Expert Group: New Media Final Thoughts

New forms of technology have allows the sharing of a wide range of topics. Now, the majority of people who have access to mew media have unfiltered information being “broadcasted” to them. However, with so much information, there is a need for source checking to determine what can be reliable.

On the up side of this, sharing has allowed for communication among those who would have otherwise been unable to do so before. Large scale communication has lead to large scale movements that deal with social issues society faces today.

Activist movements have risen from communication with new media. Awareness of illnesses have also risen.

So the end result of information by new media has been and will likely continue to be some sort of action.

Blog # 11

Here Comes Everybody was an interesting read for me. The reason is because it was the book I was required to read for my book panel presentation and for my book review. It is a great book that helps the reader understand how groups of people are able to use media and the Internet to gather in an organized manner without the need of some institutionalized organization.

The most interesting parts of the book for me were the parts that detailed how people were able to cooperate and come to a result. The best example of this was when Shirky explained the creation of Wikipedia and how it continues to be run today. There are a large number of contributors to articles on the Wikipedia website and it somehow manages to not be in disarray.

Blog Post #9

For so long I had been disconnected from any important information. I went about my day not really thinking about what was going on around me and I was not at all conscious of. No, it seems that I know a lot more than what I ever had before. At times it seems as if it’s too much information and too much news that I have access to. Much of the information I get comes from social media of from friends who have read about it on social media. The top two sites for me are Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. What I have noticed about these sites is that it is much easier for Tumblr and Twitter to gather a group of people than perhaps Facebook.

News that comes out today can reach different parts of the globe in seconds. It even crosses social media platforms. The most prominent example is the Michael Brown killing case and the raised hands gesture that has become known as the  “don’t shoot” gesture. After this case, many protesters have began using this gesture is solidarity with the protesters in Ferguson. Most recently, it has been used in the Hong Kong electoral protest.

Blog Post #8

It’s funny to think that not once did I question what or how I was taught in school. Only when I arrived at WSU was I required to reflect on the 12 years that I spent in the small school district back home. What isn’t very funny at all is how disappointed I felt when I realized that I never really has much of a choice on what I learned.

In chapter 5 of his book, Tapscott explains the problem with the education system and why it has become difficult to teach Net Geners. He says the education system is outdated and should change to the current technological environment. One point he makes is that collaboration leads to better learning. That was something I found was at odds with what school had taught me. I was required to do assignments on my own and I was always under the impression that I should be able to understand all the material I was being taught This, I now realize, was harmful to my learning because I now find it difficult to ask questions when I am not able to understand. If I had been allowed to collaborate with others in my earlier school years I would have an easier accepting, wanting, or even demanding help.

Tapscott also says education needs student oriented teaching and it is not something we are currently doing.  This is something I agree with. many students simply float from one class or subject to another without really understanding. Some students are expected to perform to standards and those who don't are forgotten. Neither of these types of students ever learn to learn preoperly.

Blog Post #6

In the previous class, and in my own reading, collaboration among groups of people in different spaces was the main topic. I, as well as the rest of the class, learned that the growth of the Internet allows for individuals to communicate and congregate in a more efficient way. Although I the book Her Comes Everybody, the focus was on the positive side of this, the chapter in Baron’s book, entitled, The Dark side of the Web, explains how this collaboration has also lead to the gathering of hateful groups.

It’s a given that with any new technology, there is both a good and a bad. Baron writes about the formation of hateful groups that are able to act in such ways because they can remain anonymous within the Internet.There is no way to control what is posted there, unless the location in which you live has restrictions in place.

As frequent users of the internet, we know that these places where the worst of the worst reside.entire websites have come into scrutiny  There's Reddit that contains questionable content and more recently 4chan that has an entire section thread labeled /b/ which most recently leaked nude pictures of famous female celebrities.

Blog Post #5

Writing has been constantly evolving and as Baron writes it is a constantly changing technology. What I find to be funny is that we are so reliant on technology to work with or to write on that we forget it is not a perfect structure. When they stop working or working as efficiently, we tend to get frustrated. I suppose we are constantly trying to find what is most beneficial to use in writing that we tend to look constantly for short cuts for the writing that we do.

Baron mentions that the philosopher Plato believed that writing would limit the ability of remembrance in humans. He was in some ways right. We rely writing to help us remember important duties in the day and it helps us keep ourselves balance and organized in our activates.  We rely so much on writing that we overlook the fact that writing, too, is not perfectly accurate.

Blog #3

One of the most interesting books I have ever read during my time in high school was Things Fall Apart. It is a book that has stuck with me since it was first assigned for me to read. One of the reasons I believe it has stuck with me is because it was a book that opened discussion for people of many different backgrounds. The manner in which the book ended always prompted the start of a new discussion.

I think that one of the reasons for Okonkwo’s dislike of anything feminine stems from his own insecurities. He gained status in in his village to prove to himself that he was not like his father. His actions are constantly trying to differentiate himself his father by strictly following his own traditions. In doing so, he is unable to accept the changes that arise when Europeans arrive at the village.