How technology brings the country together.

The 2008 elections were possibly the most anticipated elections of all time. But things were vastly different about it. No longer was door to door campaigning as big. Debates were different. It was a year of change indeed. Now-President Barack Obama embraced new technology to help bring the country together for a singular cause. He used many tools. Facebook, Youtube, as well as Twitter. Leading up to the election there were debates on youtube that were made interaction with people online. People would be able to submit their questions for the candidates to answer. Pres Obama would send out text messages and messages via facebook to his supporters to get them rally information. Some interesting stuff by pew internet online shows some great statistics about this past election season.
• 40% of all Americans (internet users and non-users alike) have gotten news and information about this year’s campaign via the internet.
• 19% of Americans go online once a week or more to do something related to the campaign, and 6% go online to engage politically on a daily basis.
• 23% of Americans say they receive emails urging them to support a candidate or discuss the campaign once a week or more.
• 10% of Americans use email to contribute to the political debate with a similar frequency.
• 4% of Americans have exchanged political views via text messaging.
I know without the use of new technology i would have been totally out of the loop in terms or what was going on in the election. I also believe it helped out the candidates to know what the voters wanted to hear and know about. It created a really nice 2 way conversation about the matters at hand.

Also it seems that the President is just like us, he has a need for technology that is even addicting. The so called 'crack berry' now has a new name. The 'Barackberry'. Here is an interesting story from CNN about it...



The President also stresses how important stuff like new technology is going to be in the future. On the White House website he lays out his plat form for new tech. ...
-Ensure the Full and Free Exchange of Ideas through an Open Internet and Diverse Media Outlets
-Protect the Openness of the Internet: Support the principle of network neutrality to preserve the benefits of open competition on the Internet.
-Encourage Diversity in Media Ownership: Encourage diversity in the ownership of broadcast media, promote the development of new media outlets for expression of diverse viewpoints, and clarify the public interest obligations of broadcasters who occupy the nation's spectrum.
-Protect Our Children While Preserving the First Amendment: Give parents the tools and information they need to control what their children see on television and the Internet in ways fully consistent with the First Amendment. Support tough penalties, increase enforcement resources and forensic tools for law enforcement, and encourage collaboration between law enforcement and the private sector to identify and prosecute people who try to exploit children online.
- Safeguard our Right to Privacy: Strengthen privacy protections for the digital age and harness the power of technology to hold government and business accountable for violations of personal privacy.
- Open Up Government to its Citizens: Use cutting-edge technologies to create a new level of transparency, accountability, and participation for America's citizens.
- Bring Government into the 21st Century: Use technology to reform government and improve the exchange of information between the federal government and citizens while ensuring the security of our networks. Appoint the nation's first Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to ensure the safety of our networks and lead an interagency effort, working with chief technology and chief information officers of each of the federal agencies, to ensure that they use best-in-class technologies and share best practices.

It seems that government is finally catching up to the 21st century. And I believe it is an absolute necessity. 2 of Jenkins points were being 'networked' and 'global'. And with the government taking advantage of those not only are our citizens gonna see whats going on but the boarders have came down for information, and I believe the world likes that as a whole.

Cell Phones impact

I have a cell phone, you have a cell phone, your mom has a cell phone, even your grandma has a cell phone. Now the question is is that a good thing or a bad thing? The ability to constantly be reached, whether it be by text message, video message, picture message, mobile social networking sites (i.e. facebook, myspace, twitter), push to talk (walkie - talkie feature), or who knows even the occasional phone call you pretty much are available to reach anywhere anytime. Some 89% of married couples with children have multiple cell phones, as researched by a Pew Internet study. About 66% of people have broadband in their homes as well. It is stated that most of these families allow family members allow family members to stay in contact regularly even without having any physical contact. A quote out of that article where those statistics come froms says "Some analysts have worried that new technologies hurt family togetherness, but we see that technology allows for new kinds of connectedness built around cell phones and the internet," noted Tracy Kennedy, author of a new report about the survey called "Networked Families."' Seriously who doesnt love getting a zaney text from your family members at the most random times.

70% of couples in which both partners own a cell phone contact each other daily to say hello or chat; 54% of couples who have one or no cell phones do this at least once a day.

64% of couples in which both partners own a cell phone contact each other daily to coordinate their schedules; 47% of couples who have one or no cell phones do this at least once a day.

42% of parents contact their child/children on a daily basis using a cell phone, making cell phones the most popular communications tool between parents and children.

Those stats there just basically show that people shape their lives around the usuage of their cell phones, whether it cooridante their schedules or just to say hello.
We have all been in some kind of conversation or interaction of any kind and the other persons cell phone rings and they tell you to hold on and they procede to talk or text. now to me that isnt annoying. But about 90% of people find other people using their cell phones in an annoying way. I know I dry heave whenever I hear a couple talking on a phone, "i love you, no i love you, no i love you more." I think i just threw up in my mouth a little. In contrast to the people that find it annoying only about 8% of people find that their own cell phone usuage is annoying/rude.


Overall I would actually say cell phone usage defiantly bring people together. If for some reason you don't want to be connected, just press the power button the ol cell phone. And just get used to people having their phones on. It is just the new way of life.

Video Games are good?

So video games could be good for kids? Everything I have heard about video games are they are bad, evil, rot your mind. Hillary Clinton made a huge deal out of it years ago and came up with the game rating system. Every time I see someone say how bad video games are for kids I always immediately throw up the B.S. flag. I grew up playing video games and I was able to easily understand the context of a video game. With me though I know I would have rather have played with one of my friends than playing alone. That is the thing with most gamers as well. According to a Pew Internet study it said that some 65% of kids play with other people. A great excerpt out of the article is "I think we have this image that people who play games are playing them alone in a dark basement and in fact what we found is that the majority of teens engage with other people most of the time," said Amanda Lenhart, of the Pew Internet and American Life Project, which supported the study.
I couldn't agree more. I know with most the people that i know that play games are always on Xbox Live playing with their friends or coworkers. Very few people I know actually lock themselves up in their rooms and play alone. and the data backs that up. Like Jenkins said with his 10 traits of the new media landscape, networking has made this even more possible. Also in the same study it says what the most popular games are out there, they are not shooters, not fighters. They are puzzle games, racing games, and sports games. In the article it says that gaming is a peer based learning system, kids are learning how to cooperate with each other to solve problems, to communicate, and to share knowledge. So is gaming really that nerdy and bad for the kids? I think not.

Internet - the new family activity?

So over the course of the semester we have a some readings saying that the internet can be good for the family or it can be bad. Well of course more recently we read the article Bugeja wrote and how anti internet that he was, and that it basically ended all human life (ok I'm just playin there, but you get the point). I really wonder now in this digital age if it may be bring a communites family together.
In a blog posted by the LA Times in cunjunction with the Pew Internet Study group "About 70% of couples in which both partners have cellphones call each other at least once a day, and 64% of couples in which both partners own a cellphone use their phones daily to coordinate schedules. And 42% of parents contact their child using a cellphone daily, meaning cellphones are the most popular communication tool between parents and children."
In that statement it can shown that families with more technology can enhance what is going on within the family. Newer technologies with cell phones have also helped parents in tracking their kids. Verizon wireless has a phone / tracker kit that can allow the parent to see where the kid is with a GPS location device that is located in the phone. Boost mobile as well as Apple with iPhone have created a technology that, if allowed, your friends can see where it is that you are located so if you wanted to meet up or anything like that. That can raise some security concerns but that is a whole other topic.
In another survey done by the Pew people 25% of people say that their family is now closer because of the internet. However a majority (60%) of families say that technologies have not had any impact on the family togetherness.
So the results on the family can show some increase but there is also some interesting data on the increase of friend connectivness, which can help the community. 33% of internet users say that the internet is increasing the connection with their friends
And just some overall findings from the report are in this chart -
So my question is how have you seen the internet effect peoples lives with one another, family and friends?

Are the kids safe?

Everyday millions of people are getting onto the internet for various reasons. A good chunk of those people are teenagers that are getting onto websites like Facebook or Myspace to network with friends new and old. But there are serious concerns by the parents of these kids if they are safe. And their concerns maybe be well founded. From a Pew Internet Survey some 32 % of online teenages have been contacted by strangers, of which 17% have 'friends' on their facebook/myspace profiles who they have never actually met. Brey did mention in his article that you can have a loss of privacy and public/private boundries when he talked about the negatives of the internet. And with the demassification of information online that could be as true as ever. 23 % of the kids that are contacted by strangers said that they felt either scared or uncomfortable with the contact, that is a total of 7% of online teens. And I know when I first started doing the whole myspace thing about 4 years ago I was posting information of myself left and right, I posted my name, photos, where I was from so on and so forth. So I didn't put a lot of thought into it. Some of the kids were smarter than me. 82% of total teens online have put their first name on their profile, the rest would of course have the pretty standard "Big Stud Daddy" type names. Among those kids that have been contacted online by stranger approximatly 2/3 of them either delete the message or do not repond. Of those who do respond, some 21% would ask for more information regarding the person who wrote them.
That comes back to the parents, what are they doing to protect their childrens information online? I know when my family first got a computer we had it in the main family room of the house so when I would get on chat rooms (yeah it was a while ago) they could see what was going on. But when I got my first computer it was in my room and I basically could do whatever it was that i wanted with no checks or balances.
Most parents now have some kind of filtering software on their computers, around 53%. And as of 2006 74% of computers in a household would keep the computer in an open public area. All and all I would say the parents can only do so much because now the internet is everywhere. The main thing they can do is just educate their kids and hope their kids make the right choices. What do you think can more be done to help the safety of the kids in our community?

E Commerence and Communities part 2 WITH EVEN MORE FLAIR!

Yes the chart below is labeled Generations online but I wanted to use it to illustrate that communities are using the internet to use it for commerce largely. One of Brey's main positives of using the internet is the fact that it can open up commerce. Now in this chart here is shows in one of the slides that regardless of generation most people use the internet for either buying something, booking a trip, or doing research online about a specific product. This can really lead back to a community because it means that communities can extend their own economies by going on online. Maybe you are in a small town with a unique product or service and want to expand but really don't have the resources to do so, that where the internet can come into play. It takes realitivly little resources to open up an online store and really jump into the open market unlike ever before. And like stated with the Facebook reading about networking across boarders, this can really allow for commerce across boarders. Some people have concerns over the fact that the internet can kill the little guy because of amazon and such but i believe the little guy in the communities can utilize this tool to the fullest potential. Another Pew Online Study shows that 8 out of 10 people go online to research a product or service (Article 'Americas Online Pursuit'). In the same 2003 study online auction participants doubled from 2000-2003 . Also in 2003 the number of people buying stuff online jumped 63% since the turn of the decade. Now with the internet being even more widespread now 5 to 6 years later you can image the number of people who could be looking at your product/service. Do you think the online market place can help or hinder the 'little guy'

E Commerence and Communities WITH FLAIR!

Generations Online in 2009 Charts

View more presentations from PewInternet.