Wisdom of the Crowd Response

I am doing a response of Gina Sirico, Katie Messina, and Brent Houseal's blogs.

Social Media and the Wisdom of the Crowd Postings

Whither the Individual?

As we join groups and social networks from affinity sites to Facebook, are we extending and expanding identities, or increasingly conforming to the cookie-cutter profiles demanded of these interfaces? Is the loss of “personal space” and “reflection” so many users complain of merely the necessary surrender of “ego” as we learn to participate as members of a more evolved “collective organism” of “hyper-people?”

Facebook does not make people conform to one “identity”. Facebook gives off many different options for people to associate themselves with. It is impossible to conform to one identity when there are options that can apply to everyone. For example, a person can change their name, their sexual orientation, marital status and religion. And even then their religion does not have to be anything that is recognized as an actual religion. For example, on Facebook a friend of mine follows the religion of “Julesism”; it is obvious that this religion does not exist however it is stated that she follows it. How can someone conform to an identity when they follow a religion that does not exist?

            Also, Facebook allows you the opportunity to put random things into the categories that interest you; in other words, many things that you “like” or are “fans” of show up in your interests and activities. Once again, how can you conform to something when things just show up in your profile? There is so many options for people to be different that there is no way that someone is conforming to one identity.

            Yes, Facebook does ask its users to fill out a generic profile. However, that does not mean that each person cannot be an individual. Each person has their own set of likes and dislikes that allow them to be different from everyone else. This can be used in Facebook and other social media sites as well. For example, MySpace allows a person to create their own background to their site which reflects their own personal style. This is the same from blog sites as well. Facebook does not do this, but every person enjoys different music and movies.

            Also, the thing that makes Facebook different from other social networking sites is that Facebook has the ability to accept or deny friends. The purpose of social networking sites is to connect with people via the internet. However, unlike the other networks Facebook makes it able to connect with people that you already know. Most people do not request friends they have never met and also do not accept people they do not know. It is because of this fact that Facebook does not necessarily need for people to create their own background to their sites. There is no need to create an identity when users already have an identity outside of the internet that is most likely known to the people who are viewing their sites.

            Most people Facebook stalk. It is one of the many things that Facebook allows us to do. However, people allow this as soon as they accept a friend request. People look at each other’s pictures and wall posts to see who were are hanging around with and what not. However, we do not usually type in John Smith and go creeping on all the John Smith’s that are on Facebook. When we do creeper we do it on people that we are interested in or made some connection in the real world.

            There is no doubt that there is a loss of personal space in the cyber world. The ethics that go along with social networking sites are very different than that in the real world. What is socially acceptable to do on Facebook is not necessarily accepted in the real world. For example, no way is it acceptable to go and stalk someone. However, on Facebook when you are safe in your house and the other person has no idea, it is common knowledge. It happens. Everyone does it.

            In the real world you can control who sees what. If you want to keep a personal journal that no one reads then you have the ability to do so. If you want to have a private conversation with someone then you can. However, on Facebook and other social networking sites there are limited amounts of privacy. What you post of someone’s wall is free information to everyone who can view that person’s wall. How can there be personal space when everyone can view everything and you cannot do anything to stop them?

            The social networking cites and this concept of cyber friendships has created a new age of mannerisms. Not only are their appropriate courses of action in the real world but now there are socially acceptable ways of interacting on the internet as well.

McLuhan Assignment 1

For my medium I decided to choose the television. The television has opened up the whole world to the casual population. All of the images in this television represent something important that happened due to the television. The television brought the world together. Everyone was able to view the events of September 11th. When Georgia Bush addressed the nation after the attacks it brought the people of the United States together. The television brought the Vietnam War into the homes of the American people, which is why many of the people were against the war, because they could now see how awful war was. Without the television we would not feel as connected as we are and that is why the television is an important medium.

McLuhan Assignment 2

For my second McLuhan assignment I decided to do texting. The world of the telephone has changed dramatically over time. My grandmother still has a cord phone in her kitchen. It represents how far technology has come. Now, it is so much easier to get in contact with someone just on the cell phone. Texting allows for an easier communication because essentially it is just like a written voicemail. However, that does not mean that it is always used like that. Many people, including myself, use texting as a legitimate form of communication. It is for this reason that texting is a serious medium in the world of communication. However, the cell phone is also used for other things besides texting. Many cell phones have internet access which means that a person is constantly connected with the rest of the world. This is another reason why the cell phone is an important medium.

Social Media Question

Today many TV shows and advertisements try to look amateurish or "homegrown" to emulate what is often seen on the Web. Do you think professional production values will continue to drop, or do you think amateur user-generated content will get better over time? WHY


Perhaps I do not watch enough TV but I have not see enough amateurish or "homegrown" content for me to believe that this sense of "do it yourself" content will continue to cause professional production values to drop. I feel that these "homegrown" videos are part of the Justin Bieber-like idea, where a small town boy with a dream can make it in the big world of the music industry. Having said that, I believe that with the new technologies being available to people, the user-generated content will continue to grow and get better over time. However, I do not think that they will ever pass the professional production.

What social media sites do you find yourself using the most and why? In your opinion why is Facebook so much more successful than MySpace, and do you think Facebook is "here to stay" for the long term.

I use Facebook the most. I use this for many reasons. First, Facebook allows me to connect to people that I am not able to see on a regular basis, or who are geographically unavailable. Also, Facebook allows for more privacy protection than MySpace or other social networking sites. I believe that it is this fact that makes Facebook more successful than MySpace. Facebook has better privacy settings and also has more applications that come with the Facebook network.

I believe that Facebook is here to stay. Facebook has completely evolved from what it's purpose was when it first started. It started out as a college network site. Then it was passed down to high school and then down to middle school. As it evolved more and more people were able to create a Facebook account. Technology is becoming more and more available to younger generations and therefore it will never be erased.

Why is transparency such an important concept in the Social Media world? Is it MORE or LESS important in the offline world? Why?

Transparency is becoming such an important concept in Social Media because the internet is so much more vast than the offline world. It is because of this fact that it is MORE important than it is in the offline world. In a financial disclosure there are only certain people who have access to that information. However, in the online world anyone has the ability to hack into the file and see the information. It brings up the idea of ethics and privacy. Technology is a dangerous world.

Three Mediums

        The cell phone can be considered a medium. Through phone calls and texting cell phones can transport a message from the sender to the receiver. Because cell phones are becoming more advanced, cell phones are able to also connect to the internet which allows for more information to be distributed.

 The Computer is another medium. This medium can be dissected into other more specific forms of media such as the internet and email. The internet is able to connect billions of people, which is something that the cell phone and TV cannot do.

  The TV is another form of media. This allows information to be viewed by the mass population.