Thursday, March 3, 2011

Unfriending on Facebook

So I am finishing up my final web project for this class and I have to say that it helped me to explore the different aspects on online friendship. One of the biggest things I got from it was that we cannot really define what a friend is for someone else. A friend may be someone that you can just go to talk to online when you need it. Someone who is there for you even though they are not physically there. My mom always told me that I would be blessed to have a real true best friend in my lifetime, and that all the other friends I have throughout life I would have to use them for what they are worth (but not in a bad way). She just meant that there are certain friends that I will be able to go to church with, some friends I can talk to, some friends I can have game night with, etc. So these online friendships can truely be genuine when you think about what its worth. I also can confirm that I still hate it when people on Facebook have a billion people they don't talk  to, are not friends with, and do not network with-MEANING YOU SHOULD NOT BE FACEBOOK FRIENDS! ;) I'm not as angry as that sounds. Tell me what you guys think!


The Boundaries of the Web

So I recently watched a youtube post by this young black female, who seemed to be frustated that her peers would always tell her that she spoke white. She said that a young white male who had posted something similar is what encouraged her to speak up. I started to think about how i felt about the situation because-yes people are sterotyping to even be able to say things like this, but the question is how real are these stereotypes and who do they hold true for. So is it whites that talk more proper or is it that more educated people from better neighborhoods talk proper.

Regardless my point is that I started thinking about the world of the internet, and how so many people connect and communicate through the words on a screen rather than the words coming from their mouths. I really think that its quite interesting.There are some boundaries that cannot be crossed on the web. Even if you can see the people you are communicating with. There is such a variety of people on the web that it is likely you will be exposed to different cultures either way. Can you really tell (if there are no pictures of videos) that you are messaging with an asian, black, white, hispanic etc person while your on CNN's website responding to a hurricane in the south.

We may never have a world that is free from racism, stereotyping, or discrimination, but could this be possible via the web?!?!?!?!?!?!