Just Like Me only Better

      The article Just Like Me only Better was a very intriguing piece. It really went in depth on explaining what avatar meant. It talked a lot about graphic online representation of self. It amazes me the types of programs that there are now days. Especially the whole Second Life thing. How people go into detail about how they want there avatar to look. The one thing it reminded me of was the movie Avatar. It never really clicked to me the title of that movie. How the man would go into that machine and then be able to control an avatar. I had always just thought Avatar was picked as the name of movie because those blue monsters are called avatars. I clearly had the wrong conception of it. I believe that a lot of people enjoy programs like Second Life because sometimes they have low self esteem and can't engage in face to face communication or they might feel low of themselves and aren't happy with their image as a person. It doesn't surprise me that people like to pay special attention to the way their avatar looks either. I really enjoyed this article and opened my eyes up to something new.

Community media

         This article really speaks out to different social groups. The article talks about Community media. Community media is any form of media that is created and controlled by a community, either a geographic community or a community of identity or interest. Community media is separate from commercial media, state run media, or public broadcasting. I think that it is something that is meant to change peoples thoughts or perceptions about different social groups or even minority groups. For instance when it gave the example about "Zoom Black Magic Radio" which was the only black- oriented station in Fresno, CA at the time. This community media station gave people of Fresno knowledge of black culture, from civil rights to the music. 
          The article mentions self- expression throughout it. I agree that without self- expression, people won't be able to have their thoughts and feelings about things heard by people. It is important for us as the people to get our points across to others in our nation. The reason is so that we can fulfill this vision of democracy. I agree with the statement that some believe media is undemocratic. I believe that not all media is undemocratic, but majority of it is undemocratic. The reason being is that I feel like a small number of elites like the article said is controlling what information is being fed to us. This article was interesting in that it talked about politics within media and social networks.

Uses and gratifications response

          This article was very interesting to me. The article Uses and Gratifications talked about why people use these Social network Services such as Myspace and Facebook. It gives a little background on how Myspace came about and what the original uses for the site were. It also gave background on how Facebook started and how it went from a Harvard.edu- only Social network, to a public social network that now has millions of network members. The article really analyzes why people use these social networks. It is said in research that college students spend about 100 minutes per day online. That to me was a very interesting observation because just looking at myself, I can say that I do spend about 100 minutes online. Thetry article also talks a lot about motivations for using these social networks. Entertainment was among the reasons repeatedly stated for using social networks. I believe entertainment is a big reason why people use networks like Facebook and Myspace. Speaking from personal experience, when I am bored I go on my Facebook just to look at my networks activity. Also social interaction was stated to be one of the motivational categories for SNS use. Many people i know go on Facebook just to talk to new girls. People like to reach out on there and make new friends.
           One thing i found very funny was seeing the study done on the 50 undergraduate students. The results brought about a few reasons why people use Social networks. One of the reasons was curiosity about others. This made me laugh because when i was in a relationship while being a user on Facebook a while back, I know that I was always on my girlfriends page trying to see what she was up to. Also just with other females that i have been interested in, i would go on their Facebook pages and see what they were all about and what they were up to. This article analyzed Facebook and Myspace very well. I feel like it did a good job of trying to answer the questions it was seeking.

Burkitt Chapter 2 Post

          Chapter two of Social Selves was all about dealing with our own self- identities. He states a lot about how our surroundings and self conscience shapes what our identities are. Burkitt talks about the pragmatist's view upon ourselves. He talks about how with pragmatism people are able to bend their worlds in the ways they want by doing what they feel is right in their minds. I like the way pragmatist approach things. I feel that we as individuals can control a lot of things in our lives if we applicate ourselves in the right ways to be set up for success.
          In this changing world there are more and more ways for people to create opportunities for themselves and shape their worlds. More ways for people to show people what they are about morally. Online social networks are just one of the growing ways for people to do this. People online can create their profile to look and promote what they want to be seen as. Creating and showing off their identities. I really enjoyed this chapter because Burkitt showed me a different way to look at myself.

The Medium IS the Message

           The article The Medium IS the Message by Marshall McLuhan is a very interesting article. It really makes you look at things in ways you wouldn't usually look at them. He has some very good points within his article that support the message he is trying to get across. One thing that I enjoyed about the article is the way McLuhan used Shakespeare's work to support his message. It seemed as if Shakespeare understood the idea that The Medium IS the Message. Especially in reading the part about how in Romeo and Juliet it states "But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It speaks, and yet says nothing". It shows how TV is just there sending the message of whatever is being shown. But really it is not real communication because it is just a box portraying things.
            This can also be said about the example of the lightbulb. The lightbulb is just a bulb and is the delivering factor with lighting. But in fact what the light bulb creates is many possibilities for people to do things under this light. It creates a sort of social medium in the end. This article was very thought provoking but at the same time, i caught myself not understanding some of it. Although the things within that i did understand really intrigued me.

Response To : Antecedents and Consequences of Online Social Networking

       The article Antecedents and Consequences of Online Social Networking was written by a man named Adam Acar. Adam Acar is a PhD candidate in the Department of Communication Sciences at The University of Connecticut. The purpose of this article is to examine the psychological aspects that go into online social networking. How personal and environmental factors affect individuals use of all of these online social networking services. Since there hasn't been any recent studies that have explained these unknown wonders, this is Adam Acar's goal to explain these things. He looked at the way that self- esteem, body image, and anxiety all affect use of online social networks. He also wanted to strengthen our understanding on how these online social networks came about and what they are becoming.
        I personally enjoyed this article because this is a topic that society now days is extensively involved in. It seems that everybody has a Facebook, Twitter, or now Instagram. I know for a fact that I myself engage in and enjoy using these social networking services very much. One study that really stood out to me was the study about the number of people an individual will send Christmas cards too in a real life social network compared to the number of people in the online social network. This study shows that there were a significant amount of people in the online social network then the real life social network. Anxiety plays a big role in this. Anxiety is less prevalent when using these online social networks. These online social networks are changing today's society. The way people communicate is changing every day and these online social networks have a big part in this change.

Introduction

Hello Professor and fellow classmates! My name is Keith Smith. I am a 2nd year going on to my 3rd summer here at SJSU. I will be a third year this coming fall. I play football for San Jose State. My position is Linebacker and I am number 31. I love the game I play and that is why it is at the top of the list of my interests. I have taken about 2 or 3 communications classes and am thinking about pursuing that as my major. I feel like if you know how to communicate or talk with someone then you can do anything you want or get anything you want. I chose this class because social networks are becoming more and more popular in today's society and it would be cool to study some of them.