Final Post

Reflecting back on this class and the discussion topics I feel I learned about myself. Being in this course I was able to express myself about a topic I feel would never have come up in casual conversation.  Being able to convey my thoughts on the topic through several examples was also helpful for me because I was able to get a visual of the thoughts I was trying to convey. Being able to use Facebook and be hands on with other forms of technology to be able to experience the lessons taught is what I feel learning is all about and to be able to accomplish that threw an online class is pretty impressive. I value the feed back from my peers because it just give me a level of security within our society that there are other individuals that have an opinions about similar topics and discussions. It makes me feel like m not alone and it is okay for your mind to wonder and discover new theories and ideas about everyday life.  Definitely appreciate the professors attempt to pass along as much knowledge as possible. The professor challenged us mentally with excellent discussion questions: questions that required critical thinking. When you search for a class you never think a course like this could be important to our society but t actually is. We deal with communication everyday and technology everyday and I feel to be involved in a course that helps make sense of the correlation of the two is very crucial to what is going on in our society today.

The things about the course was difficult was keeping up with bloging initially. I was not too familiar with bloging and I felt uneasy about relying on an outside site to determine my grade. Just like anything else in life with repetition you get the hang of it.

I do not feel the class needs to change, except the readings. At times it gets confusing about what reading you are responsible for week to week, but it was also a clever way to get the class to read two books in such little time. If it was possible to have a blog site everyone was a part of maybe easier but for the most part the class was very enlightening. One thing with a class like this where everything is literal, as far scores go, it doesn’t seem it would be a struggle to do well but for some reason the grading style is very deceiving.

media story

I’m not sure if this story falls exactly in the lines of what the blog should be about but I had to bring it up because it was the first thing that came to my head when I read the assignment.  I was watching ESPN and the story were being reported about a guy who worked for the Philadelphia Eagles Organization with the stadium crew. Now, Recently the Eagles traded their All-pro Safety, Brian Dawkins to the Denver Broncos. Now, the guy has been working for the stadium crew for six years and he was fired because he made comments or blogs on his Facebook about the Philadelphia organization trading Brian Dawkins and how dumb he felt it was. This story is funny because this assignment came up at the right time to discuss and I felt it was an appropriate example. How do you get fired for the comments made on your Facebook page? This is a site created to help keep in touch with friends or meeting new friends and you can leave comments and pictures to friends. I’m wondering, is it fair for the Eagles organization to fire this man based on a single commented made to someone on his Facebook? When the organization was asked about the termination they mentioned that the individual’s loyalty was questionable. The individual apologized for his actions and words but it didn’t help, he remains jobless with the organization.  

Is this a misuse of the internet? I think it is but obviously it isn’t. I just don’t understand how the organization can go on to a person Facebook page and determine so much about a person from one comment. Especially after six years of dedicated service and now say the loyalty is questionable. I can’t see that as a good enough to terminate someone after meddling into their personal life. That decision was a horrible one, unless the was more to it but if that was it and their main reason for firing that individual then that is really scary. Could the comments made about the trade be hate mail? There seems to be no sense of privacy. But does this comment fall into the same lines as a hate site and do the organization feel that they did the right thing?

Wildcard

            My experiences with the internet consist nothing more than downloading music, when I get a chance, homework or research for class, and emailing or staying in contact with my family and friends from back at home that I do not get to communicate with often. I realized having a Facebook is more convienent than I initially thought. Facebook allows me to search for friends and keep them updated with what is going on in my life without having to completely having to constantly pick up the phone and talk to every single person. I can post pictures every once in awhile of things that go on, leave messages, express your feelings and even let people know what your current status is and all your friends can see it. This form of communication is definitely efficient for someone in a position who is always moving around and busy. Another factor for me is that I don’t enjoy long conversation on the phone. So I also get to communicate with my loved one without having to worry about holding the phone to my ear forever. This reason goes into what my point of all this is about. When I talk to my parents the conversations are way too long. So knowing my parents has email and text messaging is a life saver for me. The other night, I called my mom to updated her about some of the events that were going to occur in the upcoming weeks so that she could be aware, the same with my father. My daughter got her ears pierced over the weekend and I was able to email the both of them pictures I had taken and typed a little message saying what was going on. They emailed me back a little joke or message and that was that. I began to realize at that moment that process was a lot simpler than talking on the phone for hours. Without internet this would not be possible. But it is funny that in the reading that the information gap was discussed and this current event took place at the time that I had to write about it. My stepfather emailed me talking about he was teaching my mother how to work the internet and be able to work the email to communicate with me because they did not always have the internet and now that they have it they are trying to adapt to the times. I think they are starting to realize that the internet is important and can be more helpful than they thought, also.

interviews

After interviewing grandma, who is 72 years old; my father ,44, and my little brother nick who is a freshman in high school, age 14, made me think about all the different use of the internet if any. Grandma talked about how she was not familiar with using the internet. She has a hard time functioning her new flat screen television. Her cell phone is probably the most simple cell phone on display, just buttons a screen and a enter button, she gets confused with anything else beyond that and she has been having cell phones for a while. It seems like she could understand but she has it her head it is too much to try and figure out so she doesn’t bother trying.

My father on the other hand is really all that internet savvy but he takes some time to understand all because he understands it can be more of a convenience, since he is a busy business man and all. He can type up documents and send them off to multiple clients now, which may save him driving to every client to propose changes or something like that. My father is more business friendly when it comes to the internet; whether it is checking plane tickets, emailing clients, trying to establish some of his ventures.

My little brother uses the internet just like any other teenager in his generation: YouTube, MySpace and music for his iPod. He has more fun with the internet than the older generations do.  I believe because the younger generations rely on internet within class setting now it gives them the skills to be able to use the technology without having to worry about taking time out of their day to teach themselves.

The internet is a great way to get things done in this generation. There are so many tools that can be used because of the internet so I think the internet is a benefit for our society.

 

Internet Communities (wk.6)

I am apart of an online video game community with Xbox Live. This community allows me to be able to play games, chat, and talk to either possible teammates or opponents, depending on the game played. Being online and playing with people you don’t know but share the same interest is a fun experience. It is different from playing with people at your house. You still have to find people that is in you real world community that have interest in the same games because if they are not interest than most likely your experience wont be as eat.  Internet communities differ from real world communities. The internet community seems to be a place Indi duals can go to either be accepted or find a community of individuals who share the same interest. For example, throughout my experiences being involved in an online community I am able to skip the entire introduction and get right to what my purpose is for joining the community. When you are in the real world it is a bit different to find people who have the same interest as you. The internet takes less effort and you can save your self some embarrassment when it comes to rejection. If you are rejected online, you probably won’t like but you won’t feel as embarrassed as you would if someone rejected you to your face. Being able to being online just allows you to be accepted without having to worry about stuff you would if you were around the people in the real world, like are they safe, do they think I’m attractive, depending on the community, things like that go through our minds when we are face to face with people.

In Wood and Smith, Nancy Baym’s five factors mentioned seem to stand true. Being able to come and go and participate at your own leisure is very important, being able to navigate the site, being comfortable with the community members. Your outside experiences can help bring certain members together which can make the community that much tighter, along with having the same purposes. These are great factors that help with joining an internet community. The cool thing about my internet community is the fact that people who are in your real world community can play with or against you online. This helps with convenience. Not having to wonder if your friend is going to come all the way from the other side of town to play games with you can be stressful. Being able to send a message asking to play while they are in the comfort of their home and you in the comfort of your own home create a great energy.

I believe it can be the only way to punish someone in the community unless you can just kick them out of the community. Not involving them is an effective strategy for punishing an individual who breaks the rules within the community. You have to understand the whole purpose of being involved with an online community is to be accepted not ignored. One time me and my roommate where playing a game that allowed four player to be on a team to survive and shoot through a city filled of zombies trying to eat you. Well, my roommate and I were playing online and when you start the game people can join at anytime if there is an open player available during the game but you can’t check the guys profile to see if he is a good teammate. Turns out this guy joining the game must have been bored because instead of him trying to help us beat the level we were on, he decide to shoot my roommate and I, which prolonged the game and kept us from completing the level. So when the level restarted we didn’t press any buttons or anything we just sat there and watched the screen and after awhile he got bored and quit.

I don’t think it is fair to limit membership but sometimes people are not on the same page and feel it maybe a waste of time communicating with someone who has no clue of what is going on. I don’t think interacting with individuals on the same topic that has the same viewpoint as you hinders your ability to think broadly about the topic but the conversation can die down a bit because everyone involved in the topic feels the same way; unless someone goes against the grain to spark the topic and that is where it maybe difficult to know who is truthful about where they stand on certain topics. When I am playing a sports game against someone online, I always check their profile to see if they even know how to play. If they don’t have any experience with the game then I deny their request to play and move on to someone with the same skill level or better.

Letters

Writing a letter and writing an email is extremely different once you actually compare the two. These assignments really does bring up the weirdest questions to mind and even presents a new found appreciation for the things we have as far as technology goes. Without thinking about this assignment you would think a letter and an email is the same one just is delivered quicker than the other. It is a whole lot more to it than just speedy delivery.

            When I sat down to write a letter it was a little different as far as what I wanted to say and how I thought about saying what I felt. When writing a letter I believe it is more heart felt simply because you don’t know if the person would receive the letter or not; because that may be the case you want to make sure what you are saying everything exactly the way you are feeling. It may tend to be longer than an email because you want to make sure you are getting everything out because you don’t know how long it will take to get a response. In the meantime of waiting you can get new information and develop new feelings that can possibly affect your response and so on. It is also more personal because you actually have to take time out of your day especially when everything is so quick and efficient now days, to write the letter out. Writing today is a more personal process in my opinion simply because we don’t have to write even if it is a letter. Writing a letter is more to it once you sit back and actually think about it.

            Now, an email is less personal because you don’t have the time to sit and reflect on your feelings and developed them into words that really convey how you feel. It is too quick of a process in my opinion. As soon as you send off you email, a response can come back in am matter of minutes. I truly believe you have the proper time to analyze what the person is saying in that email because you are so focused on your response because you know you can give one back so fast. I just believe you loose the appreciation of what it means to be able to express yourself in words over email.

            The responses are different. With the letter you can see that the person took time to say what they were feeling. You can picture them saying some of the words that were written and it match how it would have even said if they were around, it is cool. Email responses are okay but for the most part I feel some people miss the point and can interpret things the wrong way because of how fast the email come and go. I think if we took our time and truly analyze what we are reading and writing, not when there is just an assignment due, then writing emails may have the same effect on us as writing a letter had on me.

Facebook wk.3

Having a MySpace or Facebook allows an individual to create their alter ego. I believe everyone has an alter ego or someone who they would or make their selves out to be. These online line communities allow this to happen. You can be whoever you want to be on MySpace and face book. This why I believe so many people are drawn to it.

When I had a MySpace and Facebook I could express myself through the music I selected for my page the quotes I posted and even the pictured I attached. It just lets u present another side of yourself that sometimes may not always be appropriate or everyone may not understand about you if it were normal interaction. Being in these cyber communities gives an individual a chance to takes chances with image and personality that that feel limited to in the real world. A man could be a woman, for example. Older people could be younger people non-popular people could become popular. In the these cyber communities everyone could be excepted without being judged initially, another term mentioned form the reading for this would be the idea of telepresence.

When we judge people we look at the diction and words people use. I think we try to put a picture to the words we read from people online. Judging others intelligences could be a cue for judgment.

The role I play online is a role of what I want to become where I want to be in life, so my online persona would be me pictured as a rich and wealthy person and my context would express nothing but intelligence. I believe it is healthy for me to have an online avatar because I get a chance to remind myself where I want to be as far as how I want to perceive myself to others.

An advantage I think is good for some individuals is that being online allows you to express one’s self freely; some people have hard time with physical interaction and have hard times expressing their selves but being online eliminates some of that. Sometimes a disadvantage of this is that some people take it too far and never express who they really are. I believe we these forms are used in real life at times, look at trans-sexual.

 

Abstinence

Abstinence
January 13, 2009                                            
My experience with internet abstinence has been one that is somewhat difficult but since I have been enrolled in online courses it make the assignment that much more intense. It is funny the things you appreciate when you don’t have them because even though I don’t always use the internet the few things I do feels weird when I am not able to complete those task such as sending my parents photos of my kids. For example my stepmother text messaged me telling me I need to email her some information saying I am a full-time student for insurance purposes. This assignment got m thinking about how much time and effort I save by sending my information through the email rather having to go out and mail it. Mailing requires an envelope to mail it in, maybe stamps which cost, and then actually having to go to a mailbox or post office to mail maybe one or two pages of information off saying I have a minimum of twelve credits.
            This goes back to Plato and how I strongly feel that he would appreciate the type of technology used today because it is time consuming. Being able to send a mass text message or email is convenient then having to write a letter to a group of people which requires time and labor. You must take in consideration the costs; you have to pay for the materials you need for the information and the mailing costs, and not to mention the man hours you have to put in. Today’s technology has advanced our society tremendously. Immediate communication helps us as society communicate with one another from across the world. Technology like this is convenient and efficient for society because it allows us to get more accomplished in less time and creates opportunity to have more leisure time for self.
            I believe that time is valued pretty high within our culture. Having the time to enjoy the pleasures of life such as vacations, family time, going to the movies, shopping is what it is all about. This is good but I was thinking about when there comes a time that humans won’t be needed in the work force because of the advancement of technology? If you look at some of the things around us going back to the assembly lines and how large numbers of people were put out of work because of the introduction to machine’s being able to assemble consumer products. If you were to go to the grocery store you have self checkout lanes, where the machine helps you check out your items, collects and returns money and it’s convenient. Is this the path our society is headed because if so, lots of people can possibly be out of work which can cause more poverty issues within our world, right?

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