MySpace......What Space?

 I had a MySpace page since junior college. I thought it would awesome to keep in touch with friends and family. The only important information that is true is my name, school affiliation and birthday. I had a Facebook, but many of my friends had a MySpace page, so I just took off Facebook. I have posted many pictures of my friends and family for all to see. Some pictures are hilarious and some of the old party days. 

Having a page has it pros and it cons. For one, I have been getting friend request from people that dont know me. It feels a little fishy when you check their page and there is nothing posted. I feel that if you have no time to post a picture and show if your alive, I dont need to add you. I also feel that Im being stocked or maybe a weirdo on the other side wants to check my faithfulness. I have encountered many people on My Space trying to pose as another person to make friends with, when I have kicked them from my "Friends List".  Wood & Smith talks about identity issues about how we want others to precieve us. I have seen many people akter there identity to reach other people they think are beyond their identity status. For example, my friend photoshops his picture to enhance his look on his MySpace. I think many people lose their identity when online. You are able to lie on MySpace to get response from others and you are able to fraud your identity. For something positive, I think that many people are able to interact with famous people on MySpace. Many music artist have fan pages to keep up to date with show and new releases. It also makes me think, is this really there page or not? I have applied for a law enforcement job and they check you MySpace and Facebook pages. They want to see if your responsible online. Many jobs wont hire people due to personal pages posted online. I made the sacrafice to take off the page to save my Identity. Wood & Smith also talks about self -presentation. Many companies are checking if your true identity is what they see in person not someone different online. That goes to show that people need to be little responsible online, it may cost them a high paying job down the line.

Cooler Online....

Paisley's online music video was hilarious. The old middle aged guy, which is the main character works as a pizza delivery guy in the day time. After hours he plays the internet "hunk" at his parents house. He seems like the kid that had no friends at school, and was just a nerd and could not play sports because of his asthma. In reality, it seems he is not the typical guy that women would look at first glance. It also doesn't work when you still live at the parents house. I guess the ending of the video always ends happy, but it is not necessarily ends that way. I still like the overall story line of a happy ending.

Many would think that staying at home at a late age seems wrong in our society. The parents seem normal, but the dad was hooking up online while checking his profile. In the beginning of the video, in his car the main character has his laptop in hand while at work. That works as a smart mob. This can provide instant access to the internet quickly and anywhere. This can describe what Wood and Smith explains that one can adjust to there surroundings and are not confined to four walls. The middle aged man was not confined to a room, he was mobile to keep in touch with his friends online, and watch the Paisley video.

The characters seem comfortable in a surrounding that they can hide there true self. I feel as if your just thinking in the box, not trying to think outside of it. The middle age man seem comfortable in his box, which is his computer. Wood and Smith explain in this weeks reading, that the internet allows public and private communication. The internet has provide a portal for the characters to connect with others online. This can explain that the main character changed his identity online to connect with others. We can agree that being online could give you a great deal of confidence, that could explain what Paisley is trying to explain to others in his music video. You have no worries about how you look and how other look at you. When your online, people will agree on what you write on your profile. You can con and sway people in different ways, by the words that you can convey online. I think that was Postman's idea od technologies giving problems to others.

I think that Thamus says that even tools have a way of intruding. The video explains that the internet can find its way in to our homes. In this case the internet has found a way for the middle aged man. This gave him a way to connect with people that who would not imagine hanging around with in reality. Postman states that tools bid to be the culture. This culture fitted the man's status and comfort zone.

Abstinence

I really had a hard time keeping away from the internet. I was well tuned to using the web.Usually I check emails in the morning, but was not able to. That means any important information was not going to be read. I also pay my bills on-line with my bank. I was lost in what to do. I figured it out, and found my check book which was covered in dust to pay my bills on time. I also found out that I needed to buy stamps to mail it by post-mail. I dont remember the last time I bought stamps, but I know the price of it went up. Wood & Smith talks about CMC and how technology is integrated in our everyday lives.

 Knowing about CMC's, it makes me think about how much technology is a very important in our lives. This also brings a good example on how immediate communication is used in our daily lives to respond to others and how we communicate our daily needs through machines. W&S also brought a idea of the Agora, which is was a open plaza or meeting place for the Greeks to exchange ideas and conversate with one another. They think that the internet as the modern day Agora. I think that we take advantage of the Agoras outside of the internet. We are so busy with the speed of technology, that we forget that their is other places to communicate such as coffee shops, libraries, and such.

The affect of not using the internet was minor. I just went back to basics of how things were done before the internet. I realized that im on the internet more than I should be, and I could try to limit that, but being in college kinds of leave me stuck in the middle of both worlds. Postman talks about Thamus and his teachings. Thamus  explains to keep our eyes wide open with the internet, and that it can be a devil. The internet feels like a nicotine addiction. I feel that I need to use the internet at least 5 to 10 times a day. I can understand where Thamus is coming from. We are given a portal to all different kinds of opinions and interests in the internet. Thamus tells us that the internet can alter our way of thinking and how we see the world. That to me could be a positive or a negative outcome, which depends how you use the internet.