@PerrinKyla
Coleman discusses that in the virtual world people “appeared to be cooler than in life” (pg.125). This can relate to how media changes the user because on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr someone can create an account and post pictures that are not truly pictures of themselves but of someone more attractive in order to get attention from other people. Anyone can log onto these social networks and become someone that they are not. Media allows the person to think that they are able to get away with pretending to be someone else. These social networks also allow people to be more outgoing then they would be face to face. For example, on Facebook someone could talk about how much they hang out with their friends and about all the crazy things they go out and do but face to face this person is really shy and doesn’t hang out with anyone. Coleman also references Albert Bandura’s model of agency in which he states “people’s belief about their capabilities to exercise control over events that affect their lives” (pg.136). Being a psychologist, Bandura accounts for how people think of not only themselves but how others will perceive them. This falls into Coleman’s definition of agency that says agency is how we understand ourselves as actors in an environment as well as how the environment will react to us. In my opinion this plays a major role in the way that social networks are used and how their influence can change the user.