SMWS 3-31

It was honestly really difficult to go a full week without Facebook. Im sure I couldn’t give up all online activity for good, let alone just a week. I gave up just facebook because I figured I don’t use it so much and it would be easier to let go of than youtube or twitter, but it turned out to be much more difficult than I thought. I deleted the facebook app on my phone to make it easier on myself, but it didn’t really help. Even without the app on my homescreen I found myself going online to check it almost every day. Also the fact that I got email notifications with every interaction made it difficult for me to stay separated from it for too long. It’s interesting: when I have facebook available to me I barely check it… I usually go on once a week when it was available to me. But with the app gone and the challenge of not using it for a week in front of me, it just didn’t work out. The first couple of days I took a peek here or there just because it felt like I needed to. Midway through the week I didn’t check as much… only if I had got notifications or anything, just to see what was going on. During the weekend I was able to go without it, even when I had notifications. I think since I was so used to using it, it became habit just to check it. If I had to keep this up for a while I’m sure I could go without it. I just thought it was really interesting to see how big a part Facebook played in my daily routine, and how hard it was to give it up for a week.

SMWS 3-18

I think it’s interesting to see the huge following these new social media sites gain when they first start up. Even going back to the early days Facebook, it was a huge deal. It was supposed to be the “MySpace killer” and apparently it was. Now there’s a new wave of sites that have sprung up, and I’m having trouble finding the point of them. Twitter, the 140 character or less Facebook, sucked me in, only because of its quick and to the point format. I like it because it’s like a more compact version of Facebook, and it’s much easier to get news about sports, music, and pretty much everything.

The main new site I’m referring to is Instagram, a Facebook just for pictures. Instagram has a pretty big following now, but Im still content with twitter and Facebook. Personally I don’t take many pictures, and the pictures I do take always seem awkward to me so I don’t see the point of using Instagram. There’s the occasional gem of a picture that I’ll see, but I’ve never seen anything that fully convinced me to join the Instagram population.

Now there’s an even more pointless website that is basically Instagram with videos. Vine lets you create a compilation of short clips that totals to less than 10 seconds. The reason I don’t really like vine is because it really is pointless. A lot of the videos are random or people trying to be funny when they really aren’t. Im not trying to sound super mean, but honestly Vine is another site I don’t see myself using in the near future. I don’t see the point of these websites but hey, I guess you can’t knock it till you try it…

SMWS 3-4

Over the weekend news spread quickly of a baby girl that was apparently cured of HIV. The infant girl was born HIV positive, and over the course of 2 years it turns out she was cured. This is a rare case, as infants in the US usually aren’t born with HIV because of all the testing done before the birth. However, doctors were unaware this mother was HIV positive until she was undergoing labor, and as a result the little girl was born with HIV as well. The baby was put on anti-retroviral treatment at 18 months, and after 5 months of treatment she was cured. While the story is crazy and interesting in itself, I found it interesting the way it was spread around. I initially found the story on Twitter, when someone was making a joke about the child being Magic Johnsons daughter. Ironically enough this is how I learn about some of the big news stories now. Someone will make a joke or mention something on Facebook or Twitter and it’ll make its way to my newsfeed. Because of the trending topics on twitter, I think the story got a lot of publicity and shot up to be a lot more prominent. As a matter of fact as I was writing this, my friend commented about seeing the story on Facebook. It’s amazing how stories can spread around so fast on the internet now. This could be a monumental medical breakthrough, and the fact that it is being spread around like this can only be good. Hopefully doctors can build off this and cure more cases of HIV.

SMWS 2-25

Over the weekend the NFL combine began, and the results ended up all over my social media. For those that don’t know, the Combine is an event where college football players that are making the transition to the NFL go to compete. There are a number of exercises that each athlete must perform based on their position, like the 40 yard dash and bench press. On Facebook I liked the combine’s page, so I got constant updates on what was going on. My twitter timeline exploded with news about the combine results. Having played football in high school, it’s hard not to get excited about anything relating to college ball or the NFL. Everyone seemed to be freaking out about linemen that were running extremely fast 40 times, and skill players that were running even faster. What I found interesting was that I heard and learned more about players on the internet than I did actually watching the combine on TV. On the internet, it seemed like each player that did something great got their own story about their rough upbringing or an injury they had to overcome to make it that far. It made the actual combine seem so one dimensional. I think this is a pretty cool concept. I think that in the future internet will become more prominent than TV, and I feel the combine is the perfect example. The fact that social media sites like Facebook and twitter were that invested in something like the combine shows the shift that is beginning to happen.

                            

SMWS 1-28

Facebook really isn’t my thing anymore… I read through my timeline occasionally, but I rarely post anything… For some reason it’s been losing its appeal to me. Back in high school, it was a much closer experience. Everyone from school would post and like each other’s things nearly every day. Near the end of the school year pictures and posts about prom, graduation, and summer dominated my feed. I wouldn’t say I was addicted, but I remember using Facebook A LOT back then. But once summer actually came, the fire slowly died down. Everyone still posted, but there wasn’t the same feeling.

Besides the fact that it didn’t feel the same, summer was the time that my aunts and uncles REALLY started using Facebook, and they acted like typical family members on any social media website. They commented on every post, posted random things on my wall, and told my parents about every little thing I did on Facebook. I didn’t really mind it, but this changed the way I looked at Facebook as well. Once the first semester of freshman year came around, I really didn’t mess with Facebook anymore… I had switched over to twitter.

Now I would say I use both equally, although not very frequently. I use twitter mostly to keep up with current events and the new friends I’ve made. I use Facebook to keep in touch with the people back home, and my friends that went off for college. It’s interesting to go on there and see how much people have changed and what people are accomplishing. 

SMWS 1/23

This week was the championship for both the AFC and NFC divisions of the NFL, which also means the 2^nd most intense week of trash talking in America. The San Francisco 49ers played the Atlanta Falcons and the Ravens played the New England Patriots, with the 49ers and Ravens coming out on top. With each of these teams being in distinct areas of the country, fans turn out to be super passionate… and that passion is always transferred to social media. I think it’s hilarious that people can get so upset or so happy about sports that it ruins relationships and lives. The pride associated with sports teams is crazy. I remember reading a story this weekend where a 49ers fan that travelled to Atlanta for the game, ended up stabbing a Falcons fan in the neck after the game.  Me being from San Francisco I have to support the 49ers, but I never voice my opinions online, because I know it’ll cause a riot. The problem with sports and social media is that people want to have teams all to themselves. If you start to support a team around this time of year people consider you a bandwagon fan. If you cheer for another team people think you hate their team for no reason. On Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or pretty much any social media site you can just feel the taunts being thrown around at each other. Normal and famous people alike show their support for their teams. I think it’s awesome that football can create such passionate fans, but I hate how big of an impact trash talk has on social media.

Extended Reflection: World Fair's Influence on America

In what ways does the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 change America? What lasting inventions and ideas did it introduce into American culture? What important figures were critically influenced by the Fair?

The influence that the Chicago World’s Fair may not seem great at surface value, based on the fact that many Americans remain oblivious to the grand event held in 1893. However, it impacted America far more than first perceived. The World’s Fair changed America’s view of the world, and vice versa. This was America’s attempt to show the world it had the potential to be a leading power. The many exotic, fascinating, and exciting events and exhibits at the fair introduced Americans to the many different cultures of the world.

 The construction of the fair was a huge obstacle and the way it was overcome was quite amazing for the time. The wood frames of the buildings were put up first, and then in an effort to save time, they were spray painted. No longer did individuals have to paint with brushes. This quick and easy way of using hoses to spray the paint onto the building surfaces quickened the painting process. Francis Millet was credited with this new technique of painting, and in the end, his “spray painting” idea was a huge part of getting the fair up and running on time. Another huge part of the pre-fair process was the electricity. Upon further investigation I found that Nikola Tesla, the Serbian inventor/mechanical engineer, along with the Westinghouse Company was picked to power the fair, over American inventor Thomas Edison. Tesla’s cost of powering the fair came at a much cheaper price than Edison’s. Edison, mad at losing the deal, did not allow Westinghouse or Tesla to use his bulbs. Instead Westinghouse came up with their own bulbs that were more efficient than Edison’s. The Chicago World’s Fair ended up being the brightest event on earth in 1893, thanks to Tesla and the Westinghouse Co.  This “electricity race” if you will, led to a brighter future for America, as electrically powered light bulbs became a strong contender for household lighting. Phosphorescent bulbs came about as a result of Tesla’s involvement in the lighting of the fair. A few other notable inventions came about in the forms of food. Cracker Jacks were first introduced at the fair, along with other traditional modern American foods. Juicy Fruit gum, Quaker Oats, and Shredded Wheat are just a few. Perhaps the most influential and iconic invention at the fair was the Ferris wheel. This engineering marvel was designed to rival the Eiffel tower, and definitely succeeded at this job. It has become an icon at many American fairs, however all those are miniature versions. The original was designed to fit 40 people into each car.

The Fair managed to impact Walt Disney, who drew from the fair’s magnificent scenery to help him design his theme parks. L. Frank Baulm’s Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz was his recreation of the White City. The Fair showed the world the magic of its individual countries and cultures, and discreetly boosted America to a position of power, by stimulating the economy, and gaining the nation some respect.