Week 16: Final Post

Over the course of this semester I have learned a lot about Online Collaboration and eSociety.  I started out this class as a Communication major and after about a week of class I changed my major to eSociety.  I enjoyed how at the beginning of each class period we would take fifteen to twenty minutes to discuss social media news.  Although I did not always have social media news to share I often enjoyed getting to listen to what other groups came up with and the topic that we ended up discussing in class.  This made me feel like I had some sense of what was happening in the world if I had not be able to read theSkimm, which is my daily news that gets sent to me via email every morning.

When we were asked to blog every week about what we had learned in class and about anything really I thought to myself what am I going to say in a blog.  I have never been one to journal or use a blog to write about my thoughts on a certain topic but as the semester continued and we started to learn about different topics that I found interesting, I found it easy to blog about these topics.  Some of my favorite topics that we covered in this class were What is Collaboration Anyway, Black Lives Matter movement, and our Unit 2 Project on a current campaign that was helping a greater cause.  What is Collaboration Anyway was one of the first readings that we completed this semester and this is what I always think of when we are doing some sort of group project and the levels that we have to complete to be able to collaborate.

The Black Lives Matter movement was something I found interesting because of how large of a movement it is.  I knew what this movement was and what the people involved stood for but as we were asked to read more in-depth about this subject I began to learn more about the history and meaning behind this movement. Along with the Black Lives Matter movement we learned about algorithms and how they play a large part in this movement.

For our Unit 2 Projects we were given the freedom to choose any sort of campaign that we wanted so we chose #Prayforparis when we first started but then were reminded that we had to choose a current event so my group met again and all agreed on Subaru's #Sharethelove campaign.  I enjoyed this project and topic because it was something that Subaru was doing to help benefit four different charities by having someone buy or lease a Subaru.  Throughout all of our Unit projects that we were in small groups for I was able to collaborate with my group in an effective way so that we would all be able to work together.

I enjoyed blogging about topics that we covered in class and also enjoyed reading the blogs of my classmates.  Nick's blog shared his blog in class about the Obama and Joe Biden memes that were all over the internet during and after the Election.  These memes were about the "bromance" that Barack Obama and Joe Biden shared and the fact that they will be leaving the White House soon.  This blog talked about spreadable media and how these simple memes have taken over the internet in such a short period of time.  Emma's blog post about Dialectical Thinking was clear and gave examples along with her own personal thoughts and reflections about this topic.  Lastly I found Ana's  blog about the extra credit in the library on Hacking and Open Source Culture interesting to read about.  I attended this extra credit opportunity and it was interesting to be able to read about someone else's thoughts and experiences about something I attended as well.

In the end I enjoyed this class and I will take what I have learned with me in this class to the other ESOC classes that I will be taking.  Thank you Professor Daly for making this 9:30am class enjoyable and allowing our small class to be a community.

12/1 class

We were given a list of four different tasks to follow for the campaign #HopePhone.  We were asked to create a mass text that could be sent to friends to tell them about the cause Hope Phone.  I looked up what Hope Phone was to get more of a background on what I would be telling my friends and family to donate to.  I then created a text and sent it to my family because I know that my brother and I personally do not always take care of our phones and rather than us just keep them in our room we could donate them so that someone could use them for a greater cause.

Our second task was that we were asked to create and email to send to the University to ask if they would allow a Phone Drive.  I created an email stating what Hope Phone is and why it would be a good idea to host a Phone Drive. Many college students have phones and often do not take care of them so if we had a Phone Drive for Hope Phones this would allow many students to bring there used and old phones to this drive so that they would be going to people that need them and would put them to good use.

Our third task was to create a post as to why we support the cause Hope Phone and to use the Hashtag #HopePhone.  I created a twitter post about why Hope Phone is a good cause.  I did not end up posting it because many of the people who follow me would not know what I was talking about and I also do not use my Twitter for things like presenting a cause to have people partake in them.  I use my social media accounts to keep up with friends and family who I do not see all the time and do not feel as though I need to post about a campaign.  I did create a post if I were to post about this cause.

Unit 3 Project

In class on Tuesday we started our Unit 3 Project, we first listened to three people pitch their ideas and then narrowed it down to two different groups and chose which group we wanted to work with.  I chose the group that was doing their project on the water bottle Hydroflask.  I was more drawn to this group because I myself have a Hydroflask and it is my favorite water bottle I probably have ever had.  We had to create different tasks that were doable for the other group to complete in Thursdays class based on what Hydroflask is doing.

When you buy any Hydroflask from any store or even online, every bottle has a code on the bottom and if you follow the link listed below in our steps you can donate 5% of the cost of your Hydroflask to one of twelve different charities.  I had no idea that this was something that was available from buying a Hydroflask water bottle, my Hydroflask still had the sticker on the bottom where the code is located so I had to remove that and then I registered my water bottle and donated to the charity Special Olympics.  I chose this charity because my cousin who has special needs participates in events that Special Olympics holds.  She also rides horses which I find inspiring.  Everyone who buys a Hydroflask would be able to find one charity that they felt a connection to because there are so many different charities and non-profits.  This campaign that Hydroflask is doing is something that is very easy to do, but is also very helpful.  Just by buying a water bottle and plugging in a code online you are able to choose where you want your 5% to go to.  I think if more people knew about this it would be something that more people would get involved in.  Listed below are the steps that my group created to take part in #HydroflaskGivesBack.

https://www.hydroflask.com/explore/5-back

Hydro Flasks website to donate - https://www.hydroflask.com/donate

1. Use the hashtag #HydroflaskGivesBack on social media to raise awareness
2. If you own a Hydro Flask, register it on the website and choose one of the 12 charities to donate to. 
3. givea gift that keeps on giving and share a Hydro Flask with family and friends and encourage them to #GiveBack
4. Post a picture with your Hydro Flask and caption it #HydroflaskGivesBack and write why you donated to that charity. also include the website https://www.hydroflask.com/donate so it can be easily reached. 
5. encourage a conversation outside of social media to help raise awareness for the cause and the charity you are passionate about.
   
   

Unit 2 Presentation

Today in class we reviewed everyones Unit 2 Projects.  Professor Daly brought bagels and cookies from Paradise bakery.  We all sat and took turns presenting our projects, there was not that many people in class since Thanksgiving is in two days.  All of the projects that we saw were all different in their own ways, many were videos except my group that was an infographic.  The different topics were the 22 Push up challenge, net neutrality, Subaru's #sharethelove project, the ALS ice bucket challenge, and #Finishit.  It was fun and interesting to watch these videos and to learn about all of the research that the groups had done for these projects.  We learned a lot about the different topics while using open source software and creating videos that made people feel engaged and potentially want to make that person participate or get involved with the campaign that the group presented.  At the end of the presentations we graded each group on how effective we found their project to be.  After all of the presentations were done we had a guest speaker come in and talk about our Unit 3 project and a website that she had just recently created.  I am excited to see what grade I will be receiving for this project and to start the Unit 3 project with the small intro that we got to learn about today.

 

11/15 class

We started out class on Tuesday, like we always do with social media news and focused on the memes that have been circulating around about Joe Biden and Barack Obama.  These memes are mainly about Joe Biden saying funny things about Donald Trump.  These memes have been getting a lot of attention because of the election and since Barack Obama and Joe Biden have their last few months in the White House.  All of these memes indicate that they have a sort of bromance that is funny to viewers because Joe Biden has mostly flown under the radar and now people are realizing that they are both going to be leaving soon.

http://www.npr.org/2016/11/15/502019361/-memeoftheweek-the-best-of-the-obama-biden-brotus

We then talked about Publics and Counterpublics.  A public is a group that is made up of people that do not know each other but have a common interest.  A Counterpublic according to our lecture notes "is usually a smaller group of people who share something misunderstood by the larger public and who join because of that".  The example that was used was about how Muslim women are treated and seen through the United States society.  These Muslim women interact with the outside public through their own small public.  Learning about Publics and Counterpublics has opened my eyes to the fact that I knew what a public was and I learned what a Counterpublic was and how it runs.  The reason that they are in effect and what they do.  

11/10 class

Last Thursday the 10th, we did not have in person class but instead we met with our groups about our Unit 2 project.  Our first idea for our Unit 2 project was #prayforparis, we were going to follow the tweets and things people were doing to help the victims in Paris after the Paris attacks. Since this was not a current event, we were asked to change our topic and all agreed on Subaru's #ShareTheLove campaign.  This campaign is something that Subaru does annually, and this year will be Subaru's eighth year.  This campaign takes place right around the holiday season, every Subaru that is bought or leased from November 17th to January 3rd, $250 is donated to one of four charities that Subaru has chosen to team up with.  The person who is now the owner of the Subaru gets to choose what charity they would like their $250 to go to.  The four charities that you can choose from are the ASPCA, Make-A-Wish, Meals on Wheels, and National Park Foundation.  We all easily agreed on this campaign because of what Subaru is doing and that you personally are able to choose what charity you want your money to go to, it makes it that much more special if you are very interested or involved in one of the certain charities.  I am excited to continue working on this Unit 2 project and to decide on what our infographic will entail.

http://3blmedia.com/media/images/STL_Square.jpg

Election Day

Today, 11/8 was election day and we did not have class.  Because of this, I spent most of my day and night following the polls to see who the new President of the United States will be.  Since I am from California, I had to vote through an absentee ballot.  My mom sent me my ballot so that I could vote and I mailed it back to California, I was hoping that I would get an I Voted sticker, something that I always looked forward to having when my parents took me to the polling places with them when I was younger.  To my surprise I did not get an I voted sticker in my ballot.

This election has been one of the most controversial because of the two candidates, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.  In one of my previous blogs, I talked about my father
who was a Republican that spoke at the Democratic National Convention
this past year.  My mother and father both worked in The White House during when Ronald Reagan was President.  Because they were both very involved in politics it made me take interest in politics as well, but this year especially I took interest.  This is because of the controversy of the candidates running for President and since I am now a Junior in college, I understand how politics work and how the election works.  I think it is interesting because of how controversial this election has been that kids that are younger will learn about this in their history classes in the years to come.   I am interested to learn who will become the next President of the United States.






https://www.stickermule.com/blog/history-of-political-stickers-buttons
   


                                 

Hacking & Open Source Culture Digital Poster Session

I attended one of the Open Access week events in the library for extra credit.  I was not really sure what to expect when I was going to this but when i walked into the library students were set up at tables in groups with their laptops set up with their digital posters that they were presenting to people as they went table to table.  These projects were all about open source culture and hacking.  All of the tables projects were different which was interesting to learn about different topics on open source.  Open access is having software that is free and available to all, meaning that anyone is able to access a program, and allowed to redistribute copies to people.

Many of the articles that we read in class when we first started talking about open source and open culture mentioned open science which "is a movement to make scientific research freely available".  With allowing for open science, people who are trying to research scientific things to help solve a problem or cure some sort of disease would be able to have research that was found readily available to them.  What I do not understand is why someone would want to implement closed science.  Information that is found and that has already been researched can be readily available and could help someone tremendously but then is locked and is not available to the public.  These documents need to
be made for researchers and people that are trying to access these files so that they can expand on the ideas presented in the research and are able to collaborate effectively.

If I was researching articles for a project and was looking for information that could help me defend my case and I came up on an article that seemed like it had all the information I needed but it was locked and I had to pay to access it I would not pay and would continue to look for another similar article that was free and open to the public.  

I found this groups presentation to be one of the more interesting ones because of the amount of researchers that their are that come across this problem.  I think that it is unfair for these documents to be closed and not available to researchers because of the benefit that these documents could be gaining from many different researchers that are collaborating to get the best information for their research.

Black Lives Matter

Last week on October 27th we did not have class but met with our groups for our Unit Two Projects.  We had to decide on a topic to focus on for our projects.  We then had an activity that dealt with the Black Lives Matter movement mainly on what it was and how it started.  Rodney King was why the movement was created.  He was involved in police brutality in 1991 after he was involved in a high speed chase with the police.  According to the article "Rodney King and Black Lives Matter" he was acting like someone who was on PCP when he was asked to get out of his vehicle.  He was beaten over fifty times by four different police officers and was tazered two times.  "He was treated for '11 skull fractures, permanent brain damage, broken (bones and teeth), kidney damage, emotional and physical trauma".  The officers who took part in the arrests and beating of Rodney King were acquitted.  Because of the way that Rodney King was beaten and the officers did not have to be punished was the reason that the movement started.  Police brutality was the biggest factor in the start of this movement because African Americans were not being treated in the way that white people who were getting arrested were.  This movement is still something that is going on because police brutality is still an issue.  This treatment of African Americans should not be tolerated anymore and should not be a problem.  People who promote Black Lives Matter want to end police brutality something that is a big problem even in this day in age.

In my response paper two I am talking more about Black Lives Matter and the other movements that were created such as "All Lives Matter" and "Native American Lives Matter" and the impact that they have and why one is better than the other.


http://hope-albion-historyproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Ferguson-Protestor.jpg

Social Media News

Every class period we take about fifteen to twenty minutes to talk about social media news.  Although some of the time I do not have something come right to my mind to discuss I check on Yahoo News and always find something interesting to talk about.  Since it is election season and this is one of the most controversial elections lots of social media news is about Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.  Some of these stories are interesting and new, but my dad is very involved in politics and informs me on many of the new things happening with the election.  He spoke at the Democratic National Convention as a Republican and once he did this I became more interested in politics.  He owns his own Public Relations firm called Elmets PR and a big part of his job is to be the voice of people who need his help to talk to press and help solve problems that they are in.  My dad is very active on social media, he has his own Twitter that he uses for himself and his business.  Since speaking at the DNC he has gained lots of followers on Twitter and has been more active in talking about his political views.  After speaking at the DNC many people began to take note of who my dad is, since he is a Republican but is voting for a Democrat he has been getting lots of emails and tweets sent to him about how he is disloyal to his political party.  Since he is so avid on social media many of these tweets do not bother him because of the work that he does.

What I find most interesting is some of the things that people say to my dad over social media.  The thing with social media is that whatever is put out there will always be on the internet.  Some of the things the people write to my dad about him and his political beliefs range from I agree with your views to some of the worst things you can wish on people.  My dad has thick skin so the things that people say to him do not bother him.

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When we take time to go over the social media news every day before class I enjoy taking that time to learn about what is going on in the world around us.  Since election season is almost over I wonder if the politics about the President will still be a big topic of discussion after the President is elected.

Blog Post- 10/7

This week in class on Tuesday we met in the iSpace in the Science and Engineering Library and went over everyones Unit 1 projects.  It was very informal and every group talked about their topic, it was interesting to learn about what other groups ideas were for their topic and to learn more about topics that were run by social media.  Thursday in class we had a speaker talk about her thesis that she is writing for her major.  Her topic is about pro-ana, her main focus is about Tumblr and the page where people who are battling anorexia and bulimia can go.  On Tumblr, there is a hashtag that is pro-ana, when you search this hashtag you are asked if you are okay, you are then able to continue onto the sight that is for people that have battled anorexia or are in the midst of this problem.

The speaker talked about how this Tumblr hashtag is a way for people who have the similar problem to have a place of support and are able to express their feelings about what they are going through at the time.

Should I accept?

Getting a notification on your phone saying someone has requested to follow you on Instagram, naturally you would open this notification and see who this person is.  Do you know this person, do you only know them through a friend or is it someone you have met before face-to-face?  According to Silver if you accept this person who requests to follow you but you have never met them before, this person is "a ghost in a machine," you have no real relationship with this person until you meet them face-to-face, they are now just a ghost.  I personally think that this is not necessarily true.  Yes, I get follow requests on Instagram when I do not know the person personally but they are a friend of a friend and I let them follow me.  I would not consider this person a close friend but more of an Instagram follower.  Many people though do consider these follow requests friends.  Silver is saying that these people cannot be our friends if we have not met them before because "we as humans can only have and maintain 150 friendships".  Silver's argument of face-to-face contact over online relationships can be interpreted differently for different people.  I think that some people that have more online relationships than face-to-face relationships can defend their argument.  Saying that they feel that their online relationships even if they have never met someone they consider a close friend from online that these people are one of their 150 friendships that they are maintaining.  Others could agree with Silver and say that they agree with him that only face-to-face relationships work because there is more of a connection when you actually meet someone in person.  On Instagram you have the ability to put your page on private or leave it on public.  If you chose to put it on private people that request to follow you have to be accepted by you before they can view your page.  

This would go along with what Silver is saying about only allowing your close friends view your Instagram page.  If you leave your account on public, anyone that wants to follow you has the ability to.  This would be going against what Silver is saying in the fact that these people that are following you are not your close friends they are simply a "ghost in a machine".  

http://pad3.whstatic.com/images/thumb/f/f0/Get-Popular-on-Instagram-Step-1.jpg/aid2550688-728px-Get-Popular-on-Instagram-Step-1.jpg      

Hi my name is Caroline Elmets.  I recently changed my major to esociety and am so excited for ESOC 211.  I have enjoyed this class a lot so far and have learned things that I can incorporate into my daily life.  The main goal that each reading and TED talk are trying to get across is when people work together and collaborate their ideas, ultimately they will come up with a better solution rather than if they were to do it all by themselves.  In the reading Collective Intelligence it talks about how everyone has something that they are gifted with, and if we put all of our strengths together we can make things stronger and better as a whole.  Pierre Levy thinks that individuals in every day life should use collective intelligence, because it is people helping each other.  Social welfare comes into play in this article talking about the quality of life people want to live.  In the What is Collaboration Anyway reading it talks about how things are context based, and the three levels of collaboration.  These three levels of collaboration are weak, stronger, intense or strongest.  These steps must be met before collaboration can occur.  Collaboration requires shared goals that are intentional.  Social coordination is something that has to be marketed, after you have created something you need to share it with people so that they can see what you created because it is useless if people are not using it.  The TED talk was very informative for me, this was my favorite concept that I learned.  The man who was presenting the TED talk said something that stood out to me, and that was that intelligence requires independent thinking.  This stood out to me the most because often times during collaboration people end up letting their ideas get pushed to the side and end up agreeing with someone else's idea when often times they do not even agree with that idea.  When people do this and let other peoples ideas become their own it becomes damaging.  He is saying that yes it is good to collaborate ideas with groups because a group of peoples ideas is smarter than one single person.  But, these collaborations with large groups should be people giving their own opinion and ideas not molding into someone else idea because they think they need to.