Cyberbullying Case

Megan Meier, a thirteen year old girl from Missouri, commited suicide as a result of online communications. Lori Drew, the mother of a former firend of Meier's was convicted of a Misdemeanor for cyberbullying. Many people believe that she should have been charged with murder or of similar felony charges. This is a controversial issue because people wonder if you can actually be charged with murder just for saying something. Drew posed as a teenage boy and befriended Megan Meier, but later sent hateful messages to her. Drew said, "The world would be a better palce without you." the nature of the comments by Drew were sadistic, especially because a 49 year old women was trying to cause mental harm to Meier.

In the end, Drew will serve limited time in jail, but despite these injustices, I believe this punishement is fair. This is because in America, people have the right to say whatever they want, no matter the nature of their comments. I believe that Meier was unstable, and as a result, she was pushed over the edge with these comments.

The Importance of Internet Socializing

Many people see internet sites such as facebook and myspace as a waste of time and as potentially dangerous venues for the children because of potential predators. However, in spite of these occasional occurrences, there are many positives that come from the internet. Specifically, people are able to communicate with others, and learn from their experiences. Overall, the internet is a very usefgul tool for communication.

One example of how the internet is positive is because people are able to communicate with other people that they may not be able to meet with regularly. Specifically, one of my friends does not go to our school anymore and because of this I don’t see him in real life, but I can still talk to him on the internet. Also, there are many other things that are positive such as an escape from real life, and also places like facebook and myspace serve as an area where people can meet. Specifically, their are many kids being interviewed in Tamar Lewin’s article. These kids are from the Bronx and they say that right when they get home from school, they go online.
In the end, the internet serves as social network for kids to be together and coexist with one another.

Technology and the Presidential Election of 2008

In David Carr’s article Campaigns in a Web 2.0 World; he advocates the importance of media and web coverage in the presidential election. David Carr shows how people no longer find everything out by the major network stations such as Fox, MSNBC, and CNN, but by the internet. Nowadays, people can watch videos about the presidential candidates on youtube without having to watch them on TV when they happen. Specifically, not everyone tuned in at 9 AM to watch Colin Powell endorse Barrack Obama. Instead, people watched it the next day online and were able to see the same thing that other people watched on TV. It is very important to use the internet and take full advantage of this in an election, because some undecided voters could be swayed by the blunders that are captured by the candidates and then put online. Also, it is necessary that candidates show their policies as often as they can and they make people know about their beliefs. In this current era, the best way for candidates to advertise is to control every aspect of the media. Now, this includes the internet as well as TV coverage. Both candidates have their own youtube accounts, and they have many videos with over 1 million views. In the end, Barrack Obama was elected president, but perhaps his use of the internet and media played a large role in his election, or maybe it was because of his policy or his appearance in the people’s opinion.

Internet by Generation

Today, we live in a generation where everyone uses the internet in one form or another. However, the way that people use the internet differs from person to person, and this is based on the type of person you are, and the things that you are doing. For example, I would use the internet for different reasons than my parents, just like kids and adults use the internet for different reasons. To be specific, I use the internet everyday at school in order to check my work on the school website, edline, or to use the internet for research. I also use the computer to watch videos online and to follow sports. My parents use the internet mainly for work purposes. My dad uses the computer to check his e-mail and also to communicate with other people that he works with. Nowadays, much of the work he does relies on the internet and interaction with other people. My mom uses the internet for e-mail also, and she uses it to communicate with people.

The similarities between internet use is that both my generation and my parents generation uses the internet for leisure and work purposes, while the differences are that we use the internet for specific needs which differ. The internet is a necessity now because people use it in order to complete daily tasks as opposed to many years ago when it didn't exist.

Safe Blogging

When people begin blogging they need to start with a safe attitude in order to enjoy the full blogging experience. Specifically, people should not use their full name because they are at risk if people know who they are. People shouldn’t attack others on their blog. People shouldn’t put images on the blog that would get them into trouble. If they put sexualized pictures or other illegal pictures they could get in trouble and they would be sending the wrong message about themselves. Also, people shouldn’t list anything about there location because the blog writer could potentially be at risk of other people. In the end, blogging is fun, but precautionary steps must be taken.