Change in Communication by Facebook

Jourdyn Hunsaker
Manuel Perez Tejada
ENG 1101-J1
8 Sept. 2008

Change in Communication by Facebook

About sixty-two million people use it; it is the second most popular pastime among college students; about one-and-a-half million photos are uploaded on it each day; it has more users than all the world's major on line dating sites combined: it is Facebook (Patterson). Over the past couple of years, Facebook has taken over and changed the lives of millions of people. It is a new way to communicate, share, keep in contact, and meet new people. I know that this time two years ago, the words “I'll facebook you” were not a part of my vocabulary, but it has taken over. It is because Facebook is an easier way of communication. It is just like talking on the phone, or emailing, but easier. Despite some of the bad press it gets for being a social hindrance, Facebook is a beneficial and entertaining aspect of life that has changed the way the world communicates.

Facebook has been a blessing to me. The summer before my senior year of high school, I moved eight hundred miles away from home, and I was able to easily keep in contact with all my friends in Missouri. It also helped smooth the transition into college. Facebook was an easy way to get to meet other students. I met kids who were going to be living in my building, I met people who were going to be a new kid in band just like me, and I met other students who wanted to do the same things in college that I wanted to do. It eased some of the stress that I had. Facebook is my favorite way to share photos-it is so much easier than making cds for people, or having extra copies printed. If I want to share a short message, it is much easier than calling. Most recently, I have been able to easily and quickly update all my friends about the Georgia Tech Women's Rugby game against UGA. With the creation of groups and events, it is so easy to get announcements out. Facebook is just an example of how the world is changing: communication is becoming cyber.

Like most popular things, Facebook has attracted negativity. It is argued that Facebook is just a transfer of couch potatoes to PC potatoes. It is an outlet for the many homework procrastinators out there. It is a threat to security. And more seriously, it is a development of an unhealthy obsession with fake relationships. Making friends, and creating and maintaining relationships, is a lot harder than turning on the computer and logging onto Facebook, and sociologists and other experts worry that people will not be able to realize that (Patterson). These arguments are good points and concerns to bring up, and though there may be more truth to the procrastination part than we like to admit, they are blown out of proportion. As for security, no one is forced to share any information that they do not want to, and users can control who can see what on their profiles. As for relationships, facebook is a great way to foster already existing relationships. Meeting strangers is not a popular thing to do on facebook; most everyone I know only accepts friend requests from people they know. Facebook is not a relationship itself, it is just a means of communication.

Facebook may have started off just for fun and entertainment, but now it is an essential part of life. Everyone, from young and old, is using it as a new means of communication. Facebook is an example of how our way of life is becoming more cyber. Everything is done on line now, and embracing Facebook is embracing that fact. Arguing about the relevance of Facebook is just an act of fighting this change in our society. Facebook is a simple (and fun) means of communication with which the world has absolutely fallen in love.















WORKS CITED

Patterson, Bryan. “Facing up to the Future How Cyber Social Networking Site Facebook has Taken the World by Storm.” Sunday Herald Sun. 17 Feb. 2008: 88. LexisNexis Academic. Georgia Institute of Technology Lib., Atlanta, GA. 1 Sept. 2008 .

Ian McCreadie Essay 1

Ian McCreadie

Professor Perez Tejada

English 1101-J1

09/07/2008

Ya Digg It?

Everyday, I wake up, turn on my computer, and open up my internet browser to my homepage, Digg.com. I visit the site hoping to find out about the latest current events, and other interesting things, posted on the internet. The site gives each user the ability to link articles, pictures, or videos to be evaluated by every other user on the site. Users can either “Digg” (approve) or “Bury” (dislike) something linked by another user. After numerous people have approved an article, the administrators upload it to the front page so more people can view it. This process continues as more and more people view the article, until the front page consists of intriguing articles, videos, or pictures. By reading the articles posted every day, along with the comments of what different users feel, I gain a greater understanding of my world.

Digg.com gives me the ability to view major events happening all across the globe without moving more than a few fingers. I received almost all of my news updates from Digg.com during high school because new articles appear on a constant basis. The most popular articles listed on the front page normally consist of major events of the day. Reading these articles and comments, left by the hundreds of users, improves my understanding more than the reading of a related newspaper article. By reading the comments left by the users, I can understand how a certain piece affects everyone else. After hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, articles were posted about people calling for help in the devastated city. Hundreds of people made comments describing the tragedies and horrors the people of New Orleans were going through. The website brought me closer to the people affected by the hurricane, allowing me to feel their pain. Although the website has the miraculous ability to make people hundreds of miles away seem next door, sometimes false articles appear.

Some users upload fake articles that distort the facts, or report events which never occurred. These articles can essentially become fact by having groups support false or biased articles. Digg’s system of the people supporting which articles make it to the front page makes it open to attack from a large group of people who want to promote lies. It takes hundreds of truthful Digg.com users to combat these fake articles in order to prove their falsehood. Despite some groups having the manpower to promote false articles, the majority of information displayed on the Digg.com homepage has been proven reliable by hundreds of users. This website has brought together thousands of people using the massive amount of information available on the internet and the willingness of humans to inform others.

This website has brought me together with people from all over the planet with the same urge to find the most recent news. Through its simple system of digging and burying articles, Digg.com has built itself from a small unknown website to a popular and reliable source for news and entertainment. Digg.com has connected me with people from all over the world making every event seem closer and more important to my life. By finding news articles on the site from many sources, I can attempt to get an unbiased view of events in our world. Despite the differences of the interests of everyone who visits Digg.com everyone can find something they digg.

Facebook Me....

Jeremy Smith

Professor Manuel A. Perez-Tejada

English 1101 – J1

September 8, 2008

Facebook: Staying Connected

Our society can be impossible to live in. Everything has to be accomplished as quickly as possible and still be relevant and comprehensive. Even the simple tasks in our society can be difficult to achieve. Take a straightforward task such as keeping up with your friends or social life, and you will still find frustration brought on by our “now or never” society. This is, however, where my favorite of all media products becomes irreplaceable. Facebook, a simple online social-networking website, allows me to keep in touch with my friends and society, helping me to stay in touch in such a fast paced world.

Facebook has contributed to my connection to my surroundings in many ways. The most prevalent of those ways is how it allows to me to stay in touch with friends. Facebook allows me to chat with friends who live hundreds of miles away while being updated on what they did during the week by seeing what they have posted. This luxury would not be available without this media product. For example, earlier this year one of my good friends moved away. At the time, I did not have a Facebook account and I would only talk to him a few times a month. Now, with this great website, I talk to him almost every day and we are still very good friends, despite the fact that I have not seen him in person in many months. Facebook also has other features that allow for an almost seamless integration of my social life with the rest of the world, such groups and events.

Not only does Facebook allow me to talk to friends, but it also allows me to set up events and groups for any cause I want. When I log onto Facebook one of the first things I notice is what events are coming up. This is one of Facebook's greatest attributes as a media tool, because it helps me to maintain a schedule and find out about events that I would otherwise miss. Facebook also has a feature that allows you to make a group where friends or people with similar beliefs can join and discuss or fight for a cause. This has been very popular in the realm of politics because supporters of one candidate will get millions of members in their group to rally for their leader. Some people are against this very public forum, but Facebook has feature to combat this ‘argument’ where one can hide what groups they are in or who can see their profile. Regardless of that fact, Facebook does wonders for staying connected and getting organized.

In the end, Facebook is one of the greatest forms of media available to society today. It allows us to stay connected and organized in a world with high-paced standards. It is for this reason that Facebook is my favorite media outlet and why I believe that it is a true gift to the world.

Essay 1-"Why I'm Here"

Jed Bradley
Manuel Perez Tejada
English 1101-J1
September 6, 2008
Rudy: Why I’m here
The movie Rudy has inspired me to where I am today. I can honestly say that I would not be at Georgia Tech playing baseball, had I not watched this movie continuously from a young age. Rudy is a true inspirational movie about a boy with little talent and ability on the football field, or in the classroom who accomplished feats far beyond everyone else’s expectations. He grew up in a lower class family; his father was a worker in a steel mill. He was small in stature, and because of this he was constantly bullied by his larger older brothers, as well as others around him. Despite the differences in the Rudiger family (Rudy’s family), they all had a common interest, Notre Dame Football. It was Rudy’s dream to grow up and to go to Notre Dame to play football. Anytime Rudy expressed this dream, he was put down and told of how impossible it was. He was told that Notre Dame was for elite athletes and students of higher intellect, and that he would never make it there. There was only one person who ever listened to Rudy and believed in him- his best friend Pete. Rudy ended up graduating high school and going to work for his father at the steel mill. When Rudy turned twenty-two, his friend Pete died. This was a wakeup call, and Rudy decided to follow his dream and do whatever it took to go to Notre Dame and play football. Long story short, Rudy went to Notre Dame, walked onto the football team, got knocked around like a rag doll everyday for two years, and graduated from Notre Dame with a degree. After all Rudy’s hard work and sacrifice, he got to play in one game, for 15 seconds, and it was all worth it. This movie has inspired me since I was a child, and taught me life lessons I will never forget.
Rudy is important to my life because it inspired me to achieve goals that seemed impossible. I accomplished goals others told me were impossible. I received a scholarship to play baseball here at Georgia Tech for instance. Many movies are motivating in this aspect, but Rudy really seems to speak to me because it’s sports related. It brings out emotion in me every time I watch it because I have experienced successes in the sport I love that others said were impossible just like Rudy did. I try to live my life by the ideas displayed in this great movie. These ideas are that through hard work and determination anything can be accomplished.
I believe the reason I am so inspired by this movie is the fact that it is based on a true story. Anytime I doubt myself or I think something to be impossible, I remember that Rudy faced the impossible as well, and he prevailed. This has given me the extra bit of motivation to advance myself in life. Because of the movie Rudy, I can look at any situation or scenario in my life and deem it feasible. No task seems insurmountable.
Rudy is a beautiful movie that tells an awesome story of overcoming trials and adversity. I have applied the ideals expressed in this movie to my life, and it has helped me tremendously. I was told I would never play college baseball, but through hard work and determination, I have accomplished my goal of becoming a collegiate athlete. Rudy Rudiger (Sean Astin) showed me the benefits of being persistent and never giving up. The lessons I’ve learned from Rudy will stay with me forever. Consequently, otherwise impossible feats now seem possible; I have Rudy Rudiger to thank for that.

The Simpsons: A Comedic Educator−David Desprez

I grew up watching The Simpsons. It is a show filled with diverse characters, interesting plots, witty comments, slapstick humor, good morals, and informative ideas. As a small child, I identified with characters such as the rebellious Bart, the intellectual Lisa, and the bumbling Homer, relishing the humor while remaining oblivious to the cultural quality of the show. When I aged, however, I began to realize and understand just how much this show offers, beyond the humor and action. The Simpsons creates an entertaining world that teaches life lessons, and helps each of us to grow and develop one laugh at a time.
The Simpsons serves as a moral compass that has helped to direct my path in life. That is a fairly audacious statement, I realize, especially when talking about some TV show−but it is true. Although The Simpsons gets criticized by some people for its mild violence, language, and content, I learn a valuable life lesson from every episode that I watch. In one episode, Homer (the father of the family) explains that "If you really want something in life, you have to work for it." I did not become valedictorian of my high school by sitting around watching The Simpsons all day (or did I?). I took Homer’s advice to work hard−and it worked. I learn to fight for what I believe in and to have confidence in myself. I discover this through the hunger strikes, boycotts, petitions, and inspirational speeches given by these creative yellow people. Consequently, the ideals illustrated in the show have provided my life with direction and education.
The Simpsons assists in the development of my learning. Yes, seemingly mindless cartoons can become educational. In the show, satire exhibits a heavy presence and what the characters say often contains more than one meaning. This helps to develop my ability to analyze writing and speeches for the meaning below the surface. For example, in an episode titled The Way We Weren’t, Homer stands on a dock looking from the water to a boat contemplating how he will cross a lake. He then exclaims “I guess it’s Row vs. Wade, and it’s my right to choose.” Without the knowledge of deeper meaning, I would not recognize that this makes reference to the 1973 Supreme Court case on abortion. Witty quotes like this occur throughout episodes, helping to expand my knowledge, increase my sense of humor, and make me laugh.
Watching The Simpsons definitely improves my life by allowing me to be more educated, culturally aware, and better prepared to deal with life’s obstacles. Nearly every problem encountered in real life has already been made into an episode of The Simpsons. I also can look deeper into things and analyze below the surface thanks to this great show. So if you are looking to get some good laughs and an education on many different levels, grab some popcorn and watch a few episodes. You will walk away better equipped for life.

First Post

This is our blog, welcome.