Chapter 5 talks about media in regaurds to Harry Potter. There was alot of controversy about Harry Potter. Many groups wanted it banned from schools. There was also complaints of infringement on intellectual property rights. Jenkins refers to this conflict as the "Potter Wars". Jenkins focuses on competing forms of media literacy and how it should be taught. Heather's project enabled kids to feel a connection to the imaginary world and the community that produced The Daily Prophet. Some adults worry that the kids are copying already existing media content instead of coming up with their own original content. However, the fan writing is increasing many kids writing skills.
Discussion questions:
1. What are the benefits and disadvantages of this fan writing?
2. Is it good or bad for education?
Harry Potter Fansite
The #1 Harry Potter Site

Chapter 3 is about The Matrix. It brought viewers into a world where reality and illusion is constantly blurred.  The Matrix is entertainment for the age of media convergence because it is so large and in multiple mediums (movies, games, online discussions). It also allows for collective intelligence, where people can collaborate and try to understand the matrix. These types of movies leave audiences seeking information beyond the individual story/plot. It was a good strategy because it made people want to see the next 2 movies and buy the video game. It also allowed for co-created via the anime matrix. This transmedia storytelling is innovative and interesting. Jenkins believes that this transmedia principle may be applied to more mature consumers on TV shows.
Discussion Questions:
1. What made The Matrix so intriguing to consumers that they wanted to figure everything out, instead of just watching and enjoying the movie for its entertainment value?
2. What other movies have been successful implementing this same strategy?
The Matrix 101. A site to help understand the matrix
A fan site discussing the matrix

Jenkins states that shows such as Survivor and American Idol are the first big application of media convergence, demonstrating the crossroads between old and new media. These shows changed advertising and the way we watch television. Viewers become invested in the show because they help determine the outcomes.  By their second season they received 20 million calls or texts and phone companies reported a third of those that sent texts to American Idol had never sent a text message before. There are three main people who watch, zappers, casuals, and loyals. zappers just flip through a lot of different shows, casuals put more time into a show, and loyals are die hard viewers who never miss an episode. Product placement has become big in these shows. The judges drink out of only Coca-cola cups. Sponsors (AT&T and Ford) of contests and voting keys viewers in to that sponsors product or services.
Discussion Questions:
1. Does it seem like product placement is everywhere and overdone?
2. How do shows try to get people to move from zappers to casuals to loyals?
American Idol Website (notice "Presented By" in upper right hand corner)
Network TV views/ranking

A group of spoilers spend a great deal of time and effort trying to figure out the survivor before its revealed on air.  Jenkins wants to know more about the process and ethics of shared problem solving in an online community. In these communities people collect information for the good of the group. When people gather and process information they form a knowledge community or collective intelligence. However, there are usually many skeptics about information since its often has no clear factual backing. Credibility seems to be very important in these communities. The goal of hoax's are to be plausible enough and gain attention for of a period of time and make it challenging to figure out its fake.
Discussion Questions:
1. Do you think producers purposely post false information in these online communities?
2. What do people get out of trying to figure it out before its released?
a site about tv spoilers
another spoiler guide

Tom Bissell wrote over 4500 pages from 2001 to 2006 but now spends his entire day playing video games. He has moved to several different locations around the world to try to free himself from the addiction but they have been unsuccessful. Vice city was his first addicting game and it also had influenced crime sprees by some of its users. He enjoyed the fact that you could do anything you wanted in the game and time didn't matter. His first real experience with coke made him feel an intense focus and they played GTA for 30 hours straight. The game turns things into an active experience and gave Bissell something that nothing else could. He explains how cocaine and video games dont have an edge, you have to appreciate them.
Discussion Questions:
1. Should games like GTA be responsible for crime sprees?
2. If violent video games are brought to court should violent movies also be?
A website discussiong the pro's and con's of violent video games
An article by the American Psycological Association(APA) about violent video game myths, facts, and questions

By 1999 more than 80% of homes with kids were reported to have a gaming console. Time spent gaming is growing among youth in the US, as is the diversity and forms of games. Gaming practices are diverse and game play is a complex phenomenon. Ito's focus is on how game play practice and activity are situated within a broader set of social and cultural contexts. One important outcome of recreational gaming is that people develop social networks of technical expertise. An appeal of gaming is that game outcomes do not transfer to reality, i.e. competing has no consequence of failure in real life. Different people play and view games differently (Neopets). Recreational gaming is everyday at home gaming. Competitive gaming is a step up from recreational gaming.
Discussion Questions:
1.  What does the type of gamer you are say about you?
2. How can online communities teach us/ prepare us for real world experiences?

Video games are an external example of how the human brain thinks and works. There are three basic views of how the mind works. 1. The mind is like an empty slate waiting to be written on. 2.  Our mind works like a computer and makes calculations based on logic. 3. The mind records experiences and creates intricate connections between them. Gee takes makes his argument for the 3rd view and I would agree with him. When you simulate something it helps you understand make sense of it. He believes video games are the perfect metaphor for how the mind works. Players play games with goals in mind and take into account the design of the world and how it will facilitate their actions. Affordances are relationships between he actors and their world.
Discussion Questions:
1. Are we attracted to video games that offer simulations of things we would like to experience?
2. Do people play games like the Sims to prepare themselves for real world experiences?

Today, Social networking sites are essentially portraits of ourselves. Although they are only in their beginning stages they have changed our culture dramatically. Social networking sites have developed and evolved from The WELL, to classmates.com, to Friendster, to Myspace, to Facebook. These sites can be used for people who want your attention such as marketers and politicians. The world is getting smaller because social links decrease the degrees of separation. Online communities offer new etiquette challenges such as inappropriate posts or "defriending". New social norms and rules are replacing old ones. Social networking sites also change the notion of privacy. You can often find someones class schedule, address, contact information, and other personal information on these sites. Employers often check them before hiring a candidate.
Discussion Questions:
1. The author says: "no one who lists thousands of "friends" on MySpace thinks of those people the same way as he does his flesh-and-blood acquaintances". Is this true for Facebook? I know some people will only be friends on Facebook with people they know in real life.
2. Do you find virtual friendship and interaction to be more reliable than real life?
Launch dates of Major Social Networking sites
Social networking site life cycles