Blogs

        Blogs have an interesting place in societies media, but I think people would argue over how important they are or are not.  I think that blogs like this one that are simply periodic posts about my opinion on things do not have much impact.  I think that it could have more of an impact if it were perhaps instructional or comical.  Still though, being what it is I think this kind of blog has little importance or influence in todays' society.

        That said there are other forms of blogs.  For instance micro-blogging.  Take Twitter for example.  Although there may be comparatively lacking user numbers, or returning users for Twitter in comparison to other social medias I still think it is important.  I think it has a place in society that people in general to some extent understand.  I know that many people care about what happens on Twitter and that alone gives it importance.  I think a good example of this is after the tsunami/earthquake earlier this year, comedian Gilbert Gottfried tweeted some offensive humor concerning the natural disaster.  This caused him to be fired from his position as the voice of the Aflac duck as they may have reflected poorly on the company.  Another example of an impact this micro-blogging tool can have concerning the same disaster was a situation with Microsoft saying they would donate $1 for every retweet up to $100k.  This was perceived by many as exploitation of the crisis, and Microsoft apologized via Twitter.

        The last type of blog I am going to talk about are video blogs.  Video blogs are easily my favorite kind of blog.  In my opinion competes the most with traditional media more so than any other blogging format, at least for me.  This is mostly in the case of traditional news outlets as opposed to video blog news.  I have to say that I enjoy news blogs much more than traditional news outlets.  I think this may be a result of the sheer quantity of video blogs out there and that creates a situation where if you look hard enough you can probably find a blog fairly tailored to your own interests.  My favorite news video blog is The Philip Defranco Show.  His blog might not be for everyone, but I think it's fairly good… Just Sayin...

Microsoft's (Bing's) tweet and apology tweet

Privacy

        The issue of privacy comes up fairly frequently when it comes to communication technologies.  For me I break the issue into two different groups.  On one hand there is privacy protection from things such as identity theft, credit card information being stolen, etc.  That I believe is a fairly big issue and should be a concern.  I think a good way to protect oneself from those type of things are to be "media literate" enough to know who/what websites one should trust. 

        The other type of privacy protection issue I think deals with everything one does being tracked.  For example Google saving every search you make, or Facebook saving everything you've ever posted.  To be honest I am not at all concerned.  I do have set privacy settings for my Facebook profile that are fairly straightforward and all Facebook users should be familiar with.  That said, those settings are, for the most part, a precaution to cut down on unwanted comments (i.e. taking away comment abilities for some groups).  I firmly believe that I will always be marketed to as long as I use communication technologies and because of that I have no problem with being tracked.  I would rather see advertisements relevant to me than about things I am not interested in.  I have no problem whatsoever with Apple or Verizon or anyone other company knowing where I go on a day to day basis via tracking my cellphone, I'm not hiding anything.  In fact I usually post my location to Foursquare wherever I go so that not only faceless companies and data miners, but also my actual friends, know where I am.  I don't think it is a big deal at all that "Big Brother", Google, Apple, or anyone was is watching us.  There are those who feel like its an invasion of privacy.  However, I think that we choose to use technology of our own free will, in exchange for others keeping track of our information.  No one is forcing anyone to have a Facebook profile… Just Sayin...

Facebook privacy settings, fairly straightforward, and practically walks you through how to customize your settings

Video Games

        I love video games.  I have grown up playing video games, all kinds of them.  Throughout my childhood and even to this day video games play a fairly consistent part in my life as far as entertainment goes.

        I think that a lot of people choose to make much more out of video games than they deserve.  That is to say that I do not think that video games are skewing societies' or the youth of society's mindset on things like violence any more than anything else.  To some extent I think that anything one does habitually will affect them, but I think video games are a mere contributing factor.  I do however think that video games play a role in todays culture as a predominate entertainment medium.  Not only are they extremely profitable, but are an integral part in some subcultures today.  I feel that video games are almost expected to be part of one's life.  Maybe not to the extent of having a cellphone, or television, or even a Facebook profile, but still some familiarity is to be expected in younger generations especially. For example I personally have been in situations where video games were an easy topic of discussion amongst people she didn't know each other well. I think that some people have this idea that people who play video games play all the time or too much.  In reality I think that people in respective age groups spend about the same amount of time on entertainment media regardless of if they're music listeners or video gamers.  I don't think that this idea of children just zoning out and only playing video games is accurate either.  I mean when I was a child I played video games, but I also played outside and did other things I would say more often.  All in all I think video games are great, but as with most of my hobbies during the school year, take a backseat to studying and homework, not to mention actual work.  Still though when I have time to bust out the 360 and play my favourite game (Halo: Reach) I could easily give anyone I know a run for their money… Just Sayin...

Screen shot of me getting a kill in a Halo: Reach Team Slayer match