Gleee!!!!

This week I was flipping through the channels on TV, looking for a good show to watch. Now… I just want to point out that I normally am not a big fan of Glee, but I decided to watch the episode that was playing for some odd reason. After watching the whole episode, I was pleasantly surprised by how much the story line revolved around the consequences of technology.

The episode opens with the Glee club stuck in a dilemma: they need to raise money for regionals and support their smart club members (I cant remember what they call themselves in the episode). With that in mind, Mr. Shooster decides the kids should throw a benefit concert to show off their talent and which will also help them practice for Regionals. Now Sue Sylvester, is not so happy with this idea and decides to implement a plan to destroy the clubs concert. Her plan begins by giving her team beepers.  When I saw those beepers being handed out, I giggled a bit because who uses beepers now a days?!! I can honestly say I was not expecting to see that old contraption pop up, but it was cool to see old technology incorporated in a modern day show.

Later on in the day, Sunshine, a girl from the competition side, comes to see the Glee club. She explains how she found out about the concert on facebook, asking them if it would be all right if she could perform in the show. When the club says no she explains how she has at least hundreds of twitter followers that will come if she is in it. With that being said, the Glee club agrees and she will be the ending act. Here the glee club has benefitted from technology by gaining sunshine and her followers to donate to the show. The Glee club gets excited that they might actually raise the money.

The theme of the show was centered on neglect. The people who use technology the most are people who are neglected in real life and are socially awkward (most of the time). This I thought was a great connection linking the theme to the technological aspect.

“We live in a culture of insults” was said by the new sub played by Gwyneth Paltrow. She explains how the Heckle club, the neglected children, have become ok with being insensitive because technology has allowed them to say rude things about other people who have neglected them and not suffer consequences.

Sunshine pulls out of the concert at the last minute, letting the Glee Club know over text. Sunshine exhibits how she also suffers by using technology as a way to show her insensitivity to others by not having to suffer from face to face consequences.

Gwyneth Paltrow’s character continues explaining that there are consequences, how one girl that they booed has been crying for an hour. She tells them that if they think about it, they can change those bad things into showing positive behavior and make a huge difference.

Watching this Glee episode opened my eyes a lot. I saw how technology can be used to sabotage a good thing, like killing kids dreams to going onto a trip to regionals. While at the same time I saw how technology can be used in a good way by attracting people to things and getting awareness. It is nice to see someone finally acknowledging the fact that we live in a society where people are becoming more insensitive and are slowly beginning to be ok with insulting people over the internet and not suffering consequences. But this episode brings this issue to the surface giving life to these consequences that are rarely seen. Being such an influential and popular show, I love how Glee incorporated that moral lesson to how technology can be hurtful and dangerous, but it can be used in such a positive way if used correctly. 

Wii-hab

Today I want to talk about this new rehabilitation program Wii-hab! Yup that’s right Wii- hab (isn’t it such a cute name!). Wii-hab was introduced in 2008 as a device to help with physical and occupational therapy programs as well as being known as an entertainment device. A more specific definition is “ the medical application of interactive video gaming devices to augment therapies of physical, cognitive, behavioral, and otherwise, under the guidance of a trained and licensed healthcare professional”.  

The first person to discover the resourcefulness of Wii in 2008 was a man named Bryce Taylor who implemented Wii into his physical therapy program. Realizing the great benefits this gaming device can have for the patient, he has spent the last couple of years studying Wii-hab and learning how the game affects different areas of patients who are receiving different types of therapy.

The public though should maintain the view that Wii-hab is not a replacement for therapy but it is merely used to enhance therapeutic ways because there are still many limitations of virtual reality.

Since Motion based video games have been available to society for the past couple of years, researchers have done testing resulting in the effectiveness of these types of games as being a positive factor in the therapy programs. However, due to many skeptics and limited funding, there is not many articles to further support these scarce findings. But that was a different time and place, and now many people are interested in researching how motion based video games can be used, resulting in more articles appearing in the future focused on this subject

          The current mode of Wii-hab involves Nintendo’s Wii but will soon have many competitors as other gaming devices are meant to surface soon. For example, Microsoft and Sony are in the process right now in developing their own type of gaming system which will become Nintendo’s main competitors: the Microsoft Kinect and Sony Move. 

             There are even interactive events related to Wii-hab. One is called Technopalooza: An Interactive Experience. The event is held inside the exhibit hall at the APTA Combined Sections meeting and will allow the attendees opportunities to meet and converse with physical therapists who have integrated Wii-Therapy into there programs. This is a great opportunity to open the eyes of the skeptics to the positive side of video gaming therapy and allow them an opportunity to learn in an interactive environment and see real life results.

As Wii-hab becomes more popular in society and more positive research about integrating video games into therapy emerges, the skeptics will lessen and more people will start to benefit from the advantages gaming has in programs. But with that being said, it makes me wonder what other kinds of technology devices out there have the potential to be useful in therapy? Or what new inventions are being created under the radar and are going to supersede video games? Or even replace therapy in general! Who knows, but for now don’t be a skeptic, embrace video gaming, because the world is constantly changing and being part of society we are forced to accept these changes. Don’t fight it, go with it J Until next time!

Banana.. Is Code for?!?

“MPICIMFP, so its been a pretty rough day but hey PAW text you later!” Now, I am sure most of you are thinking “What the hell does that mean!?!?”, I thought the exact same thing. This my friends, is an example of a text I found in my twelve year old sisters phone who she was “sexting”. After reading this text and discovering I have become way out of the loop with the whole “sexting” trend, I decided to do a little research to understand more. While I was googling “sexting” I found many interesting facts about this new trend and how it is extremely harmful, way more harmful than I ever thought.

I learned the basic fundamentals, I guess one could say, that “sexting” is when people, mostly teens, flirt with one another by sending nude or semi nude photos from cell phone to cell phone. Now people, especially teens, who are sexting trust the other person on the other end to not share this information publically, but sadly every person is betrayed. Some way or another and for some reason, that photo will eventually be shared to their close circle of friends, to their community, and eventually to the whole public. And not to put this sharing aspect on guys only, because I am sure girls do it too, but the male population is known to be the one to share the pictures publically.

It makes me sad though, because most people, who decide to sext one another, don’t think about the dangerous consequences that can stem from “sexting”. Yes, behaving provocatively and impulsively is not new among our society, especially with teens, what is new though is now these provocative and impulsive actions can now transform into haunting the person, resulting in serious damage.

While doing my little investigation, I found a video online which will perfectly show the consequences of what can happen if you text, post, etc. an inappropriate picture with someone.

The above video is perfect to illustrate the damage one little text can have.  The consequences can lead to jail time. For instance, in Wisconsin a seventeen year old was charged with holding child pornography when he was caught for posting naked pictures of his sixteen-year-old ex-girlfriend via the Internet. Or how in Rochester N.Y a sixteen-year-old boy got sentenced with seven years in prison for sharing a nude photograph of his fifteen year old girlfriend to his friends.

This new trend of “sexting” is increasingly growing to be an issue in society and causing problems. It has become crucial for parents, teachers, mentors, etc. to start talking to children about the consequences. Children need to start understanding that even though these pictures may not have immediate consequences; they can re-surface in the future to haunt them when they are applying for a job or college. I shared this information with my sister who was so appalled and freaked out she told her friends and they, to my knowledge, stopped. With that being said, its something to think about… Until next time!

Oh how Scandalous!

Soooo, for those of you out there who do not know, there has recently been three scandals to happen in association with UCLA and USC. These three scandals are perfect examples illustrating how with technology hurtful, inappropriate, and not to be seen incidents are publicized and can truly affect a person’s future and reputation.

A while back, an email was sent out to all members of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity at USC. This email, sent by a fellow brother, explained how the fellow brothers of the house are supposed to see and treat woman. Now, normally I try not to judge guys as pigs when they are associated with a fraternity, but after reading this email I am not only embarrassed but also disgusted with what goes on in a guys mind. This email states:

“I will refer to females as “targets”. They aren’t actual people like us men. Consequently, giving them a certain name or distinction is pointless”.

That being only a snippet the email, I am sure you guys can figure out how much worse the email progressed to. But my point about this scandal is that society needs to start thinking before sending inappropriate contents via email. Anything a person sends over the Internet, text messaging, or any other technological device is permanently there and can always be re-surfaced years later. What’s said and done never leaves and will be attached to that person for the rest of their lives. The kid who posted this email hurt every girlfriend of his, disappointed his family, and embarrassed his school all because of something he wrote on the computer.

The Second incident involves the racist YouTube Video of Alexandra Wallace going on a rant about the Asians at her school. I am sure Alexandra Wallace had no idea she would soon be receiving death threats from a video she believed was an attempt of creating a funny ranting video to release some stress during finals. However, society did not understand the comedic attempt and was in the end truly offended with her words. Once again, she did not think about the negative effects she could possible become vulnerable to with the video. She did not think that this video would have to force her to with drawl from UCLA. She now like the previous boy with the email has to live with the hurt they have caused to not only there peers in school but to society in general. She embarrassed her school, family, and friends by posting this hurtful prejudiced video.

The last scandal I want to mention is the most recent one with a girl from UCLA and a boy from USC who were caught having sexual intercourse on the roof of a building at USC during the day. Now I know these two did not plan on having this act publicized on the Internet, TV, and newspapers but due our cell phones having the wonderful camera attached, there sexual intercourse was made public. People can no longer be sneaky and inappropriate in public like before due to the advances in technology. These two have added to the negative aspects surrounding the two schools at the moment, further embarrassing the institutions and consequences are to be announced soon.

So ladies and gentleman, the moral of the story here is… YOU WILL GET CAUGHT ONE WAY OR THE OTHER. There are so many different ways that inappropriate actions can be recorded and publicized that a person needs to be careful with there actions and what they say online. Once these things are electronic, they will never go away and can always be found later down the line. SO BE CAREFUL! Until next time J

Video Games: To be Good or not to be good that is the question.

Comment 1: Violent Behavior?

I somewhat agree with you. I believe video games do not develop violent behavior in children. Like you said, you play and do not go to school the next day and shoot anyone or rob someone. I myself have played video games since I was a little girl that has violence and I feel horrible when I kill a bug. Developing a violent behavior does not just happen in one night, it happens from what I have learned, from what happens in ones life from the moment one is born. I was reading an article where there have been studies that actually say that video games, certain ones at least, can actually help curb the need for violent behavior. However, if someone has violent tendencies and plays a game like Grand Theft Auto, this game can definitely let the person indulge in their violent tendencies. Which in the end can be deadly with the person giving into these violent tendencies in real life situations. That is just personally my opinion on the whole thing but everything you said above I completely agree with.

 Comment 2: Obesity

Yes, video games are not the main cause of childhood obesity, the genetic factors and economic factors do play the dominant role; however, video games do provide a way for children to sit all day long and neglect participating in physical activity. I know when my brothers play their video games they can sit on the couch for hours at a time and they constantly eat food. There food is not the healthiest either, they eat chips, candy, and drink a lot of soda, which in the end has the calorie count way above normal with no exercise. So video games may not be the dominant reason why children are obese but it has definitely become a way for children to gain weight.

 Comment 3: Video Games and Autism

Very interesting, I never knew that video games allow autistic children to play out certain aspects of their life they can not due to their condition. After I read that section, all the prior thoughts I had about video gaming being a bad presence disappeared.

I can see how playing video games may pose a problem for autistic children by only socializing in these virtual environments, but I think in the end, it is a healthier way for them to exercise and learn socializing skills they can use in real life. As bad as it sounds, children have become cruel these days and children do not fully understand what autism is. So instead of having an autistic child try to develop these social skills in real life and have the possibility of being made fun of, video games allow them to learn in a safe comfortable environment with anonymity. So if they make a mistake they are not judged. The autistic child's self esteem is not harmed.

I think it is great that researchers are now looking into new technologies to create new innovative games to help autistic children learn and develop new skills in a safe environment to apply in real life situations.

Working From Home... what?

So the other night, I went home to visit my family for my younger brother’s birthday. Every year we go to Mastro’s Steak House and the amount of alcohol consumed by the elders is always a tad bit too much. However, this time an interesting conversation was brought up about the relationship between the real estate market, the economy and technology.

Thanks to technology such as cellular phones, ability to make conference calls, email, and much more people have started to work our of their homes. So unlike before where people had to get in their car at six am, sit through rush hour traffic, stay in an office all day, then drive back home at six, this dreaded routine has been slowly deteriorating from society. People can do their business in the luxury of staying in their pajamas all day long. However, for the real estate market this new luxury available to the public has become a nasty enemy. People are no longer looking for available building spaces to turn into an office building, which leaves many places up for sale for long periods of time; affecting the revenue for these real estate companies.

However, there are benefits to this change in the way business is conducted on a daily basis.  For one, since people are starting to work out of the house, less people are driving which in the end benefits the lessening amount of pollution being put into the air. Secondly, people have different schedules, which make it difficult to schedule a time and place for everyone to meet and discuss business. But with the existence of the conference call or even emails, this difficult task has been made easier. People can be in all different parts of the world and be able to communicate with one another via technology. For my family at least this has been extremely beneficial for my father and his business to run smoothly. One last benefit that was discussed at the dinner table was how having such great technological devices, allows people who are in an area where no jobs are available to actually get a job. For example, if a person lives in Wisconsin and they can not find any jobs that they are qualified for in their town but they know they are more than qualified for that job in lets say Maine but they can not move because of financial reasons or something; having technology such as skype, email, and cellular phones allows them to stay in their home while also being able to work.

After hearing this conversation, I wondered how many other institutions are being affected by the use of technology or what other parts of our lives are being invaded with technology.  This issue caught my interest and has given me incentive to research more on this issue and gain a greater understanding with this topic. If anyone has any suggestions on where to go from here or anything comment! I would love the advice to help further my research.  Until next time!  

The Oscars

Hello again! Hope all my readers have had a good week and hopefully watched the Oscars last night! It was, at least from my view, the best Oscar show I have ever seen in my twenty years of being alive. I bring up the topic of the Oscars because this year they incorporated technology into the program to interact with the audience in a new and innovative way.

The first innovative way I noticed was when Justin Timberlake used the iPhone to change the screen’s background behind them to change it to the right images. Now apple, I must say pulled a smart move by compromising with the Academy to place that small skit into the program, it’s a great source of product placement for the product while simultaneously creating humor because it is known by everyone that there is nothing the iPhone can’t do. The Academy framed this skit by the screen image in the background was a “mistake” and someone had to fix it fast. Thanks to technology though, Justin Timberlake was able to fix the problem right on the spot with a simple app the iPhone has. While watching the skit, I realized how this can be interpreted as conveying an underlying message illustrating how technology has come to fix the problems people have done. How in order to function in society and to put on a workable showcase, technology has become a main worker to make sure all parts function properly. Basically in simple words, technology has become something we hate but can only love it the more we hate it.

The second innovative aspect of the show was the teleprompter with Bob Hope. Now this part blew my mind! The Academy has Billy Crystal come out as a host and he explains how he has hosted the Oscars many times in his life but not as many as Bob Hope had done. After his speech, the stage lights darken, and a teleprompter with Bob Hope appears with Bob Hope in it. The stage is quickly decorated in Bob Hope’s decorum and the electronic Bob Hope says hi to Billy Crystal and then goes on to announce the next award. Now Bob Hope passed away in 2003, so I was shocked when his electronic self interacted with human beings.  This skit has taken interaction with technology to a whole new level. Its demonstrated how today, we have gained the ability to manipulate old footage to interact as if they were alive and social with us today.

These two innovative skits involving technology to interact with the audience and the hosts of the Oscars were mind blowing. To know our society now has the ability to use technology as if they were people is a huge step forward. Who knows what we will see next year at the Oscars and in general what the future holds for technological developments. With that said, what do you guys think about what I have discussed? Are there any other examples you guys can think of? If so, post them in the comments below! I would love to read what you guys have to say! Until next time!

A Personal Story

 Helllooooo again! So today I want to share two stories of mine with all of you.

The first story involves a friend of mine named Chelsea. Chelsea calls me whining a couple days ago about how her EX boyfriend Garrett is acting sketchy. ( let me stop there for a moment and make sure you know I am emphasizing the word EX!) Being the good friend that I am, I of course ask her how he is being sketchy? Her answer to me was… “his facebook profile picture is of him and this random ugly girl! Ashley I told you he cheated on me!!! I am so going to write him a message on facebook and rip him a new one and message her saying how she is such a slut!” Honestly I didn’t give her an answer, I hung up the phone before I laughed in her ear because all I wanted to do was tell her she has become this crazy psycho jealous stalker!!!!

Now people only become jealous when their loved one starts acting sketchy or paying more attention to another girl; and that jealousy is acceptable in our society. However, Chelsea’s jealous behavior is completely unacceptable because she is becoming jealous about an EX BOYFRIEND! And this crazy behavior of hers would have not happened if Facebook did not exist. Her interaction with Garrett changed from a civil one where jealousy was not present to one where all Chelsea wanted to do was rip his head off due to jealous rage erupting from a picture she saw. If that picture was not available for Chelsea to find, that relationship would still be civil today. Its sad because of this social network, Facebook, she gave into her jealousy and let herself act inappropriately which resulted in an ending of a friendship.  

Now the second story is about my other friend Courtney, but her story does not deal with facebook but with text messaging. One day Courtney received a text from an old boyfriend of hers wanting to hang out, and since she drops everything for a boy, she obviously said yes. Later that day her ex, named Brian, came over and they hung out and watched a movie. After Brian left he texted Courtney saying, “ It was great seeing you! You look amazing! Lets hang out again soon!”. From what Brian said in that text, do you think that means he wants to start going out again?... Ya didn’t think so!! For Courtney though, she read that text message as if Brian wanted to get back together, which resulted in her sending him a text back saying. “ Brian I am not going to sit around and wait for you like I use to, if you want to be with me your going to have to work harder because I am not easy”. I FLIPPED OUT when she told me that story. I was like Courtney!!! You are seriously ridiculous!! He just wanted to hang out you cant read that much into a text message like that!  

Sadly, Courtney is not the only one who has this problem. Since the obsession of texting started, many people have developed the habit of reading too much into a text message. People will read a text by what they personally believe how the other person meant to say it. When in reality, the other person had other intentions for that text message. By texting instead of picking up the phone to call, has created many problems when it comes to communicating. Statements in text messages can be taken the wrong way and can either start a fight between two people or create an awkward situation, like Courtney’s situation. Honestly to avoid this problem, all we need to start doing is pick up the phone or talking face to face to avoid this communication complication.

I hope you guys take what I have said seriously. If not take a couple of days and, pay attention to your life with technology and the people around you and I assure you, that you will see the same problems corrupting with you and your friends. Well that’s it for this week until next time!

Hey there Del.icio.us!

Del.icio.us I can say has become my new favorite online friend! By searching keywords such as technology, anthropology, digital, and social network on this site, I have been able to find sources that relate to my blog. This site cut my searching time online in half and in the process I have found some people who have tagged the same articles as me and who might turn out to have some of the same interests as I do.

While searching through the results after typing in my keywords I stumbled upon Sherry Turkle’s website. For those of you who do not know, she is a sociology professor at MIT and a renowned author who writes about the interaction between technology and people. What I admire about her website is the fact she places links to websites of her articles, books, reports, and even chapters of her books so people do not have to waste their time searching. However, the best part I believe about her website is the fact that she has certain chapters of her book available to download for free. I looked at one of the chapters titled “Always on/Always on you”. It talks about how we always have this need to have our communication technologies on and how we believe the people we are connected to only matter most is if we communicate with them over technology. To touching upon how games allow people to live multiple aspects of themselves and since adolescence is all about experimenting, teens can reinvent their lives online

Danah Boyd is another researcher whose website intrigued me. She is a researcher at Microsoft Research New England and examines the interaction between people and technology but in a different way than Sherry Turkle does. On her site she has a post titled “Digital Self-Harm and other Acts of Self- Harassment”. In this article I was surprised when I realized the post revolved around the dangers of formspring. Formspring for those who are unaware, is an anonymous question and answer service that facebook has for anyone to answer or ask anything about the person who has that formspring. When she mentions how it has become a way for people to attack themselves I was literally in shock. I thought, why would someone actually want to cyber bully himself or herself? I read on and discovered that there are three reasons why this happens: either to get attention, a cry for help, or actually become popular. Its scary how technology has not only become a way for others to bully others but also for those others to bully themselves.

What I didn’t expect to find in my search was how technology is changing the relationship between people and the educational system. While reading through some websites about how the education system is changing I learned something new thought!  I read about this new kind of library mixed together with technology called Youmedia. I found out about Youmedia on Mimi Ito’s website who is a cultural anthropologist studying new media’s involvement with youth culture. It’s a library experience unlike any other that is loud, sociable and hip while still remaining a place for learning about our world and society whose employees have high IQ’s. Youmedia takes the BORE out of the word library and has replaced it with FUN! By doing this, kids will actually want to spend time at the library and learn because its an environment that attracts them. 

 

The Trilogy

Hello World Post!

Did you ever think that one day, you could possibly have a relationship with someone without actually meeting the person? Or lets say have sex with a robot named Roxxxy who has five different personalities? If your shaking your head saying no, then we are on the same page. Thanks to new technology vehicles that have recently appeared such as facebook, online games, online dating, twitter, text messages (and the list can go on and on) our way of interacting with each other has drastically changed. I am not saying I am anti technology; I have a facebook, a cell phone, and an email. And yes I love the fact I can keep in touch with so many of my friends and family through out the day by texting and still get my stuff done. I mean lets face it, we could not function today without technology. I do believe and agree with Sherry Turkle (author of Alone Together) that people are letting technology take over the social parts of our lives that requires physical intimacy.

         For those of you out there who think I am making a big deal out of nothing, let me briefly tell you about Rhonda Lilie and Paul Hawkins four-year relationship. They met in Second World, an online game, where you can represent yourself as either a digital representation or an avatar. Rhonda and Paul were avatars and within the first couple of minutes that their avatars met, they fell in love (please love?). Anyways, they got married in Second World without ever meeting each other in real life. From that point on they have been “inseparable”, well they spend hours on end at the computer each day talking to each other over Skype. The creepy part is they have their avatar characters engage in sexual acts on the game and at night they have their headsets on so they can hear one another sleeping…. Ya now if that didn’t convince any of you that this is a big deal than I don’t know what to do for you.

Now that is the short version and only one example of how people have begun to hide behind a screen. Yes I have read that it’s a way for people who are shy to get past their shyness and actually engage with the world, but if you think about it, they are NOT engaging with the world but engaging with a VIRTUAL world. And on that note, this is where I come in. I am going to blog about what kind of technology exists out there that is changing the definition of relationships and social interaction; to share with you guys the stories and the dangers that are related to this issue. Living a life hidden behind technology needs to STOP! Treating technology as if they are people and actually have feelings is absurd. If we keep going down this path, we are going to find ourselves lonelier than ever in an anti social world where reality comes second to a virtual world. So please STOP letting technology take over in your relationships! We need to start going out and interacting more with people face to face and learn how to balance the virtual world with the real world in a healthy way. That being said think about it, try it out maybe…and until next time!

Profile Post 

So a little guilty pleasure of mine is to wander through the internet. And yes wander NOT STALK. So the other day I was wandering through the Internet searching for people who share my same views, I stumbled upon this blog called Anthropology Media. The title I thought was different so I decided to click. What bothers me though is this blogger is so secretive, the only information I could find about this blogger is his “name”(Anthofmedia), the title of blog and the fact he has started blogging in October 2010 and ended in November 2010 posting multiple blogs every day within those months. And since there is no short description about the subject matter, I am simply going to say it is a blog about studying the essence of the media. While wandering through this blogs posts, I found two interesting ones I want to share.

The first one is called Clawson- Simons Internet 3 (weird title I know). It explains how social networking sites are HARMFUL to a relationship and in order to prove this, the focus is on Facebook. Facebook has, lets just say, KILLED face-to-face bonding by letting people post on their “about me” section their entire life story. This being a great example of a way we have changed our social skills. Having a facebook profile allows people to put online all the important facts they believe others should know, so it mirrors their ideal personality leaving all the bad stuff out of the picture. What most people forget though is the posts that can show up on your wall, can let out all the little secrets you never wanted leaked. Anthofmedia goes on to say how Facebook has changed the meaning of friendship of being based on quality to now focusing on quantity. What I read in this post that bewildered me was the fact businesses are now investigating our profiles online to get to understand who we are before and after they employ us. I am sorry but that to me is SO not right. What happened to an interview and getting to know each other in the office?

The second post (also with a weird name) is titled Batgos- Virtual Life 3. It says how “technology is artificial but artificiality is natural to human beings”, interesting because I never believed that artificial is natural? Anyways the post continues with how our world is now a written culture, thanks to text. Couldn’t agree more with Anthofmedia because text is a major force in the changing definitions with relationships and social interaction. What boggled my mind was the fact this guy named Boellstorff said that Facebook and Myspace are not considered what has become a “virtual world”. Boellstorff says how a virtual world is not tied to anything that is related to the actual world. Anthofmedia, being as confused as I, lets his audience marinate on the issue and asks them what they believe the definition of a virtual world is.

Now you may be wondering why I am commenting on this blogger. Well Anthofmedia makes some valid points that correlate with my blog. It shows how Facebook is changing the way we interact and get to know each other, and how we have started to define our friends by numbers instead of who they are. The second article reinforces the fact that we have turned into a written culture. We have invested all our energy in becoming a culture obsessed with text in order to socialize with one another.

I give the blog credit, because Anthofmedia did a great job blogging with detailed examples and being respectful to the scholars/researchers he mentions by siting them correctly in his posts.  Giving a lot of information about my subject matter while also adding to the list of scholars and researchers who are interested in this field. While at the same time, Anthofmedia keeps his blog in a professional/formal voice that is understandable to everyone no matter their vocabulary span; by that I mean the posts do not focus on the “big” words we all hate.

To wrap this blog up I am happy to know that my blog will, for the time being, remain unique. And by unique I mean, I am not going to only focus on the anthropology of the media. I also plan on talking about how dangerous technology is becoming for our future social skills with romance and friendship if we don’t learn how to balance a healthy relationship with the virtual and real. On that note, marinate on this issue, and until next time!

Voice Post

Hello again! Today I want to introduce you guys to Anna Miller, the anti-social network. Yup that’s right, there is actually someone out there who honestly despises social networks with a passion and lets her hate run free in her blog titled The Social Network Reject. Anna focuses mainly on Facebook, Twitter and Myspace, but tells how she is not limiting her hate to just these three social networking sites. Her character is so strong throughout her blog that it only took one post for me to understand who she is and her opinions about this topic. For those who have not had the pleasure yet of seeing her distinct personality, it can be explained like this: she is the woman who is stuck in a non technology era where she sees all these social media networks as being a waste of time, spam infested, annoyance. She believes she is above these networks and only blogs to share her aggressive blunt bitch manner in her posts (excuse my language). Or I guess in a nicer way her character can be described as: I-cant-believe-you-idiots- spend-time-on-dumb social-networks. get a life! kind of attitude. If that doesn’t explain to you who she is then all I can say is read her blog because I don’t think I can explain her any differently. However, I think the cool thing about Anna is that she isn’t a blogger who is unsure of who they are or what their stand is on a subject; she knows exactly what her opinions are and complements her subject matter brilliantly as her character shines through.

I read two posts of hers the first one is titled The 12 most annoying types of Facebookers. She begins by saying

Then there are the other people, the ones who make you cringe when you see them coming. This article is about those people. 

Right off the bat you see the annoyance begin to emerge, hope none of you are those people that make her cringe. Now that was only a little hint of her character, once she begins describing the 12 most annoying types of Facebook users, she lets her mouth run. Just so I don’t end up writing forever, I will only name two of them but if you want to find out the other 10 check out her blog! the link is on my page. The first one is called 

THE LET-ME-TELL-YOU-EVERY-DETAIL-OF-MY-DAY BORE, this person will post statuses like “I’m waking up” or “ I had Wheaties for breakfast”.

 O man does this one tick her off, she says 

 Just because you have 432 Facebook friends doesn’t mean we all want to know when you’re waiting for the bus.

Yup, she holds back no sympathy for these attention seeking whores and bluntly states how they are wasting their time on these networks by telling us information we don’t need to know. Another one is called 

THE BAD GRAMMARIAN, which involves someone’s status for instance saying “ So sad about Fara Fauset but im so glad its Friday yippe”. 

Anna from my point of view seems speechless because all she writes about that one is that there morons.

 The second post is titled Ashton Kutcher is a Twit. So this article is about that competition that started between Ashton Kutcher taking on CNN. For the part of the audience who are just clueless about this stunt, Anna posted the youtube video to let all the uninformed people out there understand what this post will be about. The first sentence

  Unless you’ve been living under a rock, I’m sure you’ve heard about the Twitter battle royale between CNN and Ashton Kutcher. 

Here she gets a little out of hand where she starts insulting the readers by inferring that your stupid if you don’t know about this stint and its obvious none of us have been living under a rock… we are reading her blog on a computer… I think that says enough .Then comes,

Disappointingly, Kutcher was crowned King Twit. 

Her sarcasm is illustrated by insulting the article by crowning Ashton Kutcher King Twit. Anna lets her aggressive, blunt attitude let loose and says this in the nicest insulting way possible.

Anna definitely has nothing positive to say when it comes to these social networks, but hey everyone is entitled to their own opinion. More power to her! On that note I am going to say, Until next time!

"Literally Sarcastic" Voice

Voice is one of the greatest gifts god has given us. Conveying a clear sense of you verbally is a tough feat for basically most of the population, but there are the few unique ones who can portray their own voice through written words quite well. One of the few unique voices I have stumbled upon writes a blog called Literally- Sarcastic: A terrible awful blog. The title itself lets grabs us, having us ponder over what kind of topics this blog will touch upon. After reading two of her posts, I am assuming the blogger is a she from what I have read, I have found her voice to be a breathe of fresh air. I would describe this blogger to be similar to Chelsea Lately. They both add a sarcastic twist on their topics, but in a compelling way because there is a light, happy funny aspect present. The pictures she draws to accompany her blogs are the icing to her blunt sarcastic humorous personality.

The first blog post I read of hers is titled “Bras fo’ Lyfe”.  She talks about how her boyfriend “despises” sponges to immediately comparing him to a sponge. The fact her boyfriend, in her words, “absorbs everything around him and repeats it back until it dies a slow death.” This simple sentence portrays her annoyance with her boyfriend and this little habit of his. She is blunt yet comical in that sentence. When she describes how he kills phrases, songs, and slang by repeating them over and over, she is not shying from hurting his feelings yet saying they suffer from a slow death is hilarious to think about. Just imagine a favorite song of yours dying slowly, there are so many crazy images that can surface. The post goes on to describe how she definitely despises when him and his brother are together because they have this unique language of “1337 internet/World of Warcraft Ling, abbreviations, Scrub quotes, disfigured versions of previously overused vocabulary”.  Hello sarcasm! She gives an example of the word BRO as becoming an example of disfigured versions to go on and say how its basically just so dumb why people even use it. The blog post ends with her saying “anyways.. What I am trying to say is that I cant help but get hilarious mental images from their conversations”, with a drawing she made of the two and their “language” written above them. Ending the blog in this manner conveys her ability to switch her tone of voice easily between sarcasm and comedic.

The second blog post I read conveys the more sarcastic side of her voice with her comical side appearing more in her drawings. The blog post is titled “21^st Birthday” and begins with her saying how its her 21^st birthday today and underneath is a drawing of her all happy. Next comes the obvious question of “Guess what I’m going to do tonight?” with a girl drunk below. But sadly since she is unique and unlike everyone, she is going to be sitting outside in the cold waiting to pick up her pre-ordered World of Warcraft game. Since she is aware that people reading her blog are going to judge her, because that’s what we do, her sarcastic tone comes alive in the rest of the blog. For example in this sentence, “ Because I am that cool. I am hip. I am with it. I socialize with real people. Outdoors”. Deep down she knows people are going to judge this action as being lame, that’s what we do when someone goes against the norm. This blogger though defends herself by being sarcastic with this statement which allows her to be able to say “I don’t care” kind of attitude.

Profile Post

Trying to find people with my similar interest for a blog was at least, in my opinion quite difficult but I succeeded! Nicole Ellison I have discovered has interests similar to mine. Her blog is "devoted to the study of social impacts of new communications technologies. And a few other things". She comments on their role in society both good and bad and writes her own opinions about each article. Sadly though she has stopped blogging in 2009 but her site has kept an audience and her links have been extremely helpful with discovering new information I can use in my blog.

For instance one of her posts is titled “Media Coverage of New Technologies: Some thoughts on the Facebook and Jealousy Study”. She writes how the articles that are mostly chosen by the press are articles, which show the negative aspects of technology. This one in particular is about how Facebook now can ruin a relationship by creating jealous behavior. Nicole – giving her own opinion—says this isn’t true. People use Facebook basically as a way to give into their own jealousy ways by stalking their loved ones Facebook page. Facebook has created an avenue for people who are prone to having these bad tendencies to give into them and not feel like a creepy stalker. The other post I thought was really interesting is titled “ Freakonomics on the Benefits and Pitfalls of Social Network Sites”. The original article argues whether or not social network systems can have a positive and negative aspect on society. Nicole read many responses and blogged about what the majority was saying. Their response was how it just depends on how the person uses it. The other point the article makes is how Facebook will probably devalue the meaning of “friend”. How a person can now simply click a button to establish a “friendships”. However, Nicole says that it has become a great way for students who are about to enter into college to meet their future roommate or even future classmates.

 My blog though will be different because mine is not going to focus solely on Facebook but on all different technological ways relationships are endangered and affect a relationship. I plan on focusing on the negative outcomes, which have happened because of technology. I am going to include Twitter, Cellphones, MySpace, Facebook, 4 Square, etc. I want my audience to come with an open mind about this topic though and be able to state how they feel and be able to have the ability to disagree with me. That’s why I chose Nicole’s Blog, she has great topics, she states her own opinion about the issue and presents both a positive point and negative point on issues. Her blog is a space for learning and for an audience to take what she is saying and marinate on what they believe is right. I hope my blog will have that aspect for people to feel able to have their own opinion even after reading what I have to say.

Hello World!

“Omg did you see what that dumb girl wrote on my boyfriends wall!” to “ But they are facebook official, that means something” to “ Why is this guy sending you these naked photos?” Statements like these have grown to become word vomit in our society. Technology is drastically changing the way we behave in every kind of relationship and this change is not for the better. Girls complain constantly about how guys are rude, incompetent, selfish, little shits. Excuse my language for the last part. While at the same time guys are constantly saying how girls are clingy, psychotic, emotional messes who come with extra baggage they do not want to deal with. All this complaining and whining has in my own opinion evolved because of the effects technology, the two major ones being Facebook and cellular phones., have had on relationships. This new trend of being socially connected by the internet and cell phones allow for people to tell their whole life story in an easily accessible place for the world to see and sadly has created a tornado of chaos where lying cheating and manipulation dominate. I know so many people whose relationships have fallen apart because they read to much into lets say a Facebook comment they saw on their boyfriend/girlfriends wall, or from seeing a picture of their boyfriend/girlfriend posing to close with someone else. These images and words which would not have been seen if it was not for Facebook tend to transform into unwanted thoughts of what their boyfriend/girlfriend might be doing behind their back when in reality nothing happened. Same with a cell phone, guys/ girls now secretly search each others text messages to see if they can catch one another cheating, “sexting” someone else, acting inappropriately, etc. The best cell phone story I have heard is when my friend one day was telling me how she doesn’t understand what she did to have such an honest faithful boyfriend. Two weeks later, my friend is crying her eyes out telling me she found her boyfriends second cell phone in his boxer drawer filled with text messages, calls, and photos of this other woman. And with all of this said, I am not saying I don’t do the same thing, I am human I cant help it. However, after a failed relationship because I secretly read text messages on my boyfriends phone, and of course read to much into them, I ruined what we had over nothing. I was so embarrassed about what I did that I actually confessed to him later. After that experience, I became aware of how much technology influenced my emotions and actions. So here I am, writing this blog to try and inform people about what I have learned. To share stories I know where relationships have failed due to technology and point out the places where a person has let Facebook or a cell phone take over their clear-minded head.