Is social media a progress or problem?

Social media is instant and constant entertainment by profiles, pages, pictures, and post that are visually pleasing and stimulating to the individual who views them. Social media connects people from all across the world and forms communities of similar interests. An example of a positive online community would be the AIDS Memorial Quilt NAMES Project Foundation website (http://www.aidsquilt.org/). This site brings together friends, family, and individuals who have suffered from AIDS and HIV and memorializes the lives that have been lost.

Not all online forums are used for good. ISIS cyber terrorism is an example of a negative community that spreads fear via social media. Dann Lohrmann, the author of How Terrorists' Use of Social Media Points to the Future, states that "Global experts agree that ISIS has been very successful in using the Internet to recruit new fighters via social media" and then continues in his article on how to respond to the online terrorism we see in our society. http://www.govtech.com/em/safety/Terrorists-And-Social-Media.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=238&v=0_wyFgpShU0 Mustafa Tameez, former consultant for the Department of Homeland Security, discusses social media's role in recruiting for terrorist organizations.

Social media is an outlet for material culture of this generation. Just like the AIDS quilt shares multiple stories of a community filled with sorrow for the lives lost and hope for better prevention and a cure, youtube, instagram, twitter and snapchat are platforms that share a digital material culture. Once put out on the internet, a post never really goes away. A virtual footprint is left behind sharing its own history. I personally notice that these platforms reveal trends surrounding teenagers of a specifically short time period. These trends are usually imitated from celebrities or memes but then spread like a disease through the community. Human culture is copied and shared.

Examples of tends form 2016 include: Ted Cruz the Zodiac Killer, highlighter makeup, rose gold everything, avocado toast, apple watches, succulents in every room of the house, the water bottle flip challenge, Harambe, smoothie bowls, waist trainers, chokers, and the list goes on.

While may of these trends are fashion and life style based, they can also reach a lot further into learning trends due to the development of newer technology.

E-Learning Trends of 2017: https://twitter.com/jblefevre60

Rheingold brings up an interesting point. Are you really in control of your learning? I know that when I am trying to study documents on my laptop I am always distracted by responding to emails, checking facebook notifications, and online shopping. A review session that should have only lasted two hours at maximum ended up taking all day until I fully understood what I was studying. While I could have easily avoided these distractions, I believe that for bigger social or lifestyle issues some distractions are put in place on purpose to subconsciously alter the thought process of an individual. This is known as subliminal messaging. By hiding picture or words in different modes of media, advertisers can persuade the audience to think a certain way about what is being advertised. One well known example of subliminal messaging is in a commercial for the Bush Campaign. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NPKxhfFQMs

If you slow the video down between 0:22 and 0:24 the word "rat" is displayed when talking about Gore.

Here are more examples of sublimital messages in advertising: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umi7pbkVaeg

Subliminal messaging like this goes on in every aspect of the media. It happens in food commercials, tobacco and alcohol ads, it could have happened in the Trump and Hillary Campaign. It is interesting yet frightening to think that subconsciously we can be exposed to stimuli that alters our thought process. Subliminal messaging should be considered when discussing cyber-terrorism recruitment. Below is an article discussing how cyberspace is a new arena for terroristic propaganda. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3510409/

Whether you have to write down you goals for working, set aside twenty five minutes without breaks to complete a task, eliminate all distractions or turn off social media, focus can be attained. Attention is valuable and should not be wasted on "crap detection".

Success is determined by effort, grit, and focus. Rheingold incorporates a small excerpt from David Rock's article, "The Neuroscience of Mindfulness" to back up this idea. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-brain-work/200910/the-neuroscience-mindfulness

"Mindfulness is the foundation for all other learning, all other success you will have throughout you life." -Rossi

Why Aren't We Teaching You Mindfulness? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yJPcdiLEkI

Be mindful of what you take away from the internet and what you post on social media. Watch out for false information and avoid spreading it yourself. Bring awareness to issues that are important but remember that it is important to disconnect from distractions as well. Portray yourself in the best light and realize the dangers you face from sharing your world on the internet. Daniel J. Siegel states that "constant attention" can be achieved by mindful awareness. Rheingold incorporates this quote within his article to express caution to the readers when entering the advancing multi-modal/multimedia world.

Neglecting children due to social media happens more often then not. This is just one of the negative effects of progressing social media that Rheingold warns his audience about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-Sy7nFUcxA

Below are two articles that express the same concern as Rheingold about parenting with technology: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/mother-tongue/9280194/Mobile-addict-parents-guilty-of-child-neglect-warns-psychologist.html

http://time.com/4168688/cell-phone-distracted-parenting-can-have-long-term-consequences-study/

The US National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health define attentional blink as a deficit in reporting the second of two targets when presented in close temporal succession. Some researchers believe that attentional blink occurs to help the brain ignore distractions and focus on comprehending the first target presented.

Basic Attentional Blink Paradigm:

Example of an Attentional Blink Test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsCz78VfEg4

Multitasking Is Killing Your Brain By: Larry King https://www.inc.com/larry-kim/why-multi-tasking-is-killing-your-brain.html

Nicholas Carr discussing Why The Human Brain Can't Multitask https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpD3PxrgICU

Can you be born with the ability to efficiently take on multiple tasks or is this skill developed over time?

Efficiently multitasking is a contradiction in itself. To become efficient at a certain task, research shows that eliminating distractions along with narrowing your focus is the best method. Younger kids are brought up in a world with more and more distractions. For example, while an elementary school student is doing homework in the evening, they might be sitting at the kitchen table with their television on in the background, their phone vibrating from texts or social media notifications, and they might even be looking up information on a laptop with tabs of games or music opened. I believe that these newer generations of children can shift through multiple distractions with ease compared to adults yet efficiency will always be compromised while multitasking.

How To Become More Productive By Doing Less:

https://digitalbrandinginstitute.com/how-to-become-more-productive-by-doing-less/

Children absorb everything at a young age. Rheingold brings light to the idea that this multi-modal connection is a skill that younger kids can easily learn. As you get older it is harder to learn how to balance different modes of analysis just as it is more difficult to master a new language. A question to consider: Is it too late for older generations or even parents within this generation to adapt to the modes of information that are utilized today?

Concern arises for the parents of children on social media platforms. It is important to understand how different social media aspects work in order to monitor children while they are on these sites to keep them safe.

Not only are there dangerous and inappropriate sites with predators and bullies, but now J. M. Berger, the author of How Terrorist Recruit Online (And How To Stop It), brings awareness to cyber-terrorism and states that "social media makes it possible to sift efficiently through more potential recruits than ever before". In his article, Berger lays out the steps that ISIS takes to function online; discovery, create micro-community, isolation, shift to private communication, and identify and encourage action. Berger also brings awareness that social media can amplify current political issues and some potential recruits may have stumbled across ISIS in the media rather than seeking it out first.

How terrorists recruit online (and how to stop it): https://www.brookings.edu/blog/markaz/2015/11/09/how-terrorists-recruit-online-and-how-to-stop-it/

The pomodoro technique was created by an Italian graduate student to help him with studying. He utilized his kitchen timer which was shaped as a tomato to help keep track of how long he he spent on each subject. In Italian, the word from tomato is pomodoro.

Pomodoro Technique - Improve Studying and Productivity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNBmG24djoY

Not only is social media impacting internet safety and material culture, but it is also changing the game on linguistics. Proper grammar is decreasing as abbreviations, acronyms, and emojis become more prevalent.

Growing up today, unlimited knowledge is just a google search away. This generation, along with future generations will have instant access to anything imaginable. With a combination of written text, social media, the internet, virtual primary sources and multiple more platforms, the answers that are being searched for will never fall short.

With technology rapidly advancing, will children who grow up in households without technology or internet access lose their opportunity to become proficient using other modes of learning?

From Children Trends https://www.childtrends.org/indicators/home-computer-access/

"I ventured further into the territory where minds meet technology" -Rheingold

Howard Rheingold's story begins before the internet was even born. Today in his 70's, he is known as a critical thinker, writer, and educator on the impact of advancing human communication methods involving multimedia and virtual communities.

An image of Rheingold from his website:

Here is his official website: http://rheingold.com/