DTC 101 – Spring 2013

@Reneejo714

Sorry thought it posted!

What Coleman talks about reminds me of myself and many other people I personally know.  Coleman states how the internet has become the place where people interact with each other virtually. This is a way for people to present themselves however they like, even fool a complete stranger. When Coleman talked about the keyboard banger, I instantly thought of those who use online dating sites. My friends dad had an online dating profile, and time after time these ladies had dramatically lied about what they look like, and what they actually do. The internet has allowed people to escape into their own avatar and be whomever they want, even being able to escape the vivid life of reality. When I look through my twitter, I instantly see things from those I follow and I am completely shocked on what they tweet about, sometimes it’s jaw dropping wondering if it’s true. This brings up how Coleman talks how media can change the user, I completely agree. I know when I was in junior high I would see how some students would bully others through MySpace but would never confront them in person. Being protected by the screen and the avatar you choose gives people the extra confidence…sometimes too much. I do strongly believe that you have the power to say no to allow social networks change you. Use Facebook, twitter, instagram etc. in moderation. Still have coffee dates and real life adventures to make sure you don’t only consume yourself behind a screen.

I think social media is turning people into a bunch of narcissists, people are losing their identity with this new technology, and often times their morals.  People are more concerned with documenting and sharing whatever they doing in the moment with the world, no matter how trivial and abhorrent.  In the chapter “What is an Avatar?”  Coleman mentions writer Kevin Kelly “the augmented self as a symbiotic relationship with technology.”  In his assessment, technology has domesticated us.  Kelly does not indicate that we are enslaved, but rather, that we are “co-evolving”.” I’m not sure I share their inherent optimism, I feel that we are devolving with social media, and the instant gratification that is the Internet.   Much of the info we feed and read via social media is useless, it not only clouds the brain, but also changes wiring.  Some people argue that this new technology allows us to multi-task, but in general human beings lack the ability to to do more than two things effectively.  So while we updating our status, sending tweets, emailing, and writing a research paper, we are usually doing a bad job at at-least one of those.  Younger generations seem to view the Internet like air, they cannot imagine not having it.  They use social media, but some do not understand social mores.  Take the case in Steubenville Ohio, a girl was passed out and abused, and instead of her peers intervening they took video, and pictures, then posted it online.  There were tweets, youtube videos, and facebook updates of her humiliation.  The only regret many of these kids seem to have is that they posted it online, and that was only because it was evidence of their horrible behavior.  It is true that the very social media they used to humiliate this girl, was turned against them by the hacktivist group Anonymous, but even they can’t be everywhere at once.  As we “co-evolve” with social media, we must be cautious of our own exploitation and the exploitation of others with this new form of technology.

Coleman and Shirky’s idea of media changing the user could relate to us or me shall I say, as a teen due to the various social networks you could find on the internet. I mean Facebook and Twitter have a huge impact on most people around the world because of how people interact these days, otherwise known as the infamous “keyboard banger,” or person who hides behind a computer screen.
As Coleman describes, the Internet is by far the most common place as to where humans like to react or even pretend to be at. Behind a computer screen, people can control who they are and how they react on screen or also known as the social world. “Avatars,” are what represents the media users, and as mentioned on X-Reality, Coleman stated that people are actually engaging into their avatar world. Sometimes it could be an escape from reality.
The theory of both Coleman and Shirkey is represented by us, the users of the social media. It is everywhere. They even have applications for the social meadia. Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram; I have all of these social networks and it is just the way that I connect with my friends or followers, it is different to how we connect in reality. Some people just rather have their “avatar” represent them in both worlds. A lot of people go accordingly to Coleman and Shirkey’s theory of living the avatar life in the real world.

@JaredAbrahamWSU

I think that at this point everybody is connected through social media. Chances are if you don’t have a Facebook or Twitter account, you are view as an outcast by your peers. Social media effects how we form and relationships, both with our loved ones and the creepy guy at work that won’t leave you alone. One could argue that social media doesn’t just help you maintain relationships, but it also creates them as well. This is something that I find very interesting. these websites and apps have the power change us. the essence of who we are does not change but our personality or vocabulary will undoubtedly change the more we interact with our virtual world. So, how is it that  “media changes the user” ? (Coleman, 140) While I am sure that there are many good examples of ways that social media could change  the way that we act, I think that this is the most obvious. When we find a new friend on Facebook, there is a tendency to think either positively or negatively about the person  with which you are now best friends with. Or perhaps when you become Facebook friends with someone that you work with, you see a totally different side to that person. These revelations about interactions with social media could absolutely change the way you act online, as well as, the way that you interact with your virtual friends in the physical world. 

@ObergJustin

I definitely feel that social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter can change and influence the people that use them. I agree with Coleman’s statement, “Media use changes the user. With each shift in automation, simulation, and transmission, we discover not only new technologies but also new facets of ourselves.” I look at my Facebook page and I see photos of myself and of my friends, updates about what are going on in my friends’ lives, relationships forming, relationships falling apart and of course advertisements for a variety of different products that somehow are applicable to me. Because I was able to communicate with my friends more easily and more frequently through social networking sites, I definitely feel that I became a more social person in my teenage years. It was through Facebook my friends and I arranged parties and had conversations about our lives and got to know each other better. However, there is another side to social networks that can change users for the worse. Coleman also talks about how these new realities allow someone “to be cooler than in life”. Many people abuse these sites from innocently training themselves so that they can only communicate with people from behind a computer screen to overtly deceiving people about who they are and what their motives are. As long as people use these sites in moderation and in conjunction with their lives and not as a replacement for socializing in the real world, I think Facebook and Twitter will have a positive effect on the user using them.