Clay Shirky-The Man has a Point

Clay Shirky, considered more as a man with a utopian spirit of the Internet, seeks to refute cypterdystopian views such as those of Nicholas Carr and Mark Bauerlien through his analysis, "Does the Internet Make You Smarter?"

He makes a clear clarification of the surmised assumptions concerning the future generation and the way they will employ the Web, being that we in fact will utterly fail handling such digital freedom. 

Shirky discusses an honest perspective that deserves recognition.  This common, incorrect assumption lies on 3 false myths:

1. That historic generations have witnessed nothing but intellectual attainment.
2. That present generations only create and act silly online.
3. That future generations will fail as intellectuals to produce cultural norms for the Internet.

I find all of them to be coldly blunt, and I love it, though the first myth he refutes I find my favorite.

Spirky states,

". . . [T]he rosy past of the pessimists was not, on closer examination, so rosy. The decade the pessimists want to return us to is the 1980s, the last period before society had any significant digital freedoms. Despite frequent genuflection to European novels, we actually spent a lot more time watching "Diff'rent Strokes" than reading Proust, prior to the Internet's spread. The Net, in fact, restores reading and writing as central activities in our culture."

This quote first signifies the constant reiterating conversations in which those maybe barely or maybe much older than my age misjudge our generation as immature, unsure of our ability to be as dedicated and accomplished as those historically; however, it also then signifies that with these conversations comes a lot of hypocrisy. 

And the man has a point.  As much success this world has witnessed in the past, the world has witnessed just as much, equal, maybe greater amount of failure. 

Though the point is not to demean any previous generations before mine, in fact that is the complete opposite of the point.

The point is to bring attention to how many amazing people of my life are or have lived in my or other's lives in order to make clear that living and learning through the people of past generations, such as my parents, grandparents, teachers, mentors, has lead me to hold the belief that if they can be the people they have become, encountering all of the failure and defeat America's seen, then why can't we?

It's all relational-we all fail the same amount, just in a different manner.

We may have failed differently than others in the past, but that only means we will discover different mediums for overcoming just as those intellectuals cyperdystopians speak so strongly.

"So, are you a White Sox or a Cubs fan?"

Sound familiar, Chicagoans? 

Me too. 

How about, “Why do you care so much about being a Cubs/Sox fan?  They’re both Chicago teams!”

Well, maybe that’s just me; however, some may be asked that question as frequently as I.

To be clear, I’m a White Sox fan, and yes I care deeply, though I like to consider my care as outward deep pride.

I mentioned my commonly asked queries regarding Chicago baseball-I didn’t mention the answers I usually reiterate. 

That’s probably because I don’t reply with an answer, but a question in itself.  When I’m asked why I care so much since they’re both Chicago teams, I instead answer, “Why should I not care?”

If you really take the time to imagine all that goes into the life of professional baseball games, you can’t help but experience all five senses the picture induces. 

You hear the crowds screaming and the walk-up songs playing.

You taste the hot dog in your hand and possibly the cold beer on your lips.

You feel the windy city air on your skin and the body energy of those around you.

You smell the tempting cotton-candy and the fresh-cut grass.

Above all, you envision the beloved baseball players of your favorite team winning the game you’ve invariably loved being a fan of to watch live. 

So if you think about it, Chicagoans have been, if anything, put in the position to act no other way but caring... maybe even a little too greatly.

Baseball has become so much of an iconic American pastime that these very senses strike so fervently Americans’ emotions as being a game of both childhood and adult memories and utter nostalgia.

And if Americans overall feel an unconditional connection with the game of baseball, imagine how Chicagoans feel.

From the year 1900, Chicago was home to two professional baseball teams, in which the White Sox became a team after Charles Comiskey moved the St. Paul Saints to the South Side of Chicago, activating a long and flourishing rivalry between the two North and South sides of Chicago.

115 years.

That’s how long Chicago has been home to two professional baseball teams. 

That’s 115 years dedicated to building a new team’s loyalty through the team's successful records and the expanded number of devoted fans as a result.

That’s also 115 years dedicated to enhancing an old team’s loyalty through not only team achievements and following expansion of fans, but through the fans that already feel an undying passion for their team and may be inclined towards biasness in that no other team can represent Chicago better.

No one can deny the unbreakable bond some Cubs fans hold with their team.  I’d say it were false, but I’d be only lying and also be contradicting and hindering the point I'm trying to make.

My best friend Emma & I next to the Frank Thomas statue at
one of my favorite White Sox games.

I experienced my first Cubs game last year, and without hesitation I can speak on behalf of the heartfelt atmosphere the crowds generated.  I can also say I understood it; if I were a North-side native, a member of a historical Cubs fan family, or simply an advocate for historical American baseball, I would be chanting, screaming, cheering on the team alongside the zealous Cubs fans.

That being said, my first Cubs game also helped me understand how much more I enjoyed White Sox games and why.

I appreciate them so much more because I care-and so do Cubs fans.

People ask why we care.  We care because we can.

The city has given us the ability to not only be Chicago baseball fans, but to be a South or North-side Chicago baseball fan as well; to either being the die-hard fan of Chicago’s longest known baseball history or the die-hard Chicago fan working towards a more newfound devotion to Chicago baseball. 

Competition is good.  A challenge is what teaches most.  Chicago stands now more as a city of diversity and fearlessness through its willingness to fabricate greater, more serious means of opposition. 

Let’s embrace the competition that drives the unique and engaging sports city Chicago is today. 

Twitter & Jay Rosen

I have blogged previously regarding my updated perception of Twitter, that being as my pathway to my writing success. 

Though, I must say, I not only am not the only journalist utilizing Twitter, but it's also not only journalists employing this platform; there holds just as strong a Twitter presence within a comprehensive list of media career titles. 

Media personnel such as CNN anchor, Anderson Cooper, or television and radio host, Larry King, are prime examples of using Twitter for more ways than just journalistic writing.

I am writing this in order to finally make clear that I have not yet made a final decision concerning just which career path I am going to follow.  While I've mentioned journalism most often thus far,  as of right now, I'm fascinated with it all; that's evident when reviewing my current fields of study, that being a Speech Communications and Journalism double major and an Interactive Media Studies minor. 

That being said, I may be skeptical of which job choice will fit me best, though I consider that a positive because I will learn knowledge on a variety of job choices. 

This leads me to my favorite part of this blog... explaining my favorite person on Twitter and why. 

I should probably explain why I was on such a hunt...

What I'm coming to understand, as blogged in the past regarding the power of convergence within the media, is that the media is working as one.  And because of this, so many of my classes are related and teach so much of the same curriculum, including this class and another in particular. 

My professor for the other course has assigned a term long project in which we are to virtually follow someone via any social media platform of choice that holds a potential aspired career choice title.  We are to take five screen shots a week of their posts in order to become more cognizant of media careers and the media in general. 

I chose Jay Rosen, and I chose him for significant reasons.  While I may fervently appreciate just how being as extreme of a frequent tweeter makes my project more fun, I mainly enjoy him because he covers an array of media fields through his media critic title.  He may not be a journalist, but he still has much experience as one and as  mentioned, it all works as one. 

Being a media critic denotes professional explanation regarding a number of media systems, including journalism. 

To be a critic is to be credible of what is being discussed, therefore him being as well-known as a favored source of information makes following him intriguing and also reliable.

A Journalistic Twitter

My Past Social Media Presence

I have been a member of social media platforms for some years now.

I've been on Facebook since 2009, I've been on Twitter since 2011, and I've been on Instagram since 2013.  I've used these websites for:

• Uploading pictures of me and my friends
  
• Wishing happy birthdays to friends and followers
  
• Posting statuses/tweets about my daily encounters such as a silly tweet about a funny thing my dad said or a venting tweet about how unbearably cold the Chicago weather gets in the winter
• Keeping in contact with loved ones far away

Considering this, it's safe to say I've invested much of my time towards the media, though I cannot say with confidence I've ever felt more inclined to get my hands on the web like I do with Twitter now that I am ruminating on a potential journalism career.

My Current Social Media Presence

I do not envision Twitter the same as I did in 2011.  I see it not only as a source of keeping up with the media, but I perceive it now as my future.  Along with Facebook and Instagram, I find that much of what I post about will alter due to new and more professional followers.  For example, I have been recently followed by people involved in news writing organizations (just two, yes, but two more than I had), possibly because they're interested, possibly because they merely notice we share common interests.  Either way, I'm now more attentive to the tweets I post, diminishing tweets that may come off as unprofessional and looking to a more professional presence by eventually increasing tweets that lead followers to pieces of my writing.  As a result, Twitter now stands more as a foundation for inspiring me to write since us journalists now are given a useful strategy of getting our name out there.  The more I write, the more I can tweet my name and work, the more my chances of success grow. 

Consider me a women of adventure.

Scratch that-maybe not adventure.

That may or may not give off the impression that I’m a big traveler or that I’m not known as one of the greatest homebodies my friends and family have known.

So, consider me rather a woman of spirit.

I’m a woman who enjoys atmospheres embodying energy and movement, so that I can dance freely and sing loudly, though I admit I cannot sing well.

With that being said, Chicago is my home, and it’s the home that has provided me with the rejuvenated life that my animated soul fiends.

I mentioned I’m not particularly a lover of travel, and that therefore, ‘adventurous’ may falsely identify me as a person; however, who’s to say that the city isn’t a source of thousands of adventures in itself?

See, that’s how I look at things.  I may in fact one day decide to travel around the world, envisioning and experiencing all of what alternative cultures have to offer; but I can’t help but surmise that if one can’t initially search and discover their own special sense of journey within the culture they’ve been naturally born, they’ll struggle finding it elsewhere.

I’m a native of Chicago Heights, a southern suburb of Chicago, where I was exposed to the vividness the downtown city had to offer at a very young age, though not up until my senior year of high school did I undergo one of Chicago’s greatest styles of instilling life into the people. 

I encountered Lollapalooza, one of Chicago’s top music festivals.

I had never been to a music festival before, in fact, I’d hardly been to a concert before.  I saw Kelly Clarkson when I was 10 and Jason Aldean twice the year before Lolla. 

I enjoyed music, but not the way I did post Lollapalooza.

I experienced watching not just one artist live that I loved and not just one genre.  For example, I saw Kendrick Lamar and Chance the Rapper, two prominent rap artists; I saw Mumford & Sons, an extremely famous band within the indie folk and the folk and alternative rock genres; I saw Flux Pavillion, a well-known electric dance music DJ; I saw Eric Church, a beloved country singer. 

My friends Danielle (to the left of me) and Hannah (to the right) at Eric Church's 2013 Lollapalooza performance.

I brought up my love for dancing and singing.  I was able to carol my favorite songs within vocalist-related cultures such as the mentioned Mumford & Sons, and I was able to dance not only at each and every artist’s performance stage, but everywhere… and with everyone! 

The unsolicited typicality of today’s society was lost.  Too often people refuse to smile at one other on a street, too often a book is judged by its cover, and too often the beauty of each other’s true colors goes unseen-but not at a Chicago music festival. 

I took my beloved memories of Lollapalooza and became a faithful ticket holder for the upcoming summer music festivals that following summer.

So, I confessed to being one to struggle finding ease with journeying to places that I may deem as foreign, but it’s evident that there may just be more than one definition to illustrate the true meaning of adventure.

Through events such as these that the city of Chicago has to offer, my full of spirit self has defined my own personal sense of adventure. 

I now define adventure as not only meeting new people, but becoming friends with them; I define adventure as listening for which song grabs your heart most, and then dancing to it until your shins hurt; I define adventure as finding people that will sing with you as long as you do, even though you all may sound miserable.

And what’s even better than Chicago’s music festivals?  The fact there’s over 400 other festivals that may reveal your adventurous side. 

Maybe you’re interested in art.  Maybe you're a chef.  Maybe you’re a fan of theater.

Adventure is out there.  Define who you are, and then go find your own perception in the uplifting festival events of Chicago.

The Google Epidemic

Imagine a student is searching for a more impressive word than "good" for an essay.
Imagine a dieter is searching for the calorie intake of their lunch.
Imagine an Interactive Media Studies major is searching for the correct format for an html conversion.

Now imagine the student, the dieter, and the IMS major all ask you how they can find all this information.  Easy right?  GOOGLE!

Google has truly became so rapid, so widespread, and so prominent, that it's reached a social epidemic.  It's not so much that Google itself has taken over our lives, but it's most certainly taken over our every day thoughts.  We need not anymore to discover and learn the facts, for the facts are at our finger tips... with no hustle, no work, no adventure. 

There lies two significant questions regarding the issue of the Google takeover, one being whether today's society is utterly addicted.  Are we?  I'm torn between yes and no.  No because my own personal definition of addiction refers to one being attached in a literal sense to someone or something, can't live without it in one's every day life.  Sure, my day, even a substantial amount of days, will be okay without the usage of Google.  However, in the sense of addiction relating to one needing it at all, yes, the world is, in fact, addicted.  So, sure, my day, even those substantial amount of days, will be okay without Google, but say those days Google was taken away from me were days I have a huge essay due, and I'd say... okay... maybe I'm a little addicted.

Another question regarding Google refers to the lack of privacy.  Are we subject to privacy?  I'd have to say no.  This isn't to say that Google is a tracking device created for the sole purpose of making me feel unsafe.  I do, however, believe that Google takes it upon itself to learn about my every day thoughts, questions, and wonders; the system's features allow it to grasp our frequent and most common searches, leaving the issues that I'm searching that I may want kept private, not private.

The Power of Media Convergence

Convergence can be interpreted in a number of ways, though convergence through the current media revolution might be the most powerful definition.  Jenkins argues that media solely depends on us consumers and our activeness within the competing media systems, and I could not agree more.

Let's think about convergence in the sense that we are finally witnessing technology through the media work as one.  That is, a cell phone can cover what a computer, a television, a kindle, and so on will do; it will get us to google, it will get us to our favorite tv show, it will get us to our favorite book.  Convergence is so empowering because consumers are nothing but grateful that they need no more to have to have, say, these three appliances out, they can just use one!

That being said, I perceive convergence as the power of converting.  Media today is so predominant in our society.  There's not many times I go about anywhere and don't see someone on their phone, their laptop, their computer, their kindle, their iPad, and the list goes on.  Almost always, you will find someone with some type of appliance, and almost always you'll find someone truly invested in whatever is on that screen.  Considering this, why would consumers not participate?  Everyone is doing it, and everyone seems to love it!

The fact of the matter is that the media's consumers are humans, and humans are typically inclined to follow with what's modern and new, therefore, these media programs are sure that keeping the media alive will only keep empowering consumers.

Megan Reardon's Blog Interview

Rebecca Blood's interview with Megan Reardon on her blog Not Martha left me with many thoughts about Reardon's character, honesty being one of her most unique traits.  I felt that her answers were precise and got to the point, but provided the readers with a very clear understanding of where she stood with herself and her blogging.  Such answers admitting that she uses certain tools for laziness or stating the simple truth recalling her sensitivity to comments left me certain that her work and writing is not only credible, meaning her thoughts about issues are accurate, but that her blogs will be interesting, because it's a full understanding of exactly what she feels, believes, or thinks.  People will always be more willing to read something if the writer has a passion for the topics they are discussing.  If a writer comes off as a woman who is strong in her opinion and is very cognizant of who they are and where their beliefs lie, people may be more inclined to read their work, for that very strength may denote a passion for what they will write about.

The answer, however, regarding her taking down comments did strike an emotion, possibly a fearful one.  Many of the classes that I take involve society's introduction to new media, and many of what teachers' lectures discuss is the fear that technology will be taken too far.  I have had many debates with students either believing behind the computer work is too risky, but I've also met students that believe all technology to be the next best thing yet.  I can only hope that for future generations, constructive and useful criticism will be presented much greater than comments that provide hurtful tones or words.