GNED 1403 Final Blog

The world has changed quite a bit in the last century. I could go on about many of the technological and social advances we've achieved, but I find it most interesting to instead discuss how the nature of free speech has changed. Notably, it is not that we aren't expressing it. Rather, it's the way we choose to conduct ourselves in person, and most distinctly, online. For in my opinion, it's one thing to make comments, criticisms and hateful comments in physical form. It is an entirely different thing to sit over a keyboard and say things without a discernible face or identity. Some could even consider it cowardly to do the latter. But I digress. In this blog I will highlight examples of both online and physical acts of racism in person and online. I will display examples, discuss and play favor towards those seeking to bring out and openly denounce individuals who make such hateful and disgusting commentary.

http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/427559-on-the-internet-nobody-knows-youre-a-dog

I will begin with discussing the anonymity that now exists today contrasted with what would been available several years ago. As a notion I had previously mentioned, 20-30 years ago, when someone had something to say, the only way to do so would have been to talk in person. This would have been especially true if you wanted to get your point across to many people (say more than 1000 individuals). You'd need to get some serious air time. By that I mean radio, TV and newspaper as examples. From my acquired knowledge, these media outlets tend not to post information or articles from anonymous sources, but rather from a person's name. In a sense, there was no hiding behind anything. If you made controversial comments, people would know it was you who said it. Contrasted to today, where many can speak and say what they like without the need to truly divulge who they are. Do the new ways of today really drive change and evoke accountability like they used to?

This now leads into my first example. Although outdated, I feel that this fits my first area of discussion perfectly. Although I disagree with the existence of Neo-Nazi groups, I fully support their right to have the ability to express these opinions in a calm manner. A clash did occur, but this isn't the main story. Rather, what I interpret out of this is that these individuals on both sides hold opinions and were not afraid to step outside of the box to state and exercise their charter rights. I can respect the courage and character it takes to get involved on a human level. That being said, I support the Anti-Racism Action and their denunciation of these events. After all, freedom of speech and democracy will only continue to function so long as tolerance and acceptance are practiced as fundamental concepts.

Numerically speaking, this event did not really have that many participants. From what I can gather in the article, only about 450 people collectively came out to participate in the protest of or march in the rally. Compared to online, where the number of views, likes comments, etc on any post would clearly exceed 450 if it had enough attention (front page of reddit for example). Especially if the post deals with controversial content.

Demonstrations such as the one I have highlighted above are generally good. They incite discussion, and many lead to beneficial changes and recognition of how tolerant we really are as human beings of each other's existence. However, can online do the same thing as a physical rally in the streets of downtown?

This webpage is something I stumbled upon on a Google search. Interestingly enough, the page states it has over 4500 reads. Ten times the amount of participants in the streets of Calgary 3 years ago. But does this volume of readers and assumed activists represent a greater stand to racism than the protesters in the streets? I think not. Rather, I feel that online just doesn't have the same effect as a physical gathering. The people who posted, read and became active on this website surely exist, but who are they? I don't see any faces, names, or anything that helps me identify them as a person. Although it could be argued that this is a unified and collective stand against online racism, I just can't see it replacing a good old demonstration. Change is a physical act, and I can't see it being something that will occur behind a computer screen.
















In conclusion, I'm not entirely denouncing modern ways of conveying information and taking a stand against things. The benefits of increased interconnection are clear across the board in many ways.  Rather, I'm trying to encourage action instead than the passive commenting or liking in an online context. The world now has and is dependent upon technology in many ways, but no amount of internet involvement will ever replace a face to face confrontation.


Photo Credits from above:

http://www.google.ca/imgres?start=204&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&tbo=d&biw=1920&bih=912&tbm=isch&tbnid=toUM2iwMWRPOQM:&imgrefurl=http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/09/15/russia-protesters-hope-huge-rallies-will-keep-anti-putin-movement-alive/&docid=0F-2vyCcK5Bs7M&imgurl=http://nationalpostnews.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/russia-protest-3.jpg%253Fw%253D620%2526h%253D413&w=620&h=413&ei=6GXJUM3aIMThiwKrj4HoAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=1285&vpy=451&dur=38&hovh=183&hovw=275&tx=110&ty=79&sig=112164858874561191370&page=5&tbnh=151&tbnw=223&ndsp=58&ved=1t:429,r:38,s:200,i:118


http://www.google.ca/imgres?um=1&hl=en&tbo=d&biw=1920&bih=912&tbm=isch&tbnid=VYRtKmU5ta3pOM:&imgrefurl=http://www.unlvrebelyell.com/2012/03/12/armchair-activism-wont-fix-the-worlds-problems/&docid=3_Ou8--1recyUM&imgurl=http://farm8.static.flickr.com/7051/6829335818_4898aa5df1.jpg&w=500&h=428&ei=hVzJUPbQCY3piwKGr4DIDg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=307&sig=112164858874561191370&page=1&tbnh=141&tbnw=168&start=0&ndsp=51&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0,i:88&tx=97&ty=70

Blog #6: What I've learned in GNED 1403

For my final blog entry, I will briefly discuss what I feel I have learned and will take away from my experience as a Student in GNED 1403. Most of all, I will discuss my new found familiarity with the usage of different social media outlets, blogging, and better understanding of meme and online culture.

Well, where else is there to begin but at the start of the semester? Fresh out of summer and starting off my second year. At this point in time, my understanding of web culture was certainly below average. The full extent of my awareness was basically my Facebook page. I rarely used my laptop for much else beyond You tube and researching academic papers for assignments. Although I was aware of blogs, social media (such as Twitter, Google+, etc) and some web culture (reddit, memebase), I had never taken the time to look at them. This changed with the start of this class, and I was soon familiarized.

Blog writing was my first challenge, as it is very different when contrasted with say, writing a formal essay, report or research paper. Blogs carry opinion, they carry thoughts and emotions from the writer onto the web. In addition to this, blogs are available to anybody who feels so inclined to read them. For example, if I so desired, I could take the time to find blogs written from perspectives all over the world and read them. Talk about a huge difference from traditional media! 30 years ago, quick and easy access for anyone to post their writing simply did not exist. The closest thing might have been a newspaper or magazine, but even then, multiple barriers existed (physical, financial, etc). The first thing I've learned and will take away from this course: Blogs are not traditional, they carry opinions, ideas and voices and they are available to all at any time without traditional barriers (except perhaps ownership of a computer and internet access).

The next thing I have taken away from GNED 1403 would be my ability to understand, acknowledge and ultimately contribute to online communities. GNED 1403 required me to join a community, and I selected the 4Runner Forum. It was a great experience to be on a website where I could share a common ground with individuals all around the world. This opened my eyes to the huge variety of different communities that exist. To me, the most astonishing thing about this is how the internet has allowed for people anywhere in the world to join groups and participate on websites regardless of physical boundaries. This new avenue of communication is no doubt highly beneficial to the spreading of information and ideas. In fact, my participation with the website allowed me to quickly contact someone and gain the right information to perform a small repair on my vehicle. After GNED 1403, I now have a better understanding of the power of the internet to bring like minded and similar individuals together.

The final item I will highlight as learning from GNED 1403 would be a better understanding of internet culture. Before taking this course, I had never visited memebase or reddit. However, after the first few days and than especially after the meme unit, I learned exactly what role they play in the analysis and communication of observations, ideas and opinions over a multitude of large issues and daily events. Topics for posts on these websites range from politics, news and extreme weather (hurricane sandy) all the way down to everyday life. It feels to me that basically anyone who lives in western culture would be able to relate to the material found here. Although I do not relate to all of the posts, I find myself laughing and enjoying the humorous approach that is taken when addressing basically everything. I will continue to frequent these sites into the future.

In conclusion, I believe that my enrolment in GNED 1403 has resulted in a beneficial learning experience for me in terms of communicating and understanding the online community. Although I had much going on this semester through my other core degree classes, GNED 1403 was by far a course to do assignments for. Writing blogs based upon my observations was much easier than I originally thought, with the hardest part just finding the time and getting started.

Blog #5 Collective Action

For my blog, I am going to focus on highlighting and discussing the Occupy Protests of 2011-2012. I will discuss the motives and the arguable "goals" of the protest in addition to highlighting the role media has played in the organization and coverage. Concluding with the positives and negatives that can be derived from the protest.

First, I will begin by stating that protests are nothing new. In fact, they have been a part of human society basically since their onset. The difference today is that the ability to protest is ingrained into our rights as citizens. No king or tyrant is going to have us executed for stating an opinion or organizing en mass to express dissent. Occupy Wall Street 2012 is nothing more than an expression of this. The masses coming out to make their opinions heard.

Motivation for this mass demonstration can be traced back to multiple sources. This discussion website I have found seems to summarize motives as being mostly an expression against greed and by extension  wealth inequality. The economic meltdown of 2008 highlighted many holes in the unregulated banking system and issuing of sub prime rate mortgages and loans in the united states (ex. Working at McDonald's and receiving a $400,000 Mortgage you will never repay). As a result, many defaulted on their financial obligations when a fluctuation of interest rates occurred and thus causing a series of bankruptcies and the toppling of several "too big to fail" banking institutions (Freddy Mac, Fanny Mae and the  Lehman Brothers to name a few). The underlying irritation to many here was how many of the bankers and decision makers of these firms seemed to get off relatively unharmed, whereas the bulk of the economic damage caused a ripple effect that is still being felt throughout our economy today. 

The protests were organized and began in September 2011. With no clear leader or well defined mission, many (including myself) initially struggled to understand the primary goals of the protest. Looking back now, I can see where the motivation came from, but I am unable to discern if anything major has been accomplished. The world seems to same way now as it was before the protests, which leads me to conclude that perhaps the goal all along was merely to inform and increase awareness. If that truly were the goal, it has only celebrated a small victory. Awareness is no doubt a good thing, but I feel that without any societal change nothing major has occurred. This will only be highlighted in the next decade, as to whether another financial crisis is to occur by the same means. Personally, I feel that I would not have participated in the protests simply because of a lack of clear goals and means to accomplish them. I also only partially agree with the motivations. I agree with speaking out against corporate greed, but I feel that a certain degree of inequality is necessary for society to function. 

The primary reason that the protests were able to organize, gain attention and continue for several months was through the medium of social media. Twitter, Facebook and other communication tools which were widely used to distribute information, actions and opinions. In addition to this, many media outlets had wide coverage of the movement, tracking events all around the world. These factors led to the increased popularity and continuation of the events.

Overall, I will conclude by summarizing what I feel are positive and negative outcomes from the Occupy Protests of 2011

Positives:

- Increased usage of social media to quickly organize and communicate across the globe.

- Bringing thousands of people together.

- Increasing awareness and speaking out in dissent against greed and exploitation.

Negatives:

- No defined goals or leader, making it difficult to gauge whether the event was a failure or success.

- No long lasting implications (law changes, justice and government recognition)

- Motivations were broad and sometimes muddled with extremism (Anarchistic and socialist/Marxist tones) making if difficult to find support across broad social groups in society.

Overall, the events are certainly a huge matter for discussion, but with many do not seem to resonate any real action or change. Implications from this event will be felt into the future, as occupy has no doubt shown how effective social media can be in bringing people together. A cynical joke I can remember from the time seems to summarize how I feel about the overall outcome of the protests:

Q: "How many occupy protesters does it take to change a light bulb?"

A: "None, because they would rather sit there and complain about how dark it is"

It was a significant event in name, but in physical change, seems to fall short.

Blog #4, Meme Analysis

I choose to keep things simple and structure my blog post around the first meme that made me laugh.

http://overlymanlyman.com/football-helmet-you-mean-faggot-crown/

The background picture to this meme is known throughout the internet as the Overly Manly Man. In fact, all of the data I have found on his background and origin have been compiled on memebase under the Know Your Meme (KYM) tab (http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/overly-manly-man).  The character depicted is mostly a stab at humour in regards to ultra macho males. Generally speaking, the layout is almost always a question proposed at the top with a ridiculous answer below. This meme is widely used, and this example above is actually a variation of the original which was posted by rken3824 on to a subreddit page on September 24th, 2012. The original caption was: COLOURS? YOU MEAN THOSE THINGS WOMAN AND GAYS LIKE? I can only imagine that the grammatical error in the caption was meant to add emphasis to the ridiculousness of the meme. Ever since, variations have been popping up all over memebase as well as on many other lifestyle blogs. Links to reputable sites are available at the bottom of the memebase KYM page.

I feel that the meaning of this meme is to poke fun at alpha male types. A kind of play in regards to the ridiculousness of trying to always be the biggest, meanest and strongest male. I think this meme was designed and is continually circulated as a running joke around the existing stereotype  Often, the posts contain grammar and context errors in addition to profanity. The shirtless male in a fighting stance to me symbolizes a so called "meat-head" or jock, always looking for confrontation or battle. Where brains may lack but testosterone flows unimpeded.

Historically, the image background is that of a 19th century fighter by the name of Mike Conley. A website with a quick outline of his bouts is found through the link. (http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=40143&cat=boxer). It appears he was a well seasoned fighter with the nickname "The Ithica Giant". His image and historical records sat entirely separate to memebase prior to the upload and variation from rken3824. Personally, I have a feeling that Mike would approve of his new found popularity in the 21st century and seemingly alpha male status on the web. 

I find this meme and many of its variations hilarious. Although it may offend some, I think it's important to understand that the underlying humour lies in the well developed satire. Not just literally interpreting what the meme says.

Blog Reader Analysis

http://www.taxes.ca/blog/

For my third blog, I've chosen to address question #1.

On an excitement level 1 to 10, I've chosen to analyse a blog which clearly falls into the 1 category.  This is the Canadian Tax Blog, which is created specifically for tax and financial planners to stay updated on developments in the Canadian tax system. Although nothing has been posted in the last few months, it appears that most activity (surprise surprise) occurs around tax time, before April 29th. 

Now, I will explore who would possibly want to utilize this blog. Mostly, I would imagine someone who is adept and carries an interest in tax, financial or investment planning would find this information relevant. However, everyone who resides in our country could find this information useful. It is our duty to file taxes on a yearly basis, and it would only make sense to me that everyone would take the time to do the homework and ensure the amount they pay is accurate. In reality though, I don't think everyone has this approach in mind. Taxes aren't exactly what broaden people's imagination or build and entice excitement. Therefore, I think its safe to conclude that this site has its time and purpose. It isn't visited and used year round, rather it is mostly updated and visited during the spring. Traffic appears to be mostly small businesses and financially competent individuals.

It is also significant to note that the posts are from the website editorial team, and not from individual contributors. This leads me to believe that the website is very strongly moderated and content is most likely reviewed and accurate. This that tends to be a bit of a rarity based on my experience in the blogging world. In terms of back and forth communication, it appears that this is basically non existent. There is no comment board, and the posts are mostly put up for informational purposes. This does not seem to be of the most importance though, as the website is aimed mostly inform as opposed to being a comment and discussion board. 

In conclusion, I feel that perhaps this site has been mislabelled a blog. To me, it seems there is a disconnection between the reader and the individuals who post the information. Although the information is most likely accurate, I feel that there is a critical element of communication which is lacking. Another point of conflict I feel is in the overall layout and presentation of the site. It seems very drab and perhaps somewhat outdated. This in the sense of the font, text boxes, ads and photos clearly look behind on the times when contrasted to some of the example blogs. Overall, there doesn't seem to be much of a community here. With that said though, there is bountiful information for the financially talented to utilize. I will most likely wait for April before I visit here again.

Biases in Newspaper Writing

Hello again,

Today I will move away from talking about 4Runners and direct my writing towards identifying political positions and biases in writing. I will do this by contrasting and commenting upon two articles on the same topic from different Calgary newspapers. Many different media outlets carry political biases. This to my understanding, is done mostly to appeal to certain consumer market segments. Although this makes perfect sense from a business standpoint, it raises questions as to journalistic accuracy. In addition the ethics of providing fair and balanced information to the reader. However, I will expand more upon these topics as I analyse the writings.

My topic of choice will be the recent developments with respect to cost overruns and hotel expenses for the Alberta government. These expenses were accrued over the London Summer Olympics, and are even rumoured to include $113,000 of unused hotel rooms. I will used the Calgary Sun and the Calgary Herald as my two newspaper texts to be used in comparison.

First up, we have an article which was published on the Calgary Sun website. It is titled "Alberta government's attempt to save money costs taxpayers 113K". This title seems sensationalist to me. In the sense that it is attempting to create bias in the readers mind. This even before one begins to read the newsprint. Upon reading the article, and drawing from prior knowledge, it becomes quite clear the article was written with a strong right wing bias. Nowhere in the article is there any discussion of the benefits of Alberta's engagement in the Olympic games. The meetings with UK representatives to encourage trade and commerce are not discussed either. Rather, the article spends its time using select quotes of government officials and tax federation representatives to distort the context. In fact, about half of the article is just quotes, with very few quips of writing to tie them together. The intent of this article is blatantly obvious. It is not written to inform, but rather to entice and antagonize the reader.

http://www.calgarysun.com/2012/10/01/alberta-governments-attempt-to-save-money-costs-taxpayers-113k

Next up, The Calgary Herald has published an article on-line which is titled "Reford catching heat over half-million dollar tab for London Olympics trip". To me, this seems like a much more appropriate and thought out title. Instead of presenting a bias in terms of cost, it appears to be making more of an effort to educate and properly inform the reader about the entire trip. After reading the article, I feel that both sides of the argument were more or less accurately explored. Although both articles agree in the context of the wasted $113,000, The Herald makes an effort to discuss both sides of the conversation. In fact, a portion of the Herald article even discusses efforts made to reduce the wasted expenses. The article states that "Two cabinet ministers who travelled with Redford said the Tory government got stuck with a $113,687 hotel bill when it decided last spring to reduce the delegation by 18 people, including four other cabinet ministers.

They said the government asked the hotel to re-sell the rooms, but the market “softened” and the rooms could not be resold." This information is not mentioned in the Sun. Overall, I feel that the Herald has done a better job reporting this story and offering more fair and balanced information to the reader.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/travel/Redford+catching+heat+over+half+million+dollar+London/7327055/story.html

In conclusion, I feel that contrasting the different news websites has made it easier to identify good and bad reporting. In this case, and many others, I would certainly utilize the Calgary Herald more so than the Sun to provide me with more reliable information. The article from the Sun seems to be trying to tell me what to think. Whereas the Herald is presenting information from both perspectives, allowing me to think and take my own  conclusions from the writing. Biases do exist in writing, but I find it is only more noticeable through comparison. In the end, we are free to read and write what we like. But with that said, not all information sources are created equal.

On-line vs Traditional Media: Repair Manuals

Greetings all,

Today I will be addressing Blog topic #1.

To do this, I will contrast the physical maintenance books that came with my truck to on-line resources.

I will begin by say that I do have bias towards reading the hard copies. The repair manual claims that it is entirely based upon a breakdown and rebuild of the vehicle from scratch. The owner's manual was produced by the Manufacturer. These resources were printed and organized by mechanics, engineers and the company itself. Therefore, I am led to believe that this makes both manuals much more precise and accurate tools.

However, with the availability of the internet, I can use a Google search or forums (such as http://www.toyota-4runner.org/) to find additional resources. These include forums, videos, blogs and occasional articles where other people with the same vehicle or questions can go to find information. These should not be discounted as they often do contain valuable information, only just organized and presented in a different format.

The major differences I have noticed between the two would be the complexity of the written language. For instance, the reference manuals both use very technical jargon. This is easily contrasted with on-line blogs and forums that tend to be less formal. The books are very well edited and do not contain spelling errors or extraneous information. The writers of such material clearly have much experience working and dealing with the vehicle and topics related to it. On-line resources on the other hand, are produced by anyone and everyone. They will often have errors, and can sometimes be filled with useless extra comments and random information.

Another huge difference is the use of stories and experiences on the forums contrasted with straight information that is provided by the books. Many of the people who post on the forums will offer much more insight. For example, the hard copies may suggest using a certain part to fix a problem (let’s use an engine battery for example). The manuals will suggest a basic Toyota battery. However, the forums will go into much more detail outlining the pros, cons, and alternatives to this battery. They may also include factors which are not presented in the book. Factors such as but not limited to climate, age and mileage.

Therefore, the different sources both have their advantages and disadvantages. Both of them cause me to think in different ways as I absorb the information. I have found that the ideal way to approach problems is to utilize both media forms. I will start by reading the book, taking in the information in hard text and jargon. Then I will progress to utilize the on-line resources to gain a well-rounded feel for the problem and the multiple solutions available to me. This way, I have found that I am more in control of the experience. 

Until next week,

Clint