Blog #5

Lupton states that “the overt reasons for portraying computers as human is to reduce the anxieties of computerphobia that many people, particularly adults, experience”(Lupton 428). The Terminator films are a great illustration of this concept. The first film has the terminator as a destructive force out to kill John (the one person who stands in Skynet’s way to destroy mankind). In the film, Skynet is portrayed as a form of artificial intelligence out to conquer the world and destroy mankind by initiating a nuclear holocaust. The concept of this film is a prime example of how some people feel about computers, especially the older generations that have not had much exposure to technology. There is a small portion of the population that believes in the possibility of an artificial intelligence being able to take over the world someday. The film definitely portrays computers as villains that threaten humankind. However, by the second film the original terminator is now “good” and fighting a more advanced ‘bad” robot. I think the concept here is that computers are constantly evolving into machines that are more and more powerful. This power frightens people. People are always concerned with the unknown and don’t really like not having control over their environment and thus some view computers as frightening and even threatening.

I think that one of the most significant things I’ve learned so far in this course has to do with the constructionist view. Rosenblum and Travis explain that “social processes, such as those in political, legal, economic, scientific, and religious institutions, create differences, determine that some are more important than others, and assign particular meaning to those differences” (Rosenblum and Travis 2-29). I believe that most of our actions, beliefs and thoughts come from personal experience or upbringing and does not necessarily mean we were born with these. How we are raised contributes to our views of the world and those views can sometimes change as people go through life experiences. I think the challenge with this view in incorporating it in RL, is being able to accurately distinguish between genetics and developmental traits and how they affect how we view a person.

Works Cited:
Rosenblum, Karen E. and Travis, Toni-Michelle. “Framework Essay.” The Meaning of Difference. 5th Edition. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2008, 2-39. Print.

Bell, David, and Barbara M. Kennedy, eds. The Cyberculture's Reader. 2nd edition. New York: Routledge, 2007, 428. Print.

Blog #4

Bell describes peg communities as “Coat pegs on which we choose to temporarily hang parts of our identities” (Bell, 254). I have to say that I am not an avid user or member of any online peg communities. The only online community that I am a member of is facebook and that is due to the constant harassment and probing from my friends to join. Otherwise, I probably would not have any online connections at all. Although, I have joined facebook I do not accept any friend requests from people I do not know even if they are friends with some of my friends. I am still skeptical of the whole online community life and worry too much about people that I do not know, seeing things about me and about my life. I do have to say that I have enjoyed using facebook so far and even though I don’t check it or post to it very often, it is always fun to check out what my friends and family members have been up to if I haven’t had a chance to talk to them in a while. I would then have to agree that peg communities are a place where people can leave a part of their identity for other people in that community to see and be a part of.  Although, the size of my facebook community is small and limited in terms of members that I allow to see my page, I still am expressing and sharing ideas and events in my life that allow other people in my facebook community to see who I am as a person and get at least some part of my identity that I allow to show up online.

I have chosen myspace (www.myspace.com), twitter (www.twitter.com) and bebo (www.bebo.com) as sites I would like to explore and learn more about by writing about them in Assignment 2. I chose these sites mainly because of their popularity. I have never used any of these sites and I’d like to know what they have to offer, compared to facebook and other online communities.

Bell, David. The Cybercultures Reader. 2nd. 1. New York, NY: Routledge, 2000. 254-63. Print.