Blog Assignment 1.

PBS PRESENTATION 
The topics discussed in the PBS presentation, "Growing up Online," are topics that can be related many people, mostly teenagers. The topics discussed are cyber bullying, online predators, creating new identites and various others, all revolving around the internet and other things people do and go through on their computer and cellphones, behind their parents.

The documentary starts off by showing what different teenagers are doing in their homes. It discusses how the first generation using the internet are the most using it. They use it to get away from their parents and basically live a "secret" life. A woman discusses how a world created for adults is now controlled by teenagers.

One teenager's father, Greg's father, has tools to track what his son is doing, but Greg goes to websites where he thinks his dad would like him to go to in order to avoid.

In a computer lab, a teacher discusses how if there weren't any technology available in classes, then getting the students to pay attention to class would be difficult. 

Greg does not like to read books and he reads the summaries online. The generation has become lazy and kind of "stupid," as they do not like to do things on their own. (plagiarism, cheating)

Because of the internet, many websites have been made available for people to use to connect to others, such as social networks. (facebook, myspace)
One girl states how a person can be someone else on it and feel "happy."  Another girls states how she can be herself online and not be afraid what people think and say.

Many people compete for the amount of friends they have on myspace and facebook along with other social network sites.
But these websites have also created problems. There have been verbal fighting (Cyber Bullying) and people are able to stalk others. Especially teenagers and the young who are immature do not always understand whats going on and they do not take certain things seriously.

Jessica Hunter was always made fun off and did not get along with. She was "goth" and she felt as if she was an alien. But because of the internet, she was able to be known as someone else, as Autumn Edows. Her parents did not what she was doing. She was a model and an artist online and she was popular. She did not feel like herself but she liked that.

When Jessica's parents found out, they were shocked. When the principal deemed it proactive, she felt horrible and like a whore. Her mother made her delete everything on the computer.

Her parents wanted her to understand that what you post online, is not just yours anymore. It is made public. People can change around facts or take it the wrong way.

Evan Skinner fears her children will make a bad mistake. I agree with her statement that anything on the internet can cause harm. She discusses how parents need to be involved more with this community (the internet.) Internet has "punctured" safety. She fears that a stalker will come about towards one of her teenagers since she has two young teenage girls (online predators.) She wants her children's social networks passwords. Her children rather not use their computer then give their passwords to the mother. They like their privacy.

A study shows that most kids know to avoid trouble online from strangers etc.
They discuss how kids have been associated with risky behavior more offline then online.

There are forums online that promote anorexia. This makes teenage girls want to purge and binge in order to look skinny.

Youtube has made it possible for people to talk to others excluding the people they want, in example their parents. Evan Skinner saw a video of many kids drinking and vomiting in a train on the way to a concert and her son was in too. When she discussed this with other parents, many of the kids got in trouble and Evans son was mad at her. He believes that she has ruined his high school life.

"The internet has created the biggest generation gap since the invention of rock n' roll."

Ryan Halligan committed suicide as a result of cyber bullying and in school bullying. It is true that the internet did not cause it, but in way it did help promote it and let it continue.  


Obama's campaign 


This article talks about how Barrack Obama won the campaign. It talks about how the computer, media and internet had helped him gain popularity and win the election. 
Because of computers and printers, people were able to promote President Obama and pass out leaflets. It made people aware of him and what he was doing in his election campaign. 
Because of the internet, the then candidate's speeches were able to be sent out to others through links with multimedia material generated by supporters. A music video set on Obama's speech (Yes We Can) that was posted on YouTube was viewed so many times that it gained attention of more people which also generated more people to take Obama a possible consideration if they were undecided. 
Because of social networking sites, money "flowed in" which helped the Obama campaign. 
The section "PORK INVADERS" discusses how the other candidates may have used the internet and the social networking sites, but they did not use it properly. Obama's campaign had made the internet a huge part of a strategy. 


The importance of the Web for Democracy 

Eli Pariser: Beware online "filter bubbles"

This video talks about how the internet is not allowing people to open up their minds. Eli believes that this will cause problems for democracy. He likes learning new things and he is conservative. On  his Facebook account, he had liberals and conservative friends. Since he clicked more on his liberal friends, his conservative friends were gone. Then he talks about how Google shows different results on the searches people do. One person will get something else and another something else. He believes that this is filtering what each person will learn through the internet. Websites show certain things to a person using a computer based on their location etc. He calls this the filter bubble. Before their were human gate keepers to what information is given out to whom, now algorithms is controlling it. He is saying that how algorithms are not showing us things that are challenging and completely different from what a person wants.  He believes that the web is now back in the 1915's. We need the internet to show us more ideas and perspectives and not keep us isolated like it is.

Mind Control & the Internet

Sue Halpern

This article talks about how now new inventions have allowed a paralyzed woman to move a cursor on a computer with her brain and then it goes on to talk about how in the near future there will be human computers and then to what Eli has said, the computer is limiting us.

"The search process, in other words, has become “personalized,” which is to say that instead of being universal, it is idiosyncratic and oddly peremptory. --- In other words, there is no standard Google anymore.”

The internet cuts off news and information what it may think is conflicting with our thoughts based on what we do daily on the internet

Clive Thompson on High-Bandwidth Buddies

The previous two articles agree with each other as in different results on different comouters based on what is done daily is bad for democracy, but this article talks about it is possibly a good thing. 

This article talks about hemophilia, how people encounter opinions and information they already believe, agreeing with what Eli has to say, that it is limiting what we know. But this article states how it is actually a good thing and possibly it can improve knowledge.