She looks like any average 16-year old captivated by the punk rock style that has recently swept through her high school. She has short black hair and wears black eyeliner and unique clothes. Her voice is caring and her laughter is contagious. What makes her above average, though, is her huge heart. The name Nina Camilli may have many I’s in it, but the last thing on her mind is herself. She is an active member of Watson Lake Secondary School’s social justice club—a club that gains attention and popularity in a small community of about 1500 people. While the concept of social justice clubs aren’t anything new, the establishment of it in this particularly plain and virtually spiritless school seems almost revolutionary.
But the spirit is growing. The members of the social justice club have been busy with a project to raise money for a well in Kenya. “It makes me feel like the smallest amount of people can change someone else’s life or change something for the better,” Nina says. She hopes that the interest will only grow throughout the small school of about 50 students. The excitement always grows.
These feelings of excitement among the in the club are collective. “We all get very excited when we make money to go towards the well in Kenya,” Nina says with a smile. “Or even when we get a great idea to raise money for things.” Recently the social justice club raised over $1000 from a community sushi dinner.
Global awareness is something on Nina’s mind and she is very enthusiastic about making others conscious of the big world. “Not very many of us are thinking about global issues, I don't think this whole global issue thing is as significant as it should be in our lives.” Nina believes teenagers around the world should care about our Earth. “We are the next generation and we should care about the world because there is only one.” Her advice proves wise for her age.
Many 16-year olds are involved in different things in high school. “This is by far one of the best clubs I have ever been in!” Nina says. The excitement in her voice can’t hide the fact that helping the world is a teen trend that should become the next “in” thing to do.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
draft Facebook
The human race is always changing and developing new and better technologies that try to improve the way we interact with our environment and with those around us. This speedy change has caused a split between the two groups people, There are those who embrace this change and advocate the growth of technology. While on the other hand there are those who see the old ways as best, and for whom change and technology merely provide more opportunity for evil. The conflict over technology can especially become strong when it comes to the topic of social networking. I think when using social networking sites like Facebook we need to be aware of the negatives tendencies that can come from this technology such as, the reduction of actual face to face conversation, the tendency to waste time, and the tendency gossip and others down.
Before analysing the tendencies of Facebook it is important to look at what other scholars have to say on this topic. Lesa argues in her article that social networking and particularly Facebook is a positive force that helps us better communicate with each other and maintain long-term relationships with friends. She further argues that online social networking allows us to be more effective in the work place because it can bring many people with different talents to work on the same project despite distance(Lesa Stern, 2007). On the other Hand Shield’s argues against internet social networking as having little value. He argues that Facebook is primarily used for friend to give information to each other which is pointless and boring. He would say that direct communication such as phone or email is much more effective in communicating with others and much more interesting(Mike Shields, 2008).
Lisa argues that social networking can help groups work together more effectively, while this all sounds good in theory, I don’t think the reality is so nice and tidy as all that. I think face book has tendency to replace face to face conversation with. Other people. For now in the age of Facebook there is no need to actually go to a friend and actually asking how he is doing. Instead a one can now just look at the person’s status, or even just post on someone‘s wall and ask how they are doing. None of these things are bad in of themselves, However they allow us to interact with a friend without ever having actual contact with the person in question. This is very tempting because we don’t have to deal with his or my differences. We can sympathize or share with from a distance. This ultimately lead us to having distant friends instead of having a real relationship.
As Shields notes in his article face book can often be merely about exchanging pointless information. This leads to the second tendency of Facebook which is the tendency to waste time and to distract us from the more important things we should be doing. This can occur in many different ways. Games like Jet pack or word twister can easily lure us into spending hours playing pointless games when we should be doing school. Pictures are another example, it is easy to spend hours looking at pictures or commenting on walls. Thus, instead of doing the work that needs to be done we spend our time carelessly. This ties into the last point as well for instead of having actual relationships with people it much easier to spend our time looking at pictures or playing games.
The last and probably most damaging tendency that face book can lead to is gossip. For in Facebook we are provided a glimpse into peoples lives without necessary knowing the persons context or history. Thus when we look at someone’s status we make assumption that can often lead to gossip or speculation which is real things that are none of our business. Pictures can also be easy food for Gossip. Conversations like “did you see that picture” of do this or that. These tends of conversations can easily be used to tare people who we don’t even know very well. When if we actually took the time to get know the person in question we would more likely understand them and the context of there actions in a way that would build the person up instead of tarring him down.
Facebook can be helpful but as a culture we have to be aware of the negative tendencies can have. Like any technology we must master it and use it for good or it will master us and use us for evil. Thus, I would argue that we be careful when using Facebook to make sure we do not fall into the negative tendency but rather use it to build each other up.
Before analysing the tendencies of Facebook it is important to look at what other scholars have to say on this topic. Lesa argues in her article that social networking and particularly Facebook is a positive force that helps us better communicate with each other and maintain long-term relationships with friends. She further argues that online social networking allows us to be more effective in the work place because it can bring many people with different talents to work on the same project despite distance(Lesa Stern, 2007). On the other Hand Shield’s argues against internet social networking as having little value. He argues that Facebook is primarily used for friend to give information to each other which is pointless and boring. He would say that direct communication such as phone or email is much more effective in communicating with others and much more interesting(Mike Shields, 2008).
Lisa argues that social networking can help groups work together more effectively, while this all sounds good in theory, I don’t think the reality is so nice and tidy as all that. I think face book has tendency to replace face to face conversation with. Other people. For now in the age of Facebook there is no need to actually go to a friend and actually asking how he is doing. Instead a one can now just look at the person’s status, or even just post on someone‘s wall and ask how they are doing. None of these things are bad in of themselves, However they allow us to interact with a friend without ever having actual contact with the person in question. This is very tempting because we don’t have to deal with his or my differences. We can sympathize or share with from a distance. This ultimately lead us to having distant friends instead of having a real relationship.
As Shields notes in his article face book can often be merely about exchanging pointless information. This leads to the second tendency of Facebook which is the tendency to waste time and to distract us from the more important things we should be doing. This can occur in many different ways. Games like Jet pack or word twister can easily lure us into spending hours playing pointless games when we should be doing school. Pictures are another example, it is easy to spend hours looking at pictures or commenting on walls. Thus, instead of doing the work that needs to be done we spend our time carelessly. This ties into the last point as well for instead of having actual relationships with people it much easier to spend our time looking at pictures or playing games.
The last and probably most damaging tendency that face book can lead to is gossip. For in Facebook we are provided a glimpse into peoples lives without necessary knowing the persons context or history. Thus when we look at someone’s status we make assumption that can often lead to gossip or speculation which is real things that are none of our business. Pictures can also be easy food for Gossip. Conversations like “did you see that picture” of do this or that. These tends of conversations can easily be used to tare people who we don’t even know very well. When if we actually took the time to get know the person in question we would more likely understand them and the context of there actions in a way that would build the person up instead of tarring him down.
Facebook can be helpful but as a culture we have to be aware of the negative tendencies can have. Like any technology we must master it and use it for good or it will master us and use us for evil. Thus, I would argue that we be careful when using Facebook to make sure we do not fall into the negative tendency but rather use it to build each other up.
Final draft: competition TV shows and culture
Whenever I turn on the TV, there is almost always at least one channel showing a competitive program. From top model, top singer to top price, competition TV-shows provide top goals for everyone to achieve. Thought TV programs alone do not form our culture, their prevalence certainly reinforces or encourages certain values in our culture. I will argue that while competition TV-shows reveal human’s competitive nature and encourage the sense of achievement, they promote the behavior of humiliation might not be a good influence for our culture.
From a psychological perspective, social comparison theory suggests that individuals examine and evaluate their self-worth by comparing their ability to others (Festinger, 1954). Because only one person can be the best one, the majority of others start to look for inferiors so that they can look better themselves. Our culture is dominated by capitalism which holds competition as the central idea and believes it brings prosperity to society. Frustrated by the fact that we do not always win and yet desire to be the “betters”, we watch competition TV-shows which provide a place critique someone else’s failures and thus making ourselves look more valuable. In other words, we might watch such shows with an ugly reason.
Living in a media-saturated world, people are exposed to media and are affected by them significantly. Theories that explain media effects allow us to understand how media contents affect individual behavior and shape our culture. In social learning theory, researchers argue that people imitate certain behaviors or feel encouraged to act in certain ways according to what they receive on media (Campbell, Martin &Fabos, 2006). People build values from what they consistently see. Cultivation effect supports the idea that people “perceive reality in ways that are consistent with the portrayals they see on television” (Campbell, Martin a& Fabos, 2006, p. 529). In this case, the prevalence and popularity of competition TV-shows could have a significant influence in shaping our culture.
To analyze the relationship between competition TV-shows and our culture, I will look at the America’s Next Top Model as an example and discuss how it reveals and influences our culture. The show’s popularity indicates that the genre of competition program meets mass population’s interest. First, the producers look for ordinary women who have a dream to become a model and to participate in the show. Tyra Banks, the host of the show, sent a message on their first TV promo saying, “Models are not born, they are made.” The coveted goal becomes achievable. Second, by going through different intense challenges, competitors receive mostly negative comments or even malicious humiliations. It seems to me that this show is being a “mutton dressed as lamb,” while they claim to provide a wonderful opportunity to succeed, at each cycle, they create only one winner and a bunch of losers.
Some viewers might question the morality of such humiliation at the beginning, but according to the theory of cultivation effect, such behavior becomes so prevalent that audiences gradually accept it as part of our culture. Also, the reason that America’s Next Top Model’s become so popular approves the theory of social comparison. Unlike the idealized drama stars, the competitors share much more in common with the majority of the audience, and therefore more easily to fall into comparison spot. By revealing the weakness of the competitors, audiences may feel better about themselves. The focus is no longer on how the competitors achieve the goal, but how bad they behave and lose. I remembered watching the first season of the show and felt encouraged by Adrianne Curry, the winner, overcame challenges and won the competition. But as the show progresses, the focus switched to fights among competitors and humiliated comment from the judge. With its long term effect, America’s Next Top Model brings flaw values into our culture by encouraging the behavior of attacking others’ weaknesses and celebrating people’s misfortune.
I agree with Festinger’s social comparison theory exists in community life and witnesses TV programmers used it to attract audience. The behaviors of humiliation and celebration of others’ misfortune rampantly showed on competitive TV programs do not make them justice. Unawareness of media effect, such twist value could easily slip into our culture. When constructive criticism turns to a free license for humiliating others, our culture is being misled. Competition TV-shows not only stimulate human’s competitive nature, but also encourage fallen values.
From a psychological perspective, social comparison theory suggests that individuals examine and evaluate their self-worth by comparing their ability to others (Festinger, 1954). Because only one person can be the best one, the majority of others start to look for inferiors so that they can look better themselves. Our culture is dominated by capitalism which holds competition as the central idea and believes it brings prosperity to society. Frustrated by the fact that we do not always win and yet desire to be the “betters”, we watch competition TV-shows which provide a place critique someone else’s failures and thus making ourselves look more valuable. In other words, we might watch such shows with an ugly reason.
Living in a media-saturated world, people are exposed to media and are affected by them significantly. Theories that explain media effects allow us to understand how media contents affect individual behavior and shape our culture. In social learning theory, researchers argue that people imitate certain behaviors or feel encouraged to act in certain ways according to what they receive on media (Campbell, Martin &Fabos, 2006). People build values from what they consistently see. Cultivation effect supports the idea that people “perceive reality in ways that are consistent with the portrayals they see on television” (Campbell, Martin a& Fabos, 2006, p. 529). In this case, the prevalence and popularity of competition TV-shows could have a significant influence in shaping our culture.
To analyze the relationship between competition TV-shows and our culture, I will look at the America’s Next Top Model as an example and discuss how it reveals and influences our culture. The show’s popularity indicates that the genre of competition program meets mass population’s interest. First, the producers look for ordinary women who have a dream to become a model and to participate in the show. Tyra Banks, the host of the show, sent a message on their first TV promo saying, “Models are not born, they are made.” The coveted goal becomes achievable. Second, by going through different intense challenges, competitors receive mostly negative comments or even malicious humiliations. It seems to me that this show is being a “mutton dressed as lamb,” while they claim to provide a wonderful opportunity to succeed, at each cycle, they create only one winner and a bunch of losers.
Some viewers might question the morality of such humiliation at the beginning, but according to the theory of cultivation effect, such behavior becomes so prevalent that audiences gradually accept it as part of our culture. Also, the reason that America’s Next Top Model’s become so popular approves the theory of social comparison. Unlike the idealized drama stars, the competitors share much more in common with the majority of the audience, and therefore more easily to fall into comparison spot. By revealing the weakness of the competitors, audiences may feel better about themselves. The focus is no longer on how the competitors achieve the goal, but how bad they behave and lose. I remembered watching the first season of the show and felt encouraged by Adrianne Curry, the winner, overcame challenges and won the competition. But as the show progresses, the focus switched to fights among competitors and humiliated comment from the judge. With its long term effect, America’s Next Top Model brings flaw values into our culture by encouraging the behavior of attacking others’ weaknesses and celebrating people’s misfortune.
I agree with Festinger’s social comparison theory exists in community life and witnesses TV programmers used it to attract audience. The behaviors of humiliation and celebration of others’ misfortune rampantly showed on competitive TV programs do not make them justice. Unawareness of media effect, such twist value could easily slip into our culture. When constructive criticism turns to a free license for humiliating others, our culture is being misled. Competition TV-shows not only stimulate human’s competitive nature, but also encourage fallen values.
Profile
It was not your normal interview. We did not go to a coffee shop and order specialty drinks to sip while we talked. It was not in his office with his list of achievements hanging on the wall in their frames. Instead the interview was more appropriate. I sat at my desk and he sat at his across the country and we both logged into our instant messengers. This is the way I interviewed Winston Ewert. It was fitting to interview Winston in this manner because Winston is what is known as a computer nerd.
Winston’s career in computers began when as a young child he picked up a dos manual and began to read it. His father tells the story that instead of finding his young son with a comic book beneath the covers, he would find Winston with a dos manual. From reading this manual sparked the desire to understand and program computers in Winston. He knew he wanted to learn how to program, but he was not sure how to go about it until he came across a section that taught him how to write batch files (a rudimentary programming form). From then on he was hooked.
At ten years old Winston would go to the local library and borrow their books on computer programming. It was from these books that Winston learned QBasic which is what he defined as his “‘real’ programming language.” This was 1996 and British Columbia was going through provincial elections. How the voting system worked fascinated Winston. He used his QBasic skills to create a simulation of the government elections. The program also allowed you to control what the government did. This was his first QBasic program. Voting systems still intrigue Winston today and he has created many programs that show this.
When asked what interests he had outside of computers, Winston answered “what makes you think there are any?” To Winston, computers are a career, a hobby, and a way of living. At a very young age, he had saved up enough of his money to buy his own. Now if you go into his room he has two monitors and a laptop. He is only interested in other things as they relate to computer. Fiddling and fighting with his computer, trying to make the computer do what it is supposed to is a frustration for most; however, this is Winston’s favorite pastime. His parents have long depended on Winston to help them when the computer stops working.
With this love a computers comes a desire to perfect. “Every program I write is hopefully better then the one before” Winston says, “So my favorites are the one that I still could be perfect because I haven't written them yet.” What Winston remembers about a finished program is not what he thought was brilliant. Instead he remembers the flaws. He uses that memory to help him avoid repeating the same mistakes in his future programs.
What does this make Winston then? Is he completely obsessed with computer and perfection that he has no social contact locked away in a basement somewhere? Is he a computer nerd? Winston himself admits he can become obsessed with projects; however he credits his faith for giving him a more balanced life. A Christian life requires that you focus on others both those in the Christian community and those outside. It requires a balanced life rather then a life of obsession. Winston has learned this lesson well and refuses to allow himself to become completely obsessed with his computer.
Admittedly, Winston is still a bit of a nerd. “I take a certain odd pleasure with being abnormal,” Winston explained. “It’s not like I can do anything to avoid it anyways.” Winston is a likeable character, but many will put him down to odd but smart. At this time, he is working on getting his masters at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. There he studies intelligent design through computer simulations with one of the faculty there.
Winston’s career in computers began when as a young child he picked up a dos manual and began to read it. His father tells the story that instead of finding his young son with a comic book beneath the covers, he would find Winston with a dos manual. From reading this manual sparked the desire to understand and program computers in Winston. He knew he wanted to learn how to program, but he was not sure how to go about it until he came across a section that taught him how to write batch files (a rudimentary programming form). From then on he was hooked.
At ten years old Winston would go to the local library and borrow their books on computer programming. It was from these books that Winston learned QBasic which is what he defined as his “‘real’ programming language.” This was 1996 and British Columbia was going through provincial elections. How the voting system worked fascinated Winston. He used his QBasic skills to create a simulation of the government elections. The program also allowed you to control what the government did. This was his first QBasic program. Voting systems still intrigue Winston today and he has created many programs that show this.
When asked what interests he had outside of computers, Winston answered “what makes you think there are any?” To Winston, computers are a career, a hobby, and a way of living. At a very young age, he had saved up enough of his money to buy his own. Now if you go into his room he has two monitors and a laptop. He is only interested in other things as they relate to computer. Fiddling and fighting with his computer, trying to make the computer do what it is supposed to is a frustration for most; however, this is Winston’s favorite pastime. His parents have long depended on Winston to help them when the computer stops working.
With this love a computers comes a desire to perfect. “Every program I write is hopefully better then the one before” Winston says, “So my favorites are the one that I still could be perfect because I haven't written them yet.” What Winston remembers about a finished program is not what he thought was brilliant. Instead he remembers the flaws. He uses that memory to help him avoid repeating the same mistakes in his future programs.
What does this make Winston then? Is he completely obsessed with computer and perfection that he has no social contact locked away in a basement somewhere? Is he a computer nerd? Winston himself admits he can become obsessed with projects; however he credits his faith for giving him a more balanced life. A Christian life requires that you focus on others both those in the Christian community and those outside. It requires a balanced life rather then a life of obsession. Winston has learned this lesson well and refuses to allow himself to become completely obsessed with his computer.
Admittedly, Winston is still a bit of a nerd. “I take a certain odd pleasure with being abnormal,” Winston explained. “It’s not like I can do anything to avoid it anyways.” Winston is a likeable character, but many will put him down to odd but smart. At this time, he is working on getting his masters at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. There he studies intelligent design through computer simulations with one of the faculty there.
Journalistic Profile
They waited for the explosion, but it never came. The five German soldiers were outnumbered and encircled by the Russians. Looking past his four comrades who were lying low in the bushes, Jacob Dyck saw the hand grenade and realized the Russians forgot to pull the trigger. Stunned by their own forgetfulness, the Russians made no further attacks and the German soldiers made their way unharmed through the Russian front.
I’m sitting with Jake at the kitchen table, six stories from the ground, overlooking the grey haired figures walking below. Flakes of light snow drift to the ground in the bright blue sky. He stares out the window and laughs as he reminisces. “We must have scared them off because they left their machine gun. There were no gun shots at all.” In the midst of a war, this is what amused the soldiers. I am not sure whether to laugh or cry as he tells me this because I am reminded again of how God had a plan that went far beyond World War II for the strong, handsome, red haired youth who now sits before me as my fragile, but still handsome, silver-haired grandpa.
It has been 64 years since Jake fought in the war, but not a day that goes by where he is not reminded of it. I grew up hearing stories from my grandparents about how they escaped from Russia and how the war affected them, but Jake is the one who experienced the war from the front lines. It’s hard for him to talk about it. His fingers are linked together in his lap as he sits at the table. He looks at the ring on his left hand and his back arches away from the wall.
“The Germans made me feel obligated to join them because they helped me get my parents out of Russia.” He explains how my relatives were second class Russian citizens—Germans who had come to Russia during the reign of Catherine the Great. “In a way, I wanted to fight. I wanted to get out of Russia, and this was my chance. The hardest part was fighting against my brother who was drafted into the Russian air force.” Jake was only 16 when he joined the army.
“I was afraid,” he speaks of when he first had to attack. “After two weeks of being in the war though, you get used to it.” At such a young age, it’s no wonder that Jake did not mind being in Prisoner of War camps, where he didn’t have to fight anymore. Of course, it was still a matter of life or death, especially in the Russian camps. “I would have been executed immediately if they found out I was a traitor.”
Fighting on the front lines, Jake experienced what most people will never see in their lives. His eyes start to glisten in the sunlight. “Oh, it affects you,” his voice escapes him. “I’m sure it affects everyone. Today, the soldiers have it too good.”
I will never fully grasp how the war affected my Opa. Years of fighting, suffering in Prisoner of War camps, and escaping death at every chance have left him quiet and a hard worker, which is what most people see. But I also see love and compassion.
Near the end of the war, a soldier fighting alongside Jake was hit. From his upper right chest to his lower left stomach, guts and intestines poured onto the pine-needled forest floor. With his bare hands, Jake lifted the man’s intestines and shoved them back inside, pine-needles and all. “We put him on canvas and dragged him to the medical centre. I thought I would never see him again. I thought I would die. But I couldn’t stay with him. I had to keep fighting.”
It was two years later when Jake was at a train station in Munich. “I was heading in one direction and he in the other. He remembered me, but I didn’t believe it could be him, until he lifted up his shirt and showed me the scar. I never saw him after that day.”
Opa is my hero and I want his story to live on through the generations. Despite the difficulties he has experienced in his life, he still has so much love to give. As I leave him with memories of the war swirling around in his head, he places his arms firmly around me. “I love you, sweet pea.”
I’m sitting with Jake at the kitchen table, six stories from the ground, overlooking the grey haired figures walking below. Flakes of light snow drift to the ground in the bright blue sky. He stares out the window and laughs as he reminisces. “We must have scared them off because they left their machine gun. There were no gun shots at all.” In the midst of a war, this is what amused the soldiers. I am not sure whether to laugh or cry as he tells me this because I am reminded again of how God had a plan that went far beyond World War II for the strong, handsome, red haired youth who now sits before me as my fragile, but still handsome, silver-haired grandpa.
It has been 64 years since Jake fought in the war, but not a day that goes by where he is not reminded of it. I grew up hearing stories from my grandparents about how they escaped from Russia and how the war affected them, but Jake is the one who experienced the war from the front lines. It’s hard for him to talk about it. His fingers are linked together in his lap as he sits at the table. He looks at the ring on his left hand and his back arches away from the wall.
“The Germans made me feel obligated to join them because they helped me get my parents out of Russia.” He explains how my relatives were second class Russian citizens—Germans who had come to Russia during the reign of Catherine the Great. “In a way, I wanted to fight. I wanted to get out of Russia, and this was my chance. The hardest part was fighting against my brother who was drafted into the Russian air force.” Jake was only 16 when he joined the army.
“I was afraid,” he speaks of when he first had to attack. “After two weeks of being in the war though, you get used to it.” At such a young age, it’s no wonder that Jake did not mind being in Prisoner of War camps, where he didn’t have to fight anymore. Of course, it was still a matter of life or death, especially in the Russian camps. “I would have been executed immediately if they found out I was a traitor.”
Fighting on the front lines, Jake experienced what most people will never see in their lives. His eyes start to glisten in the sunlight. “Oh, it affects you,” his voice escapes him. “I’m sure it affects everyone. Today, the soldiers have it too good.”
I will never fully grasp how the war affected my Opa. Years of fighting, suffering in Prisoner of War camps, and escaping death at every chance have left him quiet and a hard worker, which is what most people see. But I also see love and compassion.
Near the end of the war, a soldier fighting alongside Jake was hit. From his upper right chest to his lower left stomach, guts and intestines poured onto the pine-needled forest floor. With his bare hands, Jake lifted the man’s intestines and shoved them back inside, pine-needles and all. “We put him on canvas and dragged him to the medical centre. I thought I would never see him again. I thought I would die. But I couldn’t stay with him. I had to keep fighting.”
It was two years later when Jake was at a train station in Munich. “I was heading in one direction and he in the other. He remembered me, but I didn’t believe it could be him, until he lifted up his shirt and showed me the scar. I never saw him after that day.”
Opa is my hero and I want his story to live on through the generations. Despite the difficulties he has experienced in his life, he still has so much love to give. As I leave him with memories of the war swirling around in his head, he places his arms firmly around me. “I love you, sweet pea.”
My Rough draft Of my Cultural Critique :) ... what I have so far
Facebook, a networking cite, originally created for Harvard students, has now become available to students parents and teens. This social apparatus is worth an estimated one billion for twenty three year old, Mark Zukerberg, creator of the site. Facebook has not only taken the world by storm, its ‘lingo’ and specific terminology has become apart of many teens daily discussions. Facebook has become a place where those who have graduated from high school can reconnect, college students can plan study dates, and an environment where causes can be funded and gain awareness. Facebook allows users to share information such as date of birth, relationship status, and online photo albums that feature your latest adventures. Facebook allows users to connect by tagging friends in your photo albums, sending invitations over the web to the newest Facebook event, and the new online chat feature. Facebook is truly advanced in its years, and has taken the world by storm.
Although Facebook may seem like a great device that enables users to connect, there is a flip side that many do not recognize.
Facebook has become so popular with its loose rules, some feel that they have the permission to portray themselves in whichever manner they please.
Our Culture continuously pressures young teens to fit into society’s mold. Young teens are tempted to portray themselves as an image that they cannot possibly obtain. But with the use of Facebook, teens now have an outlet in which they are able to portray themselves more appropriately within our cultural standards. “Like the social networking site itself, the latest Facebook fad appeals because it “lets you present yourself to the world in the way you want people to perceive you,’’ said BJ Fogg, who directs the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University and is writing a book about the psychology of Facebook.” Facebook allows the user permission to add anyone they want. Some teens may feel the need to add as many people as possible in order to appear more popular. Users have the freedom to post pictures as they see fit, as long as they are not violent or seductive. Some may post pictures that are not even of themselves, to create a false identity that is ‘more acceptable’ in today’s culture. Facebook can be used as a great way of communication, but it can also be used as a tool to create an identity that is not yours. Because our culture puts such emphasis on appearance, and superficiality, teens feel that they must become something they are not, and Facebook is where many turn.
Facebook has proven to be a popular means of communication, but now with the fact that many are over emphasizing their popularity, achievements or appearance.
Continuing with apparent problem, we see that according to Jessi Hempel who wrote an article in the journal Fortune entitled How Facebook is taking over our lives talks about the problem we see around Facebook being a venue that many are able to disguise there real identity, or falsely imply their popularity and looks. In the article he sates that “Facebook lets us do all that in digital form. Yet we also present different faces to the different people in our lives: An "anything goes" page we share with pals might not be appropriate for office mates-or for the moms and grandmas who increasingly are joining the site. …Eventually giving a user the ability to have a different Facebook personality for each Facebook friendship." Because of the looseness of these rules, not only are users allowed to portray themselves as a separate identity than their own, but, Facebook fosters the idea of creating ones self in any way they see fit.
Although Facebook may seem like a great device that enables users to connect, there is a flip side that many do not recognize.
Facebook has become so popular with its loose rules, some feel that they have the permission to portray themselves in whichever manner they please.
Our Culture continuously pressures young teens to fit into society’s mold. Young teens are tempted to portray themselves as an image that they cannot possibly obtain. But with the use of Facebook, teens now have an outlet in which they are able to portray themselves more appropriately within our cultural standards. “Like the social networking site itself, the latest Facebook fad appeals because it “lets you present yourself to the world in the way you want people to perceive you,’’ said BJ Fogg, who directs the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University and is writing a book about the psychology of Facebook.” Facebook allows the user permission to add anyone they want. Some teens may feel the need to add as many people as possible in order to appear more popular. Users have the freedom to post pictures as they see fit, as long as they are not violent or seductive. Some may post pictures that are not even of themselves, to create a false identity that is ‘more acceptable’ in today’s culture. Facebook can be used as a great way of communication, but it can also be used as a tool to create an identity that is not yours. Because our culture puts such emphasis on appearance, and superficiality, teens feel that they must become something they are not, and Facebook is where many turn.
Facebook has proven to be a popular means of communication, but now with the fact that many are over emphasizing their popularity, achievements or appearance.
Continuing with apparent problem, we see that according to Jessi Hempel who wrote an article in the journal Fortune entitled How Facebook is taking over our lives talks about the problem we see around Facebook being a venue that many are able to disguise there real identity, or falsely imply their popularity and looks. In the article he sates that “Facebook lets us do all that in digital form. Yet we also present different faces to the different people in our lives: An "anything goes" page we share with pals might not be appropriate for office mates-or for the moms and grandmas who increasingly are joining the site. …Eventually giving a user the ability to have a different Facebook personality for each Facebook friendship." Because of the looseness of these rules, not only are users allowed to portray themselves as a separate identity than their own, but, Facebook fosters the idea of creating ones self in any way they see fit.
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