Activism vs. Slacktivism #SCSUCOM135

Twitter is one of the largest platforms that people use to get their word out and possibly heard. Activism lives within twitter and more than 271 million Twitter users send 500 million tweets into the online world, creating a huge collection of public commentary.  Hashtag campaigns are now being created to bring people that all have emotions for a certain topic or event and is allowing them to tweet about it by including the hashtag. This only has the ability to raise awareness but there is always a slim chance that the event or topic can be changed by these hashtag campaigns. Hashtags had blown up when Michael Brown was shot by a white police officer who suspected Michael to be dangerous. The hashtag Ferguson has gained more that 7.8 users for a whole week. Form this online activism a group of youths created a civil movement, Hands Up United. This group put demands together which they hope could address racial actions in the United States. Since everyone feels that hashtags can help situations there are instances where it doesn’t do anything. For example the 300 girls that were kidnapped and there was a hashtag #bringbackourgirls well, many of the girls remain under Boko Haram’s control. A Human Rights Watch report claims that the organization has kidnapped as many as 500 girls since the beginning of last year. Since this hashtag was unable to create any good it was dropped and has barely been talked about since. Even though this is such a huge topic and families have lost their daughters it's not right that people have dropped it but because nothing good has come out of it people are giving up. On the other hand a movement that has had a major positive outcome is the ALS ice bucket challenge. More than a million people took part in this challenge and had raised over $115 million and $96 million had gone to research. Although there has been good that has come out of the twitter activism with the #ferguson and #handsupdontshoot hashtags there are still hashtags that are unable to change events such as the #bringbackourgirls hashtags people will just drop such events that are unable to make progress.

Online Persona #SCSUCOM135

An online persona can be whatever someone wants it to be. Anyone can put anything out on social media and the internet, but the way they want people to perceive them is up to them. They are able to put out only the good things which is what most people do because they dont people to see the bad side. A Ted talk that I recently watched was called “Your Online Life, Permanent as a Tattoo” by Juan Enriquez was fascinating because he connected life on social media to a tattoo and how things you put out on the internet will never go away. Enriquez connects big data, tattoos, immortality and the Greeks. He first mentions that tattoos “without a word really do shout” in the sense that they can mean a lot even though its a picture. He then talks about how any app of website that deals with personal information can become an electronic tattoo. People can see who you truly are through social media just like they can if they see a tattoo that is on your body. Another way that a company or people could find out what is going on in your life is by the items purchased at a store. For example the teen that was found out to be pregnant by Target before her parents did was all based on the items she purchased. “25 products that when purchased together indicate a women is likely pregnant” this was how Target was able to find out that this teen was pregnant, by tracking the new and different items she was purchasing coupons were sent to encourage her to buy the items needed to take care of a child. Not only is this creepy but it could almost be life threatening. People that are buying the wrong items may be put on a watchlist and if continued serious action may be taken place. It is almost impossible to keep your life off the internet. Even if you are not taking place in any social media friends and family are able to put you out there and you are not in charge of what they put out. Although someone may be able to influence their desicions soemtimes it may not be enough.

Viewing Online Communication #SCSUCOM135

Everyone that owns a smart phone, computer/ laptop or any device that is able to access the Internet takes part in online communication. Everyone is able to put themselves out on the internet, using one of the devices listed previously and by the use of social media, which can be defined as websites and other online means of communication that are used by large groups of people to share information and to develop social and professional contacts. Online communication can make a job or business run more efficiently because there is no wait for a response from paper mail, the only way it would take a long time is if the wifi happened to disconnect. Politicians and hobbyists and anyone that looks for support from other people put out personal and public information out on the internet for others to see and decide whether or not they choose to follow, but professionals put there information out in order to try and find a job. An article I have found talks about how social media is beginning to separate political parties. The author states that political leaders around the world are becoming more polarized. Social media is easier for people to say what they want to say, when in reality someone wouldn’t always say what they mean to someone standing in front of them. Twitter is a big area where people are able to say what they want to either someone or a group of people. Politicians, professionals and hobbyists also use this site to put out information for people to see. One of the biggest politicians being our president,Trump, has put out information which people have disagreed with and have fired back at him. Trump uses his twitter to gain attention from those who like or dislike him when his spotlight begins to drift away. Trump mentioned he would remove his twitter profile once he was president but just so happened to tweet an hour after inauguration. With him being in office his tweets are receiving more retweets and likes than before. Online communication will only increase.