Project 4 is just about wrapped up, finally. The past two or so days working with SocialGo and our website has gotten a lot easier to navigate. There are many small details that got in the way, but as a group we found solutions to those problems. For example... when posting a video/song, I obviously want to add commentary to whatever I'm posting, but the only thing a video/song post will let me add is a caption (in very large font, not too pleasing to look at). So instead, I just added the video and then added another text blog post with the commentary.
Peer review went pretty well. We got some really good feedback from the Drug Policy group, about the quality of the content and our discussion forum. One thing we have to change, though, is the welcome message/mission statement, which was hard to find. I think most of the obstacles we're running into have to do with SocialGo itself, so it's relieving to know that we are doing the best we can as a group and are producing some quality work. Overall I'm very proud with how our bullying site turned out, especially since I was a little skeptical at first. Hopefully the work pays off!
Monday, April 16, 2012
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Progess...
After working for a bit on StB, I'm having lots of trouble with posting. I've noticed that SocialGo is pretty cluttered with stuff... I'm confused on how we even look at our site. All I see, as an admin, is the posting stream, and our individual profiles.
Also, the "media" option won't let me post a video or song. I had to upload the song we chose into a blog post, then make another blog post with the commentary for the song.
But even with some technical troubles, I've gotten farther in the project than I was before, so I suppose that's always a plus! And usually if I just fiddle around with a site I can become more familiarized with it.
Next step: think of a forum topic.
Also, the "media" option won't let me post a video or song. I had to upload the song we chose into a blog post, then make another blog post with the commentary for the song.
But even with some technical troubles, I've gotten farther in the project than I was before, so I suppose that's always a plus! And usually if I just fiddle around with a site I can become more familiarized with it.
Next step: think of a forum topic.
Stop the Bullies
Monday is finally peer review day, and our group is doing really well on the project so far. I'm liking the designated individual roles- it makes it a lot easier, but still gives us all leeway with what we want to do (i.e. choosing what to focus on in the forums). The site itself is kind of hard to navigate, but with practice is less complicated. The set-up is a lot like Facebook because it allows to chat with those you follow and other admins.
I love SocialGo itself- I think it's such a great idea to give people the opportunity to build communities and share virtually anything.
Researching bullying in American youth has been extremely eye-opening. Before the project I felt pretty aware about the subject, especially since I can see it firsthand in many places. Also, I'm not a huge fan of Lady Gaga's music, but I love how powerful her message and advocacy is regarding LGBT youth. She started the Born This Way Project, a foundation that aims to promote youth empowerment and equality by addressing issues including self-image, self-confidence, anti-bullying, and promoting positive well-being and individuality.
There are so many great foundations, big and small, out there and I want to get them all known. My goal for our site is to spread the word and reach as many people as possible, of all ages. I think the problem with bullying is that the population views it as something that simply cannot be changed, and that little comments, for instance, made by students in schools towards other students is not considered "bullying"... when, really, even the littlest of words can bruise a person's confidence and mentality.
I love SocialGo itself- I think it's such a great idea to give people the opportunity to build communities and share virtually anything.
Researching bullying in American youth has been extremely eye-opening. Before the project I felt pretty aware about the subject, especially since I can see it firsthand in many places. Also, I'm not a huge fan of Lady Gaga's music, but I love how powerful her message and advocacy is regarding LGBT youth. She started the Born This Way Project, a foundation that aims to promote youth empowerment and equality by addressing issues including self-image, self-confidence, anti-bullying, and promoting positive well-being and individuality.
There are so many great foundations, big and small, out there and I want to get them all known. My goal for our site is to spread the word and reach as many people as possible, of all ages. I think the problem with bullying is that the population views it as something that simply cannot be changed, and that little comments, for instance, made by students in schools towards other students is not considered "bullying"... when, really, even the littlest of words can bruise a person's confidence and mentality.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Project 4: SNS
Ironically, my group and I are the same group from project 3- me, Hannah, Rachel, and Kayla. We worked really well together on the website redesign, so we're pretty excited to get the gears running on project 4. For the topic, we unanimously decided on the topic of bullying.
I think bullying is such a strong topic because it's something that has always had an ominous presence in schools and social situations alike. It's always been ignored, just because everyone assumes that it cannot be stopped nor prevented... that it's just "kids being kids" and that as a society we cannot change how kids interact with their peers. My group and I believe differently!
I saw a lot of the "It Gets Better" campaign last year on Tumblr and Twitter, but it's sort of faded into the limelight now. The project itself was created to show "young LGBT people the levels of happiness, potential, and positivity their lives will reach- if they can just get through their teen years", that they are not alone and that life WILL get better. I absolutely love this message because it applies to all young adults who are suffering or feel lost about who they are as a person. The It Gets Better Project, for me, is a stepping stone in starting our project, and is a very helpful aid.
I think bullying is such a strong topic because it's something that has always had an ominous presence in schools and social situations alike. It's always been ignored, just because everyone assumes that it cannot be stopped nor prevented... that it's just "kids being kids" and that as a society we cannot change how kids interact with their peers. My group and I believe differently!
I saw a lot of the "It Gets Better" campaign last year on Tumblr and Twitter, but it's sort of faded into the limelight now. The project itself was created to show "young LGBT people the levels of happiness, potential, and positivity their lives will reach- if they can just get through their teen years", that they are not alone and that life WILL get better. I absolutely love this message because it applies to all young adults who are suffering or feel lost about who they are as a person. The It Gets Better Project, for me, is a stepping stone in starting our project, and is a very helpful aid.
Facebook Causes
Before this class I had never heard of Facebook Causes, but after browsing the page I quickly realized how great of an idea it is, and how powerful it is- Causes has only been around since last year and it already has 9 million likes and counting. The page itself is based off of the website causes.com, but is a much more easily-accessible page, because you can share posts on your own Facebook.
The set-up of the page is just like any other Facebook page, and has the new timeline. I think that the timeline is very helpful with a page like Causes because you are given the ability to look back in the archives down to the very day to find everything posted that day (helpful if you want to know, say, the events that happened in just the month of February). Viewers who like the page can comment, making it a lot like the set-up as a thread or forum.
Something that would be useful to viewers for the Causes page would be to add categories; to make it so that you can click on a certain category such as politics or charities. This function would make it a lot easier if you wanted to view causes and ideas surrounding a certain topic.
The set-up of the page is just like any other Facebook page, and has the new timeline. I think that the timeline is very helpful with a page like Causes because you are given the ability to look back in the archives down to the very day to find everything posted that day (helpful if you want to know, say, the events that happened in just the month of February). Viewers who like the page can comment, making it a lot like the set-up as a thread or forum.
Something that would be useful to viewers for the Causes page would be to add categories; to make it so that you can click on a certain category such as politics or charities. This function would make it a lot easier if you wanted to view causes and ideas surrounding a certain topic.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Social Action in Networking Sites
In Danah Boyd's article entitled "Can Social Network Sites Enable Political Action?", Boyd describes the reasons behind why young people don't seem to participate in "civic engagement" in an online setting. During reading, I noticed that her stance seemed to counter Bennett's, and I sort of thought of it lightly as a pessimist/optimist type of deal, with some exceptions. It's not that Boyd is a pessimist, she just sees the reality of the situation.
She explains that there is a lack of motivation that we need to understand is happening, and address it to improve our democracy and government. She says that young people participate in social network sites (SNS's) and online communities to gain identity development, status negotiation, community maintenance, and civic engagement- that people are more interested in "looking good" and getting themselves known rather than using it for "civic-minded collective action". I agree with this thought... Like I said in my previous post, lately I've been seeing the truths behind Facebook and how people seem to utilize it. I feel that a lot of people use SNS's to convey who they want to be as a person, and also how/who they want to come off to others.
Boyd also believes that our society has turned completely narcissistic and status-obsessed as a society. I hate to say it, because I do see so much potential in our society, but let's be real here... we love ourselves. Maybe a little too much. Says Boyd, "egoists love social networking sites because of their desire to inhibit themselves for the purposes of mass validation". To me, it is especially prevalent in those of a younger age group (15-21) that beneath all of their status updates and photos, they just want validity in their actions. They want reassurance with how they are living their life. Not necessarily if they're "cool" enough, but that they have a so-called "good" life going for themselves.
On the other hand, there was one point that Boyd touched upon that I disagreed on. She basically explained that this wasn't just a finger pointed turned teenagers on the internet, but it also goes for musicians, politicians, marketers, and other populations that want attention. She says they use networking sites as a spamming device.
I mean, yes, that is true, because that's exactly what musicians and artists want to do! They want to get their name heard, and network as much as possible to gain success. I suppose in the long run it is a form of narcissism, but not to a huge extent as Boyd claims. There's a difference between spamming yourself at people to boost your ego and advertising your talents or company.
All of these points tie in with what Bennett is referring to when he explains Dutiful Citizens and Self-Actualizing Citizens. Bennett believes that every person has that "leader" in them... young people aren't interested in politics, wanting their voice heard, etc. simply because we haven't given them the proper chance to practice that at a young age; while Boyd believes that kids are just doomed from the start and too caught up in their own lives to even have a voice on a subject.
As the last word on this article, I do agree with Boyd's explanation of the internet itself, and the reality of how information really travels. Because the internet is so easily ready, at one's fingertips, is accessible, and, most importantly, free, it's used as a first source. The internet is seemingly infinite, yet at the same time you have little control over whether something to posts goes "viral" or not. "Content may be public, but the public may not be interested in your content"- I thought this was extremely true. The audience is easy to please, yet at the same time pretty hard to keep their attention. People want funny, happy, alluring things on the internet... not footage of the war. That's too depressing for the average internet-goer who just wants their daily dose of pleasure in the worldwide web.
Overall, Boyd wants to get these groups active- the people who aren't interested in participating in "civic life", she wants to convince them to leverage their own networks and get others to participate, whereas Lance Bennett believes that those people are already one step ahead of the game, and simply just need a little push.
She explains that there is a lack of motivation that we need to understand is happening, and address it to improve our democracy and government. She says that young people participate in social network sites (SNS's) and online communities to gain identity development, status negotiation, community maintenance, and civic engagement- that people are more interested in "looking good" and getting themselves known rather than using it for "civic-minded collective action". I agree with this thought... Like I said in my previous post, lately I've been seeing the truths behind Facebook and how people seem to utilize it. I feel that a lot of people use SNS's to convey who they want to be as a person, and also how/who they want to come off to others.
Boyd also believes that our society has turned completely narcissistic and status-obsessed as a society. I hate to say it, because I do see so much potential in our society, but let's be real here... we love ourselves. Maybe a little too much. Says Boyd, "egoists love social networking sites because of their desire to inhibit themselves for the purposes of mass validation". To me, it is especially prevalent in those of a younger age group (15-21) that beneath all of their status updates and photos, they just want validity in their actions. They want reassurance with how they are living their life. Not necessarily if they're "cool" enough, but that they have a so-called "good" life going for themselves.
On the other hand, there was one point that Boyd touched upon that I disagreed on. She basically explained that this wasn't just a finger pointed turned teenagers on the internet, but it also goes for musicians, politicians, marketers, and other populations that want attention. She says they use networking sites as a spamming device.
I mean, yes, that is true, because that's exactly what musicians and artists want to do! They want to get their name heard, and network as much as possible to gain success. I suppose in the long run it is a form of narcissism, but not to a huge extent as Boyd claims. There's a difference between spamming yourself at people to boost your ego and advertising your talents or company.
All of these points tie in with what Bennett is referring to when he explains Dutiful Citizens and Self-Actualizing Citizens. Bennett believes that every person has that "leader" in them... young people aren't interested in politics, wanting their voice heard, etc. simply because we haven't given them the proper chance to practice that at a young age; while Boyd believes that kids are just doomed from the start and too caught up in their own lives to even have a voice on a subject.
As the last word on this article, I do agree with Boyd's explanation of the internet itself, and the reality of how information really travels. Because the internet is so easily ready, at one's fingertips, is accessible, and, most importantly, free, it's used as a first source. The internet is seemingly infinite, yet at the same time you have little control over whether something to posts goes "viral" or not. "Content may be public, but the public may not be interested in your content"- I thought this was extremely true. The audience is easy to please, yet at the same time pretty hard to keep their attention. People want funny, happy, alluring things on the internet... not footage of the war. That's too depressing for the average internet-goer who just wants their daily dose of pleasure in the worldwide web.
Overall, Boyd wants to get these groups active- the people who aren't interested in participating in "civic life", she wants to convince them to leverage their own networks and get others to participate, whereas Lance Bennett believes that those people are already one step ahead of the game, and simply just need a little push.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Digital Natives as Self-Actualizing Citizens
"Young people are... less interested in joining formal groups or political parties, less inclined to seek information via conventional news outlets, and more likely to avoid...voting."
The main points that caught my attention were that
-these circumstances could be just changing patterns of engagement and are "opportunities that will reshape the notion of citizenship in this century"
-young citizens are naturally focused on connecting with peers through the internet and are focusing on lifestyle issues, yet at the same time there is an ecology of young citizens who actively participate through the internet by going on public issue and global campaign sites
-there is a huge shift in citizenship styles, making a contrast between Dutiful Citizens (DC) and new century self-Actualizing Citizens (AC)
Dutiful Citizens
- have an obligation to participate in government-centered activities
- believe voting is the most important democratic act, supported by growing knowledge and contact with government
- join civil society organizations or express interest through political parties that typically use conventional communication to maintain and keep supporters
Self-Actualizing Citizens
- have a higher sense of individual purpose and don't see the government as the total ruling force
- believe voting is not more meaningful than more personally-defined acts, like consumerism, activism, and volunteering
- their mistrust of the media and politicians is reinforced by the negative mass media environment
- favors a more community-like type of interaction (loose networks)
This article made me think about the fact that it's not that teenagers don't care about politics or current issues both nationwide and worldwide, because there are a huge amount of teens who have their own opinions about certain large issues, such as marriage rights and abortion laws. I just think that many people aren't fully informed of political figures and their beliefs, including those running for government, and it isn't until that information is spread to popular sources of information, such as Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr that the user is made aware of current issues.
I also think that in some cases, there are people who possess traits of both dutiful and self-actualizing citizens. But I agree when Bennett mentioned that schools should help students develop their own public voices by using multiple digital media that allows students to find their own means of leaning about political issues and also develop peer-learning communities. He says that the ideal learning environment would be one that includes "identifying individual preferences for personal expression and peer-to-peer discovery of issues" and offers learning paths for "issue resolution".
Basically, we need to create a learning environment for young people in which they can practice being a citizen, for lack of a better phrasing. If teens are aware of their rights and how their voice can affect the government, it's more likely that they will want to participate. After all, they...we... are the future.
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