Whose Fault Is It Anyway?

Continuing along the same lines as my last post, the question today is: if a Facebook profile is a remix of a persons identity, are there certain parts of them that are left out?

I say YES! There is no way that you can be summed up in a game of twenty questions! Although, you do learn quite a lot about someone that way…so long as you ask the right questions! Personalities don’t come across in basic, public record facts. It is also true that facts can be manipulated to suit certain assumptions or help give a tinted perception. Don’t assume – you make an ass out of you and me! Get it? Ass-u-me. Okay….

The other part of the question is then, if parts are left out, who is at fault? The person or the interface? I am inclined to say that the person is at fault. If you don’t wish a certain perception of yourself to be had – clarify your answers to the questions. There is a story behind every fact and without a doubt, those stories help make us the human beings we are. Most people tend not to explain themselves or have the foresight to prepare for peoples perceptions.

An example of fluid personalities and social media. Find more cartoons at: https://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/m/multiple_personality_disorders.asp

On the other hand, some people wish to leave out parts of themselves on purpose. For instance, say one has a quality that they think makes them weak, they will purposely omit that detail or details leading to others finding out they have that quality. Simply put – people want to always present their better selves. However they define that persona. A little bit of psychology can be seen/applied here. But since I’m not a psych major – I’ll leave well enough alone. Another shout out to my psychology teacher in high school! I’m sorry that you had to leave, and you forgot to take your jar of cat brains with you… And yes, he did have a jar of cat brains. This wasn’t as strange as it seems because he was buds with the anatomy teacher down the hall. See this is why I can never tell a short story! My brain goes in 50 different directions and I completely lose my train of thought!! Sorry guys!!( and gals – please don’t take offense.)

So when, or if, you decide to remix yourselves, remember how different aspects of you can get lost in translation. Clarify your answers or statements if you want, or don’t plan ahead. As always, the choice is yours. ~V

An Internet Ghost

Greetings from a social media ghost! Last Thursday our professor told us to stalk a fellow classmate via the Internet/social media. I immediately felt sorry for whoever drew my name, because I have no social media accounts. I realized it wasn’t such a bad thing, in fact I’ve never really given my absence from the social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) any thought. My parents made it pretty clear when I was younger that I was not to have any such accounts and I haven’t ever gone against their wishes. Back to the point. I was not expecting my ‘creeper’ to have found much on me. I Googled myself and found an obituary… I feel hidden on the Internet because of my mentioned absence from it.

My ‘creeper’ found out nothing about me, which is what I expected. That said, there is information about me but it requires knowing me pretty well to get to the desired page. The information on those couple of pages is a pretty accurate depiction of me. The pages I am referring to are honor roll lists and a scholarship announcement. Just so you readers don’t feel left out. The rest of the prompt questions involve personal perceptions versus the perception people can find by creeping on you. Since I don’t really have that problem, there isn’t much more for me to say. One last thing though – Google yourselves if you have a minute. See what you can find! ~V

A still from the video by Lonely Island, “The Creep”. Click the image to watch the video. Or if it doesn’t work, just type the title into YouTube.

Lazy Readers?

Well hello again! Today my professor has asked us to respond to a quote from Associate Professor Mark B. Wolff of Hartwick. Here is what Professor Wolff says about students born after 1992:

Many of these students are quite comfortable using social media but they often struggle reading anything more than 140 characters. They have learned a technique of reading that is a hybrid of Google searches and high school textbooks. Given a reading assignment and a list of questions to guide them as they read, they are very good at scanning the text looking for relevant sections that answer the questions, reproducing oracular passages, and moving on. When queried in class about what they had read, they refer to their answers and think they have finished the task. They have trouble synthesizing different pieces of information into a coherent interpretative framework of their own.” (Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 27, No. 142)

I have a couple of problems with this quote. First off, Wolff has generalized several generations of students and insulted the better half. It really depends on ones skill set and interest in reading as to how they will read and synthesize information. For instance, teachers in some schools make assignments ridiculously easy, or give students the answers rather than implore the students to understand the information. I know this from experience because my senior year I did not take AP English. Instead I took regular English. Boy was that a mistake! Please learn from my mistake… If you love something – don’t stray from it. Stick with it. Anyway… To my great astonishment, the gap between AP (or Honors) English and regular English was akin to the Grand Canyon. My fellow peers were so far behind the curve it was ALMOST hysterical. But it shouldn’t have been. There was no excuse for their lack in comprehension. And to pull myself out of my rant, I’ll get back to the main point I was working up to. So, I do see the validity in what Associate Professor Mark B. Wolff is saying. I don’t think I would have the same view had I not been banging my head against my desk all senior year.

Picture Source:
http://therumpus.net/2013/02/funny-women-94-an-actual-missed-connection/

However, there are some positives to how the “digital natives”, as he calls all born after 1992, are able to read/communicate. Since, as he kindly pointed out, we are used to communicating in 140 characters or less we are quick to get to the point. There is simply no extra room for unnecessary words or tid-bits. Perhaps this is why we scan for the major events/information when we read larger texts. We are conditioned to relate important material first because at the end of the day, that is what is relevant and what we will need to know.. So, I will take a compliment from that even though I have no doubt in my mind that there were no compliments intended from Wolff.

That said, I will agree that he does describe parts of my reading style. By that, I mean sometimes I scan the text while other times I take the time to make in-depth connections with the text. It really just depends on the subject and the assignment. Now I know I should be more consistent, but that’s just how I read.

His last statement rings true, because information becomes outdated quite quickly. Ha-ha, a little alliteration! Sorry, back to this long post… I say this because new information is cropping up every waking (and sleeping) moment of our lives. Sometimes people miss the connections between certain literary works, facts, current events (basically whatever the material may be) and the relevance to the present day. Connections can be hard to see at first – especially if a student was not taught to look for them. Shout out to my pre-AP and AP English teachers! You guys are amazing, and I will forever be grateful to you! Now I am not placing blame on any one individual. I think we are all accountable for our own actions and are ultimately our own teachers. Weird, huh? I think he means that modern generations are quickly overwhelmed with information – rightly so – and we have little idea of what to make of it all. Which is true to a point, but it varies from person to person. Phew! I am finally done with this long post! And figuratively out of breath…. Until later, readers! ~V

Introduction Time!

So, you found your way to my blog. Wonder how that happened. Was it sort of like how you go to watch one video on YouTube, then two hours later you’re watching a cat video? Well however you arrived here, stay a little longer. I hope the title of the blog didn’t fool you, but all my first choices were taken. That just means there are some really great minds out there….or that those phrases were not as original as I had thought. Take your pick – whichever makes you happiest. Bear with me as I am not much of a blogger, but for the sake of my English class, I am giving it the old college try. And by saying I’m not much of a blogger, I am by no means exaggerating. I’m also not much of a cook – but that is besides the point.

This blog will be focused mainly on remixes and the identities therein. An interesting topic I know. For someone who has written numerous essays (and has had interesting prompts) this is one that steals my attention. In the future, the posts will be about how we humans are constantly taking words, songs, pictures, any media really and transforming it into something completely different. Kind of like how riddles take simple enough words, but when put together most people are stumped. So I guess the blog title does work a little after all! 

More about me, since I haven’t quite filled my word requirement. Hmm…. Well it is my first year of college in a place where I knew no one before I came. An unusually brave act for a wallflower – let me tell you! I also love to read – it doesn’t really matter what genre. I prefer lifting over running, and don’t really care for blueberries. Cold temperatures are far better than heat, just as sports cars are better if they have a manual transmission. I think that about covers it… By the way, the words in italics are my thoughts, admittedly sarcastic in nature, take them as you will.

Oh! Enjoy these two remixes that some friends of mine found via YouTube!!