Week 9 Reading Response

Be sure to post the four digit course section at the top of your blog posting. There is no need to include the ENC 1101 part; Just put the four digits of the course section. After you post the course number, you are welcome to give your posting a title if you so choose.

Stuart Greene gives a few examples of how framing mechanisms can help writers to better establish a point they are trying to make. He uses Richard Rodriguez's 'scholarship boy' and an example from a student who uses Mary Louise Pratt's 'contact zones' and 'transculturation' to help make a point. Review these sections on framing, and then brainstorm for a bit about some new concepts you have learned in this course or another class. Try to use the new concept you have learned to frame some other aspect of your life.

For example, I might have just learned about the topic of transference in a psychology class, and according to theories of transference,  the act of transference involves the assimilation of one stimulus to trigger a connected representation to something else. In psychology I learned about how Pavlov trained his dog to salivate at the sound of a bell because the bell was always associated with food. The bell would ring, and then food would soon follow. Thus the dog experienced transference: the bell was linked to the food.

I noticed while watching television that many advertisers use this same technique of transference to help to sell a product. One famous example is clearly depicted in beer advertising. Beer companies seek to sell beer by using beautiful women. Similar to Pavlov's dog, beer marketers want their product to be associated with beautiful women. Beer companies know that men feel pretty good about beautiful girls, and they want to transfer that good feeling onto their product.

I want you to use a concept or idea from this class or another to create your own example of framing.

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Your second section of the week nine blog calls you to identify and use Gee as a framing mechanism to say something new about an online community for which you are a part of. Consider your ways of doing, being, believing, and valuing that you impart as a member of some online community. The strongest postings will reveal insights about your participation in an online community.     

Your initial posting is due no later than Sunday, October 14th, by 11:59pm (Eastern Standard Time).
Your response to a peer is due no later than Tuesday, October 16th, by 11:59pm (Eastern Standard Time).


55 comments:

  1. 0119
    Part 1

    Cognitive dissonance is a sociopsychological concept that I learned about in my Psychology class last year. Cognitive dissonance describes the feeling when you are experiencing two conflicting thoughts, ideas, beliefs, emotions…basically any two cognitions that interfere with each other. Like most of us, I had already experienced this phenomenon, but now I further understand it and have a term to label it with. A classic example is smoking. The smoker most likely knows that it is terrible for their health, but they continue to smoke after they rationalize that it is “okay” to do so. For example, they may point out that quitting is hard or that if smoking doesn’t kill them, something else will.

    Cognitive dissonance, that uncomfortable nagging voice in my mind, has been bothering me lately. For instance, a few months ago, a friend and I had a fight and then I pretty much told her that was that. We haven’t spoken since. On one hand, I am happy I do not have her in my life anymore because she caused some unnecessary drama and stress, was very clingy, and was always looking for someone to complain to. On the other hand, I usually do not lose friends, and I don’t like the feeling that she might hate me. I rationalize our friendship ending by thinking of all the things she did that bothered me. As far as contacting her and possibly rebuilding some sort of friendship, I haven’t because I rationalize that this is for the best because, when we were still friends, I’d been secretly hoping that we would grow apart once we left high school.

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  2. 0119
    Part 2

    Reddit is an online social media community that I am a part of that can follow James Paul Gee’s concept of Discourse. Discourses are “saying (writing)-doing-being-valuing-believing combinations” (484). They are “‘identity kits’ [that] integrate words, acts, values, beliefs, attitudes, and social identities. . .” (484) that help us play the correct social role.

    As far as “saying (writing)” goes, I rarely comment on Reddit. As in, I don’t really remember even doing so. But, I can describe what I have observed, and I feel qualified to do so. On Reddit, you better write grammatically correct or people will downvote you to hell. You made a strong argument in your comment, but you used “you’re” instead of “your?” Someone is going to point it out. “My what?” is almost the guaranteed response. Reddit comments can get predictable with learned responses to situations. Another example of this predictability in writing is what has been coined a “pun thread.” Someone makes a pun, and the comment thread will carry on and on with more puns.

    What people “do” on Reddit includes posting content and commenting on the content. Using Reddit is sometimes called “Redditing.” Content includes articles, videos, pictures, music, and self-posts (text written by the poster). People “upvote” and “downvote” content and comments. Generally, people upvote what contributes to discussion and is interesting, and downvote what is not. However, many people use this voting power to downvote unpopular opinions, even if it contributes to a discussion. This is known as experiencing the “wrath of the hivemind.” The hivemind of Reddit refers to the popular opinions and beliefs that a lot of Redditors hold, and the wrath refers to being virtually attacked with downvotes or negative responses just because you are making a point that isn’t popular with the majority.

    The “being,” or identity assumed by someone who uses Reddit has been coined “Redditor,” a Portmanteau combining “Reddit” and “editor.” Those who actively post and comment have “karma” associated with their Reddit identity. Karma is essentially fake internet points that no one should give a damn about, but apparently a lot of people do. Your karma comes from your net votes people have given you (upvotes minus downvotes). I am one of the “Redditors” who don’t care, and I don’t post anyway.

    My values and beliefs, as a user of Reddit, are shared with many others on Reddit. We value good content and stimulating discussion, as well as the running jokes that stay funny. We value a place for freedom of expression. In addition, Reddit is a pretty liberal place, and, well, I happen to be pretty liberal. As far as politics go, Reddit seems to be predominantly left-wing. And as far as religion, there are many atheists. I happen to share these left-wing and atheistic values, and so this type of content on Reddit appeals to me.

    I’ll admit I am surprised that I have been able to frame Reddit with Gee’s concept of Discourse as much as I have. However, I now think that this idea can probably be applied to most situations and communities we encounter.

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  3. 0037


    I am not sure that i have a case that i can relate to for this part. I am struggling thinking of something, but i think i got an idea. In this class earlier on, we had to write about our past literacy experiences and how they shaped our literacy today. I personally did not enjoy reading nor writing in school. The reasons and arguments that i wrote down, were all to the negative side of whatever the assignment was. When i was thinking about what experiences i was going to write about however, i was only trying to find negatives. When i read a couple of classmates' paper and read some of their positive experiences, i realized that i too had some positive experiences and was basically being stubborn saying there were only negatives. I guess i was looking at the prompt from only one point of view and failed to recognize the opposing view. And i was looking at all my experiences trying to find the negatives instead of the negatives and positives.





    The only online community i am a part of is facebook. If facebook was an actual Discourse and could select who is part of it, i would more than likely not be a part of it. I am not one who posts every five seconds and every detail of my life. I very seldom post statuses, and when i do they are either more serious statuses or funny statuses of something funny that may have recently happened. I don't have the "beliefs" that some do about letting the entire world know exactly where you are every second as the "masters" of facebook probably do. I do take value in facebook, and value it very highly at times because it allows me to keep in touch with long distance friends. I can see what my friends are up to whenever they post something, and can talk to them whenever i want. I believe that facebook has become more than a way to stay in touch with friends and family however, because everyone is now using it to get people to join their cause or another Discourse. So it has become an advertising mainstream and it takes away from the whole purpose of the site.

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  4. 0M08
    In psychology we learned about the overjustification effect basically stating that when someone does something just because they love to do it but is later offered a reward for it, it kind of becomes a burden because they're now doing it because they have to. Therefore, it doesn't have much of an effect on the person. I can apply this to many things in my life. For instance, I used to love making different kinds of bracelets when I was younger. My friends used to see the different types of bracelets I made and actually offered me money to make bracelets for them as well. Seeing that I was now being rewarded for making them, it was almost like I was being forced to make them and I began to enjoy it less and less. At a certain point I just stopped making them completely. A more current example would be reading. I always have loved to read books and would read anytime I was free. Now that I am forced to read books for all my classes to get a good grade I don't enjoy it at all anymore and it is basically a chore. I haven't picked up a book to read for fun in a long time and I don't think I will because I am simply not motivated to read for fun anymore.
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    Facebook is the only online community I am a part of. As a member of this online community I play a professional yet entertaining role. I know what my boundaries are when I post something and make sure I keep it classy, but that doesn't mean that I can't post something funny at the same time. As for the "doing" aspect of it, I basically view what people have to post whether it's a picture, video, or status and offer my feedback on it if it is worth it. This kind of flows into my values when I am on Facebook. I value good etiquette and won't respond to things that I think look trashy i.e cursing, bullying, drama, provocative pictures etc. People should have respect for themselves and for others when posting stuff on Facebook. The things you post can hurt you in the long- run when looking for job opportunities if you are posting things that cross the line. Facebook is a place where everyone should be themselves. That's how I think of it and that's exactly what I am when I am online. It's a fun way to interact and share cool things about you and your personality and you'd be surprised to know that people judge you by what you post on Facebook. I personally believe that Facebook is one giant learning experience. I not only learn things about myself, but I learn things about other people and things. For example, I can join groups dealing with things that are of interest to me and be able to interact with people who share the same interests like psychology. Sometimes people post interesting information about that topic that I find fascinating then I decide to spread the word to others that I know will appreciate it as well. I also see all of the current events going on so if I don't have time to watch the news, I know that I will always be updated by Facebook. In terms of learning about myself, I have noticed a pattern in the things I post. I see which types of posts get the most positive feedback and continue to post those things. It helps me to be more cautious and aware of what I should and shouldn't be posting. I feel much better when I get that approval from everyone else.

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  5. Blake Anderson
    0119
    As reading Stuart Greene’s piece “The Role of Inquiry in Writing a Researched Argument”, I came to a realization of his perspective on the meaning of framing. A difficult concept to understand, Greene calls framing “a strategy that can help you orchestrate different and conflicting voices in advancing your argument” (14); to me, this means seeing something or causing someone to see something from a new perspective.
    Both of Greene’s subjects incorporate excerpts from another writers work into their own experiences to help explain their feelings and emotions toward their own journeys. In other words, they used someone’s words to find a metaphoric portal into their own mind. Richard Rodriguez frames a section from Richard Hoggart’s book “The Uses of Literacy” to gather a meaning to his own experience that he wasn’t able to do before. This obviously relates to someone seeing something from a new perspective, but this result can also consequently come from inadvertent causes.
    For example, my framing example of the week relates to the psychological process of conditioned responses. I’m sure we all have that on childhood experience at a place like Target where we lost our mother, or Chuck E’ Cheese’s where you feel of the slide and broke your arm. This process of conditioned responses forces someone to relate those past negative emotions with the place of its happening.
    I can use myself as a real life instance. A few years ago my grandmother passed away, only a few years after my grandfather, now whenever I drive over the bend from I-595 to 1-95 in South Florida, I feel a bit sad inside. This sadness comes from me conditioning that bend, leading in Fort Lauderdale, with going to see my grandparents. Now whenever I go over that bend, I feel as if I am going to see them, but I know that they aren’t there.
    Another example, one that may relate easier to teenagers, is a mainstream music video called “Kids” by MGMT. In this video, a child is placed in a crib and people, disguised as hideous monsters, taunt and torture the child. This action continues throughout the entire music video even after the child is removed from the crib and placed with a mother type figure. About a year ago I read an article on the result of this video. This child, now that it has been tortured in a crib, can no longer sleep in one; a study was done on this to see the results. Not only did this child have this negative conditioned response, he was also conditioned, whenever scared or frightened, to run to his mother side for comfort and protection. Many teenagers remember seeing this video and they also remember running to their mother side when they felt unsafe as a child.

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  6. These are the inadvertent causes that I mentioned; no one caused my grandparents to pass away and make me feel these emotions, but it still happens.
    An online community that I am a part of that I can use Gee as a framing mechanism for is an online gaming community. The one game that I want to mention in particular is a game called League of Legends. My ways of doing, being, believing and valuing all intertwine with one another within this community. As a frequent player and visitor on the games home web page, I feel as if I am an active member of the community. Every time I play this game, two teams of five are pinned against each other in a duel to the destruction of their Nexus, or headquarters. I, being a member of this team, am valued amongst my other teammates because if I or any other member of my team did not participate to their full potential, if could lose us the game. Not only to I need to try my best for the team I play with, I also need to play my role as a Jungler. A few times a week, I get online with friends I have in real life and we play as a team of five against another team of five. These games are different that other games where you are placed with random teammates because we all know each other, know how each other plays, know our weaknesses and strengths etc…. this makes any pre-made team a formidable foe. My strength within this team is running the jungle. If I do terrible in the jungle, my team can fall apart, which causes my friends to depend on me in this one specific role.
    I also want to point out the difference in being around the community and actually participating in it. Last night, Oct 13th, 2012, the World Championships for this game was broadcasted over the internet. I got together with a few friends to watch the games happen. Three of the four friends I watched this with actually play the game and are involved in its community just as I am; but one of them has never played the game before, he has only watched it. As he watched it, he felt as if he was involved in the community, but we all knew that he was not. It takes a significant amount of effort to actually be able to consider yourself a part of an online community, effort that he had not put in.

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  7. 0037

    In my Psychology class we have just learned about perception. Perception is the way one sees things as opposed to another person. For example one person sees a sad Humane Society commercial with the sad slow music in the background and the pictures of different animals looking cute and sad. One person may be really moved by this commercial maybe because one of the animals looks like an animal on the screen or maybe they just really love animals. Another person may look at the same commercial and not be as moved because they might've had a bad experience with a mean dog or animals are a liability to them. Either way each person's perception is different.

    Really every aspect in life deals with perception, but one conflict that really deals with perception that is big is whether you support Romney or Obama. Many people don't how someone can vote for Obama or vice versa. It really deals on how they were raised and how they percieve each person and what they stand for. For example, the stereotypical Romney fan would be wealthier than most, maybe affiliated with or works at a large corporation, is religious, and thinks the government is too big for its own good. They might vote for Romney because he is going to save that person money by not taxing them as much or taking away Universal Healthcare because they are already satisfied with the health care they get and don't like the idea of flooded doctors' offices because everyone now has healthcare. While the opposing stereotypical Obama fan likes Obama because Obama will help them save money by taxing them less and passing Universal Health Care, which the person favors because they do not have health care and are afraid of getting sick. Each person percieves each candidate differently because of their background and different past experiences.
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    An online community that I am affiliated with is Facebook. On Facebook I am mostly just posting things that are important to me or things that i enjoy. Some of my last postings include politics, song lyrics and how nice the weather has been. On Facebook i don't really try to post things that I think that other people will enjpy but more so what i will enjoy. I think of Facebook as your own living space or room. You only put things up that you will enjoy, not what you think others will like. To me Facebook is basically like a person that you make up on the internet by posting things that YOU find interesting. You can really learn a lot about someone by seeing their Facebook. Besides the fact that we use Facebook to keep up and catch up with old friends and new friends, Facebook is a creative way to express who you are. Without being able to give your Facebook a personal touch of who you are, it wouldn't be as interesting.

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    Replies
    1. Perception was a really good example to use for framing cause you can relate it to just about everything. I liked the example you used with with Obama and Romney. It clearly showed that you were able to connect it to something going on now and it shows your understanding of the term. Your idea of Facebook and what you post is a little different than what I would post. I usually post something that I enjoy but what other people will enjoy as well because you will be judged by what you post and I keep everyone else in mind while I'm posting. I do agree with the fact that you learn a lot about people by viewing their page. There are ways to add personal touch to it without crossing the line and saying too much.

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  8. Travis Badall - 0037

    One concept I learned in AP Psychology in my senior year of high school was selective attention. Selective attention is the ability to focus on one stimulus while ignoring all others. For example, you've probably experience selective attention when trying to talk on the phone with someone and holding conversation with people around you. Chances are, you are only going to be able to focus on one of these conversations while the other one proves to be a distraction. If you try to pay attention to both conversations, you might start to get confused and maybe even say the wrong thing to the wrong audience.

    A more specific example of selective attention is called the cocktail-party phenomenon. This scenario occurs when you are in a loud setting, such as party or concert, but solely focusing on the conversation you are having with the other person, regardless of all the other sounds/distractions. I'm pretty sure everyone has been in this type of situation. Whether it's telling your friends about the hot girl you just met while at the club, or trying to hold conversation with your friend in the middle of a crowd, we've all experienced the cocktail party phenomenon.
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    An online community that I am a part of is the Facebook community. I'm not one of active posting, but rather I try to see what other people are up to. I think Facebook has strayed away from its original purpose which is try to connect with family or old friends that you haven't talked to in a long time. Instead, half of my newsfeed, if not more, is filled with overused memes, pictures with inspirational quotes on them, or people posting statuses/pictures for the sole intent of trying to get likes/comments. Nonetheless, what these people post say something about their personality. When I usually post a status, it's intent is usually to post about something I achieved, something other people can relate to, or even just to post pictures I've taken when hanging out with people. I don't really see the reasoning behind re-posting memes or posting pictures that say "Like this picture if you've ever played/watched/(insert past tense verb) this" because as I said, it takes away from the purpose of the site, and that's one of the reasons why I hardly check/post anything on my Facebook as often as I used to.

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  9. Michael Marinari
    0119
    Part 1:

    I really enjoyed reading this week’s article about “framing” an argument by Greene. This metaphor and this week’s blog question really jumped at me because of how easy it is to relate a past experience to something new that we learn. Humans are creatures of habit and we tend to relate anything new that we learn to something that is already familiar so that our mind can easily understand new acquired knowledge. For example, my sociology teacher, Mr. Martens, was a brilliant lecturer. He taught my class early on the meaning of the glossary term “coalition”, which defined by McGraw-Hill as “a temporary or permanent alliance geared towards a common goal”. He used many examples throughout time, from freedom fighters in the Revolutionary War to terrorists in Afghanistan to further specify what this term really meant. Most of my peers were unfamiliar with this term and what it entails especially if they didn’t have a strong vocabulary. Personally the word came as second nature because most everything I did outside of schoolwork required coalition action. I understood that my job, soccer, chores, and even friendships required a motive towards teamwork. Mr. Martens not only described the term to us but immediately after had us do a group project giving us a real-word experience of coalition to relate to. The project was impossible to do alone because your group had to be at three different stations at once. Mr. Martens explained that this is why coalition forms, to make the impossible possible. From then on whenever I think of coalition I not only think of the countless soccer teams I’ve played on but that early on lesson by Mr. Martens and the group project thereafter and the possible future coalitions I will make throughout my life.

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  10. 0119
    Personality is defined as the reasonably stable patterns of behavior, thoughts, ad feelings that characterize a person’s life. In my psychology class, we learned about Freud’s theory of personality, which he believes is composed of three elements that work together known as the id, the ego, and the super-ego. The id is the pleasure principle which strives for immediate satisfaction of wants, needs, and desires. The ego is the reality principle, responsible for ensuring that the impulses of the id can be accepted in the real world. And the super-ego is known as our conscience, which works to civilize our behavior. I can apply this to many situations in my life, for instance, over the summer there was this really big party happening that I was really set on going and was super excited to be getting out the house (id). Then reality set it that I also had a huge 8 page essay due for my American history class on Monday. So now I was stuck between the two, do I go out and party like there was no tomorrow or skip this one and work on my paper which was worth 50% of my grade (ego)? I figured that there would always be another party that I could go to but I only had one chance at getting this paper done if I wanted to pass my class so I ended up skipping the party and doing my essay which I was happy to get back with an A! (super-ego)

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    One online community that I am apart of is Twitter. As a member, I really just speak whatever is on my mind or however I am feeling at the moment but only if I feel as though I want people to know what is going on and be apart of the moment. For instance, when I got accepted to UCF I made sure to tweet so and everyone was congratulating me which was a good feeling. I use Twitter just to post pictures or share something interesting but some people take twitter and use it to criticize celebrities, tv shows, etc or to bash other individuals. I don’t condone in those activities so I usually just sign off whenever Basketball wives or an MTV award show is on because that is when twitter gets crazy. Some people don’t realize that nothing you do on the internet is private anymore and all of that can hurt you at the end of the day. Job opportunities could be ruined just for something you post on a social media site. I just take it as a way to express yourself but in a user-friendly way because someone is always watching and someone is always judging.

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  11. 0119

    In biology we learned about sexual life cycles and their relation to mitosis and meiosis. I found that this concept is similar to the cycles I have gone through this semester. Mitosis is the form of cell division used to produce diploid cells, while meiosis forms haploid cells. For humans and many other sexually reproducing organisms there are periods of time where cells are haploid or diploid. These two phases alternate. A diploid cell in humans has all forty-six chromosomes, while haploid gametes (sex cells) have only twenty-three chromosomes. Right now I would say I am in a haploid stage where there is a minimal amount of work. Last week I had two papers due for this class, a calculus test to study for, many difficult chemistry topics to learn, and practice every day. With all of these responsibilities I had to work twice as hard.

    The same thing happened when I had my first calculus test. I have to spend twice as much time doing homework when a calculus test comes around. Therefore, the weeks with calculus tests are like those times where somatic cells are dividing mitotically to keep the diploid number of chromosomes.

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    Since I am not really a part of any online communities, my situation can be explained by Gee’s “first theorem.” I have a Facebook account, but I rarely post anything. Sometimes I will scroll through the newsfeed for a few minutes, but I quickly get bored with this. There are a lot of pictures on my profile, but my mother posts these and tags me in them. I do have to go on Facebook to find information about Ultimate Frisbee practices and community service, but I just take in this information without commenting on anything.

    With respect to online communities, I am a “non-member.” Gee says, “…someone cannot engage in a Discourse in a less than fully fluent manner.” I have not kept up with Facebook in the past year, so I am not fluent in the different functions needed to use it. Recently, “timeline” was forced upon me, but I have not figured out how it is different. Because I don’t have the knowledge to use Facebook, I don’t want to label myself as a “pretender.” I don’t attempt to post anything or mimic what other people do. In this way, I am different from Gee’s description of a “non-member.” I do not feel like it is necessary for me to be a part of the Facebook Discourse, so I have stopped using it completely.

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  12. OMO8

    Greene believes that framing is when the author is trying to generate new knowledge in a social process .An idea or concept that I have learned to is used in framing writing and can be applied to my everyday life is using a catchy hook for opening paragraphs. This rule was enforced to me when I was in elementary school whenever I wrote a paper and it followed me all throughout high school. This rule ties into framing because whenever people use social media to advertise they always aim for headlines to get readers attention. Also when it comes to Twitter, users have a limited number of characters to use so if they plan to address an issue they have to get to the point and only put the things that matter. On Facebook no one wants to read paragraphs when scrolling through there news feed so most users aim toward a quick and catchy status to deliver their message. Whenever I’m using Facebook and Twitter and I want to share with world something I put something that is catchy so people will like my status or retweet what I have to say. I aim towards something interesting, relatable, and questioning in order to captivate my audience. This can also be tied into the marketing industry. For example many advertising companies create logos that are catchy and make you remember the company by that specific slogan. For example, Nike’s slogan is “Just Do It”. It’s short and simple and easy to remember. All in all I think that the rule about having a catchy hook to your introduction paragraph plays very strong role in everyone’s life because it can be carried into other aspects of life such as social media, and advertisement.
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    I am usually on Facebook where I can share ideas, special moments, and pictures. I believe that Facebook is a way for people to interact and be social online. People use Facebook as a way to broadcast certain ideas or messages. My being on Facebook involves posting a lot of quotes and every now and then I’ll post a memorable moment or a picture to recap of something that has happened to me. I try to keep the things I post on Facebook very simple I don’t want anything that could possibly damage my reputation. So my pictures and statuses are very appropriate. Facebook is a way to keep updated on current events around the world. People like to post things that happen on the news or in my community. Sometimes arguments even break out so I try to be careful of what I do and say. This social media website was invented so that people can stay connected. A lot of people are in competition on Facebook to get the most likes on pictures or statuses so it’s interesting to see what types of photos or statuses get the most likes.

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  13. 0119
    I learned about the topic of transference in psychology. And I have noticed that commercials will play certain songs during the add so that whenever we here that song whether it be on the ad or just hearing it out in public, you always think of that ad. Your brain is linked to think of the ad whenever you here that song or catch phrase. It is just like the dog with the dinner bell, a scientist linked hearing the bell with getting food so every time the dog would here the bell his mouth would slobber because his brain would think that there is food. Ads in commercials do this all the time because they know it will work on us as the customers and will make us want to purchase their products.
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    As I know most people will say, the largest online community that I am on is Facebook. Being a member of Facebook I only really take part in posting statuses and commenting on post. When I post a status I either try to make it funny or I post something that I think is interesting. When I am posting something on Facebook I am just like everybody else I try to post things that people will enjoy and hopefully like. But Facebook is a good place to come together and share your interest and talk to your friends. You can always see what your friends, family and some random people that you have no idea who they are but yet you still added them anyways, are up to. But it is kind of getting out of hand and Facebook is taking up too much of our lives and there are some people who can’t do anything without alerting the world about it, and you know that person, “Just took a dump,” those kinds of annoying people.

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    1. I liked your "idea" of transference in psychology and your examples. However, I never took psychology so i have no idea what transference means. Next time maybe actually describe what transference means. You had examples that kind of explained it though. On Facebook, I found it interesting that you want to please people with what you post, but you backed itup by stating that it may lead to further conservation. I agree with you on the whole facebook is starting to become too much. People are posting way too much of their lives on facebook and not very man people care anymore.

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  14. Michael Marinari
    0119
    Part 2:

    After reading Gee’s Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics I have come upon the notion that language is “not what you say but how you say it” (483). This definition is very prominent in the only social networking website I use, Facebook. Facebook is built upon the foundation of connecting deeper with those you personally know, and networking out to meet new people. On Facebook you are free to act or say whatever you please within context (obviously no death threats or anything of that sort) but how you act on Facebook reflects back on yourself an whatever you will obtain or aspire to obtain for many years to come. Gee also describes “Discourse” in his writing which he defines as “saying (writing), doing, being, valuing, and believing” (481). As soon as these words were processed the big F for Facebook popped into my head. These verbs all describe exactly what Facebook is! For example, I value my status as a well-mannered, calm person. On Facebook I act nothing but polite to make sure what I value doesn’t contradict what I say online. I love being thought of as funny so I try to post statuses that are not offensive or vulgar but rather humorous so I can get likes. Online communities such as Facebook serve the only two purposes of transferring information quickly and satisfying a person’s desire to be accepted. I in particular use Facebook for exactly those two reasons and it is a place where I can deliver my personal “Discourse” to those who are willing to read it.

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  15. 0037

    As everyone may know, a psychology class has the ability to take a topic so simple and break it down to a science. I can think of a modern topic that is very popular in the media especially since it was just National “Coming Out” Day (this topic does not relate to me at all). I have often heard the question “Can you be born gay?” I’m sure there are millions of people who have answered this question with different answers and reasoning behind their point of view, but I am going to create an example of framing from the point of view I learned through psychology. Individuals who classify themselves as gay say that they were born like that or they had a change in heart as a teenager and some even say they felt they were in elementary school. When in actuality “being gay” is an action and not necessarily a lifestyle or classification. When a girl asks another girl if her butt looks big and her friend answers, that is an act of being gay. This is because someone of the same sex is somewhat admiring the body of someone of the same sex. Now, if that girl actually has feelings for and becomes attracted to another girl and they have a relationship they have become homosexual. Homosexuality is a lifestyle because it includes actually being involved with someone of the same sex. Therefore, being gay is just a state of mind, which you can be born into, meaning you can be born gay. This is because everyone has gay tendencies such as asking your friend of the same sex how you look in a certain shirt. On the other hand, you cannot be born homosexual because that is something that is something that is developed in the mind and body over time whether it comes from the environment or personal experience.

    pt. 2
    Recently the online community I have become most affiliated with is Twitter. I prefer to use Twitter because it gives me insight on people’s lives literally minute by minute. When I compose a tweet it usually consist of my thoughts at that moment. Whether it is how awesome class or my professor was or getting woken up by a fire alarm at four o’ clock in the morning. I am always conscious of how I word the tweet because you never know where it may end up or how it could possibly affect my future. Twitter is also essential for me to keep up with how my friends from high school are adapting to college and what type of experiences they are having. I have had many of my friends tell me that they could picture me saying something I tweeted or they tell me that I always tweet exactly what is on my mind because it seems so random. I am also a part of Facebook. I had a Facebook account three years before I made my twitter account, so I am in contact with more people on there than I am with on Twitter. I use Facebook to make statues about how I did on a test or how I tried something new in college. I don’t make statuses about me going out on Facebook because that’s where I keep in contact with old teachers and distant family members. So, Twitter is to keep in touch with friends and having a good time in college with some academic updates, but Facebook is to keep in touch with old friends and family about all my positive experiences with academics and new experiences.

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  16. Catherine Rucker
    ENC 0M08

    I took psychology my junior year of high school, and I barely remember anything I learned from it. So I’m having a really difficult time relaying a concept for this posting. I vaguely remember transference, and trigger responses from Pavlov and his dog. I remember how he trained his dog to salivate at the sound of a ringing bell, because he presented food as a stimulus. So every time the bell was rung, whether there was food being presented or not, the dog would produce saliva because he associated the sound with food.
    I think this can relate to music in movies and how it can bring about responses within people. For example, my father, my two best friends, and I are huge fans of Lord of the Rings trilogy. Because we are so familiar with the music throughout the movies, we can associate certain tunes with particular parts of the movie. Each scene has a distinct sound, and can produce feelings of sadness or excitement depending on what’s happening in the scene. Tunes can also evoke physical responses too; for example commercials that advertise treats for the Halloween season. Kit-Kat chocolate bars are easily distinguishable from others because of its accompanying tune. So it could be possible that people associate the tune with the chocolate bar, and have physical responses (like salivating) just like Pavlov’s hound.
    __________________________________________________________
    The only online community I’m a part of is Twitter. However, I hardly ever use it. The only reason I still have a twitter is to see what my favorite celebrities are doing on an occasional basis. Sometimes I don’t even care about is happening to them, which is terrible. I have, however, made some good acquaintances on Twitter, and I’ll look in on what they’re up to every once and while. I don’t really post anything though because I feel like no one really cares about what I’m up to all the time.

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    1. I think that it is interesting that you use Twitter as a way to follow your favorite celebrities. That's how I was in the beginning but now I'm more into what celebrities actually do in their lives. Also you stated that you have a few friends that you occasionally look at their post which is interesting to me because most people are really into Twitter these days.

      Delete
  17. Kristy Fudge
    Part 1: ENC 0119
    Okay one aspect I realized is actually very recent. In class on Thursday in ENC 0119 we talked about and learned about filter bubbles. We watched a Ted Talk about them and it thoroughly peaked my interest! After I got out of class I analyzed everything around me that was virtual and tried to find out what type of filter bubble I was in. I noticed a few things here and there but nothing too much. I went on YouTube and Google later that evening and realized the filter bubble issue was very factual. I noticed the songs it was suggesting for me and saw what ads were popping up and it really made me aware of my surroundings. The filter bubble topic finally blew my mind later that night at around 11:30 pm on Thursday. I was taking a break from studying and decided to go for a run. I decided to listen to Pandora on my iPhone to pump me up while I ran and I chose the (don’t judge me people) *Nsync Pandora Radio. After a few songs a commercial came on and it was for college books and supplies. I thought to myself, ”hmmm, college kids grew up during the *Nsync era, how ironic!” It was then after that another commercial came on with an ad for a salon that gives discounts to college students! I thought about how Nsync was definitely more of a girl’s type of music so that’s where the salon aspect came into play then I realized the college discount was geared toward my age group. It honestly blew my mind and made me feel manipulated by Pandora but it also made me happy that due to Thursday’s class I can now observe and analyze my virtual surroundings.

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    1. I completely agree about how the filter bubble affects us when we don't expect it and most of the time we don't even realize that it exists until we look for it. I never really thought about the advertisements being shown to me while on the computer until I was looking for prom dresses last year. I would mainly look at Nordstrom's or places at International Mall for dresses. Whenever I would play online Tetris or I would be listening to music on Pandora, and a Nordstorm's ad would pop-up at least three times in the duration on was on that website. So filter bubbles are an influencial part of our lives even if they have a subconscious effect on us.

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  18. 0037

    “Framing” is when you take information that you want to present to an audience and express it / give examples of it in a way that can be better understood by the audience. My example of framing shows the importance of not advertising a situation to be worse than it really is.
    When I was younger, my mom read me a story about a little boy who cried “wolf.” The little boy would watch a field where the town’s sheep were and yell that there was a wolf just to trick the townspeople. Each time this happened, the townspeople would run out, see that there was no danger, and curse the little kid for tricking them. After a while, the kid continued to cry out that there was a wolf, but the townspeople wouldn’t come to the field because they assumed the boy was playing another trick on them. One night, however, a wolf did actually come to the field were the sheep were. The little boy cried for help, but no townspeople came to his rescue. The sheep and the little boy were eaten and the town didn’t realize until morning.

    Although we do not have many sheep farms in South Florida (yes they do exist), we do have hurricanes. We haven’t had a particularly active hurricane season recently, but the possibility of us getting hit is always exists. Some of these hurricanes, or even some of the tropical storms, are always the big news stories on the local news channels. There you will see every reporter and weather analyst telling you to stock up on supplies and cover your doors and windows and prepare for “one of the worst storms of the year.” However, on many an occasion, the news stations play up the storm and the “real” storm just happens to be an overrated gust of wind. The (in most cases) irate inhabitants of South Florida take down their storm shutters and curse the news stations for not providing them with accurate information. The news’ lack of accuracy to the situation could cause South Florida to under-prepare for the next storm and put lives in danger. In this situation, the news stations are like the boy who watches the sheep; if they keep crying “hurricane,” no one will take the threat seriously.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------

    The online community I am a part of could definitely be considered a Discourse by Gee’s terms. I am a part of a community of Tweeters that follow bands and alternative / pop-punk / pop-rock music, also known as Bandom. Gee describes that one needs to be taught how to become a part of the Discourse, and I would say that I was. I had to learn how to talk to my peers in a way that was socially acceptable and conveyed the proper messages at the proper times. I also learned the taboos of the Discourse’s culture and what was considered “so amazing that no words can be said but I am still going to express emotions through keysmashing.” (The term keysmashing is basically defined as: OGI;OAIGHKJnsoihsdjnaqohvk) I am an active part of my community; I comment and bring up ideas or opinions, I critique music and albums, and I share my experiences of concerts and bands. Much of what I experience on my timeline at any given moment is relatable and of high intrinsic value; many other tweeters feel the same way as well. My peers and I laugh, cry, and have feels together in a way that no one else could really understand. Our Discourse is selective and is not for the faint of heart; mostly because we spout nonsense that most would say is just nonsense. To us, it is a lifestyle, one in which we know we are accepted for the random things we say and the way we feel about music.

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    1. I have never used Twitter to follow anything so close as you do. I find your online community interesting as all your connections and followers share a common interest in Bandom. Before this semester's course I never had a deep emotional thought about Discourse or what Discourse was or the audience it is presented to. I have always known discourse yet I had always called something else. Music is very valuable to your community and the Discourse that you and your fellow members Tweet about clearly defined who you are as an cybernaut.

      om08

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  19. 0m08
    Reading Greene’s article on framing really opened my eyes. Before I never imagined an author creating new thought processes through social pressures or processes. As I try to answer this week’s question I am recalling all the important lessons I have learned in life from class. As a freshman I took an introduction to sociology and learned about socialization. Socialization is one of the most important elements a human can learn. Through socialization people acquire the skills to properly interact in different situations. One learns the norms and roles a person is to have to not be seen as radical. This relates to everyone; since birth we have been conditioned to understand the norms and mores of each society. When one person steps out of line they immediately feel a sense of wrong doing. So instilled are the processes of a society that faux pas are felt in an instant and we feel bad. I wear my seatbelt not because I want to follow the law but because I don’t want to be stigmatized for being on the fringe of safety. I do as a I see and not what I want.
    ___
    I am part of Facebook, Tumblr and Pintrest. Facebook has been part of my life for so long that it is innate. As Tumblr and Pintrest are relatively new to me I am still learning the ropes for those communities. Facebook has its own rules and culture that I have grown up with and I know what I can and what I should not do on the community. On Facebook I do not post anything political, religious or personal. Facebook is seen by the world and I want a façade of cleanliness and relative calm. Even though I stray away from posting controversial topics I still post things I find funny to look at. When I react to the actions on Facebook I never Like or Comment on things that might come back to haunt me; only happy ideas. Even though we are all taught not to judge I still judge people on my Facebook who post how sad and awful their lives are and how they can’t wait to change it all. I love how people can be open on Facebook but I hate how people open up so the world can see their every little whim. “I used to wonder what it was to have telepathy, then Facebook came and I no long wanted to.” But I am appreciative for the fact that people share interesting links and articles that have widened my world. Facebook is about me but even in an open society I value my privacy. If Facebook was a verbal Discourse I would be shocked when people said half the things they said on Facebook. Facebook was unleashed a new breed of bullying that would never have occurred if the Internet wasn’t around. Anything on Facebook can be constructed into something it isn’t when people place their internal tones on ideas. Facebook needs to be taught and the proper way to utilize the internet should be required as the world is becoming more and more involved on the Internet.

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  20. Kyle Michalski
    0119
    I took an online college course in psychology my senior year. One of the things that we learned was transference. Transference is when you make people think something by doing another thing. This is common in commercials. There’s a commercial for the beer red stripe that gets me every time. The commercial starts with an average looking man standing alone. The narrator of the commercial says look at this ugly man standing there by himself. Then the screen shows a red stripe bottle and the narrator says now look at this ugly beer. The next screen is that beer next to the man. The narrator says now look at the ugly beer next to the ugly man. All of a sudden the man becomes very good-looking. The whole point of the commercial is that drinking red stripe makes you good looking. This makes people feel good about themselves and so they buy the beer.

    When I was taking my online psychology course I was part of my class community. Our first assignment was to write about ourselves and introduce ourselves. I became very close with people in this community and worked together very well. Without them I probably would have done much worse in that class. It was a good experience and I value it very much. It is still very different then being in a community outside of the web. There are things that lack such as personality and emotions. However, online communities are very beneficial for people who have same interests.

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  21. 0037

    The placebo effect is a concept everyone is aware of; with the example of the doctor giving the patient a sugar pill (with no medication in it) without the patient aware of the study, the doctor will tell the patient the pill will clear up whatever is bothering them, and a few days after using the pill, the patient is automatically healed. Because of the concept the doctor put into the patient’s mind that the pill will make them better, the patient’s body healed instantly without the need of real medication. With this in mind, I know that most of the weight loss programs on television and the internet have the placebo effect to make the customers trying the program to think it’s actually working. I have seen commercials for a substance that you can shake onto your food like salt and pepper to make you fuller, faster, to make you not eat as much. I think this is complete bull crap, but maybe that’s just me. Also, I have heard about a diet that uses drops that you put in your mouth before you eat that turns down your appetite, speeds up your metabolism, and helps you lose weight. I think these are examples that the media puts out for the public to think these things will help you lose weight, but I’m pretty sure using them and thinking you’re losing weight is just in your head.

    The main online community I am involved in is Facebook. Although I do have a Twitter and Instagram, I don’t involve myself as much as I do with Facebook. The reason for that is because almost everyone has a Facebook account. I enjoy posting about being with friends, going to college football games and outings, adding pictures of myself with friends or family, and of course staying in touch with the important people of my life. Since I’m in college, far away from my family and hometown friends, Facebook is a great way to show them what my days consist of and for keeping in touch with them. Since I have very many friends and family online basically watching my every move, I have to stay aware what I post and what is said about me at all times. I have good friends with morals that would never put anything nasty on my “wall”, but I still decide not to curse or put any pictures up of doing anything naughty (not that I do anything to that extent). Facebook is an easy way for me to express myself; how I’m feeling, what I’m going through, and what’s bothering me. It is definitely entertaining and somewhat addicting, and I feel as if everyone would agree with that.

    -Gille, Michelle

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  22. Kristy Fudge
    ENC 0119 Part 2:
    The only two social networking communities I am in are Facebook and Instagram! In the Facebook community I feel as if I provide a comical approach to everything I post while on Instagram I post more seductive and personal things. I thoroughly enjoy both because my relationship with both is completely different! I try to keep more private on Facebook nowadays because I feel like that is where most of the lurkers go rather than Instagram. For example, something I might post on Facebook would be something funny and to the point, such as my last status which was “finally, a night where I cannot have my news feed shredding with shit talk about D1 college football, wins around the board! FSU UF and UCF fans can sleep well tonight”. In my opinion it was somewhat funny because of how much people post about college football and I liked how it showed others that I do care about things other than girly shit like shopping and beauty and materialistic items. Something I might post on Instagram would be a picture of myself looking mighty fine after getting ready to go out or maybe a picture with my friend by the pool. I like sharing my life with pictures via Instagram and posting my opinions with Facebook. This all relates to Gee and his writing on “Discourse” and how what you write, say, and believe in on a social networking site makes up who you are. On Facebook I don’t post too much and just use the site for information gathering or to see what everyone is up to. This opposes Instagram because on there I’m trying to get a lot of thumbs-ups from cute guys so I get that happy feeling of being attractive. Or at other times I post things like pictures with friends or food or my beautiful niece to obtain a solid number of thumbs-ups. On Instagram I value getting that feeling of acceptance and likeability that comes with the amount of thumbs-ups others give me.

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  23. 0037
    In chemistry, we were learning about negative affinity and ionization. The negative affinity shows how atoms can easily gain electrons because of their position and ionization shows how atoms can easily lose electrons. They were trends on the element tables on how the electrons tend to interact. I relate the energy of electrons to the charges of magnet, literally. This help me better understand the interaction of electrons and the trend of negative affinity and ionization.
    Atoms are like magnets. The protons are a positive charge of a magnet. The electrons are a negative charge of a magnet. Positive and negative attract each other. These were past knowledge of atoms structure. To incorporate it to the trends of negative affinity and ionization, I learn that they are level of energy where electrons, negative magnet, would be. Common sense say, the closer a positive magnet is to the negative magnet, the higher attraction force is between the two. So the opposite would happen when a negative magnet is further away from the positive magnet. This is the basic frame where I can relate negative affinity and ionization.
    The main frame of negative affinity and ionization can be defined by how the protons and electrons of an atom are located. For example, sodium has one electron in its outer shell and so does lithium. Lithium electron, negative magnet, is closer to the protons, positive magnet than sodium electron which is further away from its proton. So sodium has higher ionization energy than lithium because it is easier for sodium to lose its electron. By framing the basic structure of atoms to magnets, I can relate its negative affinity and ionization.
    __________________________________________________________________
    I am not currently active in an online community. I don’t influence anyone in my online community because I’m not a part of it. The biggest online community I’m apart of is probably this blog. I am here for scholar purpose no others. Saying this, I do have a Facebook. The last time I got on Facebook was probably two months ago. It wasn’t even me who got on; I was just there when someone sign me in. The time before that would be before the last summer, which I log on just to play game on it. My influences then were also minimal if anything. The biggest online community that I probably ever influenced was Runescape, way back in ninth grade. This also, wasn’t much worth looking into. I basically just make an assembly line with people in the game. I am not sure what it was but I had people running errands and doing the same thing over and over and I pay them for their errands according to what they were doing. Other than Runescape, I believe I don’t influence any online community.

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  24. 0119

    During my high school years, I was introduced to keyboard percussion and playing musical instruments in that specific family grew on me. The specifics behind how you hold the mallets, how you stroke the instrument, even how you stand and appear behind the instrument; all fall into the controversial topic of technique. Most instructors teach different technique, some varying little, and some being completely different. If you were to put a dozen instructors from different areas in the same room and had them discuss technique, the argument would never end. I, having been in many different ensembles and having to adjust my technique many times, have a well-balanced view on the subject of technique. The experience of being in these many different ensembles has operated as my framing. Without this framing I would have an opinion that was completely biased toward the one technique I had been using and inquiry on other techniques would be nonexistent.

    ___________________________________________________________

    The online community I am most active in is the Virtual Motorsports community, which is a community of about 1300 people from all over the world that compete in a number of competitive racing series on the video game, Forza Motorsport 4. I have been a part of this community for 3 years and have competed in a total of different series, with each one running for eight consecutive weeks. I have made many friends and rivals (mostly friendly) during my time racing in the community but most of all have made a reputation for myself. I took a six-month hiatus from the game about two years back and I made a thread on the forum when I returned and it received about three pages of comments on the forum, which made me feel like I was really part of the community. Every time I compete in a race, someone else’s experience is altered in which they are racing my driving style. However this is true for every racer, when you have competed in over 60 organized racing events your driving style is known by many and you have your place in the community.

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  25. 0M08


    When I was little I had to take appearance lessons for figure skating, I thought then that it was the weirdest thing in the world. There I was driving an hour to a rink everyday and they took me off the ice for an hour once a week to tell me how to put on make up and how to dress, could anything be more ridiculous. I didn’t know it then but those were probably some of the most important things that I was taught. It was all about the way I looked versus the way I performed. From my coaches I learned that no one wants a product that looks bad or isn’t appealing to the eye. For competitions I had to dress up from the very second I left my house, I had to wear business casual clothes to the airport into the rink, my make up and hair always had to be done, all for me to perform a two and a half minute performance. What they were trying to tell me is that you could be the best skater in the world but if you don’t look the best the judges might not treat you fairly. This was my very first lesson in marketing, although at the time I was too young to understand it. This is a similar concept that is used with marketing, you want to make sure that people pay attention to your product so you want to put it in a light that is desirable. Take cookies for example, you could make the best chocolate chip cookies in the entire world but if you put the in a trash bag and try to sell them, good luck making a profit. But you could also make mediocre cookies and put them in a pretty blue package and they will sell like hotcakes. It is all about how you present the product to be sold.
    ---------------------------------------------------
    An online community that I am actively apart of is twitter. To be apart of this community means posting 140 character or less blurbs about current events, music, fashion, basically anything goes. You also follow other likeminded people who share similar ideas and like the same things. People apart of the the twitter-verse know the language associated with certain communities inside of it. For example I am a huge pop music fan, so I follow a lot of pop music artist and youtube cover artist and people that are fans of these types of artist, there is a developed vocabulary that is learned. Like with songs Taylor Swift recently released a song entitle ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’ not only is that a long song title it would be a pain to write over and over again so most people just write WANEGBT when referring to the song and it is understood that whoever you are talking to at the point in time understands. Being apart of this online community means understanding terms like that and knowing about the ever-evolving list of new acronyms as they approach. In my own bubble on twitter most of the people I follow revolve around a certain artist, it is quite easy to tell who has been apart or the community and who is new just based on their postings and what they say. Being new although it happens to everyone at some point is always looked at as a weakness among this elite community. My participation in this community involves posting quotes and song lyrics as well as links to songs by my favorite artist, interacting with people who like the same music that I do or that share my beliefs. Everyday there is always something new to comment on or something new to experience on twitter and that is one of the main reasons I am apart of this online community.

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  26. 0M08

    Stuart Greene’s take on a well-composed argument is one that includes framework. This framework is taken from the any information we may have already acquired. Greene goes even further to say that it is not only what we imbibe but also how we can use it in relevance to an issue. This can be seen within many of our own personal experiences. One of my classes, American Government, has so far given an abundant amount of information, all of which is relevant not only my life but to all Americans, especially for this year’s election. One of the issues we are currently studying is the increasing amount of biased information found in today’s media. Now when I turn on the television, I have a many choices, however, none offer a middle ground, one network leaning left and the other leaning right. This is also the case with the internet. Now, with the election year here, I’m forced to question the validity of each site I visit that provides any sort of background information on the candidates.

    ___________________________________________________________



    Gee defines Discourses (“with a capital d”) goes beyond language and grammar to include, essentially, how we say something to reflect the integration of “doing-being-valuing-believing”; an “identity kit as Gee puts it. This cannot be seen any clearer anywhere else other than Facebook. I would certainly consider myself as part of the Facebook community. I make occasional posts, mostly about my school experiences and accomplishments. Typically, though, I don’t choose to take on a distinct persona as I see many Facebook users do. Many use the site to convey thoughts that they may be too embarrassed or afraid to say in public. I choose to keep my personal thoughts within a close group of friends, which I communicate with usually away from my wall. On the other hand, I enjoy what Facebook does allow me to share to a wider audience of people. When I lived in Japan, I was able to share photos, videos and posts of everything going on and it allowed me to still stay in touch with many of my friends even though they were thousands of miles away.

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  27. Brittan Petty
    OM08
    PT 1


    Recently in Sociology I learned about the theory of The Looking-Glass Self. This theory was created by Charles Cooley and is basically states that “the self develops through our perception of others’ evaluations and appraisals of us.” (The Real World: An Intro to Sociology, PG 101) The theory is broken down into three steps:
    1. We imagine how we look to others: This does not necessarily mean in just a physical sense, but also how we present ourselves. We care about how other people view us, especially our significant other. (The Real World: An Intro to Sociology, PG 101)
    2. We imagine other people’s judgment of us.
    3. We develop ourselves through the judgment of others.
    Cooley suggests in The Real World: An Intro to Sociology that this concept may be appalling because are we really that dependent and hung up on what other people think of us?
    The Looking-Glass Self is a concept that is used in every day life. During out teenage years we are more focused on what other people think of us because we want to fit in with the right group. We strive to look, dress, and behave in a certain way that will get us noticed by some stereotypical group. Girls join the cheerleading team to fit in with the preppy girls. Boys join the football team to become apart of the jocks. People in the band join to become band geeks. And so on. Teenagers do this because they see it as they grow up. It is often depicted in movies (Bring It On, Grease, Shrek), TV Shows (90210, Mel Rose Place, Full House), and Books (How To Eat Fried Worms, Blubber, Sabrina the Teenage Witch). These examples show us what to expect in middle school and high school, but when we get there, we realize those projected images were wrong. Soon after we realize this, we start behaving differently, trying to become apart of a new group. Later in adulthood, this Self-concept starts to wear off, but it is still there. When we have kids, we want them to behave a certain way in front of friends, co-workers, and family to show that we are good parents. When we are around certain friends, we put on a front and act the way we think they would want us to act. As an elderly person, we do not care as much. We have lived our life the way we wanted to, and finally settle into who we really are.

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    Replies
    1. I think your framing of the "Looking-Glass Self" was very interesting, and I think it was perfect this situation, seeing as your audience is mostly college students who have just recently experienced what you described above (a sort of search for self-identification). It's certainly a relatable feeling felt by almost anyone, as we have all faced with fitting in. I also liked that you not only addressed your concepts effect on middle school and high school students, but that you also framed more situations. As you've portrayed it, the framing of the Looking-Glass Self changes in parallel to our growth (i.e., having our children behave appropriately in front of others).

      Delete
  28. Brittan Petty
    OM08 Cont
    PT2

    Facebook is the only on line digital space that I use “regularly.” To be honest, I am never on Facebook. I use facebook to post pictures, statuses, keep in touch with long distance friends, and find out what everyone is up too. The idea behind Facebook was a great idea, but recently, the idea has started to fade. Since this fading has started, I have not been on Facebook as much. I do not enjoy looking at pictures of quotes, “like this page if…” posts, and pictures that ask for a million likes. I usually only post when I have a picture that I feel like posting, a witty comment I want to say, or something along those lines. I post for me, not for other people. I do not care if people like my posts or pictures, whereas many people get upset if the have no “likes.” I do sensor what I say on Facebook because I know that it can turn around and bite me in the butt. Future employers, colleges, and institutions are looking at your page to see what you are like in your spare time. No one wants to hire or accepts a student that parties every night, cusses and posts profane stuff, or see pictures of you half dressed. I am also friends with my family and would NEVER want them to look down on me and think I’m a wild child.

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  29. 0037

    Part I

    An important topic that we covered previously in this class was the use of metaphorical stories to convey a certain message or point. Metaphors can completely altar our ideas and the ways to which we respond to specific situations. The use of metaphors in a text aids in strengthening and ensuring the success of a paper. The following type of revision, remolding the same material into a different shape, proves to be an excellent example of reformulation. My favorite example of metaphorical use, which I have mentioned in a previous blog posting, is the figurative relationship between composition revision and automobile production. Just as a text can be transformed from an amateur piece into a valuable product, a new automobile can be tested several times to ensure that its operating at peak performance. Another excellent example of metaphorical use is Apple Computer’s original “1984” Macintosh advertisement. In the advertisement, Apple describes the future as a dystopian society where all individuals are conformists who are being brainwashed by the “PC.” Apple, through the use of metaphors, covertly encouraged users to switch to Macintosh to avoid this horrific possibility.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Part II

    One of the few online communities that I am a part of is Facebook. Even though that I have a Facebook account, I rarely feel the need to post information on it. On Facebook, I follow all of my friends, family, and the celebrities that I enjoy. I would not say that I’m deeply involved in the site at all because I don’t feel the need to know exactly when someone went to mow his or her lawn.

    Although there are a lot of negative consequences associated with social media, I believe it provides a great way to stay in touch with your friends and family, for instance, while you are in college. As far as “doing,” I occasionally browse the main feed, enjoying some of the funny posts and photos that others add to the infinite database of information. The only time I will upload stuff is if I have new photographs or interesting events that my friends and I are partaking in. As a “being” in the Facebook community, I am very cautious about what I post or write on Facebook. Since my account is visible to most of my friends and family, the posts I create are few and far between. My beliefs and values closely tie together while using Facebook in that I am very mindful of my comments on the posts belonging to others and I never post information with negative connotations or vulgar language. I look at it this way: you never know who’s watching.

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  30. 0119 Part 1


    In my Communications class, we learn about the Social Learning Theory developed by Albert Bandura. In his study, Bandura had children view how adults interacted with an inflatable balloon-like doll called a "Bobo Doll". Some children viewed the adult playing peacefully with the doll, and others watched as the adult beat doll in a violent manner. When the children were then put in a play room with the doll, they resorted to whatever play-style they witnessed due to not knowing how else the bobo doll should be played with.

    Looking back at my transition into college, I realize how frequently I would find myself in a new situation and stall somehow, just so I could see how other students handled the situation. I would then mimic whatever they did because that is how I assumed students were expected to act. Although I've been to many UCF football games since I was a kid, I can imagine for some students, tailgating and watching the game is a new experience. No one questions the process of tailgating simply because that's how they've always seen it done. People don't show up in suits, sip fine wine, and sample cheeses before the big game; although if that is how they had seen other people tailgate, so that is how they assumed they were supposed to tailgate.

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  31. Part 2

    James Paul Gee developed the concept of Discourse, in which a message is not strictly judged by its content, but the way its said and the similarity of the speaker to the culture of the audience. A message might be phrased perfectly for one audience, but if the speaker does not mimic the attitudes, beliefs, values, and overall social identity of the audience, the message won't be received. properly.

    An online social media site which I frequently visit is Reddit. Every subreddit has certain social rules which are strictly followed by the community. For the most part, as long as you have impeccable grammar and follow the flow of conversation, you'll be able to eventually pick up on all the rules without being ridiculed. A very simple example of Gee's idea of Discourse is the use of "memes" on Reddit (and the rest of the internet, for that matter). Each type of meme has a distinct set of rules that help give that specific meme an identity. If these rules are not followed, that specific meme post will, and rightfully so, beaten out of existence. Unfortunately, outside of Reddit and a select few other sites, these memes are widely misused. *cough*Facebook, you know who you are*cough*

    I don't claim to be an expert on all memes, but I've seen a ton (and posted a couple links) so I know the ground rules for most. One meme that was wildly popular in recent months was "Overly Attached Girlfriend", in which the iconic picture is overlaid with a something a completely obsessive girlfriend might say. Examples are "It took you 10 minutes to get home. Google maps says it takes 8. Who is she?" or "I sign things with your last name…For practice." While browsing the UCF class of 2016 page on Facebook last week, I came across the OAG meme used to describe the people around UCF trying to register voters. I don't mean to offend the person who created it (if you're reading it), but the use of it on Reddit would be immediately down voted into oblivion because Redditors, especially those on the AdviceAnimals subreddit are very picky about the usage of memes.

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  32. OMO8
    You asked for a new concept that we have learned to frame some aspect of our life. Your example from psychology class is right on the spot. A lot that we learn in psychology class has to do with framing. I took that class my senior year of high school and what you're talking about is the conditioned stimulus the dog learns to frame the reaction. They conditioned the dog to salivate at the sound of the bell. Another experiment I remember was with baby finding comfort in the mother. All babies see mom as the protector, but do they still when there's an obstacle? The experiment, if i recall correctly, has a baby on a table with a clear board in the center as if the baby could fall through if on top of it. The mom was set up on the other side calling the baby to come to her. The baby recognized that it wasn't safe to cross and cried because he knew even though his mom was calling it wasn't safe. This frames the baby into realizing that he could fall through and that babies already know when something is not safe.
    Since you had already given one from psychology; I wanted yo use one from your class. Our construct is one something we were taught was one way to do something when really there are many possible ways to go about an essay. One way in particular was the use of but or and to start a sentence. In school that was never okay. Because I was taught that I never started a sentence with them because I was conditioned that if I did it would be counted incorrect, which was stimulated by losing points. So after I lost points I never started sentences that way. This continued for a while because that's how I was taught. In psychology this would be a negative stimulus with a negative reward. This rule framed my writing.
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    An online community I can use Gee as a framing mechanism would be instagram. I am on this site checking my updates and looking at other photos frequently throughout my day. I post pictures of family and activities I partake in. you can a lot by the photos people post: where they've been, what they're doing, where they're going. Kind of like the reference to shoes in Forest Gump. As a member of Instagram I value what it has to offer. A way to share moments with other people or even thoughts. People can see when i got a new hair cut, my nails done, or who I am with. Sometimes even if I'm just having a good photo day. i enjoy like pictures that are respectful and comment when needed.

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  34. 0037

    In my Macroeconomics class we were recently learning about the Rule of 70. This is the idea that the number of years it takes for the level of any variable to double is the interest rate divided by seventy. I had always known that the money my parents had set aside for me to go to college with was slowly growing with interest, but I had never realized that there was a mathematical explanation for it. This money is finally being used for the first time in years because I am now attending college.
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    An online community that I am actively a part of would be twitter. I am constantly spurting out my every thought to this website and it is a sort of public diary to me. There are a lot of personal things that I do not share with this online community but I do tend to update it multiple times a day. It helps me to stay connected with old friends that I no longer go to school with. We can see the different events going on in each other’s lives. I know that these people are simply a phone call away but interacting through twitter and “tweeting” each other is a much easier way to stay in contact. Conversations through twitter are usually brief which makes everything seem more casual. Twitter could be considered a non dominant discourse because it is more for my own purposes rather than societies. I do not think that anyone gains anything from my tweets other than myself because I use it as a space to vent out my thoughts.

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    1. 0M08
      I really like your point about how society really doesn't gain much from your tweets as it i more of a thing of self reflection. I have been on twitter for years and I really never thought of the audience of my account, but I guess you are right I am writing for an audience of one.

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  35. 0119
    A concept I recently learned about can be taken from my Introduction to Communication class. We learned that sometimes nonverbal movement can speak louder than verbal words. For example we use illustrators, which can be hand gestures or facial expressions, to reiterate what we are trying to say. A famous example of this is using middle fingers to substitute for something you’re trying to say.
    I noticed in my life that illustrators can speak louder than the words you may say. Just the other day my boyfriend cooked me dinner and he asked me how it tasted. I saw it tasted great, but just as I took a bite, I made a sour looking face. He noticed that even though I said I it was good, my facial expression, or my illustrator, showed that I meant to say something different.
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    An online community that I can say I’m actively apart of is the picture social application, Instagram. I can say I check my Instagram “dashboard” at least 15 times a day. Being on Instagram that many times I have gained a quite bit of followers, about 500 of them. I check Instagram that often in order to be “socially relevant”.
    Being “socially relevant” means that I am up-to-date with what’s going on with my friends back home and others that I have met in college. For example, if one of my friends back home calls and asks if I saw one of my other friend’s new boyfriend, I can agree because I have seen the picture they posted on Instagram. Being a teenager you never want to feel left out of anything. You like to be kept in the “loop” of society. By being on Instagram I am able to perform that.
    As pointed out by Gee, I feel as though Instagram shows my identity and values. Instead of me being part of an online community such as Reddit where it is more built on inquiry of information, I am part of a more social website. This displays that I am more into the social aspects of life than the aspect of acquiring new knowledge.

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  36. Brandon Jones 0037



    Greene’s argument was compelling; framing is very much prevalent in our society today. As recently as this afternoon I was exposed to an example of what I now know as framing. It is easy for a writer to frame their writing so that a reader will view this writing with the reader’s own perception. As Greene states, “Writers want us to see the world in one way as opposed to another, not unlike the way a photographer manipulates a camera lens to frame a picture.”
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    When reading an argument regarding the criticism of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney posted on a Republican website, it stated that Mitt Romney had “paid effective tax rates of 13.9 percent in 2010 and 15.3 percent in 2011 respectively.” This statement is true, however, since the writer of this article is most likely Republican and most likely a supporter of Romney, they will not mention that this rate of tax is only attributed to investments. It is not a distortment of facts, but rather an exclusion of them. The article is discussing Romney’s investments which are properly taxed at and effective rate. It does not mention that during this time period discussed Romney reportedly had no job and was living off these investments. The tax rate that Romney paid less than what most middle-income Americans are required to pay but because a majority of Romney's earnings were derived from investments rather than wages. One source states that if Romney was a lawyer and a doctor making the same amount he made of investments he would be properly taxed at the 35% rate. I mention this not to make a political point, but because I find it fascinating that this new concept of framing is something I just encountered and that I was able to realize its use. It is amazing how these two sources, a Republican blog and ABC news can frame and change the perspective of American citizens just by a stark change of words. Reading one could give you the sense that he was properly taxed and “what’s the big deal about the whole thing?” while reading another can make it seem like he’s cheating the system.
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    One online community I can speak a lot on and that I have taken many observations from is the online world of Facebook. Framing is so prominent here that it seems wrong not to discuss it. I think in this type of community with everything so public and where everyone can see who you are and what you say in real time, people shy away from saying or doing unpopular things. I think sometimes a person will “conform to the norm” to stay within the boundaries that societies seem to set. This isn’t always true of course as many people view this as an opportunity to stray away from the herd and take a stance against what everyone else thinks just to provoke a response from the community. I, myself have fallen victim to this phenomena, as I sometimes stray away from posting certain pictures or statuses because I am afraid of what others will think. Part of this stems from being wary about posting any private information online but another part of it stems from the feeling of being confined in this box so that your online society and friends will accept you. Imagine posting the weirdest or most embarrassing thing you can think of on social media. How do you think your friends will view you? Would they shun you and unfriend you? So doesn’t this in a way change that you are and sort of frame you into something you think you ought to be? Of course I’ve found this behavior on all social networks like Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram. Sometimes we become a different person than we really are in the real world. We want others, sometimes people who we don’t really know, to view us in another perspective. We want them to see us in another light. Our beliefs, values, and persona can change slightly and I believe this comes from society’s natural desire to fit in.

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  38. 0M08

    The main process that came into focus when thinking of a concept that we learned in this class was the concept of coding. This stuck out in my mind because of the process Perl takes us through when coding a think-aloud protocol. She described that the major categories in the coding system were reading, writing, and talking, but she also distinguished between the various kinds of each. This process involves breaking down a piece of work to explain its parts and how each work to fulfill your needs of the paper; the behaviors are analyzed and patterns are determined.

    The main principle of coding can be seen in multiple aspects in life because in many places breaking down situations or peoples’ thoughts processes is common practice. When I think about coding in real life situations, I think about scientists breaking down behavior of people and animals to identify certain aspects of their culture and their social structure. Some of the principles seen in both coding and the observation of societies include commenting, assessing, interpreting, and questioning. In both, the processes – one of writing and the other living – are evaluated for the purpose to understand more fully what each process entails. Some in many senses coding a think-loud protocol is much like the cultural studies of a society.

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  39. 0119

    A concept I have recently learned is the concept of transference in my psychology class during my senior year of high school. Transference is extremely common in commercials. Almost every commercial you see has some sort of transference in it. Whether it's an actor, a song, or a catchy slogan. Every good commercial has something that gets you to remember it when you see something that reminds you of it. For example, the old spice commercials get me every time. The fact that they are so funny, yet use such famous people bring them into my mind constantly. I am a huge NFL fan and participate in Fantasy Football. In one of my leagues, Greg Jennings is one of my receivers. So every time I watch the Green Bay Packers games, and Greg Jennings makes a great play I think of old spice. I don't mean to, but it just pops up into my head.
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    I am a part of almost every social media you can think of. Facebook, twitter, instagram, and tumblr. But my most prevalently used of these is Facebook. Facebook has turned into a popularity contest rather than a site that connects friends, so my use is slowly fading. I check it at random points throughout the day. I randomly pull out my phone, open up Facebook, and check on what my friends are doing. Whether they're not posting anything, or posting nonstop I go on to view what my friends have to say. I also post at least once a day. I view Facebook as a way for me to share my thoughts and ideas with all of my friends quickly and easily. Most of my statuses are random, stupid things that most people hate looking at. For example, random song lyrics, statuses about how bad I am at prioritizing and finally how much i procrastinate. Even though I know people don't want to see this, I choose to post it anyway because it's what I want to do with my account. Just like many people post what they want, I have the right to do the same.

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  40. Hollister and Ambercrombie and Fitch are very clever. They target people of self-loathing and people who think highly of themselves. They purposely pick models who are super-toned and "naturally" tan to wear their clothing. People walk by the store and see their huge posters of half-naked, beautiful people and think that if they buy Hollister's/Ambercrombie and Fitch's ridiculously over priced clothes that they will feel and look like a model. Their trick works on people of all ages. Their posters transfer that if people buy their clothes, they will feel better about themselves.
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    I've recently made an account on Pinterest. It's a website and an app that is made up of different subtopics such as "Weddings", "Celebrities", etc. I usually go on the "DIY Crafts" section. People post their ideas and you can "Like" them so you can always see the steps on how to make the craft. It's not really a social media for conversations. There is a "Comment" button, but that is rarely used. Pinterest is mainly for sharing ideas. It's my kind of "social media" because it doesn't involve reading what you don't want to read, or "adding" people. It gives you ideas for being productive.

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  41. 0119
    Before my first exam in my communication class, we watched a few videos about advertising products against the leading competitors while my psychology class was simultaneously studying the experiment of Pavlov’s dogs. The specific commercials that we watched all the time were the commercial in New Coke and Coke verse Pepsi. If you are not familiar with this standoff, Coke was the first famous cola and Pepsi wanted to rise against it so they put out commercials about how taste testers would find Pepsi had a better taste than Coke. Although people had never tried Pepsi before, they rushed to the stores to try this new product and Coke lost many customers. Though they tried to retaliate in the same way with New Coke, people did not enjoy the taste and did not buy this new drink. The reason this seems Pavlovian to me is that (like the dogs) we are trained to follow the desires of our taste buds. The dogs came running to the bell every time it rang after they had associated it with their dinner, and when Pavlov rang it while no dinner was present the dogs still sprinted to him. Though we do not tend to admit it, we are just like the dogs. If we see a new drink, cleaning product, or even potato chip trying to match off against the leading competitor we are drawn a little closer to the product even though we have not used it and are completely unaware whether this statement is true or not. By simply watching the Pepsi commercial, so many people went to the store and bought Pepsi that Coke, the leading competitor, had to try to retaliate. That’s a big number of people influenced by the commercial, and as the economy keeps evolving many new products seem to find their way into the paths of big businesses such as the fast food industries generating more competition through growing chains such as Checkers and Wendy’s. Even car insurance companies are using this “leading competitor test” to shoot themselves to the top of the chart, and to put it simply it’s working.
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    I’m a part of many online communities but the most dominate ones would be Facebook and numerous gaming communities. While I am on Facebook, I am a very cautious person who avoids cursing in any situation and focuses purely on posting interesting or funny statuses; for this reason I do not post too many statuses as not too many things happen to me that I feel are so interesting that everybody needs to know. On Facebook, I tend to spend more time looking at pictures and commenting on other posts instead of putting posts and pictures up by myself. However, the discourse that I use and avoid when playing video games tends to change from game to game. For example, I used to play Gears of War everyday with very competitive people resulting in my fluency in Gears of War terminology. Any normal bystander who has not played the game would be very confused by me saying, “Watch out! I tagged him!”, but any Gears of War player would understand that the enemy now has an active grenade on him that is about to explode. This idea carries on to many games though, and as the game changes so does a good amount of the language. As I started to play a ferociously expanding game called League of Legends, I was fairly confused by the terminology used because the game was on the computer so the chat was typed instead of said. It took me a fair amount of time to understand terminology like “re,” “true sight,” and “b.” In fact, I am still just learning many of the terms of the games. I know first hand that new languages can be hard to learn but you can get the general grasp of a sentence by understanding a few words. In games, not knowing a term can be detrimental to your play style and affect all of your teammates as well. Each game has a language of it’s own, and if you don’t believe me listen to a professional gamer and see how much you understand.

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  42. 0037

    Greene’s piece on framing was difficult to understand until I truly could grasp what framing was. My interpretation was that framing is the process of stating something to change how the audience perceives a certain issue. In my sociology class, we learned about social deviance, the study of how people “deviate”, or deter, from the mainstream society, and how this especially leads to crime. The study of this shows how people who don’t feel like they fit into society are more susceptible to commit crimes. The out of place feeling they have with the world leads to mental uncomfortable-ness and leaves them often confused with their life’s direction. Sociologists frame this condition as “social deviance” in order to allow us, the audience, to understand this concept of how interactions with the world affect how we think and can lead to crime. We can relate all of what we know of this issue to that term. As Greene said, “Readers may not remember every detail… but they can recall the principle.” This is how the term “social deviance” is an example of framing.
    The aspect of my life I can frame is that although I am not a criminal, I can understand how deviance leads to that behavior. I have, at times, felt out of place with society and have seen my behavior change when I feel like this. When I feel uncomfortable with a group of people, I can feel myself sometimes act like a different person. I’m sure many people can relate to the feeling of “losing yourself” and trying to find themselves in a new group of people. I can understand how on a larger scale, this same feeling can lead to people acting out of character, and committing criminal acts.

    -continued-

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  43. -continued-

    I am a member of multiple guitar web forums, whose purpose is to bring together musicians into one site to be able to discuss and share ideas about music and especially guitar. My “doing” in this forum is watching and posting music videos of myself and others performing music, and offering criticism and advice to help others, and myself, improve as a musician. When I first joined this community, I was awkward in my interactions with others, because I had never been a part of an online community before. I didn’t know the boundaries of what was socially acceptable, or how to treat other members. I now know, however, the lines not to cross. I am never rude or obnoxious; I am very professional about actually using the site to improve as a musician, and I want my example to encourage others to do the same. I value being helped by others who share the same passions as me, and I want to serve as that example to new members too.

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  44. 0M08

    I only online community I see myself a part of is Facebook, which is true for many people my age. When I go onto Facebook, I believe it to be more of a social site that it adaptive to each person’s use or want of it; some people participate by posting pictures of statuses, some participate for their company, and some participate to share their beliefs. When I am active on Facebook, the main thing I do is scroll through my news feed or I post pictures to share memories with friends. The “doing” is completed through my interaction with friends on an online forum. My “being” on Facebook is the same as it is in everyday life, but I think that is because I do not spend a substantial amount of time on Facebook to change the I act toward something or someone; however, I do not believe this is the case for everyone on Facebook. For example, earlier this year there was a trend on Facebook called #ImHonest2012. People would post life stories or experiences they had, that they supposedly never told anybody ad would claim that they were being true to themselves and their friends. I got into an argument on day because I said that to sit behind a computer and hiding your personality from your “friends” was not being honest. In this sense, the “being” of many people had been skewed because you could not tell if they were themselves online or if they were themselves in day-to-day interactions. I do not believe Facebook to have any influence on my beliefs or values although interactions on Facebook may take part in enhancing my actions to stand by my beliefs. I have been raised with the strong core values of being a good person, try to do the right thing, be involved in the world you live in, and love your family; and none of those have to do with being a religious person. I believe in a clean world full of people willing and wanting to do the right thing and nothing on Facebook will change my opinions about that but campaigns and slogans and things that people post compels me to respond/ not respond to stand up for what I believe in. Throughout this year, political campaigns have been seen everywhere but as the election date closes in, more and more people are interested in refuting or degrading the candidates on Facebook through uneducated comments or paragraph long comments about statistics. I do take part in this because if there was no need for debate about the subject, then I think there would be no reason for a vote. The online community of Facebook allows for many ideas, values, and people to clash or be friends, and it has been a place to be who you are while simultaneously not being yourself.

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  45. 0037

    I recently learned about cellular respiration in my biology class. This is the series of metabolic process by which the body converts nutrients and food into ATP (adenine triphosphate). It occurs in three stages inside the mitochondria of our cells: glycolysis, citric acid cycle, and chemiosmosis. In glycolysis, a glucose molecule is converted into two molecules of pyruvate and generates two ATP through substrate level phosphorylation. The next stage, the citric acid cycle, pyruvate is converted to acetyl-CoA. Then the acetyl-CoA is converted into 6 NADH, 2 FADH2, and 2 more ATP molecules. In the final step, NADH and FADH2 are used to create a proton gradient across the inner membrane of the mitochondria. This gradient is used as an energy source to drive the synthesis of ATP by ATP synthase.

    In my mind, I use framing to help me understand this concept. I compare the process to that of an automobile assembly line. It is a series of steps used to make an end product (ATP in cellular respiration and a car in the assembly line). In cellular respiration, each step needs to be completed in sequence or else the process cannot be completed and the same goes for an assembly line. I was struggling to understand the process of cellular respiration and thinking of it as an assembly line really helped clear it up me.

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    The main online community I am a part of is Facebook. However, I don’t consider myself a very active member of this community. I take the role of an observer more than a contributor in this online discourse community. I hardly ever post on Facebook, instead using it to look at funny posts by my friends that usually come in the form of memes. If I do post, it is just a picture I think is worth sharing. I make sure that if I post it, it will not offend anyone or possibly harm me further down the road. I value posts that are funny and entertaining as well as posts that are insightful and intelligent. It upsets me when people bully over Facebook or post unintelligent or insensitive statuses. I believe that users who post these kinds of statuses should be banned from Facebook. They obviously are not responsible enough to handle themselves in a mature way and have no right to be on there. Another thing that annoys me on Facebook is when people post statuses to draw attention to themselves. They might say something to start unnecessary drama and cause a huge fight over Facebook because that’s the only way they can get people to notice their sorry lives. These people should also be banned. Even with all its flaws, Facebook is still a good place to learn what is happening in your friends’ lives. It gives you a chance to contribute your opinions and thoughts for others to see and offers a good environment for discourse.

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  46. 0119
    In my AP History classes I learned about discrimination and the role it has taken through history. In this instance, discrimination means to make a distinction in which it favors or is against a group or a person. An example in history that involved discrimination happened here in the United States and still resides. Of course I refer to the distinction that for many years separated the “Whites” and the “Blacks”. Everyone knows the story, the blacks came from Africa as slaves to work for the lazy white men and the blacks were always discriminated and put down because of the status they carried in history. Fortunately history has leveled the playing field between both races but discrimination still continues in other forms. An example today is discriminatory profiling of Hispanics and the stereotypes that they carry. Today several state governments are introducing discrimination in disguise. Arizona for example, is trying to pass a law in which it would allow law enforcement to ask for documentation to and person that is suspected to be an alien. To many Hispanics (Mexicans in particular) they believe that the southwestern United States is their domain and that the United States stole this stretch of land, this also ties with Native American who once upon a time where also dealing with a similar way of thinking. These are some discriminatory examples in place that one is able to see that happened yesterday and now today as history continues its course.
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    The main online community which I can best associate myself with is Facebook. Like half of the world, I too post, search, and befriend on Facebook. However I feel that my morals and my beliefs that were inscribed in me, allow to portray what kind of person I really am. I do come from a Pentecostal background, yes my Christian Denomination is known to be extremely strict but it is what I grew up with and it is who I am today. On Facebook I don’t go posting shirtless photos of myself, the main reason being because my beliefs do not favor it and second, because I really don’t have the body for that. I also am one to believe that what you post really gives people an opening to judge your colors outside of the parameters they may know you in. That is why I try to best make myself appear as who I am online as I would be out in the real world, this I achieve by posting faith quotes or simple argumentative battles of who is the best soccer team in the world. My values and beliefs have created me and that is the inspiration of how to portray myself on any online community like Facebook.

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  47. 0119
    In sociology this summer I learned about ethnocentrism. This term was new to me at the time and when I learned what it meant I thought of how prevalent it is in today’s society. Ethnocentrism refers to judging another negatively in regards of one’s culture. This way of thinking is very narrow-minded because of the way it assumes that one’s culture is superior. In class the professor played a video of the Bachelorette showing how the people in the show behaved when they went on a trip to another country. When they got there they behaved like they were superior to everyone else, acting snobby and overdressing. One of the things that stood out was that when they went to buy something to eat at a stand, they got frustrated because the vendor did not know how to speak English. They expected the vendor to know how to speak English, but they are the ones that should learn the foreign language because they are the tourists. This kind of attitude might be why some other countries think negatively of Americans. We have to look at situations from a different point than our own so ethnocentrism does not occur. When I first moved to the U.S., I thought it was weird that I had to take my shoes off before I went into a friend’s house. Later on I realized that it is actually a smart idea because the floor will not get as dirty. That is a simple example but it shows that I should have never judged and I did because I encountered something different that I was used to.
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    Facebook was the only online community that I have been involved with until a couple of days ago. I recently joined Instagram, mainly because I like the idea of strictly pictures instead of writing statuses and poking people and all that other nonsense on Facebook. Facebook has been annoying me for quite a while now because most of the posts that show up on the news feeds are ignorant. There are also many fake people on Facebook. And I do not mean fake as an the way girls use it describe a girl they dislike, but I mean fake as an people pretending to be other people. I usually tend to log on, see if I got any notifications then log off. What’s cool about Instagram is that mostly all the pictures are interesting and/or funny, and there are no people complaining about their lives. Facebook and Instagram can be seen as secondary Discourses because they “are institutions in the public sphere”.

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  48. 0037
    A concept that I seemed to be very interested in was the fundamental idea of social facilitation. In my psychology class we learned that social facilitation was simply the fact that people will tend to perform better when there is a presence of others watching them. This belief is definitely apparent in my life because I seemed to have notice that I take things a lot more seriously depending on my audience. Back in high school, I remember there was a time where a girl that I liked would occasionally come out and watch my baseball games. On days that she was there, it seemed like I always thought that I would try harder and play better when realistically I played to my best ability every game. I definitely believe that our audience has a strong influence on our effort we put forth on specific situations. I know that I took things a lot less serious when it was just me and my friends taking batting practice as appose to if there was a scout that came out to watch us play. Obviously, this isn’t a good reflection of character on my part but I think it is a factor that most people cannot avoid. It jus8t sort of happens that way.
    In recent weeks I have noticed that I am becoming more and more involved in the Instagram community. I’ve realized that it is a great way to stay update with photos without having to deal with all the status updates and ridiculous advertising that you may find on a social network like Twitter or Facebook. Its strictly about photos and nothing else and it really seems to cut out majority of the bogus conversations between your friends and followers that nobody really cares about. Although other networks allow you to specify the people you want to follow, I think Instagram does a better job of narrowing down the people in which interest you the most. In terms of my role in the community, I will often find myself checking photos on a daily basis and sometimes every couple of hours depending on what I doing at the time. If I see something I like I will make it a point to acknowledge the person with a simple like or comment. I also like the fact that it shows its viewers the many different trending photos of the day. Ultimately, Instagram has become my new favorite social network by providing me with a way to strictly look a photos without having to deal with all the other traffic of conversation that is found in other networks.

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