Online Social Networking Issues Within Academia and Pharmacy Education

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Online Social Networking Issues Within Academia and Pharmacy Education is an article written by Cain, Jeff talks about how some online social networking has grown to be extremely popular. The two most popular sites are Facebook and Myspace. Even though Myspace is the members leading site because existed longer, Facebook is proving to be the most visited site. Online social networking is a way for students to stay connected with new and old friends. Not only that, it also provides students a communication method with their families and sometimes even teachers. Social Networking Software have been defined as online spaces for individuals to present themselves, articulate the social networks, and establish or maintain connections with others. Online Social Networking has proven to be very effective and useful in many positive ways for most users, but for students sometimes it might negatively affect their personal records. Each misuse leads a student closer to detention or even expulsion from school. Privacy is something very important that all students should be aware. Privacy do not really exist online because once a person leaves a comment online, other people with bad intentions might find a way to see and use that comment. Institutions are educating students on the importance of privacy. Effective monitoring systems for online social networking, such as Facebook and Myspace, should be presented.

Yes, Facebook is more popular than Myspace because it has a lot of cool features, but still simple to use. I was surprised when many schools started to ban Facebook from their students. It is ironic because the schools were the ones that first taught the students how to use the online social networking. I remembered back in those days the teachers gave students access to it and encouraged us to communicate with other classmates. I understand that online social networking can be so addicting that it becomes a distraction for some students. This distraction can decrease a student’s focus on education. I am glad that I deleted my Facebook because after that my school productivity level went up dramatically.  

 American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. Online Social Networking Issues Within Academia and Pharmacy Education.  Facebook Inc, Cain, Jeff. American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, 2008. Web. 25 july 2012.

An Empirical Study on Online Social Networks Sites Usage: Online Dating Sites Perspective

An Empirical Study on Online Social Networks Sites Usage is an article written by  Alam, Syed Shah; Yeow, Paul H P; Loo, H S talks about online dating has been one of the many effective ways for single males and females to find romantic relationship as well as friendship. Some studies show that many young people use online social networking to communicate with others through the Internet. These results also proves the effectiveness and addiction young adults have with online social networks. This examination shows that no matter how busy a person is, they will always find time to use the Internet for online dating and social networking. A lot of single adults tend to use the Internet for online dating and communications. According to a research conducted, it found that males and females look for different things when they use online dating. Females tend to search for long-term relationship while males look for casual relationship. It also stated that a high percentage of people lied about their marital status.

Yes, I do agree that online dating can tricky because people can lie about anything they want when they are online. Not all online dating stories have a happy ending. I have a friend who once was really into online dating. She fell in love with her imaginary Prince. Eventually she finally realized the shocking truth that the guy she was talking was married and had eight kids. She finally woke up from her fairy tale dream and stopped talking to online guys. My friend’s terrible experience is one of the many reasons why I do not date online people, unless I have seen or know them in real life and know they have a good background. I want to be safe online because I have a reputation to uphold. Also, I do believe that most girls are looking for long-term commitment online because most of them are ready to settle down and start a family. Most girls are very emotional and expect their guys to listen to them, even when the girls are thinking so wrong. A guy with excellent listening skills is highly valued because listening comforts a girl’s emotional heart. Most guys I know are just there to have a great time and are not looking for a serious relationship. I believe that a strong relationship or friendship requires trust between two people. I feel that meeting people online will be much harder to establish trust. I can never trust a person 100% because no one is perfect. Trust cannot be automatic. Trust has to be earned through time. The more a person shows commitment and dependability, the more that person can be trusted. Trust takes a long time and lots of effort to achieve, but it can vanish faster than the speed of light.

Alam, S. S., Yeow, P. H. P., & Loo, H. S. (2011). An empirical study on online social networks sites usage: Online dating sites perspective. International Journal of Business and Management, 6(10), 155-161. Retrieved from http://proxy.consortiumlibrary.org/docview/89922   2689?accountid=14473

How Your Cellphone May Beat Computers As a Dating Service

Christopher Rhoads from the Wall Street Journal compared in “How Your Cell phone May Beat Computers As a Dating Service.” the difference between cell phones and the computers as dating service. Rhoads pointed out the comfortably of dating service can be on a mobile compared to a computer. He pointed out some things about how cell phone has the ability of downloading popular online services like social networking sites. During 2003, Match.com was a very popular online dating service. This dating service allowed the user to use their cell phone to upload and update their profiles. He compared the versatility of the mobile over the computer because computers were somewhat chained to the wall to get power and internet. As an user began to use more challenging features on the dating website, the computers become more useful. In the article, Jonathan Ressier, CEO of a mobile dating service, said “We don’t really see ourselves as a competitor of online dating services, but more as an add-on.” He also said “You can kill idle time on a train or bus, and let people know you're out on the town looking to meet people.” Rhoads said the website Zogo was like a novel by voice instead of exchanging emails that take days. Instead Zogo would connect by phone call. Creating a new Zogo account requires people to fill in all the required information, which Zogo highly recommend using the computer because it would save time. Not only that, the cell phone’s web service could be very slow. Mr. Rossler of Zogo favored the mobile because they can alert with another user if they are nearby.

Yes, I agree with Rhoads on how cell phones are much easier for dating service. Using the cell phone was more enjoyable and the communication was clearer because people can receive the alert right away and communicate by phone. Many online dating services that I know have connection to cell phone because people now use cell phone everywhere they go. It helps the process of getting to know a person. Zogo has apps where people can download online to their phone and help keep them alert. With the new technology, I feel that the world will feel smaller every time someone knows someone else.

Rhoads, C. (2005, Nov 03). How your cell phone ay beat computers as a dating service. Wall Street Journal, pp. B.1-B.1. Retrieved from http://proxy.consortiumlibrary.org/docview/398926566?accountid=14473

Liking Is for Cowards. Go for What Hurts.

Jonathan Franzen wrote “Liking is for Cowards. Go for What Hurts.” that compare the difference between like and love. In examples from his personal experiences, he switched his old Blackberry phone to a new version and explained how much he liked the new phone. Later on he realized that it was not about the new Blackberry that made him happy, but about the relationship he already established in his previous Blackberry. When comparing it to personal life and relationship, Franzen explained that it is easy to like, but harder to love. Liking something or someone is easy, but loving really is a different thing. Franzen said that when he was in college, he discovered that he really like nature because everything was beautiful to him. However, later he realized how much waste and trash people were throwing into nature. He concluded at that time that there was nothing he could do to change that, so he just moved on with it like it did not really bother him. Later on in his career he got into bird watching and discovered the love he had for the wild birds. He felt and knew that there was something he loves and cares about. Whenever he saw people trashing the forest and destroying the birds’ homeland, he could not stand it anymore and decided to stop it. Franzen’s examples showed that something or someone a person likes might get converted into something or someone that they love. Love does not come easy. Sometimes people might have to risk getting hurt before they feel the love, but when they receive the love, it will be worthwhile.

Yes, I believe that there are a difference between like and love. When Jonathan described how he liked his Blackberry phone, it also made me realize that technology was an escape route. However, even if we say we love our iPhone so much, it is just in our fantasy. It is not love because it just the way how we think. When Jonathan explain to us about “technology has become extremely adept at creating products that correspond to our fantasy ideal of an erotic relationship..." it is not real. We are just fantasizing our mind. This is why we indirectly lie to ourselves by confusing like to love as stated in “This is why world of liking is ultimately a lie.” Although it is impossible just to take a picture and get two hundred “likes” on Facebook, you cannot expected it to be perfect and likable. Because love is empathy, even if it is better or worse, some people still mistaken it as like, such as when Jonathan finally understood the love he felt for the wild birds. When he saw how people trashed the place he loves, he deeply feel obligated to do something about it.

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

Nicholas Carr wrote the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” that mostly talks about how much internet usage has changed people’s lives. Carr stated a fact that people now replace reading books and the old research methods with the internet because internet allow them to easily find everything with just a couple of mouse clicks. The internet limited people’s reading skills because the online information that they find were short simplified messages. In this article Carr explained the reason behind was that search engines have special word filter system that make it easier for people to find information than compare with spending more time looking for information manually through a book. In Carr’s example of Bruce Friedman, Bruce stated that he lost his ability to read and understand lengthy articles because he overused the search engine. This example reinforced the realization that Google can be a good and fast way to find information, but not a good idea to use it too often. Some people tend to stay online reading about anything they want to know, but some of the information are useless. Overtime people might lose their reading and understanding skills. These skills are not given to use at birth, but they are something that people must build upon as they keep practicing throughout their lifetime. Increasing the time spent on Google search engine indirectly reduces the time spent practicing on more challenging readings.

Is Google making us stupid? I agree with Nicholas Carr to a certain point. I can see that Google can make some people become less intelligent, but only if they use it wrong. Some smart people use Google and they got smarter because they use it correctly. I enjoy using Google also for lots of things because it just an easy way to find out the answer in a short amount of time. When I need to understand something or have a question, the first thing to my mind is “Google it.” Sometimes when I enter a weak search keyword, it might take a long time for me to find an useful answer. Research has found that many people will use “a form of skimming,’ in the results they got. Skimming meant that the users quickly skim each website until they land on one that fits their answers. On the other hand, Nicholas stated that “our ability to interpret text, to make the rich mental connection that form when we read deeply and without distraction, remains largely disengaged.” We tend not to read more than what we saw on TV because we do not want to spend the extra time and energy to read deeply. However, the way we read directly affect the development of our brain; therefore it is not always good to use Google too much because we might lose the deep reading ability. Google is a great tool to get quick background information on a particular topic. I still use Google because is a convenient way to find what I need to know in a timely manner.

Are social media like Facebook and Twitter here to stay or are they fads that will go away?

Do some social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, stay forever or do they eventually fade away like their predecessors? Social media is a virtual place where people can communicate and learn interesting things. Social media will stay forever, but new and better social media will come and go as time passes by. So far no social media have the right features to keep it going for a long time because it always gets criticized or compared to newer social media. Some social media become bigger hit, while others fail to meet the demands. Usually in the end, the more successful social media need to evolve and adapt along the way. A good example is Myspace. Myspace became one of my first, huge social media experiences for over a year until Facebook came along and replaced it. In many ways I believe that if a particular social media is use by the majority of the people that person knows in real-life, then that social media becomes fun and effective. Over the last four years, Facebook and Twitter took over MySpace. Although MySpace had come a long way to change the positive image of social media, it also generated a negative atmosphere towards parent’s opinions on letting their kids make their own virtual page. When I recently went back to MySpace one time, I was shocked at how much it had evolved, but was surprised that my page was still the same. I fear that Facebook is turning into MySpace and heading to the same fate. When the creators try to improve their social-network such as themes, backgrounds, or features, it just makes it more difficult for everyone to navigate and use. I hope Facebook will last much longer because I am tired of creating new accounts on new social media and starting over to re-connect with my friend and family. I believe that social media is here to stay, but new and better ones will last longer than their predecessor. The next successful Facebook is coming.

As long as lots of people continue to use social media, people will always stick to it like Elmer’s glue. It is available 24/7 and everywhere. Morra Aaron Mele confessed “Social media have not just changed how we communicate, but how we work, and for that, I can never fault them, even when I desperately need a break from all the connection.” I believe that social media is a special form of virtual communication that has evolved over time better than other types. Too much of social media is bad for a person. Sometimes I desperately need a time off from all the virtual online connection, but I will always find myself peeking at it, even when working on my job. Somehow it just becomes automatic.

"Flight from conversation" Summary/Response

Sherry Turkle, a psychologist and professor at M.I.T., wrote the article “The Flight From Conversation. In this article, Turkle mainly discussed all aspects on how much impact technology has in the world today. One of the many examples that Turkle stated in her article focused on the convenience that technology has made on communication between families and friends. Everywhere people go, they mostly text or check their email via phones on the go. Even when people are actually hanging out with their friends, they still manage to keep some of their attention on their phones. Improving technologies also directly improves the daily routines, such as work, school, or just personal interest. In today's workplace a lot of people, especially younger people, show up to work listening to their music through their earphones. They often use their phone to hold conversations with friends while working. Some employers feel this dual-task reduce work production. However, some students argue that there are ways people can improve their ability to text while maintaining eye contact with other people; but no research has been conducted to prove this scenario. As technology evolves, people become more dependent and dedicate most of their time on the latest communication devices to do most of the communicating and moving away from talking face-to-face with the person next to them. Sherry Turkle exposes and explains the effects technology has on human communication methods and how these effects develop new communication habits in this article.

Overall, yes I do agree with Sherry Turkle that technology has changed the way everyone communicates. I really feel new technologies create more efficient ways of communicating, but can make some people become lazier. Also, I do realize that everyone relies heavily on technology for communication more often than we used to ten years ago. Everywhere we go or everything we do, we always text, call, or check our email via phones because the phones are conveniently with us all the time. Our form of communication has changed dramatically from writing and sending physical mail to a click of a button on an email. Back in the medieval times, Romeo and Juliet wrote love letters to each other on actual papers. With the introduction of the US Postal Services, mailing letters became easier. The internet was a technology developed by NASA for the space program. Like many other new technologies, once the internet was adapted for the general public, it skyrocketed the communication options into a new level. Combining the internet with the computer, it gave birth to the email. I always bring my phone with me everywhere I go, just in case of emergency. Carrying the phone becomes a normal habit for everyone because it is so easy to use, very convenient, and it is there when you need it most. In the article, Sherry talks about how losing connection to technology can make people feel lonely. It reminds me of this one time when I lost my phone, it made me miserable and lonely for the whole week because I could not call anyone and no one could reach me. I felt like I was disconnected or unplugged from the rest of the wonderful world. It is amazing what technology have accomplished so far in improving lives in endless ways.