Author Archives: Gabriel

Comment on Social Media, or Networking for Introverts by Gabriel

Great post! You really describe the differences in how introverts/extrovert are affected by social interactions. I would consider myself an introvert, so I fully agree how communicating digitally takes much of the pressure off the interaction and is much easier to pace. Although this is true in my life as well, I become frustrated with the behaviors it is reinforcing. Since online interactions are taking the place of more and more of our face-to-face interactions, I think people are forgetting how to build genuine physical relationships. Neither physical or digital communication is perfect, but what about online interactions frustrates you the most as an introvert?

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Comment on is networked individualism selfish? by Gabriel

I agree with you and Betty. It is much easier to see people as social stepping stones in the virtual world because of the absence of the human element. I think by missing the human element, online interactions become shallow at times which lead people to seeing people as social objects rather than actual people. “Networked individualism” is necessarily selfish, but I do think in our money driven environment we tend to try our best to monetize our online space in what ever way we can.

Comment on Folder, File, Function – The Omnipresence of the Modern Computer Interface by Gabriel

I thought your conclusion describes the sad truth of how little people know about the technology that they are using. It is interesting to think how dependent technology makes people, but yet people rarely think what goes into make the interfaces we love and expect. The design might never change, but as technology continues to modernize and develop, I think our understanding of the technology will grow (at least I hope so).

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Comment on anonymity, free speech, and why i use reddit by Gabriel

That’s interesting to think about usernames when considering true identity. I agree with you that people are much more hesitant to comment or share content on Facebook because it will forever be attached to them. Instagram makes it even more permanent. At the least on Facebook you can change your preferences and erase enough information to hide much of what you choose to share. On Instagram you cannot edit or delete a comment. The publisher of the picture must delete the entire post. People are much more likely to be truthful when their name is not attached. I agreed with many of Hogan’s points about usernames and thought about how Instagram just erased thousands of “throwaway” accounts and had an uprising because most of their users, including myself, lost a lot of followers.

Comment on Thoughts 1/30 (Yik Yak x Stanford) by Gabriel

I thought I was the only one to hear about the Yik Yak response to the bridge protest. That protest, of course, was going to be a controversial event and public issue. I realized how biased social media platforms could be when I really started paying to the different platforms during some of our recent public controversies and events (President Obama’s State of the Union, police brutality, and so on). It is eye opening the things people will say when their name is not attached to the statement. I feel their true identity comes out when they do not have to worry about the repercussions of their actions. The comments from some of these threads can appear to be just as bias as the title at times. Social media is meant to be a public forum to express opinions, but I see some of the same things you see as social media becomes more and more biased.

Comment on Thoughts 1/24 by Gabriel

This is a scary realization of the world we live in today. Having multiple personas because of social media and our technology affordances seems pretty inevitable. I think what we do with the new tools is really what we should try to shape before it gets out of control. That’s why I think social media education is so important and needed. Being able to properly represent yourself online as you want to be represented seems to be just as or more important as learning how to use the interface. Great post! I had similar takeaways from our discussion.

Comment on Thoughts 1/17 by Gabriel

“The worst image… is people who are overloaded with information, which they don’t what to do with, have no sense of what is relevant what is irrelevant…” Is there such a thing as too much information? Postman goes as far as arguing that children are starving in Somalia not because we don’t have information, but because we have too much.
The internet is an incredible resource, but I do think skills need to be developed to effectively use it. Information overload is a legit issue, but its hard to blame the producer of online content. Information and knowledge can be shared seamlessly which is a great benefit for us. I believe we must do better to utilize/filter this mass of free information.

Comment on Not sure this belongs by Gabriel

….I still don’t drink coffee. I have had it before, but I do not drink it regularly. And when I was not in school, I did not have any for almost a year, so I understand your late introduction to coffee. And the video was great. I am big Will Farrell and Mike Ditka fan!

Comment on Sports and Social Media by Gabriel

I agree. The hashtag is becoming more and more powerful. This is where I think these athletes need to be advised to be more cautious and thoughtful in regards to social media. After these controversial issues (Ferguson and Ray Rice), social media ignited with responses from everyone and everywhere. I think that these topics such as domestic violence need to be addressed and social media gives the public a voice. But when discussing such controversial topics that resulted from the Ferguson incident, social media is again a great platform to discuss, but it also keeps the negative of the issue prevalent. Just yesterday, I saw a report about a police killing in Ferguson. I do not believe social media is responsible, but it has the power to prolong the negative of side of already controversial issues.