Second Life.

The avatar I made for second life looks nothing like me I think. I was not trying to make it look like me either. Also it is not what I fantasize about looking like. I can't really even explain why I made my avatar look the way she does. Second life has been fun I think I might go on it even after the class. It has been a weird experience but Im glad the class had to do it.

Aunt Mary

First off I do have a Aunt Mary and she is very close to me. So she will be the one I'm writing to.

Dear, Aunt Mary

I am glad you have become intrested in Social Networking. Social Networking is when people communticate over the internet. Some of the sites used for social networking are Facebook and Myspace, so when you say Myface there really are two different sites and your just combining the names. When were talking about Myspace alot of different age groups use it. Their site has layouts which are backgrounds for your page. Then it has top friends and you can even put your favorite songs on your page. Myspace was orginally used for bands but it has changed. Facebook is more for High school and college students to communicate with one another. Facebook has a wall and thats where you leave your comments and Myspace has a comment part on their site. I would have to refer you to Myspace you would like it more and find more friends on their. I would be glad to help you set your page up and you can add me to your friends. We can also make you a Facebook both are fun and anyone can use them. On both sites you can upload pictures and you can comment on other peoples pictures. But of course I will help you. I hope my explanation has helped you decide if you want a Myspace or Facebook and I hope it helped you understand social networking.

Love ,
Your Niece Heather

Speedy Gonzales

The first thing I want to say is "wow".The are controversies over the little stuff and things that are actually pointless. The one that caught my attention was the one about Speedy Gonzales. A simple cartoon character can cause a dissusion. It was kind of intersting how his last name was such a big deal. In the article they say that his name is spelled wrong. They say the way that they spell is name now is portuguese, and that it should be spelled the Mexican way. They also go on to argue about his accent, whether it is streotypic or not. When it comes to changing the article content I think it's fine the way it is. When it comes to reliability on wiki it does affect anything because when anyone can edit something there is bound to be a controversy.

Television

One of the main concerns people have today with television is that it's harmful. In my household it wasn't a big deal. We never really had any type of restrictions when it came to tv. When we my sister and I were really small my parents just tried to keep us away from graphic stuff. We used it for educational reasons also. A lot of people think it's harmful because of what people watch on the tv, and how it might make you think about something. When it came to our tv we knew what wasn't the ideal thing to watch. When it comes down to my views about tv it can be harmful, but it just depends on the type of person you are. I can watch a graphic, violent movie and be fine but someone else may try to copy something from televison. Also it hurts your brain. There is no thinking in watching tv. I think there should be restrictions when it comes to tv. It should depend on age groups. In all reality tv to me is what you make of it. It can be educational or harmful. It all depends on you.

Defining the News

When I think of news I think of statistics,facts,information and even different opinions and views. I use the news for various things, sometimes for information and even for entertainment. It can help me settle an argument and help me form opinions. I usually watch the news and once in a while I will read a newspaper. When I decided if it's reliable or I not I do consider my source. I want to know where they got their infomation from. Usually I belive the news on t.v. and a fimilar newspaper. I sometimes become suspicious when its from other sources other then the ones I mentioned or when the whole story is based on opinion and the people telling the story seem unsure. Sometimes it can even be hard to belive the news on t.v and paper, and thats because I wasn't there so I don't know if a story is true or not I just have to be able to trust that source. The news in my opinion needs to sick to fact and not be so opinionated and do it to inform people not to pursude us.

Class Wiki

I think that we should have some type of organization and guidelines for the class wiki. We should each be able to choose what topic we want to work on and then someone from the group will edit the wiki. I don't think we should just be placed in a group because someone may not want to talk about a particular topic and be into something else. We should also have guidelines like the neutral point of view. We should all keep it to facts and not put are opinions on there. But lets also have fun with it and disscuss what topics we want on the wiki. Lets just have some type of structure but not be to strict and have fun with our class wiki!

Ads

#1 Our ad parody was a older woman trying to sell bud light beer. We were trying to make fun of the fact that on the majority of beer ads there is a beautiful female on the ad trying to sell the beer. The woman is suppose to attract guys to buy the beer, so we figured instead of a beautiful woman we would put a older woman on the ad. This way guys would see your not going to get a beautiful girl just because you drink bud light.

#2 I learned so much about advertising. I learned that it is hard for these people to try to come up with an ad that will actually sell their product. It was hard just trying to come up with an idea to make fun of something. I also didn't know there were so many steps you needed to take to come up with an ad. I actually had fun with the parody and learned so much from it.

Social Networking

When it comes to social networking and the big election, social networking has become very important. Especially on networks like myspace and facebook. You see pictures and videos, or you can even join groups. I took at look at myspace and right on the top bar there is a option that says Election '08. When you click on the icon you have a choice to click on a candidate, it will then direct you to that candidates own page. This can be so helpful especially when you want to
just see stuff about one candidate.

I also took a look at facebook, I am in the group call Barack Obama (One Million Stong). There are 771,762 members as of today. Just imagine how many connections there are. People using social networking to get their point across about who they want to win. Just by looking at these groups can make or break a candidate and help people makes their decisions.

On Monday Professer Troy Murphy made good points about social networking. He talked about MiVote and the reasoning for it. I personally think it's a great idea, if you want you opinion to be heard it's a good way. Now it may not be heard by who you want it to be heard by, but someone will listen. I also took a look at a couple of the sites on c-tools and while reading these articles I learned how big a difference social networking makes.

Social Networking is playing such an important role in this election and it's great. It makes more sense too, why stand on a corner yelling your views or trying to campaign when you can just put out a video. Even better you can go blogging and have a debate with someone. You might just learn something.

Advertising

Three places I spent a good amount of time are the Uof M- dearborn campus, my room, and the mall and not because I'm always shopping but because I work there. In all three of these place there are advertising all over. On campus I see all differnet name brands that the students are wearing from hollister, american eagle, air forces which are by nike, jordans, then you see advertising for the school people are wearing U of M shirts, sweaters, and hats. Then there are the differnent types of computer brands everywhere from Mac to Gateway. There is advertising all over.

Next in my room there are clothes like enyce, roca wear, then there is a gateway, and an HP labtop. Then the wirless card to it is advertising At&t. You see cards from Hallmark, lotions and body sprays from bath and body works. There are purses by baby phat or roca wear. Then there is a tv and a radio that while on you see plenty of advertising.

Last in the mall it's all about adverstising everystore you see in there is advertising all their products, then there are those sliding boards for new movies and food products. Plus there are food places all over like Mcdonalds, and Taco Bell. Everytime you see a person walk by with a bag from a store or a cup from McDonalds it's adverstising. Then the clothes the people are wearing from Areopostale to baby phat.

This affects us in so many ways and we don't even notice it. You may see some one with a shirt on from Areopostale and think that is cute, I think I'm going to go get one, well they just adverstised and got you to buy their product. It happens all the time when I go into the book store and I see all the shirts and sweaters I want one and more than likely am going to get one and that is the reason they advertise it because they know it will get people to buy it.

Kiska’s Presentation

I felt that Kiska's presentation was good. He actually grabbed my intrest when it comes to political blogs. When I took a look at the different blogs I was kind of confused but after looking over them I ended up likeing americablog.com the best. It was the most intresting and taught me things I didn't know about the campain. Now of course I don't know how true it is, but its belivable in my eyes. The blog agreed with my point of view about this election. There was one about McCain's temper that made me laugh, and I liked how they used pictures to compare what they were talking about in the blog. That also helped me understand what they were talking about or made it funny. There were also videos which can make it intresting depending on what they're talking about. Overall I liked the presentation and I now my intreset for political blogs have gone up.

Working with the text

Florida- Yes most students want to be creative in there spare time, even at work. It maybe with music, the way they dress, even what they eat. There are also people who wear different things and don't want to follow everyone else.

Connor-Yes there are students who don't appreciate art and hate to go to musems and want to create their own art. There are also some students who still appreciate art and would love to go to the musem. They also like going to theaters to see plays.


Both Florida and Connor have their points but aren't completly right. I would have to agree a little more with Florida though from my own experience. Most of us want to keep up with fashion and whats in and whats not. Then again there are people who don't care about what people think. Neither Florida or Connor can make a complete generalization because no one is the same and no one belives the same thing. They could revise what they said by changing the way they stated their observations. They can say most students or use a percentage in their statements. That why no one is offended by the way they sterotype all students.

My response to exercise 1 (A day in my shoes)

My cell phone wakes me up in the morning with the ringtone of my choice. Turning on the t.v. to see what the weather is then changing it to the news to find out who did what. Going in the closet I pick out some clothes that I feel like wearing that day. Choosing what earings to I wear babyphat or plain hoops. I turn on the radio and play my favorite cd so I can listen to music while I'm in the shower. After coming out I grab something small to eat. I head for class, in between them I'm on the labtop on the internet checking mail, myspace, facebook etc.. After class depending on the day I'll do homework then hang with my friends and boyfriend. While all together we pick a place to eat, McDonalds,Taco Bell, etc. Then I finish the day I may go back on the internet or watch t.v. Oh and in between everything I might have done during the day I always ended up on the phone at some point either texting or talking.
I learned that just about everything we do has something to do with pop culture. Everytime I'm on the phone or watching t.v or listening to the radio it's pop culture. A lot of students may have phones but everyone in my class has one, and this we all have in common . I'm almost sure everyone listens to music but the diffenence maybe what type, some people like rap and some country. Somepeople have stuff in common but everyone has there differences. But no matter where you live or what your beliefs are at least one thing you do connects you to this culture world.