#need wifi

[gaefandomlover]

My Internet has been finicky due to the storms in my area. I’ve basically been living on my hotspot and LTE all day today

[collectionplayground]

[memoirsofaunistudent-blog]

Digital communities

Welcome to my wonderful blog, if out of change you have wondered here by mistake

You are welcome to stay and enjoy the ride. The purpose of this blog is to be perfectly honest to complete the task set out by my university course MDA20009 and hopefully complete them in a satisfactory manner that will allow me to pass.

During my trimester with MDA20009, we will be exploring the theories and ideas of Digital Communities and Social Media and reflecting week on what I have learned with each weekly module I complete, with a sprinkling on internet memes, because what is a blog without memes?

Week 1 was the Introduction to digital communities and social media platforms. Digital communities are all around us, except for a maybe one person in your social network (Jess I’m thinking of you), generally all of us are on some social media platform/digital community. I myself am pretty much on everything, I have a YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Google +, Pinterest, I keep a personal WordPress blog, for work we use yammer, and now I also use Tumblr. I’m sure I have others accounts that I use. In the time of starting this blog post to writing this sentence I’ve checked my phone over 4 times. I would say that growing up in the 90’s I’m lucky enough to remember a time before the internet and after but I’m also young enough that I just took to it like a baby with an iPad.

I remember in school we were all taught not to use our real names on the internet and now we plaster them across globe for all to see. After watching the video Connected, but alone?  (TED-Ed 2013) presented by Sherry Turkle. I would say that I’m always connected but I am not alone. My friends and I may use social media to organise a catch up but when we do catch up with talk. I chat to people online, but the conversation just continues offline where it was left online. However, I can see as highlighted the negative side of always being connected. I have seen people out at lunch or dinner not saying a word and just the glow from their screens lighting their face. With everything in life moderation is key. Society has changed, I would claim that we are in the digital age and to me it seems strange when someone is disconnected.

As part of this university course, all the students are in our own digital community for MDA20009. For some of us we might even start communicating daily, however for a lot of us we have never met each other. I know when sitting in the exam room for my other uni students, it is just a sea of strangers. We’re all connected through a digital community because we all choose to complete the same study unit and not our geographical location (Siapera 2012). Siapera (2012) poses the question that is it possible that technology has hindered our way of communicating because we’re not sharing our interests in physical proximity? To this question I believe that just because you are physical located next to someone doesn’t mean you want to communicate to that person. Technology has made it easier for humanity to connect, whether you like dogs, cats or dogs dressed up as cats, you can find someone who will share in your interest making you feel a little less along even if you are isolated geographically.  I believe that because digital communities can reach far beyond the boundaries of location and with the natural level of anonymity digital communities provide gender, age race and religion and gender, the potential of having meaningful connection with someone globally is increased.

Ferdinand Tönnies in the 19th century observed the social evolution, through his theories it could be suggested that digital communities/groups will only remain successful as communities if they continue to be organic and natural. On the other hand, there is society, and this is formed due to the thought of rational will and taking part to achieve a common goal. If we were to compare this to social media, I would conclude therefore the internet gets so mad when they are lied paid product advertising pretending to be a genuine review.

As we joke about Wi-Fi becoming one of the most basic human need, it just highlights how much humanity has changed our digital lives are just an extension of our physical ones.

TED-Ed 2013, Connected, but alone? - Sherry Turkle, 19 April, viewed 26 September 2018, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv0g8TsnA6c>.

Siapera, E 2012, 'Socialities and Social Media', in Understanding New Media, Sage, London, pp. 191-208.

Images

‘Astonished Aden’ 2014, viewed 6 December, 2018, <https://imgflip.com/i/cfaz0>.

‘Level Up’ 2014, viewed 6 December, 2018, <https://www.mutilatethemortgage.com/2014/08/11/the-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel/>.

‘This isn't the droid... you're looking for’ 2018, viewed 6 December, 2018, <https://memegenerator.net/instance/63035559/jedi-knight-this-isnt-the-droid-youre-looking-for>.

‘0-free-wifi’ Anon 2014, [image] viewed 6 December, 2018, <https://ijgolding.com/2014/11/25/the-big-wi-fi-conundrum-a-way-to-make-money-or-a-way-to-give-customers-what-they-need/>.

[harleyquinnsmaryjane]

Hey guys. ☠️ 💨

Sorry I've been slightly inactive recently. I've just moved and still working on getting wifi. But soon more to come. Smoking with my new roommate :)

[sonnybunn124]

Ugh 2 days until I have Internet again. I've missed my tumblr :(

[sayyestotheblessed]

I'm very empathetic: for example, when my Internet is down, so am I. 😢

[courteous-lamp]

My Family's Reactions to the Power Going Out

Twin: nuuuuu!!!! I was watching SYTTD!!!!

Older Sis: you can't use the bathroom if there's no power, right?

Me: w/e

Dad: lets have a séance

[miraculoushipping]

I will not have internet for the next 2-3 weeks. WiFi at school is crap too T3T