Writers Blog 4

In class on Monday we learned about online language and social interaction. I think online language is SO important. When you’re texting or talking to someone digitally, it’s easy for there to be some misconception. You can’t see someones facial expressions when you’re having a digital conversation, so the language you use is crucial. It can also be easy for people to hide behind a screen and bully or harass someone else, without ever showing their face. The internet can be a mean place, and honestly it has continued to get worse over the years. There are a lot of problems that can stem from digital interaction and it can be hard to know when to stop. I enjoyed having a class discussion about it and also I really enjoyed watching the Ted Talk given by Monica Lewinsky. I didn’t really know who she was before class on Monday, but it was interesting to see her experience with digital interaction and cyber bullying years ago and compare it to how the internet is now.

On Wednesday we discussed social networking. I think social networking can consist of so many things. It can lead to new connections, friendships, relationships, and even impact someones reputation. I also think social media in general can be both positive and negative. We consume so much media in todays world and it’s easy to get caught up in it. It can alter the way someone thinks about a lot of things. One example of this that I see often is people pretending to be someone they’re not on social media. A lot of people will edit their bodies to be perfect or take videos/pictures of the best parts of their days and only post that on social media. This causes a lot of comparison and can ultimately damage someones self esteem. On Friday we talked about Hate Online. This was a smooth transition from Wednesdays class because we discussed cyberbullying, which is closely related to hate online. We also talked about Twitter and White Supremacy. It was interesting to hear Evan Williams talk about Twitter and his experience with it. Twitter is one of my favorite apps, but I just use it to look at funny tweets, and I don’t really share my own tweets. Twitter is a huge app and has been around for a while. There is a lot that can be done and talked about on Twitter that will reach a lot of people.