#2

Morgan Russell
Media Literacy & the Environment
Assignment 2
February 1, 2010


1. Titus: handsome, normal, conformist, confused/scared, insecure-“stupid”
2. Meg-really, super, alot
Whats doing?- whats up?
Null-boring
3. Constant connection and access to people and info through technology
Seems like most Americans are unaware of what is going on around the world
Same basic human emotions and tendencies
4. Schools are owned by corporations
Oceans are completely toxic
Individual nature bubbles for houses or blocks—air factories, individual suns etc.
5. Corporate control and consumerism
The dangers of technology
Complete destruction of nature

Social networking sites have changed the way we connect with both our closest friends and loose aquantainces. These sites have also changed the way we view privacy.

The facebook and twitter updates we post every day allow for our distance friends to get a look into our lives and daily routine. Constant updates and information about friends and aquantainces makes us feel much more socially connected without any direct connection, a phenomenon known as “ambient awareness.” I find myself experiencing this with my close friends who are far away. While I only see them on breaks our constant communication, especially with a form such as skype, makes it seem as though we are still a big part of eachothers lives.

I liked that the article pointed out that social networking sites can be beneficial when looking for jobs, or other forms of help and information that may not be available within your closest circle of friends. These sites can also be very helpful when organizing an event, raising awareness about an issue, etc. By allowing us to easily contact a larger cirlce we can get and share information quickly.

He also says that the extreme amount of information from “weak ties” can “spread your emotional energy too thin, leaving less for true intimate relationships.” I feel that by constanly focusing on or recieving updates from distant aquantances we are less able to focus on our own lives. It seems that people are often more concerned with what everyone else is doing than with living and doing things themselves.

I completely disagree with the idea that stopping to consider (and update) how you are doing every day can help a person to “know thyself.” In my experience (the majority of the time) those who are constantly updating their status are far less concerned with knowing themselves than with posting a status they believe will make them look “cool.”

Social networking sites are far from “identity constraining.” If anything i feel they allow people to experience others ideas, thoughts, style, etc. Tufekci makes that point that people cannot play with their identity because their audience is always checking on them. This point seems invalid since the audience in social networking is never fixed.