The Howard reading assignment had me sort of hooked when I started reading the section: Using RIBS to understand the dynamics of a community. The story about the Iranian protest via Twitter was so interesting and I thought it was so cool that Americans got involved and helped the Iranians stand up against the government. Before Twitter, Americans probably would not have known about this protest because the American new casts were not even running the story. Through searching hashtags, the protest was found and Westerns were able to join the movement- through hashtagging, changing the tint of their picture and time zone, and making their profiles resemble Iranians' accounts. With using social media, people can now become plugged in with places all around the world and this will help shift their perspective from a egocentric view to a worldwide view. It will increase tolerance and open new relationships.
I also found it interesting that the chapter talked about how technology is always changing. People are always trying to catch up with the newest and most wanted items- phones, apps, music devices, etc. I thought it was ironic that this chapter was our reading assignment right around the time that the iPhone 5 came out. Apple has out all of the iPhones out within just a few years, and sometimes, months of each other. They are constantly creating new, faster, and improved ways to communication with one another. The technology is becoming smarter and making us more reliant on it, which in turn, makes us less intelligent then we are. We do not rely on brain skills, yet we plug things in to our phones (calculators, Google app, etc). My parents always criticize the way I study and do homework because I always have my phone and computer with me. Technology has evolved so much that they didn't have anything like those things growing up. Soon the upcoming generations will not know a different life before cell phones, iPads/tablets, iPods/MP3, etc.
I remember a time when not everyone had a phone and all phones were still bulky and flip phones. It's so strange to see how much the phones have changed and condensed in size. The kids I babysit, at the time, were one and three-years-old. Clearly I knew how to use an iPad, but the little girl (3) insisted on teaching me how to use the iPad- access and open the apps, how to download new ones, how to play each game, etc. That is mind blowing to me. What happened to hard back books and playing outside? We had a television when I was growing up, but I didn't care to watch it because I was so fascinated with being outside. It's sad to watch how quickly technology is advancing and how much impact it has on generations after mine.
To be honest, I wish the growth of technology would slow down or stop for a while. Just let us relax and catch up on the simple things in life.
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