Fake Grass and the Cyber City

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You've seen her in class, you've seen her getting extra-shot coffees in the guild village and you may have even seen her in the library... but you have never seen her videoblog--- until now!

Welcome to the title sequence of 'Fake Grass and the Cyber City', with many exciting posts to come.

Watch as the creator, star and director takes you on a journey that will have you breaking out in a cold sweat the next time you even think of not thinking critically about an opinion or product recommendation you access online.

I drink Coke Zero, adore Revlon Fabulash and choose to fly Qantas every time I travel.

Not all of these statements have to be true for me to publish them online... what if I was paid to say them? What if I worked for Qantas, was a distributor of Coca-Cola, or modelled for Revlon (assuming this is a parallel universe in which I could be a model)?

Internet users are particularly vulnerable to promotion efforts by public relations and marketing campaigns, because it is a new medium. We see weblogs as a means of sharing and connecting with other online users, but maybe corporations see them as a new way of reaching their target demographic.

Astroturfing is a new concept that has been developed to describe these types of deceptive practices.

We should try and see the best in everyone, but as the internet does not allow you to directly see the person whose words you are reading, be aware that you don't know who, or what, you are looking at.

I hope that my videoblog will make you all as cynical as myself-- might have to go eat some Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate (with a glass and a half of real milk!) to perk myself right back up again.

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All footage shot on UWA campus (outside Arts building), edited in Flash.