I was very
impressed with each of these readings. I like how we got a chance to see the
other, somewhat negative side of internet communication. With the reading by
Adams, I was totally enthralled with because this is something I’ve been
thinking about for a while. People really are so mean in blog comments! It’s
not fun to see how people can completely rip apart another person like that for
the entire world to see. Don’t judge me for this, but I was watching a Justin
Beiber music video on YouTube the other day and there were so many people
talking trash. I don’t know what all of your stances are on Justin Beiber, but,
he is still a person. Things like that can destroy a person emotionally. AND he
actually had the courage and drive to do what he loves wholeheartedly, how many
of us can say that we’re doing the same? Ok, I’m done with that rant now, back
to the Adams article… He says on page 6 that, “To have substantial exchange,
you need to be fully present.” This is important in any communication either
online or face to face. I’m a firm believer in the fact that I don’t care what
you believe really, you just need to know why you believe what you do. People
posting nasty comments on blogs simply show the evidence of a highly uneducated
viewership. This leads me as to why I think people hide behind internet
aliases. I don’t know the exact numbers, but the internet’s primary users are
definitely younger generations. Grandma’s (for the most part, my g-ma is actually
awesomely involved on Facebook!) usually don’t have Facebooks ya’ll – teenagers
do. Many of these people posting negative things, YouTube especially are young.
However, this is just a theory, I’m sure there are many other reasons far
beyond my knowledge level as to why people hide behind internet alias.
In the See-Through CEO article, I read a lot of
things that I have never even thought about before. Because of all of the media
attention in major corporations now, they have to fight really hard in order to
hide. All of their business is posted on the internet for all to see in many
instances. This is awesome because, theoretically, this full disclosure can
make major corporations stay honest to what they stand for and what they say
they do. In the end, all of this “visibility” has been shown to benefit certain
corporations.
In the Eli
Pariser ted talk about “filter bubbles”, I had a lot of ideas going through my
mind. He used the quote by Eric Schmidt where he said, “It will be very hard
for people to watch or consume something that has not in some sense been
tailored for them.” This quote was almost upsetting to me. Americans value
individualization and personalization. We like being called special in our own
way and singled out as something extraordinary. Google has definitely tapped
into the knowledge of this fact by personalizing their products. This is
interesting to me because with personalization, you can miss out on other
things you’re not used. Personally, I think people need to be exposed to
different viewpoints other than those they are used to. You get a better-rounded,
diverse, education society that way. This is what was upsetting to me. The fact
that Google is tailoring their search products for individuality is a huge sign
that our society is becoming more individualized as a whole. While being an
individual is important, I’m afraid that it’s going to start making Americans
eco-centric and ethno-centric. We’ll only see, hear, eat, and do things that we
know. And when those things happen, we lose culture and values. So, with filter
bubbles, I think we need to ditch the filter and be open to more “dirty water”
of sorts. It will expand our worldview and create more innovative thinking.
So, this
blog turned out to be a lot of rants, and for that, I’m sorry. I just had a lot
of opinions on these things!
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ReplyDeleteIn regards to your comment about negativity on the internet being younger generations who hide behind Login names, I would totally agree with you. The internet IS their world; they've never seen a day without cellphones or internet or videogames that connect to the web. Their world is technology, and unfortunately they have discovered how anonymous that world can be. I think younger kids "hide" behind false identities because they're not old enough to identify themselves. Like purchasing things on the internet, or signing up for login accounts on Facebook (you have to be 13).
ReplyDeleteOlder generations hide behind Login names as well and create false identities. Sexual predators for example, do it all the time when targeting younger children. There is a very SCARY aspect to the wonderful, universal world that technology has created
You make a really good point with the 13 year olds and the scary people. Like anything, the internet definitely has it's ups and downs. I don't think the internet is their world though. I think that the younger generation thinks it's their world, but it's not. That's why we run into these problems. Because they are young, they have to make up unknowable usernames. They want it to be their world, but the guys in charge of the internet (who are they exactly!? lol) are making sure that it's not just a world for 13 year olds. There's always two sides :)
DeleteKind of replying to Jodi's comment, i think this problem we have of 'false identities' will continue on forever. I mean, I have always been the youngest one in my class so I had to lie to Facebook for like two months until I actually turned 13 (ha!). But yes, overall the idea is horrifying with how adults get carried away with it. Do you think that adults who create false identities have done it their whole lives? could it be some sort of psychological addition? (Random thought). But nowadays, I feel like it is more understanding if you are 8 years old and have a Facebook AND twitter account - I mean, i work at Costco and I see parents shopping with their 5 year old who is playing on an iPad, or grade school students walking around with iPhones (i don't even have one!). All i mean is that, yes, the younger generations are in this "world" where everything only functions with technology but I think it is only going to get worse from here..
ReplyDeleteIt is really interesting to me how these younger kids are growing up with all this technology. I have a 12 year old cousin who knows more about my Iphone than I do. They've just grown up with it. I am really interested to see the longterm effects of what technology is going to do to or for this younger generation. It just makes me wonder if there's going to be any psychological effects. I'm not sure, but I do think it will be something interesting to watch over the years.
DeleteHave you had to relearn walking forward again? Kidding. The idea of filter bubbles becoming the new segregation is fascinating. As for image and hiding, your post reminded me of Dorian Gray.
ReplyDeleteHa ha, very funny. I didn't have to relearn walking forward, but I did have to relearn to calm down and not be so excited about everything! It's so high energy and you have to be super enthusiastic about MSU, which is actually fun for the most part.
DeleteAnyway, who is the Dorian Gray person? The name doesn't seem familiar to me.
Lol, Dorian Gray was a fictional character written by Oscar Wilde. He had a magic portrait that suffered his sins and aged while he remained beautiful. He went mad seeing the portrait and stabbed it, killing himself in the process.
DeleteWhat a rant molly haha. Just kidding. My post was pretty identical to yours. I agree that people hide behind their mean comments that they post. I guess I never really thought about the population being undereducated, I just thought about people being mean! I feel like because people can hide behind a username rather then their own it's like wearing a mask. No one knows your identity so you are free to break lose. I just wish the breaking lose didn't look like people typing profanity! Good Rant friend!
ReplyDelete