Venturing into the "Real World"
David S.
Journal 1 (Social Media)
Media is the spread of information through multiple forms of communication. It is an important part of society and without it we wouldn’t know what exactly is going on in today’s world. This understatement can be seen every day on basic channels such as fox whereas a form of media (news) gives daily dosages of crimes, current events, future events, sports, and even things happening internationally. Social media is another important of media that is taken for granted in our lives every day. For instance, just by getting on twitter and scrolling down a “timeline” or looking at the “trending page” one can find out an event or breaking news that has occurred just a few minutes and sometimes even a few seconds earlier. Although media can reveal a lot about society, media isn’t just a way of obtaining information. Media also serves as a form of entertainment. Shows such as “Family Guy,” “Sesame Street,” “The Big Bang Theory,” and millions of others are abiding shows to fit into this category. Media can be beneficial to all of us. Media is the common needle that threads society together.
In today’s society, where technology has advanced tremendously and has gained a greater role in society, it is essential that each of us are “media literate.” To be media literate, one must be do able to ample things ranging from using Facebook to watching a news broadcast. To be media literate you must be able to understand how to use technology first and foremost. Then you must engage yourself in current news. You must be willing to watch 30 minutes of “CNN” a day. You must be willing to watch “60 minutes” every Sunday. You must be willing to do these things and more to stay updated on what’s new. Overall, in today’s advancing society without being media literate you’ll end up lost.
Entry #2 Going 24 hours w/out social media
The idea of going 24 hours without social media seems crazy at first but once you really think about it, it becomes something extremely easy to overcome. We don’t need to look at the lives of others to survive. We don’t need to look at the lives of others to better ourselves. We don’t need to look at the daily lives of others for any reason actually. Essentially, that’s all social media is about, looking into other people’s daily lives including their thoughts, activities, and even what foods they eat. After juxtaposing all this information and the fact that social media is one of the many causes of wasted time into my “mental organizer of reasoning,” it was quite effortless to go a day without accessing any of my social media accounts. Although I was able to reason with myself on why I shouldn’t use social media there’s still a part of me that wants to use it still. This want increased after receiving messages via social media. These messages can range from an image or video on Snapchat to a DM on twitter. I was able to withstand the craving to open messages and respond to friends. Instead of being rude and not responding or viewing their message I simply told them to text me instead. This “fasting” of social media lasted only so long before muscle memory checked in. This morning I woke up, unlocked my phone and accessed a social media, Snapchat. In all honesty, I had forgotten the agreement I had signed the day before. I guess it was just because I’m so used using the app and others my brain automatically threw the oath out the window. I then realized short after that I wasn’t supposed to access any type of social media until 4th block, on August 18, 2015.
V precis
Entry #3 (Anti Hero and Flawed Hero)
Journal 4 Themes in 1984
Information, independent thought, language and freedom are restricted in 1984. There are ample great examples of how this is portrayed in the book, however I found one quite interesting. “‘I allowed the word ‘God’ to remain at the end of a line. I could not help it!’ he added almost indignantly, raising his face to look at Winston. ‘It was impossible to change the line. . . There was no other rhyme’” (230-231). ~Book 3, Chapter 1. This is a statement from Ampleforth. This is the reason that he was imprisoned, for allowing a symbol of religion to remain in a poem. The party doesn't want anyone to be individualized by the party or follow the rules by an “outsider” of the party. They wanted total control which is why there was no religious freedom in Oceania.
Chrysler commercial Entry 5
Entry 6 smore reflection
At the beginning of this semester, I thought that being media literacy was just being able to decipher and understand the various forms of media (I.e. television shows, social networks, news, etc.). I know believe that being media literate involves a few other things. To be media literate you not only must be able to decipher the forms of media, nut you must utilize media for the good things and be able to prohibit your use of media so that it won’t negatively affect you. To be media literate, you must understand the importance of media in this world and how it connects various parts of the world together.
In this class, I learned that there is a great world outside of media related things. I’ve learned ample reasons that being richly subdued in media, especially social media, can result in one missing numerous opportunities to take part in real world activities with people that are physically there. I also learned different tactics that the media uses to manipulate its users (ex: appealing to certain groups in commercials)
This language arts class was different than from all of the previous language arts courses I’ve taken thus far. In this class, our goal wasn’t really to dig deeper into the intricacies and different forms of the English language, but to plunge into what is society and things that affect one. These things include corrupt governments (dystopias) and how media influence citizens (commercials, social media, etc.). This class felt more like social studies class or philosophy course than a language arts class. We went deep into concepts and morals displayed in populations around the globe.
In the future, this class could be taught with maybe less work and more discussion. Work on concepts is a bit rhetorical sometimes as we are basically restating ideas that we all hold, but instead just putting them onto paper.
Entry 7 How can I harness power of social media
Indeed, the purpose of technology has been altered from its original one. Instead of utilizing technology for the sole purposes of communicating and informing ourselves when needed, people have taken advantage of the new advancements and capabilities of technology and manipulated them to the point where technology has become their entire world. Without technology, they cannot function. Although technology and digital devices are amazing, there is a real world which involves real people. There are multiple ways in which one can limit their engagement in the virtual world in order to maximize their engagement in the real world. Speaking from a personal standpoint, sometimes I can be more engaged in the social media world than in the world around me. To limit my usage of social media, I could set a limit of checking my social media notifications and updates to just two times per day.
Although social media does serve to connect people from various demographics and different parts of the world together, sometimes social media can divulge one and lead to an addiction. This isn’t really an addiction that has many cures. The only way to stop it is to limit our access to social media and you do this taking away our routes in which we access social media sites (i.e. digital devices, computers, etc.). The only other cure is finding activates that’ll take our minds away from the craving to unlock our phones and open the “Instagram” app or the “Twitter” app.
If used properly, social media can give people power and a say in the world. With this in mind, I will try to harness this power and use it to influence people with ideas that I feel are important. I could also use social media to advertise certain business ideas or charities that I feel are important.