Initial Thoughts
I have never really been very good at technology I like to use a note pad and pen, I often spend at least 10 minuets looking at stationary in Tescos when I go food shopping bit sad I know, I like to be organised ! I have been watching MR. Robot a series about hacking, it has shown me how little I know about technology and made me want to change all of my passwords! Definitely worth a watch if you like TV series.
Technology has become a part of life so I have had to adapt in some but not all areas. After looking through Reader 1 it became clear to me that web 1.0 is about one-way communications between creator and reader like wiki etc.. but Web 2.0 is where the reader and creator can interact and the reader can become the creator.
Page 2 really interested me as I got a chance to really understand what features Web 2.0 includes. The one that interested me the most was about social networking.
"Web 2.0 usually allows users to interact with each other, make formal and informal connections and share. This is known as social networking" P.2 Reader
Thoughts on Social Media
Social media came to my attention through out my time at secondary school, I really enjoyed MSN I could decide how to portray myself to my fellow class mates, even though they knew me gave me. In your name you could put friends names and emojis to represent how you was feeling, and as teenager it went a little like this...
***LoIs-mAy - - ---<3----±§ Dance §±-----<3 ***HoMeWoRk*** BRB :-P :)***
That was 1990s social media for me along with other sites like myspace which was where you could really create a page choose top 10 friends and photos and a song as other people entered your page.
In the 90's social media had more pros more than its cons, that could be because I was more naive that I am now, however I feel today Social Media can has more cons that pros because of how addicted so many people are and how the art of conversation seems to be evaporating.
I feel social media is fantastic in the way that you can stay in touch with relatives who have moved away, friends who you are close to you can keep up to date with in a in expensive way. I love how I can hold all my pictures in one place and keep up to date with friends, fashion, music, and dance etc.. Another pro is that it broadens your horizons you can see what is out there and especially in the dance world, you can find auditions quickly and chat to other dancers on where to go or what class to take. You can also research choreographers follow their pages and find out key information about castings. There is no doubt that social media isn't valuable to your personal and work life, but I believe it is only valuable when used correctly.
Social media has another side to it one that is very addictive and harmful, I mentioned briefly that I enjoyed MSN because I could create something that represents me, well now you are able to create a whole site of who you are and more importantly who people actually WANT to be! It allows us to post the best parts of our lives to show to others, here is a photo of me driving my Audi with a costa #amazing #lovinglife #costa ... but people are failing to show the truth, the realness, the human that we really are. Below are some interesting articles I have found reading around this subject.
http://www.relevantmagazine.com/culture/tech/8-dangers-social-media-were-not-willing-admit
http://www.business2community.com/social-media/dangerous-can-social-media-really-01339434#A58joAPhZguCC6Y6.97
Apart from people creating fake unrealistic profiles, can you believe this was a newspaper headline, obviously this person was mentally unstable in the first place. But this IS news this IS happening.
My professional practise is to teach children dance and gymnastics in Primary Schools and how many likes have they got on a photo IS a topic of conversation that I have overheard. Children as young as 8 that I teach have a social media sites, they are being exposed at such a young age, is that what we want for children who are often vulnerable? I feel that social media is a bit part of my practise and it is my job as their teacher to reduces the bad sides of social media being exposed to young children, but is it my place to tell a child they should not be on instagram ? The answer is no, it is the parents responsibility to keep their children safe from the dangers and addiction that lies within social media. But as their teacher I can only do my best to guide them to be safe when using it.
This photo below highlights my main issue with social media it is very addicted, so many of my friends are constantly on their phone even when you are in their company and you are having a conversation with them. They scroll and chat then scroll and chat, people become so obsessed with what they have created on the internet that the human in front of them. I go back to my point I made earlier about loosing the art of conversation.
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What does this photo say to you?
Ironically taken from FACE BOOK!! |
Please take a look at a BBC report
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-28089246
Which talks in more detail about loosing the art of conversation with a shocking report about how we communicate.
I am not innocent I do carry my phone with me, I am on social networking sites and I do enjoy browsing and posting photos. I am starting to slowly move away from them as I do not want to become one of those people who miss what is in front of them by being addicted to my phone. I have removed myself of things like snapchat because all I am doing is showing people how great my life is instead of enjoying how great my life is ! What I have gained from moving away is way more important that my friends status about how she ate toast this morning followed by a photo of a costa cup.
Life is here for the taking and if you are looking down at your phone you are not moving or looking forward. I have stated some strong options and gone a little of task, please do comment with your thoughts.
I leave you with a few photos.
