Submitted by Phialy Noun
Our world is full of technological advances and media. As we grow older, we slowly adapt to the changes around us. We always have to get the latest thing out, but the question is why do we need to? Does it make us better than the person next to us who doesn’t have it? Are we really willing to pay that much money for a small difference in a product that was out just six months ago? The social medias are constantly trying to get us to buy their new technology. The media advertises in the streets, on TV and even your friend might try to persuade you to buy a new gadget. With all these to deal with, it adds social pressure to ourselves. Does technology cause us to be even more socially isolated? How far down the line are we letting our privacy get violated? What we didn’t realize is that technology is our deadliest weapon. There is a term called cyber bullying, which means harassment by any form of an electronic material used on another person. A person can be bullied by what they don’t have, text messages, phone calls, wall posts on websites, videos, and the list goes on. Gossip is formed in a mass social network. People get labeled with by what someone else said or did.
For example, A freshmen college student named Tyler attended Rutgers University Committed suicide. His roommate secretly recorded Tyler being intimate with another male in his dorm. He was exposed through a webcam and the video was uploaded it online. Tyler was confronted about it and later posted on his face book wall that he was jumping off the G.W. Bridge. This was all because of conflict of self identity and a tiny camera.
Another example is in Missouri a Woman had made a fake account on a social media website called Myspace. She used the site to pretend to be a boy who had started to have a relationship with a thirteen year old girl named Megan. The hoax was created because the woman’s daughter wasn’t getting along with Megan. The fake user started to bash on the girl and ended the relationship. Megan then hung herself. This video gives you more detail of the impact of cyber bullying on society.
To sum it up, we speak through an electronic system which we can’t live a day without. Technology is making it too easy for us to become someone we don’t want to be. We limit ourselves face time conversations to deal with conflicts. We mouth off online but not say a word to that person directly in person. People are becoming bullies or stalkers and not even realizing it. We just post it up on line and hope that others will like it and join our hate club. The level of isolation is going to keep increasing because the more we interact with technology the more we avoid people. Why continue to only have a relationship with a lit up screen and a keypad?
For example, A freshmen college student named Tyler attended Rutgers University Committed suicide. His roommate secretly recorded Tyler being intimate with another male in his dorm. He was exposed through a webcam and the video was uploaded it online. Tyler was confronted about it and later posted on his face book wall that he was jumping off the G.W. Bridge. This was all because of conflict of self identity and a tiny camera.
Another example is in Missouri a Woman had made a fake account on a social media website called Myspace. She used the site to pretend to be a boy who had started to have a relationship with a thirteen year old girl named Megan. The hoax was created because the woman’s daughter wasn’t getting along with Megan. The fake user started to bash on the girl and ended the relationship. Megan then hung herself. This video gives you more detail of the impact of cyber bullying on society.
To sum it up, we speak through an electronic system which we can’t live a day without. Technology is making it too easy for us to become someone we don’t want to be. We limit ourselves face time conversations to deal with conflicts. We mouth off online but not say a word to that person directly in person. People are becoming bullies or stalkers and not even realizing it. We just post it up on line and hope that others will like it and join our hate club. The level of isolation is going to keep increasing because the more we interact with technology the more we avoid people. Why continue to only have a relationship with a lit up screen and a keypad?
Submitted by Marjorie Bartell
ReplyDeleteYour article is interesting, but it shows a very negative and one sided view of how people act and what they do on the internet. Just like the world, there's good stuff and bad stuff.
I belong to a community called Reddit (reddit.com). Huge community. About a year ago today, there was a great deal of anger towards the insane rhetoric in politics. Many people, including myself, were big fans of Jon Stewart's and Stephen Colbert's shows. We all knew they either themselves were on Reddit, or their writers were. Something happened one day, how and when is a bit confusing. But to sum it up, the community spoke out, and wanted Stewart and Colbert to do some kind of huge event. On Colbert's show, he spoke up too, and hinted that he would, if he got enough contributions to donorschoose.org. I believe the goal was $150,000. And we made it, and I contributed. So, on Oct 30th, Stewart and Colbert did their rally. I showed up on a bus with 20 some people from that community (we chartered a bus), and roughly 215,000 other people also showed up.
"The call for Mr. Colbert to decamp to the nation’s capital began last week as a midnight rambling posted by user mrsammercer on Reddit.com, which was then picked up by the Huffington Post and turned into a genuine Internet movement, complete with a Facebook page, a website, and ardent viral fans.
Apparently, as Time magazine stated in one of their headlines about the comedians' rallies, "The Internet Wins."
The internet campaign started by Reddit has raised over $200,000 for charity so far and Stewart and Colbert have hopped on board."
(http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/Vox-News/2010/0917/Rally-to-Restore-Sanity-battles-March-to-Keep-Fear-Alive)
Besides that, the Reddit community has helped so many people, from many people unemployed who can't pay their rent, to someone who doesn't have enough money for food, that it actually has become a breeding ground for scammers! That community is known so well for it's generosity and goodness, that it actually gets taken advantage of.
There's a lot of good stuff, and a lot of bad stuff on the internet, just like our society. It's important to look at both, not only to prevent the bad, but also to cultivate the good. Now go try and get yourself a pizza! http://www.reddit.com/r/Random_Acts_Of_Pizza/