Assignment 8

Good- Most people think playing games on the Internet is really bad for people. But, it turns out that the game Tetris which can be played online can do very good things for people. For example, it stimulates your brain, makes the brain more efficient and reduces flashbacks for people with post-traumatic stress disorder. People feel successful after they complete the game and it makes players think hard about where to place the blocks. This is a reliable source because it is written by Damon Beres who is a very successful editor for a well-known news aggregator, The Huffington Post. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/30/tetris-video_n_7180706.html?utm_hp_ref=technology 

Bad- No one wants their personal information to be exposed, or to be followed or tracked all the time. Unfortunately for iPhone and Andriod users that is what is happening to them. Their information is being taken without their consent. Apple claims that they are using it to provide "personalized services" and that the information will not be sent to Google without consent. But, no matter what is being done with the information, it should not be happening and is so wrong on so many levels. This is a reliable source because of how recent it was published which is April 28th, 2015.

http://www.today.com/money/your-smartphone-may-be-tracking-your-every-move-t17056

Ugly- Girls at such a young age find all of the flaws about their bodies because of the "perfect body" represented through the media. Girls as young as 5 years old are worrying and commenting on how they do not appreciate or like their bodies. The media is the reason for this, and it is so sad to see this happen. I have experienced this with a lot of girls my age hating specific things about their bodies because they are comparing their bodies to images on TV (which can be photoshopped images). Girls need to appreciate what they have and stop contrasting their bodies against others. This source is reliable because of the recency of it. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/14/hatch-program-body-image-video_n_7058098.html

Social Media and Privacy

In my opinion, even though there is eventually justice when sexual assault is posted online, it does not outweigh the forever damage done to the victim. For example, Audrie Pott, who's whole school saw "an intimate part of her body" was so mortified that she hanged herself. This is a perfect explanation on it's own for why issues like this should have nothing to do with Social Media. I think problems of this sort can be handled in a much different fashion, protecting the victims instead of embarrassing and hurting them even more. If stories like the one about Audrie Pott are published, they are going to get even more attention than they have already gotten which is the last thing they need. People need to realize that posting sexual assaults online is not okay in any way, shape, or form. It can ruin the victims lives.

I Have Nothing To Hide

A lot of people don't understand the consequences of posting things online, and believe they have "nothing to hide." What people don't realize is that our information can be looked up by so many different people, and can end up hurting us in various different ways. People need to be more careful about what information and sources they are putting online because it can come back to haunt them at anytime. I always had the idea in the back of my head that many people can see what I have online, but since I've been taking this class I have been very careful about everything. I understand that nothing can be deleted and I think that is extremely frightening. Also, the fact that the government has access to basically everything I do on the Internet really puts things into perspective for me. Others need to realize these points as well.

Living in a Networked World: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

This course will definitely be beneficial to me because it teaches me how to use the internet carefully and efficiently. I have already learned so much about privacy, and negative effects of the internet. But, I like how we don't only learn about the negatives and we also see the positive sides to the internet. The things we talk about in class, like multitasking for example, make me wonder and ultimately realize how I do almost everything we talk about in class. I try to multitask all the time, and I need to start picking the right times to multitask so that I get things done logically. I think the articles and videos we are assigned to read/watch give me a really good sense of just how much the internet is effecting us. I hope there are more interesting topics to come in this course!