Evaluation Blog

Through this class we have learned not only what pop culture is, but how it affects us. Going into this class I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. What could I possibly learn about pop culture that could benefit me? This class has proven me wrong thinking that there is nothing more to pop culture than celebrities and movies and music. However, I didn’t enjoy some of the long readings that seemed to repeat themselves, which ended up just confusing me by the time I had to take a quiz on them. Overall this class was entertaining and educational.

In class discussions were usually entertaining. I enjoy how everyone is required to get involved in the discussion because it keeps the class from getting monotonous. While some people tended to speak more frequently than others, everyone had the chance to contribute. I think a lot of this class is your own opinion on pop culture so hearing every ones ideas led me to create my own ideas about pop culture.

I have taken your classes before so I am used to doing online blogs. Blogs are an interesting way to get us to contribute. I enjoy doing them because it allows students to read each others thoughts on different topics, instead of turning in a hard copy of a paper to the professor that we wont ever get to share.

The final project is also different from any other final I have done in my college career. While in most classes we have a long test and essays in this one we actually get to have some fun. Making a boardgame is just as beneficial to me as taking a test because while creating the game I have learned things about pop culture that will stay in my memory. Rather than cramming for a test and then flushing everything I crammed in there, I think a lot of these things have really helped me learn about pop culture.

I wasn’t aware how much pop culture affects our daily lives. As a consumer I now have a different perspective on some issues that deal with pop culture and mass culture. While a lot of the time I think its just culture, there is no need to over analyze every little detail, I have been opened up to the idea that some things do happen for a reason and not without a hidden intention. Overall I think this whole experience is one that I will always remember. Its not usual for students to go to a bar for class, or make a phone call, or watch a popular movie and then take a quiz on it. This class is out of the ordinary while still teaching me theories and ideas about pop culture.

Ads and Pop Culture

The two ads I evaluated for this weeks blog were two ads for a airline company. I’m not sure if they were selling tickets, but I think it was just selling the idea of the product. The advertisement from before 1990 had a picture of an airplane flying in front of a globe. Pretty standard airline ad, it showed exactly what the product does and showed that the airline flew around the world. The advertisement from now was of a man and a woman making out in a swimming pool. Looking at the ad you would have absolutely no idea what they are selling. In the bottom corner of the advertisement is a logo of the airline company and it said something along the lines of, “we’ll fly you to a romantic destiniation” or something dumb like that. However, the main focus of the ad were these two good looking people making out.

The first ad is trying to sell exactly what it is. Its trying to make you chose them to fly around the world. The second ad is selling sex. Its an airline company and all it is selling is two people making out which does not relate to an airline company at all unless you are interested in joining the mile-high club. The ads tell us a lot about the culture of the period they were produced in. The ad prior to 1990 was still in the culture where ads sold the product, they didn’t hide behind subliminal messages or fake images, but they sold the exact product. I would say now that our culture sells images and ideas rather than products. It’s the same with Nike, you never see the shoes or the clothing or the product, you always just get sold the idea and image of Nike.

Now a days we are so image driven that consumers care mostly about the image they are buying. People want to buy what is most popular and most appealing. When an airline company sells sex, which to some is more appealing than an airplane ride, they are drawing in consumers who are concerned with image rather than product. Selling sex doesn’t show us that they have comfortable seats, or good service, or cheapest tickets, it just says that if you are sexy you chose this airline which is completely ridiculous.

In the reading it talked about advertising and it said this “Now they say less about the product directly, and are more concerned with sending up or parodying ads by citing other ads, and status.” This is exactly what ads these days are doing. Rarely can you watch advertisements on tv or look at them in magazines and know what they are trying to sell you. We are a culture consumed by our obsession with image and advertisers know this.

Pop Culture and Politics

Pop culture and politics mix everywhere. Especially when politics are aimed at our age demographics, I feel like politics use pop culture to connect with us as a younger demographic.
The example I am using for this week is Oprah taking a stand for Obama and literally standing with him in Iowa, South Carolina, and New Hampshire. Oprah is an icon in todays celebrities. She is definitely one of the most recognizable talk show hosts of today.

So how does pop culture influence politics? This is a perfect example. Here we have someone who is a celebrity, crossing over into the political arena. When she makes it known that she is supporting Obama in the presidential race, she is hoping all her millions of viewers and supporters are going to agree with her. Oprah is a talk show hosts, who specializes in sappy stories that make us sit for an hour in front of our tv and cry. So what does she know about politics and why should I believe what she believes? She is just a pop culture icon, using her celebrity status to swing a vote.

Oprah made the decision to publicly announce that she was supporting Obama, and I don’t think she realized there could be repercussions. After she made that stand, her ratings dropped. Not everyone that watches her wants to vote democratic, and not wanting to support the democratic party, they can no longer support Oprah. Here is how politics crosses in to pop culture. Oprah’s shows didn’t change, she still had the same subjects and her topics didn’t become politically minded. But because she showed the world where she stands politically, she lost dedicated fans.

In our society it’s the unspoken rule that you don’t talk about two things to strangers, politics and religion. When either becomes the topic, you are bound to offend somebody by something you say. Everyone has their own opinions and everyone wants to be right about those. When a celebrity that is followed, I’d even argue idolized, takes a stand and goes from being an everyday talk show host to a political supporter, she is putting herself at risk. Nobody wants pop culture and politics to mix.

But as Fiske would argue, we need micropolitical changes to create macropolitcal changes. So it has to start somewhere. Someone has to take an individual stand to create change. In this example, Oprah uses her status as a pop culture icon to start somewhere, she is trying as an individual to make a change. While she may have lost some viewers, she probably has influenced many more to vote for Obama.

Clothing Blog

I was excited for this blog because we get to do one of my favorite things, people watch. I could sit and watch people for hours so this was a fun project. For my three locations to watch people at I chose Clods, Dutch Bros, and my church. Each location had extremely different people in different dress who were all acting in different ways.

The first location I went to was Dutch Bros. This seemed like a really casual place to go. Most people were dressed in jeans and t-shirts and seemed to be dressed for class. The majority of the individuals who walked in the door looked like students on their way to class. I was people watching in the morning and it was funny to watch people who looked like they just rolled out of bed and walked to get coffee. Those people tried to avoid eye contact with everyone. The people who were dressed and ready for the day seemed to be more talkative in line and willing to talk to the baristas.

The second location I went to was my church. This of course was a completely different vibe. Everyone at church was dressed nicely. No one showed up in sweat pants or a sweatshirt. Guys wore button up shirts and jeans or slacks and girls were mostly in dresses and skirts and heels. I think it goes without saying that it’s a known fact that people dress up when they go to church. Our culture says that’s what we are supposed to do and I couldn’t imagine what the reactions would be like if I came to church in my sweats. Everyone was very friendly to each other and everyone seemed to carry themselves with confidence. I think if someone would have showed up dressed outside of the norm they probably could have gotten some strange reactions out of others. Maybe not necessarily mean reactions, I think people would probably just wonder what that other was thinking.

The last location I went to was Clods. I went there on a Saturday night which is a pretty typical ‘going out’ night. The people here were dressed much differently then either other location I went to. Girls were all done up. Hair and make-up, sparkly revealing tops, and either short skirts, or tight jeans. And almost every girl was wearing heels; there may have been one or two girls not in heels. The guys were also done up. But in a different sort of way. They were wearing their typical t-shirt and jean combo but here they had their hair done and seemed to be more conscious of what matches what. Shirts looked ironed instead of pulled out of the dirty clothes pile. At a place like Clods on a Saturday night everyone is dressing to impress. Whether they are dressing to impress the opposite sex, or to out do their competition, they all seemed to be trying to make an impression by what they wore. This may be judgmental, but to me it seemed like the more scandalously a girl was dressed the harder she was trying to get some free drinks and flirt with guys. I think here more than any other place, what you wear results in how people treat you. I guarantee if I went to Clods looking like I do when I roll out of bed, and tried to talk to a bunch of people I would get ignored. On the other hand, if I spent hours getting ready and dressed a little more scandalously, I’d probably get more attention not only from males but from other girls too.

Our culture is so into clothing that everyone seems to be preoccupied with what they wear. What you wear expresses who you are and how others perceive you. When I show up to class in sweats I don’t want people to think I’m lazy and sloppy because I’m usually not, but that is the image I portray. What is popular to wear is chosen by pop culture. We see ads and hear music that tells us what looks good and what is the popular thing to do. When people don’t follow these underlying rules they aren’t viewed as highly as others that do. It seems like taking a stand against this would only hurt your image and how others view you. So my question is, knowing that pop culture affects what we wear and how we act towards others by what they wear, what can we do to make a difference about that?

Letter vs. Email

This week I chose to write to two different people that have had a big impact in my life. The first I chose to write a hand written letter to was my best friend from high school, and the second I wrote an email to was my brother.

In class everyone talked about how hard it was for them to write the hand written letter. I personally didn’t agree. I like writing notes and letters to people because it shows them that you care enough to take time out of your day thinking about them. Granted, it is more difficult to have to think about what you write before you write it because there is no delete button, I don’t think its any more difficult than writing an email. In each scenario I was making myself vulnerable by telling someone how much they mean to me when it was unexpected. Most people don’t write sentimental letters out of no where. While I wrote the email over a week ago I have not gotten a hand written response. My best friend called me and insisted we go to dinner to catch up. This is just how our culture is. We talked about the culture of cell phones in class and this lined up with it perfectly. Instead of sitting down and writing me a letter back that would take a few days to reach me, he called me because it was quicker and easier and would get the job done faster. Our culture wants it now and using a phone instead of writing a long letter fits right in with that.

After writing the hand written letter I sat down and wrote an email to my brother. This is our main form of communication anyways so it wasn’t out of the ordinary for me to send him an email. However, he was rather startled by what the email contained. I got this response “wow Anna, thanks I appreciate you too.” And that was the last of it. I’ve seen him since and he hasn’t said a word. My brother and I aren’t usually super vocal about how much we care about each other so he probably didn’t know what to do in that situation. This doesn’t bother me at all because I was completely expecting it. Our culture doesn’t encourage vulnerability, and I feel like its especially strict on males. Pop culture has created the strong, emotionless guy while the girl is able to show her emotions and its not thought about twice.

When writing my letters I was writing with a producerly like text. It could have been readerly because I was writing and who ever was reading should just accept what I say as true. But it could also be writerly because it challenges what they think and feel and they have to challenge their vulnerability. Because it is challenging but also must be accepted with a mind ready to accept it, it becomes a producerly text.

I’ve done this assignment two other times before and I think this is the first time I really thought about how pop culture affects even little things like how my friend called me instead of wrote me back. I would except him to do that but I never would have thought twice about why he would chose to do that. Its sad that we have a culture that is so based on time that people don’t even take time out of their days to tell the people that mean the most to them that they do.

Footloose

For this weeks blog we were asked to watch a movie from a different time period then movies of today. I chose to watch the movie Footloose. The basis of the story line is that a big city kid who loves dancing moves to a small town where music and dancing aren’t allowed. Despite the ban he continues to do what he loves.

The movie says a lot about the 80s culture. The 80s were a time of rebellion. Sexual things weren’t as socially acceptable as they are today, but going through the rebellion of the 80s put us at where we are today dealing with those issues. It was a time to break free from what was so rigid about society. This movie shows the culture of the 80s in the main character when he does what he loves no matter who says he cant. While dancing and music aren’t allowed, these two things could be substituted with any vice that an individual might have that wasn’t viewed as acceptable. The main girl in the movie is dating the popular jock and when she meets the rebellious main character she falls in love with him instead. This could relate to the culture of the 80s when people were trying to be different and no longer were trying to be the perfect cookie cutter individual. The head cheerleader falling for someone other than the best football player was seen as a faux paus and she was breaking free of that norm.

The movie was made at this time because it represented the struggle that individuals faced at that time. There was a struggle between being a goody goody and being someone who broke the mold and turned their back to the stiff morals that everyone was so accustomed to. Dancing and music could be interchanged with so many things, something like drugs or alcohol or even sex. Things that people enjoyed that society viewed as a negative. The movie allowed individuals to feel better about things they loved that they maybe shouldn’t have.

This movie also goes along with the reading in the book relating James Bond and structuralism. The structure of the movie follows every other popular type of movie story line. There is a good guy fighting against the bad guy and in the end he wins the girl. This movie puts itself in the pop culture arena because it follows those guide lines that everyone can relate to, a battle of good versus evil. It also embodies semiotics because it shows that so many things can stand for something different. Signs and words and language can stand for something so much more than it is. The battle to want to dance was more than just a kid wanting to dance in a little city.

Music Genres

For the blog this week I chose to listen to four songs that would be categorized as ‘pop’ music. You can usually find me listening to country or folk or some sort music that wouldn’t be found on popular radio stations. I went on iTunes and found the top four songs on the pop charts and went from there.

The music categorized as ‘pop’ differs greatly from the country music I normally listen to. While country music tends to tell some sort of a story I feel like pop music could sing about absolutely nothing as long as it has a catchy beat. Adorno says that people who listen to popular music are childish, and are likely to distraction and inattention. In my opinion you cant pay close attention to the lyrics of pop music or you will disappointed in how dumb some of the lyrics may be.

Country music talks about love a lot, maybe too much sometimes. But the songs tend to be focused on getting over break ups or actual true love songs. I feel like listeners can easily relate. Pop music tends to focus on the physical aspects of love, if you catch my drift. Not as many listeners can relate to ‘making love in the club’ as they can to having their heart broken or something of the sort. Pop music also doesn’t seem to sing about family very much. I didn’t find a single song that had family as the focus. Country music doesn’t sing as much about family as it does about love, but a lot of the lyrics include family and family values.

Country and Pop also differ when talking about play. In country terms, playing is going fishing and riding tractors and playing in the dirt. Pop music defines playing as dancing and singing and clubbing. I think that the differences in the lyrics of country and pop are based on the values that the writers and singers have. Each genre portrays a different lifestyle and relates with different groups of people. Pop music to me would be categorized as popular music because it fills the air on numerous radio stations. Adorno also talks about the standardization of music, which makes listeners think they are listening to something new and different when in reality its all the same. To me, that completely defines pop music. All the lyrics are similar and all the beats are similar, there is always just a small difference in the tune or how the beat goes that makes people think the songs are different. I’ll stick to my country music.

Reality Television

Reality shows are everywhere. Every channel, whether it’s MTV or TLC has some sort of reality show because America is addicted to them. Most of the reality shows playing, or at least the most successful ones are dedicated to showing people at their worst. Real World, Bad Girls Club, and others showcase individuals who do stupid things while intoxicated. So why do we love to watch worthless television so much?

Fiske’s definition of carnival is exactly what reality shows are. “Characterized by laughter, bad taste, and offensiveness and degradation”, an exaggeration, “a second world and second life outside officialdom”. The most prominent reality shows are degrading, offensive, filled with individuals who define bad taste, and on most accounts the viewers are able to laugh at them. Each reality show that I have watched with in the past week (Bad Girls Club, The Bachelor, John and Kate Plus Eight, Keeping up with the Kardashians, The Girls Next Door, Deadliest Catch, the list could go on and on) embodies a different form of carnival. I would say Bad Girls Club (a show about six ‘bitches’ who live together and fight) is a billingsgate. It is a vulgar terrible show that makes you feel like a saint when you watch it.

Most the time after watching a ridiculous episode of some reality show I try and find a justification for putting myself through that. Most of the justifications are how good you can feel about yourself when you are done with it. I think a lot of reality shows have this effect. Your life seems ten times more normal and sane compared to the trash we can watch on tv. You can either feel better about how kind you are compared to a bunch of bitches, or feel like you have a better chance at finding love then girls competing on a show, or be thankful you don’t have eight children. Reality shows find their niche in showing something out of the ordinary, something that not everyone can do or be or are used to.

The spectacle that is provided varies with the show. John and Kate Plus Eight is about John and Kate who have a set of twins and then a set of sextuplets. While nothing vulgar or degrading happens on the show, people can find relief in the fact they don’t have eight kids. I think a show like this has morals and values that you can take from an episode. It shows that two people can be in love and make it work even though they are constantly struggling with dealing with eight kids. The spectacle of the Bad Girls Club does the opposite. You don’t find morals and values on a show where girls just get drunk and fight. I think these girls use their bodies as a site of struggle more than others. They are voted on the show because they are known bitches, so they have to act up to a certain expectation. Maybe they want to change and get better and learn self control, but the show probably makes them want to act out more strongly against this idea. Reality shows pounce on individuals who are struggling and make money off of their imperfections.

Reality television is on every channel. Despite how degrading or ridiculous each show might be, we all still watch. Reality tv becomes an addiction. Turning it on just makes you feel that much better about yourself.

Pop Culture across Generations

These interviews found to be a lot more challenging than imagined. Both my father and my grandmother had a hard time remembering things that they would consider popular. They said that the times have changed so much its hard to place different cultures with different time periods.

For the first generation (35-60) I chose to interview my dad. If he were 22 the year would be 1976 and according to him “I wasn’t really into that whole pop culture stuff”. I think this was just an excuse for his bad memory. But things he mentioned remembering from the 1970’s that he would consider popular included the punk fashion style. He said he never understood what those kids were thinking dressing like that, but he remembers how big of a deal it was. A movie that stood out to him was the movie Rocky. Music he can think back to included Queen and Paul McCartney.

The second generation (61+) I interviewed my grandma. If she were my age she would have been in the 1940s. The first thing that stood out to her was WWII. She said in this time young adults were dealing with the depression and the wake of the war. She stated that a lot of people her age were seeking for an outlet to escape reality. Things that they turned to were music and television. Music included Big Bands and jazz, including swing dancing and night clubs. Its too strange for me to imagine my little old grandma at a night club swing dancing. She also said that this was when radio was really big and that’s how people found out about the war if they couldn’t go to the movies. A person she said stands out in her mind as a 1940s pop culture symbol would be Bob Hope.

My dad was really not a lot of help as to teaching me about the pop culture of the 70s. My grandma on the other hand taught me a lot. I think that music and dancing and movies were a big part of the 40s because of what she said, young adults looking to escape the reality of the depression. Swing dancing can definitely take your mind off of what is really going on. I think that radio was really popular as well because of the war. Political leaders started using propaganda through the radio to get people to side with them on views of the war.

After conducting these interviews I began to think about what happens when I am 50. What will I remember from my 20s? I think that the pop culture of our generations are so much different but still have some of the same ideas throughout. There are young adults now trying to escape reality but they do it in different ways. Am I going to remember the rise and fall of Brittney Spears or will I remember the ipod? From this assignment I learned that pop culture can change very quickly and it is all relative to who is experiencing it. Different people can view different things as pop culture and those definitions of pop culture can be true to them.

Wants and Needs Blog

I knew that when we were first assigned the project of keeping track of all our expenditures that I wasn’t going to like what I saw. I mindlessly spend little amounts of money on little worthless things, a pack of gum here, parking meters there, picking stuff up for my roommates at the grocery store that I never get reimbursed for. By the end of my five days I realized I had spent way more money then I could have ever imagined. Which made me think, what could I be doing with all this extra cash I could be saving?

Then when I evaluated what I actually bought, I realized 90% of the things I purchased were complete wants. While I did buy groceries, and I needed food to survive, I could have probably lived off the things in my cupboards longer than I wanted too. I didn’t need to buy a Subway Sandwich, I had bread and meat and all the other toppings at home, I was just too lazy to do it myself. The only three purchases in my five days of keeping track that I could justify as needs were laundry soap and gas and text books. I consider these needs because they are essential to my daily life. If I didn’t buy gas I couldn’t drive to work therefore I couldn’t make money to pay for school and rent and food and essentially I would be on the streets. A couple of times when discussing this project with my roommates I tried to justify my wants to turn them into needs. I tried to explain that I absolutely needed to buy a cup of coffee because otherwise I wouldn’t make it through the day, and I couldn’t just make my own coffee at home because I was out of cream and without cream I cant drink my coffee. I was being ridiculous.

After analyzing what I decided my wants and needs are I began to try and relate it to popular culture. It is very much a part of our culture to buy a cup of overpriced coffee (trust me, I would know, I work at a coffee stand) and be seen with your cup. When students buy coffee before class, I believe they purposely would chose to buy a Starbucks or a Dutch Bros because the cup with have the logo on it which says they have extra cash to spend on frivolous things. So far we have learned that popular culture is the subordinates thriving off the dominant, rebelling against them and then creating their culture. As a poor starving college student I am a subordinate in this society, while the dominant are telling me I have to spend too much on text books and other things I don’t care to buy. I was going against the dominant (the OSU Bookstore) because I looked at prices at the bookstore and chose not to buy some of my books there because they were way too expensive. This was my chance to act against the dominant.

I think most of the time people aren’t conscious about their purchases. I now know that I could be saving a lot more money if I would keep track of things I spend on and cut down on wants and save for my needs. While there are times when I think popular culture affects what I buy and what I don’t buy, I don’t think I address these issues before actually making a purchase. Most of the time I just buy and consume and then move on.

Last Blog!

Well, its finally time to write my final blog. Looking back on the experience it wasn’t nearly as nerdy as I thought it was going to be. Going into this I joked with my roommates about how I was going to have a blog and they could check in every week to see how I am doing and that’s how they could check up on me. As far as we were concerned blogging was only for people who lived in dungeons with no friends. This class has proven to me that blogging, internet communities, internet culture is so much more than nerds with nothing better to do.

To my surprise I liked having to respond to my classmates blogs. Well maybe not the responding to, but I enjoyed reading what my classmates had to say and I liked seeing everyones personalities expressed through their blog sites. I usually forgot to do the response assignment until right before it was due, but it was always interesting to hear other peoples perspectives and see what they thought about the weekly topic. In a classroom setting not everyone shares their opinions and you only hear from the same people you hear from in every class. This gave me an opportunity to hear from multiple people and I really enjoyed that. Each person had a very unique style of writing and it was fun to read.

The thing I liked least about this class was reading from Postman. Most of the things he said went completely over my head and I either completely disagreed with him or I didn’t understand what the heck he was talking about. If I could change one thing from this class it would be that book. Wood and Smith was alright to read and made me stretch my brain on certain topics. I dreaded each week that I was assigned to respond to Postman. While it was an interesting assignment I also did not like having to abstain from the internet. It got difficult because we rely on the internet so much for daily activities. I wouldn’t necessarily say to change that about the class, it just was the least fun blog for me to do.

Overall the class was interesting and a better experience then what I had prepared myself for. I have only taken one class online before and it was an economics course so it was a completely different experience. The responses and blogging were a good way to make me feel like I was actually a part of a class rather than just doing homework that is due online and never knowing that there is anyone else out there going through the same things as me. This internet course was an overall positive experience and I would recommend it to other Communication students.

Blog Week Nine

The worst story I have heard in the media lately that has to do with the misuse of the internet was a story they had on Dr. Phil the other day. I usually don’t watch the show, but my roommates were all watching it and I was intrigued by the sick people on the show. I’m going to make up names of the girls involved because I don’t remember them. So there is a girl named Karlee, and a girl named Anna. And Anna and Karlee are best friends but they get in a big fight. So Karlee’s mom takes it upon herself to get back at Anna. She makes a myspace account pretending to be this cute boy that is in love with Anna. Anna falls in love over the internet and when that happens, Karlee’s mom breaks up with her and breaks her heart. Anna then commits suicide because of her broken heart.

This story completely disgusted me. The fact that some woman, a mother, would go on myspace and create a false account as a teenage boy; all with the intentions to break a girls heart. I thought it was disgusting. The worst part is that the mother and Karlee both felt no remorse about what they did. In fact, Karlee and her mom sued Anna’s family for blaming them for their daughters death. I completely disagree with the misuse of the internet. There was absolutely no justification for what she did. You cant trust people these days but I wasn’t aware someone could do something so low. It was immature and out of line for the mom to do this. However, the internet is so insecure and anything is possible.

I don’t think its possible to prevent these sorts of things from happening. The internet is so unregulated and there is no sort of security to prevent these things. I think people have to use common sense but not everyone does. An internet security could be created but its too hard to regulate sites like myspace where anyone and everyone can make a webpage.
Postman states that technopoly is without a moral center. Postman may be correct when we look at stories like this. There is not much we can do to prevent things like this except to make sure we are using our own common sense and good judgment. Obviously someone who was completely stable wouldn’t commit suicide over an internet relationship anyway but it can still negatively affect someones life.

Blog Week 8

An experience I have had with online communication that did not occur in the 385 communication class occurred last summer. I was seeking out an internship at Pebble Beach Golf Course in California and I had been in touch with the lady in charge. Over a two week period we had been emailing back and forth. I first had to send in my resume and then she wanted me to send in a cover letter stating my goals for the internship before finalizing anything. That should have not been a problem at all. Except for the fact that she responded to the second email address posted on my resume rather than the email address we had been using. A couple weeks had passed by before I realized I hadn’t heard from her. I emailed her again to check up and by the time that had happened she had already filled the position. This was all a big miscommunication due to the issues with email. Probably mostly my fault but I don’t take full credit for the problem.

The situation could have been eased if we were not in the realm of cyberspace. If we had been talking over the phone rather than over the internet then I would have had direct communication and instead of waiting a few weeks we would have accomplished everything within a couple conversations. I learned my lesson and deleted my extra email account and now only work with one. Most people these days have a couple of email address and juggle different accounts. I cant even juggle two! The internet is getting so big and becoming such a large part of our daily communication that I guess it makes sense for people to have multiple accounts for different parts of their lives. People use email for business accounts, personal accounts, and school accounts. After my mishap I combined them all into one.

I thought that this issue was going to burn some bridges because I thought this would make me look unprofessional. Fortunately she didn’t take it like that and she has been in contact with me for an internship this summer instead. We have been emailing back and forth again but have also been speaking on the phone. This has helped the miscommunications stop and has opened communication to new levels. The internet can be a very helpful tool but at the same time can cause a lot of problems if you don’t know how to use it properly. There should be classes offered for communities so everyone can learn how to use the internet.

Blog Seven

Before interviewing three different people I already knew there was going to be a big difference in how the different generations use the internet. Growing up with the internet as a common daily tool makes it easier for someone in my generation to learn rather than someone who grew up without it and doesn’t know how to depend on it.

For someone who is 18-35 I interviewed my roommate, who is 22. She mainly uses the internet for social purposes. Most often she uses Facebook and Myspace and occasionally uses instant messaging. I asked her when she uses email, and it was soley when dealing with school, as in emailing professors or advisors. She admits that the internet makes her life much better because it is so convenient and reliable. Sources at her fingertips for writing papers, and keeping up socially makes it something she uses daily.

For the age range of 36-60, I interviewed my mom. My mom is 51 and all I knew is that she used the internet to email me on a daily basis. My mom said she can only use email and Google. She uses Google because its her homepage and she knows how to search for things. All other things are a lost cause. She said that the internet has helped her communicate because she has her own business and has to talk to people on a regular basis and its easier for her to send someone a quick email rather than to call them all the time. She thinks that the internet is a useful tool but wishes she knew how to use it better.
The generation above mine I feel is either completely on board with the internet or completely lost. It is split into people who are stuck in their ways and people who are want to jump on board and get on the fast track of the internet. N

Lastly, I interviewed my grandma. My grandma is 74 and lets just say she isn’t ‘educated’ on how to use the internet. For Christmas a couple years ago my uncles bought her a computer. She hadn’t used one before then. Until last year she didn’t even have the internet. She had some sort of internet that only allowed email but you couldn’t do anything else on it. The only reason she got the internet was so others were able to use it when they visit her. If she was able she would never use the internet. Technology has made her life more difficult and she thinks its ‘a pain in the rear-end’. I try to regularly teach her something about the computer or how to use the internet. While I am so used to using the internet on the daily basis I cant imagine life without it. She on the other hand doesn’t know what its like to rely on the computer like I do.

After interviewing the different generations I wasn’t surprised at all. It didn’t really teach me anything new because I already knew that older generations struggle more with the internet. It makes me wonder what I would be like if I grew up without the technologies that I have today.

Blog Six

Joining an online community was quite an experience for me. I didn’t think that I would really be interested in being a part of an online community. I was watching the Today Show one morning and they were talking about the online community ‘ivillage’. So I looked it up and decided to join.

Ivillage is an online site that offers message boards, blogs, has articles, advice, ect., that all relate to health, fitness, diet and cooking. These are all things I am very interested in and enjoy learning more about.

To be accepted all you have to do is sign up online. There are no discriminations and anyone and everyone can join. While this community is focused towards women, men are not discouraged from joining. To know that I was formally accepted I started writing on and responding to message boards and blogs. I was completely out of my comfort zone talking to and offering advice to people I have never met in person. While I felt akward at first the community has really been a great support for me. I learn new cooking tips, fitness ideas and more everyday when I sign on.

I haven’t been exposed to many disagreements while participating in the community. The closest I have come to this is when someone disagrees with someone else’s idea for a new diet or fitness idea. Most of the disagreements are easily resolved when the parties talk it out and do formal research to see who is correct. The site also has columnists who write for the articles and they can be written to for advice and they help resolve conflicts.

Online communities also offer an outlet for individuals who may have interests or want to be a part of a group that they may either be ashamed of or don’t want a lot of people to know about. Being online no one has to know who you really are so you have are able to have a safe identity.

Joining this community I have felt like I joined with other users who have the same goals and purposes for joining. We all want to better ourselves and each other so it is beneficial for us to be in the community. Overall I have gotten a lot more out of joining then I thought I would have. My roommates are appreciating the new recipes I have been trying out! The community allows us to interact and communicate with each other when it might be more difficult in the real world.

Blog Five

For my ‘academic paper’ I chose the subject of online relationships because we were discussing it in one of my other classes and I thought the research could be interesting.
Before actually doing any of the assignment I knew the information I was going to find was going to vary by the different sources and types of information I got. And I also knew I was going to have trouble finding the right types of sources. The library and I don’t have a good relationship. I tend to get lost and confused when trying to find journals and books that are supposed to be in places they are not. While my first opinion was that the information I got was going to vary, I ended up proving myself wrong.

The hardest part for me was trying to find appropriate internet sources. So much of what is posted online is completely opinion and is not credible. This is where Postmans’ idea that information is a disease may be taking effect. People believe to easily and the internet can definitely take advantage of those types of people. While this is true, it is also true that the internet is a great place to find information because its limitless, so much information is out there for us to look at. While trying to find online sources I made sure to look up journals and credible sources. The information that is online is more up to date and a lot of it is new research that is still being looked into.

I thought that the information I would be finding in hard copy would all be back dated information that no one has looked at in years. I was wrong. A lot of the things in the library were all recent and heuristic. I found journals that were in the library and the information seemed similar to the information I found on the internet.

My life changed by having to get up off the couch and find the information because I absolutely hate searching for the library. I have had too many bad experiences searching for a journal that is no where to be found, and not finding the right sort of information. To be completely honest I was dreading this assignment. In my opinion this assignment has shown me that I can find just as relevant and credible information on the interent as I can find in a University Library. The internet is a great tool and I will continue to use it rather than wandering around the library.

Blog Four

When I first started this assignment I wasn’t sure how excited I was. It seemed too intense and emotional to write a letter to people who have impacted my life. However, I’m glad that I actually did it!

For the email, I decided to write to my mom. We communicate on a regular basis using email so I thought it would be appropriate to send her the email telling her she had impacted my life. I personally feel that writing an email is much less formal and less personal then writing a hand written letter. I think that my email was more short and too the point. I even used emoticons because I was writing to my mom. If it were to someone I wasn’t as close with I probably wouldn’t have felt comfortable using emoticons.

The best part about sending an email was the quick response I got back. Later that day my mom had written me an email back telling me how much she appreciated the email and that she wanted to get together soon. Her email was short and to the point. I don’t think people use email as often for long serious messages. Maybe some do, but I never have and I don’t think its as effective. But I also don’t think that CMC is the best way to communicate something serious. In my opinion face-to-face always seems better for that.

For the hand written ‘snail mail’ I wrote a letter to my best friend Amanda who moved from Corvallis to Portland last year. It was a really great way to get my thoughts down on and really let her know how great of a friend she has been. Most people don’t have chances like these to let people know how much they care about them. The letter turned out to be a lot longer than the email I had written. I think the letter showed more nonverbal then the email possibly could. Type, font, serif ect., all effect how the letter is read and it was easy to change what I was trying to express with how I wrote.

The response to the snail mail is still coming. Letters I think take more thought and take longer than an email you sit down and write really quickly. There might not ever be a response but I’m okay with that. She let me know she got it. I don’t think a lot of people use back to back snail mail. Most of the time it is interrupted with telephones and computers. She did call me the day she got the letter and told me how much she appreciated it. I don’t know if she will officially write me a letter back but the assignment was overall worth it.

Facebook

Facebook has become a nation wide phenomenon. Everyone seems to have one and if you don’t, you are out of the loop. It’s a way to keep in contact with others, post pictures, send invitations for events, and creep out on someone you don’t even know. Everyone knows their profile will at some time or another be viewed by someone who they have never meet, and may never meet. So what you post to present yourself is very important because that’s the first, and maybe last, impression some people will ever get.

Irving Goffman says that internet allows us to play roles that we wouldn’t consider due to physical appearance. On Facebook however, photos play a big role. Each account has a profile picture and you and others can post pictures of you that everyone is able to see. Its not easy to pretend you look any different then you really do. You can however sensor it. I know that as soon as I see that pictures have been tagged of me, I screen them. If one of my friends thinks its funny to post a completely embarrassing picture I’m definitely going to untag it so at least my name isn’t attached to the picture. Most individuals try and post pictures of them at their best so they can come across as better looking than they might be. Being able to untag bad pictures allows me to at least moderate what outsiders can see of me at my worst.

If I am understanding the term ‘interactivity’ correct, then I think Facebook is extremely interactive. Each account has a place to write about yourself, your interests and activities, and what your favorite quotes books and movies are. Now there are even applications to show your favorite sports teams, what Disney princess you most relate too, and how you compare to others on facebook. I personally tried to answer those categories as completely honestly as possible. My friends wouldn’t let me live it down if I lied about something to come across as more attractive to others. I know lots of girls who say they are interested in sports or their favorite tv show is ESPN when really, they could care less and they write that because they assume its attractive to other males. In my opinion there is no point in lying about that because you want someone to like you for who you are not who you present yourself to be.

As honest as anyone is, I think everyone, including myself, tries to highlight the best characteristics and limit the not as desirable ones. I would never post online to the whole world what flaws I have or what may not be attractive. People can find those out on their own! I think that in the long run, Facebook and Myspace accounts are created with the idea that you want others to be attracted to you (whether social, or physically). They allow you to present your best self to the world. People can alter themselves to be better or worse, I just don’t see the point of completely fabricating who you are.

Blog Two: So Much Cooler Online

Brad Paisley is always writing comical lyrics to country music. The song “So Much Cooler Online” is no different then his others. The story line is of a pizza delivery guy who creates an alter-ego through a Myspace account. Myspace, Facebook, and other online networking websites have become a lot more popular and Brad is the first one to make a song out of it!

The main character has two personalities. One is an online personality and one is offline. The off line character is what you would think of as your typical ‘loser’. He lives at home with his parents in the basement. He relies on his mom to make him snacks and to take care of him but is old enough to be moved out and moved on. The off line character obviously has little experience (I’m assuming) and little confidence when it comes to women. He has a crush on his neighbor but shys away at opportunities to see her or talk to her.

He overcomes all these insecurities with his online character. His online character has all the attributes he assumes someone who is desirable would have. He is tall, handsome, has six pack abs and the looks and attributes of a “GQ” model. This character is rich and lives in Hollywood. He drives a nice car and obviously makes enough money to enjoy the finer things in life, including beautiful women.

This music video assumes that everyone online lies about who they are. Whether its their looks, job, personality or whatever it might be, people can exaggerate or embellish their true selves. There really isn’t a way to know if someone is lying to you over the internet. A lot of people these days are turning to online dating services and they put a lot of trust in individuals they have never seen in person. I think that people are able to self disclose more than they would in a face to face relationship and get past insecurities they might have on first dates when their first date is on the internet. The internet provides individuals with a way to get to know others without having to spend awkward first dates or meetings together.

I guess I’m the sort of person that wants to find the good in everyone so I don’t think that as many people lie about themselves online as others may assume. It doesn’t make sense to me to lie about something if you are planning on meeting the person you meet online, face to face. But on the other hand, if you plan to keep your friendship in cyberspace there are no limits to what you could make up!

Assignment Number One: Internet Abstinence

Abstaining from the internet was so much harder than I imagined it could be. I wasn’t aware how often I’d sit down at my desk and get on the internet even if for just a few seconds. This assignment was more frustrating than I thought it would be!

Within the first two hours of my twenty-four hour period of abstinence I fell off the wagon and checked Facebook. I did it purely out of habit and had to start my twenty-four hour period all over again. I actually unplugged my internet and turned off wireless so I wouldn’t be tempted again.

Abstaining from the internet effected my communication but not drastically. The main reason I use the internet is to use Facebook, download music, and research random topics of interest such as traveling. I regularly chat with my roommates online even if we are just rooms away. So I think I increased the amount of exercise I got because I was walking to and from rooms and up and down stairs rather than sending an instant message. I don’t email that often unless it is to a professor and since it was the first week of school it was easy to avoid that. Avoiding using Facebook to communicate with friends and classmates was more difficult then imagined. I had one friend ask me why I hadn’t responded to his Facebook message yet and it was only twenty-four hours! It is strange to think about how much college students have come to rely on the internet to communicate with each other.

To replace the amount of time I waste on the internet each day I found myself engaging in a lot more face-to-face communication even if it was just with my roommates. I don’t usually spend continual time on the internet, its just five minutes here and five minutes there. So abstaining didn’t give me much extra time to find anything more productive to do with my time. I found myself doing other things on my computer that didn’t require the internet such as browsing music and photos. I also found myself writing notes and reminders of things I wanted to look up when I was able to go back on the internet. I’m currently planning a long period of traveling and it was hard to not be able to look up questions I had.

I think it would be interesting to see how abstaining from the internet for a whole week would effect my communication. Twenty-four hours is a reasonable amount of time to avoid the internet but it might make a bigger impact if I was to avoid it for that much longer. I have ‘given up’ Facebook for periods of time before and I always end up creating a new account all over again when I feel like I have missed out on too much! Right now I feel like my age group is centered around cites like Myspace and Facebook and less on email and other forms of CMC. Maybe once I move on from college I will rely more on emailing to keep in contact and communicate.