Eh 124 Spring 2011: Week Four Class Two
January 1, 2009
Your homework for today was to draft a précis for Frank Rich’s “Wallflowers at the Revolution.”
Let’s get that out.
Journal: (Suggested: 10 Minutes)
What were the struggles you faced writing this document? How did you overcome them? Which problems were you unable to resolve? Why?
Group Discussion: (Suggested: 5-7 Minutes)
Share findings
Class Discussion: (Suggested: 5-7 Minutes)
Mini-Lecture: (Suggested: 10 Minutes)
What’s going on in this article? How do we talk about it? What are our informed opinions? What are our opinions of social media? Of the news? Of the information we receive day in and day out?
Homework: One-page Blog Post:
Please answer some of the following questions: How do you use Facebook or twitter? How do you get your news? What is your understanding of social media? How active are you in your community?
[...] Day 2: Review Part 1: “Wallflowers at the Revolution” [...]
I do have a Facebook account, but I do not have a Twitter account. I use Facebook for a variety of reasons. My initial reason was that when I was younger I had a MySpace account for less than a year until Facebook became the latest craze, so I created an account to keep in contact with my friends. Since I have friends all over the country and internationally, Facebook allows me to keep in contact with people for whom calling or texting is not an option. Facebook is also a way to invite a large mass of people to be aware of an event that is coming up. It is also a place to advertise and promote. For example, some of my friends are in bands and they keep their fans up to date that way. Facebook keeps me updated with my friends, my family, and events going on around me.
I get my news from the television, the newspaper, and word of mouth. I do not really rely on social media to get my news. Maybe to catch my interest, but if I ‘m really interested in the subject I will pursuit other avenues to get information.
My knowledge on social media is limited, since I am not 100% what that is considered. I would presume it references media in the sense of television, the internet and cellphones with maybe the incorporation of social websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and blogs.
When it comes to my community, I am not really considered involved. I moved around a lot when I was younger due to my father being in the military, so I never really integrated myself entirely into a community. I have been involved through my school and did community theatre in Virginia, but my community outreach involved the military and the families on the bases in the places I lived in. Since moving back to Bangor, I am hoping to become a little more involved with my community.
I have only personally had a Facebook for a year now, and since I signed up for the membership nothing but drama and negative things have come into my life. I started using Facebook when my ex told me how much more I would like the atmosphere and set up compared to MySpace. When I first thought about the idea I was skeptical since I had only been used to MySpace and had the account for years. Finally after months of peer pressure from him I decided to sign up and see what the big difference truly was. I added several hundred people within the first month and loved Facebook. I found the website to become more addicting than MySpace which I never felt was possible. I used and still use Facebook as a way to meet new friends, find old ones, and keep up to date with my current friends. When I go long periods without seeing a family member or friend I tend to look at their accounts and see how they are and anything new in their life. Facebook can be a great source of communication yet many forms of drama and arguments can occur on this site. One example of the drama is if people go behind your back and do something they say they don’t intend to; usually a person can find the lies on a person’s wall or from pictures. Though Facebook has in fact messed up quite a chunk of my life, I still manage to keep the account active since I am in fact an addict and I am always afraid to not know what others are doing. As for news on the world I tend to not go off finding information about life, news seems to be most of the time negative and unhappy, which I enjoy to stay away from. Most of the time I can be honest I do not personally care what decisions people make sense this world has corrupted itself so not much in my eyes is going to change at any given time to soon. My understanding and opinion of social media and community is that every person is out for themselves, everyone must know the others drama and daily problems to make their own lives not seem and feel as bad as before. The world is too focused on items and problems that should not matter whatsoever. Such as having the best cars and homes, finding the skinniest girls to pose in a magazine half-dressed or finding the most jacked man. Reality television shows today are about woman and men dating forty separate people and slowly narrowing down the women/men until they have found “love”. This part really gets me since we believe this to be “reality” when thirty years ago reality was who lived in the Great War and depressions that skyrocketed. The way people have changed their outcomes and beliefs on how society should be run is completely out of control compared to back in the 60’s or 70’s when real issues had to be resolved. In today’s world all I see out there is money hungry hypocrites that do not care about anything or one except for themselves. Of course this does not include a few people but for the most part is my own perception of people in the world I live in.
Mariah Arno
I currently have both a Facebook and a Twitter account. The reason I got Facebook was to stay in touch with some friends that I had made working at a summer camp several years ago. They did not live around my town so I thought that Facebook would be a good way to stay in touch and see what was going on in their lives. That is mainly the reason that I use Facebook. I also use it to post statuses about my day and to see what my other friends and family are up to. My grandmother has a Facebook account and she always likes to check up on what I am doing and see pictures that I post and such. I always try to come up with a status that will make someone laugh and sympathize with. I know that whenever I look on Facebook, it cheers me up to see a funny status or a thought-provoking quote. My Twitter account is another way to see what my friends are up to. However, I use Twitter more to follow celebrities and quote accounts. Some of the quotes are funny while others make me think. Twitter is very much a site where you are able to update what you are doing at all times. It almost makes one feel as if they are famous because other people are able to follow them and see what they are up to.
I get my news mainly through website homepages, when I see something that interests me I will click on them to read more. I also get news through the local paper and the Bangor Daily News. I don’t particularly care for reading the paper because some of the articles do not interest me. My absolute favorite way of getting caught up on the news is to talk to my grandfather, he is very informed on everything and I like to get his insight on things. Catching up on the news with my grandfather is a great way to stay close with my family and get informed.
The way that I use Facebook, is I use it for doing updates on what’s going on with family and friends. Its also a good way of keeping in touch with them by using the chatting program that’s in the program. I also use it to look at pictures, especially of my friends who have kids, and being able to see how much they have grown up from the last time I saw them. I use twitter to be able to talk my friends while being able to see their faces that I don’t have the pleasure of being able to see at any other time. It’s a way of being able to know for sure that they are truly doing okay and not just saying it to me. Its also an easier way to be able to see facial expressions instead of just reading what’s written in front of you, without having the knowledge of knowing if they are being sarcastic, serious or trying to be funny and you taking it the wrong way, or them taking what you wrote to them the wrong way.
I get my news a few different ways. The most common way that I do get it, is through watching either channel 5 or 6 news when it comes on in the morning before school and in the evenings while sitting down and eating supper with the family. The other ways that I tend to get my news for the day is by reading the news paper if I have it, and or by getting online and reading the Bangor Daily news that way.
Lastly I am really not that active in my community, because I spend most of my time working with mentally challenged people. But when I was active in the community I’d spend it helping out with elderly events, in trying to make it more enjoyable for them while they are there, and that they don’t get many things for them to go that doesn’t cost them money. Which is important, because being elderly they don’t get all that much money and the little they do get they have their own expenses they may need to get which prevents them from being able to go out into the community and enjoy themselves.
I have a Facebook account, which I use quite frequently. It is very beneficial because I can keep in contact with some of my closest friends who attend a different school. I can also keep in contact with my family members who I may never see because of where they live. Conveniently, my distant relatives can view pictures of me, so it is like they never miss a beat. I also use Facebook to pursue friendships. For example, if I have just met someone, I will become “friends” with them, that way I am able to view their pictures and talk to them online to see if they are worth meeting up with again. However, Facebook has its downfalls. Sometimes there is information put out on someone’s Facebook, and instead of knowing the entire story as to why a certain post is there, people jump to conclusions and rumors start. Facebook also provides information that could get people in trouble. For example, I have to watch what I say and what my friends post on my wall due to my parents viewing my page.
In high school I feel I was very active in my community. Throughout my high school years I not only participated in three sports, I also volunteered to coach a third and fourth grade girls basketball team. Being the head coach of the team for two years, I got to know a lot of different players and their families throughout the community. I also volunteered at field hockey camps in my town during the summer months.
I obtain my news mainly from WABI TV 5. Ever since I was a kid, I always enjoyed watching the evening news with my parents. I mostly enjoyed watching the news for the sports broadcasts, but usually I would sit through the entire news program and find out recent events that way. However, I do not watch the news as much now that I am in college. I know that I should be watching the news more now than ever, but there are a lot more distractions present in college, in which I am trying to avoid.
Facebook is very utilized in my everyday life. Daily I check my Facebook account to catch up on the latest gossip, and find out fun things that are happening for the day. Family is also an important reason I use Facebook. I have family members that live in Germany and other places across the country so it is nice to have easy contact with them, on a day to day basis. I believe Facebook is addictive. Last summer I decided to see what it would be like without Facebook. I deactivated my account and surprisingly it was easy. I deleted it for approximately 3 weeks, and it was a relief. Not knowing what everybody was feeling, and doing.
When I am home from college, I watch the news every night with my family. In college however it is different. I don’t have that daily routine, so I catch up on the news on Yahoo, which is just major events, and when I am home on weekends, I watch the news, and read the Bangor Daily Newspaper.
I am somewhat active in my community. I volunteer my time on Sundays at an Autistic Therapy Pool Session. I used to visit elders at the nursing home often when I was younger but that has diminished slowly. I like helping out in the community. I also work in a local store in the community.
I was never a big fan of the social media craze that is now a big part of the internet. I avoided MySpace and Facebook like the plague and successfully managed to do this for years, until last semester. I am a member of a club that uses Facebook to announce events and meet times, so I could no longer avoid joining. I find that the problem with being on Facebook is that people can find you easily and wonder why you will not add them. No matter how often I explain that I only joined to receive updates on events, people do not get it. I cannot stand Facebook addicts, or the senseless status updates that usually go with them. Long story short, I have had to add people without wanting to and rather than only getting Tech Club info, like I wanted, I get to hear about all of the mundane things people I almost never talk to outside of it are doing. I guess I just do not need a social networking site to stay connected to people.
I understand what social media is for, and how it can help people or keep them connected. It can also be used to unite people into knowing and becoming a part of certain events. Despite all of this, I believe that many use Facebook simply as a means of existence, to prove that they exist and are important, somehow. I am just not really a fan of social media.
I have made it a habit not to get my news from any news show with a commentator. If I want news, I want just the facts, no bias. I suppose it is for that reason that I have just stopped watching television for my news updates. I check the top stories of Yahoo, Google, anywhere I am browsing at the time, or I will see an article in a newspaper that catches my eye, so I read it. Any media where I can get news without having an aggressive tone for me to change my opinion is an acceptable one for me. I know there are plenty of lies on the internet, but that is a bit of a blessing because it forces me to become a better researcher to sift out the truth and the lies.
I admit that I do not take part in a large community, as far as a city or state goes. I like to keep things small and help out my friends and family or the clubs I am now a part of. I have no excuse for this reasoning besides some irrational fear I must be unaware of. I find it easier to deal with smaller groups than a large one, I guess. Generally, if someone is in need, and I am able, I will try to help however I can.
The social media life has become more of a necessity now a days rather than a luxury. The main causes of this would be simply because we as human beings have made social networks our priorities. The two major reasons would have to be Facebook and Twitter. These two social networks have exploded throughout the media for past few years and have grown enormously. It seems as though everyone in the world has either a Facebook and or Twitter account.
I myself, have both a Facebook and Twitter account. I began using Facebook in my early teen years, just as a way to interact with friends and to stay up to date with what they were doing, and there hasn’t been much of a change to that. I still use Facebook to keep in touch with friends; the only difference is that it has evolved so much that I can catch up with friends in other countries. I recently started a Twitter account and although Twitter hasn’t evolved as much as Facebook it still is very much popular. It is very addicting to see what all your friends or idols are speaking on or doing at the moment. I also found that Twitter was a good way to vent if you’re ever having problems, or a great way to speak on your opinions.
I must admit I don’t pay as much attention to the news as I should. However, I do enjoy finding out what is going on around me, and the simple way that I do that is by finding out from people I am around constantly. For example my mother is very much into People Magazines and other gossip magazines, and whenever there is an issue lying on the table I enjoy reading it and finding out what is going on with celebrities or companies. Another example is my father enjoys watching CNN all the time in the living room, and whenever I come home I spend a few minutes asking him what is going on and also just paying attention to whoever is on the television and what they are talking about.
Even though I don’t pay as much attention to the news as I should, I still believe I have a great understanding of social media. I believe this because I am very experienced with technology and I enjoy learning new things while experimenting with technology. What I mean by this is that I have a knack of picking up quick on how to use new models of computers or cell phones or any type of electronic device. I especially enjoy teaching others how to use those electronics if I am good with them.
I enjoy helping my community a great amount. I am very involved with them, because they are apart of my heritage. I am Haitian-American, and I actually attend a church back home that is called, The Haitian American Community Center, or HACC for short. There is always a way for me to help whether it’s cleaning the church, taking part in events like the talent show, reading God’s words from the bible during a service, or being a camp counselor during the summer. Without a doubt my community means a great deal to me and that won’t change.
I use my facebook mainly just to keep in contact with friends that I don’t get a chance to see anymore. It’s difficult to stay in touch with people that you went to high school with when they don’t have a facebook or anything like it. Most of my friends do have a facebook so it isn’t that hard to stay in touch with them, but for the ones that don’t have it, it’s definitely noticeable how much less you get to talk to them. I also use my facebook to post pictures of me that I like. My mom likes to take pictures at my football games so I have a bunch of those and I have pictures from events that I attend.
I don’t really pay attention to the news as much as I should. I usually stay on top of sports news, but other than that, it’s pretty rare for me to watch the news. I do, however, see headlines when I check my email once a night. On the homepage for my personal email there are headlines that I see about national news, world news, and some kind of sporting news.
A social media to me is a website where you post information about yourselves so other people can get to know you and you can socialize with them. I do not personally agree with what a social media is for, but I still do have one. Sitting behind a computer screen and saying whatever you feel online makes it much harder for people to socialize face to face. People don’t notice it now, but I believe in ten years, social medias such as facebook are going to be so much bigger than they are now that people will simply not know how to socialize in the presence of others.
I have both a Facebook and a Twitter account. Though I use my Facebook account significantly more than I do my Twitter. I use my Twitter primarily for following actors or directors that I admire. As for Facebook I use it to socialize and talk to friends. I also use it to send out invitations for events. I am able to keep up with what is going on around campus because I check my Facebook every day. It was my best friend who told me to get Facebook. For a while I didn’t want to because I had a MySpace and that was enough for me. However as more and more of my friends transferred over to Facebook I eventually did too. I use it to keep in contact with my friends and family. However, It is sometimes a huge distraction from things I should be doing, like homework.
I get my news from my the internet on my phone. I am able to check the local new websites as well as other various sites whenever I find time. Because of my busy schedule I am often not able to watch the news on TV. In order to get updated with the world I have to find other ways to get my information. If I miss something important it will usually come up in conversation with my friends and I can research it later if it interested me.
I am not very active in my community. This is mostly due to my personal time restraints. The Husson University clubs, work and my everyday school schedule have limited my ability to work in the public community. However my work with the Husson University theater and other clubs have required me to have some active role in the community.
Chris Williams
I never really bought into the whole social networking thing. I have never had a Facebook account and I don’t intend on getting one, because it is very addictive. Most people I know check their Facebook page at least once an hour. I would rather spend my time doing something other than looking at pictures of old friends, or a status that is updated every 5 minutes.
I do however have twitter account, but I don’t follow anyone I know personally. I use it to follow my favorite athletes, celebrities, sports recruiting, and to get fantasy baseball updates. I think I only have “tweeted” once or twice, and I only check it a couple time a week. I’m glad I’m not addicted to the social networking fad that everyone has fallen into the past couple years.
I mostly get my news from the updates on the radio. I rarely watch the news on T.V, unless its ESPNEWS because I watch that all the time. If I hear something interesting on the radio I look up articles online to get better informed on the subject. I don’t think I have ever watched an entire show of CNN, or any show like that.
I wasn’t extremely active in my community, but I did do a couple things to help people out. I did a couple Walk for Wishes, and I participated in a Breast Cancer Awareness golf tournament. I think it is important to help out in your community, but growing up in a small town there wasn’t a large selection of things to do.
I personally don’t use Facebook or twitter. I used Facebook at one time in my life but stopped because of personal reasons. I strongly believe that if someone really wants to talk to me then they will come to find me. I really didn’t know how to use Facebook when I did have one. I will be honest; I am unaware of the world around me. I don’t watch the news and I don’t usually watch television all that much if at all. The news that I usually get is from my email. I open up Yahoo, and I see what is happening in the world on the website. Even though I see the news, there are usually just a few stories and if they are not headlined, then I don’t look at it.
My idea of social media is the fact that most people find out about what is going on today by use of social networking sites like Facebook and twitter. Social media is a way for people in today’s modern culture to express their ideas and opinions. However, these ideas and opinions can quickly fall prey to the “telephone effect.” Many stories can become altered to make people believe what they want to believe. These are the downsides to social media. However, there are many advantages to being a member of the social media. You become aware of things quicker than people who don’t have it. Many invitations and celebrations are posted on social networking sites. Also, these media’s are a great way to keep in touch with your home and old friends.
I have not been contributing to my community as much as I would like to. I believe that it’s in part due to the fact that I am not in my hometown and I feel like Bangor, Maine is not where I belong. In high school I was part of a group that was similar to the boys and girls club. We mentored younger kids and helped them with any problems that they may have faced. In doing that we also did so much community service. I racked up close to three hundred hours of community service in my high school career. In order to graduate a student needed to have 23 ¼.
I have a Facebook account that I basically use to socialize and keep in touch with family. I am friends with some of my aunts, uncles and cousins, and Facebook allows me to talk to them when I haven’t seen them for a while. I use it to keep contact with people from high school, not just classmates but teachers as well. I don’t play games or get involved in drama on Facebook. I generally use it to talk with friends and family, and see what’s going on with people that I may not be really close to but am still friends with. To me social media is another way for people to talk to each other and socialize without face-to-face interaction. It is a way for people to share their thoughts and ideas with anybody who wants to hear it. That is my understanding of what social media is but I know there is probably more to it than that.
I usually watch the news every morning while I am getting ready for class. I also use http://www.yahoo.com and http://www.aol.com to try to keep up with current events. I enjoy reading the articles that they post on those websites. When I read the articles I feel more involved and knowledgeable about what it going on in the world. I like staying caught up and knowing the thing that are happening not only in America but in other countries as well. I also watch the local news sometimes because I know that it is very important to stay informed about what is going on near me. Keeping up with the local news helps me know about the event that are going on around me and allow me to remain pretty active in my community.
My facebook is used pretty much exactly as it was intended to be used. I use it mainly just to talk to my girlfriend who lives 2 hours away, so while I am on facebook for hours at a time, it’s not just because I’m obsessed with looking at people’s profiles or playing stupid little games like farmville. It can be useful to contact my family as well, since if I ever need to talk to them about something I can just send them a message and they can reply at any time. It is quite convenient.
As for getting my news, I don’t usually actively go and look for the news.
i generally get it through some other means anyway, and tend to get as much an understanding from that as I would from reading an article. If I check yahoo for email I’ll see the latest headlines and if one piques my interest I’ll check it out, but otherwise I hear plenty from friends.
My understanding of the social media is that it helps to connect people worldwide, though it can also consume people’s lives. It is a very good thing, but it can make people lazy. I love it since it makes it so much easier to talk to my girlfriend, but other people take it to extremes, even to message somebody right downstairs instead of getting up and walking to them. I think it is a good thing if used properly, but people take advantage of it and it makes it so much easier to be lazy.
In the community, I’m not very active at all. I know I should be, it’s the right thing to do, but I’ve never actually helped much at all with community things. That’s just not something I’ve ever been interested in doing, and so I just don’t.