Effects of Social Networking

“Second Life Teaches Life Lessons”

2009-09-29T20:58:00.000-07:00

“Second Life Teaches Life Lessons” is a game review that discusses the different ways people have been using the well known virtual community called “Second Life.”

The review discussed the many beneficial uses people have developed for the virtual community “Second Life.” While it is not as popular as other online games, Second Life is a very popular game with an unrestricted environment that allows players to fly, drive vehicles, dress up and build just about anything. There are no limits to the ways people can interact online. They can communicate and socialize in various ways such as normal chatting, instant messaging, clubs, or associations. However, it is also unexpectedly being used as a way to test the ability of business school students and for children to rediscover social skills. For example, a British organization called ARCI is using Second Life to help abused children by using the game to working on socialization, collaboration, team building, computer skills and more. The ability to get in touch with people they don’t personally know seems to break down the barrier of socializing. Second Life was also used with another project, called live2give, which was a means to provide a forum in which nine adults with cerebral palsy could share in the everyday personal interactions that their lives would otherwise lack. They also shared a single Second Life avatar which allowed them experience being around other people without being judged. While these are all benefits gained from this form of social networking, it can still be used in the ways other social networking sites are used. This means kids can allow it to take over most of their socialization in the same ways sites like MySpace and Facebook have replaced time spent with their friends in person. The added level of anonymity that comes from having an avatar encourages teens to express themselves and behave in ways that would consequential if it were in person. Cyberbullying and online predation can also occur on a site such as this since it is a social networking site, and therefore has few limitations on what people can say or through online communication.

"How Obama Did It"

2009-09-29T20:25:00.000-07:00

"How Obama Really Did It" is an article that describes Obama's use of social networking to his advantage in his presidential campaign.

The topic discussed in the article was the success of Obama’s methods of using a social network was critical in his success during the primary elections on March 4th. About 104,000 Texans had joined Obama's social networking site, called MyBO. MyBO and the main campaign site made it easy to donate money, which is needed to pay for a campaign’s advertising and staff. The month before, a senator from Illinois had gathered $55 million in donations in one month. One reason for this success was the fact that Americans are more comfortable with social networking technologies, which are much more advanced nowadays. Obama’s campaign also used the viral internet to introduce people online to the site. To aid this, the campaign posted and linked to different forms of multimedia created by supporters, such as his videos of his speeches along with a music video set to his speech. The campaign also used text messages to ensure that Obama was well-known on other social networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. This resulted in around 50,000 Obama supporters who kept track of his posts.

"Growing Up Online"

2009-09-29T18:34:00.001-07:00

"Growing Up Online" is a documentary that discusses many of the issues and effects social networking has caused on teenagers in this day and age.

The topic discussed in the documentary was the issue of the internet taking over the lives teenagers in the U.S. About 90% of all teens in the U.S. are connected to the internet. Many of these teenagers are using some sort of social network, such as MySpace or Facebook. Through these websites, teenagers can communicate with hundreds of people. Many teenagers are constantly on these websites, waiting for any new updates or comments any of their friends have left them. This form of online socialization is replacing spending time with friends in person for a large number of teenagers. Because of these sites and the feeling of anonymity the internet gives, teenagers feel free to behave and express themselves in ways they would not do in person. A main concern this causes is the fact that many of their parents have no idea of these social networks that their kids are involved in and most parents who do have great difficulty controlling their kids' actions online. In an attempt to work with this internet age some school teachers using different methods to give lectures and assignments, such as using computer presentations in class and posting class material on websites to adapt to what kids nowadays are used to. Two growing concerns are the threats of online predators and cyberbullying. While most teens know to avoid suspicious and prying messages online, there are some kids that do become victims of these online predators. However, these kids are usually not deceived and know that they are going to meet a stranger but end up exploited by these predators. Cyberbullying is another growing problem with kids on the internet. Because of the lack of limitations on the internet, bullying in school continues even after kids have gone home. There have been some cases which have resulted in kids committing suicide because of the harassment they have received from people on the internet.

Starting Things Off

2009-09-29T18:30:00.000-07:00

This is a "practice post."

This is my blog for the class, "CS12 - Understanding Personal Computers." I will be posting information dealing with the effects of social networking on our society and our current generation.