.).

Building off of the fictional aspect of our device, I had proposed a few ideas to the group involving how those with disabilities can benefit from ‘Brain Stream’ and ideas that could take our device beyond our present time period and belonging to the technology of a more futuristic world. For example, I developed a theory for individuals that were blind or mute who would use our device to be able to be able to communicate with others using their thoughts and projecting them onto a screen. Another idea I had that applies to my primary one, was for the individuals that are a bit socially awkward, and for those not able to speak clearly or associate with others. The last idea I had for the future of our device was that it will advance to a point where more than one person wearing the headpiece will be able to communicate with one another through only their thoughts, and will allow others in their vicinity access to the thoughts kept in their mind. Sort of like telekinesis, however it will only be when one dons the ‘Brain Stream’ that they will have this ability.

  – Prototype Sketches

In closing, final thoughts we had for the prototype was for it to be in different colors after the original silver model into shades that complement the skin color of the individual wearing it. Therefore making it even more impossible to notice when someone is using it.

In regards to using the Twitter API, the group decided on using it to display a physical demonstration of what our device would run with speech as the substitute for thoughts.

– S.E.

In this summary of Sherry Turkle’s reading, I’ll focus more on the ‘Robotic Revolution’ and how it pertains to the relationship she describes between humans and machines.

Beginning with the prologue, Turkle touches on the publication of The Second Self in the 1990’s. From this book, she explains the growing personal relationship of a computer/machine and a human.

She states,

“By then, the computer had become a portal that enabled people to lead parallel lives in virtual worlds…discovered a sense of place.”

In having this development in the relationship between humans and computers, Turkle further states that as a result of this there has been a change in the boundaries built between the real world/real life, and the virtual world.

To further express this development, Turkle gives us the example of a college student named Doug who is active within many virtual worlds and balances the virtual along with real life. In this he says that real life

“is just one more window…it’s not usually my best one.”

It is in the emergence of a growing “networked life”, where popular search engines in today’s society appear as well (Google, Internet Explorer). Networked life changed drastically when the Internet went mobile, where “the network was with us, on us, all the time.”

With this new life the opportunity arises where people can “hide from each other”.

In the creation of these worlds the author states that certain individuals start to become captivated with these worlds, and thus begin to trade “RL” (real life) for the virtual. Chat rooms and online gaming become more popular resulting in people abandoning their true self for a persona or avatar, in which they can start a new life and become “a lot younger, thinner” version of themselves. This allows people to hide even deeper from the real world and each other with this new identity/avatar.

Sherry Turkle also describes this “second life” to grant the user a “place for hope in life”, and an end to loneliness cured by the presence of people online.
Turkle includes this quote from an old woman about her I-phone,

“It’s like having a little Times Square in my pocketbook. All lights. All the people I could meet.”

She also gives the statement about the internet being “seductive” and to the average person presents a chance to escape the real world.
Turkle delves deeper into the discussion of the relationship between humans and machines with, robots. Whether it be love, companionship or loneliness, Turkle explains that individuals look for a variety of needs from robots that they cannot achieve in real life.

Companionship is what Turkle states throughout the reading as to why robots are often sought after, and in some ways can be considered controversial.
The element of insecurity, lack of trust, and fear of disappointment in relationships are common factors that add onto the growing interaction with robots. As a result, there is the emergence of “sociable” humanoid robots such as the ELIZA program in the 1970’s. Popular examples of sociable robots include the popular Tamagotchi, and Furbie toys for children. From these creations came the idea of us giving,

“human qualities to objects and content to treat each other as things”.

---

“No cheating. No heartbreak.”

A romantic relationship with a robot is explored in the reading, and advocated strongly by David Levy. He argues that in time robots will teach humans to become better lovers, friends, and companions. Levy even goes as far as saying that robots will replace humans.

“Beyond this, they will substitute where people fail.”

Turkle explores the possibility of this relationship and is surprised at the results of her findings. The popular reasoning behind these relationships or “technological promiscuity” that Sherry Turkle finds, are that robots do not come with the taxing demands, and disappointments, that humans bring.

“After all, we never know how another person really feels. People put on a good face. Robots would be safer….I’d rather talk to a robot. Friends can be exhausting. The robot will always be there for me.”

Overtime the possibility of actual relationships between humans and robots has grown, and so has the recurring belief that when,

“other things go wrong, science will go right.”

Hope has been put into machines, and as a result they have become “a twenty first century deus ex machina”…

Bringing in points from other readings, like the reading Zack discussed on the Critical Engineering Manifesto, we discussed possibilities of future technology that we’d want to see in the future of our society. For the most part the conclusion of our discussion leaned more toward being opposed to new forms of technology like robotic ‘companions’, and even sci-fi related technology like talking toilets and wristbands that read our calories and go as far as determining what kind of insurance we’re able to have.

Having technology become too involved in our lives to the point where they’re able to recognize and dictate how we live is what we are the most opposed to when it comes to new technology. Even though the technology that we have in social media is closer now than its ever been to this theory. Platforms like Instagram and Facebook allow individuals to post and share every aspect of our lives in various forms like pictures, and has become a daily routine for most people who have become attached to these ‘social machines’.

In the first reading we discussed how social technology could bring us closer together and allow us to share information across large spectrums in cyberspace. Following this theory we had a similar discussion regarding whether or not this technology will benefit or corrupt future generations. The conclusion came out positive, in that technology can better the future of our society and allow us to excel whether it be in education or in the social spectrum.

Discussion Questions

1) Would you rather live in a world occupied by machines (lets try not to think of the Terminator here)?

2) Does an individuals social status affect their online persona?

3) Do you think our society would be better or worse without the presence of media and technology (such as Facebook, computers, Tv’s)?

4) Honestly speaking, would you prefer a mechanical companion or a real spouse? What are the pros and cons? Why do you think some people might choose the machine over flesh and blood?

5) Which do you prefer? Talking or texting? Do you think this preference conveys the decline or increase in social interaction within our society?

Here is a link to an example of a video project I made addressing these questions and more in the realm of cartoons and video games. (http://vimeo.com/93404898)

To start off, the only kind of word processing software that I’ve been using consistently is with Google Docs because of how convenient it is to not only be able to have all of your material accessible from anywhere, but because I can work on my assignments while on the go or at home.

Even though I have an iMac at home with word-processing software like ‘Pages’ and  ‘Keynote’, I still used Google drive to do personal writing projects and work related assignments.

This challenge was even harder for me as well because my parents recently got me a laptop for my birthday, and the laptop happens to be a ‘Chromebook’. So from the OS to the control panel, everything on it was Google. I’ve been using it for awhile and gotten accustomed to using it for school so its been harder not to use it completely.

February 12th,

I had no choice but to use the Excel app on Google drive for an assignment for my Arts Management class… Then while I was working I was tempted to go on Youtube…and I did. I was ashamed…

I tried to stop but then I found a thread on Todd Hiddleston dancing and couldn’t stop. (-_-

February 13th

My brother (unaware of the Google challenge) wanted to show me funny video on Youtube. I resisted at first but after he pried I watched it.

February 17th

Unfortunately the Mac computers in the Natural Science building did not have the cable port for my Gdrive that I needed to turn in  homework files… so I had no choice but to use google drive.

Besides those incidents I think I did pretty well in this challenge. I cheated a little at times but for the most part I was strict with myself. I found ‘Bing’ to be extremely annoying, and Firefox to be bearable but I missed Google…

However despite all of my efforts to avoid using Google, I found that you couldn’t completely get away from it! Firefox automatically uses Google to search and even when I wanted to use another search engine like ‘DuckduckGo’ I needed to go through google to find it. (It wasn’t until a friend told me, that I figured out how to insert the address of the search engine without going through google)

ex: ‘bing.com’

I think I didn’t know about this mainly because I was so use to just typing something into the search bar and automatically having google search for it.

Overall I believe this test was successful and showed just how much I relied on Google for daily tasks…but I wouldn’t want to do this again.

For this exercise I chose to conduct an interview for the fictional cartoon character ‘Johnny Bravo’. In writing the interview I greatly took into account his overall character and considered how it would apply to the scenario of an interview.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with his character I included a link to one of the episodes of his TV show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnGnl-UElVA

Here are a few snippets from the interview I conducted,

If anyone wants to read the full interview.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zFqqI4OR0v6XWo39lZWeWWOnZRG3zJEjd-U-CKg6ZKQ/edit?usp=sharing

Continuing this exercise I wanted to create a page on social media that the character could visit and receive information on what he enjoyed or the products he liked in one location.

Here are a few of the recipes I created for the characters twitter page using the IFTTT site. It was quite challenging at first figuring out how to configure different recipes but after a few trial and errors I was successful.

And here are early screenshots of the recipes in action as well as additional activity on the twitter site.

Currently I still receive updates for the site and astoundingly I’ve noticed that people actually enjoy it. I’ve been getting constant notifications about new followers or responses that people gave to the posts the recipes have continued to make. However, not only am I surprised at the sites activity but how people are still responding to the posts even though they’re not tweeted by an actual person, but a bot. This idea really made me think about the concept of identity on the web and how people are able to conceal themselves behind facts that are fake or fictional (alias’s, avatars). If that’s the case how do we truly know who we are communicating with on the web?

Different points on this theory can be connected to one of the points made in the Radio Lab podcast ‘Talking to Machines’ on how machines and robots are replacing the roles of humans in relationships on the web and in the real world. One account given on the podcast describes how a man unknowingly fell in love with a bot on a local dating site and can be used to support the idea I mentioned earlier. Thus, the fact that a bot can sound convincing enough to cause a man to fall in love over the internet has definitely made me worry about the future of bots on the web.

In this summary of Sherry Turkle’s reading, I’ll focus more on the ‘Robotic Revolution’ and how it pertains to the relationship she describes between humans and machines.

Beginning with the prologue, Turkle touches on the publication of The Second Self in the 1990’s. From this book, she explains the growing personal relationship of a computer/machine and a human.

She states,

“By then, the computer had become a portal that enabled people to lead parallel lives in virtual worlds…discovered a sense of place.”

In having this development in the relationship between humans and computers, Turkle further states that as a result of this there has been a change in the boundaries built between the real world/real life, and the virtual world.

To further express this development, Turkle gives us the example of a college student named Doug who is active within many virtual worlds and balances the virtual along with real life. In this he says that real life

“is just one more window…it’s not usually my best one.”

It is in the emergence of a growing “networked life”, where popular search engines in today’s society appear as well (Google, Internet Explorer). Networked life changed drastically when the Internet went mobile, where “the network was with us, on us, all the time.”

With this new life the opportunity arises where people can “hide from each other”.

In the creation of these worlds the author states that certain individuals start to become captivated with these worlds, and thus begin to trade “RL” (real life) for the virtual. Chat rooms and online gaming become more popular resulting in people abandoning their true self for a persona or avatar, in which they can start a new life and become “a lot younger, thinner” version of themselves. This allows people to hide even deeper from the real world and each other with this new identity/avatar.

Sherry Turkle also describes this “second life” to grant the user a “place for hope in life”, and an end to loneliness cured by the presence of people online.
Turkle includes this quote from an old woman about her I-phone,

“It’s like having a little Times Square in my pocketbook. All lights. All the people I could meet.”

She also gives the statement about the internet being “seductive” and to the average person presents a chance to escape the real world.
Turkle delves deeper into the discussion of the relationship between humans and machines with, robots. Whether it be love, companionship or loneliness, Turkle explains that individuals look for a variety of needs from robots that they cannot achieve in real life.

Companionship is what Turkle states throughout the reading as to why robots are often sought after, and in some ways can be considered controversial.
The element of insecurity, lack of trust, and fear of disappointment in relationships are common factors that add onto the growing interaction with robots. As a result, there is the emergence of “sociable” humanoid robots such as the ELIZA program in the 1970’s. Popular examples of sociable robots include the popular Tamagotchi, and Furbie toys for children. From these creations came the idea of us giving,

“human qualities to objects and content to treat each other as things”.

 

---

“No cheating. No heartbreak.”

A romantic relationship with a robot is explored in the reading, and advocated strongly by David Levy. He argues that in time robots will teach humans to become better lovers, friends, and companions. Levy even goes as far as saying that robots will replace humans.

“Beyond this, they will substitute where people fail.”

Turkle explores the possibility of this relationship and is surprised at the results of her findings. The popular reasoning behind these relationships or “technological promiscuity” that Sherry Turkle finds, are that robots do not come with the taxing demands, and disappointments, that humans bring.

“After all, we never know how another person really feels. People put on a good face. Robots would be safer….I’d rather talk to a robot. Friends can be exhausting. The robot will always be there for me.”

Overtime the possibility of actual relationships between humans and robots has grown, and so has the reoccurring belief that when,

“other things go wrong, science will go right.”

Hope has been put into machines, and as a result they have become “a twenty first century deus ex machina”…

Discussion Questions

1) Would you rather live in a world occupied by machines (lets try not to think of the Terminator here)?

2) Does an individuals social status affect their online persona?

3) Do you think our society would be better or worse without the presence of media and technology (such as Facebook, computers, Tv’s)?

4) Honestly speaking, would you prefer a mechanical companion or a real spouse? What are the pros and cons? Why do you think some people might choose the machine over flesh and blood?

5) Which do you prefer? Talking or texting? Do you think this preference conveys the decline or increase in social interaction within our society?

Here is a link to an example of a video project I made addressing these questions and more in the realm of cartoons and video games. (http://vimeo.com/93404898)

After last weeks discussion about how media affects different generations and how it has affected social interaction, I entertained the thought of whether or not the cycle could be broken.
So I decided to perform my own personal social media breach assignment and completely cut off ties with the social world (meaninfor at least five days…which was agonizing to say the least.

One of the biggest steps in this process was disconnecting my Facebook account.
In disconnecting my Facebook account I left a fake message,

I also refrained from connecting with my Deviantart and Youtube accounts, which I am both actively involved in on a regular basis and visit at least five times a day.

Overall, I’d say that this experiment was quite successful in that I’m now aware of how much technology, and social software impacts our everyday lives. By day three however I realized that certain aspects of social media are unavoidable. For instance, I had no choice but to use the internet to stay in contact with professors and updates concerning the weather. The same went for using my phone where in certain situations during the week I had no choice but to use it to keep in contact with my family during my commute, and of course friends (who were very annoyed in the fact that I didn’t answer them at all during the time period I began this experiment). I learned that not all technology is ‘evil’, or in other words ‘poisen’ to our society that negatively affects communication, but that technology in some ways is a necessary evil.