I do not feel like the prevalence of technology is leading to a socially awkward society, but helping people communicate more freely with each other. I do feel like sometimes, situations can be awkward when young teens are texting or skimming facebook while at the dinner table or when they should be in an active conversation with others. I believe this has more to do with the responsibilities of a parent (or self-discipline with adults) at how much we should use technology to communicate. Overall, we benefit more from the aid of technology than it hurts us or causes us to lack communication skills.
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For some bizarre reason, I do not find this topic to be quite as tedious as race, religion, or politics. It might have something to do with the fact that I have so many gay friends and family, therefore I have discussed the subject on many occasions before this class. I think that Alexander brings out an excellent point in his writing: Sexuality should be discussed in a computerized classroom and technology helps conversation begin and flow. Communication through technology, such as typing on a computer or texting on the phone can help people who do not have the courage to voice their own opinion, get that opinion out there for people to see. Where many refuse to speak in the classroom about taboo topics, most are more willing to voice an opinion if written, typed, or text. Sexuality is an important subject to discuss because, like Alexander brings out, it is basically how people identify themselves today. When setting up an account on facebook, one of the first questions that pops up is “Are you interested in… Men? Women? Both?” A profile is there to describe who you are. It is part of your identity. Technology is an excellent way for people to voice their opinions, because discussions and debates are much more organized and thought through when one has the option to see and read back what their opinion is before displaying it for others to read. I consulted two people, both of whom are very close to my heart, for further research on this topic: one heterosexual and one homosexual. I will keep them nameless and refer to them as “the homosexual” and “the heterosexual” because this blog is referencing sexuality as identity. I asked them the same set of questions and received very different answers. The interviews were also done through text, referencing how technology can aid expression. 1) Compare your experiences of expressing yourself in high school vs. college. 2) How do you use social media to express yourself? 3) Name one situation where you had been treated differently because of your sexual orientation. Homosexual’s response to question 1: “Interestingly enough, I wasn’t treated differently. This is because most of my friends, to whom I was already out, were of college age, even the guys I dated. As for my high school friends, they didn’t learn of my sexuality until after graduation. Yet, I do feel as if I were treated better in college, despite not having a bad experience being gay in high school. The reason for these feelings is that in college, I had the opportunity to surround myself with open and like-minded people.” Heterosexual’s response to question 1: “In high school, I was more immature sometimes, but overall, I wasn’t completely different. I never really felt the need to express my sexual orientation to anyone. I can’t think of a situation where I was treated different by anyone because I was straight. I knew of three gay people in my school, and only knew one of them personally. I never felt any different around him, but I also didn’t know him that well. I heard of gay kids in lower grades than me getting picked on, but never witnessed any of them.” Homosexual’s response to question 2: “I know several gay men who use social media [and technology] to express themselves, such as blogging on Tumblr or advertising one’s availability on Grindr. But, I’ve always been one to demand attention in real life. I don’t care if a picture of my drag persona earns 37 likes. Whether I’m grocery shopping or sitting in class, I want people to stare at my feet housed in 6 inch, school bus yellow stilettos.”( below are two pictures that were given to me from the one of the people I interviewed. He posted both of them on Facebook, taking advantage of the freedom to express himself through social media. One is of him in a business setting at work and the other in his free time in full drag. He gave me both pictures and suggested I use them in my blog, so I have his complete permission to use them.) Heterosexual’s response to question 2: “I guess I posted some silly stuff in high school, but I never really posted a lot on facebook anyway. It’s really not much different from now. I only post occasionally.” Homosexual’s response to question 3: (This answer was rather long, so I’ll have to sum it up a little, to fit into my time frame for the blog post.) He had very few experiences of people treating him bad for being gay, except for a time that an “acquaintance” used the word “fag” in his presence. He went on to mention how hurtful it was to hear someone that he thought was his friend use that word. “Honestly, it’s very rare that I consider my life any different than someone who is straight. I vote, pay bills, poop, exercise and watch Netflix. However lately, I have faced an intense amount of adversity, for my fiancé and I are getting married. This isn’t legal in Georgia yet, so I am having to spend our vacation money and tax returns to travel out of state to be rewarded with a document and marital status that will no longer be valid when we return home.” Heterosexual’s response to question 3: “I can’t think of any occasions where I was treated any different for being straight. It’s an interesting question though. Most of my friends were straight as well. Not because I didn’t associate with gay people, but just because I barely knew any.” I inferred from my interview with the heterosexual and homosexual that a great flaw in society today is a thing some refer to as “cliques”. The idea that students flock together with kids most like them. This creates issues and debates everywhere, not just for homosexuals. But there is something that can not be ignored any longer - that gay kids in high school feel more of a need to hide their sexuality, their identity (according to today’s standards) from others not like them for fear of being treated as alien or different. Just as you can see from the two men being interviewed, the heterosexual did not have much to say about the homosexual and the homosexual did not have much to say about the heterosexual. It was not because they did not like each other, but because neither of them were educated on their own sexuality in the classroom. This is the wound of society that can eventually be bandaged over time with education and technology allowing anyone to express themselves freely, while oppressing no person, whether of a different sexual orientation, race, religion, or political party. This post's purpose is not to verify what is right and what is wrong, so if you read it like that, you have missed my point entirely. My point is that ignorance leads to hate or worse, and knowledge and understanding breads love. And love is something EVERYONE desires. It's the common denominator of humanity. I definitely related to the buck and the Selfe pieces the most. Though the Selfe piece is mandatory for our papers, I'm planning on incorporating the buck piece into my LT1 paper as well. After reading all of the excerpts, I think I'm going to write on true identity and the relationship with technology. I have gathered that technology has proven a safe haven for some to hide away in (and sometimes create a false self) and a blank canvas for others to express themselves freely. #twittlit The chapter of Banks book, “Race, Rhetoric, and Technology”, was really all foreign ground information to me. Being a white English major in Dahlonega, Georgia, I really have no way to relate to the subject of African American Vernacular English and did not even know what it was until I read the pamphlet for class. I have learned some great life lessons from doing this assignment, however. A failure in social networking: Apparently, early in the mornings when I’m tired and groggy, my southern accent is much thicker than I realize it to be. Because of this, friends from work began tagging me with the nicknames “Georgia cracker” and “Coon hunter”. I was also tagged “Coon hunter” because I incorporate camouflage into my wardrobe quite often. Not really knowing what the terms “cracker” and “Coon hunter” meant or that they could be taken as a racial slurs, I started involving them in my posts on facebook and Instagram. Not long after, I started receiving personal messages from many people. It was mainly family, friends from church, and people I worked under who informed me that what I was posting wasn’t exactly what I thought I was posting. I received a few messages, and posts on my wall, from people claiming that what I had posted offended them. I sincerely apologized. I never meant to come off as racist, and am far from being racist. I just thought “cracker” simply meant that I had a country accent and that “coon hunter” meant I liked hunting raccoons with my dogs… which is true. I do like to hunt and I am from the south. But I learned a big lesson from my mistake and I’m more careful with what I say online now.
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