Second Blog fof Final; Final Blog

The more I think about and work on this paper I really see how much a college education encourages the use of technology. Before writing my paper I made a list of all the instances where some sort of technology was required or promoted by college. I just started to type and before I even realized it I had a page single spaced of all the times I used technology of some college related event. These really ran from the obvious of writing a paper, to paying for food etc with a college id/swipe card. The idea of swipe cards really got me thinking about how school technologies teach money spending habits. Students use a swipe cards to pay for nearly everything on campus, which changes how students learn to interact with money. This is an age, I believe, where people need to learn a sense of responsibility for money. After college is real life with real bills. Students should use this time in college, especially at Rutgers where a lot of students live off campus, to become accustomed to the saving and spending of money. However, using cards to pay for everything from cafeteria food to vending machines can create a dangerous mindset where students see money as something abstract rather than tangible. By swiping instead of using money people remove themselves from the real idea of money. If a person has cash on them, I think, they have a better understanding of the amount they hold and that this can run out. A card, a symbol of money, makes people accustomed to not really dealing with money and thinking of it in more intangible terms. Add to this that most parents pay for their child’s swipe card makes it hard for students to learn how to have a responsibility to money. This is also an age where people will start to receive applications for credit cards. Being accustomed to not supplying the money, and simply swiping a card to pay for something can become a very dangerous combination. It becomes too easy to get into credit card debt and not even realize how it happens. By having and using a swipe card this subtle and every day way, college students interact with a form of technology which has a potentially huge impact on behavior. It is scary how a swipe card and lead to credit card debt but these are outcomes of becoming compliant to technology.

First thoughts on final

My first thoughts on the final were about deciding which topic to write about. I decided to write on the first topic, colleges being a Technopoly. Having spent the past year away from most technology coming back to a world full of technology I found myself in an odd place.
There are number of ways and forms of technology which take over/controls/ influences colleges. These included things on a daily and sporadic time table. Every day use would include checking emails, Sakai and similar sites which require constant monitoring. Less ever day use includes writing papers, registering for classes, or research. For either use, it would be extremely difficult if not nearly impossible to complete a college education without access to a computer or internet.
It would be almost impossible to go to college without a computer. That is quite an interesting idea, and one I want to address in my paper, what if you can’t afford a computer, or it is hard to access one? It is one thing if a person lives on campus where they have easy access to computer labs. What about a school like Rutgers, where a lot of students commuter and do not have such easy access to computers or programs required for a class project. Say for example if a person needs to share the computer with their family. What if you don’t live at school and need to balance travel, a job, school, and computer lab hours? What if you live in New Brunswick and your laptop is stolen and you cannot afford to replace the computer? Given the importance of a college education for a job have to wonder how much this hurts the gap between the poor and middle class and impact on the digital divide.

This is further complicated by the need for college education for most jobs. Moreover, jobs want employees who can use a computer, at least know how to type or use the Internet. A person without computer skills, often honed in college, will have a harder time in the job market.
College students also use computers for their social life. Facebook is an almost daily activity for most college students. It informs students about parties and events, and is an easy way for people to keep track of old friends and events on campus. Another social use of technologies are “talking programs”, such as Instant messages, text, and Skype. These are constant forms of communication and needed to stay on top of a person’s social circle. Also important are recreational sites, for instance TFLN or FML. Having access to an internet and these sites helps people know what is cool, new slang, or even feel connected to a community.

Facebook

Facebook creator, Mark Zuckerberg, recently faced a character attack after the release of The Social Network. The movie, a somewhat biographical depiction of Faceboook’s origins and legal troubles portrays Zuckerberg as arrogant, self assured and rude. The movie begins with Zuckerberg’s girlfriend not only dumping him but insulting him by insisting on his less than desirable personality. From the start, the movie actively portrays Mark as the “bad guy”. This is a theme constantly reinforced throughout the movie through the language, demeanor, and dress of Jessie Eisenberg, who played the part of Mark Zuckerberg. Comparatively, David Kirkpatrick’s work on the same topic, The Facebook Effect, gives an entirely different perspective on Zuckerberg. Compared to the hostile opening of the movie, the introduction of Kirkpatrick’s book tells how Facebook was used to generate support against the FRAC and helped stage a worldwide demonstration. From there Kirkpatrick moves to the fateful night when Zuckerberg created Facemash. In this telling, the author only breezes over women issues, rather than focusing on the topic. Throughout the book, the author seems to stray away from less favorable topics, and includes situations where Zuckerberg,, or Facebook come off in a better light. Advertising is an interesting example of such instances. Kirkpatrick constantly insists how Zuckerberg fought against ads and tried to restrict their presence on the site. Kirkpatrick writes “The last thing Zuckerberg wants was for it to feel like watching a network television, where the show is routinely interrupted by irrelevant and inane advertising” (236). By adding such comments the author makes Zuckerberg out to be someone who fights against “the man” and for the rights of the people to have their own space. The idea of creating a free space for users also appears when Kirkpatrick writes about Zuckerberg’s obsession with adding platforms to Facebook. Once again, Zuckerberg is seen fighting against the masses to create something great for Facebook. By adding such examples the books shows Zuckerberg as a hero, defending the rights of Facebook and its integrity to the users. By creating a character who protects and defends the site it is easier to have a sympathetic view of Zuckerberg. It is interesting how each portrayal takes a different approach to the same person through the use of examples. Rude person or not, Zuckerberg created Facebook and in doing so changed American culture.