The "Fergie National Anthem" post, to me, served a purpose in addition to the lesson of reading the whole article and not just the headline, as well as the message in the article itself (shedding some light on bullying). It also shed some light on how social media has somewhat served as an equalizer and leveled the proverbial playing field between celebrities and common people (Katie Couric’s video did this also). Celebrities are subject to even harsher criticisms, and more pervasively, now than they were before. Their "people" have it much harder in "protecting" them from the cruelness that people can be. Before social media, it was much easier for information directed at celebrities to be filtered. Now, celebrities are almost as accessible as a regular person and can now face bullying closer to a level more synonymous with what the average person faces. It would be nice to see celebrities use this to call more attention to issues surrounding bullying. ...

I had a lot of thoughts and made a lot of connections leading up to and during this class. I’m pretty sure they have a lot to do with confirmation bias, mainly because I had thought them before reading the articles discussing conservatives versus liberals, which happened to be in line with my previous thoughts. While the information in the articles was in line with what I already believed, I’m not sure that is entirely due to confirmation bias. When you have several studies that conclude with the same general theme, you have a strong argument for being correct – in terms of scientific evidence. There is a difference between thinking you are right because that is what YOU “know” – whether or not a bunch of people share your same opinion, and the information being literally correct. In many of the presentations, the same general themes were reappearing. Conservatives have a tendency to distrust the media. Further, not only do they distrust the media more as a whole, they distrust t...

I tweeted that, “ So much pressure is placed on journalists to break a story first that accuracy is a mere afterthought; an afterthought that comes with no accountability.” It was one of those revelations that just popped into my head. It is absolutely infuriating when people are not held accountable for their mistakes. Any mistakes. It is all too often that you see people making grave mistakes with little more repercussion than the proverbial paw smack and a “don’t do it again”. And sometimes the public isn’t even aware that “corrective action” – I use the term loosely - was taken, leaving them to think that it went COMPLETELY unnoticed. It sends a message that sloppiness is not only acceptable, but typical. It sends the message that some people are indeed above the law or ethics – there is no justice.  

The idea of mass amateurization is a double-edged sword, especially when it comes to journalism - in all of its formats. When anyone and everyone can "publish" anything that they want without "approval", it can lead to mass misinformation. You miss out on the input of "professionals"/the powers that be/the experts, whatever you want to call them that give the input to tell you whether or not what you are writing is horsesh*t. You miss out on the input of things that you may not have thought of. However, maybe that isn't entirely true. When you post things for the world to see, you have the input of hundreds, thousands, even millions of different opinions, views, "editors". You also don’t get hung up on delaying technicalities and bureaucracy. When you don't have to filter your information through the usual avenues of "fact checking", you get the raw, unedited, uncensored, un-“someone else's agenda” focused information. You...

At first Crowd Accelerated Innovation didn’t entirely resonate with me. Well, it did, just not to the level that I felt that it really applied to me nor did I feel like I was going to be inspired to write about it. I am not huge into social media. I RARELY use Youtube. I actually often forget about it. However, I was relatively aware of the fact that many people attempt to use it, and occasionally succeed at becoming successful. Whether that be in the form of having a large internet following, landing a really awesome job, or becoming an international superstar with an iconic band. I was a member of the dance community for a while, so I was also aware of Youtube’s role in promoting dance styles and helping dancers gain recognition and opportunities. I still never really considered it to be a truly legitimate means of making a living. And I definitely didn’t think of it in the way that Chris Anderson did. I just didn’t make that connection. In class we all, myself included, laughed at...

One thing that really amused me this week was several classmates' insistence and argument that facebook was here to stay was based on that it is targeted more to older people. "People grow up and turn to facebook". I realized that that was very possibly true. It was a view that I basically shared myself; just not in so many words. I equated it more with my generation, with my parents' generation hesitantly giving in and joining; only to discover that they really like it and get into it as much - if not more - than my generation. Perhaps it could be because my parents' generation is a little more likely to have a little more spare time, and slightly less responsibility. They are more settled in their careers - not chasing that next big promotion or sale as hard. Their children are grown and have careers and families of their own. Their children are the ones now working 60 hours a week - must throw a jab at the economy here - and still not getting nearly as far as t...

Week one and two of class can be summed up in pretty much 2 ways. 1. When it comes to social media, as it is with everything, moderation is key. Virtually anything can turn into an addiction. 2. You can attempt to predict the direction of technology all you want, but if time follows history, an accurate prediction is virtually impossible. I, for one, know I am not nearly creative enough to think of the next big thing in technology. The only change that we know is guaranteed is change itself. When it comes to the history of the internet and social media, the evolution is as long as it is surprising. There will always be "technological holdouts", for whatever reason. However, for the most part, it seems as if each generation is a little more embracing of new technology than the previous - perhaps until conspiracy theorists get a little louder, but that is a whole different conversation. What can begin as an innocent curiosity, or even hesitant decision to try "the new bi...