#GamerGate

To be honest, before reading this article and talking to other students in our class, I had no idea that this was going on. I am not one to play video games or pay attention to anything affiliated with them. Because of that I was unaware that women are discriminated against when it comes to playing video games.

I really shouldn't be surprised that this happens. Women are discriminated against in every other aspect of life so why wouldn't they be when it comes to online gaming. I just never really thought this could be a problem either. To me, they're just video games. People play them, whether it be online or not. I didn't think it was possible for women to be discriminated against. Everyone is behind a screen playing a game. So to me it doesn't make sense about how and why this happens.

But I am disappointed to become aware of this. I hope no one takes offense to this when I say this, but typically people play video games as a hobby so why do men (or anyone who says anything offensive) get worked up about women (or anyone) playing video games when it really doesn't contribute anything to real life? People go online and play video games for an hour, or several depending who you are, and then log off and go about their real life which consists of real people, school and work. Why are men (or people in general) being to openly rude and mean for literally no reason?

I'm not trying to demean video games. But if it's another outlet for people to be discriminated against, it is going to spark some controversy.

Illegal down loading is out

Today in class we heavily discussed the topic of illegally down loading music. Before platforms like Pandora and Spotify became available, people would illegally down load music all the time. Music can be expensive, so if people can get it for free, they were going to.

I was someone who used to download music all the time. In high school I didn't think anything of it because everyone did it. I guess I felt pressure from my peers to download music. I would buy music off iTunes and my friends would always be like "why would you do that? Just download it for free!"

But after the invention of Spotify, I haven't downloaded music since. I also have a new respect for artists and their work. I do respect artists and their work. A lot of them work really hard to get to where they are. If I am a huge fan of the band or artist, I will buy the music because I am happy to give them my money. The last two albums that I bought were Taylor Swift and One Direction.

I do think that illegally downloading music has decreased because there are other outlets such as Pandora and Spotify. People don't see the need to illegally download music now. I'm not sure if I am the only person who thinks that, but I wonder what you all think?

Do you agree that illegally downloading music has decreased? And do you actually buy the music if you support the artist?

           

Stand up, not by

I really liked the article we read from Carrie Rentschler. I completely agree with her that people need to start standing up to online violence of any kind.

In high school I witnessed online violence that was targeted towards a kid who came out. He posted a status on Facebook that declared he was coming out as homosexual and then all this drama and online bullying started. People were posting statuses about him that were bringing him down. But, there were people defending him. On the night this happened, every time I would refresh my Facebook feed there were statuses defending him and statuses that were against him.

Even though there were people defending him, there were people that were bullying him and posting mean comments. The people who posted statuses defending him even got bullied because they were defending him. In this instance, it wasn't just him getting bullied.

The next day at school everyone was talking about it, The person who started the bullying got in huge trouble and was suspended from school for what he did. He was the main source of the bullying and he got in trouble for it. When word got out that he got suspended, people were then taking sides about that: whether or not he should have been suspended or not and if it was right for the school to intervene.

Based on my story and this article, people should stand up for people online and offline. But since we are talking specifically online, I think it is crucial that people stand up for each other online. It is easier to stand up for people online because you can see if and actually do something about it. Defending someone offline, you have to actually be there to do so.

If people are being bullied online and you become aware of it, it is a shame if you don't step in and say something. In extreme cases, it is important to stand up for people. Yes, I understand there are dumb Facebook fights that don't need more attention. But is someone is being bullied, you should for sure step in.

There are way too many victims to online violence and if there is something we can do about it, we should.

Liking likes

Something has dawned on me when it comes to social media that is bothering me. Social media is an outlet that people are supposed to use to share pictures and information that is going on in their life with the people around them. What I have noticed, however, is more people are concerned with how many "likes" they get on posts than the actual information shared.

Why do people care SO much about how many likes they get on Instagram or on Facebook? I am even guilty of this and I'm not sure why I care so much. The people who are truly my friends will see what I post, like it and actually care about what I post. Why isn't that enough for people?

I met someone here at school and we found each other on Instagram so I said "oh! you should follow me!" And he looked at me and this person asked me how many followers I had and how many "likes" I average on my photos and when I told them, they said they wouldn't follow me because I didn't average over 80 likes. . . This is something I don't understand why people care so much.

So, fellow bloggers, what do you think? Do you agree? Disagree? Share your thoughts and opinions, I'm very curious.

"Hey! Google knows it's my birthday!"

Today is my roommate's birthday. So this morning when we were in our room getting ready and doing some homework, she shouts out "Hey! Google knows it's  my birthday!" 

When there is a holiday, usually Google will  change its header on the website to associate with the holiday. So when she went on to Google this morning, the header had cakes and candles incorporated into it since it was her birthday. 

This just reinforces our previous discussions in class about Google knowing everything about our lives. She has a G-mail account which probably has his birthday saved onto her profile, which would explain why Google knows it was her birthday today. 

I just wanted to share this little story with all of you, I thought it was funny and it really reinforces our conversations about Google. 

Exposed

Last class we touched on the topic of being exposed on the Internet. Well I know I talked about it. After talking about Danah Boyd's chapters and conversations were flowing, being exposed on the Internet came up in our class discussion.

I know I mentioned how it was scarier for me to put all of my information on the internet. When I signed up for Facebook my dad warned me not to put too much information on my profile. He would scare me into thinking that someone can search me on Facebook and based on what I posted, someone could find out stuff about my life. He would also scare me into thinking that people could find me based on what I posted as well. Because of this, I have always been more conscious of what personal information I have posted on the Internet.

This sparked the debate of whether or not people are more afraid of stranger danger or being exposed on the Internet. I was surprised more people were scared of stranger danger type situations and not being exposed on the Internet. In one second, someone can hack your computer and gain all the information that you have entered on it. That to me is scarier than walking downtown with my group of friends.

So I'm curious about the specific reasons people have that make them more afraid of stranger danger type situations and not being exposed on the Internet?

Social media is now a requirement to survive

In my marketing class this term we have been assigned a group project. Part of our project is to create a product that can be mass produced that is aimed towards a specific target market. In one of the requirements for this project, we have to plan for social media.

As I thought about this, it is second nature at this point in time to make social media a part of a marketing project whether it is for school, or in the real world. Then I thought about how the social media presence for marketers and advertisers is so much more demanding now than it ever has been.

Marketers and advertisers have to spend so much time and energy focusing on this one aspect (social media) to make sure that society is aware of products and services. It used to be so simple: put an ad in the paper, hang up a poster or request a radio ad. Social media presence for companies that want to market services and products is so much more demanding and if companies do not take that seriously, no body will know about them and they will make no money. If a company doesn't have a social media presence, the company mine as well not exist.

Social media is so important for companies to survive in this economy. It never really occurred to me until I started this marketing project and I wanted to share my thoughts :)

Have a good rest of your weekend!