Reddit

After dabbling with Reddit over the past few days, I gained a pretty decent understanding of the site. It became easier to understand the more I used it, but there are some parts of it that I didn’t like.

One thing that I do like about Reddit is the organization that allows you to browse links in different categories or “subreddits”.  This made it easier to hone in on links that interested me.  I also liked the fact that the site is oriented more toward news links than other networking sites. 

Though I think that Reddit is a pretty good site, I think that improvements can be made with its aesthetic design.  It may sound silly, but I think that colors and fonts can make a big difference.  When looking at the Reddit site I get this feeling of overload that could be easily remedied by a more appealing appearance.

I also was not a huge fan of the ranking system on Reddit. I tried to do some research about the meaning of the numbers, but it still confuses me a bit.  I do understand, however, that you are supposed to click the “up” arrow if you like a link, and vice versa. I was not even sure about this though until I googled it. It may have just been me, but since it turns orange when you click up and blue when you click down, I wasn’t sure which was supposed to be positive and which was supposed to be negative. This goes back to design.  I associated the blue color with “good” and the reddish color with “bad”, but it is actually the other way around.

I browsed several subreddits about news and music where I did my up-voting and down-voting. 

Here are a couple of the links I posted:

This is a news story that I linked from BBC News about HIV positive individuals in China who have been denied public jobs. I posted it in the worldnews subreddit. I posted it under “Unbelievable discrimination against HIV positive individuals…”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-15928453

I posted this link to a RollingStone article that talked about Jason Segel in the filming of the Muppets. I posted it under the movies subreddit.

http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/blogs/the-travers-take/off-the-cuff-muppets-star-jason-segel-cried-when-he-met-kermit-20111121

I noticed that Reddit did not allow me to post a link that had already been posted by someone else.  I’m not sure whether this is a feature that I like or dislike.  I think that if there is a good story, then more submissions would make it more viewable. I understand that a story can rise in the ranks if people like it, but I feel like a good link could possibly go unnoticed if it doesn’t get a chance to circulate to people in the first place.

Storify: Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

At first, I wasn’t sure how I was going to choose an event to write about on Storify.  I didn’t know if I should browse Twitter to see what people are talking about, or to find an event and then see what people are saying.  I ended up seeing something that many of my Facebook friends were buzzing about last night, and decided to make that my story: The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.

Although the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show may seem trivial, it was an event that provoked tons of public response, so I thought it would be worth writing about.  It may or may not be a good thing that these types of shows gain so much public attention, but the fact is that they do, so it is worth examining.

When creating my story, I initially wanted to show varying opinions about the show.  Since the show delivers a controversial message about body image, I thought that some people may have posted about their disapproval. I was not able to find, however, a single negative comment about the show. In fact, the only negative words people used were to describe themselves in comparison to the “perfect” specimens they viewed on TV.

Since I did view a lot of women obsessing about their body image, I decided to write about how the fashion show should be aware of the potential implications of the message they are sending. I think that the show is really entertaining to watch, but I could not even watch it without feeling slightly guilty about supporting it.

View my story here: VS Fashion Show 2011

Yelp!

I had a pretty good experience using Yelp for the first time.  I chose to write reviews about two of my favorite restaurants, one in Amherst, and one back home.

I chose to write about Bruno’s Pizza, which is located in downtown Amherst. It is one of my favorite places to get food late at night if I am nearby. (Even if I usually regret it the next day…)

I also chose to write about one of my favorite delis in my hometown.  It is the type of place that always makes everyone really excited when they are about to eat there.  Since this deli is one of my fondest places in my hometown, I knew it would be a good place to review.

I chose to write about places that I really like, meaning that both of my reviews were of course positive.  I felt good about promoting these restaurants, especially because they are both smaller establishments.

Several of the reviews on Yelp were negative.  I definitely think that these entries would be helpful if I were looking for a place to go, but I don’t know if I personally would ever go out of my way to write a bad review for a business

I found Yelp to be pretty easy to navigate and use.  I definitely think that it could be a helpful tool to use when exploring new areas.  I’m not sure if I would regularly write more reviews in the future, but I would definitely consider using it read the reviews of others.

Bruno's
The best pizza I've had in Amherst! It is very easy to get food quickly if you stop by late at night. The only down side is that you can't get pizzas by the slice. But definitely recommended! There is not much space to eat inside, but it's the perfect place to pick something up, or to order a delivery from.

Italia Deli

Italia Deli is one of the best places to eat in the Agoura area. It is the perfect place to go during a lunch break, or to pick up a delicious sandwich on the way to the beach.  They also have fresh and one of a kind breads and delicacies to stock up your kitchen. To top it all off, there is a high-energy and friendly environment with local workers. I am a college student, and it is one of the places I look forward to returning to every time I go home!

Viral YouTube Video: "My Tram Experience"

I found the video "My Tram Experience" under the “most viewed” section of the YouTube homepage.  The video was uploaded just 2 days ago (November 27) and it already has over 4 million views. There are even dozens of videos by individuals who are responding to this video or creating parodies.

At the beginning of the video, I started to get a bit bored, and I only continued watching it for the sake of the assignment. As it progressed, it became pretty interesting, even though it still made little sense. The video basically consisted of a nonsensical, extreme, racist rant by a British woman on the tram.  It showed her argument with strangers, along with the reactions of other bystanders. Some people were just frantically texting…one can easily guess what they were texting about.

I feel like the reason why this video attracted so much attention was because it consisted of extreme confrontation.  People seem to be captivated by drama, especially when it is real. Although the vast majority who rated the video had a negative response, the video still gained attention nonetheless.

It is perplexing to think about how videos like this spread so quickly. Millions of people across the world saw this video within a few days, while many videos of greater substance likely went unnoticed in comparison. It says a lot about what people are interested in viewing these days, whether they would readily admit it or not.

This video also reminded me of the type of instant, random fame that we talked about in class a few weeks ago.  This woman who was otherwise unknown to the public just 2 days ago was viewed by millions of individuals, despite any lack of merit.  The constant viral nature of content on the Internet creates temporary pseudo-celebrities that would otherwise never exist. I think this contributes to our recent shortage in attention spans, and ultimately to our overvaluation of content that contains little or no substance.

Flipped

Just several months ago, the United States government was avid about helping protestors stand up to oppressive regimes across the world. Our pro-democratic government was in favor of supporting movements that would mean the spread of democracy.

It is interesting, then, to imagine how a government that supports non-violent protest in another country would react to non-violent protest in its own. It is not necessary to "imagine", however, since we can see this scenario for ourselves.

Since the beginning of the Occupy Wall Street Movement, there have been reports of unnecessary force used by police officers against protestors in New York City. As the movement spread across the country to other cities and to college campuses, this brute police force spread along with it. This very use of force is congruous with the type of brute force we saw in Egypt and other countries, except this time our government is not fighting it. On the contrary, they are the ones endorsing it.

There have been multiples reports of police using violent force against protesting students at various college campuses. A recent pepper spraying incident at UC Davis has escalated into a national debate. As the article UC Davis' pepper spray fuels national debate, growing protests describes, U.S. officers are now the ones using violent force, and our protestors are receiving help, even from...Egypt.

"Lt. John Pike's pepper spray canister has fueled the controversy into a growing encampment and spurred plans for a general strike Monday with sympathizers streaming in from across the state. There is now a geodesic dome and nearly 100 tents, donated from as far away as Egypt -- with more on the way."


This incident raises many questions about our government and its actual ideals about democracy. Astute individuals may have questioned the government's real motives as they supported protestors across the world, and I think now even more people can be skeptical of the government's motivations. Certainly it is understandable that a government would react differently to this type of situation in their own country, but if our leaders are really pro-democracy, they should be listening to the protestors instead of beating and pepper-spraying them. 

An Entrepreneur Working From the Bottom Up

When thinking about the problems and complexities of our economy today, it is interesting to take a look at businessmen in less developed countries in order to see their views about business, given the context of a relatively blank slate, where the possibilities are more open.

The landscape of our own economy is somewhat different because a certain system is already set in place. This system thrives on a particular model of hyper competition and consumption, and since our current economy has been in the making for several generations, it is sometimes harder to fathom major change.  Although entrepreneurs and consumers are aware of the perils of our current system, our willingness to trade in our current lifestyle is another story.

For these reasons, it is refreshing to hear business ideals from an entrepreneur in a country where such a defined "system" is not necessarily set in place. This article Turning Rwanda's rivers into renewable energy gives the reader a glimpse of this unique perspective.

"And how would he describe a good business person?

"When people look at businessmen, they look at money, but I think money is not what makes the person," he said.

"A business, it's working with the people. It's making life easier for others. A good businessman is the one who looks at his neighbours, at his countrymen, at the world," he explained.

"It would be meaningless if I were rich and I'm surrounded by poor people. A good businessman is one who looks first on others before he looks after himself.'"

"Gregory Tayi says that he was forced into business"

Perhaps when trying to find solutions and figure out our own economic ideals, it is necessary to mentally remove ourselves as much as possible from the paradigm that we are used to. If we take a step back and imagine how we would envision an economy starting more or less from scratch, we may be closer to figuring out where we should be, and where we need to start heading.

Flickr

I used the tag feature on Flickr to search for the theme “occupy”. This led me to photograph collection of the Occupy Movement in Eugene, Oregon.  There was a wide variety of images that provided a well-rounded and honest portrayel of the ongoing event.

In one respect, I think that this type of photograph collection tells a story very effectively. I was able to view all aspects of the event, from images of individuals to those of groups, and from behind the scenes preparation to the full-fledged rallies.  I think that this is a major strength because viewers are able to get a feeling of what it would really be like to be at the event, including the parts that are good, bad, and merely mundane.

One possible weakness to this type of photograph collection could be that viewers may not be able to come to an overall consensus of what a given event was like. I already knew a good deal about the Occupy movements, so it was not too hard for me to fill in the blanks and to understand this collection. It may be easier in some cases to understand an event if particular photographs are skillfully selected for viewers.

Overall, I think that Flickr provides a unique and beneficial way to view and share events.  Instead of glorifying an event by only sharing the best photographs and high points, I think there is something very valuable about showing all of the moments in between. The transparancy of this type of album does not cause the viewer to beg any questions or distrust any possible motivations.  This allows an honest and accurate portrayel of events, which should be a main expectation for journalists.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sierralupe/6328822719/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sierralupe/6329600512/in/photostream/lightbox/

Following Mississippi's Initiative 26 on Twitter

It was interesting to see the progression of “tweets” that surrounded the Mississippi initiative that would declare, according to the Mississippi Constitution, that life begins at the moment of fertilization.

If this amendment were passed, it is clear that it would have major implications for subsequent abortion laws.  Furthermore, it seems like this type of legislation would open many doors for the type of issues that the government can regulate.

This being said, there were heated tweets from both sides.  Before the night of the election, it seemed that most comments were being made by people who opposed the initiative. This makes sense, considering that issues usually provoke the most reaction from opponents. 

On the night of the election, it seemed that most of the comments were objective, just stating the fact that the initiative did not pass. This stream of tweets appeared for the most part more coherent than some of the others I had observed in previous days.

After the election, there were many tweets from elated individuals who did not want the initiative to pass, and others, who had supported the initiative, tweeted to the effect that they will not give up.

Watching an aspect of the election unfold via twitter offered an interesting perspective.  It is not that common to see such a live stream of opinions about a current topic. It differed from watching the news because different opinions could be seen, without any need for objectivity or censorship.  This creates a different understanding of issues: It is not just about the prospects and the results, but also about how common people feel about them and react.   

A Bittersweet Experience with Talk Radio

After several long attempts to get on talk radio, and some desperate last shots right before the deadline, I have decided to stop and to reflect about the experience I had, even though I did not attain my goal of getting on the air.

Adapting to the climate of talk radio was definitely a struggle for me at the start.  I have never been a talk radio listener, and the process took some getting used to.  Even though in ways I feel like I have failed to reach my ultimate goal of getting on the air, I also feel that I learned a lot through the course of the assignment.  I definitely came a long way from where I started out a week ago.

During my first attempt at listening to a news/talk show, I struggled to even find a station that I could work with.  Using iHeartRadio, I browsed a variety of news stations, but I struggled to find conversations that I could understand, let alone contribute to.  Topics ranged from specific economic news to sports, both of which I lack up-to-date knowledge about.

As the days progressed, I began to look at radio schedules ahead of time so that I would be sure to listen to conversations from their start. This helped tremendously, and I began to become engaged in conversations that I could actually follow.  Even so, the whole concept of calling in did not come naturally to me. I would not realize that something a host said was even provocative enough to warrant a call. All of a sudden, there would be a caller on the line agreeing with the host, and I would realize time and again that I missed out on a shot.

Although it felt forced, I eventually began to dial into shows, as I became more acquainted with the topics being discussed. Having listened even more extensively to the radio over the past two days, I realized that almost everyone was talking about general economic turmoil, the Herman Cain scandal, and today, the conviction of Michael Jackson’s doctor. I sat for hours on end listening to KTLK-AM, a Los Angeles radio station that has a variety of progressive hosts.

I got through to a screener one time while listening to the Randi Rhodes show on KTLK. The conversation was about Herman Cain, so I said that I wanted to comment about the importance of electing presidential candidates who are trustworthy.  Apart from his allegations of sexual harrassment, I felt that the way he avoided questions showed that he was not transparant enough to be trusted with any topic. I did not end up on the air, however, and this was the closest I came.

Although I had one goal in mind while doing this project, I do still feel like I had minor victories throughout.  In the course of about a week, I became much more familiar with current events. Although I think that hosts should have a more diverse scope of topics so that they are not always repeating themselves and each other, I feel like I got a much more in-depth understanding of several issues than I would have if I were browsing a newspaper or website.  I also learned basic things about talk radio, and how it is set up, and I feel much more inclined to listen in the future.  

Wikipedia

It took me awhile to figure out which Wikipedia articles I could successfully contribute to.   I thought I would have no problem, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that no matter how much I may think I know about certain things, it is another thing to be able to produce facts about those things that are completely authoritatve, accurate, and objective.

At first, I was trying to make a big-league contribution by thinking I could edit an article about Gandhi.  I have been acquiring an in-depth analysis of Gandhi’s life in another one of my classes, so I thought that I might be able to contribute something to the article. I soon realized that the article was “locked” and that I didn’t have the authority to edit the post. (Looking back, that’s not too much of a surprise.) 

I finally decided to contribute to an entry about my high school.  Agoura High School had an entry that lacked much up-to-date information. I used a profile of the high school that I found online to round out the article a bit. This also made me realize that even though I went to Agoura High, I needed to find information that was precise and objective before I could write about it. Relying only on my own experiences would cause me to write with bias, perhaps featuring certain aspects of the school, while ignoring others.

I also contributed to an article about a music festival that I attended in San Francisco this past summer called Outside Lands. The existing entry did not include much information about the various aspects of the festival, so I added some more information to the article.

I really enjoyed this assignment because it is really cool to see something you wrote show up instantly, especially on a page that other people are likely to read.  I also enjoyed figuring out how to create different sections by looking at the code used in different parts of the articles.  Overall, it was a really good experience, and it reinforced my sense of wanting to write in the future.