Vanness – Writing 2150t: Spring 2021

Vanness Liu Outline

Introduction:

Hook: We were taught that the internet is bad for us. Many teens report positive when using social media but when questioned what they think about social media they report negatively. Why is that?

Statement of Problem: As technology is advancing and becoming more common especially with Gen z, which is known for growing up around it. This started people to question the impact of technology on us. This raised the misconception that the internet hinders our ability to communicate to face to face.

Thesis: The internet does not hinder our ability to speak face-to-face but instead supplement our ability to.

Body Paragraph 1: Where does the misconception that internet / social media negatively affect our ability to communicate face – to- face.

We were taught that internet is bad for us
The analysis that the internet is negatively affecting us comes from our teachers and parents.
Because creating a study to effectively determine the effect of the internet on social ability is almost impossible since there are too many factors to consider there isn’t one.

Body Paragraph 2: Difference between heavy users and light users.

One of the factors when discussing how the internet affects our ability is heavy users and light users.
Heavy users information and how
Light user information and explain how new users often report feeling stressed out using the internet.

Body Paragraph 3: defining social ability

Derives from teachers and parents
Connect to the first paragraph and explain more in detail why research on social ability is not reliable and why it is so hard to conduct research on social ability.

Raise Counter argument: Light users do feel stressed about the internet because they often find it difficult to find other people and look for platforms where they are able to explore themselves.

Conclusion:

Restatement of thesis: There often is the misconception that the internet has a negative impact on our social ability. But such statements aren’t backed with proper research since there are too many factors to take into account when conducting a research on social ability. Taking a closer look into how the internet affects us isolating some factors we find that the internet supplements our ability to communicate face-to-face.

Work Cited:

Downey, D. B., & Gibbs, B. G. (2020). Kids these days: are face-to-face social skills among American children declining?. American journal of sociology, 125(4), 1030-1083.

https://www.gwern.net/docs/psychology/2020-downey.pdf

Baym, N.K., Zhang, Y.B., & Lin, M. (2004) Social Interactions across Media: Interpersonal Communication on the Internet, Face-to-Face,and the Telephone. New Media & Society, Vol. 6(3), 299-318

Wellman, B., Haase, A. Q., Witte, J., & Hampton, K. (2001). Does the Internet increase, decrease, or supplement social capital? Social networks, participation, and community commitment. American behavioral scientist, 45(3), 436-455.

Westerman, D., Daniel, E. S., & Bowman, N. D. (2016). Learned risks and experienced rewards: Exploring the potential sources of students’ attitudes toward social media and face-to-face communication. The Internet and Higher Education, 31, 52-57.

Vanness Liu Synthesis Letter

Primary Topic: How does the internet supplement our ability to communicate face-to-face?

Research Questions:

How does the internet let us connect with others?
Does the internet strengthen our community as a whole?
Do generation Z prefer communication through the internet or face-to-face?
What does it mean to be a “heavy internet user” or “newbies” and how does that differ from others?
Why is there often the negative connotation around the use of social media?

Dear Professor Beacher,

While researching how the internet assimilates and supplements our ability to communicate face-to-face I came across multiple sources that taught me more about my topic. Allowing me to be more specific about my research question and also expand the sub-questions that I need to address in my essay. Out of those multiple sources, these four are what I believe not only addresses my topic but also supports a connection between them.

The first article, by Wellman, addresses how the internet affects our voluntary community participation while placing emphasis on the difference between “heavy-users” and “newbies”. Wellman explains that while we might see an increase in heavy-users voluntary participation in the community there is isolation in “newbies”. This is because newer users report to be more stressed out when using the internet and harder to connect to a community. The second article, by Baym, further the first article in exploring the different factors that need to be isolated to properly analyze the effect of the internet on face-to-face communication. Not only do we need to determine how often they use the internet but also take into account which platform they use, what they use it for, and when studying the social ability we also need to understand the relationship they have, whether they are speaking with family, friends, co-worker, or schoolmates. The first two articles help me simplify my topic, as well as understand that I need to address more factors that play a role in determining the effect of the internet.

Article three, by Downey, talks about the term “social ability”. He mentioned that because of the difficulty of conducting an experiment on the internet on the ability to communicate face-to-face there isn’t any real data. This is why today’s term for social ability is determined by teachers and parents. This connects with the fourth article, by Westerman, because he brings up the idea that many of the negative misconceptions are started by parents and teachers. We were taught to believe that face-to-face is the optimal form of communication while the internet is a distraction. Article four is also an important article because it talks from the viewpoint of the students. Generation Z is one that is known to grow up with the internet and a generation that is highly assimilated with the internet as we grew up with it. So it is important to have evidence and support from their viewpoint.

Overall, while studying and researching more about my topic I learned a lot more about the internet on users. I learned that there are multiple factors that need to be taken into consideration when discussing this topic, which is why I decide to focus more on college students and mention differences between different platforms and how the internet affects face-to-face communication for specific relationships.

Sincerely

Vanness Liu

Vanness Liu Draft 1

Why I Choose my Topic:

Because of how accessible technology is nowadays. 86% of American households have access to the internet. I decided to research how technology affects the way people socialize online and their ability to socialize.

Researching Questions:

Main Questions: How does the internet affect our social abilities? [I think we need to take this a little deeper. Right now, this question is pretty easy to answer without doing much research. Are you thinking more about how our interactions online might affect the way we socialize with people offline?]

Sub – Questions:

How does the internet let us connect with others? [I think this question is easily answered; and therefore, shouldn’t be something you focus for this project]
Is it easier to make new friends through the internet? [I also think this question is too subjective. Some people will say “yes” and others will say “no”. I don’t think there is a scientific way to prove one answer over the other.]
Does the internet strengthen our community as a whole?
How does it vary based on heavy internet users and average users?

Article 1: Wellman, Berry, et al. Does the Internet Increase, Decrease or Supplement Social Capital.

https://www.mysocialnetwork.net/downloads/offprint/Does%20the%20Internet%20Increase,%20Decrease,%20or%20Supplement%20Social%20Capital%202001.pdf

Summary: The internet does serve as an alternative to both face-to-face and telephone communication enhancing relationships both online and offline. [How does it do this?] It also allows people with similar interests to communicate regardless of the distance and time. This allows a stronger community. The Internet also promotes democracy by providing an easier way to spread and voice out their beliefs. [This is true in some places but not everywhere] The internet enhances face-to-face interactions as members are more aware of the others’ needs and likes (music, picture, organizations, etc). [Do you mean it enhances face-to-face interactions among strangers? Or among friends, co-workers, family, etc?]

Paraphrase: To see the effect of the internet we need to first understand what it was like without the internet. With a spatially dispersed community the internet serves as an additional way to communicate besides face-to-face and telephone. And during the period of decline in organization participation we see the internet serve as a solution to increase involvement. [Is this the original passage or the paraphrased version?]

Analysis: This article helps answer the third question regarding how the internet strengthens the community. We see how the internet allows others to broadcast their views and form or join organizations that share the same opinion. [This analysis section is very short and does not give specific examples of how this source will help you connect your ideas and strengthen your argument.]

Article 2:Nancy K. Baym, Yan Bing Zhang, Mei-Chen Lin. Social Interaction across Media: interpersonal communication on the internet, face-to-face and the telephone. [What year was this written?]

Summary: Based on a study on college students and the three forms of communion: online interaction, face-to-face, and telephone. While it concluded that while the internet plays an important role in their social lives, face-to-face and telephone still serves as the main way of communicating. [Interesting. Are these people communicating on the phone without using the internet?]We also see internet users more likely than non-users to spend time with friends or clubs outside. There are often misconceptions that the internet affects the ability of young adults to communicate in person which is not true as on average consistent users, while enjoying online social communication, still prefer face-to-face interaction.

Paraphrase: When determining how the internet affects someone’s social ability we also need to take into account how often they spend on the internet. There are heavy users, average users, and light users. Heavy users often spend less time with their family and prefer online interactions without seeing the other person. Average users and light users prefer face-to-face interactions or telephone.

Analysis: This article is important because while it provides evidence to my research topic it also provides counter arguments. It also splits the internet users into three categories and this is important because it does affect their preference.

You sources seem to point towards the notion that people who interact in online communities will have an easier time socializing in face-to-face settings. Is this the direction you want to go with your essay? If so, I think it can be an interesting project. You do need to review the assignment page though. Your entries are missing important information and your analysis sections are much too vague for me to understand how these sources will help you with your research project and essay.

Introduction

Hello Everyone

My name is Vanness. I’m currently a freshman majoring in Finance. I live in Queens Flushing. I’m half Chinese and half Malaysian.

What I enjoy doing in my free time, currently, is reading webnovels. While they aren’t like published books the stories behind these are very unique (some). Some are also translated from Chinese or Korean novels. I enjoy reading about Action Fantasy and Mystery.

I also enjoy watching anime and reading manga and I think I remember some of you guys also mention this. If there’s any recommendations feel free to message me.

I don’t often play games anymore, but I’m still down to play. If you play league, TFT, or valorant feel free to message me too.