Using social media as an education tool is an excellent way to incorporate something millennials consistently use to make them enjoy learning more. However, I never realized how difficult it is to use social media within instruction. After doing our group presentations and having to use our specific social media platform within the presentation, I realized how truly challenging it is to do so.
My group had Twitter for our presentations, and I think we got kind of lucky in that aspect. I think Twitter was one of the easier tools to incorporate into a presentation. We found the easiest way to use the tool within our presentation was to tweet what we wanted to ahead of time and then just go to Twitter as we were presenting to show what we wanted to show. This way we didn't have to take time out of our presentation to tweet out the things we wanted to. We never even really considered doing our presentation by tweeting during it because we knew it would be too difficult. We would have had to stop talking to go and tweet, and we would also have to take the time to go and find what we wanted to tweet in the midst of our presentation.
Our presentation definitely could have gone a little smoother. However, it didn't for a number of reasons. For starters, we could have probably practiced a little more to make the transitions from PowerPoint to Twitter more smooth. If we had the chance to go back and fix it, I think I would want to simply because I am a perfectionist. And our presentation was not perfection. Part of the problem also stemmed from Twitter itself. After we tweeted something, we couldn't go back in and rearrange the order of the tweets. That really frustrated me because I tweeted things out as I found them, but that was not the order I wanted to talk about them in. Another problem came in the form of not being able to have Twitter and PowerPoint show on the screen at the exact same time. Therefore, we were constantly having to go back and forth between PowerPoint and Twitter. I wish there had been a way to use both at the same time.
Overall, I enjoyed doing the presentations and it was nice to be able to incorporate social media into it. Most people our age are always on social media, so using it to help teach about the platform itself was an interesting experience. Things could have gone better, but this just goes to show the problems using social media in the classroom can cause. But I would probably do it again if I could.
Friday, April 29, 2016
Saturday, April 16, 2016
Week 13
So I always knew the dark web existed, I watch too many crime T.V. shows to not know; what I didn't know was how extensive it actually was or what the dark web actually entailed. Now, however, I have a better understanding on what it is. And it is safe to say I am even more appalled at the lengths people go through to commit crimes. Obviously, people can use the actual internet to commit crimes, and even commit crimes without the use of the internet, but the dark web further extends the amount and severity of the crimes committed. Probably two of the worst things that people do on the dark web are terrorism and child pornography. The depravity that people use the dark web for is appalling. And while we discussed the very limited number of positives to using the dark web, I feel the negatives far outweigh the positives.
Saturday, April 2, 2016
Week 11
Real friendships and relationships can't be formed from behind a computer screen and keyboard. This statement has long since been my belief; this belief stems from my own real life experience and from reading about what has happened to people who have become "friends" with people over the Internet. Emotions and intentions can not be fully expressed through electronics. Those can only come from being around the actual person-seeing their face, hearing how they are speaking. The Internet is a great way to meet fake people. And yes, you can meet fake people in real life as well, but it is typically easier to differentiate between real and fake when you are having face to face conversations. I have found my truest friendships have been formed with the people I have met in real life, not over the Internet. The Internet is a great place if you want to find yourself a stalker or potential murderer, but not so great for meaningful relationships. And yes, I know there are thousands of success stories of people finding love over the Internet, but those sites never advertise how many people have been tricked by people on their sites. People who have turned out to be awful individuals-broken their hearts, stolen things, maybe stalked them, sometimes they even kill their dates. You can also have the people who form fake relationships with individuals with the sole intent to bring them harm. They can form these friendships or romantic relationships, get the person to trust them, and then end up doing something awful to that person. That horrible act can sometimes have deadly consequences. This is why I am weary of trying online dating, why I never accept friend requests from people I don't know, and why I rely on meeting people the old fashion way. Nothing beats having a face to face conversation. Feeling those butterflies when you look at your crush. Being able to comfort and be comforted by a friend-feeling their arms around you, hearing their voice calming you. In person contact will always be the best form of communication and forming lasting relationships.
Friday, March 18, 2016
Week 10
Anonymity is something that many people strive for in their lives when it comes to saying certain things. Not too long ago it was hard to say anything anonymously because things typically had to be said face to face. Nowadays, however, people can anonymously publish things on the Internet through the use of social media and message boards where you can post with a pseudonym.
Certain sites like Whisper allow people to post anything from their deepest secret to the most random quotes they can imagine, all without using their real name. It is all anonymous. There is good in this, in the fact that someone could have a secret weighing on them but not want to share it with anyone personally. Sites like this allow them to post what is bothering them without the fear of people uncovering their identity. And sometimes when a person has major depression going on and they post something about their life, people can rally around them (anonymously of course) and hopefully make them feel better. Of course, there is a down side to this as well. People can post cruel things in response to a person's anonymous statement. '
Another way people can post anonymously is by creating fake social media accounts on sites like Twitter and Facebook. Some people do it just to be funny, like making an account for their pet just to post things like cat videos. Police can do it to gather evidence on criminals. However, other people can use it for criminal activities. Some criminals use it to target their next victim, either someone whose house they can break into or someone they can stalk and potentially plan to rape/murder. Others, typically teenagers, can use these fake profiles to bully other individuals. The victim will never know who the bully is on the Internet because it isn't a real identity. By using a fake profile, they make it harder for authorities to figure out who the actual perpetrator is.
Sometimes posting anonymously can help individuals feel better about themselves by sharing things that they need off their chests without having to tack their name onto it. However, being able to post anonymously can have deadly consequences. A criminal can find their next victim. A bully can cause a victim to see no way to end the bullying other than committing suicide. Anonymity can be useful in social media, but it is something that people need to be aware of and stop to think before they accept any unknown individuals or doing anything that could lead to them being hurt. As with most things, anonymity is good until it is placed in the wrong hands.
Certain sites like Whisper allow people to post anything from their deepest secret to the most random quotes they can imagine, all without using their real name. It is all anonymous. There is good in this, in the fact that someone could have a secret weighing on them but not want to share it with anyone personally. Sites like this allow them to post what is bothering them without the fear of people uncovering their identity. And sometimes when a person has major depression going on and they post something about their life, people can rally around them (anonymously of course) and hopefully make them feel better. Of course, there is a down side to this as well. People can post cruel things in response to a person's anonymous statement. '
Another way people can post anonymously is by creating fake social media accounts on sites like Twitter and Facebook. Some people do it just to be funny, like making an account for their pet just to post things like cat videos. Police can do it to gather evidence on criminals. However, other people can use it for criminal activities. Some criminals use it to target their next victim, either someone whose house they can break into or someone they can stalk and potentially plan to rape/murder. Others, typically teenagers, can use these fake profiles to bully other individuals. The victim will never know who the bully is on the Internet because it isn't a real identity. By using a fake profile, they make it harder for authorities to figure out who the actual perpetrator is.
Sometimes posting anonymously can help individuals feel better about themselves by sharing things that they need off their chests without having to tack their name onto it. However, being able to post anonymously can have deadly consequences. A criminal can find their next victim. A bully can cause a victim to see no way to end the bullying other than committing suicide. Anonymity can be useful in social media, but it is something that people need to be aware of and stop to think before they accept any unknown individuals or doing anything that could lead to them being hurt. As with most things, anonymity is good until it is placed in the wrong hands.
Friday, March 11, 2016
Week 9
Social injustices occur every day in the world, but sometimes many of those go unnoticed by the general population. It is hard to make everyone aware of all the bad things, whether they be small or large, that are going on. It was even worse 10-20 years ago without the use of the Internet to speed the telling of news along. While some individuals may abuse the use of the Internet to simply spread meaningless gossip about celebrities, some use it to spread useful information. Now days, it is easy to reach hundreds of thousands of people simply by posting something on Facebook or Twitter.
Important world events like the Boston Marathon Bombing or the massacres in Paris, news of those was spread in minutes after they happened-all through the use of social media. And while turning your profile picture blue, white, and red after the massacre may not seem like it really helped anything, it did. Individuals were able to show that they stood with Paris, that they felt horrible about what happened there, that they were grieving with the citizens of Paris even if they lived thousands of miles away. They were also able to spread awareness of what happened. Social media is an important tool for getting news out there fast.
Then you have things like the ALS ice bucket challenge. While it may have seemed like a stupid challenge, and like it wouldn't really raise any money to support the cause, it did. You were supposed to either dump ice water on your head or donate $100, if you got called out. The majority of people dumped the ice water on themselves. But the foundation still raised a great deal of money. How? Well, despite the fact that people were choosing to dump water on their heads, it brought attention to ALS. All the social media coverage it got raised the awareness of the disorder and people were moved into donating even if they didn't get challenged or chose to dump the water on their heads.
Whatever the cause or breaking news event, social media is an excellent tool for raising awareness of things and spreading information fast.
Important world events like the Boston Marathon Bombing or the massacres in Paris, news of those was spread in minutes after they happened-all through the use of social media. And while turning your profile picture blue, white, and red after the massacre may not seem like it really helped anything, it did. Individuals were able to show that they stood with Paris, that they felt horrible about what happened there, that they were grieving with the citizens of Paris even if they lived thousands of miles away. They were also able to spread awareness of what happened. Social media is an important tool for getting news out there fast.
Then you have things like the ALS ice bucket challenge. While it may have seemed like a stupid challenge, and like it wouldn't really raise any money to support the cause, it did. You were supposed to either dump ice water on your head or donate $100, if you got called out. The majority of people dumped the ice water on themselves. But the foundation still raised a great deal of money. How? Well, despite the fact that people were choosing to dump water on their heads, it brought attention to ALS. All the social media coverage it got raised the awareness of the disorder and people were moved into donating even if they didn't get challenged or chose to dump the water on their heads.
Whatever the cause or breaking news event, social media is an excellent tool for raising awareness of things and spreading information fast.
Friday, March 4, 2016
Week 8
So this relates more to last week's discussion more than it does to this week's, but it's a topic I found very interesting: the eight second attention span. The fact that as a species, we now only have an average attention span is unbelievable. We are highly developed individuals, and yet we struggle to maintain focus on even the simplest of tasks. I believe that most of our inability to focus stems from how much we have going on in our lives in today's time. While previously we had work, school, and family vying for our attention, we now have to add social media to that list. We constantly want to know what is going on in the lives of not only our friends and family but also everyone else in the world. In order for that to happen, we seem to need to continuously check our devices. It is hard to stay focused on only one thing, when there are so many other things you need to pay attention to as well. I know for me personally, I find it extremely hard to focus my attention on one thing for more than a couple minutes. My mom always tells me I have undiagnosed ADHD because I constantly need to be fiddling with something, but at the same time I have trouble focusing my attention on just one thing. I seem to always be doing at least two things at once; not because I don't have enough time to do them one at a time, but because I can't stand just sitting down and doing one thing at a time.
Veering off that topic, another discussion of interest revolved around how the internet now allows us to connect with so many people and through that easy connection we can easily find things we are missing. You see all those posts on Facebook of people seeking their birth parents. Before it would have been nearly impossible for them to find their parents, especially if it was a closed adoption. Now, however, by just posting a photo with the information of their birth, other people are able to share it and get that information to the masses. Eventually, the birth parents will most likely see that information. I am amazed at how well social media works at getting information to the masses to help find a certain person, a missing item, etc. I can't even imagine how much better it will be in the future because social media is constantly changing, adapting, and improving to make distributing information easier. And while social media facilitates the distribution of information, it is really the people who post the original status and all those who are willing to stand it that truly distribute the information. As we mentioned in class, the tools of the internet simply remove the obstacles that used to be present when attempted to share information to the masses.
Veering off that topic, another discussion of interest revolved around how the internet now allows us to connect with so many people and through that easy connection we can easily find things we are missing. You see all those posts on Facebook of people seeking their birth parents. Before it would have been nearly impossible for them to find their parents, especially if it was a closed adoption. Now, however, by just posting a photo with the information of their birth, other people are able to share it and get that information to the masses. Eventually, the birth parents will most likely see that information. I am amazed at how well social media works at getting information to the masses to help find a certain person, a missing item, etc. I can't even imagine how much better it will be in the future because social media is constantly changing, adapting, and improving to make distributing information easier. And while social media facilitates the distribution of information, it is really the people who post the original status and all those who are willing to stand it that truly distribute the information. As we mentioned in class, the tools of the internet simply remove the obstacles that used to be present when attempted to share information to the masses.
Friday, February 26, 2016
Week 7
We can all agree that social media, and the internet in general, is a great mode of communication. It helps us stay connected with those we can't see very often, those we do see often, and even those we have never even met. You have sites like Facebook and Twitter that allow us to provide family and friends with written and photographic evidence on what is going on in our lives. Sites like Instagram and SnapChat let us share photos of our adventures to those we care about. And then you have sites like OkCupid and Tinder that let you meet new people, whether it be for friendship, a long-term relationship, or just a casual hookup. Even sites like Facebook and Instagram help us meet new people, even if they are designed more for staying in touch with individuals you already know.
Take the video we watched in class about the couple who met over Instagram and decided to get married even though they had never even seen each other in person. Who does that? Is that the new normal in today's society? Have we gone from arranged marriages to meeting someone and falling in love to only meeting people over the internet and deciding to get married without having ever met face-to-face? It is not that I am against people doing the whole online dating thing to find love, but to meet someone on the internet and decide to get married having only conversed on the internet is hard for me to come to terms with. They could be showing you fake pictures and telling you whatever you want to hear. How can you know they aren't like a 90 year old man/woman or a serial killer without ever actually talking/seeing them? And while I understand that just because you actually get to know someone in person doesn't mean they aren't lying to you or aren't a serial killer, but I feel the risk isn't as high.
How can you truly get to know someone when you only talk to them through social media? I feel like there is so much more to learn about a person than can be shared over social media. Chemistry can't be felt through a screen. Furthermore, there are some things that simply need to be shared in person. If we only communicate through a screen, we miss so much out of our interactions with people.
I feel that the communication outlet social media provides us is both good and bad. It lets us connect with people we may not get to see very often, lets us meet new people, and express ourselves in a way we didn't used to have. However, there is also a bad side to it. If we only communicate through a screen, we lose the experience of interacting with other people in person; you can't give someone a hug or a kiss through a screen, you can't physically comfort them when they are sad, and so many more amazing things that can only happen in person. I feel that social media is actually leading to society's deterioration instead of it's advancement. We are missing out on so many amazing things life has to offer by living behind a screen.
Take the video we watched in class about the couple who met over Instagram and decided to get married even though they had never even seen each other in person. Who does that? Is that the new normal in today's society? Have we gone from arranged marriages to meeting someone and falling in love to only meeting people over the internet and deciding to get married without having ever met face-to-face? It is not that I am against people doing the whole online dating thing to find love, but to meet someone on the internet and decide to get married having only conversed on the internet is hard for me to come to terms with. They could be showing you fake pictures and telling you whatever you want to hear. How can you know they aren't like a 90 year old man/woman or a serial killer without ever actually talking/seeing them? And while I understand that just because you actually get to know someone in person doesn't mean they aren't lying to you or aren't a serial killer, but I feel the risk isn't as high.
How can you truly get to know someone when you only talk to them through social media? I feel like there is so much more to learn about a person than can be shared over social media. Chemistry can't be felt through a screen. Furthermore, there are some things that simply need to be shared in person. If we only communicate through a screen, we miss so much out of our interactions with people.
I feel that the communication outlet social media provides us is both good and bad. It lets us connect with people we may not get to see very often, lets us meet new people, and express ourselves in a way we didn't used to have. However, there is also a bad side to it. If we only communicate through a screen, we lose the experience of interacting with other people in person; you can't give someone a hug or a kiss through a screen, you can't physically comfort them when they are sad, and so many more amazing things that can only happen in person. I feel that social media is actually leading to society's deterioration instead of it's advancement. We are missing out on so many amazing things life has to offer by living behind a screen.
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Week 6
Addiction, a term most commonly heard of in connection with drugs and alcohol. However, more recently it is being used in terms of internet addiction as well. Much of the topic of discussion in today's society revolves more specifically around video game addiction than just plain internet addiction. I definitely believe video game addiction is becoming a major problem in the world today, especially after watching the second part of the "Digital Nation" video. The fact that people in Korea actually died while playing video games is a sad, terrifying piece of information to now possess. However, I know it is not just video games that people are addicted to. They are addicted to social media, video streaming services, and much more. If the trend of internet addiction continues to increase, it may one day surpass the amount of drug/alcohol addictions out there.
I can personally say that I have a "slight" addiction to binge-watching television shows on Netflix. I don't necessarily think is an actual addiction, because I can control myself for the most part and if I actually wanted to stop watching permanently, I could. Furthermore, I don't spend days upon days, with no sleep, watching Netflix. I actually take time to hang out with friends, eat, sleep, shower, go to class, etc. My thing with watching shows on Netflix is that I typically don't have time to watch the new episodes as they come out every week on television. Between school and work, television gets put on the back burner. Therefore, I tend to wait until the season comes out on Netflix and then watch the whole season at once. Or, I happen to catch an episode of a show on television and I decide I like it, but I started watching in the middle of like the fifth season or something. That is when I go on Netflix and binge multiple seasons so I am caught up to the current season. I also tend to have Netflix playing while I do school work because I can't just be doing one thing or I can't focus. When I do that, I tend to watch more episodes in one sitting simply because I have so much work that I can get through like five or six, sometimes more, episodes while doing homework.
As long as it is done in a "safe" way, I don't think spending a lot of time on the internet is a totally bad thing. Yes, it sometimes alienates you from the real world, but sometimes everyone needs a little escape from reality. I think the real problem occurs when you get the people who don't do anything except play their games, watch videos, etc. If they don't even stop for food or to go to the bathroom, let alone stop to go to work/school, then I think they definitely have an addiction problem and need serious help. If they just like to use the internet to relax, for escape, to help them get through work, etc., then they aren't so much addicted as they are just a person who needs a way to get away from the everyday stresses of life.
I can personally say that I have a "slight" addiction to binge-watching television shows on Netflix. I don't necessarily think is an actual addiction, because I can control myself for the most part and if I actually wanted to stop watching permanently, I could. Furthermore, I don't spend days upon days, with no sleep, watching Netflix. I actually take time to hang out with friends, eat, sleep, shower, go to class, etc. My thing with watching shows on Netflix is that I typically don't have time to watch the new episodes as they come out every week on television. Between school and work, television gets put on the back burner. Therefore, I tend to wait until the season comes out on Netflix and then watch the whole season at once. Or, I happen to catch an episode of a show on television and I decide I like it, but I started watching in the middle of like the fifth season or something. That is when I go on Netflix and binge multiple seasons so I am caught up to the current season. I also tend to have Netflix playing while I do school work because I can't just be doing one thing or I can't focus. When I do that, I tend to watch more episodes in one sitting simply because I have so much work that I can get through like five or six, sometimes more, episodes while doing homework.
As long as it is done in a "safe" way, I don't think spending a lot of time on the internet is a totally bad thing. Yes, it sometimes alienates you from the real world, but sometimes everyone needs a little escape from reality. I think the real problem occurs when you get the people who don't do anything except play their games, watch videos, etc. If they don't even stop for food or to go to the bathroom, let alone stop to go to work/school, then I think they definitely have an addiction problem and need serious help. If they just like to use the internet to relax, for escape, to help them get through work, etc., then they aren't so much addicted as they are just a person who needs a way to get away from the everyday stresses of life.
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Week 5
The topic of discussion this week concerned the subject of videos, posts, etc. going viral. Why does something actually go viral? What makes one video better than any of the other billions of videos that are posted?
For me personally, what makes me share a video relies heavily on the content of the video and how it relates to my life. If I see a video that I can relate to, like something involving living with anxiety, then I will most likely share it. I'm also more likely to share a video if it has a high cuteness factor, like cat videos. I'm also partial to sharing funny videos, particularly ones with animals, because everyone needs a little laughter in their life. I typically am not concerned about sharing videos that millions of other people are sharing; I'm more interested in sharing videos that mean something to me or bring me high levels of enjoyment that I think other people should be able to get from it as well.
For other people, why they share a video might be totally different. Maybe they only rely on how they feel in the moment they see it. Maybe they rely on seeing what their friends and family share and then decide to share it too. Or maybe a celebrity shares the video and then they decide that since that celebrity shared it, it must be interesting and they should share it too. Without polling everybody in the world who shares a video, which would be next to impossible, no one can say for 100% certainty why certain videos go viral over others.
One particular subject, that has gone viral, is the "dress; the one that some people see as gold and white, and others see as blue and black. We talked about what helped that go viral was that celebrities were getting in on saying what colors they were seeing; it wasn't just your everyday average person. It is sad, but as regular people we are very interested in what celebrities are interested in. If they think it is good enough to share, then we should too. However, I also think that it sparked heated discussions helped as well. For some strange reason, we enjoy arguing with other people. It brings us some kind of pleasure having someone to argue/disagree with, especially if it is a widely publicized debate.
For me personally, what makes me share a video relies heavily on the content of the video and how it relates to my life. If I see a video that I can relate to, like something involving living with anxiety, then I will most likely share it. I'm also more likely to share a video if it has a high cuteness factor, like cat videos. I'm also partial to sharing funny videos, particularly ones with animals, because everyone needs a little laughter in their life. I typically am not concerned about sharing videos that millions of other people are sharing; I'm more interested in sharing videos that mean something to me or bring me high levels of enjoyment that I think other people should be able to get from it as well.
For other people, why they share a video might be totally different. Maybe they only rely on how they feel in the moment they see it. Maybe they rely on seeing what their friends and family share and then decide to share it too. Or maybe a celebrity shares the video and then they decide that since that celebrity shared it, it must be interesting and they should share it too. Without polling everybody in the world who shares a video, which would be next to impossible, no one can say for 100% certainty why certain videos go viral over others.
One particular subject, that has gone viral, is the "dress; the one that some people see as gold and white, and others see as blue and black. We talked about what helped that go viral was that celebrities were getting in on saying what colors they were seeing; it wasn't just your everyday average person. It is sad, but as regular people we are very interested in what celebrities are interested in. If they think it is good enough to share, then we should too. However, I also think that it sparked heated discussions helped as well. For some strange reason, we enjoy arguing with other people. It brings us some kind of pleasure having someone to argue/disagree with, especially if it is a widely publicized debate.
Thursday, February 4, 2016
Week 4
So for this week, we had to have a few different things prepared. And while all of it was interesting in its own unique way, I probably enjoyed the Katie Couric videos and the MediaShift website the most. I liked Couric's videos because she brought up some very interesting points in the interview. Almost at the very beginning she quoted "necessity is the mother of invention" and that got me thinking on if that statement is true. Do we have to jump on the bandwagon of social media in order to stay informed of our society and to keep in touch with our peers? Personally, I think you do. Without a presence on social media you are basically telling the world you don't exist. You would miss out on important events in the news and lose a way to keep in contact with friends and family who live far away. Without my social media accounts I feel like I wouldn't know anything going on locally, nationally, or globally.
It was only briefly mentioned, maybe only a few sentences, but I also liked the part that brought up how big we are on making sure are stuff gets liked. It makes you wonder how self-absorbed people might be becoming. There are a good number of people who care more about how many likes their photo or status gets than what people think of them in the real world. We are becoming a society that is more interested in how we appear on social media than how we appear in real life. On social media we are able to be anyone we want to be, even if that person is the total opposite of who we are in the real world.
The MediaShift website was interesting because it was a lot of different posts about a lot of different topics, all having to do a lot with the media. I read probably main ten different articles, ranging from ad blocking, all the way to using Twitter to get the word out about a project you are doing in order to collect data from people you may have otherwise not found. Perhaps my favorite article I found was one on which method people preferred to find their news in 2015. Unsurprisingly, the majority preferred to get their news on social media.
In class our discussion was aimed mainly in terms of the news and its role on social media. I know that the only way I ever get my news is by following various news sites on Twitter and Facebook. I don't ever sit down and read the paper or watch the news. If the news wasn't available on social media, I would probably never know what is going on. Despite how much I enjoy only needing to use social media to get the news, it breaks my heart to see print newspapers almost going the way of the dinosaur. I can't imagine a world without print newspapers, even if I personally don't read then. I do, however, play the Sudoku puzzle that is always in the paper. And if that was gone, I would be especially sad.
It was only briefly mentioned, maybe only a few sentences, but I also liked the part that brought up how big we are on making sure are stuff gets liked. It makes you wonder how self-absorbed people might be becoming. There are a good number of people who care more about how many likes their photo or status gets than what people think of them in the real world. We are becoming a society that is more interested in how we appear on social media than how we appear in real life. On social media we are able to be anyone we want to be, even if that person is the total opposite of who we are in the real world.
The MediaShift website was interesting because it was a lot of different posts about a lot of different topics, all having to do a lot with the media. I read probably main ten different articles, ranging from ad blocking, all the way to using Twitter to get the word out about a project you are doing in order to collect data from people you may have otherwise not found. Perhaps my favorite article I found was one on which method people preferred to find their news in 2015. Unsurprisingly, the majority preferred to get their news on social media.
In class our discussion was aimed mainly in terms of the news and its role on social media. I know that the only way I ever get my news is by following various news sites on Twitter and Facebook. I don't ever sit down and read the paper or watch the news. If the news wasn't available on social media, I would probably never know what is going on. Despite how much I enjoy only needing to use social media to get the news, it breaks my heart to see print newspapers almost going the way of the dinosaur. I can't imagine a world without print newspapers, even if I personally don't read then. I do, however, play the Sudoku puzzle that is always in the paper. And if that was gone, I would be especially sad.
Friday, January 29, 2016
Week 3
So we covered a few different things this week during class; we discussed where technology may be heading in the future, how well we perform at multitasking, and a little bit on the types of order out there.
In regards to the chapters of the book we read for class, I wasn't sure why he had to take three chapters to say what could have been said in one. I'm also not entirely sure I agree with his opinion. I personally don't like having things organized into more than one place. I have a tendency to be very obsessive compulsive about how things are organized and his way of organizing just wouldn't work for me. I love having things alphabetized and color coded, and while he didn't mention color coding, I have a feeling he would be against it just like he is against alphabetization. Maybe my brain is just wired weird, but I generally never need an excessive amount of tags in order to find a picture or document on my computer. I don't agree with the idea that the way to overcome an overabundance of information is to add more information. I am a firm believer of less is more. It doesn't matter if it is a photo, a document, a book, etc., I can always find it because I always remember where I stored it.
While many individuals would be fascinated by the video of the future of technology that we watched, I was personally a little fearful of what I saw. I don't think I would want to live in a world where almost everything is touchscreen/digital. Anybody would be able to see what you are doing; there would be no such thing as privacy anymore.
I really found our discussion regarding multitasking to be interesting. I always think that I'm good at multitasking, but I know that if I was tested, just like in the video, I would do poorly. Though to be perfectly honest, the majority of my multitasking tends to be watching Netflix while doing my homework. But now I am wondering if doing that is making my work not as good. And sure, a little multitasking every now and then is needed. There are only so many hours in a day and way more work that has to be done in those limited hours. However, I think the trouble enters when you get the people who are texting and driving or anything else like that. That type of multitasking can be deadly. And then you have the "multitasking" like when you are out to dinner with someone and you are trying to eat and carry on a conversation with your dinner companion, but your nose is also buried in your phone. Being so preoccupied with our devices means we don't pay as much attention to the world and people around us. I think that kind of multitasking ranks up there near the top of things that are bad with all the technology we have today.
In regards to the chapters of the book we read for class, I wasn't sure why he had to take three chapters to say what could have been said in one. I'm also not entirely sure I agree with his opinion. I personally don't like having things organized into more than one place. I have a tendency to be very obsessive compulsive about how things are organized and his way of organizing just wouldn't work for me. I love having things alphabetized and color coded, and while he didn't mention color coding, I have a feeling he would be against it just like he is against alphabetization. Maybe my brain is just wired weird, but I generally never need an excessive amount of tags in order to find a picture or document on my computer. I don't agree with the idea that the way to overcome an overabundance of information is to add more information. I am a firm believer of less is more. It doesn't matter if it is a photo, a document, a book, etc., I can always find it because I always remember where I stored it.
While many individuals would be fascinated by the video of the future of technology that we watched, I was personally a little fearful of what I saw. I don't think I would want to live in a world where almost everything is touchscreen/digital. Anybody would be able to see what you are doing; there would be no such thing as privacy anymore.
I really found our discussion regarding multitasking to be interesting. I always think that I'm good at multitasking, but I know that if I was tested, just like in the video, I would do poorly. Though to be perfectly honest, the majority of my multitasking tends to be watching Netflix while doing my homework. But now I am wondering if doing that is making my work not as good. And sure, a little multitasking every now and then is needed. There are only so many hours in a day and way more work that has to be done in those limited hours. However, I think the trouble enters when you get the people who are texting and driving or anything else like that. That type of multitasking can be deadly. And then you have the "multitasking" like when you are out to dinner with someone and you are trying to eat and carry on a conversation with your dinner companion, but your nose is also buried in your phone. Being so preoccupied with our devices means we don't pay as much attention to the world and people around us. I think that kind of multitasking ranks up there near the top of things that are bad with all the technology we have today.
Friday, January 22, 2016
Weeks 1 and 2
So, I've never written a blog before; therefore I have no idea how this will turn out. However, instead of trying to Google how to write a blog (like I normally would do for something I didn't understand), I am choosing to try this on my own without any outside help.
The first class we had, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. Would I like the class, would I dislike the class, would I complain every week to my mom about how much I wish I had never taken the class? Well, I didn't dislike it, but I also wasn't sure if I would ever love it. I'm not a huge fan of social media, and I mainly decided to take the class because of the psychology aspect since I am a psychology major. However, despite my initial reservations, I think I am really going to enjoy the course.
A good portion of the first class was basically spent as a get to know each other session. We talked about our favorite social media tool, our majors, etc. That was all fine and dandy. Most classes, unless they are abnormally large, do an introduce yourself portion on the first day of class. It was what came after that that I was worried about. I had no idea how we were going to spend 2 hours and 20 minutes talking about social media. How much could there really be to discuss about it? Well, I got my answer. We spent the remaining time of the class covering more about social media than I could ever imagine there was to cover.
At the end of class we got our first homework assignment. We had to watch a video, and originally I thought it would be pretty boring. However, the video ended up actually being fairly cool to watch. They made some points about things that I've never even thought of before. We also had to tweet a link to social media site we hadn't covered in class. I thought it would be hard to find one because we covered a good deal of them in class, a lot of them I had never even heard of before. However, once again I was surprised by our homework assignment. Just typing in social media in the search bar in the play store brought up more apps than I ever even knew existed.
I went in to the second week of class a lot less skeptical than the first week. I knew, because of the syllabus, that we were going to be covering the history of social media. However, what I didn't realize was just how extensive that history is. It was also cool to see how much faster social media is developing compared to 50-100 years ago. We also talked a good bit about how we ourselves put our news out there and how we would feel if people didn't see what we shared. I also really liked during one of our small group discussions, my group's talk about how our generation hates to be parted from our phones. I know me personally, I use mine as a security blanket sometimes. If I am in an awkward situation, I can just break out my phone to act like I'm doing something important.
Overall, I feel we had a successful first two weeks of class. I am excited to see where this course will go. I am ready to find out more about social media than I ever thought possible to exist. I think I may even enjoying blogging every week.....maybe. Only time will tell.
The first class we had, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. Would I like the class, would I dislike the class, would I complain every week to my mom about how much I wish I had never taken the class? Well, I didn't dislike it, but I also wasn't sure if I would ever love it. I'm not a huge fan of social media, and I mainly decided to take the class because of the psychology aspect since I am a psychology major. However, despite my initial reservations, I think I am really going to enjoy the course.
A good portion of the first class was basically spent as a get to know each other session. We talked about our favorite social media tool, our majors, etc. That was all fine and dandy. Most classes, unless they are abnormally large, do an introduce yourself portion on the first day of class. It was what came after that that I was worried about. I had no idea how we were going to spend 2 hours and 20 minutes talking about social media. How much could there really be to discuss about it? Well, I got my answer. We spent the remaining time of the class covering more about social media than I could ever imagine there was to cover.
At the end of class we got our first homework assignment. We had to watch a video, and originally I thought it would be pretty boring. However, the video ended up actually being fairly cool to watch. They made some points about things that I've never even thought of before. We also had to tweet a link to social media site we hadn't covered in class. I thought it would be hard to find one because we covered a good deal of them in class, a lot of them I had never even heard of before. However, once again I was surprised by our homework assignment. Just typing in social media in the search bar in the play store brought up more apps than I ever even knew existed.
I went in to the second week of class a lot less skeptical than the first week. I knew, because of the syllabus, that we were going to be covering the history of social media. However, what I didn't realize was just how extensive that history is. It was also cool to see how much faster social media is developing compared to 50-100 years ago. We also talked a good bit about how we ourselves put our news out there and how we would feel if people didn't see what we shared. I also really liked during one of our small group discussions, my group's talk about how our generation hates to be parted from our phones. I know me personally, I use mine as a security blanket sometimes. If I am in an awkward situation, I can just break out my phone to act like I'm doing something important.
Overall, I feel we had a successful first two weeks of class. I am excited to see where this course will go. I am ready to find out more about social media than I ever thought possible to exist. I think I may even enjoying blogging every week.....maybe. Only time will tell.
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