Looking at social media.

I found what we talked about in class last time we met was very interesting. I have really mixed feelings about whether or not social media is harming our social relationships. I guess that i'm on both sides. I think it is harmful and can be very damaging to relationships and people in general, but it can also have its benefits. These benefits include being able to keep up with friends that don't live near you anymore, and keeping friends and family updated on what is going on in your life. It can also allow people to have access to your life that don't have the best intentions. Social media can hurt people's self worth and it can even be addicting. Our generation is on social media for hours a day. People could make the argument that this time could be spent doing more productive or healthy things, which is definitely true. Sometimes though it is just good to relax and not really think about anything important. The problem arises, I think, when people start to live their entire lives through their phones. I know people who go out and do things for the soul purpose of getting the perfect Instagram picture. These people are then devastated when their picture doesn't get enough likes. They'll either delete it completely, or try to post it again in an effort to get more attention from the picture. Couples will get into huge fights because another girl liked her boyfriend's picture and commented on it and he responded or something and vice versa. These fights are completely empty and about nothing at all really, but they cause damage to the relationship. It doesn't have to be a romantic relationship either. This happens between friends all the time. People will post pictures of being out without inviting one of their friends, and this will hurt the party that was left out, again causing damage to that relationship. Social media becomes a popularity contest basically, causing people to act in ways that they wouldn't normally when not behind the protection of a glass screen. It is even more of a problem when living through the phone creates a strong sense of isolation. In my opinion people who depend on likes on a picture for happiness end up feeling really alone. Even if they have upwards of 100 likes, I doubt that its actually very fulfilling after a while. All of those likes don't really mean anything. People who they probably haven't talked to in years or even never liked that picture and in the end they're just in their rooms by themselves. I think this relates to the Monkey Sphere theory. By trying to remain in contact with so many people, it ends up being harmful. Every one has their close group of friends and then the people they are friends with but not close to. No one person can keep up with so many people at once and still maintain a close relationship with all of them.    

Our midterm

When given our assignment for our midterm I was excited. I had never been given the opportunity to really reflect on what I had learned throughout a semester in my classes. I usually am too focused on memorizing and re-learning the materials for the exam to have a chance to reflect on what i've actually learned in the class, and how it applies to me personally. By the time I finish with all my tests I am too over thinking about the material I learned to really absorb what had gone on in the semester. This assignment gave me an opportunity to really think about all the things I had gone through this semester, what I learned from it and how it changed me as an individual. So I really thought this assignment was cool. I think in some ways it is actually a better tool to solidify what we learn in class in our minds permanently. A lot of students look at finals and midterms as basically big knowledge dumps. Thats not really a wrong way of looking at things, its just not conducive to learning. They memorize everything, starting probably a week in advance, and keep studying until the test where they just write down all their information they have absorbs. After the test is over, students will go home and never think about it again if they can help it. Especially if they don't have a cumulative final at the end of their course. That is why I have always preferred essays. Essays make me actually think through and learn the material I am writing about. I just personally think they are better options. Without fail I could tell you way more about classes that i've had to do essays in in comparison to tests that I just have tests in. So thats why I thought this midterm was so cool. Not only the part we did in class, which was hands on and fun, but also the at home portion. It gave me an opportunity to look at my semester in my way. I had to actually think about my life and classes this semester and decide what the most important thing to say about it was. It was a way to decompress about my school year this far, and I think that is a very good thing. It was good for me anyway.