Is social media a progress or problem?

Social media is instant and constant entertainment by profiles, pages, pictures, and post that are visually pleasing and stimulating to the individual who views them. Social media connects people from all across the world and forms communities of similar interests. An example of a positive online community would be the AIDS Memorial Quilt NAMES Project Foundation website (http://www.aidsquilt.org/). This site brings together friends, family, and individuals who have suffered from AIDS and HIV and memorializes the lives that have been lost.

Not all online forums are used for good. ISIS cyber terrorism is an example of a negative community that spreads fear via social media. Dann Lohrmann, the author of How Terrorists' Use of Social Media Points to the Future, states that "Global experts agree that ISIS has been very successful in using the Internet to recruit new fighters via social media" and then continues in his article on how to respond to the online terrorism we see in our society. http://www.govtech.com/em/safety/Terrorists-And-Social-Media.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=238&v=0_wyFgpShU0 Mustafa Tameez, former consultant for the Department of Homeland Security, discusses social media's role in recruiting for terrorist organizations.

Social media is an outlet for material culture of this generation. Just like the AIDS quilt shares multiple stories of a community filled with sorrow for the lives lost and hope for better prevention and a cure, youtube, instagram, twitter and snapchat are platforms that share a digital material culture. Once put out on the internet, a post never really goes away. A virtual footprint is left behind sharing its own history. I personally notice that these platforms reveal trends surrounding teenagers of a specifically short time period. These trends are usually imitated from celebrities or memes but then spread like a disease through the community. Human culture is copied and shared.

Examples of tends form 2016 include: Ted Cruz the Zodiac Killer, highlighter makeup, rose gold everything, avocado toast, apple watches, succulents in every room of the house, the water bottle flip challenge, Harambe, smoothie bowls, waist trainers, chokers, and the list goes on.

While may of these trends are fashion and life style based, they can also reach a lot further into learning trends due to the development of newer technology.

E-Learning Trends of 2017: https://twitter.com/jblefevre60

Rheingold brings up an interesting point. Are you really in control of your learning? I know that when I am trying to study documents on my laptop I am always distracted by responding to emails, checking facebook notifications, and online shopping. A review session that should have only lasted two hours at maximum ended up taking all day until I fully understood what I was studying. While I could have easily avoided these distractions, I believe that for bigger social or lifestyle issues some distractions are put in place on purpose to subconsciously alter the thought process of an individual. This is known as subliminal messaging. By hiding picture or words in different modes of media, advertisers can persuade the audience to think a certain way about what is being advertised. One well known example of subliminal messaging is in a commercial for the Bush Campaign. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NPKxhfFQMs

If you slow the video down between 0:22 and 0:24 the word "rat" is displayed when talking about Gore.

Here are more examples of sublimital messages in advertising: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umi7pbkVaeg

Subliminal messaging like this goes on in every aspect of the media. It happens in food commercials, tobacco and alcohol ads, it could have happened in the Trump and Hillary Campaign. It is interesting yet frightening to think that subconsciously we can be exposed to stimuli that alters our thought process. Subliminal messaging should be considered when discussing cyber-terrorism recruitment. Below is an article discussing how cyberspace is a new arena for terroristic propaganda. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3510409/

Whether you have to write down you goals for working, set aside twenty five minutes without breaks to complete a task, eliminate all distractions or turn off social media, focus can be attained. Attention is valuable and should not be wasted on "crap detection".

Success is determined by effort, grit, and focus. Rheingold incorporates a small excerpt from David Rock's article, "The Neuroscience of Mindfulness" to back up this idea. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-brain-work/200910/the-neuroscience-mindfulness

"Mindfulness is the foundation for all other learning, all other success you will have throughout you life." -Rossi

Why Aren't We Teaching You Mindfulness? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yJPcdiLEkI

Be mindful of what you take away from the internet and what you post on social media. Watch out for false information and avoid spreading it yourself. Bring awareness to issues that are important but remember that it is important to disconnect from distractions as well. Portray yourself in the best light and realize the dangers you face from sharing your world on the internet. Daniel J. Siegel states that "constant attention" can be achieved by mindful awareness. Rheingold incorporates this quote within his article to express caution to the readers when entering the advancing multi-modal/multimedia world.

Neglecting children due to social media happens more often then not. This is just one of the negative effects of progressing social media that Rheingold warns his audience about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-Sy7nFUcxA

Below are two articles that express the same concern as Rheingold about parenting with technology: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/mother-tongue/9280194/Mobile-addict-parents-guilty-of-child-neglect-warns-psychologist.html

http://time.com/4168688/cell-phone-distracted-parenting-can-have-long-term-consequences-study/

The US National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health define attentional blink as a deficit in reporting the second of two targets when presented in close temporal succession. Some researchers believe that attentional blink occurs to help the brain ignore distractions and focus on comprehending the first target presented.

Basic Attentional Blink Paradigm:

Example of an Attentional Blink Test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsCz78VfEg4

Multitasking Is Killing Your Brain By: Larry King https://www.inc.com/larry-kim/why-multi-tasking-is-killing-your-brain.html

Nicholas Carr discussing Why The Human Brain Can't Multitask https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpD3PxrgICU

Can you be born with the ability to efficiently take on multiple tasks or is this skill developed over time?

Efficiently multitasking is a contradiction in itself. To become efficient at a certain task, research shows that eliminating distractions along with narrowing your focus is the best method. Younger kids are brought up in a world with more and more distractions. For example, while an elementary school student is doing homework in the evening, they might be sitting at the kitchen table with their television on in the background, their phone vibrating from texts or social media notifications, and they might even be looking up information on a laptop with tabs of games or music opened. I believe that these newer generations of children can shift through multiple distractions with ease compared to adults yet efficiency will always be compromised while multitasking.

How To Become More Productive By Doing Less:

https://digitalbrandinginstitute.com/how-to-become-more-productive-by-doing-less/

Children absorb everything at a young age. Rheingold brings light to the idea that this multi-modal connection is a skill that younger kids can easily learn. As you get older it is harder to learn how to balance different modes of analysis just as it is more difficult to master a new language. A question to consider: Is it too late for older generations or even parents within this generation to adapt to the modes of information that are utilized today?

Concern arises for the parents of children on social media platforms. It is important to understand how different social media aspects work in order to monitor children while they are on these sites to keep them safe.

Not only are there dangerous and inappropriate sites with predators and bullies, but now J. M. Berger, the author of How Terrorist Recruit Online (And How To Stop It), brings awareness to cyber-terrorism and states that "social media makes it possible to sift efficiently through more potential recruits than ever before". In his article, Berger lays out the steps that ISIS takes to function online; discovery, create micro-community, isolation, shift to private communication, and identify and encourage action. Berger also brings awareness that social media can amplify current political issues and some potential recruits may have stumbled across ISIS in the media rather than seeking it out first.

How terrorists recruit online (and how to stop it): https://www.brookings.edu/blog/markaz/2015/11/09/how-terrorists-recruit-online-and-how-to-stop-it/

The pomodoro technique was created by an Italian graduate student to help him with studying. He utilized his kitchen timer which was shaped as a tomato to help keep track of how long he he spent on each subject. In Italian, the word from tomato is pomodoro.

Pomodoro Technique - Improve Studying and Productivity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNBmG24djoY

Not only is social media impacting internet safety and material culture, but it is also changing the game on linguistics. Proper grammar is decreasing as abbreviations, acronyms, and emojis become more prevalent.

Growing up today, unlimited knowledge is just a google search away. This generation, along with future generations will have instant access to anything imaginable. With a combination of written text, social media, the internet, virtual primary sources and multiple more platforms, the answers that are being searched for will never fall short.

With technology rapidly advancing, will children who grow up in households without technology or internet access lose their opportunity to become proficient using other modes of learning?

From Children Trends https://www.childtrends.org/indicators/home-computer-access/

"I ventured further into the territory where minds meet technology" -Rheingold

Howard Rheingold's story begins before the internet was even born. Today in his 70's, he is known as a critical thinker, writer, and educator on the impact of advancing human communication methods involving multimedia and virtual communities.

An image of Rheingold from his website:

Here is his official website: http://rheingold.com/

Mohegan woman played an important role in in cultural preservation. Without them creating of each basket, the story of their tribe and spirituality potentially could have been lost in translation.

Here we have Gladys Tantaquidgeon, a Mohegan elder who passes down the tradition and stories to younger generations. She is also known as the medicine woman of the tribe. She recalls, “One day, we are told, an old chief, looking out across the Great Water, toward the sunrise, saw a ‘Great White Bird’ coming toward him. . . The chief was fearful for his people. He sadly told them that many changes would take place after the coming of the white man" and ever since then, the dynamic of oral tradition has changed. The Mohegan tribe endured the challenge to protect and uphold their culture.

The Standing Rock Sioux fought to preserve their land and culture. An oil pipeline not only threatens the environment that surrounds it in the case of an oil spill, but it also it is threatening the survival of the Sioux tribe. Fishing and hunting is how they get their food and if a disaster to the pipeline would occur the Sioux would have to relocate to find food.

In the past, the superiority complex of western society threatened many Native American tribes and ultimately stripped them of their everyday life. Regarding the final approval of the construction of the pipeline, President Trump stated, “Nobody thought any politician would have the guts to approve that final leg. And I just closed my eyes and said: Do it.” which exemplifies the ignorance Western society has toward the cultural threat to Native Americans. The land of the Sioux, along with their hunting and fishing practices and other cultural aspects will be forced to change if an oil spill happened.

Imagine forcing all Mohegan basketry to cease. Imagine the loss of tradition and storytelling. The Mohegans could talk about how they once made the baskets, just like the Sioux could talking about the way they once hunted and fished, but there wouldn’t been “multiple layers of meaning” to these practices.

Supplemental Source: The Standing Rock Sioux Claim ‘Victory and Vindication’ in Court By: Robinson Meyer https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/06/dakota-access-standing-rock-sioux-victory-court/530427/

This statement describes the Tree of Life and the spirituality of the community as a whole.

Developed by the Mohegan Strategic Planning Committee and adopted by the Council of Elders in 1997.

"We are the Wolf People, children of Mundo, a part of the Tree of Life. our ancestors form our roots, our living Tribe is the trunk, our grandchildren are the buds of our future.

We remember and teach the stories of our ancestors.

We watch. We listen. We learn.

We respect Mother Earth, our Elders, and all that comes with Mundo.

We are willing to break arrows of peace to heal old and new wounds. We acknowledge and learn from our mistakes.

We walk as a single spirit on the Trail of Life. We are guided by thirteen generations past and responsible to thirteen generations to come.

We survive as a nation guided by the wisdom of our past. Our circular trails returns us to wholeness as a people.

Ni Ya Yo."

I relate this to the Sioux tribe and their struggle right now. They respect their land and hope that wisdom will guide them forward. They also plan on many more generations to come and don't want to jeopardize their culture because of a pipeline.

https://mohegan.nsn.us/about/information/our-tribe

The four-domed medallion consisted of four semicircular domes, four sacred trees, thirteen dots around the center circle, and the sacred center circle.

This specific design is the most common. There is a greater spiritual connection that flows through each basket and is “felt through the universe”. The Mohegans believe that all inanimate objects have a spirituality that will transcend through generation.

Here is an image of the four-domed medallion:

To truly grasp the meaning of this specific basket lined in newspaper, it is important to analyze how the Western print juxtaposes with the Mohegan communicative practices.

During this period, American settlers were flowing into Connecticut, Vermont, and surrounding states. As more land was bring occupied for the settlers, the Native Americans were forced to relocate. In her article, Thatcher states that Native Americans had two options to choose from; they could either sink into the crowd of the settlers or assert themselves within the new communities. Basket-selling was a form of preserving their native identity.

A Woodsplint Basket By: Laurel Thatcher Ulrich http://harvardmagazine.com/2002/03/a-woodsplint-basket.html

The baskets were more than just a piece of art from one specific artist. They all played an important role in creating the culture and telling the historical story. While some of the newer baskets have a signature of the artist on it, baskets were seen as part of the community and were left unsigned to eliminate the individuality aspect and present a communal component.

Baskets were used for various parts of Mohegan life (games, ceremonies, transportation of objects, storage, religion, etc). Fitzgerald expresses an idea that basketry contains a “spiritual power” since it can touch all aspects of life for multiple generations. From a Westerner point of view, these baskets are simply well utilized objects, but from a Mohegan view, these baskets are vital to the very foundation of their society.

Types of Native American baskets that have different purposes: http://www.aaawt.com/html/item/feat_1740.html

To read a baskets narrative, we must first consider material culture and its role in preserving history.

Material culture opens the undocumented parts of a society from one generation to all generations. It refers to all tangible objects from past or present societies that were utilized by the people. Examples are houses, books, mugs, chairs, etc. To study material culture is to study how each object affected the lives of those who obtained them and to understand that there is a deeper connection between objects and people.

Today, the AIDS Memorial Quilt is an example of material culture. The quilt is a representation of all the lives that were lost due to AIDS/HIV and gives hope that one day there will be a cure. All the different sections of this quilt are from all around the world and have individual background stories, yet they all come together to share the same narrative.

AIDS Memorial Quilt display in San Francisco, California Material Culture – Artifacts and The Meaning They Carry By: K. Krist Hirst https://www.thoughtco.com/material-culture-artifacts-meanings-they-carry-171783

Why are they excluded from historical records? Western concept of historical preservation and research include analyzing artifacts along with written texts. While the material aspect is important, I am shocked that these baskets have been so easily dismissed from historical records.

Symbols and objects were just as effective as literature in a sense that the Mohegan cultural background is preserved and shared throughout time. Since writing and painting utilize the same word for the Mohegan's, this solidifies their belief that communication is not just though literature. The feeling one gets from an object is sometimes stronger than words can describe.

This concept is different from the Western idea of literature. In our society, when communicating with others there is a clear difference when we use pictures verses written text. Images and objects cannot always portray the exact meaning we are trying to share with others since we all are from different backgrounds and cultures.

With American culture, objects we treasure seem to have a more materialistic vibe surrounding them. Today, we experience a connection with objects used throughout our lives such as televisions, cell phones, and laptops. Many of us cannot go hours without using one of these devices and it is due to the surface-level connection we share with them and how they can communicate our personal ideas to others around us.

The words from the newspaper that are woven into the basket have absolutely no literary purpose. While the Mohegan's might have been able to comprehend the article, the basket was created for its own unique function to serve the community. This basket shares a story with the community without having to use words. To an outsider, the artifact looks just like a standard basket, yet decades of life experience transpire from this object.