My Experience in eSoc 211

I was a bit unsure of what exactly the Information Science and eSociety Major entailed, but Collaborating in Online Communities helped clarify a big section of it and it truly ignited an interest in it for me. Having been born in the mid 90s, I grew up with many of the major technological advancements we use today. I was an online user when Twitter started, when Facebook started, when textbooks and classes became available online, when music started being downloaded to the computer and not uploaded with CDs, etc.

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This class helped me find a lot of value in social media platforms and the tools they bring to the table. I had never appreciated hashtags like I do now. I used to see them as a "key word" to solidify the content being discussed, but now I see that they're interchangeable and have a designated function. They are used for online collaboration, spreadability, marketing, and to connect individuals with a common interest by sharing a specific hashtag.

One particular section of the class that I enjoyed a lot was Unit 1 and the project my group did on it. As I share on my post about it, the project really covered the online collaboration aspect of the class and the huge impact that it can have on the spreadability and reactions on an event. The Cincinnati Zoo usually does not get any media attention, as do parks such as Disney. With sites like Reddit, Twitter, among others, online users were able to see various sides of the circumstances. It is such a controversial subject of what decision and "player" was right or wrong, and I believe that itself was what kept the talk going on for so long. Additionally, I love that users also use Memes as a sort of social outlet to relieve tensions. When millions of individuals are talking and fighting about this, lawsuits are being charged, and other negative strains are being pulled, it's fun to have that humorous twist to a situation. It's interesting to see that regardless of people's background, age, race, culture, and other demographics, people are still able to share that kind of humor.

Another post that I enjoyed writing about was Steve Jobs and tweaking. This subject helped me view what is seen as an issue in a positive way. With all the copyright and plagiarism laws, it's good to see the use of others' mistakes and prior inventions in a progressive way. Tweaking is what promotes growth and innovation, and that's what Jobs did!

The last post on my blog that I would like to talk about is the one regarding the Elections. I went particularly in-depth for this post just because this subject was so prevalent in our society for most of the semester. Additionally, it came up in so many of our social media news in class that I thought it was only fair to incorporate in my blog. In this post, I do not focus on one side or the other, instead I focus on the online collaboration and campaigning. I truly think social networking among individuals played a significant role in deviating people from one candidate to another. Additionally, a lot of the news sources affiliated with the parties showed bias against the opposing party. Not just that, but the campaigns used tweets and social platforms to bash on the other party. I noticed that this campaign was mostly about criticizing the other candidate for their personal actions, and not focusing on the political propositions of themselves or the other.

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Some blogs that stood out to me include Noelle's How Smart is a Smart Phone? Post. She talks about a problem that is arising with smartphones, that with so much connection and mobile interactions, humans are beginning to disconnect from the real world. They are so focused on digitally documenting everything that they are not personally absorbing what is around them. This is a topic that I have been concerned about since before this class and an issue that is very clearly evident. Another post that was of particular interest to me was Madi's #FinishIt Post. She talks about this campaign in order to reduce smoking. In her post she discusses her group's techniques for better effectiveness and how they used humor and softer language to ease the mood. One last post I enjoyed was Nick's Social Media "Friends" Post. He explores the pros and cons of social networks and how they can have an impact on us in different ways. It's interesting to see how these platforms can desolate you from that in-person, face-to-face experience, but at the same time keep you connected to friends you would not see otherwise. It depends on the specific relationship with the person whether it's beneficial or harmful, but Nick has some great insights in this post!

Overall, this class was a very new experience and the blogging aspect of it was very fun. I have never been one to share my thoughts online, much less have my personal blog. I feel that it really helped me organize my thoughts and deepen my thoughts regarding what we discuss in class. I would love to have this kind of project in my future classes and hope ESOC 211 continues to do so.

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PassTheBaton & C-PAO

For the C-PAO activity, my group created a list of tasks to promote giving back to the community though the purchasing of Hydro Flasks. Here are our list of tasks:

1. Use the hashtag #HydroFlaskGivesBack on social media to raise awareness.
2. If you own a Hydro Flask, register it on their website and choose on of the 12 charities to donate to.
3. Give a gift that keeps on giving by giving a Hydro Flask to a friend or family, and encourge them to #GiveBack.
4. Post a picture with your Hydro Flask and caption it #HydroFlaskGivesBack. Write about why you donated to the charity that you did and include a link to HydroFlask for easier accessibility.
5. Encourage a conversation on social media to help raise awareness for the cause and the charity you're passionate about.

When creating these tasks, we were focusing on making them actionable and effective. With these type of donation-based charities where participation is so easy, social networks can play a big part in spreading it. Facebook, Twitter, and even our class' new social platform are used by individuals looking for quick information, quick in-and-out interaction, easy scrolling, etc. Our tasks focused on that, easy tasks that involved interacting with others and posting like they usually would. It wasn't too hard to settle on tasks, since Hydro Flasks are something people are buying either way and something that benefits those consumers. We felt that they were important tasks in that people already have or are willing to buy these bottles, it's just a matter of learning about what they can do with them, which is greatly aided by social media and hashtags. 

Some of the tasks that were given to my group by the #HopePhone team seemed more challenging than others in the sense that they required more of an ownership, a level of it which I did not personally feel comfortable with. For instance, one of the tasks was to create an email to the University of Arizona for them to allow a Hope Phone Drive on campus. Although I think this is a great idea and has a very effective potential, I did not feel that sense of ownership and entitlement myself. In other words, I am not knowledgeable enough about this material and organization to make such an official request from our school. Some of the other tasks such as creating a mass text as well as a social platform post in which you explain the foundation, the steps one has to take, the hashtags incorporated with it for spreadability, etc. These tasks I think are most effective because they are visible by many people; they involve membership, but not a vast amount of ownership, since it's available on one's personal profile to their chosen audience.

Overall, I really enjoyed this activity and the space that was created for our class. I learned that many charities and giving back to the community can come very easily and have a create impact if a lot of people just contribute what they can. One single post can inform somebody something that ends up being life-changing. Many people have HydroFlasks and old phones they will never look back on, and social media can be remarkably effective in communicating with the public the easy things they can do to make a difference.