Final Course blog

Intro to new media has really opened my eyes to how media convergence and the digital revolution is changing our lives and the way we consume and use different kinds of media some of it good some of it bad. I'm optimistic about the rise of civilian journalist and am hopeful that they can put pressure on the mainstream media when it comes to bias and corporate influence. From reading Danah Boyds book Its Complicated I've come to understand and agreeing with her position on young people and the reason for using social media. I think we as a society need to understand that because of the pressures we are putting on young people these days we are forcing them to turn to social media in order to socialize. I am however somewhat concerned with how this revolution will effect our privacy. For instance, will the government call for more regulation of online content such as video streaming? and how will net neutrality be enforced and how will the courts act on the subject in the future? The digital revolution will roll on and hopefully these changes will be for the better.

article from Wired

Here is an interesting article from wired magazine that talks about the improvements made to the ACA website. It gives a great explanation of why the website will run much smoother than after the original launch.

Slactivism

we've all done it. we look at our Facebook timeline and see a story about a war in a far off nation or a natural disaster that destroys thousands of lives. We read the stories and think to ourselves "Wow!! something needs to be done!!" so we "share" the story on our Facebook time lines thinking we are playing an important role and "doing something". The fact of the matter is this is what is called slactivism. Believing that because we share something on social media that we are actually accomplishing something.

Trust me in many ways social media is beneficial, however when it comes to trying to bring awareness to an issue in many ways its useless. Of course its not really the fault of the medium but the user. Young people nowadays are so impulsive that they will try and get themselves involved with any kind of activist activity that pops up on their timeline without doing any research on the topic.

Young people can do good things on social media, they just need a less lazy way to go about it.

cyberbullying

When it comes to cyberbullying I think we need to take a step back and look at it as a social issue rather than blame the internet as a whole and restrict access. As we discussed in class much of what is being labeled as "cyberbullying" is just drama in the everyday lives of teenagers such as girls fighting over boys or just inside jokes between friends. But unfortunately when this drama goes public it tends to become overblown. I think one way to address this issue is to teach internet etiquette early. I know that when I was in middle school my parents had no idea what AIM or an online chat room was and even now kids are gaining access to the internet at a younger age and many parents still may not monitor their activity or even understand it. I think we also need to teach young people that sometimes problems need to be handled face to face rather than in the public eye. However as cliche as it sounds I believe as my generation starts having kids of their own they can pass down their understanding of the internet and learn from the mistakes or misunderstandings of the previous generation.

Social Media Bill of Rights

I think Lori Andrews goes to far when it comes to her plea for a so called "social media constitution." For me it all comes down to personal responsibility and self control. Rather we like it or not social media and the internet for that matter is meant to be a platform for you to show yourself to the world but unfortunately some of us may show a little to much. Every time we post an unflattering picture to instagram or a crude Facebook status we need to be assuming that our own mothers can see it and we need to think twice before posting them. Or even better set your privacy settings to be as restrictive as possible if your that worried. And even thought I think the idea of schools using this practice goes a bit to far just because we need to expect teenagers and young adults to lack judgement when on social media at some point I personally think a future employer has every right to be interested how a potential employee portrays them self online because by seeing how someone betrays them self online you can judge that persons good judgement or lack there of which is always necessary in a professional situations.

The Twitterverse

I really didn't discover twitter until around 2010 and actually didn't open an account until early 2012. I myself rarely even tweet but my main reason for joining twitter was to keep up to date with breaking news because I am somewhat of a news junky. I follow CBS, CNN, AP, and various other twitter feeds of news organizations.  And having a smartphone with the twitter app makes accessing twitter that much easier. Some may think that twitter is dumbing us down because it require you to use 140 characters or less to convey your message. however I think when it comes to subjects like breaking news twitter is extremely useful when reporting on a developing story. Many news organizations will post links to pictures or live streaming video of the event has it happens.Of course not all feeds are managed wisely, for instance the AP feed is often filled with useless fluff stories but for news organizations like CNN and CBS who know how to manage their feeds correctly it can be a great way to keep the public up to date with whats going on.

Google Glass

With Google being the hot topic in class this week i thought i'd touch on a recent development concerning Google. last week Google announced that they will begin selling Google Glass to the public for one day. For those who don't know Google Glass is a wearable computer system that is mounted on the frame of a pair of glasses. The system allows for the wearer to access the internet using simple voice commands. However Google Glass in particularly its wearers have been criticized for there lack of etiquette when using the systems camera which can record video and take pictures without those around them being aware. This has led to some restaurants and bars in cities like San Francisco and Seattle to ban patrons from wearing Google Glass inside their establishment. Those who feel the need to wear Google Glass everywhere have now been deemed "Glassholes". So one can ask "is this another way Google is having a negative effect on our privacy?". Of course i'm sure in the next few years we will see other companies developing similar devices but with Google leading the way and Glass becoming available to the public it'll be interesting to see if they will be forced to  address the issue with it's new users.

I just read the 2006 interview with Jason Kottke, who quit his job in 2005 and started blogging full-time on his blog Kottke.org. What's interesting about Kottke is that like many bloggers he started his blog in 1998 just as way to keep track of everything online that interested him yet somehow he was able to gain a following and regular readership. when you visit kottke.org today it's really just a random assortment of regular blog entries, videos, music, pictures, and links much of it relating to science and the arts but there is no real central theme to his blog. I guess you could say what made Kottke popular is his sort of randomness.