Sunday 25 March 2012

Online America: problems and successes

The best form of communication has always been to be face to face, this allowed each applicant to not only take in the information being discussed, but also decipher the way in which this information or conversation was presented. This would then increase the chance of understanding what the other person was trying to describe, and therefore rule out a large percentage of misunderstanding. This is different to; let’s say texting, because the facial expressions and tone of voice will help further recognize what aim was trying to be achieved, texting leads to mis-interpreting, for example; “Ok, that’s fine”, now this can be received in many manners, negative or positive. The problem with face to face communication is confidence, sometimes it is harder for people to say the things they feel as with facial contact there is only one chance, however online communication contains different results, many people find the confidence to express themselves further online than in person as they will not see the first hand reaction of others. This is way online identities has become so big within the last 10 years, everyone can create a ‘better’ version of themselves if it involves a computer. An online account of someone can be controlled and regularly changed, this means that the person controlling their own profile will have complete control of how they present themselves, this leads to people showing their best attributes, for example; FaceBook profile pictures will be played and tampered with until there is one that make the owner happy with how they look. This digital identity will therefore cancel out any flaws an individual may have, and replace them with ‘perfect’ representation.

There are many different online or digital identities people can access; FaceBook, twitter, YouTube to name a few, what these identities do is reveal the person to the world. FaceBook has become very popular over the last 5 years, many people spend hours on it every day, checking out what their friends are up to and also ‘stalking’ others. When creating your own profile you can carefully select what is presented and to whom, there is privacy settings which dictates who can see their profile, FaceBook also gives a chance for the applicant to search the millions of other FaceBookers, which can lead to obessesions. The problem with FaceBook is that, there is now another way for people to tell you and your friends how they feel about you, this can be a good thing, but sometimes it can turn into bullying, because of the extra access people can post messages or images that can offend the victim. There has been many examples of FaceBook bullying where the victim has been left demoralised and psychologically hurt, and also recently employers have been able to see what sort of person they will be employing is like, leading to discrimination.

Another form of digital identity is Twitter, the online social networking system where you can follow your favourite people or celebrities and see what they are up to. Twitter may have a character limit, but this does not harm the effect of people expressing their deepest feelings, sometimes this can also become an obsession, where by the public will follow their ‘hero’ 24/7. A notion that has occurred recently is twitter ‘rants’ where the profiler will complain about a recent issue, for example; footballers complaining about their managers team selection, this can lead to punishments and fines. Twitter is just (put lightly) another form of global exposure, similar to that of YouTube, where everyone can show their silly, funny, bad, impressive and emotional side. A notion that has occurred recently is twitter ‘rants’ where the profiler will complain about a recent issue, for example; footballers complaining about their managers team selection, this can lead to punishments and fines. Twitter is just (put lightly) another form of global exposure, similar to that of YouTube, where everyone can show their silly, funny, bad, impressive and emotional side. YouTube is the most popular website on the internet, with many people from all over the world tuning in everyday, it has become the playground for online sensations and is the hunting ground for individuals to advertise their talents. For example; Justin Beiber has become famous with the help of YouTube, his music videos were found by music moguls and the rest is history.

The way in Digital and online America is becoming, seems to be creating a lot of success and money, however I feel that one day people will not have the need to go out and see their friends face to face, because doing it online is easier. America will then lose a physical identity which has in past put them in front of others nations as the leading and forward thinking country.

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