Riding the Wave....

Yes unfortunately our unit may be coming to an end, although, this is defiantly not the case for technology. Its power and abilities in today’s society is nothing less than incredible and the thought of it continuing to increase over time is a somewhat scary concept.

Unman aircraft's in the air force are becoming increasingly popular, Yes who would have thought a pilot can fly his plane from a desk 75,000 km away from his aircraft. Technology has made this possible, along with Bionic hands, digital photo frames and a lot more. With skin put technologies making it possible to use skin as a form to hold information I guess we don’t need to worry about forgetting the iPad .. Oh and the common mum rule of no balls in the house has been abolished with the ability to play tennis in your own home without even needing a racket, just a remote.

Reading and Understanding social media can be greater understood by looking into theories. Whether it be Rheingold’s view of a ‘virtual community’ Jenkins’ views of participatory culture these theories are ways of understanding and explaining the concepts of technology and the online world.

Social media has a major impact on society and communication. Friends no longer hug, kiss each other hello hear each other’s laugh or wipe each other’s tears, friends can be derived from a simple click of a friend request. People can have thousands of friends they have never even met? Are these really friends? Is social media promoting the production of friends in our virtual world leaving us with few in the real one? Yes social media is a way of keeping people connected but the physical connection is lost and I see this as an important aspect to any relationship with another being. Social media is also a major distraction from the real world. People get so caught up in their virtual world they forget about the real one, the real relationships, the real activity, there real lives! After watching an excellent Prezi '712:Digital Media Group Project' created by Virtual Experience it stated that 75% of people who undertook a quiz preferred the real world (Virtual Experience,2011). Do the other 25% prefer the virtual experience or is it this just the start in humanity preferring the virtual world to the real one?

The thought of the future of social media to be totally honest scares me. The past 10 years has already seen a massive change in society with the increase of social media and the possibilities are endless. Social media is forever increasing and will continue to do so. Advertising will become more common as it’s a way of making money and that’s what the worlds about New virtual worlds will be introduced and one day majority will most likely prefer these virtual worlds and the world will live in virtual worlds. The ability to hold multiple identities and knowing you can steal, cheat, kill, lie etc. with no serious consequences for your actions knowing it can all be switched off with the flick of a button is why these worlds are so captivating and appealing to the human being.

http://www.agent-seo.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/social-evolution.jpg

I definitely think we are at the beginning of entering the third wave of social media. Social media has now become a dominant part of our everyday lives and it’s now beginning to be difficult to reject cyber culture. Whether it be shopping, banking or communicating we live in a society where almost everything can be done online. Not only can it be done online something’s are now required to be completed online. Most recent example of this was when looking for a new part time job, 70% of modern stores will not accept resumes over the counter you now need to ‘apply online’.

Nothing we do can change the rapid growth of technology and it’s just fate and the modern world taking its cause. Time is inevitable, things change, we grow and different eras are introduced. Social media and technology is a wave in the pool of life, whether the second of third wave, we just have to ride it.

REFERENCE 

Virtual Experience, 2011,’ 712: Digital Media Group Project’, Prezi, viewed 12^th February 2013, http://prezi.com/w1ffotfhpgwe/712-digital-media-group-project

Stop to Cyber-bullying

Bullying is one of the worst experiences one could go through. At 19 years of age I am lucky enough to say I have never been bullied although like everyone else I have witnessed it.  Traditional bullying, the pushing, shoving, name calling is bad enough but the latest epidemic has bullies using devices to evoke this behaviour, widely known as 'Cyber bullying'.

Cyber-bullying is much different to traditional bullying. With traditional bullying once one has left the schoolyard workplace etc. they have somewhat ability to turn off and try and be happy, with cyber bullying this is not the case. It is a constant 24 hour activity that one cannot escape.  With cyber-bullying you can be bullied by excessive members across the globe, not just one or two people, the audience cyber-space attracts is one of the major devastation's of cyber bullying.

Online ‘Hate’ groups reconcile closely with Rheingolds view of a ‘virtual community’. As Rheingold suggests these groups of bullies are groups of people linked by their participation in computer networks. Also as with ‘Virtual communities’ these hate group participants have no face-to-face contact, are not bound by the constraints of time or place, and use computers to communicate with one another. They may not even know the victim, just bully to conform with other participants and look ‘cool’.

If asked where cyber bullying would be going five years ago I would have said it will continue to rage although this is no longer the case. Enough is enough and people are starting to realize this. I think it will continue to be evident in society as the truth is there are not enough resources to catch all these bullies and bullies know this. In saying this I believe many people have second thought cyber bullying in fear of the now know serious consequences. Completing year 12 in 2012 our whole school was visited by the Victorian Police who have a whole department dedicated to the capture and punishment of cyber bullies. In our encounter we were told of the effects of cyber bullying, spoken to by a parent who lost their child to suicide as a result of cyber bullying and the consequences of being connected with or participating with cyber bullying.

One of the most tragic cases of cyber bullying I heard of was that of Canadian teenager Amanda Todd. Attempting to use social media as a means of reaching out for help, it is what lead to her down fall and resulted in her tragically taking her own life. After regretfully sending a topless video aged 12, she was excessively bullied moving schools three times to try and escape although the boy sent it to every school she went to. The most tragic words are those of her mother who stated the pain and worry she went through daily to keep her daughter alive "I have lost one child, but know she wanted her story to save 1000 more”(Unknown,2012). Let this be a lesson, enough lives have been lost to cyber bullying and It has to stop. I have posted Amanda's cry for help below in an attempt to express the devastating affect of cyber bullying and why it has to end completely before another beautiful young life is lost. 

Reference

Unknown, 2012, ‘Amanda's tragedy: bullied teen takes own life after telling her story in series of handwritten notes’, smh.com.au, viewed 07^th Febuary 2013, http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/amandas-tragedy-bullied-teen-takes-own-life-after-telling-her-story-in-series-of-handwritten-notes-20121015-27lww.html