Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Chapter 10


    Facebook and Twitter have greatly revolutionized the way people communicate on-line. I agree with this statement made in the book. I remember the hey day of chat rooms. It was easy for contact to remain anonymous, and even flat out lie about who they are. The sharing of information almost required contact to be on-line at the same time you were, unless you e-mailed them.

    Facebook and Twitter not only encourage people to be themselves, vast amounts of information can be shared for contacts to review later without e-mail. 

    The downfall to these sites is that your information is shared with advertising companies and they target advertisements at you based on that information.

    Facebook games are rumored to be loaded with viruses.                                                      

    Remember that what you put on-line stays there until it is removed. Posts can come back to haunt you years later. (Pictures of that wild party could be bad if you wanted to get a job as a kindergarten teacher).    

    I disagree with people that feel social networking sites have no political power, or the ability to shape the political front. Malcolm Gladwell said that social networking sites are unsuited for serious political activism (150).

    This statement comes right on the heels of the revolution in Tunisia in January 2011. The revolution was driven by Twitter. Of course, that took action by the people of Tunisia, but Twitter drove it through shared information of events as they took place. The revolution was not Twitter's doing, just went along for the ride as a useful tool (Ingram), just like a gun or throwing rocks at police. 

 

 

Mathew Ingram. Was What Happened In Tunisia a Twitter Revolution. 14 Jan. 2011

   Goggle. com. 10 Sep. 2013. Web.



    I can honestly say I have never heard of Reddit before, and it could be said that it was in part responsible for the death of Sunil. But in his innocence, we point fingers. If he was guilty, we would be applauding.  

 

5 comments:

  1. All I could think about while reading this chapter was the show "Catfish." Even though networking sites today DO encourage to be the "real you" compared to anonymous chatrooms, it's still super easy for someone to come up with a whole new persona. In relation to that, your statement that things stay online -someplace- even if we take them down is something to be aware of. The "catfishes" on catfish google search images or creep on peoples' MySpaces that they haven't been on for years to "steal" their pictures and become a different person.

    Now I'm not saying that everyone online isn't who they say they are. The majority of networking users probably are exactly who they identify themselves as. People go through phases too and are still changing and evolving into different people naturally. I know when I first got Facebook I was incredibly immature and reading some of my old statuses make me want to choke the fifteen year old me. It's just sad that some people think they can't be themselves on these sites in order to impress others (or on a different note, be the complete creep.)

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    1. I love that you reference Catfish. Whenever someone discusses the anonymity of the online world I can't help but to think of that documentary. It is terrifying how easy it is to create a fictitious life while in the sphere of social networking. This is one reason I refuse to accept friend requests from people I do not know personally.

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  2. With social networking websites, comes the ability for users to share their opinions and values with the world. I do not believe websites like Twjtter or Facebook are set out with a specific political agenda in mind, but without even realizing it, they have been given a power unlike any other. People are free to do whatever they please with the material they have at hand. Whether its sharing their political views or sharing photos, the websites are shaped by the users. Websites like Reditt, in particular, have been accused for the death of Sunil, but is it the website itself that is to blame? Or the users? I believe it's all up to the user and how they handle the vastness the web provides.

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  3. I have never thought of Facebook as a more personal chat room, but you make a good point in saying that it's similar. It was very easy to remain completely anonymous on a chat room, unless you were willing to give out information or you were traced by someone that really knew what they were doing. I do believe that although you can pretend to be someone that you are not on Twitter or Facebook, it is entirely more obvious, especially on Facebook. If you have one picture, four friends, and no updates, it's clear that you're not who you say. In a way, this is not good because for people that are concerned about privacy feel that they have to give away too much information to be able to interact with friends on social media. I personally love Facebook and Twitter to commmunicate with family and friends that I normally would not keep in touch with as frequently, but there is the darker aspect. What is it bringing society to do? We act different thinking what we do might end up online, on Facebook, or be tweeted about. I do believe they also have a political presence that some people don't recognize. Many people are acting as reporters and information bases that are not necessarily reliable or perhaps are very biased, but people are jumping on board. They are being influenced by sources that are not credible, and are taking it into the voting polls and so forth. I think that even now, the digital world is going to become something much more than what it is, and much more powerful.

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  4. I absolutely agree that facebook has turned into more of a chatroom. I keep my facebook around not only to see what everyone else is going with their lives and to keep updated on my team, but to chat with all of my friends and connections. Between Drum Corps and Rugby most of my friends live out of state or even out of country and it is much easier to keep in touch with them. But there are those requests you don't know and a lot of fake profiles out there. I agree with Andi's comment paralleling it to to Catfish. It's kind of a scary though, and even more scary that it happens all the time.

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