1 text for class on Feb 26th

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOK1tKFFIQI
This video tells me a little bit about depression and the history of it. I feel that will be the best determiner to analyze for my presentation

Miller Blog 6

Proposal

                I am going to be looking at the othered community of people “living with depression”. I chose this group of people because I personally have been a part of this group and have had people think of me as different and weird. I think people don’t understand that this is a real mental illness and they don’t understand all the issues that come with dealing with a mental illness such as depression. Through this project I want to get the word out to people about this disease.

                I think I will look at texts about the group because there are so many researches done about the symptoms and the treatment available. I also can call upon my own experiences with depression. I want to use research done about depression because that is what people don’t understand. They make assumptions about the disease.

                I am thinking about having specific research from medical websites as well as videos and my personal experience, so I am able to get the word out about this disease. I have two resources specifically that I want to use but as of how I am going to start this project, I don’t have an idea right now.

                These are the two resources I have so far: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/depression/index.shtml

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/basics/definition/con-20032977 

Miller Blog 5

Social Construction

                Social Construction was all over in these articles, which I am sure was the point in reading them. Hanfler says that social constructivist’s theory is “in other word, deviance is not automatically understood as an objective fact but as constructed and interpreted meanings that are subject to change” (13). In my words that means that social construction is a learned belief that a society has about a group of community of people but is able to be changed whenever the dominate society feels it needs to be.

We saw this definition stand out in both the Lorber and the young article. Lorber states this about gendering “Gendering is done from birth, constantly and by everyone, we have to look not only at the way individuals experience gender but at gender as a social institution.” (55) Gender is a social constructed concept. We teach our young children that this is what girls are supposed to act like and this is what guys are supposed to act like. Guys are not to play with Barbie’s because that is a girly thing to do. We put gender into a box and we (as a society) say that if you are doing what the opposite gender is supposed to do you are not “correct,” you are not performing gender correctly. “Doing gender correctly” is a social construction that we have imposed on our young children and as they grow up they are exposed to the same gender construction that they were introduced to from the beginning.

                I appreciate how young says that language is also a socially constructed concept. Young states “But don’t nobody’s language dialect, or style make them “vulnerable to prejudice. “It’s ATTITUDES. It be the way folks with some power perceive other people language.”” (110) This is a huge example of social construction. Our society says if you don’t speak “standard” (which really means the white prestige way of speaking) you are to be looked down upon and looked as lower in education because you don’t know “how to talk”. Society tells us what behavior is to be looked to as “good” and what is to be looked at as “bad”.

                Right now I look at social construction as the “rules and regulations” that society sets for us and that we tend to follow along with. I have seen this in my own life with the dialects that Young was talking about. If someone comes up to me saying “yo I be diggin’ you” (bad example but I have heard this), I automatically think they are less educated than I am. This is what society is telling me, but in reality that is not the case. As I learned in Linguistics, every language dialect has rules and regulations it follows and all are created equal.

                I also agree with Lorber, from the beginning we see girls are dressed in pink and boys in blue and if that is not happening we automatically are judging those parents. When I was younger, I used to hang out with a little boy and we used to paint each other’s nails. Everyone always called him “gay” and I couldn’t figure out why. It was because we were stepping outside of our socially constructed genders which made us “other”.  I have read this article by Lorber before but every time I read it I look back and find a different example of how socially constructed “gender” was as I was growing up and how that became my reality today. 

Miller Blog 4- Buck article

Caitlin Miller Blog 4

Introduction- Pg 10 “Lankshear and Knowel defined digital literacy as a shorthand for the myriad social practices and concepts of engaging in meaning making medicated by texts that are produced, received, distributed, exchanged etc. via digital codification” – Give definition of things that give context to paper. I could/did give background context of Facebook

                Pg 9 “Rather than leaving a note for them in the kitchen, Ronnie visits their private group page on Facebook”- Tells a story. I could tell a story about how Caitie uses Facebook in the introduction

Methods- pg 12 “In order to study Ronnie literacy practices on social network sites, I followed his online activity for two semesters, Spring 2010 and Fall 2010 and I collected data from the following four sources”- Buck tells how long she collected data and why. I need to make sure I am specific with how long I followed Caitie’s Facebook and that it is to see her identity on Facebook.

                Pg 13- “The profile tours were recorded using video screen capture software, a popular means through which to research digital writing practices. The information discussed in the profile tour gave me an overall sense of how Ronnie perceived his own identity”- Buck shares what is one the profile tour but doesn’t share why that is important. I need to state the most important things Caitie shares in both the profile tour and the interview, but leave the explanation for why it is important for later in the results or discussion.

Results- pg 16 “Other updates were based on his location and interactions with friends. Ex: [ eating with the fam at tflattop #yum] Wed Mar 31 17:16:55 2010 via twitterflic. Ronnie shows himself to be busy and social”- Gives an example and time and date which gives context and tells what the update shows. I need to give examples of how Caitie shows her identity on Facebook

                Pg 22- “ He also visited Facebook a few times each day from his laptop to keep up with friends”- gives a reasoning for his checking. I need to show how Caitie checks Facebook and why she checks it.

Discussion- pg 31 “Because Ronnie used social network sites to organized different aspects of his life, he was particularly attuned to the different ways in which his info was dispersed and used”- Tells us what Ronnie thinks when posts on one over the other. I need to ask Caitie why she decided to have me look at her Facebook instead of her other social media sites.

                Pg 33- “This space was too limited by the template so he used the about me section to include additional quotes” – explaining his use of the about me is important to his online identity. I need to ask her if she uses  anything of Facebook to have her identity known.

Conclusion- pg 34 “ Ronnie practices and the situation he confronts in represents himself online makes visible the issues that many people confront in their social media site use”- Shows he isn’t the only one trying to represent himself on Facebook. This is a conclusion to the paper and showing inclusion, so I could ask Caitie how she sees her identity and see if that is a conclusion many make

                Pg 36 “Viewing this rich literate activity as part of students everyday lives will give us a greater understanding of literacy experiences they bring with them to the classroom”- Explains why looking at social media is important. In this case it is important to understand Caitie’s identity so that we can build a community of learners in the classroom. 

Miller Blog 3- Interview Questions

1.  .  Ronnie says “I try to keep my followers greater than the number of people I’m following because, you know, it’s just like my, I guess, weird habit.” (14) This makes me wonder if my partner has any habits of Facebook? If so what are they? If now why do you think some people have habits?

2.    Buck states “Scholars have viewed individual identity as embedded in particular contexts and based in individual performance within certain social constraints” (14)- I want to know about my partners Identity on Facebook.. If you could describe your facebook identity in one word, what would it be and why?

3.     Buck states “Scholars have viewed individual identity as embedded in particular contexts and based in individual performance within certain social constraints” (14)- Do you feel constrained by some aspects of facebook?  If so what aspects? If not how does it compare to your other social media sites?

4.      Ronnie says this about tweeting “he updated Twitter several times per day and connected primarily with close friends and roommates through the site.-(16) How often do you post and who do you mostly post for? (your friends, family, public?)

5.     Talking about his profile pictures, Ronnie states “He rotated between profile pictures that portrayed himself as a musician, performing in concerts with his bass, to close up “artistic” (16)– What do your pictures you post say about you?

6.      Ronnie states “Ronnie updated Facebook with content that he felt would be more appropriate for this wider audience.” (17)– Do you post for a purpose? If so point out one post that was for a purpose and tell me what the purpose was. If not, how do you determine what to post?

7.     .Ronnie says he is a part of a community “Along with Ronnie’s specific audiences, he also adjusted his use of different social network sites based on what he considered to be the community on that site.” (18) What communities are you involved in on Facebook. What do those communities say about who you are?

8.     Ronnie calls himself a publisher on page 14 “Ronnie described himself as a “publisher,” someone who creates content online for others.” – What do you want to get out of your social media?

9.  .  Ronnie talks about his devises and how they affect how much he is on social media. “Ronnie cited his iPhone as much of the reason that he shared images so frequently and pointed to one example in which he saw an image in a bar that reminded him of his friend” (22) Do your devises affect how much you are on facebook? How do they or don’t they?

10.  Ronnie also talks about how he divides his time between different sites. “It is not unreasonable to say that Ronnie was engaged in at least one social network site most of the time. He checked Twitter constantly from the website, seeing it as a habit, part of his daily routine, and something he did when he was bored” (22)- How do you divey up your time between sites? How often are you on facebook compared to how often you post something?

11.   Ronnie talk about his activities being a chain of events “Ronnie’s digital literacy practices involved chains of activity that included taking a photo with his iPhone on the way to class and uploading it to Twitpic, sending a link to a video or a news story to a friend, commenting on a friend’s Facebook status, and sharing photos of graffiti he saw on his way to class” (24)- Do you have a chain of events you follow? Do you comment, like, post, or just watch status updates? Why do you feel you do that the most?

12.   Ronnie talks about the online fake persona he made. “Ronnie constructed Alison’s persona not only through her profile page but also through her status updates and interactions” (27)- Do you feel safe on facebook? Do you feel safer or less safe on other sites? Why do you think that is?

Miller Blog 2-Media Articles

After reading these three social media articles, I am quite surprised by the communities the people featured are making. All three are trying to create a community where you are yourself and you aren’t trying to hide anything. Gooden says “I think the beauty of hashtag activism is that it creates an opportunity for sustained engagement” (Hashtag Activism). She was creating a community of purpose, purpose to be yourself and own who you are. Ruddy was also creating an environment where everything isn’t always peachy in her household, she was trying to be real and authentic on Facebook but no posting something that made building the snowman look like it was fun when it wasn’t.

Harris says “Community becomes a kind of stabilizing term, used to give a sense of shared purpose and effort to our dealings with the various discourses that make up the university” (14) I believe these authors have a purpose of trying to show the real you and take the mask off that some people have which means that they are a community with a shared purpose.

I also think that Harris would say that these authors are activist or teachers of their communities, their communities being the social media community, or the community of friends. Harris says this about teachers “The task facing our students is not to leave one community in order to enter another but to reposition themselves in relation to several continuous and conflicting discourses. Our goals as teachers need not be to initiate our students into the vales and practices of some new community but to offer them the chance to reflect critically on those discourse to which they already belong” (19) That is exactly what these authors are trying to do. They are not trying to place blame or shame on their online communities, they are just trying to have people think about what they are doing on the internet and to make sure they are being true to themselves.

I am a part of my secondary English cohort community online which was shaped by our commonality in programs at UNL. This community became possible by the fact that it is easy to communicate on Facebook and easy to communicate fast. I am also part of many Lincoln buying and selling groups which are created by people wanting to buy and sell things close to where they live. I also believe that I am a part of a twitter community that was created to keep people close informed on what is going on in their lives. All of these communities were created to help people communicate from all different places to each other in a fast and friendly manner. The convenience factor is what keeps these communities alive.  

Miller Blog 1- Community

Hello, I am Caitlin Miller, I am a junior in the Secondary English Education program. Just last semester I got engaged to my fiancé Daniel and we are currently planning our wedding. I spend most of my free time with him but between school and working at Nelnet, I have little free time. I do work with student loans trying to help others pay theirs while also learning how to pay mine so it is a great job! I also love concerts I have been to; Miley Cryus, Backstreet Boys, Katy Perry in the last year and am going to be going to Linkin Park and Florida Georgia line this February.

 I write a lot because of my major, which I guess you can say I signed up for. I pieces I really get into is when I can right to express myself. Whether that is a belief or just writing a text about my feelings, that is when I really feel connected to my writing. I also write because I want to give a voice to those who don’t have a voice. Many of the writings I have been doing are justifications for books being added to the curriculum, they are just practice but I feel my students might encounter that at some point. I love writing poetry, which is my favorite part because with a lot of poetry there isn’t many restrictions and I am able to express my feelings in whatever way I want. I do wish that I had more time to write more for pleasure as I don’t really have time to do that between school, work, and wedding planning, but maybe during this class there will be some time for that.

I felt that Harris was describing community as a group of people working towards a similar goal but that don’t necessarily have the same views and beliefs.  He says “it seems to me that they might better be encouraged towards a kind of polyphony an awareness of and pleasure in the various competing discourses that make up their own,” (17) meaning that even though one might be a part of a community doesn’t mean they all have to be pointed in the same direction just that they have a similar goal. He then uses the metaphor as a city, where not everyone believes or views things in the same way but they are all there to make things work. I think being in a community is about a mutual respect for those around you and helping each other to reach their goals even if they aren’t the same goals as yours, which is what I felt Harris was saying. I feel like I am a part of the UNL community because we are all trying to work towards a career, no matter that career. I feel that I am a part of a community in my family and in Lincoln as we raise up to help each other.

I feel that these communities are naturally formed from a combination of similar goals and interests that make up a community of individuals working for the good of others.  Having a community excel in the work they are needing to communicate with one another, which goes along with Harris’s view that not everyone has to believe the same thing in a community because communication allows to have healthy debates. Communication and language play a key role in the community’s success or failure.