Summative Blog Post: Module 3

Wikipedia is a search engine that allows people at any time and any place access information at their own convenience.  However the negative associations that Wikipedia has associated with it, makes people second guess using Wikipedia as a reliable source for information.  I agree that Educators have been telling students not to use Wikipedia and I can remember this ever since I was younger when Wikipedia first developed.  Jensen forms his argument around the fact that Wikipedia is a unreliable source for information because of the lack of authority from its writers.  I think that Wikipedia would be able to become a credible source for information if it did not allow its users to be able to edit content on its pages and only allow people with credibility to edit the information.  This would mean that Wikipedia would have to hire credible writers with background knowledge on the topics provided on Wikipedia to complete the pages.  However the problem associated with this is that Wikipedia is a nonprofit organization, so by having anonymous people contributing to the development of its pages it allows it to remain a “free encyclopedia”.  So for free information about various topics at the touch of your fingertips Wikipedia is a very helpful source of information. 

I agree that Wikipedia is a great search engine for fast information.  Even though the information may not be reliable it provides you with the basic information to be aware and informed about a topic.  I also agree that it is a perfect starting point for research.  When I have to begin an assignment I always look at the links that are provided on the Wikipedia page of my topic and that will give me a starting point as well as additional sources of information that I could possibly use. 

With all of the negative connotations associated with Wikipedia, and after all of the people telling us that it is not a reliable source of information I find it hard to believe that it is still one of the most visited websites on the internet.  Clearly Wikipedia is providing some source of information that is appealing to the public because as Royal mentions in the article there are over 38 million people that visit the website each month (Royal, 139).  Clearly this demonstrates that Wikipedia is doing something correctly.  I remember when Wikipedia protested and went on strike, and many people did not even know where to find information.  I believe that we are so reliant on Wikipedia for information, possibly because we are lazy and do not want to search for it in any other area of the internet that may take longer.  Overall I believe that Wikipedia is a good search engine and provides us with basic information, however we have to take the information with a grain of salt and remember that it could be incorrect.    

Module 3: Wikipedia

Today in society with the ability to access the internet people are able to gain information and knowledge with the press of a button (Royal, 138).  There are many search engines available through the internet to gain information like Google, Youtube, Forums, and even a very popular site among many people looking for fast information, Wikipedia.  The internet as Brown suggests in his article is a important medium that allows people the ability to access information more than ever before (Brown, 5).  Whenever a person requires basic information about any topic, event, issue they are able to type it in Wikipedia’s search engine in order to read up on the basic facts.  For example if a person wants to look up a certain breed of dog and all the information associated with that dog they would type it in Wikipedia’s search bar and receive the important information related, such as its average weight, life span, history and Wikipedia even provides pictures.  This information seems reliable and is considered a “free encyclopedia” so many people use Wikipedia as their first source on the internet for information (Royal, 138).  However the problem surrounding this free encyclopedia that is so easily accessible to any internet user is that the information potentially could be unreliable.  Wikipedia allows anyone, whether they are a credible source or not, to create and edit content available on their search engines (Royal, 139).  However I do believe that many people using Wikipedia are aware that the information is potentially unreliable however they still will continue using this search engine because it is fast, easy, and could potentially have information that is true.  This can be proven through Richard Jensen’s article as he claims that Wikipedia in terms of daily usage, ranks in one of the top ten sites used by internet users, this being right below Facebook which has millions of users (Jensen, 1165-1166). 

My confidence in Wikipedia before reading these articles is relatively the same then after reading them.  I admit that I am a frequent user of Wikipedia for fast information on various subjects.  Whenever I have a concern, question, or want to know facts about a subject the first place I search for information is on Wikipedia.  I am aware that some of the information could potentially be false or edited by anonymous users however I am not using Wikipedia for assignments where detail needs to be paid.  I and probably many other users that are using the site daily are looking up the basics, for example if you want to know basic facts about chicken pocks when your little sister has them.  Wikipedia will tell you the basic information that you need to know like how to treat them, what they look like, and the history behind it.  For more detailed information I would not go to Wikipedia I would instead look up an academic journal or another credible source.  What was interesting to learn however is that Wikipedia does get taken advantage by many users that are accessing this website not for information however for fun.  Jensen claims Wikipedia suffers thousands of changes to articles an hour from its younger users who are “editing” in ridiculous comments and changing actual information (Jensen 1168).  However what was also interesting and nice to know is that editors of Wikipedia recognize these changes and edit them back to the correct information.  Through knowing this I think it is important for Wikipedia users to be aware that potentially the information could be unreliable and false, however it is one of the leading sites in the world and because people are so reliant on it they will continue to utilize the information that is posted.

References

Brown, J. S. & P. Duguid. (1996). The Social Life of Documents. First Monday. 1, 1.

Jensen, R.  (2012).  Military History on the Electronic Frontier: Wikipedia Fights the War of 1812.  Journal of Miliary History.  76, 1.  Pp 1165-1182

Royal, C. & Kapila, D. (2009). What's on Wikipedia, and What's Not . . . ?: Assessing Completeness of Information. Social Science Computer Review. 27, 1. pp 138-148.

Summative Blog Post

Thanks for the replies I am just getting used to blogging!  I just wanted say that I thought that very important points were brought up in the discussions.  I also think that school both elementary and high school should be teaching younger children as well as teen the implications of social media websites.  We use social media on a daily basis and now children are not restricted to what they can access because every seventh grader has a smart phone with access to all social media pages like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram.  I think that children are very naive and do not know everything about social media and therefore need to be taught what information they should share and what they should keep private, that it is important to block their profiles so that people cannot have access to the information and pictures that they do share, and that not everyone you are “followers” on your social media page is who they claim to be.  As a communication student I am aware or at least a lot more conscious the information that I share on my social media pages.  However I do not think that younger generations as well as parents understand the implications of posting information on social media pages.

Also the fact that people with shy personalities now have the ability to communicate without feeling as insecure was also an important point.  This can allow people who have trouble communicating to get their “voice” to whoever they want it to reach without having to feel embarrassed or awkward.  However I think people that have trouble communicating face-to-face are not going to gain any skills by continuing to hide behind a computer screen or cell phone to communicate with others.  It is almost like social media is enabling people that have shy personalities to gain any confidence because they would rather communicate through a written message rather than face-to-face. 

However on a brighter note I also believe that social media allows us to now communicate on a more global level.  We are now able to send and receive information at a extremely fast pace.  I think that everyone that has any type of social media account embraces this new form of media, especially our generation.  We are constantly checking our smart phones, email, and computer to see what updates we have received in the last two minutes.  I do believe that social media is a step forward however I also believe it to be a step back.  I consider it to be a step back because we are so addicted and reliant on our social media pages.  People also have become extremely vain thinking that others actually care what you ate for breakfast.  However this is a negative perspective on social media and there are many positives for many people.

Public and Private Personae and Online Privacy: Module Two

Online social media websites have become a growing phenomenon from all different kinds of users around the world.  The most prominent social media sites that are used today are social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, and even LinkedIn.  In today’s society we are so consumed with being constantly connected with one another that we have developed checking, updating, and sharing information into our daily practices (Boyd & Ellison, 210).  These social media webpage’s fulfill our constant need to be updated and "connected to wherever we want to be" by allowing us to constantly share information, communicate with each other, blog, share photos, videos, opinions, thoughts and create an online persona that (Turkle, 1).  However the problems associated with constantly being connected to what we want and when we want is that when we are together each person is in the room in their own bubble plugged into their own device (Turkle, 1).  We no longer have relationships with each other face-to-face, we now share a virtual world relationship with people through text, email, photo sharing, and commenting through online social media.

I feel as though people are so self-indulged and vain to believe that people actually care what you are doing on a day to day basis that we now have to document and share every single thing that we are doing.  We share parts of our lives that friends and even strangers do not need to be aware of.  The problems associated with sharing so much information is that young generations do not understand the risks that are associated with the public nature of sharing things on the internet (Boyd & Ellison, 222).  When a teen posts a picture of them at wonderland on any social media site for example, now everyone who can view your profile now is aware of where you are.  This is potentially dangerous for predators that are one the internet and even for personal privacy.

When I share information online on any type of social media I do not share any type of information that can potentially put me at risk.  This includes information like my phone number, address or any personal information like my banking or sin number. However on online social media pages after thinking about it I do share a lot of information that should not be shared like my date of birth, gender, places I have worked my school and even places I have been or am currently at.  When I present information about myself I try and keep it as “classy” as possible because I am aware that future employers as well as family members can have access to this information.  Having the notion that my “life” that is presented on social media forms a sense of constant surveillance, not only by my friends but also by future employers, research analyst,  This online profile in my case Face book allows me to develop the self that I want to be seen as, allowing me to edit and even delete information I do not want to be available to the public (Turkle, 2).  However on other social media sites such as twitter, I have all my tweets blocked and only allow my “friends” not “followers” to read my tweets and I have the ability to post whatever I please. However even though I understand that only my “friends” or the people I have accepted on my twitter page can read my tweets I find myself still feeling as though I am under constant surveillance.  Many people use twitter as a way to share what they are doing, how they are feeling and it also has the option to post pictures and retweet other peoples tweets.  This is a way in which as Albrechtslund says is a “snoops dream”.  If you follow a person on twitter that you went to high school with but have no other connection to, you are now being updated with their information on a daily basis.  Or if you want to find out what your ex best friend has been doing, that information is also available to you.

References

Albrechtslund, A.  (2008)  “Online Social Networking as Participatory Surveillance.”  First Monday.  13,3.

Boyd, Danah M., and Nicole B. Ellison. "Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship." Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13.1 (2008): 210-30.

Turkle, Sherry.  The Flight From Conversation.  New York Times Sunday Review.  April 21, 2012. 

First Blog

The topic of animal rights is an extremely important topic regarding the fair and ethical treatment of all animals.  This issue has been argued by many people on both sides.  Many people agree that animals have rights and other disagree and believe that animals do not have rights.  However the point of the matter is that whether or not animals have rights or not it is unethical to allow any type of living, breathing species to undergo pain and suffering in their lifetime.

Many animals around the world and even in our own country suffer and even face death each day by the hands of a human.  The reason that we make these innocent animals suffer and often times die is for food on factory farms, for clothing, in laboratories, and even in the entertainment industry at circuses and in zoos.  However there are many organizations around the world that support animal rights and try and preserve and cherish every type of animal’s life.  These organizations work each day to provide public education, events and even protests for the protection of all animals. What I will be looking at throughout this course is the fair and ethical treatment of animals.  I will look for ways to find products that avoid animal testing, ways to be vegan and other ways of preserving animal rights.

My name is Amanda Avila and I am in my third year of Media and Communication studies at Brock University.  I find animal rights to be an extremely interesting topic that has a lot of controversy associated with it.  I am an animal lover and I do believe that all animals have rights and the right to life, just as humans do.  I am very against animal testing and try and surround myself with products that do not test on animals.  I think that being informed of how humans inflict suffering, pain, and death on animals is very important to people of all ages in order to create change for a just society. 

“Ask the experimenters why they experiment on animals, and the answer is:  "Because the animals are like us."  Ask the experimenters why it is morally okay to experiment on animals, and the answer is:  "Because the animals are not like us."  Animal experimentation rests on a logical contradiction.”  Said by Charles R. Magel

Twitter Links
#BoycottTheCircus
#vegan
#bananimaltesting
#animalrights
#crueltyfree

Webpages Supporting Animal Rights
PETA
WSPA
American Humane
Ontario SPCA
Stop Animal Abuse

Blogs That Support Animal Rights
NAIA official blog
Animal Rights Collective
Animal Ethics
Animal Rights
Peta Blog