Identity and Expression
Digital identity in the likes of freedom of expression, is contended by some to be constrained due to the impact it has to contemporary digital society, with the that freedom suggestion of expression infringes on other people 's rights and cause harm such as cyberbullying. Patently shown in ' The Price of Shame ‘video, the case examines Monica Lewinsky whose online identities were viewed and humiliated by millions. The scenario links closely to the reading of Fuchs, social media does not cause social issues, it magnifies them , ICT applications such as Facebook or snapchat are implements which aid in these social problems, scholars see them as platforms for behavior i.e. identity to be expressed, which often gives this impression for a trend to be growing. ‘The price of shame’ demonstrates how the web can magnify an issue and have lasting effects (reinforce the notion of the momentum of ICTS) due the marketing ideology businesses aim to make money from the extra attention ICT media gains, through the web 2.0 the internet acts as a supplier while the people who fixate and share it act as the consumers; falsifying that internet is perpetually renewing itself; Christian Fuchs (2014) critiques such to be corporate imperialism, denoting the digital society battles between intention and attention.
The ideology of web 2.0 working in favor of corporate gains leads to the wanting of more attention in order to gain more profits rather than the
Technology is advancing very rapidly, but that does not necessarily mean it is benefiting society. In the article, “ Is Google Making Us Stupid”, Nicholas Carr explores how the internet alters people’s mental abilities. Malcolm Gladwell writes an article titled, “ Small Change”, in which he draws attention to how the internet has changed the engagement of social activism. Carr’s argument that the internet alters mental abilities, changes thought processes, and destroys concentration, complicates Gladwell’s thesis that the internet loses the meaning of social activism, changes how activist are defined, and takes over activism on a social level. The arguments presented are similar but the outcomes of the internet vary between the two writers.
Johnson is able to write about the topic in such a rigorous manner because he himself is an owner of a blog on the 2.0 web. The fact is that 2.0 websites offer a greater range of relatable views than those of 1.0 websites. Johnson 's credibility comes from him owning and operating his own blog. With first hand experience, he uses his article to explain the importance and benefits of 2.0 websites. His main purpose is to urge his audience that 2.0 websites are needed and do not cause as much harm as they have positive impacts.
In Peggy Orenstein's “I Tweet, Therefore I Am” she explains that social media is taking over our lives and pulling us further apart. She argues that we lose our identity on social media because we worry about how others see us. Although Orenstein describes the negative effects of social media, not all technology and media accounts affect us in this way. Social media and technology is causing us to lose physical and personal connections with humans. Social media “encourages self-promotion over self-awareness”
The Monica Lewinsky scandal began in 1998, when America was shocked by a political sex scandal involving President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern in her early 20s. This would shake America’s trust in Bill Clinton even further. There were already other negative issues he was involved in, like the Jones case and Whitewater scandal. The Lewinsky affair would bring questioning as to whether or not Bill should even be trusted as a president. This scandal would go down in history and further tarnish Bill Clinton’s name for the rest of his presidency.
In her essay, “It’s Not about You, Facebook. It’s about Us” Jenna Wortham does an excellent job of arguing the idea that Facebook’s users are the driving force behind its popularity and wealth. She uses several experts in the technology field to prove her point and Wortham herself is a technology reporter for the New York Times, proving her credibility for the piece. While the piece is very technical, Wortham is still able to emotionally appeal to the reader by adding an anecdote creating a connection between her and her audience. Finally, Wortham does an excellent job of organizing her essay to help readers understand the complex dynamic between Facebook and its users.
When Carr talks about how the internet is taking over his mental state he states, “And what the net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation” (32). The internet is no longer be used as just a tool, it is taking a mental toll on him. The internet now consumes his mind, and is creating a new state of mind in which he cannot focus for long periods of time anymore. Gladwell touches on how the internet is taking over how activists convey their feelings and argues, “It makes it easier for activists to express themselves, and harder for that expression to have an impact” (51). Being an activist in today’s time, with the advances of technology, makes a social activists way of expression through the internet easier, but at the same time the activists loses it power of impact.
The Cloak of Anonymity While scrolling through Instagram, I found that on many celebrities' profiles, there were many In his essay, "The Epidemic of Facelessness," Stephen Marche argues that the introduction of new communication methods, such as social media, have allowed for inhumane behavior. Because of facelessness, the people responsible for this online outrage usually are not held accountable for their actions. Marche creates an informative tone and uses allusions to educate the audience on the this serious topic of "online monstrosity" (1). March begins by talking about how member of the British Parliament, Stella Creasy, was threatened by a man who "tweeted and retweeted violent messages to [her]" (1).
Conflicts like this can directly equivilate to today’s society in the 21st century. Technology can be seen as the main contribution to the decline of communication in this age. People are too focused on Social Media and the Internet alone. We get caught up in the hype and development of new technology, not knowing that our social skills are slowly decreasing with each passing generation. Greenfield acknowledges this moral dilemma by stating ‘the development of in-personal social interaction by screen interaction seems to be reducing social skills’ (par
For this rhetorical analysis essay I decided to reflect upon the somewhat recent documentary titled “The Social Dilemma”. From gen-zians to baby boomers, this film was dedicated to educating people on the impact of social media on today’s society as we have entered a tech-frenzy world. Just like many other people, I wanted to see what the craze was about when this film was produced back in 2020. From interviews with former tech company employees to societal examples, Jeff Orlowski used various rhetorical strategies to convey an important message within his world-famous film. Growing up during a time where social media was just developing and kids weren’t glued to their iPad’s, I have very clearly noticed the effects social media has had on,
Digitizing Race Lisa Nakamura’s Digitizing Race: Visual Cultures Of the internet, is more than any book. Lisa talks about everything that relates to race that is happing in her time in the year of 2008. In her book, she described many views about how us visual cultures by using the internet. She talks about the concepts of digital identity and theories that is related to the study of media.
References O'Keeffe, G.S., Clarke-Pearson, K. (2011). The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families. The American Academy of Pediatrics. Retrieved October 16, 2015 from http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/4/800.short In this article, O'Keeffe, M.D. and Clarke-Pearson, M.D. weigh the positives and negatives of social media against each other.
Conversational media are web-based applications that make it possible to create and easily transmit content in the form of words, pictures, videos, and audios. Social media cannot be understood without first defining Web 2.0: a term that describes a new way in which end users use the World Wide Web, a place where content is continuously altered by all operators in a sharing and collaborative way (Kaplan and Haenlein). The authors also describe social media as “a group of Internet based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and allow the creation and exchange of user generated content.” Social media has progressed from essentially giving a stage to people to stay in contact with their family and companions. Presently it is a spot where consumers can take in more about their most loved companies and the products or services they offer.
It has been more than 10 years since the term Web 2.0 was first used, and what was at first considered to be just another marketing ‘buzzword’ ( Best 2006, O’Reily 2005) for the most part is now widely accepted as hailing a fundamental shift in user behaviour online. The ideals behind Web 2.0 still elicit controversy and cynicism amongst the online community but regardless of stance on the idea that the 21st century marked a ‘new’ phase of the WWW, it is near impossible to disagree with the fact that many platforms that are considered hallmarks of Web2.0 have revolutionised the way users interact online. A core philosophy of Web 2.0 is participation, whereby users are empowered through the ability to produce and share content online (Allen 2003).
Web 2.0 is a popular word in the last decade. It includes blogs, photos and files sharing systems and networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. These media have already changed our way of communications. And they have great impacts on other aspects of our lives. They also present great power in political campaigns.
Emergence of digital technologies, introduction of interactive and participative digital environments and mobile devices let people express their identities with different means. Faucault (1988), in his seminar, used a terminology; “technologies of the self”. He defined it as “those which let individuals to transform themselves into new identities in order to attain happiness, wisdom, perfection, etc. by their own means or with the help of others”. O’Regan (2009), in his article on new technologies and social networks, repeated the term.