Growing Up Online

In my last post I addressed the issue of whether Facebook is good, and to help supplement my argument I'm going to spend this blog talking about the video "Growing Up Online". This video talked about the dangers of social networking when it comes to predators, privacy, cyber bullying, and creating an online personality different from your own. In the video they interviewed teens and parents about their views on how dangerous social networks are.

When it comes to social networking parents have been taught to be most concerned about online predators. With how much information kids expose on the internet it is a worthwhile concern. However, in the movie they state that really the only time that teens have problems with a predator are when they go out of their way to meet up. You should instead consider your teen to be a participant and not only a victim. It is always best to keep your information about where you live private, and do not post it on the internet.

A large section of the film was donated to the harsh realities of cyber-bullying. In the movie, they say that cyber-bullying is so popular and extra harsh because people say things that they wouldn't be able to say to someone's face. Girls at Chatham High School in New Jersey were having online battles over posts that escalated into a full fledged fight in school. In one case,a kid was being cyber bullied so badly that he committed suicide. What's even more chilling is that it was from the internet that he researched ways to do it, and got encouragement from an online "friend".  

Another common social networking practice is to create an online personality or character. Usually teens do this because they are unsatisfied with their "real life" socially and so they create a different person online. In the movie, Autumn Edows was a character created by a teenage girl who was bullied in high school. She created this new person because she was popular online and got a lot of attention. As it turns out, her school found out about her profile and deemed it inappropriate and even pornographic. Even if you decide to create a new personality you can still get caught and you still need to be careful about what your posting on the internet.

Analyzing New Media

With the new media age of social networking sites, blogs, and the internet it has become very evident that media as we used to know it is drastically changing. It used to be that the encoder (a newspaper or TV news network) would be the primary source of information for the public. This source was held accountable for what they said to their audience so therefore they were a trustworthy and reliable resource.

The people who work in newsrooms are professionals who have real experience and an education in their field, so therefore they are sure to get there facts correct and portray them in the right way. In this age the encoder had a very large audience and the public were generally well informed.

The issue today is that with all of the social networks and blogs on the internet virtually anyone has the power to broadcast what they believe, regardless if it is based on fact. Today we are the encoder and we are able to publish what we say through blogging, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Unfortunately, this is dangerous because now an amateur who could be biased, wrong, or just unprofessional has the power to broadcast whatever they want to the worldwide audience. In this article they discuss the similar issue about how journalism can possibly survive the internet age while still having lasting quality.