The Use (Or Abuse) Of Social Media

Statistics show that social networking dominates our time spent online. Sites that are frequently used are Facebook and Twitter, and having an account on both these websites, I can confirm that those are the websites I spend the most time on. Today there are more than 800 million active users on Facebook, and no less than 1 billion tweets are posted per week. But why have these sites become so popular, and what are the pros and cons of them? Although these sites can be really time-consuming, I cannot picture myself not having a Facebook account. This is quite a scary thought, but it has actually become a big part of (especially) teenagers’ lives. To illustrate this point, I was shocked when an adult relative recently asked me “How do I add people on Facebook?”

Image from Google. Why do you use Facebook?

I think one of the main reasons people use Facebook is to read the recent updates, create a network, keep in touch with friends, see and be seen. You wouldn’t want to miss seeing the funny picture your friend posted, or the other friend’s changed relationship status. You want to avoid having the feeling you get when a group of people are talking about a TV show you have never seen.  No one likes to feel excluded, and I am convinced that the majority of teenagers joined Facebook because “everyone else was there”.  I remember when I was younger; although no one ever mentioned it, everyone knew that it was important to have a lot of friends on Facebook, even if this meant adding people you had only met once, and not really spoken to. Luckily things are not like that anymore, and most people have understood that the website can be a great way to learn new things as well. 

Another thing to remember is that a big part of what is written on Facebook is unnecessary information. But it is important to add that Facebook and Twitter can also be used for other things, such as taking part in interesting discussions, and reading posts written by politicians. A lot of people find it exciting and fun being able to participate in debates, and have other people read your thoughts and opinions. It has become a platform where we, as consumers, can read about what companies are working with, and what they are selling. Like I’ve written on my blog, the social media is a great place for companies to market their products, without any costs. The best way to reach the young target group is not through newspapers, TV or radio, but through social media.

Like lecturer Cecilie Staude talked about in her presentation, one should always keep in mind and take into consideration that anyone can read your posts, and you should never post offensive things. The same goes for pictures that could get you in trouble in the future, for example when you start looking for a job. If a person already has a job, posting inappropriate things can lead to negative consequences if your boss sees it. You’d think this was common sense, but there have been situations where people of higher authority have posted statuses on social media, that they have gotten in trouble for.

Whether Facebook should be used and allowed in school, I am not sure. As mentioned, it can be very time-consuming, and if you lack self-discipline it might give you difficulties with paying attention in class. However, having reached the age of 17, we should be able to control the use of social media during lessons (if we are not supposed to use them). In addition to social media perhaps negatively affecting your concentration, it might decrease your motivation when working with tasks in class, and result in you wasting valuable time where you could have been working.

Image from Google. Do you think the computer makes you unfocused in class?

Some teachers are strictly against the use of social media in class, and I think it would definitely take some time for them to adjust if the rules were changed, but that is beside the point.  My point is that instead of closing the internet and forbidding the use of social media in class, permitting the use of social media could cause an opposite effect on the students.  When taking away the opportunity we have of checking our Facebooks, we are immediately more tempted to do so. When letting us do as we want, the temptation is removed, and we won’t feel that urge anymore. By doing this, the teachers are also giving the students more freedom, and the chance to show responsibility. If a student fails to do so, the student should realize that his or her bad grade might have something to do with the lack of interest and attention they have paid in class. I am convinced that this is a great way for students to learn self-discipline, and that it is our own decision based on our values and goals, whether we want to learn or not. 

To sum it up, Facebook and other types of social media have positive and negative sides, and can be used for different purposes. I think Facebook is fun, and I mostly use it to read about what my friends are doing, look at pictures, and chat. Sometimes my parents suspect that I never do my homework, and waste too much time on social media. This is where they are wrong.  I think that a lot of teenagers nowadays are multi-taskers like me, and often I’ll discuss homework with others through these social media. While it may be true that I also do waste some time on these sites, there is a saying by John Lennon that goes like this “Time you enjoyed wasting, was not wasted.”

Sources: 

http://mashable.com/2010/08/02/stats-time-spent-online/

http://www.simplyzesty.com/social-media/teens-use-social-media/

I've been nominated!

Hi! I've been nominated for "Best Student Blog 2011", and I'd be really happy if you voted for me!

Vote by clicking here and choose the category "Best Student Blog".

Thank you so much!

Sara

My Edublog Nominations

Every year it is difficult to find the best blogs, but this year I have decided to nominate in the following categories:

Best student blog:

I've decided to nominate Martine's blog as the best student blog. The layout is nice, and she has written a lot of interesting and useful articles for students.  

Best group blog: Voices From The Learning Revolution http://plpnetwork.com/category/voices/page/2/

Best Teacher blog: 

This is my teacher's blog. She writes useful posts about how you can have good presentations in class, and often she will include interesting links and videos in her posts.

Blog & Twitter

When we were first told that we had to make our own blogs, I must admit I was a tad skeptical. Blogging is not something I would ever picture myself doing. On the other hand, this blog does not consist of irrelevant information about my life, but is full of school-related articles I have written in class and at home. The whole idea of having a blog is something I now find fun and useful, as it is exciting being able to share your work with others, and comment on other people's work.

Checking out the statistics, I see that I have 228 visits the last month, and a total number of 376 visits since I started blogging! Most of the people who have visited my blog are from Norway, but I have also had people from USA, Alaska and Russia who have stopped by.

In addition to writing a blog, we have also started using Twitter. I have earlier tried making an account, but could not come up with a name that was not taken, so I gave up. Today I ended up with the name "Sarismas".  Follow me! I have linked a "follow me" twitter-button on this blog.

I am exploring Twitter, and I'm trying to understand the concept of it. Currently I have 20 followers, and I am following 28 people myself. If you have any tips to fun people I can follow, please leave a comment!

To promote my blog, I'll link it on Twitter, and see if I get some more visitors, and maybe comments!

Cash is King..News of the World 1843-2011

With 7,5 million readers, the newspaper "News of the World"  was known for writing about celebrity-based scoops. At one point it was one of the biggest selling English language newspapers in the world. That is how the competency goal "Analyze and assess the role of some English-language media in international society" can be related to News of the World. It was a national newspaper, published in the United Kingdom.

In 2011, the 7th of July, the newspaper printed its final edition, with the headline "Thank You and Goodbye". The reason for this headline was that their secret had been revealed. For nearly a decade, the newspaper had gained information and juicy stories illegally. To outdo their rival newspapers and increase sales, they had hired private investigators to hack mobile phones owned by people considered as interesting subjects for the paper.

Rupert Murdoch

The owner of the newspaper was Rupert Murdoch, and this is how he was described by an editor he used to work with: "All Rupert cares about is getting the story, getting it first, and getting it right. He doesn't want to know how the sausage is made." In other words, Murdoch was fully aware of what was going on, but decided to ignore most parts of it. He was very manipulating and demanding, creating internal rivalries within the paper. In one case the rivalry  was so serious that the features desk and the news desk were just as likely to hack one another's phones, as if they were the phones of the subject of some story.

But how did the police find out the newspaper was committing such a crime? A police investigation was instigated in 2011 when it was revealed that the newspaper had hacked into Milly Dowler's phone. She went missing in 2002. Investigators and reporters from the paper had deleted messages from her phone, to make room for more. This had misled the Milly Dowler’s family and friends into believing she was still alive, and the deleted messages were also potential evidence for the police.

Although this was the first major revelation in the scandal, it turned out that Milly Dowler's phone was not the only one they hacked. In November 2005, the paper wrote a story about how Prince William was suffering from a knee injury, something that was not known by many people, apart from his family and doctor. This lead to suspicion in the Buckingham Palace, and they were soon convinced that the prince's voicemail has been hacked.

After a lot of investigation, the police had found that over 7000 phones were hacked by News of the World, these phones belonging to crime victims, celebrities, sport stars and politicians. Hugh Grant and Sienna Miller being two of the celebrities who were hacked. Also, some families of those who died in the terrorist attacks in London, had their private voice mails hacked.

The newspaper broke all media ethics, and invaded other peoples’ private life. This is a serious violation of the law, and three journalists were arrested. It is shocking that a newspaper will actually go this far, just for the money. At the end of the day, that is what it’s all about. Cash is king.

 "I realized the extent to which phone-hacking paranoia had spread when my lunch date sat down, turned off his cell phone, removed the battery and laid the dismantled device before him on the table, like a small but dangerous animal he had temporarily stunned". 

This is what I read in an English magazine published last month, and it shows how some people in the UK where really affected and frightened by the hacking.

After reading several different websites, I've understood that this whole case was pretty complex, as there are years and numbers that aren't the same all places. A countless number of allegations have been put forward, but not yet confirmed. Many different people were involved, and questions about whether everyone working in the paper knew, are being raised.  It has obviously been a challenging and difficult job for the police to investigate the hacking, but luckily News of the World was stopped. 

  

Gran Torino

The 18.10 we watched the movie "Gran Torino". It is directed by, produced by and starring Clint Eastwood as Walt Kowalski.  It is an American drama film, released in 2008. The movie was chosen as one of the Ten Best Films of 2008. Eastwood also received an award for Best Actor from the National Board of Review. 

The film covers the following curriculum goal: "Elaborate on and discuss aspects of multicultural societies in the English-speaking world". In the movie we meet Walt Kowalski, an old cranky Polish man who's wife has just passed away. In general, Walt is negative towards other cultures, ethnic backgrounds, and religion, and uses a lot of racial slurs and cursing words. Walt does not have a close relationship with his son and his family, they clearly do not know each other well.

A new people move to his neighbourhood, replacing a polish family who lived there before. These new people are called "Hmong people", and Walt is not liking them.  Walt used to be a Korean War veteran, and at first he links them to the coreans who were his enemies. When learning that these people actually were on his side of the war, it does not change the way he acts towards them. All Walt wishes for is to be left alone, but these new neighbours keep interrupting his peace and quiet.

The Hmong family consists of a mother, the daughter Sue, and her brother Thao.  A Hmong gang is trying to force the boy Thao into joining them, creating a scene outside their house. Walt has no choice but to get involved, and acts out of selfish reasons rather than wanting to help someone out. He scares the gang away. 

After this, Walt is looked upon like a hero to the Hmong people. This is exactly the opposite of what Walt wishes to happen. They show their gratitude by giving him gifts and homemade food. Being the grumpy man he is, he still shows no kindness towards them. The person who is especially nice to him, is Sue.  What amazed me, was that no  matter how harsh or rude Walt was towards the Hmong people, Sue never stopped being kind, and trying to include him. 

Sue, Thao and their mother giving gifts of gratitude

Through the movie, you are dwelling on several questions. What is really Walt's problem? What has happened to him, that could have made him this angry? And last but not least, does he actually care about anyone but himself? Like mentioned, he is clearly not very close to his family, but there are several things you notice Walt values. He is a handyman, and likes maintaining his house. He also cares a lot about his Labrador Daisy, and maybe he feels she is the only one he can really talk to? Referring to the movie title, the car in his garage is also something that is precious to him. Walt wishes to spend his time on his veranda sipping beer. But something seems to  be missing in his life.

This "something" ,he finds in the Hmong people. In the beginning of the movie, Thao is forced into stealing  Walt's Gran Torino. He does not succeed, and according to the gang, he has blown his first "initiation". His family are very upset with him for trying to steal the car. This leads to him having to pay up for it by working for Mr. Kowalski. After some time, Walt sees something in the young boy. He sees that he is dutiful, willing to work, kind and polite. Walt starts trusting the boy, and wishes to help him in avoiding the harassment from the gang members.  A friendship between the old man and boy has evolved. At one point in the movie, Walt says he has more in common with Thao's family than his.

The ending was really surprising and touching. Walt has turned into a completely different person, and made a choice that might have saved Thao and his family's life. He actually shows affection for other people. More importantly, he has accepted a different culture, and learned that they are good people. He is finally at peace. Accepting other societies is not something he would have done before. In the end he has become the Hmong peoples "protector" and close friend. I think it was a really beautiful movie, because it describes the process Walt goes through, from being introverted to kindhearted. There were also a lot of humor in the movie, keeping it from being too serious and sad.

Social Media

Last Tuesday, we listened to lecturer Cecilie Staude. She works at the college BI, but also travels around and holds presentations. Sometimes her audience will be students like us, sometimes pensioners, politicians, artists or companies. She lectures us all about the same thing: social media. It has become such an important platform for marketing, and a lot of companies need help with marketing their products through social media.  Pensioners need help with being introduced to these sites, and for us students being the ones who use it the most, it is very interesting to learn things you never thought over before.

Facebook is the website that is used the most. 98% percent of people in Norway from the ages 14-24, are on Facebook, including myself. Through this website, we receive information quicker than ever. We add friends, post statuses, upload pictures, and comment other peoples' activity. If something interests or shocks us, we will often "share" it on Facebook, this way spreading the information or news with just a click. This can both be positive and negative for the marketing of companies.

For example, if you are thinking about joining a gym, do you choose Elixia or Sats? You might research a bit on both websites, but of course they will both say they are fantastic and the best. What you then do, is talk to other consumers through social media, and read their opinions about the two different gyms. Maybe someone posted on Facebook or Twitter that Sats wasn't showing good service? This will definitely affect your final decision. What this means, is that companies in today’s society are losing control of what is being said about them. On the other hand, the fact that information now travels fast can also be a positive thing. A happy customer or consumer might share positive things about the product, leading to more people wanting to try it!

To sum it up, it has become unavoidable to not be on websites like Facebook if you are trying to market something. Whether you're a gym trying to sell memberships, a company selling clothes, or a politician trying to gather votes, you need to market yourself.  Consumers today are no longer interested in just receiving information, from TV, brochures or radio. We want to participate in discussions about the products, or reflect over community-related questions on the social media.

Staude also talked about how it can be challenging to avoid mixing your personal life, with the more professional part of you on Facebook. When talking about this, she mentioned how Jens Stoltenberg is a person who does this well. He currently has 279,999 people who have "liked" his page.