Facebook Page Analysis

When I started this semester I had never even had my own personal Facebook page. Designing and starting my own community page was extremely overwhelming at first. I did not even know how to post something on Facebook let alone design a page. I started out with baby steps and it took me many, many hours to do things that probably took the younger students a number of minutes. I just took it one step at a time and things came together. It has been a very fascinating experience and I have learned a lot.

My page is a community page that I designed to encourage people to educate themselves and their children about the harmful effects of pornography.  I also provided tips on how to talk to your children about pornography, ways to safeguard against unsolicited exposure, and places that you can reach out for help if a problem already exists.

I used the picture of a young child looking at a computer screen while an adult is trying to shield him from what is on the screen. I chose this because the internet does not discriminate and it has no idea who is sitting behind the screen. It is the responsibility of the viewer or in the case of a minor, the parent, to control the content that is being viewed. I showed a picture of many hands locked together in calling for us to unite to fight the cyber drug. This was to illustrate the fact that it will take a lot of people coming together to fight a very powerful and lucrative pornography industry.

Tactics: I tried a mix of multiple different strategies. I posted informational videos, statistics, articles, testimonials and even posted a video of myself talking on the subject.  My most viewed post was the video of myself talking. It reached 213 people and 153 actually watched it. The second most popular post was an article I posted entitled “Having the ‘porn conversation’ with the man you’re dating”. It reached 401 people and 23 engaged with 7 shares.

 

I did all of my analysis using the biggest time period that insights would allow, 2-26-15 thru 4-17-15.

Total Page Likes: My page kind of got a really slow start because I did not even have any friends on my personal page to invite to like my page. Only a handful of students from class liked my page. Sally and Becky took pity on me and invited their friends to like my page and that helped a little but I still didn't have enough likes to see the insights page. I literally went around school asking people to like my page. About a month after I started the page I finally had 32 likes and it stayed at this number until I ran my ad. With my ad for one week starting on March 25th and I got 24 additional likes.

When we did our Facebook Ad’s I ran mine for page likes. I actually decided to pay for the ad to run for one week. I gave it a $10.00 a day budget. I received 24 new page likes from running my ad. I felt like this was pretty good considering that I only had 32 page likes before this. I did notice though that the majority of the people that liked my page did not actually click on any of its content. That was disappointing. The following are the add results.

You will notice that Facebook reports that my ad has a poor performance score and has high negative feedback. I am assuming that this is because the word pornography is in the advertisement and I was only advertising to people in the state of Utah. Many people that have filters on their computers are blocking anything that contains this word. This makes it difficult for those trying to fight against it.

 

  

Post Reach: I obviously had the biggest post reach on the ones that I paid for. When I was running my ad it reached 3,521 people. I also boosted one of my posts and it reached 6,484 people. To be honest I could never really make any rhyme nor reason out of what posts were being successful and which ones were not. Like comments and shares were very sporadic. I can tell you that whenever Sally shared my post on her page I got a lot more views. She is obviously more influential than me. As you can see I also had people hide my posts a number of times. This appears to be during the times that I was paying for either my post or my ad.

Paid to Boost Post: I paid to boost one of my posts. I chose a post that I thought might appeal more to men because I could see that I had very few men that liked my page. I thought it might be of interest to young men to know that there has been a dramatic increase in young men suffering from erectile dysfunction. This increase has been linked to pornography use. Medication will not cure it the only thing that solves the problem is to retrain the brain by no longer looking at pornography. Men did pay more attention to this post and I did get one page like from it. I was glad to see that by boosting a post a few people actually looked at the content of this post. I actually had a few people post comment on this one.

  

Page and Tab Visits:  As you can see my timeline was viewed the most. I had the highest activity during the times that I was paying to boost a post or advertisement.

Posts: The data shows that the peak time that my fans are online is around 10:00 p.m. I personally found that the best day to post was on Wednesday morning. For some reason when I posted on Wednesday my posts reached a lot more people. I routinely posted on Wednesday and Saturday. Each individual post is also shown with reach and engagement. As you can see, I actually had very little success with the majority of my posts. I never could really figure out what would appeal more to people with  the exception of me video taping myself.

People:  These were the original target audience that I presented.

Personas:

Cheryl is a 36 year old mother of four. Recently she was helping her 12 year old daughter, Anna, with a class project. They were creating a character and needed a photo. Her daughter typed in the words, blonde girl. Cheryl was mortified when streams of pornographic photos started skipping across the screen. They seemed to be caught in a loop. Cheryl wonders how she can protect her children from being exposed to such demoralizing images. What if she had not been present? Cheryl knows she needs to talk to Anna about what happened and is a little unsure about how to approach this delicate subject.

Rusty is a 15 year old boy who plays basketball at the local high school. He got his iPhone 2 years ago for Christmas. He was most excited about being able to check the scores on fox sports at any time. Unfortunately, this is also the site that linked him to his first pornographic website. At first he looked just out of curiosity, but now it is something that he can’t get through the day without doing. He doesn’t like the ways he feels or acts most of the time. He knows he has a problem but he doesn’t know how to reach out for help.

Cassandra is a 23 year old newlywed. Cassandra saved herself for marriage and was looking forward to an intimate relationship with her husband Carl.  Cassandra has been surprised by Carl’s lack of interest. Recently she discovered that Carl is spending time each day looking at pornographic website. When she tried to discuss it with him, he brushed her off and said, “That is just what guys do. It doesn’t mean anything.” Cassandra feels betrayed and wonders what is wrong with her that might make Carl choose pornography over her. She begins to try to improve herself thinking that if only she were better, then Carl would choose her.

Real People: I was actually a little surprised about what I found when I looked at who my fans were and who engaged on my page. Very interesting to me that 86% of my fans are women when it is a well-known fact that men struggle much more with pornography use then women do. Men have the problem but women seem to be the ones who want to solve it. My page appealed most to women between the ages of 35-44. As I looked at these results the things that came to my mind are women whose husbands have a pornography problem and mothers who want to protect their children. The majority of my fans are from Utah which makes sense since many of the people that liked my page are friends and my advertisement only went to people in Utah. I purposely chose this demographic because pornography use is such a serious problem in this state.

When I boosted my post I did not set my own demographic. I just went with what Facebook has as their default. This post went to people all over the United States as well as people in other countries. It did not seem to change that fact that women between the age of 35-44 were reached the most.

Summary:  I feel like I learned a lot from this experience. I had a number of things that held me back a little from doing some of the things that I would have liked to. I am currently in the middle of a divorce and Facebook pages are often used in litigation. I had to be very careful what I posted and how it would be viewed. For this reason, I did not make more personal video’s which was obviously the best way to get my message out.  I do think that if I had been able to include some of my own personal experience on the subject that I probably could have gotten more of a following. Because I had such a small following it was hard to determine what would work and what would not. Obviously if I had a lot of money to pore into the page, paid posts were the most successful.

I am not really surprised that I had such a hard time getting anyone to look at the content of this page. Pornography is a huge problem but it is a very sensitive subject and one that most people do not want to talk about openly, especially in the state of Utah where we seem to just be pretending that it is not happening. This is the reason that I wanted to do the page in the first place and unfortunately I did not make much progress in changing that. I do however, feel that even if this page helped one person that it was successful and worth my time and effort. 

Contextual Analysis

University of Oklahoma SAE chapter sings racist chant

Physical Context:

On Saturday, March 7, 2015 the University of Oklahoma chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon was traveling by bus to a party. This footage was secretly filmed as two of the students stood up and led their peers in a racist chant.

OU SAE Racist Chant from John Held on Vimeo.

The chant sung to the tune of the song “If You’re Happy and You Know it” is littered with the n-word and appears to condone the practice of lynching. Here are the lyrics of the chant:

There will never be a N***** in SAE

There will never be a N***** in SAE

You can hand them from a tree, but he can never sign with me

There will never be a N***** in SAE

This event brings to light the importance of technology when we speak of physical context. In today’s world we do nothing in private. Anything you say or do can be scattered across the world in a matter of hours. We never know who might be filming us. In the case of this racist chant, the footage was anonymously sent to a black students’ pressure group at the university called Unheard. Unheard made sure this chant was heard around the world. They used all kinds of social media available to them including: YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Media attention was immediate and university and public reaction was swift.

When we speak of physical context I also think it is important to point out that the event took place in Oklahoma and on a bus. Oklahoma is not in the Deep South, but in the south none the less. The significance of the bus comes as we consider the role buses played in the civil rights movement. On December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white person. She was arrested and this was the beginning of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. In 1961 the Freedom Riders, which included both blacks and whites, rode a bus through the American South to attempt to integrate bus services. These two events played a large role in the fight for equality. The fact that SAE’s chant took place in the south on a bus triggers emotions as it connects our minds to the past.

Temporal Context

Temporal context or the timing of this event played a significant role on its impact. The racist chant was actually taking place as people were gathered in Selma celebrating the 50th Anniversary of “Bloody Sunday”.  BloodySunday is the march for civil rights led by Martin Luther King from Selma to Montgomery Alabama where protesters were beaten, trampled and tear-gassed at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma.

SAE frat boys where on a bus singing this racist chant as President Obama was delivering a speech on the bridge at Selma. Here is just a portion of what was being said: 

First and foremost, we have to recognize that one day’s commemoration, no matter how special, is not enough. If Selma taught us anything, it’s that our work is never done – the American experiment in self-government gives work and purpose to each generation.

Selma teaches us, too, that action requires that we shed our cynicism. For when it comes to the pursuit of justice, we can afford neither complacency nor despair.

Just this week, I was asked whether I thought the Department of Justice’s Ferguson report shows that, with respect to race, little has changed in this country. I understand the question, for the report’s narrative was woefully familiar. It evoked the kind of abuse and disregard for citizens that spawned the Civil Rights Movement. But I rejected the notion that nothing’s changed. What happened in Ferguson may not be unique, but it’s no longer endemic, or sanctioned by law and custom; and before the Civil Rights Movement, it most surely was.

We do a disservice to the cause of justice by intimating that bias and discrimination are immutable, or that racial division is inherent to America. If you think nothing’s changed in the past fifty years, ask somebody who lived through the Selma or Chicago or L.A. of the Fifties. Ask the female CEO who once might have been assigned to the secretarial pool if nothing’s changed. Ask your gay friend if it’s easier to be out and proud in America now than it was thirty years ago. To deny this progress – our progress – would be to rob us of our own agency; our responsibility to do what we can to make America better.

Of course, a more common mistake is to suggest that racism is banished, that the work that drew men and women to Selma is complete, and that whatever racial tensions remain are a consequence of those seeking to play the “race card” for their own purposes. We don’t need the Ferguson report to know that’s not true. We just need to open our eyes, and ears, and hearts, to know that this nation’s racial history still casts its long shadow upon us. We know the march is not yet over, the race is not yet won, and that reaching that blessed destination where we are judged by the content of our character – requires admitting as much.”

I am sure these young men had no idea the impact that the coincidence of the president’s speech with their chant would have. They were simply out for a night of fun. The fact that these two events happened on the same day gave the media fuel for their love affair with pitting blacks against whites. On the tail end of the still hot ashes of Ferguson, social media was ablaze with post and comments.

Because these two events took place simultaneously this chant drew much more attention than it might have otherwise. With the nation watching the punishment that these boys would receive was likely much more severe and long lasting than it would have been otherwise. The two boys that started the chant will be marked by this event for a lifetime. These severe consequences would have never happened before the days of social media and cell phones. Young foolish mistakes are made in public with a camera always at our fingertips and the power to send its images instantly into the universe. We are no longer shamed simply by our peers but by the world.

The chant leaders were identified and their pictures released through social media. Parker Rice and Levi Pettit and their families would have to flee their homes as people came in protest and assaulted them with threatening phone calls and through social media campaigns.

Psychological Context

I think the entire country was in a bit of a state of shock as this video hit social media.  Meredith Cummings posted her feeling on her blog.

I was going to note that, while I was disappointed in some remarks made to me following my last post about Selma, ignorance will always be a factor and education is key. I was going to say that some of my white friends think there is no racism, and while we, the people, have work to do, the Selma anniversary was a sight to behold. A moving, fitting, long-time-coming tribute to the positive outcome of a horrific event. Selma became, in my mind, a noun more than the city and its ugly past. It became a noun wrapped in hope and love and warmth. It became SELMA.

Then, all of the dissipated as I watched a video posted on several social media sites. It actually made me catch my breath.

I felt like I had been hit in the gut. I couldn't help but think of Selma march organizer Congressman John Lewis describing just that to NPR – how State Troopers used their clubs to hit people because of their skin color on that bridge so many years ago.

I felt all of the good Selma feelings wash away, clean as a bloodless street.

Psychologically the video of this racist chant, threw our minds to the past and we began to fight a battle that we thought perhaps we had already won, the battle for all human being to be treated as equal.

There were obviously people who were angry and took to social media to attack and shame those who had participated, some attacking SAE as a whole for the actions of a few members. Malik Hurt  felt empathy for those being attacked. Recognizing that because a few SAE members acted inappropriately does not mean that they all do.

Some times when you feel like crying you decide to try to laugh instead and find humor in the situation as did Megan Johnson when she posted this cartoon.

Many people felt it was their responsibility to take action as protests, town meetings, and more were organized.  People came together to support one another.

Just this week this young black man felt it necessary to let the world know that although racism does still exist we cannot label all white men as racist. He took action to try to through a little water on the media’s fire of blacks vs. whites. This video was posted to You Tube. 

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Cultural Context

Let us first discuss the culture of the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon. SAE is the only national fraternity founded in the antebellum South. Its founder was one of the first casualties of the civil war and 75 other members died before the wars end, most fighting for the confederate south. SAE spent three decades rebuilding and eventually made its way to northern colleges, though they had to fight for their presence among the well-established fraternities in the north. SAE is now the largest fraternity in the country.

SAE has a history of racist and discriminatory behavior over the years, for which it has disciplined its members. After investigating, Oklahoma University President David Boren revealed that the racist chant was learned at a national leadership cruise four years ago sponsored by the fraternity. The chant was shared at an informal “social gathering” outside of the organized event.

The fact the SAE was started in the south brings a different context to the fraternity itself.  Many of the fraternity’s songs and traditions were started by people of another time when racism was seen as an acceptable part of life.  We must understand that things are different in the south. I am not saying they should be I am just saying that they are, it’s a fact. I have been to south many times and it is almost like going back in time 50 years. Slavery is a part of their history. Many people in the south grew up with the belief that blacks were of less value than whites. This is something that was just part of life. They grew up with slaves in their homes and were taught by their parents and society that in public they were to keep themselves separate. Slaves were a white man’s property and were referred to with the n-word. In the south this was a natural part of life.

The civil rights movement did bring about change, but people in the south had a lot more changing to do than people in the north. The change is slowly coming, but the south still lags behind. Values and beliefs are some of the most difficult things to change. Our country is making many strides in trying to achieve this change, but the media works against us. They love to fuel the fires of racism because it brings forth such emotion and controversy among us.

Another aspect of cultural context that I would like to address is that of music. The SAE racist chant is sung to the tune of “If Your Happy and You Know It”. The power of music is quite an amazing thing. I have been researching this subject for a number of weeks now and I have caught myself walking around the house humming that tune numerous times every day. The fact that this chant was sung to this catchy tune makes it more powerful.  Music has a way of keeping things in our memory. Sometimes even unconsciously, we recite the words over and over in our minds without even thinking about it.

Cultural Music also has played a big role in the response of the black community to the chant. They immediately returned to their roots and started singing those sole-full, powerful, gospel melodies from the civil rights movement. These songs propel us back in time to the civil rights movement and bring forth powerful emotions in both the black and white community. 

Awesome voice “@OU_Unheard: #OUNPHCSPEAKS pic.twitter.com/0Z3mxbWSvN”
— Andrea Melvin (@adm_wxed) March 11, 201

Social Context

The social context includes the roles that we play and the rules that are involved. Social media has dramatically altered the role the public plays in reporting news. Things that once would have been handled behind closed doors are now handled with the world watching. This fact has in turn changed the rules that those in power must play by. You might say that social media has done away with the “good old boys club”. Those in power are much less likely to do something socially unacceptable when issuing punishment for wrong doing.

As I mentioned earlier anyone with a cell phone can decide to report wrong doing and call for change. In her blog Meredith Cummings writes, “One person on the bus with those students decided to be a mountain mover. With the touch of a button that person changed the course of the night, streaming on You Tube for all the world to see, the ugly truth that some Americans deny is happening.” The decision to release this video on the anniversary of Selma made America stop and maybe step back for just a minute.

Americans took to social media to post their disgust and dismay. With such an outcry the University and the Fraternity could not take their time to reply, immediate action was required or pay the consequences publicly. Both University of Oklahoma President David Boren and the Sigma Alpha Epsilon national headquarters posted an immediate response using this same social media. This behavior would not be tolerated and they would start investigating now.

Through social media the public held those in power accountable for making sure that appropriate punishment was imposed. The OU chapter of SAE was closed immediately by the Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s national headquarters and all of its members were suspended. By Tuesday March 10th the two students leading the chant had been identified as Levi Pettit and Parker Rice. Both boys were suspended and asked to leave campus.

Rapper WakaFlocka Flame was scheduled to perform at an SAE event on campus. In light of the racist chant video the show was cancelled the rapper not wanting to be associated with such behavior.

Many felt that merely shutting down the fraternity and expelling the boys was not enough. The public not only played the role of holding those in power accountable, but played the role of calling the American people to action.  Protest, town hall meeting, and more were organized to call for this change.  Organization of these events took place mostly through social media and the world was invited to participate as each event was accessible through technology.

Other Universities across the country organized to show support for diversity. The “Not on Our Campus” campaign was born. Some young entrepreneurs even decided to make a business opportunity out of the campaign, making T-shirts to sell to those supporting the cause.

As for the two young boys responsible for leading this racist chant, what is their role? It seems in the world of social media that the way to be forgiven is to apologize, that’s what works for politicians and celebrities. Levi Pettit andParker Rice played the role society demanded; they and their parents publicly apologized for a very reckless mistake. Levi Pettit even insisted on apologizing personally to Oklahoma state Senator Anastasia  Pittman and other notable African-American  figures. The question is will they be forgiven? It doesn't seem that the average American is grated the same room for mistakes as the public figures, just ask Monica Lewinski about that. These two young boys will be marked by this event for life. It will most likely impact their ability to get jobs, marry, or even go out in public. Is this really a fair punishment we the public impose on these young men for a youthful mistake?

These young men and their families had to leave their homes because of all the threatening calls as well as frightening talk on social media. We the public seem to view their actions as deplorable and unforgivable, but fail to see the wrong in our inexcusable response. Maybe it is time for us to start talking about how to use the power of social media in a more responsible way.

Sources

http://www.al.com/living/index.ssf/2015/03/why_we_shouldnt_forget_selma_w.html

http://www.blackpast.org/aah/bloody-sunday-selma-alabama-march-7-1965

http://www.blackyouthproject.com/2015/03/waka-flocka-flame-cancels-ou-show-in-light-of-racist-

chant-video/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2985862/University-Oklahoma-fraternity-caught-chanting-n-word-chanting-lynching-sickening-video-day-Obama-spoke-Selma-anniversary.html

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/columnists/james-ragland/20150327-forgiving-levi-pettit-for-racist-chant-at-ou-is-a-sign-of-power-not-weakness.ece

http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/freedom-rides

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/30/gospel-and-the-freedom-ri_n_868299.html?

http://kfor.com/2015/03/10/ou-president-expels-two-students-involved-in-fraternity-racial-chant-controversy/

http://kxan.com/2015/03/27/ou-fraternity-learned-racist-chant-at-national-leadership-cruise/

http://newsok.com/lyrics-from-university-of-oklahoma-fraternitys-racist-chant-video/article/5399800

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/inside_higher_ed/2015/03/behind_the_chant_discrimination_at_oklahoma_s_sae_chapter_goes_deeper_than.html

http://time.com/3736357/barack-obama-selma-speech-transcript/

https://twitter.com/merecummings

https://twitter.com/OU_Unheard

http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/civilrights-55-65/montbus.html

Facebook Ad Results

I decided to actually run my Facebook Ad just to see what would happen. I ran the ad for one week. During that week I received 24 new page likes. This is considerable when you consider that I only had 32 before I started running the ad. Although on the surface it appears that the ad was a success, I'm not really sure. I got 24 new pages likes, but only three post clicks during that time. Advertising for page likes is not successful if the people that like your page don't actually look at it.

Facebook Advertisement

I have previously tried boosting a post, so I decided that I would run and advertisement this time. The goal is to get more likes for my page, since I have so few. When I did the post boost, I just let Facebook set up the demographics and I didn't get a very good response, so this time I decided to be very specific in the demographic of my audience. I decided to only advertise to people in  the state of Utah. I did this because Utah has the highest pornography download rate in the United States. I am hoping that people who are struggling with pornography use in their families will discover my page and use its resources. I also targeted parents and specifically mothers of teenage children. This is because the biggest users of pornography are between the ages of 12 to 17. I chose to advertise to people who are interested in families, relationships, entertainment and technology. These are people who might be exposed to pornography through their interest in technology and entertainment, but would also be interested in salvaging the relationships that pornography use might affect. I decided I would actually pay for and run this ad for one week, just to see what happens.

I made the design of my advertisement very simple and used the cover photo for my Facebook page. They do not give you very many words for the ad, so this helped because my cover already says what the purpose of my page is and then I could just add a few very specific details about what resources can be found on my page. I designed an ad for both desktop news feed and mobile devices.

Contextual Analysis Topic

Racist Chant

I will be doing my contextual analysis on the racist chant performed on the bus of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at the University of Oklahoma. This video was shared with the school newspaper and a student organization via anonymous message. As you can imagine when this video went viral the fallout was enormous.

Social Media and Climate Change

I was ill and not present in class on Tuesday when we discussed climate change so my post will based on my own observations on the subject. Our side of the room was assigned to discuss how social media might provide solutions to the situation. The day I found out about this assignment this post appeared on my Face book newsfeed.

http://www.glennbeck.com/2015/03/17/dont-believe-in-global-warming-al-gore-thinks-you-need-to-be-punished/

“Former Vice President Al Gore on Friday called on SXSW attendees to punish climate-change deniers, saying politicians should pay a price for rejecting ‘accepted science.'” The Chicago Tribune reported that Gore told the audience “we need to put a price on denial in politics.” “I want to ask you, what kind of country and what kind of world do you want to live in? What does the First Amendment really even mean? Do you have a right to free speech? Do you have a right to freedom of thought? Do you have a right to exist if your thoughts are spoken out loud and they happen to disagree with others?” Glenn said on radio.

I think many social media users have the misconception that by informing others about a problem they have somehow participated in the solution. Although, I do think that we need to inform each other about problems so that we can all become more educated and aware, education does not equal solution. Solutions take organization and action. Unfortunately, most social media users are hoping that someone else will take care of that part of the solution. The whole idea of going green or what was called environmentalism back in the day has always been quite interesting to me. I find that people claim be concerned about climate change, but pick and choose where they are willing to sacrifice. For example, when you see the activist drive up to a protest in his big SUV, but for some reason he can’t figure out why you don’t take him seriously.

While researching this on the internet I came across an article title “Why social media is important in the #climatewars. http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/01/02/why-social-media-is-important-in-the-climatewars/  This article claims that social networking is the glue for the cause. It literally spells out a prescription of how people that do not believe in climate change can use social media to disrupt the efforts of those calling for change through social media. It goes as far as to tell them who to follow on Facebook and twitter, the biggest climate mouthpieces, and instructs them to post or tweet a counter to any climate alarmism they see. They refer to themselves as the #armyofdavids.

This is a good example of organization done through social networking. This article does not just pass on information, but gives instructions on how to take action. Obviously, this kind of action will not really give a solution to anyone, but just fuels the argument. What if you used the same kind of organization to give people instruction on how they can become part of the solution by taking action?  Give people some guidance on how to become part of the solution. I know I don’t really know how I could make a difference in many arenas, if I just had a little bit of guidance on the simple things I could do, I would most likely do them. It would be much more helpful for people to post ideas or even selfies of what they are personally doing to make a difference in their effort to save the planet, then to post some article about the war the politicians are currently having about it. Show me what you are doing and what I can do. That is taking action and becoming part of the solution. Passing along information simply informs people.

Social media is a great tool for organizing. The trick is passing along instructions on how to take action, not simply passing along information and hoping someone else will take action.

Sex X.O.

How does social media impact how we view men and women. We spent the entire class period discussing the messages that are sent to women about how they should look and act. Obviously,the number of messages sent to women on this subject has dramatically increased with the  invention of the internet. Especially, now that public figures can be airbrushed and Photo Shopped. Women in today's world are competing with people that don't actually exist. Last week the public was in an uproar about an unedited photo  of Cindy Crawford that had been leaked to the press. She looked like any other women her age might look, with cellulite and all. She was receiving praise for allowing this photo to be released until it was discovered that it had been leaked without her permission. It is physically impossible for a women today to satisfy the expectation of the "virtual" competition and the psychological damage that is doing to women is crippling.

There is a positive note about how social media impacts these socially constructed views of what men and women should be. Social Media gives us, the people, a Chanel in which to fight against these social definitions and expectations. I received this post on my timeline about two weeks ago. I have watched it everyday since. It  is what I need to hear everyday to combat the voices in my head that say I am not enough.  This is something every women should watch.

Use Social Media to Empower Women!!!

Religion 3.0

Last week in class we discussed Religion and social media. We discussed in class that St. George is predominantly LDS community and how non-members are often overwhelmed with the amount of religious messages they receive on social media and how they are expected to receive and digest those messages. Over the past few years the LDS church has embraced social media and begun to use it as a tool to do missionary work.

I am new  to the Facebook world, but over the past week I have been paying close attention to the number of religious posts that are on  my timeline. I would have to admit that probably somewhere in the range of 40% of the things my friends post on Facebook have a religious message. I guess this should not be surprising when we consider that religion or beliefs are embedded in or identities deeper than almost any other thing. The LDS culture is a way of life and people tend to send messages about their life.

The thing that has been most surprising to me, is what I realized about myself. For some reason, I actually very seldom click on the religious post, if I can identify that is what they are. I wondered to myself, why this is? Maybe I'm looking for a little get away from the culture I actually reside in. Interesting!!

United States of Secrets

I was already aware of most of the things that we saw in the documentary “United States of Secrets”. For this reason I have been very hesitant to be involved in any kind of social media or to really join the world of technology at all. I just do not feel safe in the “cyber” world. The only problem with this is that technology is the way the world is moving forward and by not participating I find myself out of the loop in many way. I seem to move slowly toward letting go as I feel that in many ways I am forced to participate.

I did not learn how to text until it was the only way that I could get my children to communicate with me. If I called I would get no response, but if I sent a text, they responded immediately, so I relented and learned. I am not a fan of any kind of online banking and I resisted as long as I legally could. We own a business and I always paid my payroll taxes by sending a check. About two years ago the government decided that was no longer an option. I could not pay by check or even credit card; I had to pay by giving them access to my checking account with an online transfer. I was forced to comply or violate the law and pay. I did not have a “smart” phone until it was more expensive for me to buy a “dumb” one. I had never participated in any kind of social media until I took this class. I have been advised by many of my teachers that I need to learn to use social media if I was going to compete in the work force.

I find my resistance to be futile. Our society is moving in the direction of the convenience of technology, willing to sacrifice privacy and many freedoms for a little convenience. The resistance of few will not stop the forward motion of many. I often wonder what it will take to wake this generation from their trance of complacency.  It was brought up in class that no one wants to ruin their whole life to take a stand. When we look at history, were people not sacrificing their very lives that we might enjoy the freedoms that we now have. There will ALWAYS be sacrifice to actually make a difference and bring about change.  Will we just tell the next generation that we were too busy taking “selfies” to preserve our countries freedom?

What I would change about the education system.

I’m not sure that I have any more answers than I did in my last post, but if I could change anything about the education system in America, it would be that our citizens would truly care about education and make it a priority. We give a lot of lip service to how we care about education, but then we always want someone else to solve the problem. “Oh me, donate some of my time, you don’t understand how busy I am.” or “It is the schools responsibility to educate my child.” We don’t truly care unless we are willing to give of our self for the cause.

The truth of the matter is that here in America; our number one priority is entertainment. It’s were we spend our time and money. Professional Athletes and Movie Starts are our highest paying jobs. The government can do anything they want with education as long as it doesn't cost us any money. We will pay thousands of dollars for Super Bowl tickets, but won’t donate a dollar to an educational program. I would have to say that a teacher is one of the most important jobs that exist, yet the salary they receive would reflect that the American people don’t see it that way. It’s time for us to start putting our time and money where our mouth is.

My mind goes back to when my children were pre-schooled aged and those of us who could not afford to pay for pre-school got together and formed what was called “Joy School.” Each mother took a turn teaching for a week. Our kids still got the benefit of learning all the things they would have in pre-school, but it did not cost us anything. Our kids also benefited from varied teaching styles and ideas of each mother. There is great power in diversity.

Imagine if every parent or grand-parent volunteered time at the school each month.  Every classroom could be armed with education cheerleaders, like the granny’s in the clip we watched. If we ever want to see change in our educational system we are going to have to be willing to participate and make it a priority.

The Future of Education

I heard this poem many years ago and it has stuck with me.

Red Flower with a Green Stem by Helen  Buckley

Once upon a time there was a little boy who studied at a big school.

One morning the teacher said “Today we’re going to draw.”
“Good” thought the little boy. He liked to draw lions, tigers, chickens, trains and boats. He got his color-pencils and started drawing.
“Wait!! Don’t start yet.” said the teacher. She waited until all the students were ready and then said … “We’re going to draw flowers.”
The little boy started drawing beautiful flowers with his pink, orange and blue pencils.
“Wait” said the teacher. “I’ll show you how to do it.” And the flower she drew was red with a green stem. “Ok” said the teacher “now you can do it.”
The little boy looked at the flower the teacher had drawn , looked at his own flowers and liked his best. He couldn’t say that so he turned the sheet of paper over and drew a flower just like the one the teacher had drawn – red with a green stem.
Another day the students were having class outside and the teacher said … “Today we are going to play with clay.”
“Great” the boy thought. He liked to play with clay. He could make things like elephants, mice, cars and trucks. He started to take some clay in his hands and make a big ball.
Then the teacher said … “Wait ! Don’t start yet.” She waited until all the students were ready. “Now” she said “we’re going to make a plate.”
“Good” thought the little boy. He liked to make plates of different sizes and shapes.
The teacher said … “Wait !! I’ll show you how to do it.” It was a soup-plate. “Ok” she said “now you can start.”
The little boy looked at the plate the teacher had made, looked at his own plate and liked his best. He couldn’t say it so he got his plate, made it into a big ball and started it again. He made a soup-plate just like the one the teacher had made.
And since early in his life he learned not to do things by himself but to wait for a model.
And then the little boy went to another school.
This one was even bigger than the other one. One day the new teacher said … “Today we’re going to draw.”
“Good” thought the little boy. He waited to see what the teacher would draw.
The teacher didn’t draw anything. She only walked around the room.
Then the teacher approached the little boy and asked “Don’t you like to draw?”
“Yes” he said “but what are we going to draw?”
“I don’t know” said the teacher “draw whatever you want.”
“How can I do it?” he asked. “Any way you want.” said the teacher.
“But what colors should I use?” he asked.
“You choose. If everybody makes the same drawing with the same colors how can I know which drawing is yours?” she said.
“I don’t know” answered the boy. And he drew a red flower with a green stem.

What is the Answer?

I have been thinking about this for two days now since we discussed it in class. I liked Professor Young's thoughts on the subject, but have no been able to come to a conclusion about how we could solve the problem. It is a great idea, but I personally do not feel that it is humanly possible for one teacher to meet the learning need and styles of 30 students. Maybe the reason I am struggling so much is because I have always viewed the system as needing  a complete over hall and it is unrealistic to think that there is one simple solution. I know that I certainly don't have the answer. So after two days of rumbling numerous different solutions around in my head, I have come to the conclusion that maybe the first step is to change the way we think about  education.

Like we saw in the video "This is water", our perceptions have a lot to do with what we take away from any experience. Our current school system appears to be structured to teach a specific set of skills in a specific way that doesn't fit every person. Is this reality? Could we choose to see it differently.  Maybe it is about us changing our perception. We do not go to school to learn answers to specific problems. We go to school to learn how to learn. Learning a job skill will serve you well in a specific job, but learning to be learner will benefit  you in every aspect of life, every day of your life. Do we expect someone else to be responsible for what we learn in school, or do we take responsibility for what we will get out of this education opportunity. Even if the system is broke, can we find a way to get the job done.

Yesterday, I accidentally loaded a virus on my computer. It was a  nightmare and I had a lesson plan and power point to prepare, and a Comm Research video to watch. I am NOT a computer wizard, but I had a problem that needed solving. I could have had the perception that I needed an expert to teach me, why wasn't any computer place open past five. It took about four hours, but I learned how to get a virus off my computer. I was motivated by my need. I used my critical thinking and problem solving skills. What if I approached every learning opportunity the way I did this one. I could probably learn just about anything.