Popowitch1

NicholasPopowitch
Mrs.Scaife
CompositionI
24April2016

TheInternet:AToolforGood
Theintroductionofeverysocietyalteringtechnologyhasalmostalwaysevoked
skepticismandfearfromtheestablishedgenerationofitstime.Thesefearscanbeseenasearly
asAncientGreece,withSocratesdecryingwrittenword.DouglasAdamsdescribedthisfearof
newtechnologybestinhisbook,TheSalmonofaDoubt,whenheobservedeverything
existingwhenyouarebornisnormal,anythinginventedwhenyou'reyoungerthan35isexciting
andrevolutionary,andanythinginventedafteryouare35isagainstthenaturalorderofthings.
Adamsissuggestingthataswegrowolder,wearelessacceptingofnewtechnology,andhavea
tendencytowardsdismissingitasreprehensible.Theinternet,anditsmostpopularuses,areno
exception.Atthebinarycrestofthisdigitalwaveoffearisinternetaddiction.Atermthatwas
satirically
coinedbyDr.IvanGoldbergin1995,InternetAddictionDisorder(IAD)soonbecame
thebasisforovertwodecadesworthofinconclusiveresearch,andarallycryforcountless
internetdetractors.Idonotagreewiththosewhowoulddetractfromthegoodthattheinternet
hascreated,andfeelthisnegativitystemsfromamisunderstandingofhowtheinternetisused.I
believetheinternethashadapositiveinfluenceontheglobalsociety,andwillcontinuetodoso.
Attheheartofthisissueistheuseofsocialmediaandthecommunicationbreakdown
betweenparentsandteenagersregardingacceptableuse.Weallusesomeformofsocialmedia,


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whetheritisFacebook,Twitter,Snapchat,Instagram,Tumblr,oranynumberofsitescreatedfor
socialinteraction.Buthowthesesitesareuseddiffersgreatlybetweenadultsandteenagers.
Accordingtoa2014surveytakenbyThePewResearchCenter,92%ofteensreportgoing
onlinedaily,with24%admittingthattheyareonlinealmostconstantly.Themostusedsocial
mediasiteforteensisFacebook,with72%ofteensreportingthesiteastheirprimarymeansof
socialnetworking.Adultsfavorthesiteinonlyslightlylowernumbers,with65%ofalladults
choosingFacebookoverothersocialmediaoutlets.ThecommonuseofFacebookacrossevery
demographicmakesitagreatplacetoexaminethebreakdownbetweenteensandadults.
Thisbreakdowninunderstandingisexplainedbyauthorandresearcher,danahboyd
(whodoesnotcapitalizehername).Boydexplainsthat,Forthemostpart,teenagersaredoing
onlinewhattheyvealwaysdone.Thedifferencenowisthatifthatteenagerisntcarefulthe
worldcanseeit.Essentially,boydissayingthatwhenteensposttheirsociallivesinapublic
place,likeFacebook,theirparentsareabletoseehowtheyactwhentheyarewiththeirfriends,
whichcanoftenbeinstarkcontrasttohowtheyactathome.Withoutpropercontext,itseasy
foraparenttoassumethattheirchildsactionsareareflectionofFacebook,sincethisistheonly
placewheretheycanviewthischangeinbehaviour.
Thissocialmediaphenomenonhasbeentermedcontextcollapse,andisbestexplained
byAliceMarwickanddanahboydintheir2010article,ITweetHonestly,ITweet
Passionately:TwitterUsers,ContextCollapse,andtheImaginedAudience.Init,Marwickand
boyddefinethisterminrelationtoTwitter:
Likemanysocialnetworksites,Twitterflattensmultipleaudiencesintoonea
phenomenonknownascontextcollapse.Therequirementtopresentaverifiable,


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singularidentitymakesitimpossibletodifferselfpresentationstrategies,creating
tensionasdiversegroupsofpeopleflocktosocialnetworksites.(9)
Youcanseehowcontextcollapsecanposeasignificantdilemmatomostteenagerstryingtofit
in.Iftheyactcool,theyruntheriskofupsettingtheirparents,butiftheyactastheywouldwith
theirparents,theycouldbeostracizedbytheirpeers.Maintainingabalancebetweenthetwocan
bestaggering.
Butcontextcollapsedoesntjustaffectparentteenrelationships.Thecontextofa
personssocialmediapresencecanbegreatlyalteredbyapersonsraceandsocioeconomical
statusaswell.Inherbook,ItsComplicated:TheSocialLivesofNetworkedTeens,boyd
recountsherconversationwiththerepresentativefromtheadmissionsofficeofanIvyLeague
school.BoydexplainshowayoungblackmanfromSouthCentralLosAngeleshadappliedto
theschool,andhisessaytalkedabouthisdesiretoescapethegangsinhiscommunity.The
impressedadmissionsofficersgoogledtheyoungman,onlytobeshockedtofindhisMySpace
pagelitteredwithprofanityandgangsymbolism.Whentheadministrationrepresentative
contactedboydtoaskwhytheyoungmanwouldlieabouthisintentions,boydsuggested,
perhapsthisyoungmanissimplyincludinggangsignalsonhisMySpaceprofileasasurvival
technique.Anunfortunateexampleofcontextcollapse,thisyoungmansuseofsocialmediato
surviveinahostileculturemayhavepreventedhimfromescapingtoabetterlife.Bothsidesof
thisinteractioncouldbenefitfromabetterunderstandingoftherolecontextplaysinsocial
networking.Bygaininganunderstandingofthisconcept,wecanimproveourcommunication
acrosssocialmediaplatforms,andthus,reducenegativestereotyperegardingitsuse.


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Educationisavitalpositiveelementoftheinternet.Accordingtoa2014PewResearch
Centersurvey,87%ofAmericanadultsusetheinternet,upfrom14%in1995.Intwodecades,
theinternetwentfromafadtostapleofsociety.Withrapidlyimprovingtechnology,andsucha
prodigiousgrowthrate,theinternetisconstantlyinventingnewwaystoentertain,inform,and
conductcommerce.Thesharingofinformationandtheincreasedavailabilityofeducationaltools
onlineplaysakeyfactorinourcontinuededucationoutsideofacademia.Inanotherstudyfrom
thePewResearchCenter,Americanswithbroadbandinternetorsmartphonesarenearly50%
morelikelytobeapersonal(personalinterest)learner,andnearly75%morelikelytobea
professional(workrelated)learner.
Sincetheearly2000s,IvyLeagueinstitutionslikeMIT,UCBerkeley,Yale,Stanford,
andHarvard,havemadetheirrecordedcoursesavailabletothegeneralpublic.Throughnew
mediaoutletslikeOpenCourseWare,ApplesiTunesU,andYoutube,anybodywithaninternet
connectioncanaccessapricelesscollectionofeducationalmaterial.Inanopenletteron
OpenCourseWaressite,thecurrentDirectoroftheprogram,andoneofitsinitialcreators,
CeciliadOliveira,spokeofthemotivationwhiledevelopingOpenCourseWare:
Whatfueleduswastheenthusiasmanddedicationofthefaculty,andthesteadfast
beliefinourmissionfromtheOCWstaffandthefoundationsandcorporations
thatprovidedfinancialsupport.Butthemostimportantdriverandmotivatorwere
ourlearners.
Neverwasthereanyintenttoprofitfromtheseworks,andwhiletheirtaskwasasdifficultasit
wasnovel,theywereinspiredbytheenthusiasmofnotonlythelearners,butoftheeducatorsas
well.Anotherexampleofthepositiveimpacttheinternethashadontheworld.


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Somethingthatisveryimportanttome,isthephilanthropicnatureofwebcommunities.
Throughthesecommunities,weareabletoconnectwithpeersacrosstheglobe,andwork
towardsimprovingtheworldaroundus.OneexampleofthisisTheProjectforAwesome,a48
hourcharitylivestreamcreatedbyYouTubesVlogBrothers,HankandJohnGreen.Duringthe
livestream,viewersareencouragedtosubmitvideosfortheirfavoritecharitiestobevotedonby
therestofthecommunity,thetopcharitiesreceivingashareofthedonations.Since2007,the
ProjectforAwesomehasraisedoverfourmilliondollarsfornearly100charities,with2015
settingthebarat$1.5milliondollars,distributedamong20charities.
AnotherexampleofwebentertainersbringingacommunitytogetherisStJudes
PlayLive.Thisisanannualeventthatbringstogetherdozensofpopulartwitch.tvvideogame
streamerstoraisemoneyforSt.JudeChildrensResearchHospital.Attheendofthe2016event,
over$100,000wasraised.Charitieslikethese,Ifeel,embodythetruespiritofcommunity.
Whileinternetbasedcommunitiesarestillnewatphilanthropy,itisahopefulsignofthingsto
come.
Despiteallthisglobalconnectivity,manystillfearthattheinternethasanegativeimpact
onusers,evenleadingtoaddiction.Inher2015NewYorkTimesarticle,ScreenAddictionis
TakingaTollonChildren,JaneBrodysays:
Childrenwhoareheavyusersofelectronicsmaybecomeadeptatmultitasking,
buttheycanlosetheabilitytofocusonwhatismostimportant,atraitcriticalto
thedeepthoughtandproblemsolvingneededformanyjobsandotherendeavors
laterinlife.


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Claimingthatheavyuseofelectronicscauseschildrentobecomeeasilydistracted,andthatthis
willhaveapermanenteffectontheirfuture.WhileIconcedethatimproperuseoftheinternet
cangiverisetodevelopmentaldisorders,especiallyinyoungchildren,Ifeelthatthisisamatter
ofpoorparenting,andnotadirectreflectionontheinternetasawhole.
Thereisagreatdealofeffortandresearchplaceduponthenegativeeffectsofthe
internet,rangingfromaddictiontodevelopmentaldisorders.ButIfeelthisisapoorreflectionof
thegreatergoodthattheinternethasbecome.Theinternetitselfisaneutralmedium,andany
negativeorpositivelightweshineuponitisbaseduponourperceptionofhowitisused.I
acknowledgethebadthatexistsinthedigitalworld,justasIacknowledgethebadthatexistsin
therealworld.ButIchosetofocusonthegoodintheworldswehavecreated.Real,ordigital.


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WorksCited
Adams,Douglas.
TheSalmonofDoubt:HitchhikingtheGalaxyOneLastTime
.London:
Macmillan,2002.Print.
boyd,danah.
It'sComplicated:TheSocialLivesofNetworkedTeens
.NewHaven:Yale
UniversityPress,2014.KindleAZWfile.
Marwick,AliceE.anddanahboyd.ItweetHonestly,ItweetPassionately:TwitterUsers,
ContextCollapse,andtheImaginedAudience.
NewMediaSociety.
SagePublications,7
July2010.Web.19April2016.
Lenhart,Amanda.Teens,SocialMedia&TechnologyOverview2015.
PewInternet.
Pew
ResearchCenter,9April2015.Web.19April2016.
Perrin,Andrew.SocialMediaUsage:20052015.
PewInternet.
PewResearchCenter,8
October2015.Web.19April2016.
InternetUseOverTime.
PewInternet.
PewResearchCenter,n.d.Web.20April2016.
Pinker,Steven.MindOverMassMedia.
TheNewYorkTimes.
TheNewYorkTimes
Company,
10June2010.Web.21April2016.
Wallis,Davis.JustClickNo.
TheNewYorker
.CondNast,13January1997.Web.21April
2016
BoydMyers,Courtney.HowtheInternetisRevolutionizingEducation.
TheNextWeb.
The
Next
Web,Inc.,2012.Web.22April2016.


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dOliveira,Cecillia.DirectorLetter.
OpenCourseWeb
.MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology,
n.d.Web.22April2016.
Brody,JaneE.ScreenAddictionisTakingaTollonChildren.
TheNewYorkTimes.
TheNew
YorkTimesCompany,6July2016.Web.22April2016.
Thomas,Tim,andDuncanGasiewicz.
ProjectforAwesome.
ProjectforAwesome,n.d.Web.23
April2016.
St.JudePlayLive.
St.Jude.
St.JudeChildrensResearchHospital,n.d.Web.23April2016.