The (Negative) Facebook Effect

It isn't just me! Others are starting to realize how Facebook is having more cons than pros. What's your view? How do you think Facebook has effected you? Do you think you have been effected by Facebook after what you've seen here? 

The Facebook Effect

The impact that Facebook is having on our culture is viral, meaning that it is a rapid news spreading cite that people are starting to rely on. “Today nearly one in every eight people on the planet uses Facebook” (Helft, 2012). In the current world, ironically, social medias are making people less social. Our culture is becoming so dependant on the worlds of Facebook and other forms of social media. The issue of privacy on Facebook is increasing everyday. Where is the limit?

Socially, Facebook is hindering people’s ability to interact with others. Facebook has created a world or a community, even “Zuckerburg had encourage Facebook’s users to view themselves as citizens – of Facebook” (Kirkpatrick, 2010). People use Facebook to create, not necessarily a new life, but a new side to their current life and are becoming dependant on a computer screen to hide behind. The ability to talk to someone face-to-face has become so difficult for the generations that are growing up with social medias. They aren’t aware of social cues anymore; it seems as if they are all socially awkward. People are scared to confront others face-to-face, because they can simply create a group page on Facebook to explain exactly how they feel. Once someone has created a Facebook page, they can express exactly how they feel and others will join in. Putting younger generations, and maybe my generation is at fault here too, in a social setting seems to make for an uncomfortable circumstance. Facebook, being social, is ironically making people less social in the real world.

Privacy is yet another major cultural hindrance that Facebook has created. People put their whole lives on the Facebook page. Everything about you gets put up on Facebook, if you allow it that is. But most people do allow it. They want people to know every aspect about themselves, why? It is not necessary for me to know your phone number, address, all the schools you have attended, this is just asking for trouble.

Putting up your entire life is just asking for trouble. I am about to be a senior in college, and I am looking for potential jobs when I graduate. These companies are going to search me on Facebook, and because I did not want one stupid night where I consumed too much alcohol to affect their decision, I deleted my Facebook. Maybe later in life I will actually start up a new Facebook account to serve its main purpose, to connect with friends or family. Yet another issue with privacy is the fear of predators. I am not sure how well Facebook goes about preventing this from happening, but it still does happen. Young kids are putting up their addresses, cell phone numbers and creepy adult predators are getting this information and stalking them. These are the reasons that people should reconsider putting up everything they can about themselves on the Internet, because you never know who is looking for you.

People are unaware of the side effects of Facebook. They do not realize that they are becoming victims of social awkwardness or even privacy. For these reasons alone, I am glad that I got rid of my Facebook page. I was spending so much time online looking at people’s profiles, when I should have been out meeting them in person. No one should allow Facebook or social medias like it to take control of their lives. In my opinion, Facebook is harming more people than it is helping. 

Works Cited

Curran, K., Morrison, S., & Mc Cauley, S. (2012). Google+ vs Facebook: The Comparison. Telkomnika, 10(2), 379-388.

Kirkpatrick, D. (2010). The Facebook Effect (pp. 287-333). New York: Simon & Schuster.

Helft, M., Hempel, J., & Keating, C. (2012). Inside Facebook. Fortune, 165(4), 112-122.

Art That Inspires Art

I am an artist and I appreciate all forms of art, especially paintings. Van Gogh is one of my favorite artists of all time. Starry Night is one of my favorite paintings, ever. I have never done my own version, but many others have. Here are some of the neat versions that I found ON THE INTERNET. 

This is done out of coiled pieces of paper, not even paint. So clearly this is very different from Van Gogh's original Starry Night. 

This is absolutely amazing! A cake inspired by Van Gogh. I want this cake! Using frosting to make an old masterpiece and NEW masterpiece of its own. 

Jean-Michel Basquiat is one of the most popular artists of the 1980s. He worked with Andy Warhol and many other artists. He used many previous works of art from the Renaissance and other eras to inspire his art. Clearly his art was nothing like those types of work, however, he used them to make his own version. 

This is a piece clearly inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. Yet it is so different. Basquiat took what he got out of this painting and made it into his own creation. 

These are just a few of the millions of pieces of work that has been inspired by legendary artists of the past. So the argument continues. Is this wrong? Should they be allowed to use other's work to inspire something new that they have created? I admire all artists and would clearly give them credit for any inspiration I used from them. 

Creativity of the Internet

The Internet is probably the greatest tool that the world has ever seen. The things that people have created on the Internet are amazing yet not many are legal. Using the past, what we know people loved to hear or see, has always been a way for people to create new things, videos, music, art of any kind. In the twentieth century though, this concept has become illegal, breaking many copyright laws. People want to remix, or create something new using parts of something old that people have always loved and cherished. The most convenient and accessible way to copy someone else’s work is the Internet. Which creates our issue at hand; the Internet is causing a huge impact on creative works in a positive but illegal way.    

Being an artist I understand the need or want for others to enjoy my work. Yet, there are so many copyright laws now that restrict you from ever even considering making something close to someone else’s work. Girl Talk, a remix artist, commits this crime everyday. Girl Talk, or Gregg Gillis, uses the popular hits from all eras to remix them with popular current hit songs. The problem he faces with remixing is that paying the rights to every song he uses would become outrageously expensive and frankly, not worth it. For each sample of another song Girl Talk uses in one of his remixes, he has to pay on average $2500 to each of the corporations that owns each title song. So for a typical Girl Talk song, for it to be legal, he should pay $262,500, and for a typical album he should pay, on average, $4,200,000. (Gaylor) How could corporations expect someone to pay over four million dollars to create something completely new with the help of musical geniuses from the past?

“Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that enables the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through free legal tools”  (Creative Commons). For all artists there is an Internet source that is in the process of taking down the corporations that are limiting our use of other peoples’ work. Through this source, you are able to select the specific licenses, or who is able to use your work. Their mission is to make people more creative and widen their knowledge of other cultures, eras, the past and make something new out of it. So there are ways to get around the problems of illegal usage of other peoples’ work, so why is this still an issue today?

Everyone wants credit for the work that they have done, there is never a question about this. However, production companies and other corporations have taken extreme measures. People are going to jail, being fined thousands of dollars simply because they downloaded a song from the Internet and made it into their own new creation. Internet sources like Creative Commons need to be used more often and more efficiently, especially by famous artists to allow the use of creative works to anyone they choose. Creative Commons has opened the door for something amazing in the Internet world, giving people the chance to share their creations in the exact way they choose. It is not fair to limit people on their creativity; using works of the past is not stealing, it is recognizing and rewarding these amazing artists for the culture they have given the world. “Our vision is nothing less than realizing the full potential of the Internet to drive a new era of development, growth, and productivity.” Their vision statement should be an overall goal for all Internet users; cites like Creative Commons need to set the new standard for creative users of the Internet. “Creativity has never had it so good”, so lets keep it this way and allow the Internet to take your creativity anywhere and everywhere. 

Works Cited

Creative Commons. (2001). What is Creative Commons? About. www.creativecommons.org

Gaylor, B. (2009). RiP!: A Remix Manifesto.

Holloway-Smith, B. (2012). Illegal Art: Considering Our Culture Of Copying. Junctures: The Journal For Thematic Dialogue, (15), 19-26.

Let the creative juices flow. (2012). New Scientist, (2866), 3.

Turner, M. (2010). Monk Turner. Case Studies. http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Monk_Turner 

Virtual Reality

The concept of virtual reality is becoming a popular topic in the technology world. Virtual reality is the idea of using technology to feel as if you are in another world. However, “it old fools two senses”, visual and hearing (Freidman).  People are constantly using technology as a way to solve the issues in their lives, but not in a beneficial method. While we see virtual reality in today’s technology, there is still the future ahead of us with many new technologies and psychological complications.

“The brain often fails to differentiate between virtual experiences and real ones” (Blascovich). By this we can believe that any world that we can see and feel as if we are in it, is the real world. That is a scary thought. “The brain doesn’t much care if an experience is real or virtual. In fact, many people prefer the digital aspects of their lives to physical ones” (Blascovich). When people are in their virtual worlds they can escape the troubles that face them in the real world, so understandably escaping sounds like the better option. However, its clear that the real world problems, do not actually go away. Another problem is that people start to think that the virtual world is real, and in a sense go crazy. They are in the virtual world too much, and it is better than their real world, so they prefer it and accept that as their new reality.

“Thirty years – we should be able to build computers that are as smart as we are” (Friedman). I love technology, however I am not comfortable with the thought of a computer walking around, thinking, talking or living as I am.“A future with human-level artificial intelligence, however produced, raises problems for existing legal, political, and social arrangements” (Friedman). Not only is this scary, but what Ariel Garten says about “thought controlled computing” in the video Know thyself, with a brain scanner is just as frightening. Having technology know things about us and react in certain ways due to our brain waves. Some people, like Ariel Garten, think this technology is a huge revolution, but for someone like me, who thinks technology is going to take over the world one day, this is scary.

The more I study technology, the more I see how it is becoming more invasive into our lives. As I have concluded before, technology is a great thing and helps me out, personally, in so many ways; however, it is so intrusive in so many people’s lives. People do not understand how to escape, and it has become more difficult with the concept of virtual realities being a whole other world for people to escape to. However, I do not think that I am the only one who feels somewhat overwhelmed by technology, and I commend these people. In my own personal opinion, I think that technology needs to take a step back from virtual realities. We have all these other ways to use technology to escape; there is no reason have digital worlds where people become someone else. "Humans continuously search for new varieties and modes of existence, only this time we're doing it via the supposedly cold machinery of digital space" (Blascovich).

Works Cited

Blascovich, J., & Bailenson, J.N. (2011). Infinite Reality - Avatars, Eternal Life, New Worlds, and the Dawn of the Virtual Revolution. New York: William Morrow.

Duggan, M., Smith, A., & Rainie, L. (2013). Coming and Going on Facebook. Washington: PEW Internet. 

Garten, A. (2011). Know theyself, with a brain scanner. Toronto: TED.

Friedman, D. (2008). Future Imperfect: Technology and Freedom in an Uncertain World (pp. 275-292). New York: Cambridge University Press.

The Effects of the Internet on YOUR Mind?

What about you? As a college student, or someone just getting out into the real world, trying to find a job? How much do you see yourself connected to the Internet? Personally, I recently deleted my Facebook account; Why? I'm not really sure. I do know that I felt a little overwhelmed and needed to delete some form of myself off of the Internet.

Like I said, I removed myself from Facebook as one small step. I think that I could take a step back from technology, but with school and that being the main form of communication, and since I need a job, it is very doubtful that I will be off of technology anytime soon. For myself, I have noticed that it is harder for me to go to sleep at night; I find myself laying down and getting back up to check my email, grade, asUlearn. But that's me. What about you?

Do you think you have become too involved on the Internet? To the point where there is no return? Could you completely remove yourself from the web? Have you found yourself or your mind altered because of technology?

Internet Making Us Crazy?

I watched this video about, literally, is the internet making us crazy? Another drug reference, "internet cocaine", was referred to in this video. "Media is my drug." Making me see all the negatives AGAIN to the internet.  What do you think? Are you addicted to the internet as much as these people seem to be? Can you have a conversation with something without checking your phone? Can you detach from technology?