Thursday, March 25, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Creative Response to Project
With this project I hope to create something that will allow people to see the ways in which we connect today and why we choose these ways to connect. We connect through the web every day because it's easy, accessible, and we can connect in real-time. But, I also want to show people how we are becoming more anonymous in the ways we connect. We aren't having personal connections with people anymore and I want to show why this is bad.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Draft of Essay on Google Docs
This is only the thesis paragraph of my paper. I have an outline of my paper, I just haven't written it all up yet.
From the outline I can see that I have a good amount of information for the way the internet is used. I can also relate this information to a couple of articles that I gathered from my annotated bibliography. I still need to find some information to talk about for the anonymity part of my essay, which will be the third paragraph. My conclusion is that as long as technology evolves, so will the ways in which we stay connected to each other and our world.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Authors on YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing site where anyone can create an account and upload videos for people to see, publicly or privately. YouTube is called YouTube because you (the author) broadcasts yourself on the web. In other words, "you are tubing yourself." It's different from Facebook because we don't have a set list of friends, we don't write on each other's walls (yet, we can post comments to people's videos), we don't receive updates about what our friend's are doing, and I don't think it's a site we use to stay connected with our friends. YouTube makes money off their advertisements. Since users can create accounts for free and upload videos for free, YouTube must make money off of the advertisements that appear, much like Facebook. The author on YouTube is the user, or the person who uploads their videos. It allows users to be creative and be able to post what they want. YouTube is a simple construction that makes a lot of money to let people post their videos and show the world their creativity.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Project Reflection
Since my project has to do with staying connected through the web, I want to talk about the impersonal relationships we are now having. We can be anyone on the web and no one would know. We are beginning to rely on the web more and more every day. We use the web for just about everything and anything--education, shopping, social networking, blogging, etc. With all these things we are doing on the web, there is an extent of anonymity. We have the possibility of impersonating anyone we want to impersonate. Is our society evolving with the use of the web or are we just becoming more lazy? I want to stress the ways in which we use the web every day for multiple purposes. Some say that the increase in web use is evolving and our society will become more adapted to it, making our society better. Others say that we are becoming too dependent on the web and putting too much stress on it. Who is right? How much internet is too much? Should we use it as much as we do and should we put as much stress on it as we do?
I still need to work on a more specific and narrow topic of discussion. My project entails a broad range of internet usage and I need to narrow it down to the most used ways of staying connected with society.
I still need to work on a more specific and narrow topic of discussion. My project entails a broad range of internet usage and I need to narrow it down to the most used ways of staying connected with society.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
What to use in my essay
Since my project is looking at the ways in which we stay connected, I will use Clay Shirkey's "Here Comes Everybody" to argue that people are using not only email and skype and blogging to stay connected, but also social media. We use social media to stay connected with our friends and family, but now we can stay connected with our work or with people who we know through our friends. Social media sites create a web of connections where everyone is connected in some way, and in the end we find out that the world in which we live in isn't so big after all.
Shirkey will help me to identify what a multimedia writer is and how we create our own narratives through the use of the web. The web helps us to be more creative in what we write and what we put up. Even though the web makes it easier for us to stay connected to those we want to connect with, have our relationships with others become more impersonal and will they continue to be this way? Are we beginning to rule out face-to-face or personal communication, and replacing it with the web? How much anonymity is too anonymous?
Shirkey will help me to identify what a multimedia writer is and how we create our own narratives through the use of the web. The web helps us to be more creative in what we write and what we put up. Even though the web makes it easier for us to stay connected to those we want to connect with, have our relationships with others become more impersonal and will they continue to be this way? Are we beginning to rule out face-to-face or personal communication, and replacing it with the web? How much anonymity is too anonymous?
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Final Annotated Bibliography
Robitaille, Suzanne. "New Telecom Connections for the Deaf." Businessweek.com, 9 Oct. 2002. Web. 16 Feb. 2010.
This article, although from 2002, still holds key information about the web helping those with disabilities to stay connected. In this article, Robitaille talks about how deaf people are using the web more proficiently to stay connected with others, not only with email or text based documents, but also with telephones. This article is important because it shows that the web is not limited to just one group of people. It is transforming and adapting to the many different people who use the web daily. The web is becoming more and more flexible with the kinds of people who use it--it is constantly evolving. This is useful for my project because it shows the different ways different people use the web to stay connected. The web can be used for people of different backgrounds, whether they can hear or not.
Payton, Susan. "7 Ways to Promote Your Offline Event Using Social Media." Mashable.com, 10 Feb. 2010. Web. 16 Feb. 2010.
This article gives people who have upcoming events, ways to promote them using various social media sites. It talks about the various ways you can use sites such as Twitter or Facebook, or even blogs. This article is important because people are using the web more and more each day to promote their events. It's faster than inviting people through snail mail or even by phone. This relates to my project because it's another way people stay connected through the web. Instead of getting an invitation through the post office, we are now getting invitations to events through the web.
Parr, Ben. "Google Goes Social with Google Buzz." Mashable.com, 10 Feb. 2010. Web. 16 Feb. 2010.
This article talks about the new Google Buzz, which is much like Facebook and Twitter, combined with email, blogger.com, youtube.com, and everything that Google allows you to do already. This is important because it shows how the web is adapting to our culture and the various ways we use the web. Instead of Google just being a search engine or used for email, it now can be used just like Twitter and Facebook. Everything a person uses on a daily basis, is now not on ten different websites, but one. This is important to my project because it shows how the web and different sites are adapting to our culture and the ways we use the web. Because people are using sites like Facebook and Twitter more and more every day, Google needs to step up their game if they want to stay on top.
Chapman, Gary. "Federal Support for Technology in K-12 Education." Brookings Papers on Education Policy, 2000. Project Muse. Pgs. 307-343. Web. March 2, 2010.
This article talks about the use of the internet in classrooms and how it has evolved. Chapman talks about how computers have been used in the classroom since they were distributed widely. These computers were used for educational purposes, much like how they are used today. However, the difference between the use of computers back then and now is the world wide web. Because every computer has internet on it, kids are more likely to veer off their task at hand and instead, choose to surf the web. This wouldn't be a problem, Chapman says, if the web didn't have everything on it (including pornography, violence, drugs, etc.). However, the use of computers and the world wide web is becoming more predominant in education and that our society is beginning to need more and more computer technicians. By introducing kids to computers and computer science early in their education, they will become more comfortable and knowledgeable in the use of computers. This article is important for my project because it talks about the way computers and the web are now essential in education and that we are beginning to teach students about computers at an earlier age.
Greenfield, Patricia and Subrahmanyam, Kaveri. "Online Communication and Adolescent Relationships." The Future of Children, Volume 18, Number 1, Spring 2008. Project Muse. Pgs. 119-146. Web. March 2, 2010.
This article talks about the ways in which adolescents are using the web to reinforce their relatiohships with friends, as well as romantic ones. They begin to take their social networking sites and bring them into their "offline" world. This article talks about the negative and positive effects of the web on adolescents with hate messages versus finding support and information. This article also talks about the way education is trying to control the harmful information that is on the web. This article talks about the limitations as well as the benefits of the internet as it relates to adolescents growing up. This article is important for my project because I am researching how people stay connected and why they do it the way they do. This article explains the ways adolescents stay connected and how they do that, and even how they transfer that information into their "offline" life.
Ehrlich, Brenna. "Tufts Now Accepts YouTube Videos as Part of College Application." Mashable.com. February 22, 2010. Web. February 23, 2010.
This article talks about how Tufts University now accepts YouTube videos as part of the college application process. Potential students can, along with the essay and other requirements, upload a YouTube video to submit as well. This allows those who are determining who to accept, can see who is applying. By viewing their YouTube video they can get a sense of the applicant's personality. Ehrlich raises the question that if we are able to do this today, will the college application process only become more intense? This article is important to my project because it shows the ways the internet is evolving and being incorporated into what we do. Instead of just having an essay we must write, we can also send in videos to show our personalities and really say why they should choose us to go to their school. It allows those who are not so good at writing essays to have another way of showing who they really are.
Cherry, Dan. "Staying connected." lenconnect.com. The Daily Telegram. March 15, 2009. Web. February 23, 2010.
This article talks about the various ways in which people stay connected through the web. Cherry talks about how people are using social network sites, blogging, and skype. Cherry talks about the ways people use each of these sites. Social network sites are used for more than just staying in touch with other people; they are also used for companies and businesses who want to spread the word about whatever they want. Cherry also talks about the ways Skype is used with teleconferencing and business meetings that can be held even if people are accross the world from each other. This is important for my project because it talks about the various ways these sites and tools are used, not only for individuals to stay connected, but businesses, companies, and education as well.
Ryan, Liz. "Vettin the Online Networks." businessweek.com. May 29, 2008. Web. February 16, 2010.
This article talks about how the web, mainly social networking sites, are not only for young people anymore. Almost everyone is using these sites to stay in touch with others, including Ryan's 81-year-old father. She talks about several social networking sites, what they are used for, who uses them; and she also gives their strengths, weaknesses, and ratings. This article is important for my project because it talks about the various social networking sites we use on a daily basis and gives their strengths and weaknesses, as well as their rankings. This will help me to determine what sites more people use as oppose to others and also, maybe why they choose to use certain sites and not others.
Whitworth, Keith. "What Online Community?" businessweek.com. December 20, 2008. Web. February 16, 2010.
This article talks about the dark side of the internet and how some people may use it for other things than staying connected with others. In this article, Whitworth tells the story about a 19-year-old college student who decided to announce that he would commit suicide and let the world watch his last few hours on Justin.tv. Whitworth asks the question what kind of community we are really building on the web. He asks if instead of bringing people together, is it making us become more isolated. This article is important for my project because it shows the other side of the internet and what it can do to people. Instead of staying connected to others and being social, which is what the web is intended to do, people are becoming more isolated and anonymous on the web. Instead of branching out socially and in a confrontational way, we are staying at home on our computers, isolating ourselves from our society. This article talks about the ways we become isolated while using the web, when what we should be using the web for is to stay socially connected.
Betancourt, Leah. "How Companies Are Using Your Social Media Data." Mashable.com. March 2, 2010. Web. March 2, 2010.
This article talks about the ways companies are using what we put up on our sites to figure out who they should advertise to and in what ways they should do this. Betancourt talks about how people think that companies are invading our "privacy," but when we put things up on the web it's fair game. If we put something on our Facebook or MySpace or Twitter, it's fair game and anyone can take it and use it for what they want. People are not becoming worried that this may affect their credit score in some ways. This is important for my project because it goes into how our social media sites could be taken advantage of. Instead of it being something innocent that we just use to stay connected to others, it is now a shark tank where companies are looking for anything and everything they can use to raise their sales and customers. Should people really be scared of this new epidemic, or will we still have a sense of privacy when we get on the web?
This article, although from 2002, still holds key information about the web helping those with disabilities to stay connected. In this article, Robitaille talks about how deaf people are using the web more proficiently to stay connected with others, not only with email or text based documents, but also with telephones. This article is important because it shows that the web is not limited to just one group of people. It is transforming and adapting to the many different people who use the web daily. The web is becoming more and more flexible with the kinds of people who use it--it is constantly evolving. This is useful for my project because it shows the different ways different people use the web to stay connected. The web can be used for people of different backgrounds, whether they can hear or not.
Payton, Susan. "7 Ways to Promote Your Offline Event Using Social Media." Mashable.com, 10 Feb. 2010. Web. 16 Feb. 2010.
This article gives people who have upcoming events, ways to promote them using various social media sites. It talks about the various ways you can use sites such as Twitter or Facebook, or even blogs. This article is important because people are using the web more and more each day to promote their events. It's faster than inviting people through snail mail or even by phone. This relates to my project because it's another way people stay connected through the web. Instead of getting an invitation through the post office, we are now getting invitations to events through the web.
Parr, Ben. "Google Goes Social with Google Buzz." Mashable.com, 10 Feb. 2010. Web. 16 Feb. 2010.
This article talks about the new Google Buzz, which is much like Facebook and Twitter, combined with email, blogger.com, youtube.com, and everything that Google allows you to do already. This is important because it shows how the web is adapting to our culture and the various ways we use the web. Instead of Google just being a search engine or used for email, it now can be used just like Twitter and Facebook. Everything a person uses on a daily basis, is now not on ten different websites, but one. This is important to my project because it shows how the web and different sites are adapting to our culture and the ways we use the web. Because people are using sites like Facebook and Twitter more and more every day, Google needs to step up their game if they want to stay on top.
Chapman, Gary. "Federal Support for Technology in K-12 Education." Brookings Papers on Education Policy, 2000. Project Muse. Pgs. 307-343. Web. March 2, 2010.
This article talks about the use of the internet in classrooms and how it has evolved. Chapman talks about how computers have been used in the classroom since they were distributed widely. These computers were used for educational purposes, much like how they are used today. However, the difference between the use of computers back then and now is the world wide web. Because every computer has internet on it, kids are more likely to veer off their task at hand and instead, choose to surf the web. This wouldn't be a problem, Chapman says, if the web didn't have everything on it (including pornography, violence, drugs, etc.). However, the use of computers and the world wide web is becoming more predominant in education and that our society is beginning to need more and more computer technicians. By introducing kids to computers and computer science early in their education, they will become more comfortable and knowledgeable in the use of computers. This article is important for my project because it talks about the way computers and the web are now essential in education and that we are beginning to teach students about computers at an earlier age.
Greenfield, Patricia and Subrahmanyam, Kaveri. "Online Communication and Adolescent Relationships." The Future of Children, Volume 18, Number 1, Spring 2008. Project Muse. Pgs. 119-146. Web. March 2, 2010.
This article talks about the ways in which adolescents are using the web to reinforce their relatiohships with friends, as well as romantic ones. They begin to take their social networking sites and bring them into their "offline" world. This article talks about the negative and positive effects of the web on adolescents with hate messages versus finding support and information. This article also talks about the way education is trying to control the harmful information that is on the web. This article talks about the limitations as well as the benefits of the internet as it relates to adolescents growing up. This article is important for my project because I am researching how people stay connected and why they do it the way they do. This article explains the ways adolescents stay connected and how they do that, and even how they transfer that information into their "offline" life.
Ehrlich, Brenna. "Tufts Now Accepts YouTube Videos as Part of College Application." Mashable.com. February 22, 2010. Web. February 23, 2010.
This article talks about how Tufts University now accepts YouTube videos as part of the college application process. Potential students can, along with the essay and other requirements, upload a YouTube video to submit as well. This allows those who are determining who to accept, can see who is applying. By viewing their YouTube video they can get a sense of the applicant's personality. Ehrlich raises the question that if we are able to do this today, will the college application process only become more intense? This article is important to my project because it shows the ways the internet is evolving and being incorporated into what we do. Instead of just having an essay we must write, we can also send in videos to show our personalities and really say why they should choose us to go to their school. It allows those who are not so good at writing essays to have another way of showing who they really are.
Cherry, Dan. "Staying connected." lenconnect.com. The Daily Telegram. March 15, 2009. Web. February 23, 2010.
This article talks about the various ways in which people stay connected through the web. Cherry talks about how people are using social network sites, blogging, and skype. Cherry talks about the ways people use each of these sites. Social network sites are used for more than just staying in touch with other people; they are also used for companies and businesses who want to spread the word about whatever they want. Cherry also talks about the ways Skype is used with teleconferencing and business meetings that can be held even if people are accross the world from each other. This is important for my project because it talks about the various ways these sites and tools are used, not only for individuals to stay connected, but businesses, companies, and education as well.
Ryan, Liz. "Vettin the Online Networks." businessweek.com. May 29, 2008. Web. February 16, 2010.
This article talks about how the web, mainly social networking sites, are not only for young people anymore. Almost everyone is using these sites to stay in touch with others, including Ryan's 81-year-old father. She talks about several social networking sites, what they are used for, who uses them; and she also gives their strengths, weaknesses, and ratings. This article is important for my project because it talks about the various social networking sites we use on a daily basis and gives their strengths and weaknesses, as well as their rankings. This will help me to determine what sites more people use as oppose to others and also, maybe why they choose to use certain sites and not others.
Whitworth, Keith. "What Online Community?" businessweek.com. December 20, 2008. Web. February 16, 2010.
This article talks about the dark side of the internet and how some people may use it for other things than staying connected with others. In this article, Whitworth tells the story about a 19-year-old college student who decided to announce that he would commit suicide and let the world watch his last few hours on Justin.tv. Whitworth asks the question what kind of community we are really building on the web. He asks if instead of bringing people together, is it making us become more isolated. This article is important for my project because it shows the other side of the internet and what it can do to people. Instead of staying connected to others and being social, which is what the web is intended to do, people are becoming more isolated and anonymous on the web. Instead of branching out socially and in a confrontational way, we are staying at home on our computers, isolating ourselves from our society. This article talks about the ways we become isolated while using the web, when what we should be using the web for is to stay socially connected.
Betancourt, Leah. "How Companies Are Using Your Social Media Data." Mashable.com. March 2, 2010. Web. March 2, 2010.
This article talks about the ways companies are using what we put up on our sites to figure out who they should advertise to and in what ways they should do this. Betancourt talks about how people think that companies are invading our "privacy," but when we put things up on the web it's fair game. If we put something on our Facebook or MySpace or Twitter, it's fair game and anyone can take it and use it for what they want. People are not becoming worried that this may affect their credit score in some ways. This is important for my project because it goes into how our social media sites could be taken advantage of. Instead of it being something innocent that we just use to stay connected to others, it is now a shark tank where companies are looking for anything and everything they can use to raise their sales and customers. Should people really be scared of this new epidemic, or will we still have a sense of privacy when we get on the web?
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