Final Thoughts

To wrap up this course--and this blog--I started thinking about some overarching themes that ran through the semester. Of course, one of the most obvious ones that came up in almost every discussion was the idea of disruption. But what I found most interesting was a quote that Professor Robinson brought up a few times in class.

We discussed Kranzberg's 1st Law that technology is neither good nor bad; nor is it neutral. There will always be unintended consequences that come along with the terrain of new technology, and these consequences are circumstantial. We can take our class's blog forum as a perfect example of this. Some technological advancement that one person sees as having extremely negative consequences can be seen by someone else in an entirely different light. We can't make any broad generalizations about any new technology. A perfect example of this is Sherry Turkle's view that cell phones are causing us to be "alone together" since we are so attached to them, but cell phones have also allowed us to be able to more easily connect to more people than ever before.

So, depending on the circumstance, the result of a technological advancement can have a certain type of consequence that it wouldn't have in a separate context, but in no context is it neutral.

Waze

After doing my class presentation on the community based traffic and navigation app, I actually had the chance to try it this weekend. Going home from Chapel Hill, we hit some horrible traffic and I wanted to figure out how long we might be in it for. So, I downloaded the Waze app and signed in just to see if it was all it's cracked up to be.

It ended up being extremely helpful. It showed me the traffic I was in, and the length of it, by making the road display red until the traffic jam ended. I could tell how much farther I would have to go to get out of it. What was really great, though, was that it's set up so you can see other users on your screen, so you can tell there are people around you who are also on the app. They come up as mini cars on the road, and when you click on one, it tells you how fast they are going. So, unfortunately, I could see that up to ten miles ahead of me someone was only travelling at 4 miles per hour. It was a long ride home...but the point is that--even if the app didn't get rid of the traffic (that would be an amazing app)--it still let me know just how long I should be prepared to be in stand-still traffic. It was really cool to see notifications popping up that alerted the Waze user community to the traffic conditions and updates. It's a great way to get need-to-know information as fast as possible.

Creepy Social Media

I have a post that should reaffirm the beliefs that some people in our class hold that social media is creepy. So, just as a preface to the creepy moment I just experienced, this past weekend I went to Disney World and met my boyfriend's family. Long story short, we stayed at a hotel called Melia. Now, here comes the creepy part. I'm not sure if you all are familiar with the website 9gag or not, but it is an incredibly addicting social media site that has a variety of memes, gifs, funny pictures, etc. Anyway, I'm on it all the time. Especially when I should be studying. I was on it today, of course, and as I'm scrolling down chuckling at a gif, I notice on the right side of the page where the advertisements are featured is an ad for guess what? Melia hotels! Telling me that I should book a stay now! What's weirdest to me is that I don't think I posted anything on my Facebook or any social media site about where I was going, much less what hotel I would be staying at. It's some creepy stuff. Even though it's a completely different situation, I feel like the girl whose dad found out she was pregnant from Target before he found out from her. Sometimes this personalization and behavior-tracking that comes along with media is a little too much. When a silly website I go on to procrastinate knows about a trip I took, that's where I draw the line.

Let's Not Blame the Internet

Maryanne Wolf thinks that online skimming is hurting our ability to comprehend and manage "deep reading" that is more dense than what we are used to. I don't think this is true. Sure, some people have a hard time switching from skimming light stuff online to more dense material, but that's two different kinds of reading. If you are going to read a dense novel you have to invest yourself in it and actively engage in the material. It's always been that way; I don't think the Internet has suddenly made us worse readers.

Also, as for students saying that their readings are too time demanding, I think this response is being analyzed in the wrong way. Sure, it is demanding on their time and they find themselves too impatient to finish or read it fully. But it's not because they are too used to skimming texts online, like Wolf is asserting. It's because they have so much dense reading for many of their classes and not enough time to do it all fully! That's how my experience has been, at least. I've certainly noticed, especially with having a Communication major with a Journalism minor, that most of my homework is reading. And it's not very light. (With the exception of this class, of course--we always have just the right amount of reading). So, yes, I find myself having a hard time focusing completely on one reading when I know I have three more to get through and not enough hours in the day to pore over each of them until I fully understand every single one. I think Wolf is focusing on the wrong problem.

Twitter Messaging Alerts

It seems like Twitter is making changes along with Facebook. In fact, Twitter's recent change makes it look a little more like Facebook. It's adding notification alerts when someone mentions, messages or retweets a user. I do think this new addition is a good idea, but maybe Twitter should hold back on becoming too much like another social media site.

Both Facebook and Twitter are great in their own right, so why change one to make it more like the other? I like Twitter the way it originated. The point was to have a one-way status update platform, but now it's looking more like Facebook with the messaging functions. So, I guess it depends on what direction Twitter wants to take their social media platform whether this new development is ultimately a good idea or not, but I think they should make sure they are keeping themselves distinctive from other sites.

Yet Another Change to Facebook

Another update on Facebook: apparently it's planning on taking chat out of the Facebook app, forcing users to download a separate Messenger app. This sounds like another bad idea to me, and Lance Ulanoff agrees. In fact, he gives us 11 reasons why, and he doesn't hold back. 

I'll let you guys read the whole article at your own leisure, but I just wanted to share a few of his reasons that I thought were great. First of all, Facebook didn't ask the public about this change. Why, after so many negative responses to their changes, would they make another one--that's even more annoying than most others--without getting their public's consent?? I don't get it. 

Secondly, Ulanoff points out that this change will ultimately hurt Facebook because it will take the real-time communication aspect out of the social platform. I think this is extremely relevant. This is one of Facebook's best features! It's so easy and convenient. Why would they feel the need to separate this aspect from their original platform and make the two mutually exclusive? I think it's an extremely important part of owning a business to have the ability to know when it is smart to innovate and mix things up a bit and when it's smarter to just keep things the same--the way people like them. In this case, Facebook does not seem to have that ability. 

Privatizing Facebook

Facebook is planning on updating their features, making it more private for users. According to Mashable, the new features give you the option to decide if you want your post to be open to the public or to be private, and will make the intended audience label more easily visible.

I do think this is a good idea, because people are very concerned nowadays about privacy issues--a concern that Kristin can definitely attest to. However, I don't necessarily think that it is the responsibility of Facebook to make sure that nobody posts anything they didn't want the public to see. To me, when you sign up on any social media site, you are signing a contract that you are responsible for what you post on that site. If you are concerned about something that you post being seen by someone, why not just refrain from posting it in the first place? I think that we should mediate our own privacy, not Facebook.

This isn't to say that things like people stealing your identity are the victim's fault. I don't think that's true at all. It's not like a free-for-all where if you're on social media you might get your identity stolen and you just have to accept that. That line of thinking is just unfair. But, I do think people should be aware of what they are saying and who is seeing it. If you really are that concerned with privatizing what you are saying, why post it on a SOCIAL media site when you could just tell the people you are close to?

Copying Might Not Be That Bad

In response to Lauren's recent post about social media companies copying others and their lack of originality, it's my belief that copying ideas--although it makes sense that the popularity of an aspect of one site would transfer to another--it ultimately comes off as lazy. Although, adding things like hashtags and private messaging makes our different social media sites more personalized and gives us more that we can do with that technology. So, maybe there are some positive aspects to what seems like copying. Some people may only use certain social media sites, so they might appreciate that features originally on a site they don't use were added onto the site(s) that they do actually use.

Cell Phones are Toxic

As much as I love technology, and am very glad to have it in my life, I can't help but feel that sometimes it does detract from some very important aspects of life and just being human. Nicole and Madison discuss some of the good and bad things about technology and how it has changed our lives, and I would like to add to that.

Their posts made me think about the Louis C.K. video we watched the other day about how he hates cell phones because they don't allow people to just be themselves and enjoy what is going on around them. Just "being a person." One of the comments he made that really resonated with me is that technology like our phones has given us an outlet--that we shouldn't have--to not think about the deeper questions in life. You know the kind. They come to you when everything during the day has died down and you're in bed alone and all of a sudden all of the questions of the universe suddenly come to you. It's a scary feeling and it's one that people will avoid if possible--and that's exactly what technology has allowed us to do. I don't think that's a good thing. I agree with Louis C.K. that we should just allow those feelings to take us over and maybe just get a good cry out every once in a while, because if we're not doing that, then we're not really in touch with our humanity.

Virtual Reality

In response to Lauren's post on the future of virtual reality,  I would like to say that I think there is no way it is going to end up as the next big thing, and it certainly isn't going to be so pervasive in society that it affects our ability to connect with people. Maybe it's just my bias, but I think that virtual reality technology is a bit overrated. Especially in the case of the Oculus technology; it's just a bit much and seems like it has the potential to be very overstimulating. Although this kind of technology is interesting at first, I think it loses its appeal quickly. It's just not practical. A huge set of goggles like those of Oculus seem cumbersome and inconvenient. So, even though it would be a fun and exciting experience to try once or twice, I don't see it as a lasting technology.

In my experience, virtual reality has been one of those things that is very cool for a only a very short amount of time. For example, you guys remember Runescape, right? At least within my and my brothers' circle of friends, this online virtual reality game was all the craze when I was in elementary school. And then all of a sudden people got bored with it and it died down just like that. I see this same pattern happening with other forms of virtual reality going into the future. I'm not worried at all that we will become glued to our alternate virtual identities while we leave the real world behind--at least not permanently.

The Future of News

One important current mass media issue that is being talked about is the future of news. As this just so happens to be my final topic, I have an interest in the subject. Something that I have noticed through my research is the reoccurring trend that people are getting their news more and more from social media. In fact, according to Pew Research, about half of adults who are on Facebook use it for news. There's a cool graph on the page that shows the different social media sites that people are using and the percentage of them who are using it for news as well. It might actually be the same graph that Professor Robinson showed us in class the other day, but, hey, that just makes it all the more valid, right? 

Anyway, I think it's very interesting--but not surprising--that this seems to be the path that news is going down now. I think it has a lot to do with convenience; if you're browsing social media and news pieces show up on your feed, it's that much easier to click on the link instead of searching it out. You have your information right there. It may also have to do with the "filter bubble". If Facebook knows what your preferences are based on your past behavior, your news feed will probably have more items that are of your interest than not. This means that you're all the more likely to click on those news links. Even though this is my prediction of where the majority of news will be in the future, I fully believe that other sources will not die out. There are always going to be those more traditional people that like their news the way it used to be: in print. 

Conversation Killer

Although I ultimately love and appreciate that we have the technology available that makes texting possible, sometimes I really hate it. I'm sure that even before texting was invented, people got distracted while having conversations and didn't listen to the person they were talking to, but with texting now it seems like it's an every-day occurrence.

I've realized now how big of a pet peeve it is to me when people start texting when you're talking to them. Even replying to just one takes them out of their conversation with you and detracts from the connection. Not only is it rude to the other person, but it's a total overestimate of how well you can multitask. When you pull out your phone when someone is having a conversation with you, it sends the message that you aren't really paying attention to them. It's one of the most dismissive feelings in the world when you're on the other end of that.

My friends will do this sometimes, and I know they mean well and aren't trying to be dismissive, but it makes me so frustrated and want to just stop talking to see if they'd even notice. Actually, I like to play a game to see how receptive they are to what I'm saying once they start texting, so I'll just start saying the most random, weird stuff to see if it even phases them. I know for a fact that people like to feel listened to, so I've made a promise to myself that I won't check texts or anything else on my phone when I'm having a conversation with someone else face-to-face. Surely if I think I deserve that basic level of attention, then so does everyone else.

The Power of the Polaroid

Okay, just one more post about pictures, I swear. After going through our class's recent blog posts, I saw one in particular that caught my eye. Nicole's post about creating photo albums made me think about what a difference a tangible photo can make as opposed to just posting it on social media. It brought me back to my middle school days, actually. My granddad used to have a Polaroid camera that we would always use on our family trips to the mountains, beach, etc. Something about the whole experience was so much better than just taking a digital picture and printing it out. Maybe it was because it took more time, or maybe because the photo looked so distinctive, but whatever it was, using that outdated piece of technology was an experience in itself.

The more I think about it, I actually remember those moments that we captured with the Polaroid more clearly than I do the ones we took with a digital camera. They were such simple moments too, but I love being able to remember them. Most of the pictures we took are lost somewhere now, probably in the depths of my mom's attic space, but even the memory of the photo itself is still enough for me to remember the actual experience. The one that lingers with me the most is a picture of my sister, my cousin, and I, sitting on what has got to be the oldest, most dilapidated couch in our mountain house just making faces. I was 13 years old, and that is one of my clearest memories to this day. The moment was so simple, but the way we captured it made it special. I'd take a Polaroid camera over a digital one any day.

I Don't Need Dental Work

While I'm thinking about our class discussions, I also wanted to argue, from my own personal experience, against the belief that pictures take away from memories or experiences. I have a story to tell all of you, and it is a story of an experience that was lost with the disappearance of pictures from my phone. Get your tissues and prepare yourself for tears. Just kidding, but I did cry a little myself if I'm being completely honest.

Remember my post about losing all of my information on my phone? Well, the good news is that I did get some of it back, but sadly--and most importantly--not my pictures. Now, that may not be such a big deal to some of you, but to me it meant the loss of one of the best potential albums I have ever made. I'm just going to assume that the majority of the people in our class have seen Bridesmaids, because, let's face it, JOMC 240 is run by girls. So, this means you all have seen the scene where Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph are eating and Kristen Wiig puts chocolate in her teeth and says "I dont. Need. Dental work." If not, here it is and you're welcome in advance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL812ag82xI.

Naturally, I loved this and decided to make it my own. Now, here is where I need to give some of you some back story. I'm in Alpha Chi Omega, and basically every Friday at lunch there are brownies for dessert. So, every Friday since the movie came out, I've made my friends stick brownie in their teeth and I took a picture of the beautiful moment. When I lost all of these pictures, I had racked up about 50 gems of friends who "don't need dental work"--which, coincidentally, was going to be the name of my album when I FINALLY uploaded it to Facebook during my senior year. Now I'll have to start all over from scratch...but I can't get back those moments. The loss of all of those pictures was devastating, which proves my point that pictures CAN and do make moments and create experiences that can sometimes transcend mere face-to-face interactions. Even if it's taking pictures of food stuck in people's teeth.

Facebook as a False Reality

After our discussion on Monday about FOMO (or fear of missing out for those who are not familiar), whether or not social media makes us happy, sad, or both, and the conclusions we can draw from that, I had a theory I wanted to share.

Although Professor Robinson sort of beat me to my topic of discussion for this post (rats!), I still want to add on to his comment. He mentioned how we typically only post the happy stuff that's going on in our lives. So-and-so just got engaged, this girl had a great weekend and here's the proof with 50 pictures, and someone else just got accepted into the college they wanted! That's all fine and dandy, but--like we discussed in class--this sets up a precedent for social media presence as a whole to be pretty one-sided and not so genuine.

I also think it contributes massively to the phenomenon we know so well as FOMO. Our society is so focused on making people think we are happier than we probably are, that we create this false reality on social media. I'm sure most of you have probably been in the situation where there's that one person you are Facebook friends with that is constantly updating depressing statuses that bother you for some reason. You wouldn't react the same way if it were something positive, and I think that's because that is all we want to see. When we see people having this great time through pictures or updates, it leads us to believe that they are truly experiencing this great happiness, when really, that's most likely not the case. And that creates FOMO.

Laurel Nakadate's art project is a perfect example of an attempt to unmask this false reality we live through social media. In order to "deliberately take part in sadness" the way that we all deliberately take part in happiness, she took 365 selfies--every day for a year--of herself crying. She, too, noticed this "happy" trend on social media, and she wasn't buying it. I think it's extremely interesting to see how social media can bring to light this sort of cultural practice.

Not Great, Alert Carolina

I completely agree with John's point that social media did a better than Alert Carolina did this afternoon to alert us of the dangerous, armed man on campus. I got almost all of my information from Twitter and word of mouth, and my friend was complaining about how she felt the same way, too! In fact, I hadn't gotten much information until two of my friends who the suspect had actually approached came back to their house and told me about it. It's concerning to me that our university's security update system is so lagging, but at the same time, it feels almost empowering that fellow students did such a great job of alerting the public in a timely manner. They took the reigns and gave us the information we needed through social media, which is an extremely efficient way to get breaking news out; everyone's going to be keeping up and everyone sees new notifications popping up on their news feed. Thank goodness for Twitter.

Modern Day Narcissus

With all this talk about selfies, I'd just like to put in my own two cents on the matter. For one, I'd like to agree with Jamie when she says that selfies have been around for a while now, so everyone should just calm down about them already. I don't think they detract from a moment; in fact, I would argue that they can create moments, and I have Jason Feifer to back me up on that one as he refutes Sherry Turkle's claim that technology is negatively affecting the way we communicate.

However--and here is my actual two cents--I do think that selfies create the capacity for a very self-obsessed and vain culture. Not just the selfie itself, but the ease of accessibility we now have to them. Nowadays, most people have cameras on their phones. It's like carrying a mirror around in your pocket all day but only a little more subtle (everyone knows when you're walking around campus and Snapchatting). Now that we have such easy access to this technology, it's like an itch we have to scratch. I'll be honest, I've given in to the temptation to open up Snapchat on my phone just to check how I look many a time. Granted, most of those times I'm attempting to top the most recent ugliest face I can make, but the point still stands.

I hope this Snapchat/selfie phenomenon doesn't end up with my generation and the kids growing up with this technology constantly getting lost in their own eyes as they stare at themselves through a Snapchat camera all day like a modern-day Narcissus. Ultimately, I do think Sherry Turkle got it wrong that selfies don't create moments, but are moments created from vanity much better?

Why the Glass Ceiling?

In light of our recent discussion about how gender roles and expectations are played out in our society, I'd like to bring up a question that we didn't really address. I completely agree that the media plays a large role in how we perceive gender, what's offensive and what's not and why, but I think it could be very skewed.

Now, this is not to say that women and men are seen or treated completely equally at all; I know there statistics that show that women hold much fewer higher-level, governmental, etc. roles than men. But what if it's because they don't want to be in those positions? I can't speak for every woman, but I think it's fair to assume that some women actually do just want to have a standard, 9-5 job or even just be a stay-at-home mom. And that's completely fine! Isn't it possible that the media could be portraying the statistics of the number of women in power in a way that might be over exaggerating the seriousness of the situation? That's all I could think about when we watched this Miss Representation trailer.

It's like giving a survey and only giving the recipient one decent answer to choose; the media gives us only one conclusion to reach--that women are being undervalued in society. And maybe we are. But I think it's important to think about it from the perspective that just because there aren't as many females in Congress doesn't necessarily mean that a man took a woman's place. Maybe not as many women were interested in having that position. Or maybe females are used to such a male-driven society that many of them don't feel compelled to try and attain those higher-level careers. Either way, I think it's important to consider the possible reasons behind the statistics we are given.

Starting Over

So if any of you want to test how dependent on your technology you are, try losing all your information on your phone. If you think to yourself, "Oh sure, I could go without Snapchat and Twitter every day," you'd be WRONG. Trust me on this one. 

Long story short, I had to get a new phone over break because I couldn't get WiFi, so we backed up all my information to iTunes (or so we thought) and then couldn't get it back to my phone. So now I have a new phone with none of my information on it. I didn't realize how dependent I am on all of my apps until now. 

And I think that's true for everyone. Joni Mitchell got it right; you don't know what you got till it's gone. Even your solitaire app! Seriously, it's killing me that all of my progress and stats are just gone now and I have to start from scratch again. I have to start all over with everything! I learned my lesson. I need to stop relying so much on my phone. Or I could just be smarter about backing up my information...Either way, now that all of that information is gone, I realize how much I used it and counted on it to be there. It's a sad realization, that's for sure. 

Whole New Meaning of Speed Reading

Guys. This is so cool. A company named Spritz has developed a speed reading technology that allows you to just blow through texts. Basically the idea is that sentences are flashed at you, one word at a time in the same place at speeds up to 1,000 words per minute--if you can manage that speed, that is. The way this new technology was introduced to me was by my friend approaching me and saying, "You know, there's a way to read a 223 page book in 77 minutes." Seems impossible? Well, IT'S NOT!! If that's not interesting, I don't know what is.

Of course, there are concerns that go along with the territory of technology that could radically change the way we read. Part of why the company came up with the idea was to eliminate the wasted time we spend moving our eyes around and flipping pages when reading, but why is this such a bad thing? Isn't that part of the whole experience? I, for one, think that this idea could be very popular because there's something really fun about seeing the words flash at you and following the sentence that way. But, at the same time, I enjoy the leisure of reading an actual text; being able to flip the pages at your own pace, poring over the text trying to catch something you missed the first time around. It's not a competition of who can finish it first, it's about what you get out of it!

I would also be very interested to see if this kind of reading would still work for more complex, dense texts. It's one thing to blow through and completely comprehend Harry Potter in a matter of hours than Marx's take on commodity fetishism. I guess we'll see.

Simpler Days

Sometimes, change is good. Other times...not so much. I for one would like Facebook to stop switching it up all the time. I don't like a bunch of new features and a confusing new interface being updated every six months or so; I kind of miss the old Facebook. Specifically the one that didn't have read receipts.

Read receipts on Facebook can be very helpful. You can see who has read a message you sent and when they read it, so now you know they have the information and that's great! But what if they don't respond? Well, for over-analytical people like me, this opens up a treasure trove of possibilities. Number one on the list, of course: they hate you. They don't think you're worth a response. And then you spend the rest of the day wondering what could be so wrong with you that you don't warrant a reply and that stupid read receipt is just burned into your brain.

I think now would probably be a good time to insert the movie "He's Just Not That Into You" into the post,  because read receipts have opened up a whole new way to reject someone without having to say anything--literally. Actually, my friend had a fight with her boyfriend the other day and intentionally turned on the read receipts on her phone so that he knew she was reading his texts and purposefully not responding just to torture him. Ah, the beauty of technology.

On the other hand, I feel like read receipts have forced us to be much more accountable for our responses. Before their invention, you could see a message and reply at your own pace (or not at all) without feeling the pressure of making sure it didn't look like you were blowing that person off. Maybe you just didn't see the message, right? Who would know!? Because it does leave a bitter taste in your mouth when you see that the other person just didn't feel the need to respond. As Andy from the Office would say:




Read receipts on iPhones are a little different, though, because to me our phones are a more intimate mode of communication than Facebook. It's a different kind of relationship. Think about it; you don't have thousands of contacts on your phone, but you may have that many friends on Facebook. Most of the time, I'd say that the people you are contacting on your phone you know better than the people you have on Facebook. Therefore, you should be held more accountable for responding to them.

So, although read receipts can be helpful to know that someone got a message and although they eliminate the need to send an "okay" text to confirm, for more personal conversations they only add more anxiety and self-doubt. I'd just like to go back to the simpler days.

I Don't Want a Zombie Baby

Not that I'm planning on having a baby anytime soon, but an article by Jeana Lee Tahnk about her kids growing up on technology caught my attention. It's an issue that's extremely relevant today, and something most of us will be having to deal with at some point in the future.

Learning how to be a parent is already hard enough. There are so many questions and decisions to be made, so many different pieces of advice to consider, and way too many options. It all seems pretty overwhelming. It's a scary thought that this little person's health and well-being depends on you, so naturally (I would hope), you would want to do everything that is best for them. Well, now, we have another big decision to make: how much access to technology we will give them. It's already become normal for very young kids to have their own cell phones and laptops; I didn't even get a phone until eighth grade and it was only because we had all five of the kids in my family going to different schools at that point, so my stepmom needed to know where and when to pick us all up from wherever the heck we were. I still don't know how she did it. The point is, how do we know if bringing our children up on technology will significantly effect their development?

I'm not saying technology will poison their minds, but it is worth considering how much they will appreciate the more natural and basic things in life. To a certain extent, change is inevitable; our generation had much different childhoods than our parents and grandparents because we were exposed to new technological advancements. And I fully expect that to be the case for our children as well. I just hope that by the time our generation is having our own children, technology has not infiltrated our society so much that our kids become glued to a screen before they can even walk.You see teenagers walking around today and every one of them is on their phone, looking like a pack of zombies. I don't want that to be my kid, though. I don't want a zombie baby. Is that too much to ask?  

Staying Informed Has Never Been Easier

I'm very glad to be living in this digital age we are in. Even if there are a countless number of consequences that come along with the territory (as we've certainly learned from this class) there are just as many benefits to even out the playing field. I know this sounds pretty obvious, but media can make great strides in connecting people all over the world.

So, I'm sure all of you know, or at least have heard something, about the current protests going on in Venezuela. And most of you probably got it from some form of social media.

Imagine if this crisis were happening before Twitter, or Facebook, or any of the other social media outlets that are available now. It's so much easier to not only find out about global issues now, but to play a role in them as well. Maybe you heard about Venezuela's situation from a Twitter update; well, now you can retweet it and spread awareness. The country doesn't have to protest alone.

Social media provides a better way to understand global issues as well--especially for our generation of news readers. Like I said, I think the majority of the news we pay attention to, we receive over social media, and these social media sites have learned to cater to us by giving us news in ways that are easy to understand. Sometimes it's through lists, and sometimes pictures alone do the talking, but Buzzfeed always delivers news in a way that is relevant to our generation's preferences. If it's information about Venezuela's anti-government protests that you want, Buzzfeed's got it--in a simply laid out yet comprehensive form.

Keeping up with global issues has never been easier; social media sites understand how to reel in that demographic that prefers to read news in a different way, which hopefully makes our generation more culturally informed as a whole.

Comcast is Making Moves

In response to Bennett's post on the Comcast-Netflix deal, I think he's right that things are going to change--and probably very soon, too. In order to continue our class's tradition of being wary of new developments in media and media technologies, I'd like to comment that this deal seems like it has set up a very dangerous precedent. Comcast is now no longer only charging us a bill, but now Netflix as well; meaning it is getting revenue from both sources. Well, how is Netflix going to adapt to this new cost? Will it get put back on Netflix subscribers who will then have to pay more per month?

It's a question worth considering, I think. There might be unforeseen consequences to these kind of deals. And with Comcast becoming an even larger powerhouse, who's to say that prices won't keep going up when there's no competition? I think this deal marks a dangerous precedent, and I'm waiting with bated breath to find out what the future of the internet will look like.

Texting is a Cop-Out

I don't know about you guys, but it seems odd to me that the most-used form of mediated technology (texting) can be so distancing. 

If you think about it, we don't really use that form of communication for very meaningful or serious conversation much of the time, but it's something we use almost all of the time. It seems like there could be some serious consequences for our society because of this. If texting is one of the main forms of communication today, and it's not exactly a forum for meaningful conversation, then how can we make those deep connections with others?

Really, for something that we use all of the time, texting can be kind of a cop-out. I know we discussed it a little bit in class, and I think someone said they actually did this (so sorry if it offends), but one of the commonly understood lowest things to do is to break up with someone over text. It sends the message that they didn't even mean enough to you to earn at least a phone call. I would rather receive a hand-written break up letter than a text because even if it isn't face-to-face, the physical act of writing something down and taking the time to form the right words to say is much more intimate and meaningful than a measly text. 

It's just a little concerning to me to think that the form of communication we use so much in our everyday lives has the capacity to enable very superficial relationships.

The Dangers of Technology in the Classroom

Media technologies have changed the way we do a lot of things, and one of the most obvious to us college students--and potentially detrimental--is how they have changed our studying and learning patterns.

Barrett's post on how technology has changed the way she studies made me think about my psychology class last year. As the professor was introducing himself and going through his whole "first class of the year" speech, he warned us not to use technology while in his lecture because, apparently, it is literally impossible to multitask. While we may think we are listening to a lecture and absorbing the information while texting a friend or looking something up online, what's really happening is we are just switching back and forth very quickly between the two (or more) things that are holding our attention. He also mentioned that, like Barrett is discovering, physically writing down notes helps you retain more information than typing does.

I think it's much easier now to get lost in technology when you should be focusing; if you're typing notes on your laptop, that Facebook tab starts to look a lot more appealing. Everything's so much easier to access--and you look like you're still doing work while you're online shopping--unless of course you're the person sitting behind someone on their computer, in which case you end up getting caught up in whatever website the person in front of you is surfing. It doesn't just change our own attention habits, it affects others' as well! I can't tell you how many times someone in the row in front of me has gotten on some random website, and then I'm suddenly focused on what dresses they are planning on buying or this random person they decided to Facebook stalk. It's all about self-control, people, but sometimes we just don't have it. Technology is an enabler!

Can New Media Technologies Really Change Politics?

I wanted to pose a question to the class. 

In one of my classes, we've been discussing popular culture and the idea that much of the discourse surrounding our new media technologies is centered around how democratizing and empowering they can be for "the people". So my question to the class is; do you really think this is true? Do social media sites and other new media technologies hold a significant amount of political relevance?

To me, it seems a little idealistic. I'm not sure that these technologies really allow a more democratized, participatory culture or create conditions for democracy. Take memes, for example. There are plenty of Obama memes out there that bash his policies and political beliefs. Sure, they get a point across--and maybe even one that is shared by many--but do they hold enough relevance to make a real difference?

Maybe I'm being cynical or don't know enough to make a valid argument. Do I need to be enlightened? 

What About Ken?

So, in light of all the discussion about the recent Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover, I'd like to bring up another point of view.

Maggie gives a valid argument about the frustrating and seemingly impossible standards that women are held to, and how Barbie dolls only perpetuate this culture that makes women feel--from a very young age--that they must look and be like this perfect version of a human. But what about Ken?

Sure, women are pressured by all kinds of media that send the message that they need to be skinny, pretty and flawless, but I think that men get the same kind of pressure. It may not seem as obvious, but I think that's because more women speak out about the unfair standards they are held to than men do.

So, again, what about Ken? It's not like you see any Ken dolls suffering from an unhealthy physique, or a receding hairline, or maybe even a hairy back if you wanna go that far. And look at He-Man. If that doll is the image of masculinity, then I don't know a single masculine guy. That is just a ridiculous and impossible standard to uphold.  

What I'm trying to say is that I think we should take into account that women are not the only gender to be held under such scrutiny in society to be perfect.

It makes me wonder; if girls become self-conscious and develop eating disorders from flipping through magazines portraying what this "ideal" woman should look like, then what must men think when they see the same ads featuring the "ideal" man? It's not fair for anyone, really.

Passive Participants

I have a sort of shameless plug to post here, but really it's about the question of whether or not social media can actually make a difference. I sort of argued this point with my post about internet trolling, but it seems like it just continues to be relevant.

So, here's the deal. One of my friends is going to be a camp counselor this summer with me at Camp Kesem. For those of you that don't know what this is, it's a week long program for children ages 6-16 who have a family member with cancer. I was a counselor last year, and it was one of the greatest and most eye-opening experiences of my life. We make the camp free for the kids because they have to deal with so much at home, so it's up to the counselors to raise $500--which is the cost to send one child to camp. (PS here comes the plug) If this sounds like a cause you'd like to donate to, here is the link to my page:

https://campkesem.givebig.org/c/CK13/a/campkesem-nc-duke-unc-chapel/p/adquattlebaum

Last year, I didn't make any effort over social media to raise funds; I just e-mailed family and friends, and was able to raise enough money that way. This year, however, my friend took a different route and decided to post her appeal for donations on Facebook.

The other day, she came up to me and said that she got at least 50 likes on her Kesem fundraising status, and yet no donations. It made me think of those satirical pictures that show little kids starving and a bunch of people's thumbs ups surrounding them, as if "liking" things on Facebook actually makes a difference. Now, this isn't meant to guilt anyone into donating to my page, I just wanted to bring up the issue. It seems to me that Facebook sets up more of a passive relationship than an active one. It becomes very easy to be detached from a situation when you can scroll down a little more and that piece of information is out of your mind just like that. It's easier to simply "like" a cause than invest your time or money in it. Just some food for thought.

Netflix

I'd like to follow up on Charles' post about Netflix and the future of television. I absolutely can see Netflix becoming the future of television. It has all of the good characteristics of television without all the negative ones. Think about it. No commercials, no having to plan food/bathroom breaks, no waiting, and my personal favorite feature: it goes straight into the next episode of the show you're watching when your episode is over! You know me so well Netflix. It also gives you more options than television. This is great, because now that there are no more Blockbusters, it's become pretty difficult to find movies out there that aren't new (especially if you're like me and can't risk streaming movies because you don't own a Mac--not that I would anyway, right...)

Where else can we find those great shows that somehow have remained under the radar like Arrested Development? Maybe there are certain sites that I am not aware of that have complete seasons of shows, but certainly Netflix is the most well-known.

If not for everyone, Netflix is definitely the future of television for me. As a college student without a television, Netflix constitutes the majority of my television-watching experience. I'd vote for it any day.

Social Businesses

There is yet another reason for businesses to take advantage of social media, and it comes in the form of a contest!

Capitol One Spark is hosting a contest for America's most social small business. Not only does using social media help get your business's name out there, but now it helps you win contests (which, of course, puts your name out there even more). The winner of this contest gets a profile done on their business by Mashable.

The contest grades businesses on a few different social points:
- Twitter presence
- Facebook presence
- the use of images (like Instagram and Pinterest)
- the ability of the business to develop a brand voice through social media

We find out the winner on March 18! Until then, it should be interesting to note how small business' presence on social media changes or grows.

What Can We Really Do About Trolling?

It is a depressing fact that women with opinions on social media tend to have a much worse time than men, and the Ted talk we watched yesterday about social media trolling got me thinking about how we should deal with this.

It's hard to tell what the best response to trolls on the internet is. A counter-strike? Or silence? Steph Guthrie argues for the "don't feed the trolls" approach, and she makes a very valid argument. Through social media, we can become more connected than ever and join forces against bigots and misogynists and the like.

That being said, I can't help but wonder how much that backlash actually affects certain world views and the people that hold them. The guy that created that horrible interactive virtual game to beat up the woman obviously had not changed his opinions even after all the social media activity surrounding Guthrie's posts about his gross behavior. I don't mean to sound cynical. I'm not a feminist--obviously, I still find the threats and comments that Guthrie received horrifying--but I don't know if even the power of social media can change misogynist views like that man's.

I think it depends on the situation what sort of response (or lack thereof) would be best to deal with any type of online bullying or threats. There were people who went to my high school that I used to be Facebook friends with who posted racist or just ignorant statuses, and it got to the point where I realized that I had no idea why I was still Facebook friends with them when every one of their comments just made me angry. In that case, I knew I wasn't going to start an argument over Facebook, so I just de-friended them and that was that. Social media serves as a strong tool that can help people realize how many others are behind them in support, like Guthrie, but it makes me wonder what real change that can make in the world. I think there are always going to be people out there who hold ignorant and backwards views, and there isn't much we can do about that except take their comments with a grain of salt and focus on the rest of the morally sound world.

Innovative Apps

Just in case anyone is looking for some new apps, here are a few that might make your life a little easier...or cuter...or both.

I've gotta say, my favorite is the one that tells you the best time to go to the bathroom in a movie. How has nobody thought of that yet!? It's just so practical. That is a universally understood plight: being in a movie theater and regretting that large coke purchase but not wanting to miss the best part of the movie. Brilliant.

For the travelers out there, the app Translate would be a must-have. It can translate over 70 languages for you!

And of course, who wouldn't want the weather app that softens the disappointment of horrible forecasts with a cute puppy or kitten? You have to get through the day somehow.

All jokes aside, it really is amazing how many different ideas there are out there that can make boring, every-day things easier or more fun and interesting. Innovative apps like these show how media provides an outlet for creative and useful ideas so that not just individuals, but  multiple people can benefit.

Overwhelmed by Technology

This post is a little bit more of an inner monologue kind of deal, but I just wanted to post it and see if anyone else is in the same boat as me.

So, since our first day in class, I've been thinking more and more about media and technology in general, and I'm wondering if anyone else is a bit overwhelmed. Personally, I'm just baffled by how people even find out about what's going on with social media, or even just new apps and games for your iPhone. I'm starting to feel a little curmudgeon-y.

It got me thinking, though. Why am I so behind-the-times all the time? I think a lot of it has to do with the ability to personalize and customize our social media and technology. We can customize our phones, how we get news, all of these new ways to put ourselves and our interests into our technology. Even your Instagram or Twitter page says a lot about who you are based on what you post.

I just don't like doing that. It doesn't interest me to make everything so personalized. Perfect example: I've had my same computer since I came to UNC and the background is still the standardized one it comes with. My room doesn't have much on the walls either; I just don't see the point in decorating until I'm living in an actual house!

I guess my point is, does anyone else feel bombarded by a seemingly endless amount of choices and new ways to customize our technology? Maybe I'm a little intimidated by the amount of possibilities out there...or maybe I'm just lazy?

Faithful to our Phones

We talked in class Monday about what we would do if we didn't have our phones while walking back from class. This brings up a really interesting point. I mean, do you say hey to people? Do you zone out and ignore your surroundings? Do you count the seconds until you can get back to your phone? Or do you actually appreciate the break from technology?

It made me think about my NOLS trip during the summer of my sophomore year of high school. I went with a group of kids my age to go backpacking in the Wyoming wilderness for a month with no cell phones, no civilization (and no showers). That was one of the greatest trips of my life, and not once did I miss having a cell phone with me.

Granted, trekking through the Wyoming wilderness is a bit more exciting than our every-day lives, so it was easier to occupy my time with things other than texting.

But the minute we got back to civilization, however, my first priority was to go straight to my phone and start texting. I think that we like the idea of having a break from technology, but really that's all it is: a break. It's like when you go on vacation to the beach, maybe, and it's really fun for about a week or two, but then you kind of get tired of sand being everywhere, and smelling like the ocean all the time, and you just want to go back to your home and be in your own bed.

Our phones are a portal that connect us to others, and while that may be fun to get away from for a while, maybe just to take a little time to ourselves, we always end up coming back to them in the end.

Internet Sensations

While reading an article for my last post, I couldn't help but notice a link on the side of the page about the death of Colonel Meow, one of the many animal internet sensations. After a moment of grief for the Colonel and his owners, it hit me how powerful media can be.

In this digital age we're living in now, we see more and more of stranger's lives than ever before. I don't know about you, but it's amazing to me how people can now utilize the media to basically create a profile and not to mention a solid fan base--consisting of people they don't even know--for their animals. There are so many out there now. I can't remember their names off the top of my head, but we all know that cat with the crossed eyes, the adorable dog with the crazy teeth and uplifting messages, and of course Grumpy cat, to name a few. It starts out as just a couple pictures online, and then all of a sudden people all over the internet know who Colonel Meow is and are mourning his death in solidarity. That's the power of social media, people.

Who Wants Pizza?

Ordering food has never been easier. It seems the future of delivery lies in online apps that are available at the touch of a button, especially now that mobile apps are teaming up with one another. Foursquare and GrubHub recently merged so that when you're on Foursquare, you can see participating delivery restaurants from the GrubHub app as well.

This sounds like a fantastic idea, especially since the majority of what we do is online now. It's smart for restaurants to get on board with integrating themselves with social media. It makes them more accessible, and thus more profitable.

The only problem is that it has to actually work. The Tarheel Takeout system we have here at Chapel Hill is a great consolidation of restaurants that makes it easier to browse through just one site. Hopefully this merger between Foursquare and GrubHub will be successful as well.

Can Pictures Actually Help us Remember Moments?

Katie Schmidt recently blogged about the potential perils of capturing moments with a picture. A Huffington post study shows that pictures do not actually help retain memories; in fact, they make it harder to keep them. The idea behind this is that we are so focused on taking the picture that it takes the focus off of the actual moment. Should we bypass the Kodak moments and choose to just live in them or can we manage to enjoy them just the same if we take the apparent risk of capturing them with a photo?

Although I understand this perspective and can see the validity behind the concern that we are losing touch with reality because of a focus on technology, I personally don't see this as a huge problem.

Maybe it's different for me, but taking pictures actually helps me remember things because I have such a horrible memory. Because it is really bad. Like, forgotten entire family trips kind of bad. So, for me, it helps to look back and try and jog my memory. Katie brings up a valid question, though, about the effect technology has on us. I think sometimes we don't realize how sucked into our phones or technology we are until, for instance, we can't remember a moment that well because we were too busy trying to Instagram it.

I think it goes both ways, though because technology can also connect people. But are we able to find a balance between getting lost in technology and getting lost in a moment?

Personalized News

The social news discovery app Trove sounds a lot like Mark Potts' Newspeg idea. It seems they both have the right idea in creating a social media based outlet for news. They share the same goal to "reduce signal noise and help readers find all the stories they care about." Connecting people who share similar interests is a great idea. I think these companies are really onto something; not only are they allowing a shared experience with users, but they are building a strong customer base while they're at it. But if there are multiple apps and sites like Trove or Newspeg out there, which one(s) will be able to rise above the others?

Who Knew Businesses Could Stalk Us

We are now living in an age that allows businesses to track their customers' movements throughout the day using Wifi signals. Turnstyle Solutions Inc. places sensors in businesses that track shoppers. By keeping tabs on where they are going and what they are doing, businesses can use personalized promotional tactics based on their customers habits.

Call me old fashioned, but this seems like a huge invasion of privacy. It's already enough that we have companies using algorithms to make ad choices for us based on our previous purchasing history, now they are using tracking technology to try and find ways to woo us into patronizing their business. I can see the merits that this new technology would have for a business, but at the same time the information that they are getting is just none of their business. (I didn't even mean for that to be punny). Either way, it seems like this is the new direction our society is headed, so we might just have to get used to a certain amount of privacy invasion.

Newspeg

Apparently, there is now a Pinterest for news. Mark Potts spearheaded the creation of this innovative way to view and share news. Newspeg is a social media-based news platform that allows you to create your own collection of news you find interesting and share it with your friends.

I think one of the best things about this idea is that it is entirely based on what actual people find to be interesting and important as opposed to the mass amount of media outlets that we are bombarded with. You can pick and choose what you like and base your platform on your own interests (aka: Pinterest for news). It sounds like a great new way to personalize and share the news topics that are most important to us.

Connective Social Media

Social media is allowing fans to feel more connected with the events they are attending. One of the most effective ways brands are boosting their fan bases is to Instagram back-stage and behind-the-scenes pictures of stars at their events, making their audiences feel more a part of the event. I think these sort of interactive new developments are going to constitute much of the future of mass media.

Alone Together

Sherry Turkle, in a recent TED Talk, brought up the idea that what constitutes a shared experience has been drastically changed by technology. It's changed the way we communicate and interact with each other, and maybe not for the better. Communicating through technology takes precedence over face-to-face relationships, making shared experiences now only fragments of what they should be.

In my family, we a have a saying; "Be in the moment." Whenever one of us is on their phone during dinner or movie night, it's guaranteed that this phrase will be yelled at them. By texting or using our phones while with others, we aren't just being rude; we are taking away from the experience as a whole because we aren't completely in it.

Although Turkle believes that our reliance on technology has to do with control, I think it's about boredom. We're so used to having all of the distractions that technology offers that they've become natural to us; we get bored doing just one thing now. Being connected to multiple outlets is addicting, and I don't think that is going to change anytime soon.

The Exodus From Facebook

It seems that the hype over Facebook is finally starting to die down. iStrategyLabs claims that teens are leaving Facebook for newer social media sites like Instagram and Snapchat. But the question is: why?

Maybe I'm not technically a teenager anymore, but I can certainly understand their trend toward more recently developed technologies. I've gotten progressively more bored with Facebook over time; it used to be the first thing I checked when I got back home. There was something so exciting about that red notification in the corner, even if it was another infuriating Farmville request. Now, I only get on about twice a week, and it's usually just to upload pictures.  

I think that people are constantly searching for new, exciting ways to interact through media. For example, Snapchat has allowed simple status updates to be replaced by essentially an update with your face on it, which, let's be honest, is way more fun. Facebook has taken the back-burner to make room for these kind of innovative social media outlets.