Facebook has changed and added a new realm of communication for people all around the world. With the introduction of this website a culture surrounding the likes of a thing poking friends have emerged from this social media site. My research question on Facebook is: With the introduction of social media website specially Facebook, did it change the social paradigm for adolescents negatively? Despite all the good Facebook have done to the world in changing how human being interact and making it more accessible. I believe for adolescents the harmful effects outweigh the good. Facebook has a huge link to pop culture considering the large user base it has and how many companies and other forms of media talk about it and use it. Facebook has been a part of American culture for some time and that will probably not change. I know a bit about Facebook because I currently am a user of Facebook and I know many people who do use it. Over the course of my experience I noticed that I do thing on Facebook that I would not do in real life. I have befriended people on Facebook that I do not regularly talk to or even possibly never even talked to? Why is this a normal thing? Why is this activity not considered weird and not dangerous. Based on my experience I know Facebook has its own culture but I want to focus on the negative affects on adolescents and see if it changes their outlook on social norms and how they interact. Is Facebook harmful to adolescents or is it simply their own fault because they use the website in negative ways? I need to learn what kind of effects using the website has on teenagers in America. Does it change their outlook on life or relationships? Does it breed bad social norms and change how children interact with each other?
I would love your comments on how to approach this question and also your personal experience that you have noticed in yourself using Facebook.
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Essay 4
February 4, 2004 was the start of a whole new medium for people to communicate their feelings and likes on the internet, Facebook. Since the birth of this website this has been a source for many people to express themselves and stay connected to anyone they wish to. The United States has Facebook largest demographic which is 55 million people (1). Facebook is most popular with high school students and older but although middle age adults are starting to log in daily. Facebook is very harmful to young adults in high school due to the culture created by Facebook. The main three aspects of Facebook that creates a loss of deep culture is the status writing option, Likes, and the instant messaging feature. These three parts creates a total new damaging culture to fourteen to eighteen year old students. "The medium is the message," in the case, Facebook, promotes childish behavior and the loss of human interaction due to the connectivity and loads of information given in the website.
Facebook created several many modes of sharing information to friends and the most common one is the status update. The status update is a way to convey a person current mood or situation or possibly share what they are doing at that very moment. These status updates have been used in childish ways such as to display anger over someone but that person does not name the other which leaves a very bitter message. Another use of status is sharing location and current doings, which leads to less interaction because anyone would want to hang out with that person will choose not to because they already know what they doing and might not want to do that particular thing so they never ask if they want to hang out. Another irresponsible thing that students tend to use status is post pictures along with a status mostly while being intoxicated which is very damaging to their future because potential employers have free reign of their Facebook information. People makes mistakes and do things they regret but having a social media and posting on it makes the decisions permanent. This damages a young adults future in a way that cannot be undone.
Likes were invented by Facebook as a way to share what a persons interest is in. People can like anything on Facebook which leads to a huge swarm of information about a certain individual. Since disliking is not an option on Facebook the only way to dislike something is to like a page that has a title of "I hate vanilla ice cream." Again since there are a ton of information that a person can see on another's page of all their likes they have completely eliminated the need to ask what they like. Young people will always look someone up on Facebook after they first meet someone to get a scope of what that person likes, what they stand for, and possibly who they are dating. Knowing all this information leads to less interaction to others because normally the information would be learned and gathered by asking and talking. Liking on Facebook can create very closed-minded social groups such as liking a page such as "Justin Beiber is Gay" which enforces very negative views and harmful hate speech.
The instant messaging is a handy feature for many but degrades many individual personalities and their communication skills. As as result of this instant messaging and the popularity of text messaging many acronyms and smileys were invented to convey feelings and mood in pixelated messages. The use of "LOL, OMG, WTF, :)" creates a new form of culture that uses less words, which can leak to a students academic writing or everyday writing. This makes other believe they are less intelligent because of their choices of words or acronyms. Smileys are used to show a feeling but it could be done by further writing rather than a colon with a pertensese. This leads to former and weaker version of English that weakens a students vocabulary and their writing skills. The instant messaging also is a source of drama because many can easily spread rumors and backstab their friends over this feature.
Need to do a conclusion i do not know how I want to end this essay.
Facebook created several many modes of sharing information to friends and the most common one is the status update. The status update is a way to convey a person current mood or situation or possibly share what they are doing at that very moment. These status updates have been used in childish ways such as to display anger over someone but that person does not name the other which leaves a very bitter message. Another use of status is sharing location and current doings, which leads to less interaction because anyone would want to hang out with that person will choose not to because they already know what they doing and might not want to do that particular thing so they never ask if they want to hang out. Another irresponsible thing that students tend to use status is post pictures along with a status mostly while being intoxicated which is very damaging to their future because potential employers have free reign of their Facebook information. People makes mistakes and do things they regret but having a social media and posting on it makes the decisions permanent. This damages a young adults future in a way that cannot be undone.
Likes were invented by Facebook as a way to share what a persons interest is in. People can like anything on Facebook which leads to a huge swarm of information about a certain individual. Since disliking is not an option on Facebook the only way to dislike something is to like a page that has a title of "I hate vanilla ice cream." Again since there are a ton of information that a person can see on another's page of all their likes they have completely eliminated the need to ask what they like. Young people will always look someone up on Facebook after they first meet someone to get a scope of what that person likes, what they stand for, and possibly who they are dating. Knowing all this information leads to less interaction to others because normally the information would be learned and gathered by asking and talking. Liking on Facebook can create very closed-minded social groups such as liking a page such as "Justin Beiber is Gay" which enforces very negative views and harmful hate speech.
The instant messaging is a handy feature for many but degrades many individual personalities and their communication skills. As as result of this instant messaging and the popularity of text messaging many acronyms and smileys were invented to convey feelings and mood in pixelated messages. The use of "LOL, OMG, WTF, :)" creates a new form of culture that uses less words, which can leak to a students academic writing or everyday writing. This makes other believe they are less intelligent because of their choices of words or acronyms. Smileys are used to show a feeling but it could be done by further writing rather than a colon with a pertensese. This leads to former and weaker version of English that weakens a students vocabulary and their writing skills. The instant messaging also is a source of drama because many can easily spread rumors and backstab their friends over this feature.
Need to do a conclusion i do not know how I want to end this essay.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Essay Draft
Walking out in public there are many different styles and colors of clothing that people are wearing. Project Runway is a T.V show that highlights this by making a competition that have its competitors have to crate new fashionable clothing that follows a theme or must come from a certain inspiration like a butterfly. The show started airing on 2004 and it is still being watched today by many. Project Runway can be a pastime for some but many cultural values are being displayed by the models walking down the runway and by the competitors sewing their looks. The show highlights the cultural values that one should wear nice and fashionable clothing in America.
Project Runway is hosted by Heidi Klum and also Tim Gun serves as a mentor for the designers. The show is based on the designers being able to impress the judges with their custom made clothing. Many of the challenges have a certain theme such as fitness wear or unconventional challenges that forces the sewers to create clothing out of interesting materials like newspaper. Inspiration challenges are another part of the show, basing a style out of a certain object like a butterfly, or based on an camping experience. The targeted audience are people who enjoy a competitive show and also value clothing. The majority of the audience are going to be women ranging from eight to forty and beyond, but men will also be a part of the audience ranging from the same ages.
This show gives a clear value for fashion and clothing. The whole show is based on clothing which shows that American culture values clothing and fashion as a way to display personality. Fashion can be used also to display wealth and power which comes up in the show by the style of clothing that the show members design. Many of the styles of clothing are made by expensive fabric that the ordinary American cannot afford to wear and buy. Project Runway displays a value that fashion is always changing and the buzz word always used in the show is chic which means style or smart. Using the high end materials such as silk and linen create a world that in order to be happy and chic that one must purchase this kind of clothing or otherwise be dull and unhappy.
The value of body shape and facial beauty is shown by the models. The designers create clothing and on the last day for the challenge models come in to get fitted and measured so they can fit perfectly on them. Before slipping in the small dresses the models get pampered by professional make-up artists and hair stylist will create a look based on the designers requests. Walking along the runway the models enforce an ideal in American culture that women must have this small thin shape and size in order to look good in the clothing. That they must be beautiful by being covered in L'Oreal products and having their hair professionally wearing clothing designed just for them.
Well this show is interesting to watch there are a mixture of good and bad values in it. The value of wearing nice clothing is not a harmful one except to those who cannot afford it. Those who cannot afford this style of clothing will not be considered chic. The notion of wearing nice clothes is not a bad one but not everyone can. The biggest negative value is the model bodies and beauty. This creates harmful sterotypes to women in America that if their body shape is not thin and tall like the models then they are not beautiful and cannot look good in clothing. This makes the majority of women unhappy with their body and overall beauty. This show is both good and harmful to the American public.
Project Runway is hosted by Heidi Klum and also Tim Gun serves as a mentor for the designers. The show is based on the designers being able to impress the judges with their custom made clothing. Many of the challenges have a certain theme such as fitness wear or unconventional challenges that forces the sewers to create clothing out of interesting materials like newspaper. Inspiration challenges are another part of the show, basing a style out of a certain object like a butterfly, or based on an camping experience. The targeted audience are people who enjoy a competitive show and also value clothing. The majority of the audience are going to be women ranging from eight to forty and beyond, but men will also be a part of the audience ranging from the same ages.
This show gives a clear value for fashion and clothing. The whole show is based on clothing which shows that American culture values clothing and fashion as a way to display personality. Fashion can be used also to display wealth and power which comes up in the show by the style of clothing that the show members design. Many of the styles of clothing are made by expensive fabric that the ordinary American cannot afford to wear and buy. Project Runway displays a value that fashion is always changing and the buzz word always used in the show is chic which means style or smart. Using the high end materials such as silk and linen create a world that in order to be happy and chic that one must purchase this kind of clothing or otherwise be dull and unhappy.
The value of body shape and facial beauty is shown by the models. The designers create clothing and on the last day for the challenge models come in to get fitted and measured so they can fit perfectly on them. Before slipping in the small dresses the models get pampered by professional make-up artists and hair stylist will create a look based on the designers requests. Walking along the runway the models enforce an ideal in American culture that women must have this small thin shape and size in order to look good in the clothing. That they must be beautiful by being covered in L'Oreal products and having their hair professionally wearing clothing designed just for them.
Well this show is interesting to watch there are a mixture of good and bad values in it. The value of wearing nice clothing is not a harmful one except to those who cannot afford it. Those who cannot afford this style of clothing will not be considered chic. The notion of wearing nice clothes is not a bad one but not everyone can. The biggest negative value is the model bodies and beauty. This creates harmful sterotypes to women in America that if their body shape is not thin and tall like the models then they are not beautiful and cannot look good in clothing. This makes the majority of women unhappy with their body and overall beauty. This show is both good and harmful to the American public.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Advertisement and Privacy
Privacy is the largest concern for the public that uses internet which is almost everyone. Every time a user logs into a website and click a certain link or ad that information is being stored and monitored by software that created by programmers to benefit corporations to create more efficient advertisements. Doing this creates a bubble for the user that they are never exposed to new things because the advertisers will design the most profitable ads to that specific user, tailoring it down to their likes. Being in a bubble for a user is bad for their development of knowledge. A whole society of users under a bubble will lead to lack of improvement and advancement in the world. The use of this information leads to unfair gain to the companies that can design and tailor ads to users that effectively gets them to buy their product. If a user buys into the ads 50% more of time if the ad is using the logos appeal than the advertisers will use that against them. Leading to bigger profit margins to them while consumers get the short end of the stick. Majorly of consumers that purchase products do so in the comfort of their home and they deserve to not be disturbed or tracked by unknown people just as a person has a right to privacy in their own home. A simple solution to stop people from watching you undress or do things in your room would be to close your blinds but it is not the case on the internet. But it should be, there should be a feature in all internet browsers that simply puts blinds on your internet habits. This way a user can choose to be tracked or not but based on their own choice not the option of a website that usually say "do you wish for google to track you?"
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Advertisement
My initial response to the advertisement I saw in a magazine called Homes and Gardens, was depressing. You see a an image in black and white of a woman staring at herself with a blank and emotionless stare that shows no resemblance to happiness. It made me feel uncomfortable and my first reaction was to skip to the next page but I went back to further examine the advertisement. It says on the bottom "alzheimer's association." I realized this advertisement is for not a person with or developing alzheimer's but rather a family member who is. This advertisement portrays as it is being directed to people who have the disease by putting a statement such as "... and do one little thing to save yourself?" but really it is not for them, it is for the wife or the son/daughter of the victim. People of all ages are reluctant to admit there is something wrong with them especially to conditions that prove their upcoming end or the demonstrates humans morality. It is easier for a family member to recognize the problem and help the afflicted get help and seek treatment. This advertisement shows a friendly and smart way to approach the family member and how it can be an effective way to convince them to visit the doctor. This ad is very effective to its purpose by showing the black and white image which creates a depressing mood which links to the alzheimer's disease but by showing the statement in purple it creates a power and liberating feeling to conquer the disease.
Link to the Advertisement: http://imgur.com/T3k5OXS
Link to the Advertisement: http://imgur.com/T3k5OXS
Monday, September 23, 2013
Pop Culture
Taking this class has not changed my view of culture and what it means. But I have learned a lot of the word culture and how over time it has evolved to the word that we understand today. I always thought that pop culture is a changing thing like a growing tree. It will change over time when the old generation dies out and the new generation comes in. Pop culture can be a cruel thing like in the article that showed lots of racist themes. Pop culture may not always be right or nice but good thing it will always be changing. Now racist things like from the article wont exist because of the pop culture movement called the Civil Rights Movement. Pop culture is something that everyone should keep their eyes and ears on because it does affect you without your knowledge.
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