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When it comes to social media, I feel like there are countless cases similar to that of Justine Sacco. Just a few days ago, a trending topic among multiple media sites involved a man who posted a photo with his co-worker's son, then proceeded to make racist jokes with his friends in the comment section. The parent of the son came across this and screenshots of the photo post were taken, which quickly spread across Facebook and Twitter. The photo showcased the man's full name, among with those of all of his friends who commented. The man was quickly fired and the marketing company he formerly worked for issued a statement dissociating the business from the man and his actions. One of his friends who commented was also reported as being fired from her job. A quick search on Facebook for any of the commenter's names reveals that they have either deactivated their Facebook profiles or underwent aliases after the screenshot became viral; their names even have "popular search" attached to them when using the Facebook search feature.

This case involves people lesser known than Justine Sacco and still proves how quickly the internet can catalyze the masses to serve justice and attempt to destroy the lives of even everyday people.

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"Panting for Breath"

I found the article written by Stefanie Krasnow very strongly written, including some really great points. I was surprised by the statistic reporting that teens in the US spend 7 hours on a screen each day. It was also a little shocking to realize that the whole notion of individuals being constantly connected and online is something that only began happening in the past 5 years-- as a society, we have completely adopted this new technology into our everyday lives. A strong point she makes about the downfalls of the internet is when describing it as "electronic cocaine," every ding, tweet, or ring promising a social, sexual, or professional opportunity. However, the article seems to contain some biased language against this new technology. Krasnow writes that the internet allows us to "feed our virtual egos" and "bury ourselves," while stating that high internet use can lead to possible cycles of mania followed by depression. As stated, I think the article is very strongly written, appearing to be extremely negative towards the potential effects of this technology despite its countless clear benefits.

"Speaking in Memes"

This article is highly relevant considering the approaching elections. Nathan Jurgenson offers interesting perspectives, including the thought that memes have a role in influencing political narrative. Seeing countless memes posted by friends daily proves their impact on our lives-- they're highly accessible and publicized. However, I never really looked at memes as a way to be more involved in politics in ways other than voting. What memes people post can tell a lot about what they think and find funny, and the fact that memes themselves are so mainstream now shows that in general, politics today are highly criticized and memes are a way to translate that criticism. I liked the footnotes the author placed stating "If you don't remember the binder jokes from 2012, that's exactly the point." It took me a while to remember the exact joke and that really does prove the idea that memes are powerful yet trendy, "burning bright and fast."

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Jimmy Wales' TED Talk on the birth of Wikipedia was really interesting, especially his explanation of how it implements crowdsourcing. I always thought Wikipedia was a great site but was still weary about the accuracy of some information because of the easy accessibility by anyone to change information. Wales breaks down the process, explaining how crowdsourcing information allowed Wikipedia to grow into a success with few employees, but also highlights on the criticism that the website often receives. The mention of the "votes for deletion" feature of the site is really important because Wikipedia is often criticized for having inaccurate information submitted by people with no credibility. Overall, it's really cool to think about how Wikipedia grew into what it is today by continuously crowdsourcing information from the public but still, as Wales puts it, not allowing "openness to undermine quality of content."

Tiffany Shlain delivers a compelling TED Talk when speaking of her previous failure as a young filmmaker. It's inspiring to hear her talk about how she discovered the benefits of the internet in crowdsourcing creativity to make her films. She calls the internet a "participatory revolution" which I think is a great way to look at new technology despite its downfalls. I really enjoyed watching clips from her "Interdependence" project and loved the concept of her creating a different ending to each film for every company that submitted a logo. Shlain used crowdsourcing to gain inspiration to create and she did so by also giving back and spreading awareness to important organizations.

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Mike Wesch starts off his TED Talk with anecdotes of his experiences in Papua New Guinea, which I thought was smart because it created an interesting transition to his thoughts about media. He makes a good point when stating that media uses us and we can't simply opt out of it when a new form of media is introduced. The media changes our society whether we engage in it or not, altering the way people around us live and share ideas. "We're on a razors edge between hopeful possibilities and more ominous futures -- more possibilities for surveillance, control, deception, and distraction" is a statement of Wesch's that I liked. It is easy to get excited about new media and the way it will enhance our lives, but it's important to think about the drawbacks of what the new media could be contributing to, like a more digitally connected but personally, emotionally disconnected society. His exercise with his students to create the documentary video shows the benefits of media to actually spread knowledge and creative ideas, resulting in an actual lasting product vs. simple test results.

Wesch's other video, "Digital Ethnography," highlights more on the positive hopes of new media. Outlining the evolution of the song to the eventual viral video of the boy lip syncing is a great and easy way to show the global interconnectedness that Youtube allowed.

Linda Hill makes engaging points about the concept of innovation being a result of collective genius. Describing the process of Pixar is a great way to do this, especially with the fact that the short sequence from the film Up took the animator 6 months to complete. Innovations are a collaborative process, much like working on projects in creative courses, and it's important to harness everyone's ideas and talents to create an innovative outcome. These thoughts are extremely relevant when it comes to crowdsourcing projects that are compiled of different ideas from many individuals.