The average individual goes on facebook to keep up with his friends and his social circle. Facebook is a tool to connect those who want to be updated on the statuses of his or her friends. Sure, some people see it as an outlet for creativity and knowledge but as Facebook has been evolving over the years subtle changes have been made that make it less about creativity and more about conformity. One big aspect of this has been the inclusion of advertisements and pages. In the past Facebook was known as the “cooler” social network that refused to use advertisements to fund their website. However as millions of people realized the entertainment and connectivity value of Facebook the owners decided to open up advertisements to all. To me this shows conformity in its simplest form. What is more troublesome is the inclusion of “Pages” to FB. Back in the day people joined groups because they were simple and relatively fun to join. Nowadays advertisers and Facebook itself want to hone in onto what you the consumer are interested in so they removed most groups and made the popular ones into pages. This way Facebook could make it easier to sell back to the consumers what they want. All theses things are worrisome however I would like to make the argument that Facebook’s conformity isint necessarily a bad thing.

Facebook to me is simply something to connect you to those why you may not be able to see often. The ability to write on the wall of you friends from elementary school is something that is extremely valuable even if you have to wade through some ads. I don’t think that just because Facebook has gone more mainstream all social networking sites have lost their creativity and jazz. In-fact I feel like because of the streamlining of Facebook other creative social networking sites have arisen. One example of this is Tumblr, which promotes almost unlimited freedom of blogging. Here is my Tumblr: http://toxiceuphoria.tumblr.com/. What I like about it is definitely the ability to do what you want. You can follow and add other member’s profile if you would like it and you can also just write blog entries to yourself. I personally use it as personal space and a forum to get my thoughts together. Sometimes its not all about how many friends you have or those who are following you but sometimes its about reflection and getting your ideas and thoughts onto something solid. That’s what I love about all these recent social media websites. Theres something for everyone: The Talkative Chatterbox, The Social Butterfly, The Internet Beginner. 

I think that those people who complain about the "loss" of the individual and his own creativity are being a bit over dramatic. Sure you lose a bit of that "ego" when you join facebook and suddenly become one in several million but youve got to give something to get something. The whole purpose of social networking is the concept of joining something at is bigger than yourself you gain connectivity and you lose the sense of being important. Overall I think that the changes that many social networking websites have been making are worrisome but in the bigger picture meaningless. Facebook is simply too fun of a technology not to use. If your ego gets because of joining an evolving social networking site write in your diary.

WEB 2.0 and Digital Nation

1. I feel like this recent trend of "amateurish" films and movies is nothing to be alarmed about. Sometimes trends come through that affect the movie industry for a couple years and then leave. Examples of this range from zombie movie flicks to 3D pictures. I feel like the recent trend of "real camera" movies are not only slightly annoying but also counterproductive. Instead of encouraging people to take the time to make quality movies with real video cameras, stands and makeup it encourages the rushed first take versions of videos that are more popular on Youtube. I believe that this trend will not last long because in actuality the material that actual amateurs are producing have been increasing in quality. When movie makers realize that the profitability of making these kinds of movies has decreased the trend will end.

2. I try to not use too many social networking because of the fear of addiction but Facebook is by far my most used networking site. The concept of having all my friends available at my fingertips is a powerful thing. It is nice to have the ability to catch up on an old friend, laugh at some picture my roommate is tagged in, and even talk to a rather good looking girl. All these things are all reasons why Facebook is the most complete social networking site out there. Myspace its forerunner was great because it was the first social networking site but it had few options for anyone who wasn't adept in HTML coding. I definitely think that Facebook is here to stay because of the sheer number of people who are currently using Facebook and the fact that Facebook is inherently addicting. Facebook is currently in my tabs right now and its going to be there for a good while.

3. In the Web World transparency is everything. The idea that someone is one a social networking site and is posting false or exaggerated material is simply ridiculous. When you log onto a website that gives away your own private information, in some cases your email to your cell phone number you expect that same type of honesty. While you may expect everyone to be open with their lives you certainly dont expect to be outright lieing to you through the web. This concept of transparency to me is much more important in the cyber because the information is much sometimes much too personal to disclose in the real world. Through the cyber curtain people are expected to give what they get. In the real world its alright to bend the truth.

Photoshopping Mediums

       Everyone knows what Aim is. Quite possibly one of the most important technological inventions of the modern age has been the AOL Instant Messenger. The ability to create an extension of yourself that can be reached and understood by anyone is important even if you dont frequently use a computer. With the invention of AIM the way we communicate with each other has been changed. AIM is truly an important medium

Sometimes. The Medium is the Message.

In this Assignment I will Post 3 examples of Mediums:

The image on my right is not just a blue frog but it is the icon for a file torrenting program called Azures Vuze. It is simple. You plug in what you want to find- music, movies, tv shows, old history exams, plans for the original Tesla cord and you hit search. Vuze then searches from the files of millions of different people to give you exactly what you want. It is constantly changing as people are constantly adding and withdrawing new movies, programs and music to Vuze. Quite possibly the best way to get music. Ever. (may or may not be illegal)

You probably have no idea what this is. But for Ultimate frisbee players it maybe one of the most important inventions of all time. It is essentially an open forum that connects millions of ultimate frisbee players around the world. RSD stands for Rec.Sports.Disc. and it lets people get the word out about whats going around in ultimate. There you can post anything from team strategies to when your next big tournament will be. It is truly a great network and a godsend for many teams.







Everyone knows what Xbox Live is. It was the revolution in the gaming industry. With LIVE as we call it people can be connected to other gamers all over the world through a simple Ethernet cord. What is even more impressive is its ability to allow friends to send messages to each other instantly. With the improvement of Netflix on LIVE you can even watch movies and tv shows Streaming through your Tv. It has something for everyone.
It connects you with other gamers, acts like AIM,
and gives you millions of programs at your disposal.