Favorite Reading and/or Concept

My favorite reading and concept was one of the main readings and concepts I also found most interesting was on Ellis's article on Be who you want to be iand how the articles discusses how identity is portrayed online through our Facebook comments, pictures, and statuses. This was my favorite reading and concepts because I did not used to think how much of an impact our identity has based on our profile comments and pictures and statuses. Every time we post a certain comment or picture or status, we are portraying a certain identity that our audience gets to see. I have always been cautious on what what goes on my Facebook profile because I know if I put a certain comment or status or picture on my wall or a friend's, I am portraying my identity to my audience a certain thing. I like my profile to be a somewhat clear extension of what I am face to face because I don't want to portray myself to be something that I may not be or give my audience a different impression of me. The beauty of Facebook and other social networking sites I have noticed and believe is that, when we are friends with people we may not get to see often or are acquaintances with and we get to interact with them online and get to know them better through SMS, I find it to be very helpful and convenient. I chose this concept and like it because I am able to get a more clear and concise meaning of why people portray themselves online the way they do and why they give the audience that certain identity on themselves.

What I've learned/Favorite/Least Favorite Thing

What I have learned from and throughout this class that there is a lot more to technology than meets the eye. Before this class, I was not aware of how mig of an impact certain techonlogies have had on our society in the past and currently. I have learned abour identity and Facebook, the evolution of media, how online social networking sites have an impact on individuals socially and virtually and face to face interaction. My favorite thing about this class was well everything from the articles which were all very fascinating to creating a different blog post on each question related to the article and then being able to see what our classmates have to say on the article and being able to comment on their blog. When some of the readings were more challenging to interpret and understand more than others, it very helpful to be able to see what the classmates thought of the article(s) and it helped me to have a more clear understanding on the articles. I don't really have a least favorite thing about this class. The only thing I found to be challenging at times were how some of the articles were pretty long and detailed. It made it hard to comprehend everything. However, detail in articles is always helpful as well so we know exactly what the author is trying to state. The only thing I believe can be improved in this class is how some of the readings are a lot longer than others and sometimes were challenging to keep up with and follow. However, all the articles were all fascinating and I learned something new I never knew before on new media.

Interesting concepts/readings

One of the main concepts and readings I found most interesting was on our very first course article on Katie Ellis "Be who you want to be: The philosophy of Facebook and the construction of identity, because before this article and this course, I never really thought of how identity is shaped from the virtual world. I did not think how big of an impact our social networking sites especially Facebook can portray our identities based on our status updates, our pictures, and comments on our friends’ walls and pictures as well. I also found The Evolution of Media to be interesting because this article made me more aware of how different types of technologies have evolved over time. I didn't realized how big of an impact the typewriter had in the past generations and how it has faded away over time.The reason why I think this concept/reading is interesting is because the idea on how identity is portrayed through how we communicate to our friends online through our Facebook profile. I have always noticed that a lot of people I am friends with online for example from high school and my good friends have told me this as well that, people sometimes give this certain impression of themselves online so they will feel more accepted and portray themselves to be a certain way virtually, however when you meet or see that individual in person, they may not be the same person they portray themselves to be online. I found that concept and reading to also be beneficial to me as well since I am now more aware of why individuals portray themselves online the way they do and the identity they are portraying.

Do You Suffer From Facebook Addiction Disorder?

http://www.allfacebook.com/do-you-suffer-from-facebook-addiction-disorder-2011-04

Right when I saw the title of this article, I found it so ironic because it is so true. I have had discussions with people about being addicted to Facebook(this was back a few years ago). I felt when I first started having a Facebook even within that first year and second year, when I was a freshman and sopohmore in college, since Facebook was "the the hing" to do, all my roommates were on it, including myself. I had no idea why I became addicted. I found the list in this article to test if one has FAD (Facebook Addiction Disorder) was pretty neat because it helps the reader to really assess themselves and their habits and think about how often they use Facebook. Today, I do not go on my Facebook everyday. I have learned to control my addiction because I realized if I could not control whether I go on Facebook once or how many times a day, that my life would be centered on my laptop (I'd be in the virtual world more than the real, physical world). I definitely believe FAD exists amongst so many individuals on a daily basis, and this article was not only fascinating to read about FAD however also very informative.

The World Wide Web

I found this article to be quite fascinating on "The World Wide Web" because it described and answered questions I have had on this subject for awhile now. However, a few main ideas I picked from this article was what D3 defines, which pertains to ideas of all sorts of information from different references how they can be retrieved, also the address system (URI) which is what has made everything in technology possible, HTTP which is the "network protocol" which is used by W3 servers, HTML whichis "markup language" for every W3 client required to understand, and in accordance to the text, " is used for the transmission of basic things such as text and other on-line help information across the web. Last but not least what the W3 defines is the body of data that is available on the internet that we are able ro access"(1994, 793). I found defining W3 main ideas to be helpful and interesting because I learned the main reason(s) why and how the World Wide Web is so imperative in our society.

A Virtual Death & A Real Dilemma

I found this title alone to be quite fascinating and an interesting read. Right when I saw the title which is about "Identity, Trust, and Community in Cyberspace" I was excited to read this article because I believe that it is not only imperative to know and be aware about what goes on in cyberspace however to also know the hidden "dangers" such as how identity, and trust, and community all can have a big impact and affect to an individual in the cyber world. I found the story on the death of Kacee Nicole Swenson to be very interesting, helpful,sad, and touching because throughout the phase of her life that was coming to an end while she was battling leukemia, how she gained so many more friends through her blog posting chronicling how she was doing. Then when I saw she never existed that is where I saw trust, and identity come into the picture. I felt while I was reading this article, it was a suspense book, that I could not wait to hear what was next. What I learned from this article and how it was helpful was that through this woman Debbie's fake person blog post, it makes us more aware to be careful that anything online may not always be real, even though it seems real. It is important that we are careful on how we choose to portray our identity online and how trust especially in cyberspace is a big issue, so we need to be able to read and see between the lines when it comes to computers, trust, identity, and communication amongst cyberspace.

N.Y. Mom Left Suicide Note On Facebook

http://www.allfacebook.com/n-y-mom-left-suicide-note-on-facebook-2011-04

The news media I chose was about a New York mom who left a suicide note on Facebook. Before 25 year old LaShonda Armstrong(the New York mother), drove her minivan into the Hudson River on Tuesday, which killed herself and her three of four kids, first managed to post an update on her Facebook account. In her update post she apologize for her actions and wrong doings of the action she was about to commit.
She wrote: “I’m so sorry everyone forgive me please for what I’m gonna do…. This Is It!!!!” The message was posted to her page through her Blackberry, and was written at around 7:13 pm Tuesday, half an hour before the "fatal plunge."
I chose this article because this woman bascically posted her suicide note/appology via her Facebook right before she was committing her action. She not only killed herself, but killed three of her four children. I was appalled when I saw she took not only her own life but her childrens'. My heart goes out to her relatives and hope that her one child that survived will be at peace soon, and have a home and is cared for.