Here's this week's article, "Beware the Cult of Interaction" and some questions to consider when posting:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/sep/02/interactivity-cultish-blogging-twitter
If you're a QHSS student you might explain why Twitter is so popular. Unfortunately, I don't really see the interest so I had great difficulty explaining it to my students. Help us out!
As cited in the article Thoreau wrote, We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas, but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing to communicate." If that's true than maybe people in Queens and Fort de France have nothing to communicate either! What would you like to know about each other and what might you hope to get from this exchange?
According to Malone a lot of the communication that occurs on the blogosphere and on social network sites are meaningless. Do you agree? Why are people so attracted to sites like Facebook? Why might someone be interested in "Facebook stalking"? What if anything do we learn about ourselves and our society? Or is learning besides the point?
Is Malone right that in all areas beyond family and friends all we want is to be treated fairly and thus impersonally and anonymously?
Is it possible that being bombarded with too much information can hurt democracy?
What are your reactions to this article?
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i used to have a twitter,but i deleted it because i simply didn't have the time or the interest to make short, 140-character posts. yet, the allure of twitter is that you are able to share information about where you are, and what you're doing in few, if not one, words/word.
ReplyDeletemalone says that a lot of the information shared on social network sites and the blogosphere is meaningless, and he's right. a lot of people, including myself, use social networking sites to let people know what movie they're watching, which restaurant they're going to for dinner, and other pointless information that few people would care about. but i think that's the point of social networking: to share information and communicate your thoughts, whims, and ideas with others. even though it's pointless to someone else, it can be important to you.
people might be interested in facebook stalking because it's easier for them to communicate with or get to know someone online, as opposed to in-person. for some people, talking over the internet makes them feel less shy, more confident, and compels them to take risks and say things they wouldn't say in person because they're afraid of stuttering and stammering. but that begs another question: are social networking sites making us cowards that hide behind computer screens?
and is technology making us closer, or more distant? i've began to ponder this question very frequently. unlike most teenagers, i do not text, and i think it's an extremely impersonal way of communicating. "LOL" doesn't replace the genuine sound of someone's laughter, and "ily" doesn't have the same effect as when the words "i love you" are spoken into existence. i prefer talking on the phone where i get to hear the voice of whom i'm speaking to, and i feel closer to them. i think that our society has tried to use the internet as a way to gain instant gratification, where you get an instant message instead of waiting for a letter.
but moving on, i think malone is right when he says that all we want is to be treated fairly, but he's wrong when he says that we wnat to be treated impersonally and anonymously. if we wanted to remain unknown, then why reach out to people in the whole, wide world via the Internet? isn't that the point of social networking, malone?
i don't think that being bombarded with too much information can hurt democracy. the same outlets that allow us to be informed are also the same ones that let us speak our mind and share our opinions. the internet is allowing opressed people, such as the ones in Iran, to share their plight and let people know what they're going through via youtube, myspace, twitter, and facebook, despite the fact that the government is trying to silence them. isn't social networking liberating those people in the metaphoric, if not liberal, sense?
This day and age has without a doubt entered a new era. Over 2,000 years ago, Pheidippides, a Greek soldier had to run 40 kilometers to announce a victory in war. Today, I can sit in a chair and through some minute finger activity, can share my thoughts with people around the world.
ReplyDeletePersonally speaking, I don't have a twitter or facebook, simply because I'm often too busy to find interest in posting what I'm doing at the moment. On the one hand, Malone is absolutely right in saying that most of the posts on Twitter are in fact pointless and unncessary.
Nevertheless, it isn't so much the posts on Twitter itself, but rather the ability to post that is so revolutionary. Sure some posts are meaningless. But that should not divert attention from the fact that we can post ideas on Twitter and have the followed live on media hosts like CNN.
What I also find significant is how relevant this becomes to issues like race and culture. America was once considered a melting pot, a place where people from around the world would come and "melt" their cultures into the big pot. However, historians today have abandoned the term because while different cultures were coming into the same pot, they retained a distinction that would never melt away. Today, you can find pretty much every culture in Queens and New York. But that doesn't mean I can't walk into a Sikh temple and see a distinct culture, or listen to cars projecting different kinds of music.
In a sense, social networking is the same. It creates an environment where anyone can come and post, no matter how important their post will be, while simultaneously retaining their identity. Here's where I think Malone is mistaken. It's not that people want to be anonymous when posting- it's that we don't want to lose our identities in such a universal atmossphere. Fortunately, social networking does not make us do that.
Sometimes, however, I think I delve too deep into conceptual matters. At its fundamental core, social networking simply is something fun do to, a place where we can find new friends and remember that we are not alone in the world.
Finally, responding to Emerson, I would like to say that because Texas and Maine are so different, they have all the more to communicate because they have so much to learn about. One of the reasons I like this kind of blogging is because I can get a second idea from people who aren't in America and to be exposed to new ideas. That is where the heart of social networking really lies.
--Manjinder
We have moved on into the information age. A message relayed on foot from one city to another could take months. On a horse, that message can reach its destination in weeks, in a car, hours, with the internet, instantaneously. We used to think about how we can make the exchange faster...quicker. Now, the question is how do we deal with this ridiculously quick exchange of information?
ReplyDeleteAs a now sober, former Facebook and Myspace user I can say that there's too much information. Facebook and Twitter allow even the most minuscule of details to be broadcast in the form of status updates. Twitter, even more so than Facebook because twitter is just "status updates". Whether you're in the garden or just looking at the grass on your lawn, you can tell all your friends. It's become another form of television: just something to take up time and with no real purpose besides that. Of course there are people that do keep up with friends and network via Facebook and twitter; however most messages coming out are useless. So then why is it so attractive to so many people? I was attached to the thrill of new comments. A picture, a video, or a post, it didn't matter. I wanted to be surprised. Unfortunately, it didn't get me anywhere. I learned that another person likes this picture, or also "lol'ed", but not much beyond that. It kept me distracted from work. It was an escape.
However, that is not to say that it is not a powerful tool for getting information across and provoking action. Everyone, on one level, wants to be treated fairly. But unfortunately, being treated fairly often necessitates anonymity. That's what twitter and blogs provide us with. Malone is right. In situations such as the riots in Tehran, twitter and Facebook are powerful tools in organization. So much so that the Iranian government had shut down services such as text messaging and twitter in response to the riots. On the internet, we can be anonymous and that makes it difficult to prevent ideas from spreading. In a way, the anonymity guarantees your voice to be heard. When a new user posts, I have no previous knowledge of who he is. The only picture i have of him is what he has typed out. Thus I cannot judge his ideas before reading them. Debate is easy. We don't have to be nice because we know the person personally. The only thing to be discussed is what is at hand. It is the quintessential essence of fairness. The only thing to be judged is the idea itself.
But with so many opinions to be heard and so much useless information on the internet, we may be overloaded. Unlike George Orwell's Ninety Eighty Four, information isn't controlled, it is let loose. For some it may be too much and they may resort to one source for information rather than bother to contemplate on various opinions. They may fall prey to biased information, and thus coerced to think a certain way. Too much information can hurt democracy, but if everyone took the time to look over all of the information, it may better democracy by providing different opinions and views to ponder about.
In regards to Emmerson's quote, it doesn't matter if there's nothing to say. We don't say much to our neighbors anyway.
hmmm.... This article has a good point... I have a twitter too, but I NEVER use it. It's actually very pointless. But facebook... I don't know. Maybe I am just one of those people that got sucked into facebook and can never get out of it. In my opinion, facebook is actually a good way to connect with your friends. I was able to talk with my old friends again without feeling the awkwardness. Talking online or texting is a lot different from actually talking with the person directly. You feel more... open? I don't know. I'm just glad that I can connect with my friends even if I hadn't seen them in years.
ReplyDeleteQHSS student R.D. Period 1
ReplyDeleteWhat would you like to know about each other and what might you hope to get from this exchange?
I would love to hear about their experiences in school and I want to learn about the different cultures in France.
It would be great to discuss some global current events where we can all voice our opinions and see each other’s point of views on the topic.
Do you agree?
Though, I agree that a lot of the communication that occur on the blogosphere and on social network sites are meaningless to others, the information we share are thoughts and ideas that are important to us.
Why are people so attracted to sites like Facebook?
I believe Facebook is so addictive because people want to be talk about themselves, and have an audience of friends who will respond to their posts.
Why might someone be interested in "Facebook stalking"?
If a person likes someone, that person can find out almost anything about the significant other just by looking at their info, pics, and posts. And a Facebook Stalker could post anything they like on their walls.
What if anything do we learn about ourselves and our society? Or is learning besides the point?
We learn that technology has the power to make people confident in expressing their thoughts, and bring people closer together. Friends from all over the country and even the world can stay in contact through Facebook, and other social networking sites.
Is Malone right that in all areas beyond family and friends all we want is to be treated fairly and thus impersonally and anonymously?
We do want to be treated fairly but not anonymously, since the whole point of sharing information online is to reach out to people.
Is it possible that being bombarded with too much information can hurt democracy?
No because the internet allows us to speak openly and listen to a diversity of opinions from people all around the world.
What would you like to know about each other and what might you hope to get from this exchange?
ReplyDeleteI would like to know how’s life in Fort de France and how’s their school like along with their experiences and culture there.
According to Malone a lot of the communication that occurs on the blogosphere and on social network sites are meaningless. Do you agree?
A lot of the communications are indeed meaningless since much of it is spam. It’s just a person shouting their thoughts expecting attention. Unless someone has a lot of free time, they wouldn’t bother answering spammers. Twitter for example has many people shouting nonsense, advertisements, or spam, waiting for someone to answer.
Why are people so attracted to sites like Facebook?
Facebook allows people to stay connected with friends and interact with them when ever they desire. It’s a place where they actually know the people there unlike random forums and boards in the internet. Many people desire attention and this site allows them to get some online.
Why might someone be interested in "Facebook stalking"?
Someone may be interested in Facebook stalking to find out more about a certain person. They can easily find out what the person is doing, who his friends are, or how he looks like. If something is in the internet, pretty much someone is going to look at it. If you don't want that to happen, simply don't post it online.
What if anything do we learn about ourselves and our society? Or is learning besides the point?
We can learn that we all desire friends and people to be there to talk to us, along with staying connected.Also that we have a voice that wants to be heard. Facebook and Twitter, for example, allows us to do that. We can stay connected around the world and express our ideas to the world.
Is Malone right that in all areas beyond family and friends all we want is to be treated fairly and thus impersonally and anonymously?
We all of course want to be treated fairly but not impersonally and anonymously since the purpose of these social network sites is to display ourselves, not be a secret.
Is it possible that being bombarded with too much information can hurt democracy?
No because this is a part of our first amendment, the right to free speech. We are free to express ourselves anyway we want and these sites just make it easier and faster.
I don't have a twitter account, so I wouldn't be able to explain exactly how it works. I have, however, heard of it from other people, and it seems pretty pointless. From what I've heard, when you're on twitter, you basically post what you're doing or feeling and have people "follow" you, it seems like the equivilent to a facebook "status".
ReplyDeleteMaybe that's the thing, maybe people want others to know what they're feeling and want others to know what they're doing. Twitter and facebooks are the new way to keep in touch with your friends and family. It's the easier way to catch up on what's going on, so perhaps that is why it's so popular.
Twitter and facebooks are the new emails. Just like how texting seems to be the new phone calls, but that's a whole other story.
~Alina Z (Period 1)
P.S. Tu me manque Madame!
People are obsessed with Twitter because celebrities have been using it and it’s a way for fans to be “updated” on their idols’ lives.
ReplyDeleteI don’t completely agree that these networking sites are meaningless. I think it’s only meaningless if people feel the need to update their statuses every 5 minutes about pointless things. Some people feel the need to tell the whole world about their lives. Other than that, I feel that networking sites like Facebook and Myspace are good for keep in touch with people.
People are interested in “Facebook stalking” because they either have an interest in others or want to find some dirt. Honestly, I think people are making themselves victims of these stalkers by putting up unnecessary or inappropriate pictures/information. If you don’t want someone to stalk you then don’t make your Facebook public, allowing the whole world to view your site. If people were smarter about their decisions, then this wouldn’t be a problem.
I do think putting too much information on these sites do hurt our rights. For example, there have been instances in which college students posted offensive things and got kicked out of the school. The last time I remembered, we still had the freedom of speech.
Jenny Seo
ReplyDeleteMs.Aucoin (PD.1)
I completely disagree with what Thoreau wrote in the article, "...but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing to communicate." Who is he to determine and to judge the needs or the desires of others to communicate?
As one who has never been to Fort de France, I would love to know about beautiful sights, different types of food, and its culture!
Through this exchange I hope to minimize the cultural gap, if there is any, and to interact with students in France.
I can proudly say this myself. I am a Facebook addict. I log onto Facebook every single day and communicate with my friends, whether it be commenting, viewing pictures, or messaging. People are attracted to these sites because they want to/can stay in touch with either old or new friends and socialize. Updating your friends by calling and texting is too cumbersome. You obviously will not have the time to call every single one of your friends and talk to them, especially if you're a part of a large social circle.
By just simply updating your status, you're letting everyone know what is happening in your life. And you also get to choose what you want to share which supports our system of democracy and our human rights
In addition, we certainly want to be treated fairly and equally. But I disagree with the "reality" proposed and argued by Peters. I, myself, want intimate contact with my family and friends. But I also want to create a friendly environment in my future workplace and stay in touch with my co-workers. If you only want intimate contact with your current friends, then how will you make new friends? If you're working full time, you're probably spending most of your time at your workplace too. Is isolating yourself from others your best way to be treated fairly,Peters? Yeah right.
And to be honest, expecting to be treated fairly and equally at a workplace is ridiculous. Favoritism exists everywhere: at school, work, and even your home. Staying anonymous will not cut it. Rather, by staying annoymous, you and your voice will be neglected and ignored.
I have a Twitter, but I don't understand why people are crazy about it. Sure, you can put 140 characters to tell your 'followers' that you just woke up or you're bored, but no one cares. It's pointless.
ReplyDeleteOnce upon a time, students used to go meet other students at the library to study, but now they just go online to talk about nonsense. Social networking sites or internet in general has depersonalized everything. Even some business deals occur through the internet. The partners possibly never meet each other, though they are working together. This is how scams happen. Strangers making deals with each other would sound completely ridiculous in a time not so long ago.
This guy talks about meeting people with shared interests through the internet, but wouldn't it be better if he went outside to make an effort of trying to meet people who love Star Trek as much as he does? It's very sad to say that some people don't have real friends. Everyone can say that they know of someone who stays home except to go to work or to school. It's very sad that this exists.
Social networking sites ruin people's lives. At least it changes our way of life.
Social networking sites and blogs are popular, because it’s nice to know that someone cares enough to read about us on the internet. Even though it’s possible that no one will ever read it, but it satisfies our human wants to be “heard.”
ReplyDeleteOn the internet, we can change who we are. The internet allows for people to develop their own opinions without the threat of said opinions being rejected. At least, not rejected in a degrading manner, mostly because the internet is a proxy--one that provides either completely anonymity or, at the very least, no physical connection.
Many use the internet as a creative outlet. Maybe not in the same form or for the same purpose, but we all do it with the same general idea. We just want to be out there and we just want to be heard.
The communication on social networking sites aren’t meaningless. As teenagers, we spend probably at least a fourth of our days online, so some of the most meaningful conversations we have will be online. We’re attracted to Facebook and Twitter because we want to humanize the internet. Humans crave some form of social interaction, which Facebook and Twitter allow for. Facebook “stalking” allows us to find things out that we otherwise might not be able to find out. Not to mention, human curiosity and teenager obsessions with gossip add to this.
The point of social networking sites is not to learn, but to interact, to be able to know about other people without even speaking to them.
Sometimes, people act differently online than in real life. Online, some people tend to be more honest and open. Not to mention, there’s more time to think things through, instead of being forced to respond immediately. Sometimes, it’s just easier to talk to certain people online because they’re difficult to approach in real life, or you never get to see them.
I understand where this article is going in stating that the Social Networking Sites, though claiming they bring people closer together, actually keep people apart with technological anonymity.
ReplyDeleteI personally do not have a Twitter because I feel that there is no point in it. Yes, you can post what you’re doing at that moment and have some minute moment of interaction with someone from Nepal but seriously your comments are just going into empty space.
There was a time when people would enjoy going outside and meeting new people, but through a mixture of fear and laziness people find it easier to stay in their homes and communicate through the internet. I’m not saying that social networking sites are wrong or that they hinder human contact, but that people use them too much stopping real experiences from occurring.
I don’t have a twitter but I definitely use facebook on daily basis. I am not totally against the idea of communication over internet. I think it is an awesome idea. It is much faster and the distance and time doesn’t matter. You can talk to people living in different countries, continents and share different ideas. These social networks also help us keep in touch with our old friends who we don’t see too often. For example, I have a friend from second grade who I haven’t met for about ten years but we still talk all the time. I found her on facebook after so many years. I will definitely give facebook the credit for that. However, if you over use these social networks it is going to harm our society. I agree that sometimes people share unnecessary information and it can be harmful to them. Some people add lots of friends randomly, which means all kinds of people have their information, pictures and their actions as they write on the internet. It is very easy to stalk someone. That is why you should be limited in the information you give online. If you know your limits and use it to you benefit, I think it is a great way to communicate. We do learn a lot about our society, the latest movie, nice places for trips, hobbies and so much more. I agree with Malone that we do all want to be treated fairly and sometimes anonymously as well. It’s definitely not everyone, but there are many people who are very different in real life than they are online. They are much more open and friendly online and they can easily speak their mind. Some people even keep their identity hidden and communicate with others. I don’t really see a point in that but I guess they feel comfortable doing it and as long as it is not harming anyone, it is ok. Yes I think that being bombarded with too much information can hurt democracy. In today’s society we have information everywhere, ready to be soaked in. there are just too much information and it is hard for people to take in everything and understand everything. This leads to confusion, although we have lots of information, we don’t; take enough time to think about each one and give them the importance they deserve. I think this article does make a good point, especially for those people who are addicted to such social networks and don’t take the time to be active in their real life. They are just too busy online. However, I think the right amount of these social networks is a good thing because it makes many things easier for us. As the saying goes, “too much of anything is not good”
ReplyDeleteSIMON YANG (PD 2)
ReplyDeleteI think what Peter says is correct. This aim to have perfect communication with everyone is a bit intimidating. If everyone was able to communicate somehow (facebook, aim, twitter, myspace, etc) would that leave some privacy, some source of distance? As peter stated, this kind of communication should only be among family members, and really close friends. This new cult of interactivity strives to such a method that brings everyone at the same social level that even the people you don't know can find out who you are. No one is protected anymore, and everyone in this society is known. That's scary. And the people who abuse this are even scarier. The fact that with a click of a button, our birthdate, interests, friends, family, relationship, and photos are in the palm of their hands should get some people thinking
Myspace, facebook, Twitter and others are just like unloaded guns. They are morally grey instruments until put into certain hands. These social networking sites cannot be classified as good or evil, or useful or useless.
ReplyDeleteDepending on who is using it, these social networking sites could eiter be extremely beneficial to the development of our ties or severely detrimental towards our patience towards other people. On one hand we have a competent user who wants to keep in contact with old friends who would otherwise be lost to the ages, communicate with friends and family easily, express important ideas or ask questions, and get a sense of unity. But more commonly we see the uneducated side. Idiotic remarks, useless comments, unwanted stalking, internet bullying, endless arguments about nothing, and a severely frightening amount of HOURS lost to yelling into a crowd of people.
These websites are being used more and more for mindless comments, idiotic remarks, and just general time wasting activity. But the same could be said about any non-educational/pleasurable activity. I don’t see why this is getting more attention than collecting stamps or watching T.V. All enjoyable events are mind-numbing and unproductive, Social networking sites just extends that mind numbing disease to be easily communicable to our friends and family. In my opinion, such networking sites should be kept in friends and family, while communication with strangers should be kept in anonymity.
In my opinion we can learn only one thing from this topic: If you give a stupid person a crowd of people to yell at, he will yell at a crowd of people. If you give a smart person a crowd of people to yell at, he will search out familiar faces, meet new ones and lead important discussions.
I did not like this article only because I do not like reading opinion based articles. There are two sides to everything, Television, video games, social networking sites. They are all the same two sided coin, where the effect created varies from person to person. Nothing more. There is no real threat in this topic, its meaningless entertainment that can be taken to extremes in certain hands.
I never made a twitter account because I don't see the appeal of such a site. I also hardly check my facebook and I haven't logged into my myspace page in over two years. However, some people want to share their lives with the rest of the world and they do this through social networking sites such as twitter and facebook. I do so in a different way.
ReplyDeleteI don't belive that communication with someone far away from you is useless. Personally, I enjoy talking to someone who lives in another country because I could then ask them questions about what other places around the world are like. Perhaps the key to understanding ideas such as racism and religion is to simply talk with someone with experience in such topics.
Some of the conversation on these social networking sites is meaningless. It's almost like a conversation you would hear at a bar where someone is complaining about how horrible his week was. However, occasionally you might learn something interesting about someone you know, meet up with an old friend, or make a new friend. All of these possible events is what attracts people to social networking sites. Facebook stalking usually interests someone because they might want to know more about someone they know or don't know.
I think that it is important to know more about ourselves and the rest of the world. If someone happens to learn something new, good for them. Hopefully they will be able to apply this knowledge in a usefull way. As for being treated anonymously, I prefer to be known as an individual, not be known as the guy who lives in queens.
Democracy is built on the belief that the people are smart enough to be able to make the best decision. In order to make Democracy work, people must be well informed.
emily (period1)
ReplyDeleteWhat would you like to know about each other and what might you hope to get from this exchange?
- I would like to know about life over there, as well as culture. It would also be interesting to know what they think of American culture, and how we live. How do they view us?
According to Malone a lot of the communication that occurs on the blogosphere and on social network sites are meaningless. Do you agree? Why are people so attracted to sites like Facebook?
-I disagree on one level, in the sense that communication on social networking sites are meaningless. It depends on who you are "socializing" with. I do not have a twitter, and I also think it's pointless to post meaningless things every five seconds. However, I do have a facebook, and I am attracted to it because it helps me keep in touch with people I can't normally see, for example, old friends from my elementary school. Even though meeting people is so much better, sometimes facebook helps. For example, I would be able to communicate with someone I have no classes with. If I was busy, this would be a good solution to keep in touch with someone. I find it quite useful for educational purposes as well. I've worked projects with classmates through it, where we messaged back in forth our information so that everyone received it, and the project got done relatively easy, may I say, easier than if we had done it together in person. We were all able to do our own independent research and then put it together, deciding on what to keep and eliminate. I also find it useful for organizing contact information. I am president of a club at my school, and it helps me by allowing me to quickly send important messages to other members and keep an update on our club.
I found out something interesting the other day. My pastor from my church was talking about his facebook in his sermon, and how it helped him connect with many people and how he could use his pastoral services even online. That day, he was connecting facebook to All Saints Day. He questioned, "What happens to people's facebooks when they die?" We learned that facebook would keep people's profiles, but lock up the account so nothing could be changed. He said he thought it was nice that people could still have something to remember them by. However, he went on to say that facebook could only take one so far, and that is important to live in reality and remember people for more than their facebook profile, and who they really were as people. I think this also applies when people are alive; we need to interact with people, remembering who they are, and not just their profile picture and status.
I agree with Elaine that the internet sometimes allows us to be someone we are not. But that really comes down to the individual.
A social networking site in my opinion should only be an addition to your social interactions, and not just the means of it.
Not everyone tries to hide who they are. Some people embrace it and express it through these social networking sites. One shouldn't judge whether these networking sites are pointless or not, because it is all about the individual and their intentions. If one has good intentions in using a social networking site, it would be unfair to tell them that what they are doing is stupid and pointless. Perhaps it helps them, and denying them that help is wrong.
Social networking sites can ruin a life, but it could also save one in the sense that it could help one a lot. There are pros and cons to everything, and social networking sites are included.
DEREK YAM
ReplyDeleteMalone calling most of the communication on social networking sites “meaningless,” is ridiculous. Although we do not always discuss world issues on Facebook, we are able to interact and bond with others. This interaction helps us form friendships and relationships that are important to many of us. As a person, these are not meaningless.
People are attracted to these social networks because the idea of being connected to everyone is amazing. A part of it is also that sites like Facebook are a fad, but theres so much behind it. You have the potential to talk to anyone you want. Starting friendships is so easy through these social networks.
Through social networking, we are able to connect with those we are hardly associated with. It shows that society isn’t so scary. Kids and adults alike use Facebook, which helps us students connect with the outside world. In a way, social networking is helping mold us for our later years.
Malone is wrong when saying that we all wanted to be treated fairly, impersonally, and anonymously. Everyone wants to be noticed. We all hope that through these social networks that someone will take an interest in us. Through social networking, we all hope that we can be seen as more than the simple person we are in reality. Social networking helps show a different side of us to everyone, that cant always be seen in school.
Bonjour madame!
ReplyDeleteTo begin, I completely agree with this article. Although I use social networking utilities like AIM and Facebook (not Twitter though because it seems too complicated for me), I really don't know what the point of using them is. While they are convenient for communicating with others, don't they underscore things we already have like phones (which we have to actually pay for, so the money goes to waste)?
In the end, I really think that people use Facebook to either be nosey or a show-off. Facebook allows the user to look at anyone's profile and discover virtually anything, from a person's favorite TV shows, to what he did last weekend. I'm sure any Facebook user is guilty of being a "stalker" in that sense. On the other hand, Facebook also allows for people to brag, and make public anything they want to talk about. Whether it's picture of their birthdays or a comment they made on another person's profile, there has to be, at the very least, a subconcious need to show off. There is nothing that a person could have made public on Facebook, that they couldn't have done privately. Instead of making an album on Facebook, the person could have just sent the people, whom he truly wanted to see the pictures, and E-mail of these photos. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with doing posting any material on Facebook, especially because I am guilty of and Facebook stalking or showing off, but it's the truth.
While this may sound cynical of me, I do agree with Malone in that I only want my friends and family to know me on a personal level. I was raised to not trust anyone I don't know. Therefore, what sense would it make in having strangers be able to know about me on Facebook? This is why I keep my Facebook very impersonal and refrain from talking seriously on it. Why would I want to type "I love you" or even something as simple as "You're cool" to someone. You cannot hear my tone of voice in the words that I type; soemthing serious could be misconstrued as ironic, and vice versa.
As for information's detrimental effect on democracy, I don't see how one could make that connection. Maybe if everyone was talking more about politics in his or her facebook status, we could have a more successful democracy. If everyone's mind was focused on the election as much as everyone's eyes are glued to their computer screens, we could be more informed about our nation and actually contribute our opinions to better our government and the way it affects us.
As for learning about people from other cultures, I feel like blogging would give me a more real experience about life in other places, i.e. Martinique. There's so much more I could learn from a native than from what Wikipedia could tell me. It would definitely be interesting to learn from others with different ways of thinking and life, hence why I want to go to college in somewhere outside of NY, so that I could experience something new.
-Daniel Atlas
"Facebook stalking" has become a hobby for many teens in our day and age. The attraction to such a hobby, or what soon becomes a bad habit is simple and can be attributed to our natural desire for knowledge. Just as Adam and Eve were thirsty for knowledge ultimately causing us to be placed on Earth, we as humans have a drive to attain knowledge about our society and our peers around us.
ReplyDeleteFacebook has made it easy to gain such information, especially now with the "stalker-friendly" news-feed which allows users to see what they post on each other's walls as well as other activities they may perform on Facebook. We may find things that cause us laughter in reading, or things we wish we had never read. Nevertheless, we learn things about our fellow peers and cure our curiosity, and ultimately, our boredom. This is why "facebook stalking" is appealing to many a teen
I have to agree with everyone who posted. It is truly amazing how we went from snail mail to texting in such a short amount of time.
ReplyDeleteThanks to social networking sites like Facebook we can talk to someone across the world in less than thirty seconds. Twitter is also becoming a favorite in the US and around the world. These social networking websites are becoming more and more popular due to their efficiency. It’s so easy to connect with old friends as well as new friends. Also, these sites allow you to share things about your life such as your status updates (telling people what you’re doing) and photos.
I think it's awesome that we are blogging with other students in Martinique because it's good to know about other cultures. I would love to know more about life in Martinique and hopefully speak with some of the students there.
Like many other teens my age, I can honestly say that I am a Facebook addict. I usually find myself on Facebook when I have a huge project or essay due the next day. Sure these websites can be distracting, but I think they are important when it comes to having a social life. Usually, I am really busy because of school and other commitments and it’s really hard to find time to talk to my friends so with Facebook, I can comment my friends’ profiles to keep in touch.
When it comes to Facebook stalking, once again, I am guilty. Facebook stalking isn’t as creepy as it sounds because it’s not like you are literally stalking someone. Usually I Facebook stalk people who I think are interesting or people that are really close to me to find out more about them. However, there are others who use Facebook stalking to literally stalk people by adding people they do not know, finding out their phone numbers, and messaging them.
I don’t think we are really learning anything when we are using Facebook, but I think that learning is beside the point since many people don’t use it in this sense. Most Facebook users use Facebook as a way to communicate with their friends and family. What is there to learn? It is possible to say that we learn about other cultures on Facebook when we share photos, links to websites, and communicate around the world.
It is true that we all want to be treated fairly but it is not true that we all want to be treated impersonally and anonymously. There are some people who are on social sites like Youtube who have anonymous accounts with usernames that aren’t their real names but on websites such as Facebook, it isn’t really anonymous since your name is there and your friends are shown as well.
Being bombarded with too much information can only help democracy because people are exchanging ideas. On Twitter and Facebook, people post status updates and others are allowed to comment on these. This gives everyone an opportunity to voice their opinions about certain topics and therefore creates a great discussion.
Social networking is helping our world become connected in ways we never thought possible. Right now as we are blogging, we are a part of this connection and I can’t wait to hear more from the students in France!
:]
Although I am not an avid twitter user, or a twitter user at all for that matter, I believe it is so important to other people because it gives them a sense of importance. The idea of referring to someone as your "follower" is empowering, and knowing that they care to get an update on your life every minute is exciting. Also, Twitter is forever changing. There is always something new to read, which keeps your attention for as long as people are willing to give attention these days.
ReplyDeleteThrough this exchange, I would love to learn about life in Martinique. I want to know what the schools are like, what people my age do there for fun, what the job market is like, what the average family lifestyle is, where the most popular restaurants are for the commoners, not the tourists, even though that wouldn't hurt either. I want to know what the sceneries are, the culture, everything! I'm sure the best way to learn that would be to visit, but the possibility of that is years away from now. I'd be more than willing to share the same information about New York with anyone! =)
I would have to disagree with Malone, not everyone has meaningless conversation on these sites. When I had a myspace, I got in touch with friends who moved away when we were to young to have email addresses and cell numbers. When we got older, we all ended up getting a myspace, which provided us with the opportunity to find each other and send long messages, like letters, to each other. We talked about everything that we missed out on in each others' lives, and kept each other updated on the new things going on. My use of the social network was far from meaningless; however, other people went down that road. This caused me to eventually get the screen names and email addresses of those who mattered, and then retire my myspace. I have refused to join facebook and twitter in an attempt to avoid being characterized as a teen who sits around "stalking" people and leaving comments that make no sense or have no value.
Malone is not entirely wrong with that statement. People want to be treated fairly. They want their rights and they want equality. However, they do not always want to be anonymous and they do not always want be impersonal. Sometimes, more than often if you ask me, people want to be loud, audibly and visibly. They wear clothes that will catch your eye, and speak and type words that will catch your attention and force you to recognize a situation that personally matters to them. I find it kind of ironic though, because they take such an individual stand by doing so, but then preach about being like everyone else and wanting equal respect.
Social networks don’t necessarily serve the purpose they were meant to when they were created anymore. Many people join social networks to obtain information on others and become informed with certain events, happenings, or general trends. Much of the sharing of information goes on in social networks, and we end up getting a glimpse into private lives of the people that we might not necessarily care about but are simply intrigued by. And even though social networks such as Facebook aren’t only meant for communicational purposes, they cannot be described as useless.
ReplyDeleteSocial networks such as facebook provide both pros and cons for the general internet population. On one hand, it informs other internet users of the things that are happening around them and to the people they know and care about. It is also a great way to become more closely acquainted with people you’ve just met. On the other hand, it can be a great distraction on many levels. For example, many students who do use facebook tend to become frequent users and eventually “addicted” to checking their home page every five minutes. This halts their daily academic process. Taking those two minutes to check their facebook pages can be enough time to interrupt a train of thought and leave the students staying up all night trying to reconnect their thoughts into one piece. The obsessive use of social networks can also result in an anxiety to constantly keep up with the others who seem to be doing better or having more fun. Seeing pictures of others having a great time at a party may make the person looking at the pictures (aka the facebook stalker) feel more insecure about themselves because he or she isn’t out there to make the most of life. It plays with the human mind in a subtle way that many fail to notice.
So the point goes back to doing things in moderation. Moderate engagement is harmless, but being overly obsessive or dependent on these social networks can cause dramatic changes and maybe even dangerous trends for the constantly increasing internet using population.
Overall, besides the advantage of meeting and communicating with people all over the world; social networks are less about socializing and more about telling the world who you are. They are not about conversing (conversation is between two people- a listener and a talker- however, with social networks, it might be that no one at all is actually reading your writing). The thing about social networks is that no one may be listening but yourself; essentially, you’re talking to yourself. However, the fact that you have the ability to voice your opinions- whether or not anyone is listening- is a very freeing and relieving experience.
ReplyDeleteWith the invention of novels which featured ordinary, everyday characters as opposed to tragedies, myths, and epics that featured kings, nobles, and monarchs, normal people started to feel like the have a purpose in this world; their story counts. On the internet, you are just a profile and whatever you place on that profile; status and importance don’t count; anyone and everyone can feel like they are important and that people want to hear them out.
- chantelle ;DDD
This is verrrrrryy long....
ReplyDeletePersonally, I've never seen the point of twitter, and I never bothered to get one; why would anyone need to know that you’re in the shower, etc…..ccreeeeeeeepppppppyy. Before high school, I never even saw the need for a myspace besides the freedom to choose and create your own layout. The only reason that eventually I got a myspace was to keep in touch with a friend that I fell out of touch with any ways. Why....because I only talked to her online and we never hung out; but I digress.
Since I hopped on the myspace train way too late, pretty soon all of my classmates were getting facebooks. So I switched from myspace to facebook; facebook was so much simpler to use; less about the layouts (layouts take too much time to edit), and more about the socializing. Also, facebook has a lot of cool apps :D
Anyways, soon after, I fell out of love with facebook because it was time-consuming and it changed tremendously; the new facebook makes it easier for people to read your personal messages and facebook stalk you. Now, I'm practically never online (you can ask anyone who tries to reach me on AIM), but I began to go on facebook even less and less; on average, I'll go on once a week or less.
Then came twitter, so you'd think I'd hop on that bandwagon like I hopped on the facebook one; SO WRONG! By that time I was sick of social networks and the numberless friends, or should I say acquaintances, or even less than that. I no longer cared which social network was the hippest; all I knew was that I'm sticking with facebook; it's easy to use, it's not stupid and pointless and mind-numbingly boring like twitter, it's not time-consuming like myspace (though the added benefit of myspace are the music artist pages- they're the only reason I kept my myspace; though I haven't logged in 8 months....LITERALLY!!!!!!)
So let’s get into face book’s history; certain sites like facebook were created for university students who wanted to connect with their peers. It was especially helpful in colleges like NYU where there is no main campus and many of the students commute. Today, many of those websites have expanded to include high-schoolers and people all over the world. Social networking is a useful, yet often dangerous, tool that allows users all over the world to communicate.
So, if these networks were created for such amiable, benevolent reasons, why has social networking become the monster that it is today?
Well, besides not practicing internet-safety, users abuse their internet access. They think that typing at their computer counts as socialization (which is doesn’t- it’s actually quite solitary and safe.) There are certain moments where you should communicate something in person, however awkward, embarrassing, or tormenting it may be.
For example, why do people text? Well, as an avid texter, I can tell you; it's to avoid face-to-face conflict and remove the emotional component of, for example, relaying the news of a break-up or a death. (I also hate phone calls because you can't see the person on the other line, and that makes me feel a little bit vulnerable and more open to be scrutinized. I prefer talking to people face-to-face; unless, of course, there's something really scary that I have to tell them; then I'll just cower behind my texts and hand-delivered letters.)
Posted for: Forrest K. Period 2
ReplyDeleteWell a lot has been said before me, I'll try and keep my comments as original as possible. Sure, twitter and other micro-blogs (or whatever the hell they're called) give the appearance of being someone worth following, but what percentage of these people is made up of actual important people? I don't need to know if this is "OMG MY SEVENTH LATTE TODAY!!! O____O" and so on. I'm not a twitter-user so I can't give an actual number of useful posts/useless posts a day but it just seems to me that nothing productive will ever come of it. Unless, of course, the government decides to release their plan to use micro-blogging as their communications structure for serious matter. Then we're doomed, aren't we? But I digress. So does Maine and Texas have anything to talk about? Well, sure, until there is no more "news." Think about it this way: If we opened up the connection between students here in Queens and students in Fort de France, there will be a lot of communication. What it's like across the ocean, in a non-English speaking country, a different economy, different education system, and so on. But once we learn everything there is to know about the other side of the link (or better yet, once we know everything we are interested in), it becomes boring. Communication becomes dull, daily nonsense. The reason why we see so much "trash" on sites like Facebook and Myspace is because the majority of connections are made between people who already know everything about each other. If there is a long-distance connection, this is less likely to happen. But locally we find ourselves void of anything worth posting, so we resort to posting whatever pops into our head. Nowadays people are obsessed with the latest fashion, fad, and now the latest internet app, or video. I use Facebook sparingly; usually to post musical stuff and schedule my outings, but rarely to just chat. We have become so sucked into the modern mantra of instant gratification (myself included, unfortunately) that we will easily spend hours doing nothing: watching TV, or pushing buttons that make simulated ragdolls explode onscreen. Facebook is not a contest to see how many "friends" one can have, or for groups like "THE LARGEST FACEBOOK GROUP EVER!," but for groups that bring together people from all over the world with common interests. Sorry, I had dinner, so I lost my train of thought... It was a delicious pasta carbonara or something of the sort. Well, although I'd hate to end this on a rather hypocritical note, I have a camera full of old pictures that are just begging me to see the pallid light of a computer screen- whoops, I meant light of day- and I think it's time to upload them to my Facebook page... I feel I have more to say, so "I'll be back," as my physics teacher would say.
Imari Greaves pd. 1
ReplyDeleteI think the appeal of Twitter and Facebook for most people is the idea of being cared about and seen by others. These social networking sites allow people to be noticed, and get attention that they do not otherwise receive on the outside world. For example, on Twitter one can control how they are perceived though their blurb of a status. Whether they are dishing out the latest celebrity news, telling about the delicious sandwich they just ate, or making a bold political statement, they are simply trying to get attention. The same thing can be said about Facebook. Making up a profile with pictures and information about you, is all in the point of trying to get noticed and to make more friends. Adults, preteens, teens and myself are guilty of this. Whether we like it or not, we use these sites as a vehicle to get our self noticed. Even if it is to fill a void in our perhaps pathetic social life, or to raise our self esteem.
However, I kind of disagree with Malone. Not everything on these sites are useless. Even though people don’t always use them for their intended purposes, what people say on these sites still have value. It is an extension of their thoughts -- but just in cyberspace. People are not trying to be anonymous actually – they are trying to make a name for themselves.
Cade D
ReplyDeleteIn response to what Thoreau stated i dont think it is the difference in culture or a difference distance or even a difference ideals , but i think it is a lack trying to look past the differences and look toward their similarites.
For me the appeal of social networking sites such as facebook is to reconnect with people i can no longer see as regularly as i would like to. for example a few days ago one of my friends who i havent talked to in about three years added me on facebook and we're catching up. Another way facebook might appeal to people is it gives us more information. The one thing that scares people the most is not knowing, but through facebook stalking u can "meet" a person before actually meeting them or learn more about them and the more we knnow about a person the more tension is relieved in my opinion.
on wat Malone said i disagree i think that everyone wants to treat every situation as one with your friends and family, but we realize that it is highly unlikely that we will get these situations so we just hope for the next best thing which would be to be treated equally and like everyone else.
i dont think at all that too much informationcan hurt a democracy. i can only see it as helping a democracy because by definition a democracy is a mixture of all the ideas of the people, so therefore if we had more information and ideals we would have a larger pool of good ideas to choose from.
Sam S.
ReplyDeletePd.8
The age of interaction has brought with it an age of inquisitiveness. Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter have been turned into bare-all, tell-all forums. People are accustomed to the rapid speed at which communication occurs and want to be part of it. Therefore, people are more willing to share trivial and unimportant things with everyone, just so that they can experience the instantaneity of communication. An example of such a societal change can be seen in the Verizon commercial where a father is intently “tweeting” and telling his “followers” that he is sitting on the patio. Such a “tweet” discloses no urgent message but is just to encourage others who also want to be part of the instant communication.
Easy access to communication makes us curious about how others are reacting to the instant communication. As a result, people post random, unimportant things to incite a reaction from those who see their posts. Before the age of instant communication, any contact with a person who was far away would be eagerly awaited. Because letters or telegrams from a loved one were rare and expensive, only the most important messages would be shared. However, now as communication is frequent and free, even the most uneventful events are shared with practically the whole world. So the saying “familiarity breeds contempt” certainly holds true with communication.
I think theses sites are interesting and I can't desagree because I do use Facebook, but Twitter I didn't know. Indeed I think it's appealing because you can share ideas and make new friends but I also think even if I take part of these people that the constant use of theses sites hide a research for being cared and seen by others as Imari said. Because if you need to tell what you're doing or juste post your photos on facebook, maybe it's because you want people to pay attention with you. But I think if it allowed people misunderstood and feeling lonely to have the impression of being known and understood by other people it's a good thing. Even if we clearly see that it is shallow.
ReplyDeleteAnd for Twitter I still can't see the interest of telling that you've just eaten a sandwich and I still enjoy Facebook, but maybe deep inside of me I'm feeling lonely and I need attention...
christine y pd 8
ReplyDeleteI don't get twitter either. i dont understand why people would want to write a 140 character status about what they are doing every second on the day. it's really ridiculous and stupid. who really wants to know when youre going to shower going to pee? i mean, if it was a special event or something, i can see the significance of that but there's always different other forms of communication. take the phone, for example. whatever happened to calling others about their problems or just calling to confirm where they woudl be going that day?
facebook is not as stupid as twitter. although they are both social networking sites, facebook is useful when you need to know more about someone that you don't know. it can actually be deemed as a "stalker" aid. these sites can actually be threats to democracy because sometimes the government can use our blogging or netwokring sites against us even if the first amendment protects us from this.
off topic: i would like to know what the students in france do for fun? do they have sites like facebook too? do they go shopping? hang out at the mall or eat ?
(using same name as Seedebate)
ReplyDeleteTwitter is such a popular website because it allows for easy communication between several different people. The entire point of all these technological advances it to make such communication easier and faster than ever imaginable. A site like Twitter easily allows you to tell other things you would never be able to tell them personally. Personally I don't really agree that the information posted on social networking sites is meaningless. Even though I'm sure some of it is, you can't really say this is true because sites like Facebook wouldn't be so popular if it was. People are attracted to sites like this because they want to be able to communicate with others, and when they can't communicate in person which is often the case. I've heard of plenty in people stay in touch with old friends with Facebook, so to call such communication meaningless doesn't make sense. I don't think Malone is entirely right that all we want beyond family and friends is being treated fairly. There are some people in this world who want to help other people who are having tough times, such as volunteers who organize fundraisers. This obviously shows that there are people who want more than that. Although most people do indeed want what Malone says, I thinks it more of a sense that we all want to feel important in some way. Being bombarded with too much information can have a negative effect if no one can keep track of it all. Theres nothing wrong with lots of information. Its only a problem if no one can keep track of it. The article does have an argument going but I don't agree with a lot of things said in it. I've already mentioned most of my disagreements.
Twitter’s popularity is a result of the ever changing world. It’s just one of those internet evolutions; first there was xanga, where we posted journals of what happened in our daily lives for others who cared to read, then there was Myspace, the so called “place for friends” where people mainly decorated their pages with music, flashy pics and funny surveys, next came Facebook, where well you can pretty much do anything even like sending your friends a gift, and now we have Twitter, which to me has no point because all you do is write a short statement of what you’re currently doing. So really Twitter is like any other social networking site; a way to stay connected, and a way to convey info fast.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think sites like those kind of separate us in a way. For instance I read an article in the wall street journal in which the writer was able to find his childhood friend on facebook, but realized the information his friend posted was superficial. It never told the writer how his friend was doing, what he was up to, or even how he has changed but instead informed him that he had a “chemistry test tomorrow.” People often post inessential things just for the heck of it, which relates to the whole Maine Texas thing; we want to stay connected, but what’s the point if there’s nothing important to talk about. Furthermore, what people post may not even clue us in on what their personality is really like. People pretend to be someone they’re not on the internet because of anonymity, and while it can be fun, it’s often misleading especially when you see them in person or talk to them in vivo (live).
Facebook stalking? When it’s put that way it sounds creepy (lol), but we’ve all done it. Occasionally we’ll visit the page of a friend we’ve haven’t seen in a while just to be nosey. What’s scary is the search button: put in the name of anyone you know and you’d be shocked to see how many people have facebook…Teachers…Doctors…Parents. I know everyone has a facebook but it just seems a little shocking to see some in a way you never thought possible. It’s like bumping into a teacher at the mall, and you’re like OMG you shop at Forever 21? It just makes them see more human, more chilled. But one thing that’s becoming a little “big brother-ish” about facebook is when your “friends”(parents and teachers) start checking up on you on to monitor what you’re doing.
From this exchange, I would like to learn about the cultures in France and how they differ from here in the U.S. Also, I would even like to learn about our Facebook or Twitter equivalent, if any.
ReplyDeleteI agree that a lot of the communication that occur on the blogosphere and on social network sites are meaningless because although there is some very important and relevant communication on the web, much of it are just people keeping an online journal of their thoughts and activities, and people that are just shouting for attention.
People are attracted to sites like Facebook because it gives them a medium to voice their thoughts and opinions on the biggest social network where everyone can see.
Some one might be interested in “Facebook Stalking” because if they find someone interesting or someone they’d like to meet, then “Facebook Stalking” is a way for them to learn more about that person(in a weird way).
We can learn that we all long for friends and people to be there to talk to us, along with staying connected. And that technology has the power to make people confident in expressing their thoughts, and bring people closer together.
We all want to be treated fairly but not anonymously. We want our voice to stand out and make a difference in the world.
Yes, because too much information can give us too many choices and thus, leave us unable to make any decisions.
Amie H.
ReplyDeleteMs. AuCoin - pd.8
I personally do not use Twitter nor do I plan to in the future. I do however, use facebook. I primarily use facebook to stay in touch with my friends who live in other states of the U.S. or in other countries. It's convenient and I would not be able to communicate as effectively or as frequently if I did not use facebook. I also think facebook is great for organizing events or sending out mass notifications to people about important events or news. At the same time, it is true that social networking sites such as Twitter or Facebook aren't exactly foolproof. There have been horrible incidents in which people use these sites in inappropriate ways and these instances can end with dire consequences. I also agree with "Sidra"; texting or typing words cannot replace a personal and up-front conversation with another human being. At this day and age, peer relationships are becoming less intimate.
As for the French Fellows:
Tell me about French food! You can never go wrong with a conversation about delectables.
I completely disagree with Malone. Social networking is far from meaningless. Personally, I think social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter help teenagers like us to connect with each other better. Especially in high school, where we're bombarded with homeworks, projects, and tests, we don't have much time to meet up with friends and socialize as much as we'd like. The only time we're really free is during the evening and nighttime, which is too late to meet up with anyone and hang out when we have school the next day at 8:00AM sharp. Through Facebook, we comment on each other's pages and talk about the latest gossip or the homework assignments that we might have problem with. Of course, most of the time, stuff we put on Facebook IS pretty meaningless (like those 'what do your eyes tell about you' quizzes,) but we do have the most interesting conversations on the site, and the topic can last for days and weeks for you to comment on it, whereas conversations we have at school don't. For example, you might talk about something one day and have a big conversation on it. But if you wanted to continue talking about it the next day or the next week, the conversation is not going to flow smoothly as it did the other day, because people are not going to remember exactly what they've said. But on Facebook, you can still come back to it after awhile, because all of your conversations are going to be still there.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with Elaine. Sometimes, talking online is easier to communicate with some people.
Also, if someone says something on your Facebook page and you don't want to respond to it, you could just ignore it and pretend like you didn't see it. :D
It would be pretty awkward if you ignored someone in real life, though, wouldn't it?
Regarding 'Facebook Stalking,' I believe there is something called PRIVACY on your Facebook page options. If you don't want some random person to go through your page and memorize everything you've put on there, you can set your profile as visible only to friends. If you're still feeling insecure and don't want your friends to see your profile, I wonder why you even signed up O.o
You can also limit-profile some of your friends, where all they can see is your basic information. If you don't want some of your friends to even look at your basic information, why are you even friends with that person on Facebook? o.O?
It's ridiculous when someone complains about how they're being stalked on Facebook when they have all those privacy options.
Even though Facebook publishes everything on all of your friend's homepages, they do give you the option to delete those posts, as well as the privacy options i just talked about. So I'd say 'too much information hurts democrazy' is incorrect.
Besides, why would you put something on internet that you don't want other people to see? It was YOUR choice to put stuff like photos, videos, and information on internet, and it was YOUR choice to allow other people to have access to your profile and give them the right to look at everything.
~ Kate the Great, period 1 :D
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSayra prd 1
ReplyDeleteMy opinion on whether or not Malone is right in saying that all areas beyond family and friends are ones in which we’d want to be treated fairly and thus impersonally and anonymously, is empathetic to the New Yorker way of life. City people are known for living busy lives. They have minimal time on their hands for the important things in life such as friends and family and probably no time for other things such as socializing. Therefore, I’d have to agree with Malone. New Yorkers would rather be taken unnoticed and have no true attachment to any other individual; the only people whom they would have commitments toward are friend and family, through obligation. With this being said, eventually everything will be reported through the internet, books will seize to exist, play will stop to perform, newspapers will discontinue to be published, and literature as a whole will decease.
A lot of controversy has aroused on this topic and I think that it’s biggest impact is not that on the interaction of society, but in youth and their growing incapability to write well. Because of Facebook, Twitter, AIM, among countless other interactive sites of the Internet, today’s youth is loosing the ability to write well because of the internet slang that has developed. With acronyms such as “b.r.b” and “t.t.y.l.” to express what they have to say, people are creating a whole new language, one that is easier to them, more efficient and the most used amongst their network. But in that, the basic principles of the English language are being lost. Even the smartest and best well spoken kids make the mistake of writing “u” instead of “you” in an essay, and making careless grammatical mistakes. I always had problems writing, but if I had not been introduced to AIM at the age when my writing skills were being to form, I wouldn’t have the writing problems I have now. Adding too many words at times or not thinking my sentences out logically has become my greatest flaw and I personally have AIM to blame for it.
(et Madame, vous me manque... )
Teens have been addicted to social networking from xanga to myspace to facebook to twitter and numerous other sites that include profiles and photos and status updates. And while many people don’t see the point of doing it, I wouldn’t call it meaningless. It’s more that people … abuse the sites. They put up too much information, too many revealing pictures, and update their statuses so much that you feel as though you know every detail of the person’s day and life. At that point, it becomes excessive and in a sense meaningless. Why do people need to know where you went today? And what you ate? And that now you’re on the bus, or that you just left your friend’s house or you’re on your way to school. It’s unnecessary.
ReplyDeleteBut some people find it quite necessary. Instead of having to update everyone individually about what is going on in their lives, their friends and family can check their profile to see what they have been up to. I think that sometimes people put up pictures not for others but for themselves. Just to have the satisfaction of everyone seeing that they can be fun and wild and crazy or that they go on vacation to exotic places or whatever the case may be. And not everyone wants to be anonymous as Malone said. They want to be known. They want to stand out.
And of course whenever you are constantly putting up pictures and information, people are going to be interested in you which is the reason you put them up in the first place. You want people to see your profile and comment on you and your adventures. So people can’t even be surprised if they are being Facebook stalked. You know you’re putting up personal information. You know that people can see it so it’s the individual’s responsibility to protect themselves and be mindful of what they post up because anything posted to the internet is no longer private but is now very much public. It belongs to the public to do with it what they will.
Also having access to so much information and opinions can have positive and negative effects. It can be good because people can hear different opinions and get a lot of information to make the right choices or the choices that they see fit. At the same time, most people don’t use their sense. They’re easily influenced and they will be the losers that will vote for the wrong thing because they were misinformed, therefore causing some unfair or bad law to be passed.
But as much as people are averse to social networking, this is an age of technology. It’s inevitable. Yes, we’ve pretty much lost the inclination to interact with people physically but you win some, you lose some I guess.
Anellia, Pd 2
Hiii everybody!!!
ReplyDeleteI found this article very ineresting because it deals with a subject of our time! In fact, even if everybody can use new technology I think that it's more a subject for people who were born after 1980's. Most of the people who go on "Twitter" or "Messenger" and also "Facebook" were born in the technological revolution. I have the feeling to be born with a mobile and a computer in my hands as if they were a part of me... I can't stand to stay without my mobile one day because for me it's a part of myself and a way to be reachaed at any time and to be linked to people.
What I want to explain is the fact that according to the article people (me too) live more and more in an artificial world which is the world of virtual communication. I think it's practical to hide behind a screen! It's a way to escape true life, I suppose because when you are behind your screen no matter what our appearence is, no matter what is our social level,no matter if you don't feel at ease speaking because now you have not to speak and you can even so speak to somebody and have a social life.
So, it's paradoxical:
-there are some negative points like the fact that you don't know who is at the other side of the computer (and it can be dangereous because you show your life with photos for example and you tell your life to perfect unknows) ,you don't create true links with people because it's all about virtual links, it creates a lack of reality and sensitivity in human's relationships.
-but there are also positive points because it permits to have a chat with friends who arrive out of the country and to make a first contact with people who will or will not become friends, to be connected to the news because surfing on internet for example you can know everything…
So, I think that the use of programs like "Twitter" or "Facebook" is a good think but also if it's occasional and if we realize that it is not the real life but just a tool to make our life funnier and interesting.
I don’t agree with the argument Malone is trying to make. I think he’s giving people too much credit when it comes to why everyone (including me) wastes their time of Facebook and Twitter. He’s also making it way to complicated. People go on theses websites with the intention of just having fun and saying wacky things.
ReplyDeleteTheses websites are so popular because they have reduced how important you are in the world by how many friends you have, how much people care about what you’re doing for them to stop their lives and comment on what you have just posted. The users of Facebook and Twitter aren’t reaching for a state of universal consciousness, however awesome and more useful that would be , they just want people to care about what they’re doing and what they have to say. Facebook and Twitter give the shy a voice and the loud an even louder voice all within the confines of an ordered display page. It’s the equivalent of having 150 conversations, simultaneously, without the confusion of 149 other voices.
As much as I resisted the urge to get a Facebook, I finally got one after nearly two years of my friends harping on me, and I’m on it every day. I originally got it with the intention of siphoning homework out of people, but then I got sucked into the Facebook vortex of status updates and crazy online quizzes. Unfortunately one part about Facebook I don’t enjoy seems to be the part people who don’t have Facebook criticize the most. The constant need of users to update:
Joe is on the train,
Joes is off the train,
Joe is Walking home,
Joe is Home.
In actuality, Joe is annoying, but you can’t tell him that because that is not in the spirit of Facebook. Facebook users see Facebook as a place where you feel important and everybody cares about every little thing you do. I would never tell my friends to stop posting comments about their life tribulations because when I do it, I don’t want anybody to tell me anything. You let people post things were they share to much, sound to whiny, and at times are just plain stupid, AND you comment on them because you want people to do the same to you.
- Shakira
I completely agree with Shakira in the sense that most people go on facebook just because at 5 oclock when you just get home from school what else is there to do. As teenagers we are drawn to any form of distraction, and we are naturally social beings. Facebook satisfies both needs for it offers entertainment and an interaction with friends. However there is something impersonal about sites like facebook, myspace, aim,etc. In reality i do not have 300 or so close friends, and the friendhships i cherish most are not ones that were formed over the internet. However the site has allowed my family and I to keep in touch with our relatives in Greece and Guatemala who we do not see on a regular basis.
ReplyDeleteTwitter on the other hand, I just dont get. It is much like the facebook status updates, something that is abused too often. There is a trend in which people feel the need to update their peers everytime they eat, use the bathroom, take a step forward, or breathe.While this may be annoying, to each his own.
If networking sites are any clue as to what our future holds then I am worried. I do not think it is healthy for us to grow in a society in which one word responses to our loved ones are encouraged. Keep your facebooks but please if you wanna build life long, meaningful friendships phone a friend and visit them! Because if you really think about it you did not meet your best friend in preschool by commenting on their wall.
-Crisula pd 1
ps i would like to know anything and everything, especially about favorite past times and good food :)
Andres Paz period 2
ReplyDeleteTwitter has become one of most popular blog sites out right now. It is popular because it is very simple and many celebrities are using twitter. Nowadays, many tv channels, radio stations and many other people use twitter as a means of communicating with one another. I agree with Malone in a way because many blogs and social networks nowadays are pointless. Many people talk about nonsense or gossip, most of the time it is about nothing important. However, I do think that websites such as facebook, myspace and twitter are good means of communication between friends and family. Many people are attracted to facebook because there are many updates and many things to look at on other people's pages. I don't use facebook but mostly everyone does, it becomes an addiction for some. Facebook stalking is something to be addressed because many people's facebooks give out a lot of information about themselves and a lot of privacy is lost. I agree with Malone again, apart from areas beyond friends and family, all we wanted to be treated as is impersonally and anonymously. In my opinion, blog sites like these are becoming the elite source of communicating. Nowadays, everyone is online either through their computers or their phones and sites like facebook are an easy source for communicating with friends.
Obviously most of the things people post on social networking sites, such as facebook and twitter, are of little, if any importance to anyone, and I agree with Melesa in that it does make people feel important and empowered to have "followers". I know people who waste hours a day just posting and reading insignificant, soon forgotten messages, blogs, posts, etc on facebook and other social network sites. Yes, it is detrimental to the lives of these people.
ReplyDeleteHowever noone is obliged to use these social networking sites if they do not so desire. I have an account in nearly every social site, yet I do not log on every day, sometimes not for weeks. The wonderful thing about our age is the freedom to be able to choose between so many things. I cannot think of any choice that would rather not be given, so long as it does not harm other individuals. Hence, let those who feel better by posting about what they ate for breakfast, and having 25 comments about it, enjoy the false sense of importance. However, the fact you can share information (meaningful or not) so easily, does not mean that individuality is under attack. One cannot attain greatness through a Facebook account, you will not stand out by sharing meaningless information about what homework you have, however you can be the same individual you would be if these sites did not exist.
As to the question posted by Ms. Owens, "can getting bombarded by too much information hurt democracy?" I see no sense in that question. Any true information, whether positive or negative, educates a person and helps them make better choices. I do not see how a poorly educated people can make up a decent democracy. And what exactly is "too" much information? The human brain will not malfunction if presented with any amount of information, the problem is interpreting the information and taking in only what you find important (and not what someone ate for breakfast for example).
Stan
I think the attraction in Twitter and Facebook (and the stalking) comes from feeling of being connected to others. What happens is this: trivial facts from other people's lives are made accessible to you > you feel as if you are part of their lives > collectively, when you feel as if you are part of so many people's lives, the sense of your own self improtance increases.
ReplyDeleteBasically, it feeds egos and the natural tendency to want to be included, feel updated and intergrated. Of course, social networking sites would seem very pointless to someone who cares very little about social standing, but I think everyone has a bit of a social climber in them so in the end, we are all facebook addicts.
Virtual communication is the modern way of courting. Today, we don't have to come up with poems and songs as a prelude to conversation. Communicating virtually translates to communicating in the real world and it is especially effective because people are too busy to see much of anyone else anyway.
carmen c
BTW, HI MADAME! BONJOUR, BONJOUR, BONJOUR! it's refreshing to hear from you in english
ReplyDeletePersonally I don’t understand the phenomenon that Twitter has become… but from my knowledge of what Twitter is… it’s basically a collection of “updates”. For instance if I’m on the bus, on my way to school, and for some reason I feel that it’s necessary for me to share this piece of information with all my friends that also have Twitter. I will type in “on the bus” or “on my way to school” and it will be shared with all of my Twitter friends. I’m not sure if that is the full extent of Twitters capabilities because if it is… that’s just a waste of time. But, Twitter isn’t the first, and I’m sure won’t be the last, social networking site. I remember back in 7th and 8th grade there was “Xanga” which was basically an online diary or blog. Then there was everyone’s favorite: “Myspace”. I believe this is where it all got started. The photos you could upload and caption, the walls you could write on, music you could add to your newly designed profile page, and the coveted “Top 5” Friends. And finally from Myspace, Facebook was born. The supposedly mature version of Myspace, no longer are you able to decorate your profile page, instead you are given a more uniform template with the option of adding a photo, your profile picture, information about yourself: favorite books, television shows, etc. I think that facebook is the healthy combination of instant messaging, emailing, Twitter, and Myspace. It is the social networking site for the masses.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion social networking sites are simply modern telephones. With cell phones we have limitations…that is if you don’t want to run out of minutes, and home phones… as far as I know only telemarketers call those numbers now-a-days. Internet on the other hand is already being paid. No limit on the amount of time I can talk to my friends, or when my “free minutes” kick in. Mainly social networking sites are convenience and you can have just as much of a meaningful conversation online as if you were on the phone or in front of that person.
Facebook is somewhat of an escape. Once you type in the web address you are sent to a world surrounded by friends; filled with funny, maybe embarrassing photos, intriguing statuses and distracting quizzes. It is also an easy way to keep up with what your friends are doing and what they did over the weekend or during their summer vacation. It’s almost as if we are tapping into the angelic communication that Peters is speaking of, the person’s profile page being their mind. No words need to be spoken when you see your friend in a picture standing in front of the Eiffel Tower. Obviously they spent some time abroad or have very impressive photo editing skills. But this “direct communication” can lend itself to unwarranted attention, Facebook stalkers. Because it is very easy to see the information posted on a person’s profile, if it is not “private” strangers can find out and ultimately stalk someone.
But for those without an ulterior motive, Facebook or social networking sites in general are a means of keeping in touch. People more often than not check their Myspace or Facebook rather than their email, it’s simply the quickest way to get from point A to point Gee it’s been too long.
In any situation I think everyone wants to be treated fairly, that doesn’t necessarily mean that we want to be protected by a veil of anonymity. But unless I am truly comfortable with divulging certain information to a person, I think that I have a right to remain impersonal and in that case I am thankful for my laptop sized barrier. The same way a person will give out a fake number to someone they don’t want calling them is the same way someone can go by the screen name “songbird” until they reveal their real name.
It's so amazing how far technology has come. It used to take days for someone to get a message, and now we can do it instantly, because of this wonderful thing called the internet. But sometimes it can get quite annoying.
ReplyDeleteIt's true what Thoreau wrote about the objective being to talk fast and not to talk sensibly. There was once a time, as the articles cleverly puts it, "when the internet was virtually steam-powered," when all the kinks hadn't been worked out yet, when it took more than just a few minutes for someone to receive an e-mail in their inbox, when the internet was a privilage. That was when people used their time on the internet to get something meaningful out in the open for other people to read.
Now, with micro-blogging, we as internet users, followers on Twitter or even friends on facebook, are denied the experience of reading something powerful and meaningful from those around us. All we get are the really useless updates, or the completely random and irrelevant thoughts that people feel the need to share.
Don't get me wrong, its great that people who haven't met face to face in years are still able to keep in touch and its amazing that you can communicate with someone on the other side of the world with just a few seconds delay, but that kind of contact has to be something more than just reading a tweet. It's not the mundane everyday things that people want to know about, its the really big things that make an impact on your life, that really matter to you that your close personal friends would want to know about.
And really, no matter how close you are with someone, they don't need to know everything about your life, leave them wondering every now and then. It's the people who give you a step by step run down of their day that ruin the benefits of micro-blogging. I personally think that being able to tell you're whole group of friends about something amazing that happened to you, all at once, without having to repeat yourself numerous times, is a Godsend, but I'm sure that same group of friends is not interested in what you ate for breakfast and when you plan to take a shower. Somethings are too personal to be putting out there for the whole world to read.
The internet is an invaluable resource we have today. But what is the internet? I would say the most important aspect of it is CONNECTION.
ReplyDeletePeople always say two brains are better than one, so why not throw in a couple of million? The internet is like a brain, constantly throwing ideas around,and revising them until they become something useful. What is interesting about the internet is that it virtually has no rules, but because of that it is governed by a surprisingly balanced community. You will always find someone on the web who disagrees with you.
It is human nature to disagree with one another, as disagreement ultimately leads to progress in society. Without it, we would be stuck in one place, constantly agreeing with one another that there is no further progress possible.
So now, onto Twitter and Facebook. Very similar, almost the same thing in theory, except one has more user-appealing features(pictures, videos, etc.). Sites like these are different from serious blog sites, as they often do not present organized thought. Although sometimes they may, social sites like these express a mere train of thought, or maybe just even a snippet of one, and a lot of the times it leads to absolutely nowhere. Now this blog post for example, is an example of organized thought, as I am thinking of what to write before I write it, so that my words may contain some relatively intellectual value. Facebook and Twitter on the other hand are often host to thought that has little or no apparent intellectual value, although they are important for something else. Through them we may find patterns in human behavior that before have went by unnoticed. We are only beginning to see these patterns, but there are emerging clues in why humans interact the way they do.
So although blogs may seem as the apparent intellectually superior form of thought, there is an important use for social networking sites: to discover how humans think and act on a subconscious level.
The human brain is the only brain on earth that has been able to study itself, and I see the internet just as a useful medium to help it continue doing just that.
-Jack L.
It is my opinion that social networking sites such as Twitter or Facebook are so popular because they offer to us what all people desire: attention. Indeed, the idea of your “followers” knowing what you want them to know is very attractive. Social networking sites allow users to feel like they are special which in my opinion is very good because it uplifts the feelings of everyone on social networking site
ReplyDeleteThe prospect of being able to communicate with people from distant places has always interested me. Personally, meeting new people from new places is one of the things I try to do when I get the chance. (This reason was a factor in my joining Model UN.) What we can offer to the people in Martinique and what the people in Martinique can offer to us is a very intriguing perspective on life: a view that enables us for a moment to step out of the amalgam of cultures that is New York and into the world.
Despite the wonderful things that communication on social network sites offers us, I do agree with Malone that some things on social network sites are useless. For one, people do not need to know what others are eating for dinner, what others are venting about, or what things they bought at the mall. But relevancy is not the point; these sites are about having fun and expressing ourselves.
While some may do seemingly insignificant things on Facebook, others take things to an extreme. The issue at hand here is Facebook stalking. It is my opinion that people resort to stalking because they are acting on a common human impulse: curiosity. The need to know about someone leads to stalking. We see these actions everyday when people idolize celebrities and look through tabloids. In my opinion, this “stalking”, for the most part, is harmless.
With regards to the question on learning and Facebook, my answer is that learning is not the purpose of Facebook. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Students utilize Facebook as an escape. To students, facebook is actually a way to take a short reprieve from the stresses of schoolwork.
It seems that I agree with Malone often and especially when he says that people, outside of friends of families want to be anonymous and impersonal. The world is a dangerous place and disclosing personal information can be detrimental.
Being bombarded with information actually helps democracy. This eliminates ignorance and raises awareness about certain issues and can spur people to participate in a democracy.
My opinion of this article is that for the most part Malone is right. I like what he says about information belonging to everyone when disclosed on the internet. Malone seems to imply that the internet is a democracy.
Bonjour Madame!!!
ReplyDeleteLe twitter, myspace, facebook et les autres sites de gestion de réseau sociaux est devenu populaire par l'adolescence. Ces sites donnent l'adolescence que la liberté pour se exprimer . Il laisse leurs voix être entendues. Je pense que ces sites ont des pros et des contres à eux. Ils aident des gens communiquent avec d'autres et élargissent leur cercle social. Mais vous pouvez faire la même chose par prend juste le téléphone et l'appel de vos amis ou lui montant juste et commencer une conversation avec eux. Aussi, les sites aime que nous avons les offenseurs de plus de sexe et les prédateurs sur Internet.
Les gens sont attirés à facebook parce que c'est une façon plus facile pour rencontrer de nouveaux gens et apprend d'une personne. Comme ce que d'autres ont dit déjà du, les gens seraient intéressés dans rôder de facebook parce qu'ils trouvent cette personne s'intéressant et ils veulent savoir plus de la personne.
Je pense que nous pouvons dire que notre société est devenu paresseuse dans un sens. Nous avons emporté le spécial de quelque chose comme rencontrer une nouvelle personne dans quelque chose impersonnel.
i don't think anything said over social network sites are meaningless, everything has a meaning to it, even if it is about having lunch and not saving the world, everything that is said is meaningful to somebody. the stuff kids say over facebook might seem meaningless or adults and it will most likely be meaningless in the future, but as of right now, it is meaningful to those who says it and to those who receives it. facebook is attractive to people because it allows you to meet people from al over the world. it also informs you of the events that goes on in your friends' life, so when you do see that friend in real life, you might have something to talk about. facebook also allows you to know more about other people's life without talking to them, this is helpful if you have a crush on somebody or an enemy. facebook might not be a classroom learning thing, but anything we do in life has a lesson in it. i believe you can learn many things about the society and ourselves from facebook, such as don't post naked pictures of yourself.
ReplyDeletehere is no such thing as too much information in democracy world, i believe the problem with America is that people are not well inform of the of current events, such as the health care reform. i mean there is the internet that can teach you what the health care bill is about, but people refuse to listen or understand, so they protest something that can be helpful to them since most of them are poor self employ people who works on farms.
jie X.
What would you like to know about each other and what might you hope to get from this exchange?
ReplyDeleteI would like to know how’s life in Fort de France and how’s their school like along with their experiences and culture there.
According to Malone a lot of the communication that occurs on the blogosphere and on social network sites are meaningless. Do you agree?
A lot of the communications are indeed meaningless since much of it is spam. It’s just a person shouting their thoughts expecting attention. Unless someone has a lot of free time, they wouldn’t bother answering spammers. Twitter for example has many people shouting nonsense, advertisements, or spam, waiting for someone to answer.
Why are people so attracted to sites like Facebook?
Facebook allows people to stay connected with friends and interact with them when ever they desire. It’s a place where they actually know the people there unlike random forums and boards in the internet. Many people desire attention and this site allows them to get some online.
Why might someone be interested in "Facebook stalking"?
Someone may be interested in Facebook stalking to find out more about a certain person. They can easily find out what the person is doing, who his friends are, or how he looks like. If something is in the internet, pretty much someone is going to look at it. If you don't want that to happen, simply don't post it online.
What if anything do we learn about ourselves and our society? Or is learning besides the point?
We can learn that we all desire friends and people to be there to talk to us, along with staying connected.Also that we have a voice that wants to be heard. Facebook and Twitter, for example, allows us to do that. We can stay connected around the world and express our ideas to the world.
Is Malone right that in all areas beyond family and friends all we want is to be treated fairly and thus impersonally and anonymously?
We all of course want to be treated fairly but not impersonally and anonymously since the purpose of these social network sites is to display ourselves, not be a secret.
Is it possible that being bombarded with too much information can hurt democracy?
No because this is a part of our first amendment, the right to free speech. We are free to express ourselves anyway we want and these sites just make it easier and faster.
November 3, 2009 3:15 PM
*repost - Kazi
Many years ago, they only way of getting information around was on horse through the Pony Express. However, now the world is in the 21st century, and the world is constantly evolving. No longer does it take days or months to receive information, but information is available instantaneously with the touch of your fingertip across the keyboard. During the American Revolution, it took all night for Paul Revere to ride his house around town to inform people that the British were indeed coming. If the colonist would have had a Facebook or a Twitter, then with one status update, all of the colonies would have been able to prepare themselves for the impending attack.
ReplyDeleteWhen the telegraph system was created, the problem arose of whether of not different states had anything to communicate to one another. In my opinion, with the telegraph maybe they didn’t have anything to communicate to each other because with the telegraph it would have required them to already know somebody who lived in the other state. With the internet, that is not a big requirement, because I can go online and friend request someone from a whole different continent and form a communication from that. I do not believe that Queens and Fort de France have nothing to communicate to each other. We may be from different countries and have been raised with different backgrounds but that is what makes this exchange that more interesting and worthwhile. I hope to learn more about the culture in Fort de France and gain more of an understanding about the citizens of Fort de France with this exchange.
Malone, believe that the communication that occurs on the blogosphere and on the social network are meaningless but he fails to grasp the point that the point of this communication are not meaningless to the people who use them. Facebook and Twitter are sites that are very popular with young adults because it allows them to be able to communicate with their friends and know what is going on in their lives. Most people are attracted to the sites because of the appeal that it offers, when all of your friends are on the site then it makes you want to have one also. The thing with Facebook stalking is that because all of this information is on the site for use, you get people who stalk others profiles. Facebook stalking, in my opinion, is mostly for people who don’t have real connection with their friends, and have to find out any information about their friends from the internet and by stalking.
I do not know how much truth lies behind Malone’s words that in all areas beyond family and friends all anyone wants is to be treated fairly and thus impersonally and anonymously. Personally, if I had something to say I would want people to know that the opinion was mine. I think he is trying to say that no one wants their thoughts and opinions to go unheard but wants to be treated fairly and the only way that can happen is if all forms of expression are anonymous.
Eu'nice
With all sites, there can always be information overload. On Facebook and Twitter, there are tons of information available at anytime but no one has to allow the information available to them affect their opinion. The only way that being bombarded with too much information can hurt democracy, is if everyone takes the information presented to them as fact and allows that to alter their individual opinion. For instance, if I was of the age to vote, and one of my friends posted that they were leaning towards voting for Bill Thompson in the upcoming election for this and that reason, and I allowed their opinion to affect how I would vote then that would hurt democracy because only one opinion is being shown but votes are still counted. However, I do not believe that anyone is this retarded in life. Most people form their own opinions and although we consider and respect other people’s opinion it does not dictate our lives and alter them drastically.
ReplyDeletePersonally I do not own a Twitter account but I do have a Facebook account. With the Twitter account, the main point is that you strictly have statuses that you can update and tell your followers and everyone what is going on during your life at the present moment. Most people are attracted to this, because numerous celebrities have Twitter accounts and that allows their fans to find out what their idols are doing. When people take this to the extreme, and update their status every five seconds so that their profile is now on a stalker status then the essence and value of the site diminishes. Facebook however is a little different. It is not just about updating your status to allow people to know what you’re doing, but there are a lot of interactions occurring within that. Status updates lead to conversations that would probably have not occurred if the person wasn’t in your inner circle of friends. More communication occurs and connections are formed. I cannot say if connections occur on Twitter because I don’t have one, but there are meaning in the sites especially for the people who use them.
I would like to start off
ReplyDeleteIn the article, the writer Mr Moran said something that made stir.
ReplyDelete"Today's frantically texting, micro-blogging culture seems to be part of this long and futile search for shared consciousness."
Shared consciousness. While it may sound outlandish, it is by far not a futile search. Shared consciousness is one of the ultimate goals of communication. To share ones mind is to share all information.
Every advancement in communication and technology makes it possible for humans to share information magnitudes in bulk. Speech allowed us to share sound and thought. Writing is a development of speech because writing is tangible medium. From handwritten letters and papers, we moved on to the printing press, where written information can be mass produced and handed out to the public.
People of the Renaissance were amazed, disturbed and infatuated with the printing press. The amount of information that could be distributed because of the printing press shocked the western world.
The internet is like the printing press, however the Internet is not limited to written media. Through an unfathomable amount of data is exchanged every moment. Furthermore, computer technology is advancing exponentially every few years. The processing power in the average calculator is more advanced then the super computers of twenty years ago. Therefore, it is safe to say exchange of information, such as letters, videos, music and pictures, will only become more frequent and advanced.
As technology advances, how we exchange information will change. Hundreds of years ago we communicated through letters, presently the bulk of our communication is through the internet. So, how will we communicate hundreds of years from now? I see the ability to connect ones mind with another mind as "printing press" and the "Internet" of the future. We are making progress to such a technology. There are instances of scientists attaching computer chips to the brains of chimpanzees and humans, allowing them interact with computers. Furthermore, scientists can observe changes in bran waves when a person thinks of something, and then make a prediction of what that person was thinking of. Mind reading is what we call it in science fiction. However the technology is definitely being developed and explored. Shared consciousness, while it probably wont be attained during our lifetime, is a definite possibility in the years to come.
I do think that social networks are the disease of the 21st century. As technology is more and more needed, even, demanded, people seem to lose human contact and try to make for it by getting addicted to social networks as Twitter or Facebook here in Martinique. The journalist speaks about "instant communication" : I completely agree with what he thinks, that virtual communication, even instant, is not real communication as people are in front of a screen and not in front of a human being. One doesn't catch the look, the gesture that betrays lot of things or anything that belongs to humans and not computers ! We get obsessed by our personal life : photos,comments, pseudos, all that testify of our growing ego. It's all about us and real matters are no longer significant. Social networks are an illusion to me. It allows people to satisfy their curiosity about anyone's privacy, and it's also a dangerous thing as it threatens that very privacy we are supposed to defend. The building of a relationship based on such a system can't be true or real or pure or whatever at all. Hidden behind a screen, one can be whoever he wants, and who cares about being sincere? Even if it does increase communication -I'm thinking about students far from their family and so on- I do think we should reconsider our conception of "individuality" in a public context and try to find again sensibility instead of rapidity.
ReplyDeleteOnline interaction definitely became a cult. That's why the internet is filled with those annoying chatterboxes, everytime I throw an eye over the bloggosphere I get bored to death. Billions of people are saying " Look at my life see how wonderful it is". But everywhere it's the same things, the same photos, videos, comments. And now it got worse with Twitter, now they can tell you " Look at what i'm doing just right now".Who cares ? This is appalling. It just show how poor the lives they lead are. This constant exposition of lives and communication litteraly drowns people in a mass of meaningless informations, and the result is that our singurilarities as human beings become diluted in a sort of common and impersonal maelstrom. I agree with Melanee when she says that most of people now miss the real things that matter, this is why too much information can hurt democracy, you just don't succeed to find the truth. Everyone's like " Come on, I don't want to get bored. Entertain me", And they all claim their originality, but as they all share the same mass culture ( which is far to be brillant most of the time )they all do the same boring and dumb things on the web, and they want you to watch and comment.
ReplyDeleteI also think that those social networks like facebook ( or fesse-bouc like I like to call it) are made for people who meet regularly in real life. If not, the relationships are poor and get very quickly boring. The matter is that on a screen words are just words, they lose much of their power. Furthermore there is always a part of ourselves which is not reachable, you never really know the people you have in front of you. Once you know that, you know can't build a genuine relationship on virtual bases.
SY (Pd 2)
ReplyDeleteI believe that the wealthier countries should take more responsibility for the climate change because they are the major contributers of the green house gases. It would only make sense that the countries that created most of the mess clean it up as well.The wealthier countries, like the United States and China, have enough factories and technological equipment to take more responsibility than the poorer countries.
However, it is not justifiable for poorer countries to make an excuse that they can act indifferently to the global warming issue and do whatever they want. Some of the poorer countries also argued that they want to be part of the contributers of the greenhouse gases by becoming more industrialized, which is a selfish response on their behalf. Just because they do not have the right technology to be a major oontributer to climate change does not mean that they will not be if they become more advanced. If given the chance, they could be as guilty or more guilty than the leading greenhouse gas contributers. So I understand why poorer countries would want the wealthier countries to take charge: they have enough money to make a change, and enough power to influence high-ranked members to do something. However, the desire for poorer countries to also contribute to the climate change is unacceptable.