Since the beginning of school, our English class has been discussing the Internet. What is the Internet and how does it influence our lives? Issues such as personal identity, social networking, and anonymity have been discussed. Where does one draw the line with anonymity and the Internet? Is it a good thing or a bad thing? I believe anonymity on the Internet can breed both positive and negative effects.
In a blog entitled "Engineering Ethics Blog," a man who recently kept his identity a secret, decided to reveal his name. After explaining his reasons for revealing his identity, he asks his readers, "Should we throw up our hands and say that cyberspace anonymity is neutral? Absolutely not. It depends on how it's used. If anonymity encourages otherwise shy people to risk more in the way of human encounters, then it may be a benefit. If a criminal uses it the same way he'd use a mask, then it's wrong." I totally agree with the blogger's assessment of anonymity. Anonymity on the Internet is both good and bad depending on one's reason for anonymity. Many people use the Internet to create a completely new self. People are often embarassed to express their opinions or beliefs unless they do it anonymously. The Internet allows people to express themselves in ways they never thought possible. It enables them to meet people and create relationships that otherwise never would have happened. Although the relationships are superficial due to anonymity, it allows the person to step out of their comfort zone and try new things. Anonymity also enables people to express their true opinions. Many people often worry about criticism and failure. Due to their anonymity, these individuals know that their opinions will never be traced back to them. The anonymous Internet users can often teach others about politics, religion, and other debatable issues that otherwise never would have been posted on the Internet.
I am not saying that anonymity always breeds positive effects. Anonymity on the Internet can often lead to negative effects as well. Criminals often hide behind anonymity or create an entire new person online. They often use anonymity to create relationships with others. They trick people into believing that they are actually the person they portray themselves to be on the Internet. This can often turn into a stalker relationship or sexually abusive relationship. Many men use the Internet to stalk or even meet young women. He might portray himself to be an attractive, young man, when actually he is a sick, old man with filthy desires. Anonymity on the Internet is used for numerous reasons. While some users use anonymity for positive reasons, others use it for dangerous reasons. Although there are many harmless anonymous Internet users, it is never safe to trust anonymous Internet users, for we do not know their reasons for anonymity.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
http://ncnc.essortment.com/personalnarra_rucu.htm
The academia of the status quo seems solely concerned with the regurgitation of the discoveries of others. It seems unheard of that any one of the nameless college students all over the country would have an idea that was worth its assertion. Since this is the case, the personal essay seems to have been either outdated or replaced. In this essay I will show the benefits of the personal essay and their applications. All too often the students themselves even believe that they have nothing worthwhile to contribute; however, the number one reason that this form of essay has been abandoned is found within its name: personal. This form of essay removes the writer from his comfort zone and forces him or her to make her own assertions and support them.
Before we can discuss the essay itself, I must clarify what the essay consists of. The essai in old France was a form of theoretical introspection coined by one Michel de Montaigne. He used it as a means to both examine himself, and force the reader to examine his or her own self. This personal form of writing rarely makes actual statements; rather, it mostly poses questions from the writer that they choose to explore through the media of the essay. In the simplest terms, the main purpose of the personal essay is for both the writer and reader to find out as opposed to prove something.
I previously stated that the purpose of the essay is to find out; however, I never showed the virtue of this effort. Montaigne maintained that it was important for the writer to make his or her opinions known. If this never happened then no knew knowledge would come to light. The importance of the opinions of individuals is inherent in everyone. Without several opinions there would be no conflict, and without any conflict there would be no progress. The final benefit of this form of essay is that the writer may find that he or she has opinions in areas that they themselves didn’t even know. Many people possess assets that never come to light unless called upon. Instead of informing, this essay is more of an intellectual forum.
The final aspect of personal essay is its applications. The main and most important application of this form of essay is that I believe it quickens the learning process. In the current system, students, for the most part, are not called upon to think for themselves. This essay causes the “creative juices to flow.” It allows students to show their value to society.
In conclusion, I believe that this form of essay is invaluable and that it should be adopted immediately by the learning institutions of the world. I, like all other students, with to make a name for myself and prove my worth as an individual to the amasses intelligence of society today. I am unsure that Michel new what he was unleashing on the world in his time, but it could not have come too soon, and hopefully it will remain for the times to come.
The academia of the status quo seems solely concerned with the regurgitation of the discoveries of others. It seems unheard of that any one of the nameless college students all over the country would have an idea that was worth its assertion. Since this is the case, the personal essay seems to have been either outdated or replaced. In this essay I will show the benefits of the personal essay and their applications. All too often the students themselves even believe that they have nothing worthwhile to contribute; however, the number one reason that this form of essay has been abandoned is found within its name: personal. This form of essay removes the writer from his comfort zone and forces him or her to make her own assertions and support them.
Before we can discuss the essay itself, I must clarify what the essay consists of. The essai in old France was a form of theoretical introspection coined by one Michel de Montaigne. He used it as a means to both examine himself, and force the reader to examine his or her own self. This personal form of writing rarely makes actual statements; rather, it mostly poses questions from the writer that they choose to explore through the media of the essay. In the simplest terms, the main purpose of the personal essay is for both the writer and reader to find out as opposed to prove something.
I previously stated that the purpose of the essay is to find out; however, I never showed the virtue of this effort. Montaigne maintained that it was important for the writer to make his or her opinions known. If this never happened then no knew knowledge would come to light. The importance of the opinions of individuals is inherent in everyone. Without several opinions there would be no conflict, and without any conflict there would be no progress. The final benefit of this form of essay is that the writer may find that he or she has opinions in areas that they themselves didn’t even know. Many people possess assets that never come to light unless called upon. Instead of informing, this essay is more of an intellectual forum.
The final aspect of personal essay is its applications. The main and most important application of this form of essay is that I believe it quickens the learning process. In the current system, students, for the most part, are not called upon to think for themselves. This essay causes the “creative juices to flow.” It allows students to show their value to society.
In conclusion, I believe that this form of essay is invaluable and that it should be adopted immediately by the learning institutions of the world. I, like all other students, with to make a name for myself and prove my worth as an individual to the amasses intelligence of society today. I am unsure that Michel new what he was unleashing on the world in his time, but it could not have come too soon, and hopefully it will remain for the times to come.
Online Identity
During the end of class on Friday I was researching topics to talk about and I ran across an article titled "Online Identity and the concept of the mask." It is similar to the idea of false identity online, but I believe it is closer to the truth. I do not think that many people create profiles and online identities in the intention to falsley portray themselves. I do, however, believe that some people hide behind so called "masks." We discussed somewhat in class how it is easy for people to start arguments and be more brave online when they are hiding behind their computer screen. I know that I see this so much on Facebook. If anyone has a problem with someone they send that person a message through Facebook and they feel like a bigger person for it. I think it shows just how imature we can be. Back to the subject of falsley portraying oneself, I think that no matter if someone were to make a complete fake profile there would be something of themselves in it. An example portrayed in the article was of an individual acting like a rockstar online when, in reality he might not be one, but it does portray his interest in rock music. That person is just simply trying to hide behind the "mask." Overall, I really do believe that the computer is something to hide behind, something people can use to show their true identities or not, something that is constantly changing, but it is all simply up to the individual what he or she makes it out to be.
Is the Internet Consuming Our Lives?
We live in an era where technology rules the land. Let’s face it. We love it. We love coming home, watching our TVs, talking and texting our friends on our fancy cell phones, taking hundreds of digital pictures, and surfing the web. I love technology—I certainly won’t deny that. I had a friend once tell me that I was the reason the Apple Company was still in business. Yes, I do love Apple products, and I’m not ashamed to say so. I currently own a MacBook Pro, an 80 GB iPod, and iPod shuffle, and and iPhone. But is our love of technology healthy?
Let’s be honest with ourselves. I mean really honest. How often do you just simply come home, do your homework and then read a good book? I’ll be the first to say that I very rarely do that. In fact, usually the first thing I do when I get home is not even my homework—I usually immediately check my Facebook the moment I walk in the door. If I don’t check my Facebook first it’s because I’ve got a good TV show I’ve been obsessively watching on DVD (recently it’s been Heroes). But hey, once I get that Facebook check out of the way, I get cracking down to business…right. Actually, what usually ends up happening is that I do my homework. However, while I do my homework at my desk, I usually end up checking my Facebook every fifteen minutes—you know, just in case someone posted on my wall in that short amount of time. I've checked my Facebook 4 times throughout the writing of this blog entry--no joke.
But what’s really sad is that sometimes, I find myself lost in Facebook. I’ll start by just looking at my profile, then clicking on someone else’s, and so on and so forth, and before you know it—it’s been an hour and a half. That’s an hour and a half of my life I’ll never get back. At night, I’ll be dead tired coming in from some activity, and I’ll check my Facebook for a few minutes just before I go to bed—except those few minutes turn into hours and suddenly I’m no longer tired.
It’s not just Facebook though. YouTube is a powerful force as well. I watch one video, I’ll see a link to another interesting one, and before you know it I’m a lost cause. The Internet has consumed me. The Internet is one of the biggest reasons I became the biggest procrastinator ever in High School. The Internet always gave me an excuse to not do my homework—it was an escape from the real world. I mean seriously, what am I doing RIGHT now? I’m writing a blog post—FOR THE INTERNET!
Again, I LOVE technology, and I love the Internet. But it can be a powerful force—an addiction. I am convinced it can consume lives—take away from precious time we have to be doing bigger and better things. Much better things indeed.
Let’s be honest with ourselves. I mean really honest. How often do you just simply come home, do your homework and then read a good book? I’ll be the first to say that I very rarely do that. In fact, usually the first thing I do when I get home is not even my homework—I usually immediately check my Facebook the moment I walk in the door. If I don’t check my Facebook first it’s because I’ve got a good TV show I’ve been obsessively watching on DVD (recently it’s been Heroes). But hey, once I get that Facebook check out of the way, I get cracking down to business…right. Actually, what usually ends up happening is that I do my homework. However, while I do my homework at my desk, I usually end up checking my Facebook every fifteen minutes—you know, just in case someone posted on my wall in that short amount of time. I've checked my Facebook 4 times throughout the writing of this blog entry--no joke.
But what’s really sad is that sometimes, I find myself lost in Facebook. I’ll start by just looking at my profile, then clicking on someone else’s, and so on and so forth, and before you know it—it’s been an hour and a half. That’s an hour and a half of my life I’ll never get back. At night, I’ll be dead tired coming in from some activity, and I’ll check my Facebook for a few minutes just before I go to bed—except those few minutes turn into hours and suddenly I’m no longer tired.
It’s not just Facebook though. YouTube is a powerful force as well. I watch one video, I’ll see a link to another interesting one, and before you know it I’m a lost cause. The Internet has consumed me. The Internet is one of the biggest reasons I became the biggest procrastinator ever in High School. The Internet always gave me an excuse to not do my homework—it was an escape from the real world. I mean seriously, what am I doing RIGHT now? I’m writing a blog post—FOR THE INTERNET!
Again, I LOVE technology, and I love the Internet. But it can be a powerful force—an addiction. I am convinced it can consume lives—take away from precious time we have to be doing bigger and better things. Much better things indeed.
Web Celebs?
Researching online identities in English class has been a new experience for me. I have learned so much about the online world. Who knew there are now people considered “Web Celebs”? Forbes magazine recently named “The Web Celeb 25”. Web Celebs are just as famous as actors, singers, and sports figures. The celebrity playing field is now even between the web and reality. The Web Celebs were chosen for their online creations or having a recognizable online fan-base. People who were famous before they hit the web were excluded from the list. A list of 110 candidates was created and judged in five subjects: web references in Google, traffic on his or her homepage, Technorati rank of the website or blog, and media mentions and clips.
The first web celeb is known to most as Lonelygirl15. She skyrocketed the success of YouTube while it created her celeb status. She recorded a popular videoblog, which was scripted and used actors. This discovery only made Jessica even more famous. Perez Hilton, number two on the list, is a celebrity blogger known as “The Queen of Mean”. He is known to snuggle up to celebrities only to rat them out on his blog the next day. He is so famous that he now has his own television show talking about recent celebrity news. At number four is a news website editor, Matt Drudge. He is the editor of The Drudge Report website, which broke news of President Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky back in the day. He’s probably the only web celeb to bring down a presidency! Number nine is Robert Scoble, a tech blogger for Microsoft. He recreated Microsoft’s boring tech blog by praising other companies’ products and putting down his own company’s products, all while using a sense of humor. He even gave out his own phone number! Although he left Microsoft last summer, his own blog Scobleizer, and his video blog, ScobleShow, are hugely popular. Number 12 on the list is Wikipedia co-founder, Jimmy Wales. Only on the web could an encyclopedia nerd become famous. He is now one of the web’s most prominent names. At number 14 is Frank Warren, an online artist. He created the website postsecret.blogspot.com. Hundreds of thousands of people have gone to his site to post their secrets. Books have even been created of the secrets. But it is no secret who the success of the website goes to. I thought it was crazy that number 25 on the list was a sex educator! Violet Blue is omnipresent on the web, posting on at least four sites. She doesn’t fit in with the other 24, but she sure does show that anyone can become famous on the web!
The top 25 list really broadened my understanding of the popularity and usefulness of blogs, videos, and websites. Many people’s lives operate around the opinions of the celebs. I’ve only looked at Perez Hilton’s site, but I may have found some new websites, like the Drudge Report, that I should read on a regular basis.
The first web celeb is known to most as Lonelygirl15. She skyrocketed the success of YouTube while it created her celeb status. She recorded a popular videoblog, which was scripted and used actors. This discovery only made Jessica even more famous. Perez Hilton, number two on the list, is a celebrity blogger known as “The Queen of Mean”. He is known to snuggle up to celebrities only to rat them out on his blog the next day. He is so famous that he now has his own television show talking about recent celebrity news. At number four is a news website editor, Matt Drudge. He is the editor of The Drudge Report website, which broke news of President Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky back in the day. He’s probably the only web celeb to bring down a presidency! Number nine is Robert Scoble, a tech blogger for Microsoft. He recreated Microsoft’s boring tech blog by praising other companies’ products and putting down his own company’s products, all while using a sense of humor. He even gave out his own phone number! Although he left Microsoft last summer, his own blog Scobleizer, and his video blog, ScobleShow, are hugely popular. Number 12 on the list is Wikipedia co-founder, Jimmy Wales. Only on the web could an encyclopedia nerd become famous. He is now one of the web’s most prominent names. At number 14 is Frank Warren, an online artist. He created the website postsecret.blogspot.com. Hundreds of thousands of people have gone to his site to post their secrets. Books have even been created of the secrets. But it is no secret who the success of the website goes to. I thought it was crazy that number 25 on the list was a sex educator! Violet Blue is omnipresent on the web, posting on at least four sites. She doesn’t fit in with the other 24, but she sure does show that anyone can become famous on the web!
The top 25 list really broadened my understanding of the popularity and usefulness of blogs, videos, and websites. Many people’s lives operate around the opinions of the celebs. I’ve only looked at Perez Hilton’s site, but I may have found some new websites, like the Drudge Report, that I should read on a regular basis.
Online Predators
Everyone has doubts, speculations and fears. There are various things in the world that get under the skin of the many people in the world. Things that could make me jump or send chills down my back might not even phase another person. We are all as different as sugar and spice.
One object that I find myself in constant doubt of is the internet. Do not mistake my meaning by this. There are definite perks to the internet. The world of information at your fingertips as you type a subject matter into the search box on the homepage of google is extremely alluring. We are linked to the rest of the world through a computer screen. I also am guilty of having a facebook profile; which I check almost daily. It helps me to stay connected to friends everywhere. Online journals, though, are where my comfort zone ends.
Journals in the old days were a private place to list the innermost workings of your thoughts. No one was allowed near my dairy when I was younger. I guess you could call it my secret garden. The place where I cry or laugh to anything my heart or head had to say that no one else was allowed to hear. The point being that it was a personal place that was not for anyone else but nyself. It is a scary thing posting your own thoughts in a place so public. You never know who could be reading it.
There are sick people in the world that love nothing more then the innocent child who is over zealost about allowing strangers to know to much about themselves. Though few chose to hear the pleadings of mothers who have lost their daughters to online predators, they cry for a reason.
Neive young girls in their awkward teenage years want nothing more than someone who understands them; they know that. Predators know just what to say. There is no real way of knowing if the nice guy one city away who is on the football team and is really close to his family is not really a forty year old man who likes to prey on young girls. Then once they talk for a while and build up a trust with you, they ask to meet.
Girls and boys have gone missing this way. Be careful. You never know who is hiding on the other side of the computer screen.
One object that I find myself in constant doubt of is the internet. Do not mistake my meaning by this. There are definite perks to the internet. The world of information at your fingertips as you type a subject matter into the search box on the homepage of google is extremely alluring. We are linked to the rest of the world through a computer screen. I also am guilty of having a facebook profile; which I check almost daily. It helps me to stay connected to friends everywhere. Online journals, though, are where my comfort zone ends.
Journals in the old days were a private place to list the innermost workings of your thoughts. No one was allowed near my dairy when I was younger. I guess you could call it my secret garden. The place where I cry or laugh to anything my heart or head had to say that no one else was allowed to hear. The point being that it was a personal place that was not for anyone else but nyself. It is a scary thing posting your own thoughts in a place so public. You never know who could be reading it.
There are sick people in the world that love nothing more then the innocent child who is over zealost about allowing strangers to know to much about themselves. Though few chose to hear the pleadings of mothers who have lost their daughters to online predators, they cry for a reason.
Neive young girls in their awkward teenage years want nothing more than someone who understands them; they know that. Predators know just what to say. There is no real way of knowing if the nice guy one city away who is on the football team and is really close to his family is not really a forty year old man who likes to prey on young girls. Then once they talk for a while and build up a trust with you, they ask to meet.
Girls and boys have gone missing this way. Be careful. You never know who is hiding on the other side of the computer screen.
Online Profiles
With all this analysis of online networking sites and individual profiles we've been doing, I've come to realize that while some people put large quantities of time and thought into their profiles, others simply do not. Most of our class discussion has been along the lines of, "What was this person thinking by placing this on his profile?" Many times, though, the more appropriate question is, "Was this person thinking when he placed this on his profile?" I know that my time on Facebook is a time to relax and unwind. I don't think especially hard about what I include in my profile and what I don't. I debate over content for a term paper, not an online profile. I have a feeling many people, even some of those we've been analyzing, are the same way. College life is stressful and busy enough. Most students don't have the time or desire to actually worry about what is placed on their Facebook profiles.
Take this rising scandal over student athletes using Facebook for example. Athletes are being punished because pictures are found on Facebook of the athletes taking part in illegal or otherwise immoral activity, usually through pictures posted by the athlete or others. Schools are taking serious action on these altercations, using Facebook profiles as evidence to suspend or expel student athletes. I think, in this situation, it is very clear that the student athletes are not putting much thought into their profiles. If they were thinking, they wouldn't post pictures of themselves drinking or hazing other students. These actions are very stupid; a little bit of thought would have kept them from happening. And we've been discussing things like all online profiles have a lot of thought put into them. I think it is best if we would remember to consider both sides of the spectrum, and not limit ourselves to one.
Take this rising scandal over student athletes using Facebook for example. Athletes are being punished because pictures are found on Facebook of the athletes taking part in illegal or otherwise immoral activity, usually through pictures posted by the athlete or others. Schools are taking serious action on these altercations, using Facebook profiles as evidence to suspend or expel student athletes. I think, in this situation, it is very clear that the student athletes are not putting much thought into their profiles. If they were thinking, they wouldn't post pictures of themselves drinking or hazing other students. These actions are very stupid; a little bit of thought would have kept them from happening. And we've been discussing things like all online profiles have a lot of thought put into them. I think it is best if we would remember to consider both sides of the spectrum, and not limit ourselves to one.
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