Our generation, our information!

MSU class tumblr blog for LSCI 121 

[schellkayla-blog-blog]

Week 14 ~ Social Media RE: “Selfies”

Hello class, particularly the Flamingo Group! This is our last blog for the semester and I thought that it would be interesting and a fun way to end our research with social media in regards to taking self portraits or “selfies”. Here is a short but sweet article I found on the New York Times.

http://www.davis.k12.ut.us/cms/lib09/UT01001306/Centricity/Domain/7332/The%20Meanings%20of%20the%20Selfie%20Defintion%20Essay.pdf

Please consider the following questions when posting your Tumblr blog. I was wondering what your thoughts were about the pros and cons of taking selfies and the main advantages and disadvantages the message “selfies” portray to the public. I thought it would be interesting to have you all relate to this particular quote in the article, "I am actually turned off when I look at an account and don't see any selfies, because I want to know whom I'm dealing with." Express and share your thoughts and feelings about seeing an abundant amount of selfies when you are using a social networking website, like Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Snapchat, etc.

Here is another article regarding our topic in addition to the article provided!

https://marginalutilityannex.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/selfies-are-not-self-expression/.

I look forward to reading your posts,

Kayla Schell

[feliciarising-deactivated201905]

This week we look at personal information management, PIM. Previously, I hadn’t given much thought to how I manage my personal information. Files. Physical and digital files. Birth certificate, social security card, hard copies of legal documents – all kept filed in a fire proof safe. Photos,...

[schellkayla-blog-blog]

Thanks for providing such an interesting article for the class to read! I am a very organized person when it comes to getting rid of information that is not relevant to me personally. Like I mentioned in my post, if i don’t need it, I don’t keep it, and if I need it, I keep it. Privacy is very important in regards to your own safety and providing personal information on social networking or on the internet in general can be very scary.

[bbrandt32]

Week 13

This article is really interesting and got me thinking about information and how crucial it can be. Thinking about how I store it is interesting because no matter how many people see the same information, it is still taken differently by each individual. It is hard to know when certain information is useless and when it is important. I catch myself reading something and begin to skim because it all seems useless. I am sure that there are pieces that are important to know but I am missing them because I lose interest and don’t feel that the information is accurate. This brings me to privacy. Privacy is very important to most people; including me. There is so much information out there. even personal information. There are so many people who read and keep information, how do we know that the information people keep isn’t about us? It brings up the issue of not having privacy and feeling exposed. There are so many tools out there for people to be able to copy and paste and save for later. I wonder if maybe this could lead to the bullying we discussed earlier in the semester? All the information that is processed, both private and not can be taken differently and once it is in the open it never goes away. It is very important to be careful what kind of information we reveal and to be aware of who may see it. Information is great and helps people gain more knowledge by knowing more but it can be negative if you share too much information about yourself.

[schellkayla-blog-blog]

I also personally found myself being able to relate to skimming over information because it seems useless and/or boring to me. I never actually thought of taking the time to read everything in regards to the information provided because of the amount of time that would take. I think skimming through certain information can be useful, however, you can miss pieces that can be very important or interesting. It made me very nervous when reading about privacy because thinking of the personal information I have provided on social networking sites like Facebook is very scary. There are pros and cons to providing personal information on the web but being able to recognize and understand what is best for your safety should be your top priority.    

[schellkayla-blog-blog]

Week 13 ~ Personal Information Management

I personally have an email account that is very “clutter” free because I delete old conversations or messages that I don’t need anymore. I am a very organized person and having a ton of junk mail throughout my inbox would drive me crazy! However, I am a hoarder when it comes to certain things but saving information is definitely not on the list. I manage my personal information by asking myself if I will ever need this information again, and if I do, I save it, and if I don’t, I discard it.   

I store my information in a variety of ways. Creating folders on my desktop or on my computer is very relevant to help keep my personal information organized. When it comes to things being automatically stored and organized through email, Facebook, Instagram, etc, it can be very helpful and useful to people who have a hard time organizing their information on their own time. Facebook provides specific albums you can upload your photos into and keep them separate from everything else. 

Being able to store as much information as you want may create digital “clutter” because you will have an abundant amount of information stored, but I don’t think that it would make it harder for you to locate things...wouldn't it make it easier since you have folders with descriptions of the information and/or pictures inside? 

[feliciarising-deactivated201905]

I have previously wondered how to properly credit photographs I have found online and used in a power point presentation. I am still not sure I understand how to accurately do this. I am also still not sure (even after reading all of the material on copyright and fair use) if it is ok to use an...

[schellkayla-blog-blog]

I honestly don’t think that there is anything we can do to accurately cite pictures when posting them on to social networking. It’s hard to give credit to photographers who don’t have their logo or name on the picture. With that being said, I’m sure some people Photoshop the authors’ original pictures so that their isn't any credit given to the author or photographer. I like how you said we are all photographers!

[searchingforanswers7-blog]

Copyright

Honestly, when I think about copyright issues with pictures I have never really thought it was that big of a deal. Unless the photographer clearly states that they want that credit, but honestly if you are posting something on the internet or on different social media websites you have to know that your work might not always get credited to you. 

 Today with all of the different social media sites out there every user is a publisher of sorts and is probably not aware of the copyright laws. It is really easy to post/share photos and a lot of the images shown were just borrowed from websites.  Some original authors will probably want their material posted and shared with others, because it gets their work out there and exposure is huge in that field. I think the big issue here is that most people aren’t really aware of the copyright laws, and the social media websites that we use aren’t very clear either. All of that being said, I do think that credit should be given where credit is due.

[schellkayla-blog-blog]

Talking about copyright made me think of a whole different perspective on the issue. Some photographers and authors who make a living off of their work need the money they charge for their images or books to provide support for themselves or their family. I was surprised when I thought about how many pictures from Google images I have posted on social networking not thinking about copyright.

[schellkayla-blog-blog]

Week 11 ~ Copyright

“Copyright is a legal right created by the law of a country that grants the creator of an original work exclusive rights to its use and distribution, usually for a limited time, with the intention of enabling the creator (the photographer of a photograph or the author of a book) to receive compensation for their intellectual effort”. I personally think Copyright is very important in regards to giving authors complete credit for their individual work. It’s important to understand that with copyright in place, the author or the photographer can charge users who want to get a copy of their creations and will use this funding to support themselves and their family since this might be their only income. 

Before reading this article, it never really occurred to me how much copyright I use within images on a daily basis. Google images provide an abundant amount of pictures that give no credit to the photographer or company that took the picture. Social networking and media websites including: Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, Flickr, etc. provide little to zero copyright information and/or rules when posting images online.

The main idea I got from reading this particular article was how the importance and meaning of photographs have lessened since the casual posting of pictures has become more popular and on a regular daily basis through social networking. Copyright does not cover ideas and information themselves, only the form or manner in which they are expressed. 

[miward10]

Online Filters/Biased Research

Before I had watched the ted talk on online filters, I felt very comfortable using the internet and confident that it was a fairly good tool to use. After watching this ted talk, my brain instantly started racing through all the scenarios that google could be doing with just my search history. I couldn’t believe that even when you are not online, google is running through 57 different tests to see what type of person you are, and what type of personality you have shown through your search engine. It has definitely changed my perspective and I am starting to believe that the internet is a bad thing. One thing I have always feared is our world turning to technology too much, and eventually someday our earth would be ran by robots and computers instead of humans like it was intended to be. After watching this, that fear of mine is becoming closer and closer to real life than I ever thought it would be. I completely disagree with what websites like google and Facebook are doing to “help” our searching of the web.

I believe that in today’s age, it can be very difficult to find research that isn’t biased. Every show you put on television has some kind of bias in it, most posts on the internet are bias towards one side or the other. It can be very difficult to find research without the bias, and one way I would approach this is by researching both sides of the bias and writing about the pros and cons of each side.

[schellkayla-blog-blog]

I understand where you are coming from regarding websites monitoring what we are able to see when we are searching and how this results in biased research and information. However, I personally find this a little relevant because it helps us to find research faster. If the websites and search engines just randomized the research process, we would be spending hours trying to find specific information on a topic.

[feliciarising-deactivated201905]

Thanks for the link Elizabeth! I really enjoyed this TED talk. Eli brings up some very pertinent points. Until now, I had not much considered the fact that when I perform a search I am getting what Google thinks I prefer to see… What if the information I get is not what I NEED? - When doing...

[schellkayla-blog-blog]

This particular topic was very interesting to me since I had no idea that this was even happening. I kind of find this relevant since it controls what information shows up when you search for a specific topic which means the junk we don’t find relevant doesn’t pop up. This makes it easier for us to research information faster. However I get why it is inconvenient because it might avoid important things that are going on within our country that we have no clue or idea about. 

[schellkayla-blog-blog]

Week 10 ~ Biased Research/Information

I was very surprised after watching the Ted video regarding Eli Pariser: Beware online "filter bubbles". I found it shockingly interesting that Facebook was looking at what links he had clicked on, and was making certain posts disappear. Come to find out, Facebook isn't the only place that is doing this invisible editing of the web...Google is doing it too, along with several others! “You can’t have a functioning democracy if citizens didn't get a good flow of information”. 

I agree with Eli when he talks about us needing the internet to connect us all together, to introduce us to new ideas, and new people and different perspectives. My initial reaction and perspective was shocking since I had no idea that this was even happening and/or going on within the web. I have mixed feelings when it comes to deciding if it is a good or a bad thing when search engines cater to our preferences. I think that this could be relevant in some ways because it knows what we information and/or research we personally find interesting and useful, however it can eliminate some of the major issues and information that is going on in our society and world at this very moment. 

“Google’s autocompletion: algorithms, stereotypes and accountability” was an intriguing article to read. I don’t necessarily have any ideas to resolve this issue since I individually don’t get to control what pops up when I search for information or research. 

[rhyshershey]

I think that the creation of social media has done a wonderful thing for the people on this planet. I can bring people together who live half way around the world and also makes communication easier in general. But there is also a bad side to being able to connect with everyone at once, its not...

[schellkayla-blog-blog]

Technology has provided us with many great resources and benefits but also with many devastating downfalls. Like you mentioned in your post, being able to connect with family or friends who live far away from you is such a wonderful thing we are able to do through the use of technology. The downfalls to technology interfere with the social interacting skills us as adults and our future kids will have since we can just post and communicate via the internet. Cyberbullying is a huge risk to the teens in our society. It is so much easier for bullying to happen via the internet since you can hide behind a computer screen rather then face-to-face confrontation. 

[searchingforanswers7-blog]

For one of my education classes that I took a couple of semesters ago, we spent a lot of time talking about Cyberbullying. We watched numerous videos that interviewed kids that had been cyberbulied and it really opened my eyes to how big of an issue this is. Technology has changed in a lot of ways...

[schellkayla-blog-blog]

I really enjoyed reading about your personal experiences regarding cyberbullying! I feel like not many people (including myself) know how big of an issue this is for teens within our country. In my blog post, I also talked about the reason cyberbullying is easier when comparing it to traditional bullying since you can hide behind a computer screen. Technology has drastically decreased the social interaction we as adults and our future kids will have since we can use text messaging, phone calls, and social media to connect with one another. The advantage to social media however, like you mentioned in your post, can connect us with family and friends on a whole different level, especially if they live far away from you. 

[schellkayla-blog-blog]

Week 9 ~ Online vs. Offline

I find it extremely shocking that “Cyberbullying is the most common online risk for all teens and is a peer to peer risk." I personally think it is a lot easier for kids to bully on the internet then traditional bullying in person. “Cyber” bullying is an easy way to bully other kids because you can say mean things while hiding behind a computer screen. Confronting kids in person face-to-face takes a lot more effort and more than likely the bully will get in trouble if heard or if the victim tells a teacher.      

I think your behavior changes drastically when you are “online” versus “offline”. Like it said in the article, the computer desensitizes teens and decreases the level of empathy they feel toward the victim. Plus, when they can't see the person's reaction to what they post or text they may not know if they've gone too far. I think kids are more likely to be more intrusive on an app or a web browser then if you are texting or messaging the victim because it makes hiding your identity a lot easier. 

I don’t really have any set and stone thoughts or opinions regarding if certain technology encourages you to be more or less nice to a person. It’s sad to think that technology is the reason for cyberbullying because of the social networking our generation has grown up in to. Without cellphones, iPads, computers, and the internet, cyberbullying wouldn’t be such a huge risk to all teenagers since it would be non existent.

[miward10]

My view on citations is probably similar to many students, and that is how pointless citations seem to be for how hard they are to create. It makes it very difficult for a student to want to create citations for a paper or project when the steps and time it takes to create the citation is very...

[schellkayla-blog-blog]

The precise format citations require can be very frustrating when having to cite your sources. In my mind, plagiarism often results in incorrect citations. If you haven’t mastered citations, you most likely will be more susceptible for plagiarism because your information isn't correctly cited as the original authors work. Being able to decide what is wrong and what is write ties in to the discussion and concept of ethics.

[feliciarising-deactivated201905]

This article focused on a few issues that until now, I have been completely unaware of. For instance, plagiarizing yourself. I didn’t know that you could plagiarize yourself by drawing from or referring to your own previous research or work. It seems logical that you would give credit or reference...

[schellkayla-blog-blog]

I consider ethics to be your own personal beliefs. Deciding for yourself what is wrong and what is right seems to be brought up through your childhood and family generations. I also didn't know that you could plagiarize your own work. That seems strange to me since plagiarism is most often referred to citing someone else’s thoughts, ideas, and work. Over citing everything you publish is important but can also become very frustrating as citations require very precise formatting. 

[schellkayla-blog-blog]

Week 8 ~ Ethics

In my mind, ethics is your own personal belief system. This consists mainly of what you were taught when being raised as a child and understanding the difference between what is right and what is wrong. If you do something you believe is right, then you have acted in an ethical way. If you treat somebody or do something that goes against your belief system, then you have acted unethically. 

Plagiarism...most likely everyone has or will plagiarize someone else’s work in one way or another. Whether or not you knew you were plagiarizing at the time can be very hard to tell and is most often misinterpreted. Letting someone believe that the word’s or thoughts you are portraying are your own when in fact they are not, is not okay. Credit should be given to people’s original discoveries, thoughts, and opinions.

Citation errors are commonly shared with others as frustrating and confusing. Mistakes and grammatical errors are often made when creating citations due to the complicated format they require. Although citation generators help you find and better understand the information needed to create your citation, they however can often leave out or misplace important information. Accuracy is needed when citing sources because of the importance of the authors work. 

[searchingforanswers7-blog]

Citations are the number one problem that I have with writing research papers. I dread them every time. I related to that article on so many levels, especially when it comes to scrambling at the last minute to get all of my references together. I usually try and leave all of my tabs open too, so...

[schellkayla-blog-blog]

Elizabeth,

Citations are also my number one problem and part of the research paper I hate the most. When you are citing sources, you have to be very accurate with your reference page. The grader of your paper needs to be able to use the information from your citations to go back and access the sources you received your information from. I am grateful for websites like Easy Bib that help you generate your citations in a less amount of time, with making the least amount of errors as possible.