Dustin Ginsburg
Eng 254, 035
Green
Introduction
“Pew (Internet and
American Life Project) reports that this age group (18-29 year olds) is that
most concerned with online identity management: 71% of them have changed the
privacy settings on the sites they use.”
Comment: This quote provides
quantitative data confirming the idea that the most avid social media users are
wary of their safety on the sites. Many people seem to not trust Facebook and
other sites with their personal information.
“Living a “literate life in the information age” (Selfe
& Hawisher, 2004) increasingly means learning to navigate these spaces,
managing one’s identity and online data, and considering complex issues of
privacy and representation. “
Comment: This quote incorporates many
aspects of social media use and factors that affect the way people use it. Privacy
concerns and the way one represents them on social media are arguably the most
important aspects of digital literacy. Patricia is very aware of Facebook’s
security issues, and has altered her use of the site as a result. She has also
used the site to create an identity for herself that I will try to explain with
my next draft in the discussion section.
Methods
“I believe this
combination of methods can allow writing researchers to study dispersed
literate activity in contexts where writing is often difficult to trace.”
Comment: This sentence is important
because it tells the reader the Buck is essentially making up his own standards
for studying social media platforms. She seemingly does a thorough and
extensive walk through of Ronnie’s social media, but at the same time her
methods should be looked at a bit closer since it is a newer field of research.
“The information
discussed in the profile tour gave me an overall sense of how Ronnie perceived
his own identity representation online, some history behind that
representation, and his perspective on what those representations meant to him.”
Comment: I chose this quote because it
exactly represents my findings in my own paper. The profile tour gave me
insight into Patricia’s online identity representation, some history behind
posts, and the perspectives behind those posts. Without the tour, it would be
difficult or impossible to accurately represent her Facebook identity.
Results
“While users present their identities online in ways
connected to their offline, embodied selves and often connect with people from
their offline networks online, they may present different aspects of themselves
for different “communities of practice.” “
Comment: In my introduction, I touched
on how people can represent themselves differently online compared to their
actual selves. This quote argues that a reason that may be true is to connect
with specific communities. By connecting to certain communities online, it may
amplify or exaggerate their interest in that subject that is different from how
they would normally portray themselves in the real world. At the same time,
social media may be the only place they can connect with certain communities,
thus creating unique opportunities to get involved in those groups.
“Along with moving
across different interfaces, Ronnie’s experience also documents the complex
ways in which activities on social network sites bridge online and offline
spaces. Interactions are often initiated online and end in some kind of offline
activity”
Comment: I think that this is an
important clarification in Buck’s article. Online activities are very often
used for the ends of some kind of online activity. I know with my use of
Facebook, almost anytime that I use the chat function it is in order to do
something offline. Events are also another function of Facebook that leads to
offline activity.
Discussion
“Shortly after
Facebook changed its privacy setting configurations in April 2010, which
created somewhat of a firestorm in the media,3 he went back to listing Alison
as his girlfriend and added fake siblings. He changed his high school to
Hogwarts’ School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and his current employer to the
Ministry of Magic.”
Comment: This quote goes back o the
point of security and how people change their social media use as a result. In
Buck’s findings, Ronnie provided fake information in regards to his school,
employer, and family. In my own findings, Patricia has not kept that same type
of information up to date. I think this may be a result of her hesitance to
post personal information on the site. However it may just be because she
hasn’t gotten around to it yet, so I will need to clarify this with Patricia in
my interview.
“While social
network sites often place a number of restrictions on users’ activities,
individual users adapt these guidelines for their own uses and their own
meanings.”
Comment: In her profile tour, Patricia
explained that she does not use the Facebook messaging app on her phone due to
security concerns. As a result, she has adapted to the guidelines that Facebook
has set. This quote also gives me ideas to queston further in the interview,
how restrictions on Facebook affect her total usage of the sight.
Conclusion
“Viewing this rich
literate activity as part of students’ everyday lives will give us a greater understanding
of the literacy experiences they bring with them to the classroom.”
Comment: In this day and age, students
generally write the most outside of the classroom in the form on texts, instant
messaging, and status updates. By throwing out these forms of expression when
understanding their literary experience is a disservice. Through viewing ones
literate activity on social media, it will provide greater insight into their
history and method of writing.
“38% of the writing
that the student participants completed happened outside of the classroom, and
much of this writing happened online. Similarly, a study by Grabill et al.
(2010) in the Writing in Digital Environments research group found that
first-year college students engaged in digital writing most frequently,
primarily on mobile phones, social network sites, and email.”
Comment: This quote provides
quantitative data showing that students participate in writing outside the
classroom almost as much as the amount they write in class. Also, another study
found that the most frequent form of digital writing from first year college students
came in the form of mobile phones, social network sites, and email. These bits
of information might be good to include in my introduction, as a way to
introduce the importance of digital literacy on social media.
