So, this week is the final week of my online social media class. Given my mood, I decided today would be a good day to reflect upon it. Although in the beginning of the class I felt extremely overwhelmed by the amount of things we had to do, once I got more used to each form of social media and could navigate more quickly, everything began to flow.
I will say that the most beneficial tools I enjoyed and learned from the most were the wikispaces of blogs. I enjoyed these because I felt as though they were genuinely useful, interesting, and something that I would use in my future. Blogging was foreign to me, but it opened up new doors in regards to connecting on a deeper level with others and being able to read what they had to say in detail rather than in a "status". Wikispaces are just amazing in general. Being a girl who feels that I have spent my whole life in school, I am amazed that I hadn't heard of them for working on group projects before. They are so helpful and convenient, especially for online courses. The site was also so easy to learn, especially with the tutorial, that I feel anyone could learn to navigate it quickly. It also works really well in terms of grading for professors since the activity is always logged, which is something that can be good or bad, but it eliminates student frustration over who does what and trying to make sure other group members are participating. I enjoy the fact that anyone in the group can have access and make changes to the page on their own time.
If there is anything that I would eliminate from the course it would be the use of YouTube and Flickr. Although I understand the importance of being of aware of such social media tools, I felt it extremely difficult to connect with classmates and others and I found them to not be very useful throughout the class. I suppose my final opinion on them is that they play a very small role in social media and I thought other sites could've been more useful. I also had a very hard time creating channels in an organized manner on YouTube and finding outside source pictures that would actually load into Flickr.
On my phone, my most used applications that pertain to social media would have to be Wordswithfriends and Pinterest. I downloaded Wordswithfriends the second I got my phone. Although I go through stages of playing a lot to playing not at all, I enjoy it because it allows me to play a game of "scrabble", if you want to call it that, with my friends, family, or a complete stranger. You can play whenever you want and I find it rather amusing. As you have heard in the past, Pinterest is my weak spot and I downloaded it after months of trying not to. However, I think that Pinterest in really making a break through in terms of social media. It's connecting people on an interest-based level and it's sparking creativity in many of its users. Also, the interest-based part of it makes it different than Facebook and Twitter in that you can connect with people who enjoy the same things you do and feed off them, their likes, their Pins, etc.
Although there were some minor changes that I would make to the class, overall I feel I had a great experience with this class. It made me more knowledgeable on social media tools that I was previously unaware of and made me understand the positive role that being socially "web-active" can have in my life. Whether I want to stay in touch with friends, share pictures with my family, connect with my co-workers, or work on school projects, I now the many options of social media that allow me to do all of this in the click of a button.
8.13.2012
8.10.2012
Following the Campaign
Over the past week, following the two presidential campaigns has been a great but overwhelming experience. Due to the small amount of baseline information that I have in politics, reading anything current was a tedious process because I had to learn about more basic concepts as to why each president was doing what---well, I suppose I didn't have to but nothing would've made much sense if I didn't!
I have learned a lot about each candidate throughout the past days. To be honest, I knew very little about each candidate, even our current president, simply because I rarely follow this genre of media.
As for Republican Mitt Romney, I learned who he was before his current run and what he's doing now in the presidential campaign. Things such as where he's from, his Governor reign in Massachusetts and his previous presidential nomination---all of which are important factors in his popularity amongst his followers during this 2012 campaign.
Democrat and current president, Barrack Obama, was a little different in terms of what I learned about him. Most of the information that arose when I searched him on the Web was about his past four years as our nation's president. The list seems endless, but the most frequent things to show up was his Tax relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, Job Creation Act, and "Obamacare". Naturally, articles on how these and others have helped our nation, and articles on how Obama has put us in more debt than ever.
My posts about the presidents on Facebook didn't cause much of an uproar---and I am not surprised. I got a few "likes" here and there, but no major responses. My friends are all pretty much on the same page as I am when it comes to being involved in the campaign. I also have posted so infrequently over the years about this subject that it was probably more surprising to see on my wall than it was to actually respond to the article!
Unfortunately right now, learning more about the campaign hasn't changed my view on my choice to not vote. Honestly, the only reason for this is the fact that with work and school, I still don't feel like I have had enough time to learn enough to make any type of decision---and I have a little ways to go until school ends to have the time to learn more!
Yes, I do think social media and the Web is an extremely effective political tool. With how busy people are, having the ability to engage in the current events that they may have missed on the 6 o'clock news is highly convenient and necessary in terms of creating awareness. It also allows people from all different backgrounds to come together and communicate their opinions and beliefs with others, which I think is a positive addition to online media. I am the perfect example of how being able to search any political event online is so helpful and positive in creating awareness.
I have learned a lot about each candidate throughout the past days. To be honest, I knew very little about each candidate, even our current president, simply because I rarely follow this genre of media.
As for Republican Mitt Romney, I learned who he was before his current run and what he's doing now in the presidential campaign. Things such as where he's from, his Governor reign in Massachusetts and his previous presidential nomination---all of which are important factors in his popularity amongst his followers during this 2012 campaign.
Democrat and current president, Barrack Obama, was a little different in terms of what I learned about him. Most of the information that arose when I searched him on the Web was about his past four years as our nation's president. The list seems endless, but the most frequent things to show up was his Tax relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, Job Creation Act, and "Obamacare". Naturally, articles on how these and others have helped our nation, and articles on how Obama has put us in more debt than ever.
My posts about the presidents on Facebook didn't cause much of an uproar---and I am not surprised. I got a few "likes" here and there, but no major responses. My friends are all pretty much on the same page as I am when it comes to being involved in the campaign. I also have posted so infrequently over the years about this subject that it was probably more surprising to see on my wall than it was to actually respond to the article!
Unfortunately right now, learning more about the campaign hasn't changed my view on my choice to not vote. Honestly, the only reason for this is the fact that with work and school, I still don't feel like I have had enough time to learn enough to make any type of decision---and I have a little ways to go until school ends to have the time to learn more!
Yes, I do think social media and the Web is an extremely effective political tool. With how busy people are, having the ability to engage in the current events that they may have missed on the 6 o'clock news is highly convenient and necessary in terms of creating awareness. It also allows people from all different backgrounds to come together and communicate their opinions and beliefs with others, which I think is a positive addition to online media. I am the perfect example of how being able to search any political event online is so helpful and positive in creating awareness.
8.09.2012
Censorship in Iran
Iran's government has been censoring the people from information that relates to women's rights, freedom of speech, democracy, news, religious content and most recently, social media tools. Although this censorship is seen as a measure to maintain the stability of the country and the control of the government, the ban of the internet and social media has caused an alarming uproar in Iran bringing upon rioting and protesting that lead to violence to misfortune.
The internet ban blocks access to political, human rights, women's sites, and weblogs. Most common to us, social networking sites such as Facebook and YouTube are among those.
After years of protesting, the government has begun to make attempts at pleasing it's people by creating sites that they feel "fits" their criteria. The latest is Hadinet.ir, which is targeted for young, middle class Iranians. The site is devoted to Imam Naghi, an Iranian saint and it is comprised of collections of quotes attributed to the imam and posts by members who express their love and devotion to him. Although the purpose of the site is to express religious devotion, Iranian critics believe the site will likely join the long list of the banned because it is inevitable that young people will misuse the site with actions such as making fun of state policies and religious rulings.
Sites such as these are doing nothing for Iran in terms of allowing them social media access. If anything it is angering them more because it is not just social media, it's religion---and it's the only one available which leaves little room for personal choice. Due to the fact that Iran blocks so much, it is impossible for me to say whether this movement or the internet is positive or negative for the country because the change is so small and so few Iranians even believe it will last long. Many articles on the site are short, sweet, and to the point, which also leaves me with too broad of an idea of exactly how the Iranians feel. Also, they don't have any internet access to express it!
The internet ban blocks access to political, human rights, women's sites, and weblogs. Most common to us, social networking sites such as Facebook and YouTube are among those.
After years of protesting, the government has begun to make attempts at pleasing it's people by creating sites that they feel "fits" their criteria. The latest is Hadinet.ir, which is targeted for young, middle class Iranians. The site is devoted to Imam Naghi, an Iranian saint and it is comprised of collections of quotes attributed to the imam and posts by members who express their love and devotion to him. Although the purpose of the site is to express religious devotion, Iranian critics believe the site will likely join the long list of the banned because it is inevitable that young people will misuse the site with actions such as making fun of state policies and religious rulings.
Sites such as these are doing nothing for Iran in terms of allowing them social media access. If anything it is angering them more because it is not just social media, it's religion---and it's the only one available which leaves little room for personal choice. Due to the fact that Iran blocks so much, it is impossible for me to say whether this movement or the internet is positive or negative for the country because the change is so small and so few Iranians even believe it will last long. Many articles on the site are short, sweet, and to the point, which also leaves me with too broad of an idea of exactly how the Iranians feel. Also, they don't have any internet access to express it!
8.08.2012
99 to 1
The Occupy Movement has been going on since September 17th 2011 when the first "1%" of the world angered the other "99%". It was that year when the US Government bailed the banks out of trillions of dollars and debt and did nothing afterwards to justify this bold movement. So now, the 99%---that is those who are not the banks, government, insurance, or mortgage industries---have been protesting for the past year in an angered response.
But what is going on with the movement nowadays? The New York Times explains in a neutral manner how the movement is fading to the edges of political discourse. Law enforcement has driven the people off the streets, the media has been paying less attention to them, and it's leadership structure is failing. On the contrary, #occupytogether's webpage shows quite a different aspect. This website is up, running, and has thousands of contributors who blog, tweet, and express their protest daily.
Regardless of if your searching for a news article or a more personal form of media message, you seem to always get the same thing---the neutral news relaying everything in a simple, broad, factual form about the people who are protesting and why, and then the people expressing their anger and disagreement through social media bringing every little specific detail to light about what the 1% is doing wrong.
Whether you are looking for neutral news or a precise explanation, finding what's going on with the Occupy Movement is as easy as clicking your twitter app on your smartphone and follow endless #occupy hashtags that will bring you right to the source.
But what is going on with the movement nowadays? The New York Times explains in a neutral manner how the movement is fading to the edges of political discourse. Law enforcement has driven the people off the streets, the media has been paying less attention to them, and it's leadership structure is failing. On the contrary, #occupytogether's webpage shows quite a different aspect. This website is up, running, and has thousands of contributors who blog, tweet, and express their protest daily.
Regardless of if your searching for a news article or a more personal form of media message, you seem to always get the same thing---the neutral news relaying everything in a simple, broad, factual form about the people who are protesting and why, and then the people expressing their anger and disagreement through social media bringing every little specific detail to light about what the 1% is doing wrong.
Whether you are looking for neutral news or a precise explanation, finding what's going on with the Occupy Movement is as easy as clicking your twitter app on your smartphone and follow endless #occupy hashtags that will bring you right to the source.
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