Perspectives: Your Own Views and "The Other Opinion/View"

        The web is important for exposing one to multiple perspectives which is also important for democracy. There are several ways in the real world and in the virtual (internet) world to view multiple perspectives and gain new news. Often times we can be stuck with the notion that if we hang around the same friends, our close or common friends, we will always hear the same things over and over without learning anything new, whereas talking to new people, we can always learn new things. This is also similar to the idea that only computer memories can be accessed whereas human memory (in the brain) cannot be accessed due to the passage of time or some kind of disease. To a certain extent, both of these ideas are true, that talking to the same friends you may not learn new things, however this can be proven otherwise because if you interact with the same group of friends for an additional time, you will learn more news from these friends compared to people you just meet. This is because your friends know what news you are looking for and what you are interested in and they have the advantage to present the news in a more attractive way. Similarly, news from the brain can be retrieved through technology and brain communications can be made to retrieve information as well. 

         Even though it may seem beneficial that retrieving information/news from your peers friends who have up to date news and focusing on information retrieval from a specific source only and focus on that, whether it be a human brain or the computer's memory, it may sometimes be of danger. This was well informed in the TED Talk video which brought up the issue of filtering specific data in and out of the computer system based on user preferences. For instance, Google no longer has a standard format of presenting information in every computer. Based on user preference, internet sites such as Google, Yahoo News, Facebook, etc. lets the user see information based on preferences and the most preferred likes pages they visit. The video addressed how  making a connection with the world is important, which is possible through the internet. However, when there is a shift in how the information is flown around the world and the information is filtered, there is a problem. and it is important to understand how it's flowing. Facebook and google also does invisible algorithmic editing, based on what you click on and searches and it's based on many factors. The problem is that your filter bubble is there for you to only view what you would want to see, but you don't actually see how that filter bubble works. Most importantly, sometimes, the internet keeps us isolated into a web of one, to allow us to see what we want to see, and hinders us from learning what is important. 

Methods&Implications of the Obama Campaign's Use of Social Networking

      Technology, the internet and social network, can have many negative impact on the lives of people as mentioned in my earlier PBS post. However, technology can also have a great impact in the lives of people if used for a great purpose, a cannon for success in one's life. President Obama's presidency would not have been achieved if it were not with the help of technology and through the proper use of the technology to raise millions of dollars for his presidential campaign. Utilizing the tools on the internet properly allowed him to achieve his success in gaining a position as high as United States' president. Other candidates such as John McCain who ran against Obama also used the internet to promote his campaign, however, Obama's use of the internet was better used and advertised which gave him a greater advantage. This is something that many don't realize, utilizing the internet properly, for a great cause, can lead to success.

     One of the methods used by the Obama Campaign for the presidential election was the social-networking site, www.my.barackobama,com, which was known as MyBO - as the main site. Even though McCain and Hilary Clinton were using the virtual online world for their political campaign, Obama's MyBO dominated the new online media through community tools, where it facilitated over seventy thousand local events, and also because Obama's team put much effort and made technologies at the center of their campaign. Obama's website allowed for supporters to donate money, where not only websites were used to donate money, but also "SMS [text messaging]" was used, phone calls, and web capacity where Obama raised about $340 from over millions of donors. Also, the methods of the Obama campaign were useful and helpful because of the productive and dedicated staff hired. 

PBS- Internet&Social Networking and Their Outcome.

          Issues related to the use of the internet by adolescents exposed viewers to the many dangers and issues adolescents face without realizing. Though the internet can be a great source of rich resources for education and connecting with people locally and internationally, it can also be a source of tremendous danger, especially to youngsters, in their pre-teens and teenage years. The issues raised on PBS gave insight to how adolescents are emotionally struck by the real world and express their feelings in the virtual world which, parents and teachers are not aware of, only their peers are aware of. Also, PBS gave insight to how the internet can be used and abused at the same time, but focusing more on the abuse, which adolescents should be careful about.

          Some of the main issues raised on PBS in regards to the internet were social networking, in which adolescents connect with their peers and other social network users through chat rooms, Facebook, Myspace, and other social network media where their social and personal lives are exposed. In many ways this can be a benefit in which people can keep in touch and know one another, however, this can harm young people where their personal information is easily accessible and can be harmful when accessed by strangers and predators. The internet can be a rich source of knowledge, however, it brings deficiency in knowledge for youngsters when they read summaries off the internet or find shortcuts for doing classwork instead of reading books and doing the assignments to their fullest ability. Lastly, another topic raised on PBS was cyber-bullying in which parents, teachers, and no one else can have access to the written words, the virtual bullying, except for the prey and the predator.  In some occasions, cyber-bullying can lead someone to as far as suicide, and, the internet a source in which methods of suicide can be accessed. These instances in which adolescents are deeply absorbed with social networking and internet show, sometimes how disconnected they are with the real world and the broken link between children and parents. PBS grave insight to the many dangers the internet exposes one to.