Week 7 Review

This past week we presented on a specific social media website in groups, and were able to view the other groups' presentations. This was really good because it gave me a perspective on the class through Dr. Kinghorn's eyes. It is difficult to get up there, use the outdated school technology, and make sure everything runs smoothly and is educational yet also entertaining. I have increased respect for certain!

One thing that we've been talking a lot about is online shaming. I think that it is terrible for parents to shame their kids online... this take public embarrassment to a new and unnecessary level. Hearing about the suicides that occurred after online shaming was very sad.

Another thing we talked about was sharing TMI (too much information). This just makes me want to stop sharing anything online, because I came to the conclusion that it is all for attention. On the other hand, now I see social media in a new light. I see it is an opportunity for my voice to be heard. When other people post informative things, I am more likely to read it. Because of what I've watched in this class, when I see something online now I have more of an understanding of why it's there, what it is, and it's impact on myself and others.

It's interesting to learn about how because it is free, we are not the consumers but what is being advertised. This makes me especially wary to share things online. Also I like the idea that the consumer has changed but sometimes the advertisements have not. This is because often I really feel like advertisements have no effect on me anymore. 

Week 6 Review

This week was so fun! I loved talking about viral videos and watching them in class. It is interesting to learn what makes a video go viral. One interesting thing we did was compare Gandhi's work to that of a young Utah Mormon. They both fasted in order to try to make something happen. The question Dr. Kinghorn asked us was what made one effective but the other not so much? The answer lies in their support network. Gandhi had already done things that had gained him many followers and people who cared about him. When Gandhi fasted, it had a big effect. When young Mr. Meacham fasted, nobody cared except maybe his family, fiancee, and a few close friends.

Read more here: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/utah-man-vows-fast-utah-bans-gay-marriage-article-1.1565872

Another thing I thought was very useful to watch was the following video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoWK83S1QB0

It really made me think about what I think Social Media is doing to society. Is it a fully bad thing? Children learn by using ipads and such, and I can save a lot of time through various apps on my mobile device. I even have an app that will record all my nutrition for the day...all I have to do is scan the label on my food and it will tell me how much of each vitamin I am consuming. I can use MAPS to find my way places, and I don't have to worry about looking up directions beforehand.

However, the toss-up with this is the fact that in addition to saving time, these devices contain social media. The common consensus seems to be that social media, while useful in moderation, can turn out to be a big waste of time.

I feel ever more conflicted about this. What should I do for my children? If I keep them away from technology, they will become social recluses. Even when they are with others, they will not be able to fit in because that's what a big part of our lives technology is. So if anything, I feel sort of distressed now.

Week 5 Reflection

Week 5 Reflection!

Dr. Kinghorn is back this week! My favorite thing we discussed this week was probably the concept of "slacktivism". It's awesome to have a class on social media being taught by someone who is actively involved in social media. One thing that I really like is that this class is always changing and evolving. If a student mentions something that they noticed, such a a video that went viral, or a site that promotes slacktivism, we will just go there straight in the class! This really allows the class to be dynamic. It is also good because each of the students are at a certain age where they are all probably very involved in social media, and consequently have much to contribute.

http://www.briankinghorn.com/examining-slacktivism-on-the-anniversary-of-bringbackourgirls/ (Links to an external site.) 

So, above is our instructor's own website, which contains an article he wrote about slacktivism. This is helpful because it teaches us how we should start to process our own thoughts, and also gives an example of how we as students might begin to express ourselves online.

I think slacktivism is a really good thing. I think that if we can't fly to a location or pay to support a certain orginazation, if we raise awareness, other people who do have the means to help will be more likely to do so.

Reflection from 4th Week

Reflection from 4th Week

     So we didn't have Dr. Kinghorn with us at all this past week! However, on Tuesday we had the opportunity to meet with out groups, which was very beneficial. When we met in our group, we were really able to have a good discussion about Facebook. Facebook is the topic our group was assigned to present. I never realized how effective class could be without a teacher! Sorry Dr. Kinghorn! IT was just interesting to see how we all have different knowledge and can teach one another--after all, we each have experience with both Psychology and especially with social media. We were also able to just get a bunch of technical stuff done, like assigning specific parts to individuals. That way we can each have an area of focus when we present.


     On Thursday, we had a guest lecturer. That was actually a really interesting lecture, because we learned a lot about Darknet. I had never heard the term "darknet" before.

A darknet is a private network that is intentionally hidden and inaccessible without specific software, configurations or authorization. These can be F2F networks (usually for file-sharing) where connections are made only between trusted peers (sometimes called "friends")^[2] or anonymity networks such as Tor. The Dark Web is the most commonly known subsection of the Darknet which is also part of the Deep web — the part of theWeb that is not indexed in standard search engines.^[3]

Darknets for F2F file-sharing are distinct from other distributed peer-to-peer networks as sharing is anonymous (that is, the IP addresses of peers are not publicly shared).^[4]

Even though I had never heard the term "darknet" before, I realized something. I was familiar with a darknet. I have a "techie" younger brother who seems to know everything about computers. He has a whole network of friends he's met online through World of Warcraft and a whole host of other things I'm sure I'm not aware of. When I was younger, my brother invited me into a file sharing system. He told me that you can only get in if you are invited, and you can literally get anything you want from this file sharing net--movies, expensive software...anything! It sounded great to me. He taught me about the peer-to-peer file sharing. My brother said that you need to upload as much as you download, so you always have a ratio of "1". On your profile it shows your seeding to downloading ratio, and anything less than 1 is a really disgraceful thing. So my brother was always "seeding", or uploading. Anything he downloaded, he would seed right back into the system. Of course I do not use this because it is illegal, but it is interesting to have been on the other side. I've been to the dark side!