You cannot go to msn.com, yahoo.com, aol.com, etc. without seeing information or turn the TV or radio on without hearing something about the 2008 election that is coming up in just a few days. This is one of the biggest in history, having a black male running for president and a woman for vice president. Not only that, but the subject on many minds is who is going to help our problem with economic struggle and how is this going to be solved?
The Buffalo News has a front-page article with a large picture of Sarah Palin on it. The article talks about Palin's recent visit to neighbor Erie, PA, where she hoped to win the hearts of Pennsylvania. Both presidential candidates and their running mates are in a "race" to make their way around the U.S. to rally and grab any last supporters they possibly can.
On msn.com, there are multiple articles about this election. The comparison between news web sites like msn.com and local newspapers like The Buffalo News is that the papers tend to focus more on local news. There is information in the "City/Reigon" section, but the top stories are often local and found on the front page, including the story of Palin visiting Erie, PA just the other day. The articles found at the site above have more of a national voice, incorporating views of people from all over the U.S., where as in The Buffalo News, more voices of the Buffalo area are heard. If it was a magazine that I was looking for articles in, I think that the content would be more nationally focused, but shorter and straight to the point.
Because this election is so important to this country, you can find information about it just about anywhere. I don't know about anyone else, but all of the "stories" are starting to get old. Good thing Election Day is next week.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Com125, Assignment 7: Online Communitites
There are more online communities, I am sure, than I know of that exist today. From online clubs, to chat rooms, to blogs; the selection is probably unlimited. Though I personally do not belong to many online communities, I do find myself rather wrapped up in an online community we all refer to as Facebook.
It's actually ridiculous how often I find myself on Facebook. Because of its great popularity with not only people my age, but now growing on older "folks", just about everyone I know is a member of Facebook. The fact that all my friends use it as much as I do, makes this an online community for me.
"Users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region to connect and interact with other people. People can also add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profile to notify friends about themselves. The website's name refers to the paper facebooks depicting members of a campus community that some US colleges and preparatory schools give to incoming students, faculty, and staff as a way to get to know other people on campus" (Wikipedia).
On Facebook, I am able to message all of my friends...all at once, or just to one person. Also, I am able to create events; for example, a charity event that I am hosting, or even rsvp to an event I have been invited to. The events page has also greatly come in handy because I was able to create a page to have people do an online survey for my research methods class. Because of this online community and its role, I am able to reach out to as many friends as I would like to.
Also, I find myself actively involved in a dorkish "poking war" with three of my friends, which have lasted now for at least 2 years. What it really means to poke someone, I will never know.
My friends can also write on the wall of my page, which is a message that everyone who views my page can see. This is a cool component of the online community of Facebook because you can publicly announce anything you would like....or not like.
It was very interesting that someone found me who shared my last name, yet we failed to figure out how/if we were related somehow.
Thanks to online communities, people are able to interact with others who share common likes and dislikes, hobbies, etc. I am glad to be a member of Facebook and stay in touch with so many good people I know.
It's actually ridiculous how often I find myself on Facebook. Because of its great popularity with not only people my age, but now growing on older "folks", just about everyone I know is a member of Facebook. The fact that all my friends use it as much as I do, makes this an online community for me.
"Users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region to connect and interact with other people. People can also add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profile to notify friends about themselves. The website's name refers to the paper facebooks depicting members of a campus community that some US colleges and preparatory schools give to incoming students, faculty, and staff as a way to get to know other people on campus" (Wikipedia).
On Facebook, I am able to message all of my friends...all at once, or just to one person. Also, I am able to create events; for example, a charity event that I am hosting, or even rsvp to an event I have been invited to. The events page has also greatly come in handy because I was able to create a page to have people do an online survey for my research methods class. Because of this online community and its role, I am able to reach out to as many friends as I would like to.
Also, I find myself actively involved in a dorkish "poking war" with three of my friends, which have lasted now for at least 2 years. What it really means to poke someone, I will never know.
My friends can also write on the wall of my page, which is a message that everyone who views my page can see. This is a cool component of the online community of Facebook because you can publicly announce anything you would like....or not like.
It was very interesting that someone found me who shared my last name, yet we failed to figure out how/if we were related somehow.
Thanks to online communities, people are able to interact with others who share common likes and dislikes, hobbies, etc. I am glad to be a member of Facebook and stay in touch with so many good people I know.
Friday, October 3, 2008
COM 125: Identity
When I first heard about Facebook, I didn't think too much about the fact that I was establishing my own identity and showing it to anyone I became friends with. Not only that, but I did not realize at first that anyone on my network could also see all of my information as well. I didn't put all of my personal information on my profile like phone number, address or screen name because I wasn't too sure who, exactly, could see my information. Those tv shows about catching stalkers really freak me out, so I tried to make my profile simple, but not too simple.
After I set-up an account and Facebook became more popular, I began to understand the importance of keeping my information only visible to those I give permission to. Just recently, I went into my preferences and checked all boxes that only allowed my friends to see my information. I am not one to just be friends with someone on Facebook for the sake of having a lot of "friends."
The fact that I didn't want to make my profile too simple but not give all of my personal info away demonstrated that I wanted to make my profile about me. This was a chance for me to reflect on who I am and tell all about me: my interests, favorite quotes, music, etc. I truly believe that Facebook is an example of my online identity because I can put whatever I want and sho whomever I want anything I want. Being able to post pictures especially helps to create my internet identity. Though my identity online matches who I really am, I know there are crazy people out there who create false online identities for sick reasons, which is why I made my privacy settings so strict and the reason why I am only friends with people I know.
This online identity aides in creating reputation (especially since they re-vamped Facebook) because as soon as you log on, you are informed of what your friends have been up to. No matter what you say on someone's wall or what pictures are posted of you, all of your friends can see it. This plays a role in one's reputation. In my case, my identity and reputation through Facebook is real and reflects who I am, but this is not true for every person. Like I said before, those who are falsely identified on Facebook have a false reputation. It can go either way. The problem is, it is so hard to identify who is fake if you do not know them.
I specifically did not create a MySpace because I was not sure of the parameters with other people. For all I know, any person could see my info if they searched for me. That freaks me out.
After I set-up an account and Facebook became more popular, I began to understand the importance of keeping my information only visible to those I give permission to. Just recently, I went into my preferences and checked all boxes that only allowed my friends to see my information. I am not one to just be friends with someone on Facebook for the sake of having a lot of "friends."
The fact that I didn't want to make my profile too simple but not give all of my personal info away demonstrated that I wanted to make my profile about me. This was a chance for me to reflect on who I am and tell all about me: my interests, favorite quotes, music, etc. I truly believe that Facebook is an example of my online identity because I can put whatever I want and sho whomever I want anything I want. Being able to post pictures especially helps to create my internet identity. Though my identity online matches who I really am, I know there are crazy people out there who create false online identities for sick reasons, which is why I made my privacy settings so strict and the reason why I am only friends with people I know.
This online identity aides in creating reputation (especially since they re-vamped Facebook) because as soon as you log on, you are informed of what your friends have been up to. No matter what you say on someone's wall or what pictures are posted of you, all of your friends can see it. This plays a role in one's reputation. In my case, my identity and reputation through Facebook is real and reflects who I am, but this is not true for every person. Like I said before, those who are falsely identified on Facebook have a false reputation. It can go either way. The problem is, it is so hard to identify who is fake if you do not know them.
I specifically did not create a MySpace because I was not sure of the parameters with other people. For all I know, any person could see my info if they searched for me. That freaks me out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)