Critiques

Aisha

First Time Using the Internet

As a child from the era the Internet had become something larger, I can truly connect with your story of your first time using the Internet. What I find interesting about your post is your choice to limit the amount of Internet time and social media time you have decided to use. My first thought about this would have to be on the line of wondering why you would choose to limit yourself from such a vast pool of information and entertainment. After thinking about it, I realized just how much I actually use the internet and find that your self imitations is a sense of control that most people don’t have when it comes to the internet.It’s funny how similar our uses to the Internet have been. You’re talk about using MySpace and AIM to get information from people is the absolute truth. The reliability of them as a teen was important to me too. The major thing that is difference in opinion is how I find that these social medias are still strongly important to my personal connections. I don’t entirely believe that the limitation of using the social media sites is help. I don’t think I could stay away as well as you do.

Web 2.0

Your knowledge on web 2.0 seems to be well rounded, when it comes to the social media aspect. I really like how you were able to connect your personal stories about your use of social media to your analysis. You seemed to connect with your audience in a positive way, by pointing out your own experiences with web 2.0 and social media.
Though you had some great points about web 2.0 and social media, I feel that you were lacking in explaining a bit more of the extent that social media has had on the population of the users of the Internet. Though social media is a major point to how it was utilized, there are still so many ways that it is being used. Maybe presenting a bit more knowledge upon those other topics might have been a useful to explaining the many different uses for Web 2.0
Your discussion on Apps seems to be a good basis as well as your social media. I think that again personal experience has helped you to talk about the subject. Over all, I feel that your information about specific parts of web 2.0 are well rounded and understood by you in a way only a person with experience could.

Social media positive and negatives

When reading your article, I feel that you lean towards social media is a good thing, but still can have a few problems involved in it. It seems that you share a few valid points to your argument, but is there any research to back this up? Some seems to be common knowledge, but I don’t think I can totally support your claims on social media, especially with a few of the negatives that you pointed out at the end.
You talk about social media being harmful to grammar and spelling errors, but it seems almost nonchalant. Many professionals feel that it is making many students have horrible sentence structure and all together the inability to produce a solid piece of writing. Your defense that parents should be teaching children how to use social media seems like a good idea. Most kids think that they are fun and games, but truly don’t understand the trouble that can come from being on those websites. Over all, I do believe that you make some strong points throughout your article, but I am just a little curious on where the information is from and if there are any solutions to the problems that you pointed out.

Video Review

It was interesting to read your personal thoughts about the way the videos were made and how they made you feel. I think that you have a decent grasp of video production, which enabled you to do this so well. While I was reading through, I could honestly tell exactly how each video made you feel deep down. The use of exclamation marks and word choice made these very enjoyable to read.

The way you talked about the video “My Life” made me laugh a bit. The very first sentence, “The quality of this video is AMAZING!” It made me smile. I like how expressive you started when talking about this peace, though the fact the quality was the first thing you had to say was funny. I also agree with you about the music to the video. To me it seemed to be very cheery and upbeat. I liked it a lot myself. After reading the part about the chessboard, it kind of made a click in my head. Though I noticed it, while I was watching the video, it just didn’t click the way it did in your head. That was a really good catch.

I really think that you did a wonderful job with the reviews.

Katie

First time on the internet

So many creepy people are still on the Internet; they’ve just gotten better at what they do. Thinking back to all those times that I was on the Internet dealing with people like that, you’re so right that it wasn’t safe. I don’t honestly think that any of us knew how dangerous it actually were to be in those chat rooms! Your connection of twitter being similar to chat rooms makes a lot of sense. I would have never thought to make that connection at all. How you were able to point out the power of twitter, by using the Michael Jackson story about his death, was great (even the part about your mom was funny). To simply put it this was a great article.
You have a style of writing that is fascinating. Reading this, I found myself laughing a lot. You have a great way of connecting with you audience on a personal level, which seems to be difficult sometimes with social media. I think that your stories are very well centered on the subject about your first time, though you might not remember your first time using the Internet. You did a really great job with this, I think.

Web 2.0

This is truly a strong piece about web 2.0 and how social media has been apart of it. I like how you pointed out a few of the more popular social media sites out there, it makes it easier to connect to my own personal thoughts about web 2.0. Though I believe there is bit more to the entire concept of web 2.0, I think that you have a strong grasp around the social media part of how it has ultimately affect everyone in the world. Under the sub-heading, “Does it live up to the hype,” I would say I would have to agree with what you’ve had to say, for the reasons that you gave and many more. It is absolutely amazing to see all of the advancements that have come from web 2.0, with social media in the mix of that.
The two articles that you have posted along with yours offer a great reading material about the subject of Web 2.0 and social media. Though I was only able to scrim through each of these articles very briefly, there was a lot of useful content that I found inside of them. I feel that I was able to get some information from this post that I didn’t know myself.

Social Media Positive and Negative

Reading this was both hilarious and informing, which to me is an amazing mix, hard to find on such a painfully boring topic. You have a gift to make things interesting that’s for sure.
As for the actual post, I felt that I had some valid points to it. Your personal story about you sister wanting to be on Facebook, while at the beach was crazy. Who in their right mind doesn’t know what to do at a beach to have fun? It seems that its time for people to teach these young things what life is about.
The subject of cyber-bullying I thought was a very important one to discuss. With it being such a major threat to thousands of people, even millions, many people don’t realize how serious it gets. I felt that you did a good job at covering the subject wish a serious tone, as was needed. It isn’t something easy to talk about, but you seemed to handle it quite well.
The end, when you talked about positives of social media, you didn’t need much to make it stand strong. I think that you put enough information to make people agree on the positives and not let the out weight the negative too much. This was very well balanced.

Video Review

At first glace, I was very confused with what exactly I was looking at.  After a moment to let my eyes and mind adjust to the way this was formatted, I got down to reading.  I have to first mention that you did a great job showing your favorite and then your least.  It shows that you liked some and others you found terrible.  It was even better placing visuals on you post.  It helps to remind me of the videos that I’ve already scene.  I really appreciated seeing them, though at times they became somewhat of a distraction.  The picture of your notes interested me.  I thought that your little scribbles added a personal touch to the post, which otherwise might not have been there with words alone. Over all, the critiques of the videos seemed to be fair.  Your opinion hold strong validations to what you’re stating and even if I were to disagree with you, I could see why you said what you did.  I would have to say that you did a great job with creating this post. I would like to read some more of you video post another time to see what you think about the rest of the videos.

Video reviews: Late I know!

Found out that this was posted on a separate blog! Well here it is on the right one now.  These are the video reviews that were done awhile back.

“Color and B/W”

Watching this video was like watching a love story with the two lovers hating each other.  The video has a simple feel to it, which makes it vague, and in decisive toward the way they feel.  I found that the black and white switch was more of a distraction than it was affective.  Thought that the video should come with a warning to people having seizures.  The use of the ocean was interesting and the sound track was ok, but the problem was it was all white noise to me.  It seemed to me that the sound track was a good cover to the white noise of the ocean.  Particularly, I wouldn’t watch a video like this and think that it was worth while in explaining who they are, only that they have to put more time into a concept and create something that has depth to it, like the ocean, and not shallow, like a puddle. 

Looking as the black and white, over contrasted, and inverted images, you can’t tell what you are supposed to look at.  I felt like I was view a tribal ritual gone wrong.  Was it suppose to rain or were suppose to be a god or goddess coming from the ocean to take it’s wrath for putting it in a underwater dungeon for thousands of years?  Either way, I felt this wasn’t a very affective video and had no outstand value to it what so ever.  Most of the time I would be kinder, but it was just that bad, in my own opinion.

“Type Overkill”

For this video, where should I begin?  The music started off good, though I felt the first 10 seconds was a waste of time, so I think he didn’t have enough footage or layout for a four-minute video.  To add to that thought at the one-minute mark, if you watch closely, he repeats his actions two or three times with him walking.  It wouldn’t be noticeable, but the same pull movies across the video and the exact same place for it. It make it look like the video is glitching, which if he is talking about everything being “broken” might work cause I feel the video does a good job of acting that way. Repetitive use of phrases and mirroring them to images of what looks like rocks on a beach seems to be a bit of bummer.  His idea seems to be that there is nothing there, but there is stuff there.  His message is lost to me. Was this an abstract piece of work? I think so.  I honestly have gotten bored of the video after only two-minutes in.  The music is slow and his shots are quick. The type flashes too quickly for the screen for people to be able to read it.  I’m still now sure why he is choosing to use blurry shots entirely. Watching this video was like watching paint dry.  I could have hoped to be interested in it, but honestly find no point to it worth taking from it.  By the end of the video the only thing I wanted to do was call the suicide hotline to see if they can track this kid down and help them out. Mean? Maybe, but that’s the gods honest truth.

“Weird and Awesome Self Portrait”

How can I put this? This was abstract and I loved it.  I don’t know if it was the Steven Hawking’s voice going on in the background or the actual shot choice.  The person has an impeccable eye for making sound cuts, which hold depth to them. I love how he uses everyday objects, which people never would think of using through the video.  The constant changing of subject matter and the repetitive reoccurrence of main subjects makes me sit through this video and enjoy it. The close shots with high depth-of-field on ever day objects make great for showing the things in his life.  By focusing on one object he is blurring out everything else around him and focusing on that one thing.  Between these shots, he places b-roll of random segments of filmstrips and noise, helping to separate the difference in each of his person subjects.  I was entranced by the voice, though it seems the words didn’t entirely seem cohesive (though I feel they still have a good meaning to the video).  If I had to pick my favorite video then this one will have been it.

Here I am, watching this video, and all I can think is that he make society seem to be an empty circle of robots.  He makes everything in life seem like a set routine that people follow, because that is what is necessary for them to survive.  He shows how he is caught in the rut and how he fits in with the crowd because of it. The was a well organized piece of work and I found it to be absolutely well done.

Facebook

            Facebook is a public relations and marketing departments dream.  It is the greatest way to gather information on a mass amount of people at one time.  The creation of the 2-way conversation with the consumer has allowed a booming growth in these fields.  “Social Media and PR,” touches on the idea of using this form of communication to grow a business’s connection to its publics. 

            Many of the ideas around Public Relations and social media, in general, are about creating a personality of a business and a long-term story of the business.  You will find that with time, people will know not only about a person’s life, but how a business has grown and become something much bigger than when it began. 

            Running my own photography business, I have done a majority of my marketing through Facebook and other social media sites.  I have found that it is a wonderful way to have conversations with my public and also show my own growth as a photographer.  Using Facebook to help my presence stronger to the people around me.  I am able to present images from recent shoots or show people where I am work and how I have set up a photo shoot that day.  Some days, I share websites or videos from the Internet to get discussions from my followers and hopefully a few new fans.  Facebook can be key to someone who is running a business today.

           

            On a personal level, Facebook has become something of a problem for many people.  This revolutionary tool has been known to cause people more trouble than it is worth.  Today, teenagers are known to make post and take pictures of them doing something that they shouldn’t be.  Many of these kids are now getting caught not only by the police or parents, but by their schools too.  It has been reported that many schools are now using Facebook as a way to keep an eye on their student’s activities, in and out of classes. 

            From my old high school, I heard a story about the girls cheerleading squad taking an inappropriate picture of the group at a party.  After the weekend, they were brought to the main office, where they were punished for their actions, by not allowing them to compete in the cheer competition the upcoming week.  Though some might say that this was out of line for the school, it was the schools belief that it would be a representation for the school and for the athletes to show up to a competition with an image like that floating around on the Internet.

            It’s not just teenagers that are getting into trouble with Facebook post though. Today, many employers are using Facebook to evaluate candidates for jobs and current employees.  Many employers now believe that how a person acts on Facebook, will directly affect their performance in the work force.

            My personal Facebook page has been kept clean for this very reason.  I have learned to keep specific subjects offline, because of who might be viewing this page.  I feel that Facebook is to open when it comes to my life and though I love to share many of the events that are going on in my life, most things I don’t feel need to be shared with everyone.  Compared to most people who use Facebook, My presents are very meek.

           

            For my Web & Social Media class, our instructor asked us to create a new Facebook presence. I believe the major reason for this is for us all to keep our personal lives private from the others in the class.  Though some of us may add each other freely to one another’s Facebook page, we might choose not to allow specific people to have access to our personal lives.  Creating a new account allows us to continue with the project of creating fan pages and events, without the conflict of using our personal accounts as part of the overall project.  Many problems occurred, when signing up for a new account, because of the security on Facebook, but when we were able to work thought the majority of it, this made it easy for us to keep our personal and school life as separate as we wish.

            What I find funny is that until I created my alternate Facebook, I never had an awkward moment on Facebook.  When I made may new account, about a week after, I was talking with my girlfriend and she asked if that was mine.  Though she knew that it was part of a class project, she wanted to still ask about the page.  Since then, many of the people who know me have attempted add me as a friend to their Facebook.  This seems to be the most awkward moment to my Facebook.

            My final note about Facebook is to always be safe with whatever you are doing on there. This webpage is both something to be excited about and to fear.  

The Importance to Groups & Events on Facebook

There seems to be no life without Facebook. Today, if you are apart of a social group, face to face, you are likely to be apart of a Facebook group also.  These is true even without the face to face connection. Facebook has allowed use to become part of a group for anything and everything that there is in life.  These groups help to connect people to a common idea in life, which helps to create a more cohesive society.  Groups allow us to the abilities to connect with other and share ideas about a subject that we have in common.  We can find common ground with people through these groups, that without, we might never have made any personal connection.

You can also find "events" on Facebook.  It's a simple concept really, but it is a powerful tool in take the online world to a social world.  Event can help people share with their friend and others things that are happening around them. It could be a concert that is coming up or maybe an art exhibit your friend is opening next month.  Events allow people to know that there is something happening.  It creates a connection again with people, allowing them to feel that they are part of the movements in life and not just sitting there stagnate at their computers wishing they knew something interesting going on.