Chelsey Kueffer 4551

Today I specifically was interested in the question that Professor Stern asked at the end of the group presentation. The question was in regards to the internet and law, and if the government should play a bigger role online. Overall, I think this is a touchy subject. It is truly awful to see that people are getting murdered or committing suicide over incidents that happen online, but I don’t necessarily feel as if it something that the government or law enforcements can control.
I think in more ways it would be an invasion of privacy and a disregard for the freedom of speech. I do think though, hate crime online should be treated just the same as hate crime in the physical world. I also think that bullying online should be dealt the same way it is dealt with in the physical space. But overall I think people should work on being more cyberliterate about these subjects. For a class, I read a book by Laura Gurak called cyberliteracy and it really made me want to understand what really goes on on the internet. I feel that everyone should be cyberliterate and learn about the different tools, sites, and issues online so that when the encounter a problem, they know how to handle it appropriately
I also believe that parents should have a greater involvement in what their children do online. They don’t necessarily have to track everything their kids do, but rather ask them about it. Many parents ask their children what they did at school, and they should also ask them what they did online today also.
The internet is a part of the way we live now, and as it progresses it will be increasingly difficult to control it without violating our freedoms that we have today.

Posted by kuef0014 at 10:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A few of my favorite discussions throughout 4551 include the ones about Professor Stern's book. A few of my favorite discussions throughout 4551 include the ones about Professor Stern's book. I think it is important to continue to look at how young adolescent girls participate online because in the future it dictates in many ways how they form relationships. Even further, I think it can help to answer questions and solve problems of other issues online such as cyberbullying. If we can understand what conversations are taking place online, we may be able to understand to the extent that cyberbullying is taking place. Increasingly, the internet is a second social setting, and just as we study the physical social setting, we must study and understand the cyber one as well. As we've talked about throughout class, forming identities online is a huge part of new age socializing. I find it interesting that young girls will post pictures of seductive women as their profile "pics" or that they will intentionally ignore someone to give off the perception that they are busy. As far as bullying, it was interesting to see that when some girls started to ignore one girl specifically, she reached out to Professor Stern instead of family members. This made me feel that maybe people really just feel more comfortable interacting online.
When Professor Stern did this research, I would have been in the same age group as the girls that were analyzed. I too remember using inappropriate language on the internet because it was easy and there were no parents. In fact, my parents didn’t know anything about AIM so it was easy for me to get away saying anything, things I would never say if I were at school. I also would put up “away messages” to give the perception that I was busy when I was really not.
When I got older and started to use facebook, I realized I did some of the same things. I would put up an away status even when I wasn’t busy, I would say things to other people that I would never say to their face, and I would mostly only allow pictures of myself to be posted where I looked good. After awhile, some people get used to playing a different identity, but for me I thought I was being someone way different than who I really was. Three years I got rid of facebook and am very happy. I’ve seen too many friends become more obsessed with their profile page than their real life. It would be interesting to see how these same girls use sites like facebook and myspace, and how and if what they did on AIM and what they do now are similar

Posted by kuef0014 at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One topic in the class that I have been increasingly interested in is the future of jobs in the Web 2.0 world. I liked that we discussed whether the internet will help us or hinder us in our future careers.

For some, the internet will give them more freedom for expression, but decrease their salaries and benefits. They say that journalists will never get paid like they used to. Does this mean we will see less journalism or more? I don’t know. As journalism major I think about this all the time. I want health care and a good salary, but I also do not want to compromise my passion because of the internet. I think there will be a lot of room for my generation to think of great ideas, especially when I put into consideration that half the jobs that we’ll need to fulfill are not even created yet. We are the pioneers of Web 2.0. We have such an important role in the future…it’s crazy to think about.

I like both the thoughts of Manuel Castells and Naomi Klein. This new labor force will not be looking for the strong bodies of the industrial revolution, but the strong minds of the digital. If it is true that low skill jobs will be replaced with high skill jobs, than it is more important than ever that we invest in technological education. I often wonder if the journalism school has any plans to restructure the courses towards a more digital emphasis.

I am concerned about job morale. People like to be comfortable and stable. A disposable workforce might kill the morale at work. Why would people want to do good at their job if they know they are going to be laid off or fired in weeks. I recently read an interesting article about how although jobs are getting cut, pay is rising. Bosses realize that people need incentives to do good jobs. I think this will also be an interesting task that the workforce will have to deal with.

The last thing I wanted to comment about is unpaid internships. This in itself creates a divide. Some of the best summer internships are unpaid, but if you cannot afford to not work (which many can not) or move to where these best internships are, then you will not have the best experience, and maybe not get the best job. There is an article about this if anyone is interested in reading about it. http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2006/10/27/publiceye/entry2132389.shtml

Overall, I believe that the internet will create a different work force, one where it is imagined that many will be left out. But in reality, it does not have to be that way. Sometimes I feel that I am either for or against the internet, when I should pay more attention to how the internet and the physical space can benefit each other. Maybe I should stop reading Keen? There is no way around it. Web 2.0 is here to stay.

Posted by kuef0014 at 7:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today I was especially intrigued with the group presentation about the digital divide. As a child, teenager and young adult who has always had the luxury of having a computer around, I forget what it would be like sometimes to be on the other side of the divide.

I depend on the internet for so many things. To communicate, search for jobs/internships, recipes, shopping and tons of other information. I depend on it for WebCT, to post blogs, to do almost everything school related. I can sit in my bed and do things on the internet, at my kitchen table or in a coffee shop. From having to do all of these tasks as a college student, I have learned certain skills that come second hand to me: Using Microsoft, surfing the internet, using email. It’s hard for me to imagine that people have to wait inline for hours not only to get access, but to get taught simple things like using Microsoft Word.

With the rise of sites like craigslist, monster jobs and the hundreds of other sites, the internet is a crucial tool for finding jobs. Even simple jobs like working at Target or McDonalds. Everything seems more easily found on the internet. With out the internet, many have, and will continue to have, a harder time finding jobs. I can’t count the number of times I’ve applied for jobs and they’ve told me to submit my resume online. What happens if you don’t have access to the internet? So many people seem to be left behind, but when you’re not one of them, it’s hard to slow down and walk in another person’s shoes.

Because of this, I think that the one laptop per child is a necessary step to closing the digital divide. More than anything, the youth of the world needs to get acquainted with the internet because it is the future of jobs, education, socialization, consumption…everything. I also think that it is important that we teach the older generations about the internet. With factory jobs disappearing, like the current automobile situation, it is important that there be workshops for our parent’s generation. For example, my mom stresses out at work every time she has to go on the internet. It shouldn’t be like that. Everyone should feel comfortable with Web 2.0, or at least be able to use it to some extent. It is important to spread cyber-literacy across the world, and it will be my generation’s job to do so.

Posted by kuef0014 at 7:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The whole time I sat watching dateline I was biting my nails. I do this when I'm nervous, unsure, uncomfortable, and scared...And that is exactly what all of those Dateline segments did to me. In fact, I don't really have great nails anymore because these past two years the journalism school has basically said "yea...you might not find a job but don't worry what you are learning is really important...but just maybe won't be needed in the future." I guess that's a different blog for a different day...BUT is scares me to think a timeless medium of communication could be something I look at in a museum someday.

I know that newspapers are lying off people like crazy, and soon enough, if not already, we will be able to see the consequences of that. Less coverage, less interesting stories...less everything. And then where will the bloggers go to get their information, and where will loyal blog followers go to get theirs? I don't understand the impact blogging will have yet, but I’m sure along with all the great things it has done, there will be some regrets.

I am so frustrated and confused about the future of journalism. People I know are dropping out of the Journalism school and are going to spend an extra year to get a different degree. Professors don’t seem too hopeful for their aspiring students, maybe with the exception of Professor Stern. In 2006 it was so different (when I started school). I feel like everything just started falling apart in a flash of a second. Watching dateline to say the least was depressing. I'm not even out in the work force yet and I feel like I've been laid off. What will all of these smart journalist do? And what can they do when money dictates everything. There must be some solutions, and I look forward to discussing them in this class. I don't think the guy on the Daily show has the solution though, how can we possibly go back and start charging people. I can't believe TIME even published his ideas...it's not like that's an original idea or anything.

I ask myself if I have contributed to this. Yes, I have. I have helped nearly kill (or at least make pretty sick) the profession that I want to go into someday. I read online news, I use craigslist and I rarely buy a paper. I mean what can one say after watching that Dateline. "Yah! I'm so happy I'm going to school for journalism." I do respect the honesty of my professors, but just as the media has to think of new innovations to pick themselves up, professors need to do the same thing with their students. People in the J school, at least my peers, are not feeling optimistic. We need our school to back us up. In the face of adversity, they've run and hidden from us.

Posted by kuef0014 at 10:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I think that too often people only see the internet as a positive tool without analyzing it objectively. The internet has done great things for us no doubt. Free and easy ways to access information and to communicate with others are the reasons why I use the internet. I look on Craigslist for apartments, furniture, jobs. I don't think I've ever looked in the newspaper's classifieds, nor have I thought of the consequences of not doing that. The difference from the internet world and the physical world is that we don’t have to think about consequences….Is that good for us? Good for society?

I like all the things that Andrew Keen brings to our attention. It is important in journalism, that we look at things objectively, and with technology advancing faster than what sometimes seem humans can handle, it's important that we take a seat and actually look at what's going on. Reading this book made me take a seat and really think about all the daily actions I do that involve the internet.

I also liked his ideas about the amateur and the expert so much that I am writing a paper about it for a different class. Having to always decipher what is real and what is not takes a lot of fun and time out of researching and learning about different topics. I don't want some guy who pretends he's a professor at Harvard giving me "expert" advice on economics. Being skeptical about everything is tiring and certainly not enjoyable. I want experts around. I want to know that people have spent years studying subjects. I value there time and their intelligence, and it will be a sad day when they can not afford to be “experts” anymore. The internet doesn’t have manners like the physical world does. You can say anything, be anything, and do just about anything without any consequences. I think this has created a false reality for many people (in class we talked about this false sense of friendship, false sense of being an active citizen, false sense of community). Someday there will be tons of research to show how the internet has affected us mentally and socially.

I also agree that sites like Youtube contain a lot of useless information, and that I get stuck watching it! For the first time the other night I watched the famous "David high after dentist." I laughed so hard. But later on my friends and I started talking about it and we wondered why someone's parent would tape their kid high after getting stitches from the dentist. People seem to do anything to get attention, and Youtube lets them do just that.

I think it is important the people become more cyberliterate (Gurak has a great book called cyber-literacy) and understand that the internet is a tool and not a form of life. I guess I’m a doomer when I say I miss getting letters.

Posted by kuef0014 at 9:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)