Blog 4

Blog 4 is news really news

New media is a constantly growing and unpredictable entity that can be controlled or manipulated by others. The dangers of this entity that we call social media or unreliable media is taking over the web like a virus and who is to blame? We are for either spreading lies or misleading others so we can gain some kind of compensation. So to me the biggest danger of new media is the loss of actual relevant news.

People are taking less of an interest in real news and are focusing on bloggers, twitter, Facebook and reality TV and the information they are receiving isn’t really news worthy or true. With new technology media has become easily accessible and certain types are dying out such as actual newspapers, so now these old forms of media have to give the people what they want instead of the actual news.  According to the website Freepress in its article “Give the People What They Want”. “We can point to cable news channels that spew an endless stream of celebrity gossip, talking head pundits and sensationalism. And we can point to newspapers that are gutting local political and issue coverage and replacing it with generic wire reports and lifestyle articles.” It seems to me that all that anyone is interested in is gossip about other people’s lives. Now this could be to help escape the reality of their miserable lives or they could just feed off deception and betrayal. One good example is the reality TV show Keeping up with the Kardashians, According to Radar online, “In summer 2012, the family signed a deal for $30 million to star in three more seasons of E!’s Keeping Up With According to Forbes, Kim Kardashian is the highest-paid woman in reality TV, earning $18 million a year—but most of that is from endorsement deals and NOT the family reality shows!”. This has to be one of our biggest problems with new media people are losing focus on real life this is causing people to be less and less interested in actual news and what’s going on in the world.

            People are so distracted with TV shows and celebrity gossip that they fail to show interest in actual news and companies see this and in order to stay out of the red, they have to appeal to our interests like celebrity news, fashion, and other unimportant things.  Soon when things start happening around the world that affects our day-to-day lives and people will look back and say, “I should have paid more attention to actual news.” Now is there any way that this can be fix? Can we get people interested in the actual news worthy material sadly I don’t think so, as long as TV  and social media sites provide the illusion of escape then there can be no change.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

 

"They Make How Much?! The 23 Highest-Paid Reality TV Stars." Radar Online. N.p., n.d. Web.

 

"Give The People What They Want." Free Press. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.

Blog Project

Blog Project

1. Bullying in general has been a problem for a long time but now that we moved into the new age we now have Cyber-Bullying which has become a serious issue on media sites.  Cyber-bullying is a serious issue, it’s gotten so serious that people are getting arrested in relations to suicide. Fox news states that “Two girls have been arrested in the death of a 12-year-old central Florida girl who authorities say committed suicide after being bullied online by several girls for nearly a year.” These girls who were arrested had searched for reasons to bully this girl and find her breaking point. But I can’t blame the girls fully all parents involved should have been taking more of an interest in there child’s lives my mom still ask me to this day how’s school going and I respond with good or I have no complaints. Bullying is so serious that Florida has made a law named after a suicide victim the law mostly leaves punishment up to the school that the issue is accruing at but law enforcement may step in.
2. Back in the day an identity thief had to either get your information from your garbage, over the phone or steal your wallet. Today your information is everywhere just floating around the Web waiting for someone who knows what they’re doing to put the pieces together. According to YourScoreAndMore “Facebook identity theft is of particular concern because people share so much of their lives on this social network”. But with today’s technology constantly advancing the criminal world is advancing with it. There are so many ways an individual can steal your information not just by using social media sites there’s always viruses that give a hacker access to your computer or email address and there’s key logger this allows an individual to record what your type. So just be aware and caucus when opening an email or putting your information online.
3. Some studies have come up with the notion that the internet and other media sites can cause some people to become depressed.  According to Thomson Reuters "Excessive internet use is associated with depression”. I am finding that with Facebook people are becoming depressed after reading there friends post and finding that there friends had a weekend get together and said individual wasn’t invited. People are also get depressed when they don’t get any likes on their statues. Social media is a window into everyone’s lives, it gives user’s access to everything there friends and families are doing.  The question is why that individual just become a bit more active socially can’t or is said person shy and doesn’t know how to address their friends to get and invite to hang out.  Why cant they just turn off the internet or the website, this leads me into my next concern addiction.
4. Internet addiction is a growing concern people are spending every minute of their lives on the internet. When I go out to dinner I see couples on their phone texting or Facebooking with other friends when they should be socializing with each other, I am guilty of this sometimes but I do it because my date or friend does it and I feel awkward sitting there doing nothing.  According to Internet & Computer Addiction there are many reasons that a user can be addicted to the internet some of those addictions are “Cyber-Relationship Addiction – addiction to social networking, chat rooms, texting, and messaging to the point where virtual, online friends become more important than real-life relationships with family and friends and Net Compulsions – such as compulsive online gaming, gambling, stock trading, or compulsive use of online auction sites such as eBay, often resulting in financial and job-related problems”. There are a lot of reasons why people maybe addicted to their computers or smart phones and yes it’s a growing problem where people are losing their jobs, losing their money and also getting hurt mentally and physically.
5. I find the internet and other sites to be a waste of time I usually use them to pass the time before class or other activities where I have to wait for long periods of time. According to Gawker “The report from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project found that on any given day, 53 percent of 18 to 29 year-olds go online just to have fun or pass time”. I find this number to be really low think about how many moms or older women play candy crush or pet farm saga or something along those lines on Facebook daily I can tell you I get over 200 game requests weekly from my friends on Facebook, it gets supper annoying after a while.  This goes for the younger generation also always on Facebook or twitter, taking selfies or tweeting about their day no one wants to know what you do every second of the day also we already know what you look like why do you need to take more pictures of you making kissy faces I just don’t get it.
6. - The internet and search engines like Google have gotten so big they have philological effects named after them like the Google effect which stated by Therapy Matters “According to these researchers, people are more likely to look for information on the Internet, and when easy to find, they're more likely to remember where they found it, rather than the information itself”. I agree with this to a point, when it comes to information I got care about and am just trying to put into like a blog I may forget it but when comes to something that I am serious about learning I remember the information easier. It’s just amazing that there’s an effect out there named after a search engine our society is becoming overwhelmed by the internet and what it has to offer if things keep going this way the computers will eventually take over (Yes I just referenced the terminator movies).
7. People today must have trouble understanding that the internet isn’t all factual, there are tons of bloggers and media site spreading false information. People need to realize this and start checking sources then there hear about someone or something. Some individuals go to extreme lengths to spread false information and example being from an article posted by NY Daily News stating that “There has been misinformation coming from people posing as the shooter in this case, using other IDs, mimicking this crime and crime scene,” Vance said, adding that some of the posts are of a “threatening manner.” Now that’s just disturbing who gets a thrill out of pretending to be the killer of small children? I agree with the article anyone who possess or helps spread false information on purpose should be held accountable. People should be held accountable for all 10 of my concerns.
8. Another big concern I have about media is that employers are using our own lives against us by asking us to open and go through our social media accounts, talk about an invasion of privacy. Just because the economy sucks and people are clawing through the mud to get jobs doesn’t mean our civil rights should be violated by employers. Thankfully according to CNET in the article six states outlaw employer snooping on Facebook, “The laws are designed to prohibit employers from requiring an employee or job applicant to provide their username and password for social media accounts, such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.” How is it that only 6 states are going along with this law I believe it’s because the Man (Big Businesses) controls the state there in or maybe the mayor, I am just a suspicious man.
9. The internet isn’t just a tool for people to socialize or find information the internet also gives freedom to different types of racist organizations. Hate/racial organizations have converted from the old ways of meeting in private locations to spreading there message worldwide via the internet.  There is a web site called Stormfront that is dedicated to the promoting the white man’s heritage and according to The Birmingham News in the article White supremacist spreads views on net “More than 600,000 visits have been recorded to Stormfront since it went on-line in March 1995, Black said. It is an informal group with no meetings, no membership dues and a few thousand people who are on a newsletter mailing list or participate in computer bulletin board message conferences.” This article is all about the views of a former KKK member named Don Black, what’s funny to me is that this man is racist but his last name is black to funny, do you think his former KKK buddies made fun of him.
10. Now my own person concern with the internet is that big brother is always watching us they have hundreds of key words that if said with be flagged and the NSA will be allowed to read through your message. Homeland security was forced to reveal this list to the public so according to the Associated Newspapers in the article Revealed: Hundreds of words to avoid using online if you don't want the government spying on you, this “list includes obvious choices such as 'attack', 'Al Qaeda', 'terrorism' and 'dirty bomb' alongside dozens of seemingly innocent words like 'pork', 'cloud', 'team' and 'Mexico'.” Some of these words are used every day think about it how many of these key words do you use daily on social media or in a text message for example lets got to Target to get some new Pipe for the Gas Leak in the stove, right there I said 4 words that will be flagged. Our rights are being extremely violated but we the people have been subject to so much security that we don’t care anymore and we just say eh it’s for the best. Well when we are being marched around for our own protection then you’ll say damn I wish I said something before.

 

Bibliography

1. "Girls, 12 and 14, Arrested in Death of Bullied Florida Girl Who Killed Herself." Fox News. FOX News Network, 15 Oct. 2013. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.

2.  "How Criminals Steal Your Identity Online." YourScoreAndMore. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.

3. "Study Links Excessive Internet Use to Depression." Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 03 Feb. 2010. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.

4. "Internet & Computer Addiction." Internet and Computer Addiction: Signs, Symptoms, and Treatment. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.

5. "Scientists Confirm the Internet Is Huge Waste of Time." Gawker. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.

6. "Therapy Matters." The Google Effect. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.

7. "Social Media Users Spreading False Information about Sandy Hook Massacre Could Face Charges, Say Police." NY Daily News. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.

8. "Six States Outlaw Employer Snooping on Facebook." CNET. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.

9. "White Supremacist Former KKK Leader Spreads Views on Net." White Supremacist Former KKK Leader Spreads Views on Net. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.

10. Miller, Daniel. "Revealed: Hundreds of Words to Avoid Using Online If You Don't Want the Government Spying on You (and They Include 'pork', 'cloud' and 'Mexico')." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 26 May 2012. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.