The Social Media In Our Life Media Essay

The Social Media In Our Life Media Essay Many people have used social media at least once in their lives. According to Peggy Orenstein, most people agree that social-networking sites have allowed users to connect with people in ways they never could before (p. 40). Thanks to social networking sites, we can share anything with many contacts in just a matter of seconds. We can do this whenever we want to and from anywhere we are (technology permitting). Sites like Facebook and Twitter have become more and more a part of our life, both directly and indirectly. They are used by various people for myriad reasons and in different ways. Some of this reasons and ways have generated much criticism. But they keep being used more and more. Social networking sites are not perfect; however, they have shown their strength and their ability to withstand time. Many writers look at social networking sites with a critical eye. In her essay, Faceless on Facebook, Kate Beals says: The personal area on Facebook is less about the real you and more about what you want people to think about you (p. 49). She points out how social networking users might be constructing their online image, by critically assessing every information or post they put online, instead of sincerely showing themselves and not worrying about the image it would give of them. Beals herself epitomizes this, for she is constantly worried about how people would look at her, through her personal page. Another critique is that social media encourage users to keep posting every thought or acts online. This encourages quantity over quality as Christine Rosen says in her essay, Virtual Friendship and the New Narcissism (p. 59). And I also agree with her thought: True friendship can only flourish within the boundaries of privacy because it depends on mutual revelations that are conceal ed from the rest of the world therefore the idea of public friendship is an oxymoron (p. 56). Social networking sites can help by creating a virtual contact between people, but we need much more than that if we want to create a true friendship. Even though both of these writers have a point, they are missing the true strength of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Practicality is the most appealing positive aspect of social media. Not so many years ago, if we wanted to share the adventure we had during a wonderful trip to Europe, we would have needed to meet a friend in person, catch them up on the phone or send them an e-mail and wait for an eventual response. If we wanted to show a specific picture of the Coliseum, we would have first needed to print it, put it into a photo album and wait for them to visit us. Today, we would post every picture right after we take it with our phone. We would share our adventures right after we experience them. This way all our friends or followers (as they are called on Twitter) would be able to enjoy our antics instantly. But is practicality the only strength of social media? Facebooks website says there were 955 million monthly active users at the end of June 2012 (facebook.com). That number equals a seventh of the worlds population. There has to be more to social networking sites than simple practicality. In his essay, You Gotta Have (150) Friends, Robin Dunbar says: Emotional closeness declines by around 15 percent a year in the absence of face-to-face contact (p. 46). Whether or not accurate, this statement has been true for me. When I moved from Albania to Italy, I had to say goodbye to many good friends. This happened in 2001, and back then, the only way of communicating for us was phone calls. Since those calls were not so cheap, my friends and I rarely made them. By the end of the year we were feeling both, physical and emotional distance. Lately, I had another life-changing moment. Just a month ago I said goodbye to Italy (and all my friends there) and came to the United States. After this se paration, I had much more reliable and costless ways to communicate with my friends. This way we can keep our emotional bond alive no matter how far we are from each other. I am confident that we will not end up like my Albanian friends and me. This is, by a fair amount, because of social media. In the same way social networking sites are used to keep up with friends, they can also be used to keep up with the world. Many communication media use websites such as Facebook to keep people informed on virtually everything. Many celebrities, journalists and even political figures have a public page on Facebook, or they tweet regularly. President Obama, trying to attract younger voters, used social networking websites extensively during his 2008 presidential campaign. One of the defining moments for social networking sites, especially Twitter, was their usage during the revolutionary uprisings in different Arab countries in late 2010, also known as Arab Spring. During that period, I noticed the amount of input that news media took from social networking sites. I do not know if social media were a catalyst for the uprisings or simply tools used during these events, but they undeniably played a role. Besides sharing information about ourselves and the world around us, social networking sites can be a powerful marketing tool. A positive post on a certain product, made by a close friend, is much more powerful than a commercial. When I need to decide on what to buy, or I need to know how good specific restaurants are, I always rely on what my friends think about it. A perfect example for this is Foursquare. Foursquare is an application for mobile phones. It gives you the opportunity to check in into specific places, and leave comments about your experience while visiting those places. All these check-ins and comments are shared instantly with your friends. The better the rating a particular place has, the higher the possibility I will go there. No matter how we look at them, social networking sites have built a strong position in our society during these last years. They have given us some powerful communication tools. Whether or not we choose to be a part of social media, there will always be somebody that will use them according to their needs.

An Adolescent Ailment

Gun Violence: An Adolescent Ailment BY Arod56 On an unseasonably cold March morning in 1993, high school sophomore Edward Gillom exited his first period classroom and made his way through the crowded hallways of Harlem High School. After engaging in a heated argument, allegedly over a girl, with Ronricas â€Å"Pony' Gibson and Ricoh Lee, Gillom pulled out a . 38-caliber gun and opened fire. Gillom's shots fatally wounded Gibson and left Lee with a non-fatal gunshot wound to the neck (Washington Ceasefire, 2011 pg 1).The shooting in Harlem, Georgia sparked national attention as one of the first high school shootings nd added to the alarmingly high rates of gun violence by adolescents during the 1990s. According to the Virginia Youth Violence Project, forty-two homicides took place in American schools in 1993 (2009 pg/par). While the rate of gun violence in American schools has decreased substantially since the early 1990s, the death rate for adolescents due to firearms in the United States is still higher than in any other industrialized nation (Vittes, Sorenson, &ump; Gilbert, 2003 pg/par).The current generation of American teenagers has grown up surrounded by gun violence: in the ews; in their video games; and in the television programs they watch. In the last twenty years, the United States has seen an upsurge of gun related crimes among adolescents; as a result, political leaders and their constituents have become outraged at how accessible the nation's gun laws make firearms to children and the mentally unstable to obtain, especially considering the dramatic decrease of gun control, which will inevitably lead to increased gun crimes involving teenagers and young adults.Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States once said, â€Å"No free man shall be debarred the use of arms†. The constitutional right to keep and bear arms stems from the right to self-defense, and in the 2008 Supreme Court case District of Columbia v. Heller, the court ruled that â€Å"the Second Amendment protects a pre-existing individual right to keep and bear arms†¦ ncluding, the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation† (National Rifle Association, 2011 par 4). Although the Constitution gives individuals the right to bear arms, it does not exclude â€Å"prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places†¦ or laws imposing onditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of firearms,† (Romano ;ump; Wingert, 2011 par 13).In recent years here has been much discussion among the nation's lawmakers and their constituents as to whether or not the Second Amendment is still constitutional; the question is whether or not the Second Amendment should be revised, to prohibit the sale of firearms to those who do not meet certain conditions and qualifications, or even removed from the constitution. According to a national survey of 1 ,005 high school students, conducted by Vittes, Sorrenson and Gilbert, â€Å"63. percent of high school students believe that regulating he sale of guns does not violate the constitution† (2003, pg 12). In the same survey, 64. 6 percent responded that they would support stricter laws addressing the sale of firearms, and 82. 2 percent of those surveyed, believe that the government should make and enforce laws making it more difficult for criminals to obtain a gun†even if it means law abiding citizens would have a harder time purchasing guns (2003, pg 9).While the probability ot the Second Amendment being removed trom the Constitution is highly unlikely, the regulations that pro-gun control lobbyists have suggested seem incredibly logical. But despite the seemingly widespread support of stricter gun control, the gun control legislation that many Americans would like to see has yet to be passed by congress. According to the Center for Responsive Politi cs, in 2008 the National Rifle Association, the largest anti-gun control agency, spent 2. million dollars lobbying for pro-gun legislation, which is forty one times more than what gun control lobbyist could spend (Romano &ump; Wingert, 2011 par 7). The Gun Control Act of 1968, which is a revision of the National Firearms Act of 1934, established regulations for the selling of firearms and was passed in an effort to educe the amount of illegal firearm sales, to confine the sales of firearms to the buyer's state and to restrict certain people from, buying, selling, or transporting firearms (National Rifle Association, 2011b pg/par).As a result, national law prohibits the sale of firearms to those whom are currently under indictment for a felony, have been convicted of a felony, an illegal alien, a fugitive from the law, has been dishonorably discharged from the military, addicted to illegal narcotics or are non- residents of the state in which they are trying to purchase a gun (Nation al Rifle Association, 2011b pg/par). Despite these laws, lack of enforcement allowed individuals like Seung-Hui Cho and Jared Loughner, the shooters at the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre and the 2011 Tucson, Arizona shooting, to obtain firearms and take the lives of innocent people.The longer these laws go unenforced the longer gun violence crimes will continue to rise. There have been three noticeable periods in history during which the rates of adolescent gun violence peaked dramatically–1972-74, 1980 and 1992-3, with 1992-3 being the most dramatic increase (Wilkinson &ump; Fagan, 2001 pg 110). During the fourteen year timespan etween 1997 and 2011 there have been one-hundred and eighty-seven shootings on public school property in the United States (The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, 2010).In their study of adolescents and their exposure to gun violence Wilkinson and Fagan stated that, Although violence has been a recurrent theme for decades among urban delinquency, y outh gun violence has become more prevalent and more concentrated spatially and socially in the past two decades. Starting in 1985, gun violence among teenagers rose sharply in prevalence; it diffused quickly through a generation of teenagers; it sustained a high prevalence and incidence for ver 5 years; and it has declined steadily in the past several years.This patter resembles nothing less than the outbreak of a contagious disease (Wilkinson ;ump; Fagan, 2001 pg 109). Although this study was conducted in 2001, its findings remain true, according to the National Institute of Justice since 2002 the prevalence of adolescent gun violence in America has risen steadily since 2000 (2010, chart 1). This â€Å"outbreak† of violence among youth is most prevalent and abundant in urban communities with high rates of low-income families and gang activity like Chicago, Illinois.In their 2009 report on youth violence in Chicago Roseanna Ander, Phillip Cook, Jens Ludwig and Harold Pollack stated that, â€Å"Over the past 50 years, our society has made far less progress in understanding how to protect our citizens from violence than from all manner of disease.

Two Sides of a Coin

I feel i have been fortunate enough to see and experience by living with both the negative and positive aspects of both sides of the coin. The coin here signifies â€Å"Life† And both of its sides are heads and tails denoting â€Å"Rural and city life† Respectively. Undoubtedly in today's time technology has enslaved us in every sphere of our life, it may be rural area or urban area. Everyday government of every country is trying to bring dynamic changes to urbanize the rural areas in every aspect so that the whole nation can progress towards a better and advanced future. The day isn't very far when we would witness every rural area equivalent to cities. There have been detailed researches ,discussions and strategies made every now and then related to the development of rural areas even then i feel rural and city life has carved a niche for each one of them since ancient times which has a fine life of good and bad differences. Countable disparities created by the humans for their own convenience have led to the origin of the term city and rural life. We are homo sapiens who can withstand any condition to survive therefore it is quite ironic to see that human evolution in its path has started losing the importance of their ancestral roots which belong to the rural life from where we all started. Quite obvious the only reason behind this drastic change is a better life and not contentment in life. Both lifestyles are one of their kind. There is a wide range of factors due to which these different lifestyles overshadow each other in negative and positive ways.i find the saying of ancient greek philosopher plato that â€Å"Necessity is the mother of invention† Is very apt when we talk about the concept of human needs. Human started working from the times where everything use to be done manually and have reached a point where people want every task to be completed within a nanosecond. Inventions have led to an easy life. This is the reason why city life has received a boost in its preference over the past few decades and its effect can be seen as the people living in rural areas have been provoked for a comfortable life alike the people in cities and as a result they are moving to towns and cities for a better life which is a very good thing. More awareness and development has surely been witnessed in the past years. Rural areas definitely have their own charm but when it comes to living there without any second thought there a lot of problems which the people face in their day to day life as compared to people living in cities. People residing in cites have a much more fast and meticulous life.they are highly organized and there life is highly influenced by the technology.the key component of city life is better lifestyle which covers health and medical facilities, basic education, hygiene, basic amenities of life such as food , clothes, house, electricity, transportation, awareness of each and every right as citizen, law and order, exposure to new changes occurring every now and then and many more. People in rural areas are considerably orthodox and are less open to changes in lifestyle whereas their counterparts are much more open minded and are willing to live a life out of the box. The paramount difference is of the educated population found in these two areas which shows us why there is utter difference in the awareness level between the two sides of the coin. In rural areas there are insufficient schools and the ones which are providing education are deficient in terms of teachers, modern teaching aids, infrastructure, educational outings and overall development activities. Primary occupation is farming, pottery, weaving ,domesticating animals resulting in average economic conditions due to which people are hesitant in investing money on education of their children. Due to improper education and awareness people are misguided leaving them behind as compared to the highly qualified people living in cities.alongwith this gender, cast, race discrimination and superstitious believes are prevalent even in the present times.the judicial system is not appropriate and they have to go to cities for any kind of legal help. Water and electricity facilities are not good enough to meet the irrigation and daily life requirements. In addition to this transportation facilities also lack quality. Consequentially people are moving out of the villages to cities and abroad to overcome the financial and educational barriers leading them to financially sound and better life.many people have provided financial aid in the development of several villages which has attributed tremendous improvement in health,education and many other sectors.furthermore, despite all the hurdles people of rural areas face they are fighting with all the circumstances and are trying to be a part of the changing world and have a high sense of contentment and are much more spiritual in comparison to urban dwellers as they are living in the lap of nature and to a considerable extent they are still away from a sedentary lifestyle. This is the reason they are much more healthier due to the muscular effort they require in the daily work they do which is very essential rather than earning any sort of luxury in life which costs us our health.on the contrary people residing in cities enjoy several times better way of living. People are engulfed in all sorts of activities such as gaming zones, various kinds of sports, multi storey malls, parks, music and many more entertainment facilities. Educational facilities are commendable and focus is mainly on education and then leading a better life. Yet people are facing the crisis of lesser job opportunities which has led to increased crime rates as compared to rural areas.everything is easily accessible due to hike in e-commerce and globalization over the decades. Judicial system is quite effective and active as compared to rural areas .technology has captured people in its web leaving them dependent on gadgets, machines reducing manual work and making them potato couches. People stay busy in the hustle bustle of life meeting their aims of being financial sound and give less importance to health and family values. Children have shifted to playing games on computers, mobile phones and studying under strict schedules .transportation is available at ease. Since the muscular work has dropped down to zero people are facing a lot of health issues.all sorts of health facility is available. People are highly occupied and barely give time to themselves and are less attentive towards family life. Both lifestyles have their own pros and cons.it is crucial to live a balanced and peaceful life no matter how much we have progressed with whatever resources we are blessed which maybe man-made or natural.

Janie s Harassment Claim Of The Least ! It Is A Crazy Story

The situation leading up to Janie’s harassment claim is unique to say the least! It is a crazy story, but the all the facts must be presented in order to determine if Janie in fact has a legitimate claim of harassment that she can file with the company and the EEOC. Janie works for a company of 30,000 employees as does Susie, although they work in different geographical regions. Janie has been employed at XYZ Corporation for twelve years, has had attendance issues over several years, and is currently under verbal warning for excessive absences on Mondays. Working at XYZ for seven years, Susie has no policy violations, is in good standing with the employer, and is well liked in her office. Janie and Susie’s connection is that Susie was once married to Janie’s Uncle Pete. After being divorced for several years from Susie, Uncle Pete passes away. Susie asks Janie if she can have Pete’s ashes after his cremation, and Janie refuses. Several phone arguments take place over the course of several months, at work during and business hours, with several coworkers overhearing. In reviewing Janie’s claim of harassment, we need to look at the different types of harassment and see if her situation falls in to one of these categories. Quid pro quo and hostile work environment are both forms of harassment, while retaliation is an adverse treatment of an employee by an employer or supervisor. Courts and employers generally use the same definition of â€Å"quid pro quo†, a form of sexual