pro- ana and pro-mia websites and free speech

The internet has always been an outlet for free speech. I believe that this in inherently a good thing. However at the same time I think free speech can be taken to a dangerous extreme on the internet. I say this not because I do not believe in free speech ( I firmly do, as many people who know me are aware of given that I am opinionated , and therefore very regularly exercise my use of free speech) but I think that it can be a problem when someone promotes dangerous ideas and gives dangerous advice online, and influences others to follow these ideas and advice. I think the biggest examples of this are the pro- ana and pro-mia (pro anorexia and bulimia) websites. Such websites promote the idea that it is more important to be extremely thin than healthy , encourage others on the website to essentially starve themselves, give advice on how to hide an eating disorder, and give tips on how to lose weight rapidly and to avoid eating a healthy diet and to instead eat as little as possible. I think these websites are particularly dangerous because they perpetuate the idea that anorexia and bulimia are lifestyles rather than diseases and that people who choose these live styles are making a strong choice and that anyone who opposes them is wrong. I would imagine that somebody with an eating disorder would get much worse if they became a member of one of these sites because of all of the pro eating disorder sentiment. I also think being on a site like this would make it much more difficult to recover because of all how the sites justify eating disorders as a choice not a disease. I understand that these sites cannot be shut down because they are an outlet for free speech, but I still believe that they are wrong. Women have enough issues with their body image, we don’t need to have sites that perpetuate the idea that there is something wrong with them because they have love handles.

getting and finding the job (or internship) you want

In last week’s class we discussed how to find and get the jobs and internships that we want. We focused primarily upon how to behave on an interview and how to use social networking and job websites to your advantage. I really enjoyed this class because everything I learned was very applicable to real life.

We received very useful advice about how to prepare for an interview. We were told to practice answering difficult potential interview questions with friends or family so that we would know what to say when the real interview came. Two of these questions were “how would you handle a situation in which a coworker was not pulling their weight on a group project?” and “what are you weaknesses?”. We also learned that there are certain difficult questions where it is nearly impossible to have the “right answer”, and that instead we should focus on how we arrive at our answer, since that is what the interviewer will be focusing on. We were also told to be prepared for questions like “tell me about yourself” and to give an answer that will both reiterate some of the important information on your resume (as the interviewer may not have read it) and to also add additional important information.

In this class we identified how to use social networking and job websites in order to find job openings and in order to acquire connections to companies we would like to work for. The first resource that we were told you use was http://www.linkedin.com/ .LinkedIn is a site that expands your existing network of job contacts by having you create a professional page and them becoming friends on the site with other professionals . In using the site you are informed about new job openings that may not be posted elsewhere and you have the chance to use your professional contacts who may know people from the company you are interested in to put in a good word for you and even help you secure an interview. You also have the benefit of having your resume posted online, giving more companies the chance to look it over, to see if they might be interested in you, which can result in them contacting you for an interview. Linkedin seems like an extremely useful resource.

You can also use Craigslist to find out about jobs that are not posted elsewhere. You can use the site http://www.meetup.com/ inorder to find job opportunities and expand your circle of professional contacts as well. Internships.com is an extremely useful resource for finding networking. Lastly, do not forget that you can use Marist’s site https://maristcsm.symplicity.com/students/index.php?signin_tab=0&js_disabled=0 in order to build networking connections.

I am very happy to have covered how to find and get jobs and internships in our most recent class. Before this lesson I really had no idea how to use social networking to get and find jobs, but I know understand it and will be sure to take advance of linkedin and other similar services in the future. Prior to this class I also would never have thought of using craigslist since I had previously thought it was unreliable and frankly… a bit creepy , but I know that it can be a great job finding resource. I will be sure to take advantage of all of these new found resources in order to find a job in social work (my desired field) once a near a bit closer to graduation.

"You have 0 friends!"

A recent episode of South Park called “ You have 0 friends” parodies facebook and draws attention the problems with it. This episode highlights some of the key issues with our obsession and overreliance on facebook. It exemplifies these issues in an exaggerated and often comical way, but effectively communicates what the issues really are.

The first is that people incorrectly assume things about real life based on what they see on facebook. For example when Stan’s friends create a facebook for him , he hardly uses it at first and doesn’t update his profile or relationship status and his girlfriend Wendy verbally attacks him for not putting himself in a facebook relationship with her, and jumps to the conclusion that he must be using facebook to meet other girls. The second issue is that when you view people’s messages on facebook you may misinterpret them because you do not have the same contextual information that you would get from talking to someone in real life, like their tone of voice or even what they look like. For example Wendy see’s a comment on Stan’s profile that says that he looks cute in his bunny costume and gets mad at Stan. What she does not realize is that the comment was left by one of his grandma’s friends who is probably just an old woman commenting about an old bunny Halloween costume that Stan wore when he was little. The third issue is that people define themselves by their virtual friendships and become obsessed with their number of facebook friends. For example in the show people gets so concerned with their number of facebook friends that Cartman starts a show about how to get more facebook friends and who facebook users should and shouldn’t be facebook friends with. The fourth issue is that people stop seeing the difference between real (romantic and non romantic) relationships and facebook relationships. For example a kid names Kip who becomes facebook friends with Kyle believes they are best friends because Kyle is his only facebook friend.

I think the South Park episode brought attention to some important issues with facebook obsession and overreliance and I hope that by watching it, some people may start to realize how facebook overreliance may be causing them problems, and take steps to improve the situation.

digital books and the kindle

When the Kindle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Kindle) came out , I was instantly excited about it. As someone who loves to read, but does want to have to carry or store a lot of books it seemed like a perfect idea for me. I was also happy about the fact that it would save paper, reducing our negative impact on the environment. My mother got a Kindle for Christmas and we quickly loaded up digital books on it.

What I learned by using the kindle was that as convenient, useful, and often fun as it was, it just didn’t compare to reading a real book. When at home I often chose reading a hard copy of a book rather than using the kindle. With the kindle I didn’t have the luxury of being able to curl up with an old book with a beautiful cover and tattered pages in a comfy chair– and I realized how much I had taken that wonderful experience for granted. As much as I love my Kindle I know that it will never replace reading real books.

I don’t believe that books will go completely digital because I think too many people (like myself) love the experience of reading a hard copy of a book. However I am not sure that there will be enough people who feel this way, to ensure that libraries will maintain as good a selection of books as they have now. I *hope* that in 40 years my grandkids will be able to go to the library and find (almost) all the books that they wish to read on the libraries’ shelves

Going Green

The internet, social media , and basic computer applications like word and excel are helping users to go green. One of the most significant ways in which they are doing this is by causing us to use less paper, since we can use electronic communication instead of letters, and we can keep electronic records of things and access information online instead of keeping paper records of everything. Being able to access information (and entertainment ex:movies on itunes) online also allows us to save gas since we don’t need to drive to different places to get a hold of these things. The internet and social media also offer easy, free and fun opportunities to help the environment from your computer. One example of this is the facebook application known as “(Lil) Green Patch” , in which you get your own virtual green patch and exchange plants with friends. For every 10 plants a user sends they save one square foot of endangered forest. As of March 31 the users of (Lil) Green Patch had saved 13 million square feet of forest. The internet and social media also help raise awareness about ways that people can go green . For example some of facebook’s “fan pages” are devoted to sharing ways to go green and helping to raise awareness about environmental issues . Facebook users invite friends these pages, helping the pages to gain popularity and spread knowledge to users about how to improve the environment. I think that given the condition that our planet is in we are fortunate that that the internet, social media , and basic computer applications have made taking steps to help the environment easier.

Using the internet and social media to organize

We all know that the internet and social networking can be useful tools for staying in touch with friends and sharing and accessing information, as well as for just having fun. However we often forget that the internet and social media can be great organizing tools. For example many of us lose track of friend’s birthdays. Fortunately facebook reminds of birthdays a couple of days in advance and on the actual day. There are many other great online organizing tools that we can use. For example www.rememberthemilk.com is a great site where you can submit any dates, tasks, or events that you have coming up and Remember the Milk will send you emails, instant messages, or text messages to remind you about each of them. You can also use the basic but very helpful online-stopwatch.com which has all sorts of timers including a custom countdown timer where you can choose the duration and the sound of the alarm. The site also offers an alarm clock. You can also use wesabe.com to organize and keep track of your finances. You just input your bank account information into Wesabe by hand or by using it’s desktop uploader or its Firefox extension to automatically enter account transactions into Wesabe and it will organize all your account transitions into one place and will create a clear chart of where your money is going. You can also get important financial tips and advice from other users in the Wesabe community. Wesabe is a completely safe and secure site. I look forward to taking advantage of these organizing tools. Does anyone know any other helpful sites for organizing?

Social media as a destressor

Social Media is an invaluable resource. It has come to play a serious and important role in my life helping me stay in touch with my friends and keep me up to date. It is also a resource that helps prevent my life from getting too serious at times. What I mean is that when I have stressful assignments and tests approaching, knowing I can go to a funny social media site(like f my life)or look at a cute video sent by a friend via facebook helps me stay calm in the midst of all that’s going on. Funny and heartwarming social media and internet sources can be one of the best quick destressors out there, and I think everyone should take advantage of them. These sources make me grateful for the fact that social media can be both practical and plain entertaining. To anyone out there like me use a little less stress, I encourage you to check out sites like , http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/all/, http://www.fmylife.com/,
And ofcourse for its heartwarming cute videos (google surprised kitty if you can’t think of one) and the millions of funny original videos and clips from shows.

Day 7 - Final Day

Today I spent a ton of time online, but I limited my non academic activity to 30 minutes. I've gotten a ton of work done, despite oversleeping. I think after this week I will continue to try and limit my non academic internet use , although 30 minutes can a bit too limiting, so i will probably make my limit 45 to an hour. I hope to continue increasing my productivity by limiting my non academic internet use.

DAY 6

today I successfully limited myself to less than 30 minutes of internet. Being that this was a Saturday I did actually succeed in getting a good amount of work done. I also went out for a walk, during time that I likely would have normally spent online. Thank you internet limit plan!

DAY 5

Today I spent less than 30 minutes doing non academic activity online. Today was also the only true snow day this week and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think part of the reason I enjoyed it so much is that I was able to step away from technology and have the classic snow day that I had wanted all year. I spent the day doing work and cuddling up with my boyfriend and watching a movie while drinking hot chocolate. I am very grateful to have been relatively computer free today.

DAY 4

today I limited myself to 30 minutes of computer time. I met with my advisor/ professor and spoke with another professor about an upcoming quiz. In talking with them I managed to de-stress and get a better understanding of the work I have to do. I believe this will enable me to best use that time that I am now spending on work instead of the internet.

DAY 3

today I did successfully limit myself to only 30 minutes of non academic internet usage. I pretty much ODed on Pacman yesterday so I didn't have an overwhelming desire to play. Unfortunately although I spent a lot of time of work I still did not get a lot done, since a many of the assignments I'm working on are very difficult and the reading I have to do is dense and takes forever to complete, plus I have to reread it several times to fully understand it. I am planning on speaking with professors tomorrow, to discuss exams and upcoming assignments, and to figure out how I can do my work more efficiently. Hopefully this will help and tomorrow will be easier.

DAY 2

Today I failed miserably. I succeeded in not overusing facebook, but I spent about 45 minutes just playing pacman. I should mention that half the time my boyfriend and I were playing so it did atleast involved some real world interaction... but it was still not the best way to spend time. I am determined to get back on track tommorrow.

DAY 1

Today is day 1 of my week with only 30 minutes of non academic internet use per day. I used the internet to check facebook 3x which consisted of quickly writing back 2 friends (one of whom I reconnected with via fb) watching 2 3 minute videos on fb,requesting and accepting a fb request, playing 2 quick games of pacman (im bad at it which is why it was quick), and 3 quick games of bubble shooter (ditto). I expected to get a lot done today , without internet procrastination, but I really didn't. That being said Monday is also one of my busiest days , so I had minimal free time to work. We'll see what tomorrow holds.

the near death of my laptop and the insight that came with it

Last Saturday my laptop sadly fell from my desk, shattering its screen and destroying most of its mechanisms, rendering it useless. Due to my busy schedule I was unable to go to resnet until Wednesday to give it in for repair (thank god for the warranty), and to receive a loner for the mean time. In these 4 days that I did not have a working laptop, I spent an excessive amount of time on school desktops, not only doing school work but also doing things like going on facebook, playing games, and going on you tube. This 4 day stretch made me realize how dependent I am on computers. While I am not happy about much I over rely on computers, I am glad that I had the opportunity to become aware of it , prompting me to make an effort to become less dependent. As part of this effort, starting on Monday , I will spend a week in which I limit myself to only half an hour of non academic activity on the computer . There will be 2 exceptions. Since I only watch tv online I will periodically allow myself to watch an episode of tv online or movie with a friend and I will allow myself to listen to as much instrumental music as I want on youtube, while studying since it helps me concentrate. Each day I will write a journal entry about my experience and its impact on productivity and socializing.

"getting to know you"

Facebook and Myspace can be a great way to get to know people. For example many college students, contacted their future roommate the summer before their freshman year via facebook, allowing them to get to know the person they would be living with and helping them prepare for living together. Facebook and myspace can also be a fun way to get to know a friend of a close friend who you’re told you have a lot in common with. However people often make the mistake of trying to get to know complete strangers on facebook. They forget that people can lie about anything on facebook and can literally portray themselves however they want. For example a facebook that says its owner is 20, lists interests in common with yours ,and has pictures of an attractive college aged girl, could actually be owned by a 40 year old male sexual predator . You have no way of knowing who the person behind the profile is. This is not to say that there is no possibility of meeting a nice person on facebook or myspace, whose profile accurately represents them, but In my opinion the risk of them being somebody other than who they say they are is too great. What do you guys think?

Facebook Distractions

Facebook has countless advantages. For example it can be used a tool in businesses, can bring those with common interests together, and can help people to get- and stay in touch with friends who they don’t see often. However Facebook can also be an enormous distraction to people who are trying to get work done. College students, like myself frequently go on their laptop with the intention of doing research and *somehow* end up on Facebook for an hour. The other very common scenario is that we go on Facebook while doing work and end up spending 2 hours on a 1 hour assignment because half of our attention is on facebook. Most of us recognize this problem but don’t know how to deal with it. We’re not willing to give up our Facebooks but we know that continuing to procrastinate on Facebook is hurting our ability to work efficiently and taking up an excessive amount of our time. While I think people should try to limit themselves to an hour or less on facebook each day and shouldn’t go on non academic sites after beginning an assignment ,I am aware that this idea may not work for everyone. How do YOU think people can combat the problem of facebook as a work distraction?