Monday, December 15, 2008
Reflecting
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Online Sex Offenders
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Don't Hassle the Hoff
Sunday, November 9, 2008
IM lingo
Sunday, November 2, 2008
"Broadcast Yourself"
People today search YouTube for practically anything, and usually find it. A 2008 study showed that the website hosts 83.4 million videos and about 3.75 million user channels. Personally, I use the website often, searching for everything from music videos, to clips of some of my favorite movies, to video montages done by people I do not know.
The website has also offered an outlet for aspiring musicians, actresses, or performers in general. One popular budding musician I have heard of and watched on YouTube is Nick Pitera. Pitera posted many videos of him singing popular songs and clearly got noticed with over 7.3 million views on just one of this songs. Performers like Pitera uploaded those videos with high hopes of record labels, recording artists, etc. to notice.
YouTube can be classified as a social networking site, but I have heard of very little negative issues involved with the website, such as those with sites like Facebook and MySpace. Because users can upload video footage, the website does monitor and videos containing defamation, harassment, illegal content, and videos with commercial advertisements.
With that said, the website is very helpful to many. A lot of my professors, even outside of Electronic Communication class, have showed YouTube videos in class as a good source of information, or even a good laugh. My Christianity professor uses the website usually in every class to show music videos and relates them to our class discussion for the day. In my advertising class, we use the website to look at various television commercials.
With the rise of technology in the past decade, YouTube has only become an asset. Just as many say "Google it," people now say "YouTube it" as well when talking about some sort of information or entertainment is desired. Though many so some internet websites, and in particular social networking sites, are harmful or impersonal, I feel as though YouTube only shines and stands alone in this category.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
BEWARE:Predators
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Video Games: Friend or Foe?
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Window to Your Soul
In an article in the Washington Post Jose Antonio Vargas talks to 29-year-old Jason Berkowitz about the relationship between he and his iPod. "It becomes an extension of you," he says. "It's like a window to your soul." Millions of people in society today use their iPods on a daily basis. The little hand-held machines hold thousands of songs, books, photos, videos, and mini newscasts called pod-casts. Berkowitz explains the love affair between he and his iPod and how the various songs on it can take you back to previous life experiences. He exclaims how songs such as "Superfreak" take him back to his youth, screaming it at a parties, or "When Will I Be Loved" helps him recall the first dance at his senior prom. Vargas writes, "To the iPodders around the world, the irresistible, indispensable, irreplaceable iPod is a personal memory bank."
It is interesting what Berkowitz says about a person's iPod being the "window to your soul." This is very true in that one can learn a lot about someone by simply rummaging through their iPod. Their taste of music, interest in videos, and photos, can display their personality and take anyone back to the memories of the owners iPod. The article talks about how people use their iPod all day long. From their morning workout, to their walk in the city to work, even to grocery shopping where their favorite tunes drown out the sounds of children yelling for their parents to buy their favorite kind of candy, people's iPod's are in use.
The article also talks about a Kate Danser and how she is using her iPod during her morning workout session. She said how the sounds of a Jack Johnson song during her leg extension reps reminds her of her old college friend Casey because he first introduced her to the artist. This is true because when a song plays, people often think about when they first heard it, what they were doing when they did hear it, and who first introduced them to it.
Though it is just a small machine, the iPod is near and dear to many and a lot of people would feel lost without them.