Proposals

Lorena’s proposal was about the censorship in China: A Communication in Crisis. She talked about the Golden Shield, or the firewall, which blocks a multitude of online content from users. I was astonished to learn all the types of things they block, including social media sites, political content, activists, social issues, and more. It is very apparent that it needs to change, as Lorena is trying to point out. At the end of her presentation, Lorena posed the question, How does the internet censorship affect our culture? I agree with what we touched on in class. With the censorship in China, they are sort of left out of global issues. They have no input as well as no output of information. Overall, it was a good presentation and I think you’re on the right track Lorena!

Sheila went next and discussed how traditional gender roles are reinforced on social networks. She first talked about Facebook and Myspace. With these sites, it is obvious to tell who is male and who is female by their profile picture. She then brought up Club Penguin, which is a site with no gender identification associated with it. I found it very interesting how people are still trying to identify who is male and female through their conversation. “all males say i” This site really shows off how social site reinforce the gender roles we associate with in real life. I am with Julie in that this was the most interesting part of the presentation, and her idea of focusing on that is a great one! Great job Sheila!

Maurice had a cool idea about how cell phones are changing how agriculture is done is rural America. There is agriculture all over the country but not necessarily internet. With cell phones it keeps you connected and gives you an advantage over those farmers without them. You can check the weather and know exactly when it’s right to plant your crops, or what have you. Cell phones also act as the middle man. No one is having to go back and forth to the farmers, telling them information. This is a great way cell phones are closing the gap of the digital divide. Those in rural areas are still able to stay connected.

Corrinda discussed educating through gaming. She was asking if children learn through gaming and if they do, what do they learn and what do they miss out on. I think children do learn through gaming and she is on the right track. If I were her, I would make sure I included the answer to the questions above. What children are learning AND what they are missing out on.

Kathy wrapped it up with talking about the old school way of doing politics and Obama’s method. Obama used the internet to his advantage and won over the youth vote as well as many others. He transformed politics with the internet like Kennedy did with TV. She included a lot of great information, but the one thing I found missing was her argument. I wasn’t quite sure what she was arguing. What she could look at is how this is shifting culture or the so what?

Great proposals everyone!