Author: namastebean

Defintion Rewrite–Namaste Bean

 Social Media Addiction

       When someone hears the word “addiction,” they will most likely begin picturing a homeless person overdosing on the street, or a scenario fairly close to that. What they will most likely not picture is a young male or female experiencing a fatal accident due to texting and driving. In the dictionary, addiction is defined as “the fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing, or activity.” More often than not, these addictions can lead to negative effects. Understanding an addiction truly broadens the opportunity to improve the well-being of so many people. So, what is social media addiction and how does it affect its compulsive users?

       We’ve all seen the person looking down at their phone on the highway or the entire group of people ignoring each other because they are on their phones; social media addiction occurs when a person checks/uses their social networking profiles in excess, usually at inappropriate times. In a recent survey, ironically ran on an application, FlashGap found of its 150,000 millennial users that 87% of them have missed out a conversation because they were distracted by their phones. More astounding than that, 54% have a fear of “missing out” if they have not checked their social accounts recently. Just how often do you have to be checking your phone to be considered among these addicts? Go-Globe has found that out of 2.3 billion people using social media, 18% cannot go a few hours without checking facebook. Why is this? Well, Harvard University has found in their studies that talking about yourself stimulates pleasure. So, are you a social media addict because you enjoy checking your account in times of leisure, or is there a certain amount of hours spent on social media to confirm you have a problem?  One can not be so sure, but anything that a person allows to cause interference in their life, such as in school, at work, or in conversation, is when things change from a harmless habit to a destructive addiction. What is for certain is that this addiction has been proven to be stronger than that for cigarettes; as found in a study by Chicago University. Things need to be further looked into, here.

       Research has been done to try and unlock the general personality of a person who is most likely to become subject to social media addiction; Isaac Vaghefi and Hamed Qahri-Saremi did such an investigation at DePaul University of Chicago with 300 young adult participants. What they discovered was based on the Personality Model, which consists of five factors used to measure one’s personality. The five factors being openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Out of the five, what stood out the most was neuroticism; the research concluded  that a person who is more anxious and prone to stress vastly increases the chances of them being hooked to social media. On the other hand, people who are more dedicated and attentive, have decreased chances of becoming addicted.

       Obvious, physical effects of social media range from carpal tunnel syndrome to eye strain, but it’s the impact it can have on one’s mental health that is worthy for further research. We already know that persons with anxiety are most likely to be a majority of social media addicts, but will this addiction worsen their anxious symptoms? Castle Craig Hospital in Scotland believes so, stating on their blog titled The Negative Impacts of Social Media

“Your mental health can be impacted where you have a low self-esteem as well as feelings of envy looking looking at everyone’s ‘idealized’ lives on social media.”

This seems logical enough; social media isn’t actually real and that girl you’re so jealous of because of her decor skills is probably three months late on her rent. People only post what they want the world to see, not the raw aspects of their everyday lives. Excessive social media use has also been proven to cause people (specifically young adults) to become less social. Another study by Flashgap found that out of 3,000 participants, 76% of females and 54% of males are guilty of checking their social media at least 10 times when out with friends in real life, social settings.

       Something important to understand about the social media addiction epidemic is that this is only the beginning. Our constant and ever changing needs are what is driving the progression of social media platforms forward. The issue is currently at a stage of relevance; it is becoming more commonly recognized, but actions to be taken to help others minimize the time spent on their phone is scarce. Advice for “turning off push notifications” was given by the Castle Craig Harbor Hospital, but this doesn’t seem effective, as many people already have their phone on silent mode. Could it be that social media will eventually lead its followers to an inevitable social-less, depressed life?

 

References

Saiidi, Uptin. “Social Media Making Millennial Less Social: Study.” CNBC, CNBC, 19 Oct. 2015, http://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/15/social-media-making-millennials-less-social-study.html.

NewMan, Tim. “Unlocking the Personality of a Social Media Addict.” Medical News Today, 17 Mar. 2018, http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321240.php.

Vaghefi, Isaac. “A Combination of Personality Traits Might Make You More Addicted to Social Networks.” EurekAlert!, AAAS, 12 Mar. 2018, eurekalert.com/.

“The Negative Impacts of Social Media Addiction.” Castle Craig Hospital, Castle Craig Hospital , 2018, castlecraig.co.uk/.

 

Causal Rewrite–NamasteBean

Social Media Use Has Severely Different Outcomes Depending On Whom Is Using

        Why is it that some people can go hours without being in the same room as their phone while others experience anxiety if they have not checked their social media within the last ten minutes? Unfortunately for most, the second scenario is the case.  A new Pew Center Research Survey done in 2018 of the U.S  on social media demographics found that 78% of 18-24 year olds use Snapchat and within that same group, 71% of them check the social platform multiple times a day. That sure seems excessive, but that same study revealed that  68% of adults (25+) in the U.S. belong to Facbook and more than half of those adults “admitted” to at least going on the site at least once a day. This causes confusion on what is considered immoderate; checking your facebook once a day is nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, it’s normal in this day and age. So, what seperates the group of people that can control their social media use and those who are completely indulged?

Let’s first take a look different personalities and how they may affect one’s social media use. Openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism are all factors to help measure one’s personality. In a research study done by  Isaac Vaghefi and Hamed Qahri-Saremi using these five factors, found that people who experience anxiety and stress more often than others (neuroticism) are highly more likely to become addicted to social media. People who are more dedicated and focused (conscientiousness,) are apparently far less likely to become so engufled in their social platforms. Howevever, you can not just lump everyone in these two categories to decipher if they could have a social media problem, it really is not that simple. Being more dedicated than most doesn’t necessarily  keep you safe from becoming hypnotized by your phone. The same research found that people who are generally focused and dedicated could still fall into social media addiction if they also experience stress and anxiety. The same goes for agreeablness and conscientiousness; when a person is empathetic and friendly, they are more likely to use social media in excess and mixed with high levels of dediation, this could vastly increase the likelihood of a person becoming addicted to social media.

If you’re one of the lucky few that do not fall victim to the false world of social media, than the chances of you experincing negative outcomes from the use of your phone are slim to none. Unfortunately for the rest of us neurotics, our mental health could very likey be at stake. Research has found that Facebook has been linked straight to cause sadness and overall low life satisfaction to its heavy users, and this could surely be said for phone applications such as instagram and twitter. Comparing your life to others is something that is done unintentionally when using social media so, when it is happening every day twenty, thirty times a day this can lead a person in to depression. The worst part is, the lives that we are envious of on social media are not true in reality. We only post what we want the world to see; an instagram model may post a selfie every day looking flawless, dressed in the most doiley fashions, but what she may not be posting about is her eating disorder Facebook has been linked straight to cause sadness and overall low life satisfaction to its heavy users, and this could surely bet or the fact that her pictures are highly filtered. This can affect one’s mental health because since they are not seeing the truth, they can not grasp why they can not reach these frankly, untangable standards.

 

References

Vaghefi, Isaac. “A Combination of Personality Traits Might Make You More Addicted to Social Networks.” EurekAlert!, AAAS, 12 Mar. 2018, eurekalert.com/.

“The Negative Impacts of Social Media Addiction.” Castle Craig Hospital, Castle Craig Hospital , 2018, castlecraig.co.uk/.

Schurgin O’Keefe, Gwenn, and Kathleen Clarke-Pearson. “The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families.” AAP News & Journals Gateway, Council of Communications and Media, 11 Apr. 2011, pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/4/800.short.

 

Bibliography–NamasteBean

1. Jantz, George L. “6 Signs That You’re Addicted To Something.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 5 Nov. 2014, www.psychologytoday.com/

Background: Author Gregory L. Jantz Ph.D determines how to decipher the difference between an activity and an addiction. Without including signs of addiction to chemical substances, he focuses solely on everyday leisure activies such as social media, Netflix, sex, video games and going to the gym. These safe activities are explained to have the potential to take negative turns while addicted. To determine the severity of these addictions. there are quite a few conditions to watch out for. These conditions include: the importance of the activity and if a person chooses to priortize it over other things, engaging in the activity for a reward response, if a person finds themself doing it more and more, for longer periods of time, feelings of anxiousness when not engaging in the activity after a period of time, it’s disruption in life and relationships, and constantly reverting back the activity, after saying you were going to quit or spend less time.

How I Used It: This was a key article that I used to to convince my readers that social media/phone use could be considered an addiction, as it does often have people priotizing it over much more important things (texting and driving, real life conversations, etc.) It also have been found that many people, mostly young adults, turn to social media for a reward response (recieving likes and follows) and causes feelings of anxiety to certain users who have not logged on recently enough. Without proving that cell phone use can be considered an addition, my thesis would be proven wrong.

2. “Texting & Driving .” DMV.ORG, DMV, www.dmv.org/distracted-driving/texting-and-driving.php.

Background: Straight from dmv.org, statistics are given to show the severity of the problem of texting and driving. With texting while driving being the leading cause of deaths in teens, 42% of teens still admit to texting and driving (2015.)

How I Used It: It was important for me to show my readers the extent of the consequences that can come from excessive phone use. When a person priotizes a text message over paying attention to the road, I believe that is where you can draw the line from an activity to an addiction.

3. Teen Safe. “10 Shocking Texting and Driving Death Statistics.” TeenSafe, 31 May 2018, www.teensafe.com/blog/10-shocking-texting-and-driving-death-statistics/.

Background: More statistics of the dangers from texting and driving are displayed in this source. Distracted driving kills about 9 people each day and your risk of getting in a crash is 25% higher while using your phone. In addition, 1 in 4 drivers are dialed in during a crash.

How I Used It: Again, this was another source that I used to help to prove my thesis of the dangers of excessive screen time/social media use. The whole point of my research is to prove excessive use of phones as an unhealthy, potentially dangerous habit.

4. Said, Uptin. “Social Media Making Millennials Less Social: Study.” CNBC, CNBC, 17 Oct. 2015, http://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/15/social-media-making-millennials-less-social-study.html.

Background: This article touches on how millenials are being more anti-social in the real world due to being distracted by their phones in social situations and the extent of how often they feel the need to check their phones. It was found in a study of 150,000 millenials that 87 percent of millenials admitted to missing out on a conversation due to being distracted by their phones and in that same group, 54 percent have feelings of being “left out” if they haven’t checked their social media recently. Other studies found that out of 3,000 participants, 76% of the females admitted to checking their social media platforms at least 10 times while out with friends, comapred to 54 percent of males/

How I Used It: Most of my research I wanted to back up my initial research of how to determine an addiction that is not from a chemical substance. Priotizting being one of the symptons, it is clear that millenials are now more concered more with their “social life” on social media than real-life interactions, making them more anti-social.

5. Newman, Tim. “Unlocking the Personality of a Social Media Addict.” Medical News Today, MediLexicon International, 17 Mar. 2018, www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321240.php.

Background: This source unlocks the personality traits that may cause users to become social media addicts. Based on a five-factor personality model, it was found that people who have higher anxiety increases the chances of being hooked to social media, while people who are more determined and better at controling their impulses decreases the chances of them becoming addicted to social media.

How I used It: As important as it is to describe to my readers how to determine addictions that do not involve chemical substances, it was just as important for me to reseacrh who is more prone to becoming addicted to get a better idea of this millenial epidemic. Not only was it found that people with anxiety were at a higher risks and those who are more determined are at a lower risk, things were found to be not that simple. I had to include that not everything is just black and white; when certain personality traits such as anxiousness and agreeableness (which was found to have little effect on someone becoming addicted to social media,) mix together, that also could be a recipe for a social media addict. This made me realize that there is so much more that is still to be learned and understood of our relationships with technology and how they effect us all individually.

6. Anthony, Janet. “8 Proven Ways How To Use Social Media for Motivation.” The Next Scoop, The Next Scoop, 2018, thenextscoop.com/social-media-for-motivation/.

Background: My worthy opponent, Janet Anthony describes what she believes to be all  positive uses of social media to increase motivation, including easy access to support groups, endless inspirational stories and the use of social media to distract yourself, in result re-charging the brain .

How I Used It: I believe advising your readers to distract themselves with social media is not only useless (most are already distracted,) but to say that procrastinating on social media will lead to success is a bit rash. I do not believe Anthony is giving useful advise to her users, as time away from the screen will not only be more effective in re-charging the brain, but also a lot safer (considering the dangers of distracted phone use.)

7. Patel, Neil. “When, How, and How Often to Take a Break.” Inc., 11 Dec. 2014, www.inc.com/neil-patel/when-how-and-how-often-to-take-a-break.html.

Background: Neil Patel discusses the importance of giving our bodies a break. He believes that every 50-90 minutes, with breaks ranging from 15-20 minutes ( and perhaps longer for lunch.) is the perfect amount of time to collect yourself. What should we do do during these breaks? Well, according to this article, screen time is something that should absolutely be avoided when re-charging. Instead, things like a quick nap, moving your body, and conversation are all productive ways to feeling back on top.

How I Used It: I used this information to help disprove Janet’s beliefs in using your phone to re-charge the brain. When most people are already so consumed by their phones, why reccomened more time spent on them?

8. Jones, Abigail. “Screen Time Makes Tweens Clueless on Reading Social Cues.” Newsweek, 21 Aug. 2014, www.newsweek.com/2014/09/12/screen-time-makes-tweens-clueless-reading-social-cues-266213.html.

Background: This article discusses the consequence of young children and teenagers engaging in excessive screen time. It has been found that children spend more than 7 1/2 hours a day using their phones, watching television, using their tablets, and playng video games. Effects of this have been found to effect their ability to recognize social cues and how well they learn social skills in general.A recent study given in the article   even found that tweens who spent five days at camp, media free, were able to understand emotions better than that of their peers who stayed home and did not attend camp.

How I Used It: Educating my readers on the fact that addiction to screen time is not just only a thing millenials experience, but the younger generations are as well. The possibilty of phone and tablet use effecting the social development of children should be enough to prove that this addiction can definitley have long-term consequences.

9. “The Negative Impacts of Social Media Addiction.” Castle Craig Hospital, Castle Craig Hospital , 2018, castlecraig.co.uk/. 

Background: Castle Craigh Hospital focuses on the effects social media can have on people with low self-esteem, as they constantly are envious of the idealized lives on social media. It also talks about the distractions that come along with social media.

How I Used It: Considering social media isn’t really reality and most of the things we view are not factual, it still can play a major role in self-esteem issues (especially in young women.) I used this article as inspiration to inform my readers that most of the people they idolize on social media, aren’t really living the picture picture lives they appear to be; people only post the good stuff they want people to see, not the bad. Photoshop on instagram and other social platforms is something I also addressed because I believe that if more people understand the false reality of social media, maybe there would be less people trying to reach unrealistic standards.

10. Jones, Abigail. “The Girls Who Tried to Kill for Slender Man.” Newsweek, 13 Aug. 2014, www.newsweek.com/2014/08/22/girls-who-tried-kill-slender-man-264218.html.

Background: This article covers the tragic story of two 12 year old girls who repeatedly stabbed one of their best friends to please an online-made fictional character, the Slender Man.

How I Used It: Whether or not the girls truly believed the Slender Man to be real, they were engulfed enough in the story to become entranced and allow it to control their actions. Had they not spent so much time on the internet researching such a subject, the incident surely would have been avoided. I used this story to show that the girls were  so submerged in the internet world, that they did not even think about the reality of the consequences in the real world.

Research–NamasteBean

Excessive Screen Time: An Unhealthy Addiction

Thanks to the arrival of the 21st century, communicating and sharing information with others has become more effortless than ever. Waiting for postcards in the mail from long distance friends and monthly magazines for the latest trends, are now things of the past. Through websites and applications, such as Facebook and Instagram, people are given their very own social platform, where they can decide what they share, who they follow, and even who is allowed to follow them. Even what a person “likes” and “follows” will eventually determine the content that shows up on their social media, making it a virtual place specifically for that individual. Impressive, indeed, but excessive use of social media could ironically be making it’s users more detached, than connected with others in reality. Not only that, but excessive use of social media can even be life threatening.

An addiction is defined as the fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing, or activity.  According to Dr. Gregory L. Jantz from his article“6 signs That You’re Addicted To Something” symptoms include: prioritizing the activity over other things, seeking the activity for a reward response, feelings of anxiety when unable to engage in the activity and reverting back to the activity, after promising to quit or cut back. For most people, their phones are an extension of themselves; it has everything a person needs in one, small device; from their banking, to their busy schedules and even to socialize, people rely on their phones on a daily basis, so it is safe to say that checking your cell a few times a day does not qualify as an addiction. There are, however, many people who take the next step and become engulfed in their phones, ignoring their surroundings and potentially putting their life and others at risk. In the United States, it has been found that 1 in 4 drivers used their cell phone directly before being involved in a car crash. One driver in Texas even killed 13 people who were on a church bus because he was texting and driving. There are even strict laws against using your phone while driving, so with that in addition to the knowledge of injuries and fatalities that can occur from doing so, it is surprising that it is still very common to witness someone using their phone while driving. This is where the line is drawn from a habit to a destructive addiction.  

Given the evidence on the dangers of texting and driving, if a person can not wait until their drive is over to send a message, this could potentially mean that person values their involvement in the social media realm more than in the real world. Although using your phone while driving is the most unacceptable time to use the device, It’s not the only time that people are completely distracted by their phones. It is quite easy to spot a person using their phone doing just about any daily activity; whether in class, during a conversation, or even while walking, there appears to be no bad time to use your phone.

It seems that there are only types of people when it comes to phone and social media use: those who can control the amount of time spent on their phone and those that can not. Research has been done to try and unlock the general personality of a person who is more likely to become subject to social media addiction. Isaac Vaghefi and Hamed Qahri-Saremi did such an investigation at DePaul University of Chicago with 300 young adult participants. What they discovered was based on the Personality Model, which consists of five factors used to measure one’s personality. The five factors include being openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Out of the five, what stood out the most was neuroticism; the research concluded  that a person who is more anxious and prone to stress vastly increases the chances of them being hooked to social media. On the other hand, it was found that people who are more dedicated and attentive, have decreased chances of becoming addicted. However, personalities aren’t that simple and doing well in school doesn’t necessarily mean it’s impossible to become addicted to your phone; the same research found that people who are generally focused and dedicated could still fall into social media addiction if they also experience stress and anxiety. The same goes for agreeableness and conscientiousness; when a person is empathetic and friendly, they are more likely to use social media in excess and mixed with high levels of dedication, this could vastly increase the likelihood of a person becoming addicted to social media. Go-Globe has found that out of 2.3 billion people using social media, 18% cannot go a few hours without checking facebook.  A poll ran by Flashgap on 150,000 millennials found  54% of them feel they are “missing out” if they haven’t checked their social media recently, perhaps because these young adults are more prone to anxiety and 87 percent admitted to missing out on a real-life conversation because they were distracted by their phone.  In another study ran by flashgap, it was found that out of nearly 3,000 participants, 76 percent of the females admitted to checking their social media at least 10 times while in a social setting with friends, compared with 54 percent of males. It seems counterintuitive that these young adults are having the fear of being left out, when in reality they are the ones missing out on real-life conversations and experiences.

Another very important thing that must be considered when examining excessive social media use is it’s connection to self-esteem, especially in young women. Since the beginning of advertisements in newspapers and magazines, there has always been the objectification of the female body. Now with social media, these objectifications are something women must face every day, whether they like it or not; females are constantly reminded on how they should look, what they should wear, and how they should act to be considered desirable in today’s culture. When a young woman already has low self-esteem, feelings of envy come easy when viewing “picture perfect” women on social media,making them feel like they will never amount to such beauty. Self-love is a term used commonly today, but when everyone is comparing themselves to models, it sure makes it a hard thing to do. Social media definitely can be a shallow place, so for the insecure woman, it can be a dangerous place.

For the people who use social media in excess, feelings of envy and jealousy come easily. The worst part is, the lives that we are envious of on social media are not true in reality. For example, a person may be envious of another because of how their life looks on social media. The catch is, a grouping of pictures can not accurately represent one’s life. Most people only share things about their life that they want others to see, not what they are hiding. This is where the reward response of the addiction comes into play; people want to be able to post the best picture possible, to get the most like possibles, to get more followers, to feel satisfied with themself, when in reality the only thing picture perfect about their life is their social media page. Studies done by Harvard University have found that talking about yourself stimulates pleasure, so this could explain why so many people feel the need to post about themselves so much, even if it isn’t exactly truthful; lying and having people believe they have a better life than they actually do could potentially make those same people feel better about their current situation.The same goes when a person views their friend’s snapchat videos and sees everyone is out and having fun while they are stuck at home, but what is not posted is the video of the end of the night where certain friends may have become very ill, arrested, or perhaps even gotten a DUI; it simply is all false realities made by the creators to make their viewers envious. Facebook has even been linked to cause sadness and overall low life satisfaction to its heavy users, and this could surely be said for other phone apps, such as instagram and twitter. People are comparing their lives to others unintentionally everyday when using social media. That being said, when this is happening each day, twenty, thirty times a day, this can surely lead a person into depression.

We aren’t finished just yet, young adults are not the only ones who experience negative effects from excessive phone use. Children and teenagers are learning how to operate tablets at alarmingly young ages, with tablets being the usual toy of choice, but this is just the technological era we live in and there is nothing to worry about, right? Wrong. Children are offered many useful, age appropriate apps that can help with their basic knowledge skills however, as time progresses, allowing a child to be glued to their tablet can take away from learning how to socially interact with people. A recent study on pre-teens even found that tweens who spent five days at camp, media free, were able to understand emotions better than that of their peers who stayed home and did not attend camp. It was concluded that time away from from technology combined with real social interaction makes all the difference in recognizing social cues. It has also been found in A national survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation that children and teenagers spend an average of seven and a half hours a day using smartphones, computers, and other electronic screens. That being said, this could absolutely lead children to become confused on what is real and what is fictional. In an extreme case of being consumed by the internet, two 12 year old girls repeatedly stabbed their friend, resulting in serious injury, all to please a fictional internet character they believed to be real. Could this tragedy have been avoided if their parents spent more time monitoring their internet use?

So, is social media good for anything? It may seem a bit rash to make the claim that using social media as a distraction is a great way to recharge the brain and stay motivated, but blogger Janet Anthony stated just that as one of her reasons in her article titled “8 Proven Ways How To Use Social Media For Motivation.” Anthony believes this to be true and not only that but “distractions are good for motivations.” One could argue that inspirational pages and online support can surely improve one’s motivation to a certain degree; however, most motivational pages are based on false realities and there is such a lack of truth on social media, that you never know if the advice given on these pages is sincere/adequate. Not to mention, “persuading” others to use social media more is an evidently unnecessary job. Telling people to go on a nature walk, doing yoga, or relaxing with a book, are far better ways to recharge and do not involve any feelings of being inferior. My advice? Stay away from the screen when trying to get yourself together.

Advertisements online are now more efficient and client focused than ever thanks to the progression of AI. Shopping is now as easy as a click of a button, the advertisement already shows you the exact item you want, based on your like and internet searches. However, in result of this, mass consumerism is definitely “trending now,” since humans feel the constant need to improve themselves and be kept up to date with the latest trends.

In conclusion, social media, along with the excess use of our phones has all the potential to decline one’s mental health, become a dangerous distraction, and affect children’s social development  To be rational, we all use our phones and most of us have at least one form of social media that we enjoy checking; and that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It has its benefits, and although a lot of these benefits have consequences when used in excess, that can all be avoided. Safe posting!

 

References

Jantz, George L. “6 Signs That You’re Addicted To Something.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 5 Nov. 2014, www.psychologytoday.com/.

“Texting & Driving .” DMV.ORG, DMV, www.dmv.org/distracted-driving/texting-and-driving.php.

Teen Safe. “10 Shocking Texting and Driving Death Statistics.” TeenSafe, 31 May 2018, www.teensafe.com/blog/10-shocking-texting-and-driving-death-statistics/.

Said, Uptin. “Social Media Making Millennials Less Social: Study.” CNBC, CNBC, 17 Oct. 2015, www.cnbc.com/2015/10/15/social-media-making-millennials-less-social-study.html.

Newman, Tim. “Unlocking the Personality of a Social Media Addict.” Medical News Today, MediLexicon International, 17 Mar. 2018, www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321240.php.

“The Negative Impacts of Social Media Addiction.” Castle Craig Hospital, Castle Craig Hospital , 2018, castlecraig.co.uk/.

Vaghefi, Isaac. “A Combination of Personality Traits Might Make You More Addicted to Social Networks.” EurekAlert!, AAAS, 12 Mar. 2018, eurekalert.com/.

Anthony, Janet. “8 Proven Ways How To Use Social Media for Motivation.” The Next Scoop, The Next Scoop, 2018, thenextscoop.com/social-media-for-motivation/.

Patel, Neil. “When, How, and How Often to Take a Break.” Inc., 11 Dec. 2014, www.inc.com/neil-patel/when-how-and-how-often-to-take-a-break.html.

“Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds.” The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, 20 Jan. 2010, www.kff.org/other/event/generation-m2-media-in-the-lives-of/.

Jones, Abigail. “Screen Time Makes Tweens Clueless on Reading Social Cues.” Newsweek, 21 Aug. 2014, www.newsweek.com/2014/09/12/screen-time-makes-tweens-clueless-reading-social-cues-266213.html.

Uhls, Yalda T., et al. “Five Days at Outdoor Education Camp without Screens Improves Preteen Skills with Nonverbal Emotion Cues.” Science Direct, Academic Press, 15 Aug. 2014, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563214003227.

Jones, Abigail. “The Girls Who Tried to Kill for Slender Man.” Newsweek, 13 Aug. 2014, www.newsweek.com/2014/08/22/girls-who-tried-kill-slender-man-264218.html.

 

Reflective–NamasteBean

Core Value 1. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

During the course of this semester, I have worked alongside Professor Hodge to get the most out of the class and more importantly, my work.  My professor continuously gave me constructive feedback on my work and during our meetings, we conceptualized what exactly I was going to write about for my 3000 word research paper. I knew my topic, but narrowing it down to my main thesis was a challenge. After a few back and forth responses during my hypothesis post and a couple face to face meetings, I was on the right track and confidently so. Through social interaction, I was led to explore places involving my topic that I never would have thought to be, although they were right under my nose! This was the beginning of my understanding that all good writing is a social, repetitive process.

Core Value 2. My work demonstrates that I read critically, and that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities.

It is extremely important to read critically and understand where a writer is coming from to correctly translate their meaning into your own writing. In the safer saws exercise, the class was challenged to dissect an article and accurately describe the claims being made, as well as the type of claim. By doing this, it helped us understand the strength of a piece of writing, as well as its success overall. This core value was also demonstrated in our rebuttal posts, where we had to read an opposing view and refute the claim without distorting what the author was trying to say in the first place. Critically reading other’s work allows us to accurately get our own view across, since we fully understand the point being made. Let your opponent know that their work is worthy, but they are wrong.

Core Value 3. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

Writing is shaped by the audience, indeed. During our visual rhetorics, we each chose a video to watch (with the sound off) and began analyzing each frame to understand the context of the argument being made. In my case, the argument being made was the importance of “seizing the awkward” to help your friends who are struggling with their mental health. Through visuals of failed attempts at conversation and an overall uncomfortable vibe, it was clear to the audience that something was wrong, with or without volume. It wasn’t until the very end when “Find out how you can help a friend with their mental health at seize the awkward.org” appeared on the screen that I had finally made the true connection, that wasn’t far off from what I was thinking anyway. This helped me understand the importance of accurately describing what is going on to your audience so you do not lose them.

Core Value 4: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations.

It is extremely important to have your work be literate and accurate. In my research paper, I had to spend numerous weeks to prepare to even begin writing my research paper and even then, constant revisions were made to make my claim crystal clear to my readers. There was also a lot of research that needed to be done, some of which I kept throughout the entire process, some of which I got rid of, and some that I gathered towards the end of my research. It was all for the purpose of removing any information that was unnecessary; things that would possibly leave my writers confused or create distance from the main idea. Making sure my point is clearly made must also involve having accurate references to “cover my ass.” I understand the importance of sharing my knowledge with my readers.

Core Value 5. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation. 

I understand that taking credit for work that is not mine is the biggest no-no when it comes to writing (or really in any case.) Remaining ethical during the process of my research paper was extremely important to me, as I did not want to fail at something I’ve been taught since I began taking english classes as a young girl. I believe my bibliography accurately portrays this intention of mine. I included all the main sources I used in my research paper, what each source provided, and how/why I used that information in my work. You automatically fail a paper, yourself, and your professor if you are unsuccessful at remaining ethical in your work.  This is the most simple and what I also believe the most important core value.

Grammar Excercise–NamasteBean

Children who are abused by their primary caretaker/s have a much higher risk of developing hostile behavior towards others, as well as harming themselves as they grow up. These negative behaviors are the result from the inability to understand appropriate coping techniques, due to growing up in such environments. Without proper  coping techniques, the odds of acting irrationally in a stressful situation are much more likely. The effect of poor parenting, as reported by Dr. Geoffrey Dahmer in “The Bully Papers,” is that all parents get the child they raised.

Visual Rewrite–NamasteBean

 

Seize The Awkward

00:01: “The Awkward Silence Presents” appears in bright yellow font on the screen. Behind the text is a clean fish tank placed on a stack of books. Worn files are organized horizantally next to the fish tank. Video cassessets are stacked on top of the files.

00:02: The camera zooms out and you no can see a gentleman sitting in an arm chair in what appears to be the corner of a room in a home. He is sitting cross-legged and is an adult caucasion.  He has brown hair and is wearing a clean brown turtle kneck, khakis, and pristine white sneakers. “How to continu” in the same yellow font from before begins to form a sentence on the screen as the man reads along.

00:03: “How to continue talking to your friend about their;” about their what?

00:04: “How to continue talking to your friend about their mental health” Ok.

00:05: “How to continue talking to your friend about their mental health after you asked about how;” about how what? The suspense continues.

00:06: “How to continue talkign to your friend abotu their mental health after you asked about how they were feeling” Ok.

00:007 The frame is centered on a young woman, from the top of her shoulders to her knees. She is wearing jean-overalls, with a white tee shirt underneath; her hair is long and blonde. The girl is sitting on a green couch inside what we can perceive to be her parents home, based on how comfortable she seems; her left side is resting on a vintage, paisley pillow. There also seems to be a decorative duck on the end table next to her, which millennials most likely would not choose to decorate their home with. From all of this, we can conclude the girl is most likely a teen to young adult.

00:08:  She seems to either be texting, or typing in elsewhere on her Iphone, based on how both her hands are gripping the phone: both thumbs on the screen.

00:10: The frame is now zoomed out and we can see what is now clear to be a living room. The house is very lived in; books stacked on the coffee table (with another miniature duck sculpture) and a coffee cup paired with an empty plate sitting on the opposite end table from where the blonde is sitting. On the opposite side we can now also see a second girl, sitting to the right of the blonde (her elbow is now resting on the left arm of the chair, as she continues to text.) There is a large space on the couch between the two girls, perhaps indicating to us their emotional detachment from one another, as they are not paying any attention to each other. The new girl on frame does not look comfortable at all, as she is looking down, but not at her phone. Her hair is curly,full, and brunette. She has on a pink sweater and light skinny jeans with speckled white paint; for aesthetic. An embarrassed/regretful look is on her face and she seems to be hugging her body. Her legs are crossed, while the blonde girls legs are relaxed and has an emotionless look on her face, almost in a zombie like state on her phone. We can conclude from all this that the two girls know each other somehow and are most likely not on the greatest terms.

00:11: The blonde looks up from her phone, with her eyes slightly veering towards her right. Her mouth seems clenched. She is suddenly annoyed, like she heard the uncomfortable girl sigh to perhaps begin a conversation, which she has no interest in. 

00:12: The blonde now slightly turns her head to the right, giving the girl next to her a quick glance; perhaps thinking about giving in to having conversation with the brunette, who still hasn’t moved

.00:13: The blonde is now looking back on her phone, once again, in a zombie like state. The brunette’s eyes are now open, they seem wide; a hint of shock appears on her face. It seems that she knew the blonde was looking at her and is now disappointed that she chose to keep the silence between them. Perhaps we can conclude from this intuition that these girls were once very close, and most likely were until a short time ago from the present moment. 

00:14: The blonde looks up from her phone and pouts her lips; she seems regretful. The brunette still seems quite bothered, with her eyes open, staring blankly at nothing. The silence seems hard for them both to endure much longer; we have to be moments away from them reuniting

.00:15: The blonde brings her phone into her chest, still pouting, as her eyes begin to gaze towards the brunette. It seems like this could be the beginning of a reconciliation, but the brunette is now uncomfortable and is looking the opposition direction instead of meeting her estranged friends gaze.

00:16 The blonde seems immediately discouraged, as she is now looking towards the floor and no longer at the girl who she is trying to reach across the couch. The brunette seems to be looking towards the floor as well, her face clearly showing emotional pain; disappointment in herself, perhaps that she missed out on another chance to speak with her friend. We can conclude that the brunette is definitely the vulnerable one in the situation and that we may be witnessing a crisis situation instead of a disagreement.

00:17: The blonde is now hugging the phone to her chest, her eyes are shut, and her face softens. The brunette still has not moved. We can speculate that maybe this whole time the blonde has been trying to reach the brunette via text message, and her efforts have failed.

00:18 The frame is now similar to where it first started, however you can now see half of the blondes face, and her left arm as it reaches towards the end table with her phone, preparing to set it down and give up her efforts. It is clear her friend deserves more effort.

00:19: The phone is down and you can now see the blondes entire face and she is pouting, seeming remorseful. Perhaps she is having trouble mustering the confidence to speak out loud to her friend and that is why she resorted to the phone, though she knew it would not be effective.

00:20: The frame is now beginning to pan out, and the blondes eyes begin to look toward her friend again. It is clear it is up to the blond to reconcile their relationship, whether that being because she is the reason for the brunette being upset or she has to be her savior

00:21: The blondes face is now turned slightly to her friend, seeming upset. Is she unable to comfort her?

00:22  The frame is now just on the brunette, who seems to still have not moved. Her eyes are low and looking down at the floor; her face seems flushed and unnatural. Has her friend given up on her?

00:23:  Surprisingly, the brunettes mouth now is beginning to open, but she seems hesitant to use her words.

00:24: The blonde is now completely faced towards the brunette; she had noticed her friends small effort of speech and in result seems more comfortable talking. Her back is leaning towards the left arm of the couch and her legs are curled up with her hands in her lap; she has a slight grin on her face.The brunette is looking back at the blonde with wide eyes, but only with her head turned; she is still feeling vulnerable. Nonetheless, the long waited conversation is about to begin.

00:25: The frame is now just on the blondes face; her eyes seem serious as they are glaring at the brunette. She is happy the conversation was finally going to happy, but she is aware that this is no walk in the park.  Her left shoulder is slightly hunched up as she seems to be mustering the confidence to speak herself now.

00:26: Finally, the blonde begins speaking the first words between the two so far. Her eyebrows are raised as she begins to speak, showing genuine intent and seriousness; the way her mouth is only opened slightly shows she is being cautious with her choice of words.

00:27: The frame is on the brunette’s face who is now grinning with a “kermit smile” in reply to the blonde’s words. She seems pleased; suddenly much more at ease.

00:28: The blonde still has the same look of seriousness, but now with a slight smirk, as if she is surprised at the brunette’s reaction.They’re going to figure whatever is going on out, together.

00:29: The frame is now back on the man from the beginning who appears to be in the same room as the girls. He is more than likely than not is the fictional host in the clip. He is still sitting in the arm chair but is now sporting a “thumbs up,” likely referring to the improvement in socialization the girls have made.

00:30: The man is still holding his “thumbs up” pose, with his eyes wide and mouth in a small grin, showing satisfaction. This is just his latest triump.

00:31: The frame is now frozen with yellow text reading “Find out how you can help a friend with their mental health at seize the awkward.org.” Behind the text is a blurred image of both of the girls, same as they were positioned last.  

00:34:  Old text disappears and new text appears: “Seize the awkward” in a quotation bubble. Ahh!

 

Enough About You–NamasteBean

Money plays a huge role in our society today and without any, survival would become vastly difficult. Although not always tangible, its value is forever known by its owners; as long as they allow the banking system to handle their money, which would requires trust in both in that banking system and the government. What we as a society tend to neglect is the fact that money is not actually real; it is the the exact belief of its existence that what makes it endure. For most of us when we get paid, the money is directly transferred into our accounts and then spent without actually seeing a single physical dollar of it. Imagine what would happen if that trust in its existence and the banks to protect our money ever faltered.

Rebuttal Rewrite– NamasteBean

My Worthy Opponent Is Wrong

       Social media is now the main source for everything a millennial desires; communication, quick answers and fashion trends. Most young adults can not go very long without checking their phones and its has become more and more evident that an addiction issue is at hand. The results from excessive use of social media are believed by many to include depression and jealousy, leading to an overall dissatisfaction with life. My goal is to further prove this hypothesis. Blogger Janet Anthony’s article titled “8 Proven Ways How To Use Social Media for Motivation” has not only proven her to be my rightful opponent, but the article itself is flawed and potentially gives dangerous advice.

       First off, making the claim that social media is good for recharging the brain sounds a bit absurd from the jump; and unfortunately for Anthony, the source provided to back this claim actually disproves it altogether. Yes, taking a break and allowing your body to re-charge is extremely important and although this is agreed by both Antony and Neil Patel (author of the source,) however their approach to re-charing are quite opposite.  A warning on what not to do during this break, clear as day, states from that same origin to “stay away from your screen.” Although Anthony may believe her conclusion to be true, the evidence given for her claim was insufficient.

       Social relationships are important to one’s mental health, no doubt. Another reason for using social media for motivation, as quoted by Anthony is “they can support you when times are dark;” ‘they” is referring to the people you surround yourself with, as explained further in the article. Although this is not relevant to the main argument, this evidence could be trying to prove that social media relationships are now more essential than human to human interaction, which could never be the case. Also, having followers does not qualify as having “people around us.” We are social beings and we need real, social interaction to survive in our environment.

       Now, let’s make it known that social media can be motivating to a certain extent; her claims, however prove her lack of research on the matter.  Inspirational pages and online support can surely improve one’s motivation to a certain degree, but turning to social media to reach their goals is far from the approach people should be taking. Most motivational pages are based on false realities and there is such a lack of truth on social media that you can never know if the advice given on these pages is sincere. People will only post what they want you to see and this leads users to expect to be able to reach unrealistic goals, leading to depression; the reason you can’t get your body to look like your favorite instagram model no matter how accurately you follow her workouts is because although the model may be displaying herself working out healthily, what she is not showing you is her daily battle with anorexia or bulimia. Motivational pages may be just as unrealistic as social media itself.

 

Sources

Anthony, Janet. “8 Proven Ways How To Use Social Media for Motivation.” The Next Scoop, The Next Scoop, 2018, thenextscoop.com/social-media-for-motivation/.

Patel, Neil. “When, How, and How Often to Take a Break.” Inc., 11 Dec. 2014, http://www.inc.com/neil-patel/when-how-and-how-often-to-take-a-break.html.

Umberson, Debra, and Jennifer Karas Montez. “Social Relationships and Health: A Flashpoint for Health Policy.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior, vol. 51, no. 1_suppl, 2010, doi:10.1177/0022146510383501.

Robust Verbs– NamasteBean

There is a huge problem in Vancouver with heroin addicts committing crimes to support their habits. The “free heroin for addicts” program is doing everything they can to stop the addicts. The problem is that there is a large crime rate due to the addicts. It is obvious that addicts have a hard time getting through their day to day lives. Daily activities such as jobs, interactions, and relationships are hard to maintain because of the fact that they are using. By heroin users being addicted, they will do whatever they have to do to get their hands on the drug. The types of crimes committed are those of breaking and entering as well as stealing. There are no limits to where they will go to retrieve this drug so that they can feed their addiction. The problem with this program is that it won’t help to ween these addicts off using heroin. It is only trying to save the city from rising crime rates that they’re up to. By providing the drug, these addicts will be off the streets, which in turn will prevent them from committing minor street crimes. This will also keep the heroin users out of the hospital. It is pointless that the hospitals have to deal with people that want to use bad drugs or unsanitary needles and find themselves being unable to afford hospital bills and hard to cope without the drug. This program gives people free heroin in the cleanest way possible. This will in turn fix the city  but not the addiction that these people face.

 

Heroin addicts commit crimes such as theft and burglary, solely to support their habit. A new program in Vancouver “free heroin for addicts,” is taking a counterintuive approach to keep its comunity safe by providing the drug to the addicts. This is expected to lower crime rates and keep heroin addicts off the streets. Even though this approach may make its citizens feel more comfortable, the addicts will not be saved from their terminal habit.