Text 1s

"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."

Video 2s

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.