Hello, all, and welcome to my iWrite blog for assessment numero 2! I'm Grace Patterson and I'm in Frank's class for the first semester of 2011. I'm extremely enthused, even as I research and type my little heart out, as I am a newbie to the university world and am taking everything as it comes. I already keep a blog, which can be found under the name PattieCakes, that is a general blog based on the things I notice in life that either annoy or intrigue me. THIS blog, however, is for more of an academic purpose. That of a one-sided debate regarding the awesomeness of the over-populated world that is Facebook.com.
As you can tell from my enthusiasm in my written tone, and the title of the blog also, I'm writing about the positives of Facebook. Obviously! Because as far as I'm concerned there are way more upsides than downsides. And even the downsides of the famed social networking site are being constantly fixed and improved by the dilligent workers at the Facebook HQ.
The irony of this blog is that, even on the leadup to publishing it for my assignment, Facebook itself was the main cause of my distractions. Facebook is easy and fast. It's a good way of keeping in contact. It's relatively safe if you're cyber-smart and know all about stranger danger. It's bursting at the seams with games and apps and friendship opportunities. It's becoming a part of everyday life! How often do you hear, when someone hops out of the lift at their floor, "Hey, I'll facebook you!" Facebook has not only taken the social networking world by storm, but it's become an adjective. It's had a movie based on its life from humble beginnings. Facebook is part of a new revolution.
I argue that Facebook has more positive aspects than it does negative. People might tr to protest this, saying it's dangerous and a waste of time. But it's not! It's a new age way of communicating and keeping up to date with the people in our life.
It's fun.
It's addictive.
It's fast.
It's easy.
It's Facebook.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
Section Two: Contact, contact, contact.
No, the title of this section does not refer to the NZ-based energy company. I'm talking in terms of emotional contact when apart from friends that you see at school but who you miss when you arrive home. I'm talking in terms of emotional contact when you are overseas, whether that be visiting another country, or, more permanently, immigrating. Moving away from home can be extremely difficult. Trust me, I've done it. I moved to the beautiful Aotearoa from England at the tender age of 13. This was in a time, and yes there was a time believe it or not, when Facebook did not yet exist. It was 2005, and to be quite honest people my age were excited about having a new email address that they could call their own.
I genuinely expected to be friends with one girl, Rachel, forever. But I was so wrong. I would email her on a regular basis, recieving replies few and far between. You see, here's the thing: when you check your email, that's all you do. There's nothing to keep you glued to the computer screen. But with Facebook's many applications and gaming opportunities, friends are kept online for longer, making it easier to catch them on chat for a chat. And on top of this, if you really feel the need, you can post on their wall or send them mail. That's right, folks, there are THREE ways to contact someone if you want. You can also take the annoying approach and 'poke' them. This shows up on their homepage and can begin a 'poking' battle.
Long distance relationships are renowned for being difficult to keep up. I myself have never been in one, but have had friends in the past who are desperately trying to maintain it. Others, who are members of fb (as it is known on the street/ in a text message/ in shorthand) have an easier time doing so because they can leave cutesie messages on their lover's wall, email them, and chat to them using the handy chat app.
Facebook has also reunited individuals with people they went to school with way back in the summer of '69. Its handy search bar means you can simply type in the full name of the person you're looking for, the scour through the candidates until you find them! If the search has too many suggestions, you can narrow your search down by 'filtering the results'. This nifty button allows you to search in terms of current workplace, current whereabouts, and any of the places where they were educated. Can you say handy?
On this site, the writer of the article claimed that first and foremost, Facebook is so addictive because "it's really fun to catch up with a lot of people, all day long, quickly." I couldn't agree more. Now that I have successfully fb-friended all of the people I grew up with in England, aswell as all of my friends here in NZ, there is always a bunch of people online, regardless of the time. 5am: all my UK mates are home from work. 12pm: all my UK mates are on in the middle of the night and my NZ mates are on their lunch break. It's fast and easy and effective. Keeping in contact made easy through the wonders of Facebook!
I genuinely expected to be friends with one girl, Rachel, forever. But I was so wrong. I would email her on a regular basis, recieving replies few and far between. You see, here's the thing: when you check your email, that's all you do. There's nothing to keep you glued to the computer screen. But with Facebook's many applications and gaming opportunities, friends are kept online for longer, making it easier to catch them on chat for a chat. And on top of this, if you really feel the need, you can post on their wall or send them mail. That's right, folks, there are THREE ways to contact someone if you want. You can also take the annoying approach and 'poke' them. This shows up on their homepage and can begin a 'poking' battle.
Long distance relationships are renowned for being difficult to keep up. I myself have never been in one, but have had friends in the past who are desperately trying to maintain it. Others, who are members of fb (as it is known on the street/ in a text message/ in shorthand) have an easier time doing so because they can leave cutesie messages on their lover's wall, email them, and chat to them using the handy chat app.
Facebook has also reunited individuals with people they went to school with way back in the summer of '69. Its handy search bar means you can simply type in the full name of the person you're looking for, the scour through the candidates until you find them! If the search has too many suggestions, you can narrow your search down by 'filtering the results'. This nifty button allows you to search in terms of current workplace, current whereabouts, and any of the places where they were educated. Can you say handy?
On this site, the writer of the article claimed that first and foremost, Facebook is so addictive because "it's really fun to catch up with a lot of people, all day long, quickly." I couldn't agree more. Now that I have successfully fb-friended all of the people I grew up with in England, aswell as all of my friends here in NZ, there is always a bunch of people online, regardless of the time. 5am: all my UK mates are home from work. 12pm: all my UK mates are on in the middle of the night and my NZ mates are on their lunch break. It's fast and easy and effective. Keeping in contact made easy through the wonders of Facebook!
Section Three: Getting Past the 'Rents
My parents have come to terms with the fact that my online life cannot be stopped or altered by them. They let me do my thang. I'm not an 11-year-old having to ask mummy's permission to make a Habbo Hotel account. I'm a nearly-19-year-old who has a blog. Boom. Internet generation! But in saying that, there are plenty of parents out there who are extremely wary of cyber bullying, stalkers, and the dangers of having a personal profile on a public domain.
There is an endless supply of websites that discuss the plus sides of Facebook, aswell as giving reasons why parents should be supportive of the use of the site in their homes. This site gives parents a list of things to look out for when their child is using Facebook. Most of the tips are obvious things like 'there is an age limit of 13 years old' and 'don't talk to strangers'. While these are very valid points, they are also fairly obvious. It honestly seems like, according to the creator of this site, the only bad things to be said about Facebook are things that can be avoided by the individual who has an account.
Facebook was described on this site as being a "social networking giant", and what a fitting title that is. Facebook has taken social networking and keeping in contact with people to a whole new level. It's the goodness of Bebo, Hotmail, MySpace, Twitter and Tumblr all rolled into one big, beautiful, blue package. On this same site, the writers discuss how Facebook has took a stand against cyber-bullying, an issue common in this day and technical age. It tells of how a facebook sub-site was filled with abusive comments towards homosexuals. Incidents such as this are what anti-Facebook peeps will try to use against the site and those who are interested in it. However, upon hearing off this horrible cyber-bullyig and discrimination, a Facebook official named Andrew Noyes repsonded by saying:
"We were able to not only remove the comments from the page, but if this activity persists, these individuals will be removed from Facebook entirely."
Facebook deals with situations promptly. On every single post that shows up on your page or in your live feed, there is the drop-down option to 'mark as spam' or remove the object from view. If needed, you can even block a person or change your security settings so their activities don't show up when you log in. If parents wish to further warn their children of these dangers, they can easily do so. But as for the possibility of awful things happenin on this site: very very low. There are so many ways to avoid the negativity on the site that there really is no point in focusing on it!
There is an endless supply of websites that discuss the plus sides of Facebook, aswell as giving reasons why parents should be supportive of the use of the site in their homes. This site gives parents a list of things to look out for when their child is using Facebook. Most of the tips are obvious things like 'there is an age limit of 13 years old' and 'don't talk to strangers'. While these are very valid points, they are also fairly obvious. It honestly seems like, according to the creator of this site, the only bad things to be said about Facebook are things that can be avoided by the individual who has an account.
Facebook was described on this site as being a "social networking giant", and what a fitting title that is. Facebook has taken social networking and keeping in contact with people to a whole new level. It's the goodness of Bebo, Hotmail, MySpace, Twitter and Tumblr all rolled into one big, beautiful, blue package. On this same site, the writers discuss how Facebook has took a stand against cyber-bullying, an issue common in this day and technical age. It tells of how a facebook sub-site was filled with abusive comments towards homosexuals. Incidents such as this are what anti-Facebook peeps will try to use against the site and those who are interested in it. However, upon hearing off this horrible cyber-bullyig and discrimination, a Facebook official named Andrew Noyes repsonded by saying:
"We were able to not only remove the comments from the page, but if this activity persists, these individuals will be removed from Facebook entirely."
Facebook deals with situations promptly. On every single post that shows up on your page or in your live feed, there is the drop-down option to 'mark as spam' or remove the object from view. If needed, you can even block a person or change your security settings so their activities don't show up when you log in. If parents wish to further warn their children of these dangers, they can easily do so. But as for the possibility of awful things happenin on this site: very very low. There are so many ways to avoid the negativity on the site that there really is no point in focusing on it!
Section Four: Revolution and Conclusion.
As of the end of 2011, there will supposedly be over 500 million people signed up to Facebook. Of that massive number, over 250 million log into the site on a daily basis. Let me repeat that to emphasise the immensity thereof. There are over 250 million people logging into Facebook on a daily basis. Here's the fact: You can't argue with that kind of statistic! People complain that this, that and the other is wrong with the social networking site, but what are the chances that even those people themselves have an account? The minor problems with Facebook can be overlooked when you take into consideration the vast number of individuals who are frequent users. There must be some good when that amount of people have taken interest.
On this person's blog entry, they discuss 5 reasons why Facebook is awesome. The person who wrote this uses little punctuation, but raises 5 very good points. Cut shorter than he/she wrote it, those five reasons include the ability to stay in contact (as mentioned in section one of this blog), originality of materials found, social impact, the creator being a cool guy who followed a dream and the fact that Facebook is REAL! He/she brings up a very good point when he/she says:
"Fortunately Facebook doesn't have nicknames/avatars and this is one of the things that make Facebook awesome. On Facebook, you are you... that includes telling little lies, the same lies you probably tell in real life, and more importantly, you are responsible for what you do and say. A sixteen year old girl on the train said "two people aren't in a relationship unless it's listed on Facebook", that shows how Facebook has a real-life impact"
Quick recap:
-Facebook is an effective, logical, and handy way of keeping in contact with those you might otherwise lose contact with.
-Facebook's security system is continually being updated and improved.
-Facebook is awesome in general, and has over 250 million users. That's far more than the number of people who ever signed up for other social networking sites such as MySpace and Bebo.
-According to Facebook's homepage, the site is free to sign up to and 'always will be'. That's a plus. It's not often that you get stuff for free these days!
In conclusion, and to once again quote this person: "Facebook is obviously awesome. The end."
On this person's blog entry, they discuss 5 reasons why Facebook is awesome. The person who wrote this uses little punctuation, but raises 5 very good points. Cut shorter than he/she wrote it, those five reasons include the ability to stay in contact (as mentioned in section one of this blog), originality of materials found, social impact, the creator being a cool guy who followed a dream and the fact that Facebook is REAL! He/she brings up a very good point when he/she says:
"Fortunately Facebook doesn't have nicknames/avatars and this is one of the things that make Facebook awesome. On Facebook, you are you... that includes telling little lies, the same lies you probably tell in real life, and more importantly, you are responsible for what you do and say. A sixteen year old girl on the train said "two people aren't in a relationship unless it's listed on Facebook", that shows how Facebook has a real-life impact"
Quick recap:
-Facebook is an effective, logical, and handy way of keeping in contact with those you might otherwise lose contact with.
-Facebook's security system is continually being updated and improved.
-Facebook is awesome in general, and has over 250 million users. That's far more than the number of people who ever signed up for other social networking sites such as MySpace and Bebo.
-According to Facebook's homepage, the site is free to sign up to and 'always will be'. That's a plus. It's not often that you get stuff for free these days!
In conclusion, and to once again quote this person: "Facebook is obviously awesome. The end."
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Section Five: Referencing :)
The following are links that I used and referenced in my blog. They are all listed on my Delicious account, but I will copy them below. All of my research was found online so only web addresses are available. PLEASE NOTE: All of the links are referenced directly when I mention them throughout the blog!
http://www.facebook.com/
http://www.ktvu.com/news/25410790/detail.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20110506/hl_ac/8317783_internet_safety_ten_things_parents_should_know_before_letting_their_child_go_on_facebook_1
http://www.squidoo.com/kids-on-facebook
http://www.thematrixfiles.net/blog/why-is-facebook-so-addictive/
http://www.betabeat.com/2011/05/12/google-is-stupid-and-evil-but-facebook-is-awesome/
http://blog.novati.ca/2009/04/5-reasons-why-facebook-is-awesome.html
http://www.ednewsparent.org/safe-schools/2353-parents-friending-facebook
http://thenextweb.com/facebook/2011/03/01/facebooks-comments-platform-the-pros-and-cons/
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070616195820AAVm4uA
http://www.facebook.com/
http://www.ktvu.com/news/25410790/detail.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20110506/hl_ac/8317783_internet_safety_ten_things_parents_should_know_before_letting_their_child_go_on_facebook_1
http://www.squidoo.com/kids-on-facebook
http://www.thematrixfiles.net/blog/why-is-facebook-so-addictive/
http://www.betabeat.com/2011/05/12/google-is-stupid-and-evil-but-facebook-is-awesome/
http://blog.novati.ca/2009/04/5-reasons-why-facebook-is-awesome.html
http://www.ednewsparent.org/safe-schools/2353-parents-friending-facebook
http://thenextweb.com/facebook/2011/03/01/facebooks-comments-platform-the-pros-and-cons/
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070616195820AAVm4uA
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