Cyber bullying

It’s a fact, bullying has been around since order overruled anarchy and now we have the ever increasing problem of cyber bullying. The lack of monitoring system and increase in ways to communicate it was inevitable that bullying would become easier and occur more. Whether it’s recording a video of bullying on your mobile and posting it on social network sites or bombarding victims with torments on text message/email, it has caused more grief and depression than ever before.

Surveys would suggest there are high numbers of teens falling victim to cyber bullying and being too afraid to tell an adult or friend. Cyber bullying attacks you at home where you’re meant to feel safest from the outside world and when that is shattered then a person will feel completely helpless and alone. Monitoring all activity online is a major concern as well because of how vast the internet is, in reality there is just too much information for a monitoring process to work. There are things as reporting a comment or flagging inappropriate behaviour but that will only get the abusers profile deleted and not stop them from creating a new one and continuing to bully.

As this graph from the US illustrates both genders are equally effected in most areas and all results indicate about 50% of victims are not affected by the bullying but that also leaves the other 50% feeling the effects. Victims of cyber bullying tend to be young and vulnerable as well as impressionable, they will believe what they are being told and will not know how to respond to this type of anti-social interaction. At least when bullying wasn’t cyber the victim could look into the face of their tormentor and know who they are, one of the problems with bullying being cyber is that it could be anyone pretending to be someone else on their profile, there is no proof of who it is and that makes it difficult to know who is bullying and why.So will there be a stop to cyber bullying? Well like actual bullying it’s hard to stop and you may not even know it’s occurring, but measures are being taken to eliminate bullies online and hopefully cut down the suicides related to cyber bullying.

Lazy Student Syndrome

Recently, I read a newspaper article (online) that universities are planning to post lectures online so students don’t even have to get out of bed to go to class. Stereotypically students have been seen as being lazy and this method of teaching just encourages this reflection. Is this an advance on teaching with modern technology or just another reason for students to lie about?

In today’s world we are seeing more and more objects making life easier, you can now use your phone as a satnav and browse the internet on your television, you can call people and see them on the other side of the world for a cheap price on Skype. Does this mean we have more time for pleasure or does it mean we are now less mobile then we were 50 years ago and have become lazy versions of ourselves? As I think back to my younger years I can see that getting cable television did make me stay on the sofa more and having Gameboys meant I didn’t need to entertain myself with people or other toys. Now at present I rely heavily on my BlackBerry to keep in contact with friends, use as a calculator, as a camera, look up things on the internet, find out what’s on at the cinema or to play games o when I’m bored. It seems obvious that technology has made me less inclined to be active, I don’t even have to check my spelling anymore as either my phone will correct me or spell check on my computer. I can even look up alternate words without having to go get a thesaurus I just look on Word or Google it.

So in the end was Ellison et al right in thinking that the internet has reconstructed the way our social capitol is formed? Do we now have more contact and relationships then previous generations because of the constant updates from Facebook and other social networking sites? It’s clear that we can now follow what our friends are up to everyday instead of having catch up conversations and we can contact people instantly without having to wait for a letter in the post or for them to call.

The ‘Lazy Student Syndrome’ can obviously not be targeted at only one type of group as all these advances in technology are helping and improving everyone, from hospitals to schools our lives maybe easier and we may rely too heavily on our technology but when it comes down to it I suppose I could get by without the internet or my phone. Negatively speaking yes newer generations seem to be unable to function without new mediums but is that technology’s fault or parenting, should older generations be teaching the younger ones how to think independently and work hard for knowledge and not have it handed to them on a fibre optic place? I say yes, I would love not to depend on spell check and have confidence in my spelling abilities; I would like to be able to remember roads and not have to use satnav directions. But no extremes will work in this world, a fine balance is needed which is the case for most struggles in life (something I mentioned in the copyright fight post) and so we will continue to upgrade our lives to be more comfortable and inactive.

Referneces

Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook "friends:" Social capital and college students' use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(4), article 1. http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue4/ellison.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1371444/Lectures-internet-Now-sick-students-wont-bed-classes.html

Campaign Project- Who Cares

We were told to create a campaign video of an issue that we feel the most passionate about. I was in a group of three (Liz Nelson, Alia Alhirsi and myself) and as we tried to find a cause we felt strongly about we all came to the conclusion that there was nothing we cared about. There we had it, our campaign and our issue is that our generation has been desensitized from issues like charities that we all don’t care anymore.

When watching the video I can see some things we could have improved on, lighting for one as when interviewing Alia all we could see was her silhouette and also the sound level was too quiet at times. But altogether I feel we were able to get our message across without shoving it down the audiences throat or making it too humorous to take seriously.

The issue in the video is clear, we (students) care more about our money and funding then we do about poverty stricken countries or the less fortunate, but is it all our fault? Speaking for myself only, I can say that I do feel guilty but not very often and especially when I am being hounded on the street to give money to a cause. I don’t like being told what to do and guilt tripping me or following me until I stop is something I regard as bullying. Isn’t that what Comic Relief is for? Helping out those in need?  They raised £74.3 million this year and yet our country is actually £0.932 trillion in debt by the end of this year, as I live in this country I feel as though we should be helping ourselves before we can help others.

This topic is a sensitive one as in the end no one really wins, we will still be in debt; still have homeless people, domestic violence, countries in poverty and lack of jobs. Of course there will be improvement but these issues have been around for years and with the growing population it doesn’t seem as though they will die down anytime soon.

this is the site to see the UK's debt

http://www.ukpublicspending.co.uk/uk_national_debt_chart.hmtl

It's Viral Friday...

Okay, it's actually Wednesday not Friday but,

Three words: Rebecca Black, Friday.

As the actual YouTube video was taken off but then put up again as I write this entry, I will link up the original version (hopefully it won't be taken down again, if so you, the reader, should have seen it already as it is so widely know now). When I first watched this video a couple weeks ago it had a mere 9million views but when it was taken off the site it had reached 62million views. The wide spread reaction to this 13 year old girls attempt at a music video turned viral for all the wrong reasons, as many viral videos tend to, with poor quality props and settings, bad edits and incomprehensible lyrics. The person who wrote the lyrics for this song was either a lyrical genius or a dim-witted adult who thought that’s what all teenagers do on a Friday. If it’s the latter then I understand why there were so many dislikes towards the video, if it was the former then this person created a song that many people got stuck in their head whether they permitted it or not.

The thing that makes this video viral is that people in the millions watched it, talked about it and posted it on social network sites, it is a perfect example of the power the internet can have. If this video hadn’t received so much attention, would Rebecca Black have gotten so many interviews and have articles written about her? It reminds me of the Christmas number 1 for 2009, people who were sick of the X Factor decided to rebel and through social network groups were able to make Rage Against the Machine’s ‘Killing in the Name’ number 1 in the charts. Bearing in mind the song was released in 1992 and originally reached number 25 in the UK charts it shows how one thing can be propelled into the spotlight with the right marketing and reasons. The couple who started the rebellion were doing it for charity purposes but also the group represented what many people thought, that X Factor were taking over a Christmas tradition.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2228594104&v=photos&closeTheater=1#!/group.php?gid=2228594104&v=wall&closeTheater=1

(the link to the Facebook Group)

In my opinion these crazes are not completely negative; in fact they make the internet a more entertaining place. Giving the feeling of unity that a group of people are able to overthrow the higher powers with sheer numbers and that the public are not all ignorant followers of what we’re told to believe. On the other hand the reaction and comments towards Rebecca Black can be harsh for a 13 year old to listen to, with comments telling her to die (a little extreme) and others complaining of their bleeding ears, it’s the personal level these comments go to that ruin the viral trends and force videos to be removed. As history is showing us the internet is growing power outside of the computer and with the majority of people on a global level has access to the internet, there is no telling how dominant these trivial things like a teen’s music video or Christmas Number 1 will become.

Here it is, that song I was talking about....

The Fight for Copyright

A few weeks ago I was put into a group for a debate on copyright; unfortunately I was put in the group that was defending copyright which personally I am against. Needless to say my group won the debate but when it was over the teacher asked us which side we would have preferred and 90% of the class agreed that they were against copyright. During the research for the debate it showed that there were plenty of decent reasons to defend copyright and the reason against it were feeble. So instead everyone agreed that there should be a compromise, copyright should be enforced but with common sense and reasoning. I pointed out that my opinion that there is a fine line between a fair system and taking advantage. Who decides what is eligible for downloading and what isn’t? Who monitors the people that decide?  

Abusing the system is unfortunately why many government officials agree to strengthening copyright laws; many of these people don’t even understand illegal downloading altogether. So for a compromise to occur both sides would have to understand where each side is coming from. Yes the music industry is suffering because of illegal downloading, but how many of those songs have been taken from older songs and remixed? Yes creative industries are struggling to get by but doesn’t that get rid of the talentless fame hungry people and make room for people with actual individual talent? It’s unavoidable, the ‘copyfight’ will have to be resolved but when and how is yet to be determined, Pirate Bay seem to be leading the opposed of copyright and doing a fairly good job. If only they would be more diplomatic and persuasive maybe governments and industries would be more willing to listen to the reasons Pirate Bay believes in.

The way I see it, I pay to see films in the cinema (not the food though, unbelievably expensive), I buy DVD's and pay for my television licence as well as for cable channels. I feel as if I pay enough, not to mention all those people who pay for entering competitions or voting in a television contests. The creative industry is doing better than what they are pretending to be with endorsements and tours that bring in nice sums of money, which in the end is what they are fretting about. There is no need to panic all because so many people are sharing music files that the industries will become bankrupt,  Beyoncé's 'I Am....' tour  for example profited $108million hardly spare change. We need to look at the bigger picture, the internet is large and fast with constant upgrading and new software, copyright is becoming harder and harder to control and monitor the choice is whether the two sides of the debate form a coalition or begin a war but either way things will have to change.

Psychogeography Project

In a group of three we created a psychogeography map which is interpreted by us in an individual way. 

My group decided to draw a circle on a map of Leicester and walk it with the camera, as we drew the random lines on the map it became clear the 'circle' had become a coffin. After doing some research on the area I discovered that Leicester is one of the most haunted cities in the UK, either it was a coincidence or fate. Using this new information we were able to turn our project from a random circle to a ghost walk, stopping at certain places to explain the many paranormal incidents from that place. We went at night to enhance the 'spooky' feel of the walk although there were a lot of cars causing noise pollution on the camera but we did our best.

 

(the coffin walk)

A Psychogeography map is defined as "the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organised or not, on the emotions and behaviour of individuals".

At first I didn't understand what Psychogeography meant at all, I kept thinking of the psycho bit and then the geography bit and thinking 'killer locations?' it is a hard concept to get when you keep picturing a murderer at an estate agents. Fortunately after hours of reading the definition and group discussion I do now know what Pyschogeography stands for. It's an interpretation of ones surroundings - consciously or sub-consciously.

The Project Video

 

When I think about it, I am constantly taking in my surroundings; I stare at buildings as I'm walking to lectures and a watch people as I'm in town shopping. Leicester has a lot of things to take in when you walk around it. From the clock tower in the centre to the Griffin statues outside the town hall, there is plenty to look at. The same can be said for my hometown St.Albans where I was born and raised, being the oldest Roman city in the UK does have a special meaning. I took for granted the Roman walls in Verulanium Park and the cobbled streets in the town centre. Even some of the shops are from the Tudor era, I grew up with historical surrounding and didn't even realise until this project.

Of course I knew these facts about my hometown but there is knowing and then there's seeing; realising where you're walking is where Queen Boadicea burned Verulamium town to the ground is an unusual feeling. If this project has taught me anything it is that surroundings are more influential to one's mind then people realise.

Folksonomy Presentation

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Folksonomy presentation

View more presentations from twiggla.

(This is just the slideshow, obviously we spoke for the duration of each slide)

Just imagine us explaining what is on each slide... 

So being a new blogger I'm still not sure what to write. I suppose I should talk about the Pecha Kucha I presented last week, I was in a group of three talking about Folksonomy. A pecha Kucha if you didn't know is a powerpoint presentation that has 20 slides and each slide is shown for 20 seconds. In our Pecha Kucha however we had 15 slides for 20 seconds.

After continuously rehearsing this presentation it was time to do it for real and of course being in front of people I began to talk faster then I was supposed to, making the 20 seconds seem like a lifetime. I have to admit, when done properly a Pecha Kucha is a brilliant way of presenting a powerpoint, it keeps the audience's attention on what the presentation is about but for me, I did not enjoy doing it. But it's over now and hopefully I won't be doing it in the near future and if I do at least I'll be more prepared. 

In other news, there was a student protest the other day in London, I didn't go myself but had many friends there giving me updates and posting photos on Facebook. It was going all fine and dandy until the last hour when some ASBO youths decided to vandalise the Millbank building... to be fair I'm sure most of them were actual students who wanted to be heard but the violence they caused is now up for debate for the next few weeks. There are enquiries about how the police handled it, how the students reacted, how everything could have been avoided, blah blah blah shoulda woulda coulda.

But in retrospect all that protesting was in vein as what they were protesting the rise in student fees, a rise hat will take effect in 2012 and is hardly going to be cancelled because students have caused a stir for one day. It sad but true, the peoples voice is squandered by the politicians self preservation. It seems that most MP's are only interested in a popularity contest, having 'your mother' style debates in parliament and expressing many opinions but doing no actions. Unfortunately it's been like this before I was born, it's just more televised then before.

 

 "your mothers so dumb it takes her two hours to watch 60 Minutes"

This blog would have been posted 2 weeks ago but with pending problems uploading the presentation slides it was delayed.