albeit

here is the screenshot of my first two tweets. the first is a link that helps us figure out if we are addicted to facebook or not, and the second, is my attempt to promote Baruch’s Asian Student Union show coming up this week.

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1. as finals approach, i wonder how many students will actually get much studying done. ive realized that most students, including myself, use a computer while studying. whether its not for a legitimate reason, the internet is very tempting. ive found myself studying for 10 minutes, and then telling myself that i need a break. at that moment, ill check on facebook to see what other people are up to, and ill see that all my friends are complaining about studying for finals as well. this might be because we have grown dependent on facebook, or even worse, we are addicted to it.
2. Baruch’s Asian Student Union (BASU) is putting on their annual modeling and dance showcase THIS Friday. this event features a lingerie fashion show, as well as a “cultural” attire fashion show. after that, many different organizations at Baruch will put on a showcase which include dancing, skits, strolls, and more. Tickets are on sale right now for $5!

this is the list i created. i titled it “makes me laugh” because the list consists of mainly comedians. these comedians always have something clever or silly to say, and im always interested in reading and re-tweeting their tweets!

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Daniel Lee aka Tablo. Image Credit to ax3battery.com

I don’t know how I feel about the Internet anymore.
Its become quite evident that its a very open and generous space, and people can easily take advantage of it. The Internet provides us with a means to express our speech and thoughts, without really giving us boundaries.

Reading the story about the Korean Boy Band immediately made me think of another scenario, very similar, but much more terrifying. It is the story of the front leader of Korean Rap Band, Daniel Lee aka Tablo. Tablo is a part of the group Epik High, and their band is one of the most popular in Korea and they have also made a name for themselves here in the US. [Wired Article: The Stalking of Korean Hip Hop Super Star Daniel Lee]

The reason why I thought of this article is because rumors started on an Internet forum changed his life. A rumor started on a fan site that challenged his College Diploma Credentials. Many of his fans turned on him, fast. Tablo received mass amounts of hate mail, personal threats, and more. Over just a few weeks time, he went from being a superstar to being a hermit, someone who never left his home.

This leads me into the second chapter of what Shirky writes about, motives.
Why would someone start this rumor and why do others believe something that is simply written on a forum. This blurs the lines between amateur and professional, and if those two words mean anything on the Internet at all. If a credible news source has published and article, saying that Tablo had fakes his college diploma, his fans would have a legitimate reason to hate him (not threaten him or anything else!). But someone online, only known by a forum handle and nothing else, had written this… and so many people believed him. What’s so scary about that is these actions were based on intrinsic motives. They wanted to defame this musician and they wanted to hurt him, based on lies written on the Internet.

This really goes to show how scary and powerful the Internet can be… and if the people using it have cruel motives, well then… who knows what else can happen.

Back when I first started to use the Internet, its only purpose was for research and games. I played a lot of games on websites like Pogo and Yahoo games. Other than that, I did homework.

As I have grown older, it seems like the Internet has shifted along with me, or maybe thats just my perspective. Now, the Internet thrives on community, sharing, social networks and community.

The Internet has become a vast encyclopedia of our lives. And every day, its only growing larger.

Its kind of ironic because a lot of the information that goes up on the Internet are usually things that people would never talk about in real life. Ideas of revolutions in struggling countries, uprisings against governments, and the organizations of strikes. These are all things that the Internet has made easier. The Internet has broken the physical barriers that prevent people from gathering. People from all over the world can come together on the Internet to support each other.

Take for example, KONY 2012. Millions of people came together for one purpose, despite where in the world they lived. They contributed money, time, and effort for this cause that they believed in. The amount of people who rose to the occasion, to support this cause, was alarming… and it all started because of a video that went viral.

Chapter 5 discussing the birth of Wikipedia.
Wikipedia is so important. But its also a double edged sword.
It has so much information, and I’m sure that most of it is accurate… but because I know that people, just like me, are typing and changing the info on the page, I can’t help but question the credibility and accuracy of it.

And honestly, the amount of different articles available on Wikipedia is INSANE.
What’s even more cool about it is that it can be updated to reflect the most recent news. For example, if I want to look up a summary of an episode that I missed of CSI: Miami, WIKIPEDIA WILL HAVE IT, almost right away.

Chapter One:

The first chapter of this book only reinforce my views on how powerful the Internet really is.
It’s actually quite alarming that Evan was able to build this website, surrounding an underage girl, and have anyone look at her and know about her life, what she looks like, what neighborhood she live in, AND HE DIDNT GET INTO ANY TROUBLE. I understand why he had to do that, but I really feel like Evan and Ivanna could have done something a little less public. As a parent, I would be horrified at the fact that a huge community of people using the Web was saying and thinking hurtful and harmful things about my daughter. I think Sasha should have done the right thing and just given back the phone.

However, I can really empathize with Evan and Ivanna because I was just pick pocketed earlier today. I don’t care so much for the money or things like that, but I really care about my ID cards and my personal information. If I had some way of contacting the person that has my stuff, I would do anything to get it back. And, ultimately, after reading this chapter, I’d probably take some desperate measures and reach out to t Internet for help.

Chapter Two:
The idea of “tags” is amazing.
When I think of tags, I also think of “hash tags” or “#____”. These two concepts help to link people together, who share similar ideas. I use an app on the iPhone called Instagram. After you post a photo, you have an option to “tag” it with a certain category. People can look up those tags and find similar photos and ultimately find you. I think people often are surprised when they realize how much you have in common with other users. One risk however, is the idea of free riders. I think that many web users dont see any harm in free riding, but it actually makes people who upload original content feel reluctant to do so because people are taking advantage of their work.

Chapter Three:
This chapter was one of the more interesting ones to me because I felt like its most applicable to society now. Everyone is a source for news. Its incredible how fast and easy news travels now. With the inventions of blogs, Facebook notifications, Twitter, the amount of information spreads like wild fire. Theres a commercial for ATNT that promotes how fast their phones work, and its like, within seconds, current news becomes old news. The danger in that is that the line for accuracy becomes blurred. It’s becomes harder to know whos telling the truth and who isnt. You also want to be amongst the group that gets to spread new information first, but what if you do so without some research. Things become more complicated when everyone is a media outlet.

To be honest, while watching this documentary, I couldn’t help but think about Facebook.

Like one of the speakers had said, in this digital age, where people are so dependent on technology, privacy is almost extinct. Sometimes, I’ll go on Google and put in my name, or the name of a friend of mine, just to see hat might be written about them, and what I find is so alarming. I find personal photos, things other people write about them, and more (sometimes, too much information).

I understand that the government has been watching us for quite some time, and honestly, I’m a bit torn about the whole situation. I care deeply for my country and our safety, but there are rights that every citizen of America should have, and those rights should not be taken advantage of. I think that if the government is not stepping too much over the line, and extending their power by a lot, then they should be able to gather some information about us. However, I don’t think its okay to hide behind the “national security” excuse to look up information about someone that actually doesn’t have to do with national security at all.

We cannot just trust the government, because people who work for the government are still people. They make mistakes, are judgmental, and some may not be qualified to be handling such delicate information.