Week 4 Question 1: Requiem for the Media

From the article Requiem for the Media (The New Media Reader p. 278) the three concepts that I will be discussing are: Enzenberger: A "Socialist" Strategy, Speech Without Response and The Theoretical Model of Communication.

1) Jean Baudrillard basically helped me to look at Enzenberger's articles and concepts in another point-of -view. Baudrillard basically critiqued the article and talked about its many contradictions. She quoted from him in his theory that "in the present order the media are purely and simply means of distribution". She helped me to see that is wrong because of the many different uses of the media: phones, social networking, etc. Other than this, she broke down how she disagreed with a lot of what Enzenberger had to say on his "socialist" strategy article.

2) Baudrillard explains the mass media as fabricators of non-communication and "speakers in such a way as to exclude any response from anywhere". (Baudrillard, 1972, p. 281) She says that they have the power since they make it in a way where no one can respond. But she also agrees with Enznenberger with the fact that mass media for the first time made it possible for mass participation in a social process.

3) The formula of the communication process (formulated by Roman Jakobsen) is as follows:

TRANSMITTER-- MESSAGE-- RECEIVER

(ENCODER-- MESSAGE-- DECODER)

This formula shows the process of how the message is transmitted, its content, and its audience. We decode the message based upon how it is set-up to us. When dealing with the media, it is very easy for them to relay a message to us and have us believe whatever they intend for us to believe.

Week 3 Question 3: Facebook Users are Narcissistic/Low Self-Esteem

This article had results on a study of a group of college students' Facebook usage. The goal was to determine what type of people use Facebook. They claimed that the majority of Facebook users who update constantly are narcissistic and attention-seekers. While others who check Facebook frequently suffer from low self-esteem. Also they noted that women post profile pictures to show off, while men update their statuses to show off.

I agree with some things but disagree with others. For example, even though a lot of people post things that seem narcissistic, I don't think they really are that way. Many people will post things that don't pertain to themselves, or just to get attention. I do agree that people who post multiple pictures a day requesting for comments, have low self-esteem. As far as men and women differing in showing off, i disagree. I have found that both women and men who show off, do it through their photos and status updates. I haven't found a difference between the two.

But these are just my opinions and views, I am interested in seeing others' thoughts on the article.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/gadgetreviews/study-facebook-users-are-narcissistic-suffer-from-low-self-esteem/17860?tag=mantle_skin;content

Week 3 Question 1: Constituents of a Theory of the Media

Enzensberger did not have too many positive things to say in regards to his view of the media. Although this article was a bit of a tough read, I believe his overall purpose was to show that technology is taking over everything we do. He is very critical of how the media is basically doing our thinking for us. For example he talked about how he disliked the fact that media forms such as books, radios, articles are only transmitting information to us, without allowing any interaction. So I do not think that Enzensberger is totally against the idea of media, I just think he feels strongly about self-thinkers or "go-getters". He hates the fact that we all rely on media's to relay information to us, or get us from point a to point b. In a sense, I can agree with him on that. But I think he fails to realize that in moderation, the media can and has been very effective to our every day lives.

Week 3 Question 2: Be Who You Want To Be (Facebook)

Katie's statement "Facebook participates in the dynamic, ongoing social process of personal and social identity as a communicative creation", summarizes what Facebook really is. (Ellis, p.41) She also explained how people represent themselves as they want to be represented. Generally, nobody posts things that they do not want others to know about or think about themselves. We consciously or subconsciously are creating our social identity every time we post something on Facebook.

I agree with this article because I see how it really applies to my own experiences with Facebook. For example, I really love music so often times I will put a quote on my page of a song I was listening to. Some times the quote relates to my own life and other times it doesn't. However one quote I used before was from the Eminem ft Rihanna song "Love the Way You Lie". That song is about a dysfunctional relationship so when I put a quote from there, several people messaged me wondering if I was okay. When in fact, I only put the quote up because the song was catchy to me and stuck in my head.

Even though only a few people messaged me regarding this post of mine, I am sure many more of my Facebook friends assumed that I was having relationship problems. So I am continuing to be aware and careful of the things I say because I do not want anything taken out of context in regard to my own life. But at the end of the day I did not create my Facebook page to inform people about my life. So if people are foolish enough to think they really "know" how someone is doing or who they are based upon their profile updates, they have got a lot to learn in life. Because as Katie mentioned, online, you can Be Who You Want to Be.

Week 2 Question 3: Stephen Hawking Picks Physics Over God for Big Bang

This article from foxnews.com entitled "Stephen Hawking Picks Physics Over God for Big Bang", automatically caught my attention since I am a firm believer in creation and not evolution or (big bang). What caught my attention the most is that, Professor Hawkins, although a scientist, was once a believer in God as the creator as well. So I looked at this article to try and see what new information he may have found, that would have him change his theory of beliefs.

As I read his article, he did not seem to have any "new found" information. His only reasoning for his changing in belief or theory was, "Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing." Now Hawkins could not have just learned about gravity recently, so when he believed in creation, he had to already have taken gravity into consideration.

I then kept reading and noticed that he is working with a couple atheists in his studies on how the world has come into existence. So I therefore concluded that he must be influenced by the ones he is studying and/or working with. This made me think of the article, "The Medium is the Message" because the people Hawkins is around, influenced the way he perceived the idea of the Big Bang Theory.

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/09/02/stephen-hawking-picks-physics-god-big-bang/

Week 2 Question 2: The Medium is the Message

In Marshall McLuhan's article, "The Medium is the Message" he used very complex examples and explanations to basically say that the medium influences how the message is perceived. I agree with him in his point in which; the way the medium portrays the content they are trying to display, shapes the way the audience understands or views the message. This was a big change in how Communication was viewed in the 60's, and since then many scholars and philosophers have built upon this concept.

However I do believe some of his examples were a bit confusing and complex. For example he stated that, "a light bulb creates an environment by its mere presence". At first it took me a second to apply that to "The Medium is the Message" since a light bulb is a medium without any content. But I then quickly applied it to how we interpret messages or content based upon who or what is presenting it. For example, if a celebrity were selling perfume, we would want to buy it from them, more than we would a complete stranger's perfume. It's all about the way the medium is portraying the information, and how we receive it.

So I did actually enjoy reading the article even though I do see how it was a bit complex and a little off base at times. I think his overall purpose of the message was legitimate.

Week 2 Question 1: Man-Computer Symbiosis Response

Lidlicker's article on Man-Computer Symbiosis, was interesting to say the least. It is clear that the author has a great value and interest in technology and technological advances, that will help humans. I agree that machines (specifically computers) are very helpful and beneficial to our every day lives. However based on his specific example regarding the insect's and fig tree's interdependence on each other, I cannot agree that this is something that we should be striving for.

Although I am guilty of relying on technology on most of my every day duties, it is not something that I am proud of. Currently we are in a recession and many of the jobs that used to be attainable to humans, are now being utilized by machines. If we keep up at this rate, I believe that in a decade or so, there will be twice as many lay-offs due to the dependency of machinery and lack of care for humans.

I don't know if it's just me but I sometimes long for the old days where people had personal relationships face-to-face. But as the years go by and technology continues to progress, there is little need or expectance for face-to-face interactions. I am against the idea that we should have a "cooperative interaction between men and computers" (p.72) because I feel that we are ultimately giving machines too much power. Instead, we should use computers to our advantage and maintain a balance or limit on how much we depend on or utilize them.