Author Archives: katherine.park

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/09/us-more-parents-lenient-about-young-web-idUSTRE7486CQ20110509

I think parents are becoming more lenient as time goes by and as technology advances. I got my first cell phone when I was 12 or 13 years old. My cousin who is 9 years younger got his first one when he was about 7 years old. I got my first ipod  and laptop when I was 18. This kid got his first ipod when he was 9 and his first laptop when he was 10. Surprisingly he doesn’t have a Facebook yet. I wouldn’t be shocked if he made one in the next few months. But this is how the world is now. Younger kids are growing up with all this technology around them, it’s bound for them to want to join the biggest social network.

I think it’s fine that kids have Facebook. It’s a good way for them to be connected with their friends. Its also beneficial for the parents to see who their child is talking to, how often, maybe pick up on some of the things that they talk about. I know that when I was younger, and my parents asked who I was talking to via text, instant message, etc, I would always got annoyed. I even had one friend’s name ready to answer, whenever they asked. So this can be a way to find out who the friends are; especially for the parents whose kids keep everything to themselves. And honestly I know many younger kids who I babysat for or tutored, who are on Facebook and lie about their age and high school graduation date. And my parents didn’t know I was on Facebook until maybe 3 years after when it started to get really big.

Internet Time spent :

http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/what-americans-do-online-social-media-and-games-dominate-activity/

One late night, my friend and I were talking about how the other seems to be on Facebook almost every minute of their waking day. How did we come to this conclusion? We were “poking” each other on Facebook. I sent him a “poke” and within seconds, I get the “poke” right back. And sometimes I would be the one who responded within seconds. The week later, he sends me this article, claiming it’s meant for me.

And I guess it may be true. But how do these people conduct these surveys? Do they factor in that some people leave tabs open of different sites? Currently I have my email, Facebook, CNN and some articles for a research paper open on tabs. I also have my instant messenger opened on the side of my desktop. And now that Facebook and other social mediums display some kind of notification on the tabs, to let us know that we have a message or a new comment, etc.  And since social networks are a more instant and wider form of communication, it’s no wonder we spend most of our time on the Internet on it.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/facebook-blues-12796540

“daily dose of distorted reality”

I do think that social media distorts reality and makes others feel bad about their own lives. We are even aware that the information flaunted on their page is not the complete story and still we’re envious and begin to believe that our lives are boring and mundane. Now that Facebook allows you to “check-in” to restaurants and other places; people are announcing to their friends, “hey look, I’m not home, I’m out and about enjoying my life.” We feed into this distortion by taking part of foursquare or by posting up pictures or statuses of what an amazing time you had.

People post these up to share their excitement or enjoyment with their friends rather than to brag. (Hopefully most people are like that). I think the reason we started to share our lives was initially to share what we’re experiencing, but somewhere it started to be about who can “out-do” the other. And that’s when people start doing crazy things and posting them on Youtube to get more viewer counts. It’s like back when Myspace was big, some people took provocative pictures to get more friend requests.

This article from the LA Times talks about how “an individual’s social success in the virtual world doesn’t appear to carry over into the real world.” Which is what the video clip above is saying as well. The younger generation using social media has grown up surrounded with social media and high usage of technology that I don’t think they’re aware that their reality is distorted.