C4T #2

Post #1 DML Conference: Democratic Futures

 

DEL Conference: Democratic Futures by S. Craig Watkins is a blog post about young people getting involved in their civic duties. Voting is critical to our country's future but what is even more important is how and what information we get to make our voting decisions. One important voting group that is the main focus of this post, is today's young student population. The most social engagement that this group does is through the internet and other social networks such as Facebook. However, young people get more politically involved than just through "liking" a political picture on Facebook. Watkins gives an example of a student group who uses Change.org to petition "urging the president to visit and directly address the city’s gun violence crisis". Needless to say it worked to an extent. Using the media for political gain has been used for a long time and now a new generation of civic participants is taking the media to a new level. According to Watkins, young people are using mobile devices and social media to form political organizations around the world.

My Comment

As a young voter, I too use social, digital, and mobile media to keep up with politics and the world in general. I strongly believe that the best way to get information to young voters is through the internet due to the fact that not many young people watch the news anymore. I am in a class called educational media and I have learned to not underestimate the power of technology and its impact on the world. I believe that the students that used Change.org to petition is a brilliant example of how media and technology affects my generation and it also shows how powerful it is. I am not that knowledgeable in politics as I should be, however this has opened my eyes to the ways I could be more involved.

Post #2 Is Facebook Destroying the American College Experience?

Danah Boyd in her post describes how Facebook is destroying face-to-face human interaction. She argues that Facebook is ruining the chance for understanding diversity and respecting other people's background. Most students use Facebook to look up there roommates to see what kind of person they are. Students are making roommate change requests before they even get there. The whole point of roommates in college to expand the students connections to people with different background creating cultural acceptance. She also argues that students are so scared to talk to new people because they grew up with the notion of be aware of strangers. Students keep in tough with their high school friends instead of branching out creating opportunity inequality.

My Comment

I commented that when I lived back home I never got involved at UAB because I still had ties to my high school friends through Facebook. But since I have transferred to USA, I had to rely on face-to-face human contact to make friends. Social skills are a very important skill to have