Falk Blog Post #5

MySpace used to one of the most popular websites in the country, until Facebook came along and took over.  In Christine Rosen’s Virtual Friendship and the New Narcissism, she mainly focused MySpace and her article wasn’t really old.  It came out in 2007, and already is outdated because now everyone who is anyone has one.  Christine states that having “friends” on MySpace are different than having “friends” in real life.  She has a point, because most people just add random people or someone they just met, just so they will have more friends on Facebook/MySpace.  It has started to turn into a competition, which gives people and incentive to try and meet people in real life so they can have more Facebook/MySpace friends.

     Christine argues that people who a lot of time on Facebook than they do hanging out with people, tend to be less socialable.  This can be true for some people, but it is not completely true because many people know how to be comfortable around people even when they talk to people on Facebook/MySpace all the time.  The competitiveness has increased ever since people have been making more of an emphasis of having the most friends.  It isn’t necessarily a bad thing to have that competition, because it makes people want to go out to meet new people so they could add them on Facebook/MySpace.  Some people even add random people on the internet, and it has gotten people into dangerous situations, but even when people do random adding they eventually try to meet the person in real life.  Facebook/MySpace isn’t really making people less socialable because it is the person’s own choice to be shy or outgoing.  It just is a fun thing to go onto and keep in contact with friends and family. 

     

Falk Blog Post #4

http://www.youtube.com/user/KiaMotorsAmerica?v=4zJWA3Vo6TU&feature=pyv&cid=sem&ppc=y

     I chose the new KIA commercial that is trying to sell the KIA Soul.  This commercial starts off with a video game background of aliens and robots shooting each other, so it looks that it is a commercial for a new game.  The hamsters then drive up in their KIA Soul and start shuffling to the popular song, Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO.  They get the two sides to stop fighting, and then everyone starts shuffling together.  The song makes me want to just start dancing whenever I hear it, because it is one of my favorite songs.  The only text is at the end when it says “2012 SOUL a new way to roll”, “$ Starting under $14k” and of course they had to add their name at the end, “KIA”.  The opening really caught my eye, because I thought it was for a new video game and I was interested to see what one is coming out now, but was shocked when it turned to hamsters driving and shuffling.   KIA knew that people love the song and that most people will watch a commercial if it has anything to do with a shooting game, so they used both to create a viral video. 

     KIA tries to grab the attention of viewers by adding catchy songs, and an opener that is appealing to the audience’s age range.  The opener gets the attention of people, because most probably thought it was a new video game that was coming out, so it hooked people to stay and find out what is was about.  Once the hamsters rolled up in the KIA Soul they knew people were going to know it wasn’t for a video game, so they made hamsters shuffle to Party Rock Anthem.  The rhetoric they use is based just on image and sounds alone to keep viewers hooked and entertained throughout the whole commercial.  The commercial uses the desire to dance and play video games, because the song they use makes anyone want to dance no matter the age.   

     The audience for the KIA commercial would be basically anyone that can drive, but it is probably most intended for the younger generation of new drivers.  The video game resemblance shows that the audience they wanted to get “hooked” first are the guys, and then the music gets the rest of the other people to watch.    The commercial assumes that the audience knows that shuffling is the dance that is meant for the song Party Rock Anthem, because that’s how all the hamsters and the other things are dancing.  The audience might think that if they buy this car, they’d be able to shuffle just like they are in the commercial.  They might also assume that other people who just look up to them now that they have this “awesome” new car.  The commercial really doesn’t have much to do with the car, because it never tells or shows any information about it, except for the name and price.  The commercial just is a really entertaining, and it gets people to watch.  The commercial is both on the T.V. and YouTube, but it is most effective on YouTube.  YouTube is viewed by various people, and anyone can find this commercial so it doesn’t have to be aimed for a certain type of people.  YouTube is the most effective form of advertising as long as you can get it to go viral, which means it is mass sent to people and becomes extremely popular or extremely hated. 

In Class Writing 4 Falk

The main picture changes occasionally, but each one shows a different aspect of VT life.  The background is a nice picture of people walking on a bright sunny day.  It gives off a welcoming and warm feeling, making a good first impression.  The information boxes are blue, green, maroon and orange. Maroon and orange are the school colors, so that’s obvious why those two colors were chosen, and blue and green look good together mixed in with the maroon and orange.  The site is easily navigable and it has major topic boxes that if you click on it, more boxes will be available to click on that pertains to that main topic.  If you can’t find what you are looking for then you can type it in in the search engine box.  

Falk Blog Post #3

     Snowboarding is something I love to do in the winter; you could call my winter passion.  I try to go as much as possible, especially since it’s only available for a few months of the year.  I typed in snowboarding to Google and the first three websites that appeared were Burton snowboards, Wikipedia and a Transworld snowboarding.  Burton Snowboards is one of my favorite websites, because they make the best snowboarding gear.  My board is a Burton Snowboard and I love it.  Their website sells all types of gear, from boards, to jackets, to gloves.  It also has information about the burton snowboard team, and just random facts.  Wikipedia tells basically everything about snowboarding, because anyone can add to that website.  It talks about different styles of snowboarding, how to snowboard, safety tips, a known competition, and just random facts.  Transworld Snowboarding isn’t a shopping website but more of an informational site.  It has a how to section for tricks, a gear guide, resorts section and videos.  The websites are similar to each other in which they all contain the basic information about snowboarding, and they give you tips on what to look for when buying gear. 

     I asked my roommate to Google search snowboarding as well, and she got the exact same top three sites.  I was shocked, because I Google snowboarding stuff a lot, like to buy new gear, and she said she maybe has Google searched snowboarding once before.  At the same time, I’m not surprised because all three websites are the major websites.  Wikipedia is always in the top three no matter what is being searched, Burton Snowboards is the top snowboarding company and Transworld snowboarding contain a lot of major information. 

     The individualized search engine that Google has created has its good and bad sides.  I like it because it makes it so someone isn’t going through a lot of random websites that really have nothing to do with the topic that is being searched.  It also recommends websites that are like the ones I already go to, so sometimes I end of finding some pretty awesome websites.  I don’t like it at the same time, because personalized search is limited.  A useful website could be left out of the results because it wasn’t related to any site I have visited before.  The internet is a space for free knowledge and exchange of ideas most of the time, but there are sites that charge money just to be a member.  It can be hard to trust the internet, because you never know what is true and what is fake.  In the whole picture, I think the individualized search engine is a good thing, because it reflects on what you like to go to on the internet, and give good suggestions.  

In Class Writing 3 Falk

What images and text are present in the ad?

     The image of a guy and girl having lunch wearing the same uniform, which means they work together.  The text is saying how women have proved that they can work the same jobs men can, and do it effectively.

What is the purpose? What in the text makes you believe that?

     The purpose is to show that women now can work same jobs as men, because they have proved themselves worthy of doing that.  The text says “we never figured you could do a man-sized job!” which means that America didn’t believe that women could work the same jobs as men because they jobs were more dangerous and required more skill and physical strength that women’s jobs.

Who do you believe is the audience? How do you know?

     The audience would be both men and women, because it gives women the confidence to go out and apply for these jobs, and it tells men that women can do it just as well as they can.

Who do you believe is the creator? Why?

     The government or an owner of a huge factory/company wrote the ad, because they wanted to get the point across that women can work a “man’s” job.  To help ease the transition of having women work in factories, and to also give women confidence.       

What are the rhetorical appeals?

     The creator used Pathos to get his/her point across, because the picture is of a man and a woman on their lunch break working at the same factory.  The use of language also helped show how women can succeed in the factory workspace.

What is the cultural context and assumptions?

     It tries to support women and their choice to work in factories, and it seemed like before this ad men never thought that woman could work in factories.  Men didn’t like the fact of women working, but the ad helped settle a little tension. 

Falk Blog Post #2

      We live in a world that is basically run on digital technology, and there is no way to escape it.  High school teachers are starting to use computers more in class.  This is a slow transition because many teachers/deans are hesitant on the fact that students can become very distracted when dealing with computers.  College is very different on that aspect, in the fact that students basically use their laptops for virtually anything from writing notes all the way to ordering food sometimes.  I personally love using my computer to take notes or do homework and yes I do get distracted, but that’s the whole learning experience. 

     Nicholas Carr tries to argue his point on how the internet has made it so he can read in depth and find anything intriguing for a certain amount of time. I agree with him on how the internet is distracting, and how it has made it so people can find the answer to basically anything.  I feel like he is just trying to find something to blame for his own problem.  Internet does not make people less willing to read, that is based on the person’s own ability and will to read and learn. 

     High schools are starting to make changes to adapt into this “digital world” but they are still hesitant, so they are doing it gradually.  If I was in charge of how schools were run, I would have it so most high schools allow students to use laptops.  The distractions are something to worry about, but a student needs to learn how to deal with it by pass and fail before college.  It would help a student learn how to manage their time and figure out how to control the urge to get distracted when work has to be done.  Teachers should focus more on teaching kids at a young age to type, and keep re-enforcing it as they get older because then they’d be able to type correctly.  I personally do not like SOLs, because they are a waste of time and students don’t remember too much after the test is over with.  Teachers mainly teach what is going to be on the SOL, and it doesn’t prepare students for college at all.  They should be teaching the main classes of course, but it might be good to go at a different way.  I personally think teachers should allow students bring their laptops and work on them in class, because they would learn that if they get distracted then they wouldn’t do so well in the class.  It is all about the learning experience, because most students learn by messing up once or multiple times.  It is called live and learn, which is what life is really all about.

    

Falk Blog Post 1

     Junior year of high school, students form the all the Virginia Beach Public Schools had an opportunity to apply to go to a specialized class at a technology school.  I got accepted and attended this engineering class for my Junior and Senior year of high school, but I still went to my regular high school for my basic classes for half the school day.  Attending this class was a major technology upgrade, because it had different types of machines and various computer programs that I had never heard of before.  One program we used frequently was called Inventor, and at first it was one of the most confusing things I had ever seen before.  You could create various shapes and objects, all which you had to start from scratch and actually create them yourself.  I remember the first day we started using it, I was so dumbfounded and thought I would never be able to figure out how it works.  It had so many different functions, options and icons that I just stared at the program for a very long time.  I am usually pretty good with technology and could quickly figure out how to make things work, even if I have never really seen it in my life, but this program was more complex than I thought.  After a couple weeks of using it, I was finally able to figure it out for the most part, but every time for the next two years that I used it, I figured out new things about how it works or how to create new designs.  This whole class opened my eyes to all types of high quality technology that I would not have been exposed too if I never took the class.

     Claire Couillard wrote about how she was growing up when the early forms of new high tech technology started emerging.  She stated the fact that she was able to figure out new technology by trial and error, which is how I had to figure out Inventor.  Most of the time my trial and error consisted of me just messing around, and wondering what does this button do kind of thing.  The difference between our stories though, is the fact that she had her family and friends go to her for help, where I went to my friends for help. 

     Being digital literate is now considered to be its own language, and like any language, it might come easy to some people but to others it would be extremely difficult.  A person that would be digital literate would be someone that knows how some of the buttons and icons work if you would press them, and people who read a computer program.  There are different levels of digital literacy, and most people know the basics of how to use a computer.  A digital native is someone who has grown up with all these new forms of digital technology, and when something new comes out it usually wouldn’t take too long to figure it out.  Mainly the younger generations are digital natives, but the people who didn’t grow up with the new digital technology are starting to try and learn how these new things work.

     The most effective evidence to prove the age range of people who are digital natives would be to conduct a survey.  It wouldn’t be too accurate, unless you surveyed everyone in the entire world.  Internet would also be a good source of evidence.  I am a digital native, because I’ve grown up in the time when all this new digital technology started appearing, my mom on the other hand did not, but she is digital literate because she is trying to learn how to do most of her work on her laptop.  Since she didn’t grow up with all these new digital things, it is difficult for her to figure out what to do so she always had to come to me for help.  To me, the best kind of evidence is the kind that comes from past experience because it then would sound more real and it would be easier to explain, then going off of some random website you found.