Closing thoughts for Sociology of the Digital Age

                Sociology of the digital age was an interesting classroom and I am kind of sad that we have only gathered together in the classroom five times this year. I think it is important for us to explore how technology affects society, so that we may become more responsible about how we use our skills. My main focus in the information systems field is on security. It is important for me to understand the impacts of technology for several reasons. First, the difference between a white hat hacker and a black hat is their ethics and I would rather be a white hat. Second, the hacker’s strongest tool is social engineering. A knowledge of sociology can help me recognize a hackers attempt to manipulate people as well as know what they are trying to do.

                I did not see eye to eye with everything we have learned and some things were kind of hard to swallow. Digital dualism was one of those theories I found kind of outdated. I just could not swallow the concept of us having no interaction with the real world while we are engaging in online activity. I also could not believe that our online actions could have no impact on the material world. This caused me to immediately adopt the opposing idea of augmented reality. One of the hard truths to swallow was when Dr. Cohen told us that we have to learn to accept the animosity that black people hold against whites because of slavery. I think that slavery was an awful and barbaric practice, but I believe that holding all whites responsible, more than one hundred years after the practice has ended, is only furthering the divide between the races and promoting racial inequality. I personally am unaware of any slave owners in my ancestry and for all I know, we have immigrated after slavery was abolished. It feels insulting that I would be held accountable because the color of my skin and what country I was born in. Though I was not so infuriated, because Dr. Cohen had a point, the racism is there and the people who hold it have a good reason not to trust white people. I just hope that, in time, the hate will finally fade away.

                I did learn a few new things in this class and have found a few concepts to walk away with. I think the most interesting was how innovation has stagnated in first world countries, such as America. I had no idea that many of the greatest inventions were occurring in Africa, yet it makes perfect sense. They have more important problems to solve, ones essential to their survival. Here in the United States, we are trying too hard to find problems to solve for all the wrong reasons. We do it for marketing, to make a buck, rather than to actually overcome the hardships in our lives. Truth is, we don’t know real hardship like those in third world countries. Another thing this class has done for me was change my view on slacktivism. At first I thought it was lazy and accomplished nothing. However, after researching and writing my last blog, I have realized that slacktivism can lead to stronger support of an idea.
                I have thoroughly enjoyed this class and it makes me want to join a group that debates sociological issues and the impact technology has on them. I say this because I find it fun to talk about and I am one of those people who likes to argue for the sake of making progress and exploring new views. If there is anybody in my class, or any of my friends who have read my blog, who feel the same as I do, I would be happy to form such a group with you. Maybe we will be able to change the world for the better with our observations and ideas.

Slacktivism, Freind or Foe?

                For this blog I have the topic of slacktivism, a topic which has garnered much negativity. Slacktivism is any acts that gain support or attention to a cause with very little effort. A lot of people believe that slacktivism is something that started on the internet by liking and sharing posts regarding their cause or by emailing a petition. However, it has been around longer than that with bumper stickers and signs on people’s lawns. To help me form an opinion and understand more about the effects of slacktivism according to different perspectives, I decided to take a couple articles that expressed opposite views on the topic.

                According to the article “Clicktivism is ruining leftist activism” by Micah White (2010), slacktivism works against their causes by diminishing the efforts of other forms of activism. He says it is based on the ideology of marketing and that it uses the same software used in email marketing campaigns to track its progress. He feels that slacktivism can turn a cause into a novelty that will eventually wear off, causing people to no longer care about it. In turn, this apathy would mean that nobody would make any real effort to do something that would have a much greater impact.

                In support of slacktivism Katya Andresen states in her article “Why Slacktivism Is Underrated” (2011) that slacktivism is much more effective than people think. She even supports her opinion with research from a study by Georgetown University’s Center for Social Impact Communication and Ogilvy Worldwide in 2010. According to the study, people who frequently engaged in slacktivism were twice as likely to volunteer their time, take part in events like charity walks, three times as likely to solicit donations on behalf of their cause, and more than four times as likely to encourage others to sign a petition or contact political representatives. The point she makes with this article is that, just because people are doing something that is easy, it doesn’t mean that they are not going to do more.

                After analyzing the two articles, I have come to see slacktivism as beneficial. People live busy lives and sometimes liking a post about their cause is the most they have time or money for. They want to show that they believe in something and would do anything they can to show their support, even if that effort seems minimal, it still may be the best they can do. Other people may not care so strongly for it, but want to show that they are not against it and will not oppose a movement for that cause. Then there is the fact that people feel strength in numbers. When a petition goes around and gets a lot of signatures, it helps people gain the confidence to stand up and do something about it because they know that there are others who feel the same way and that the opposition is not as strong. So even though some may call it lazy, I believe that slacktivism could be very motivational for some and allows people to know that they won’t be an outcast if they speak out for what they believe in.

References

White, M. (2010, August 12). Clicktivism is ruining leftist activism. Retrieved November 8, 2015.

Andresen, K. (2011, October 24).Why Slacktivism Is Underrated. Retrieved November 8, 2015.

Homogamy and Me

                This blog is about my racial preference when dating. One of the discussions we had were about homogamy and the article "Race and Attraction on OK Cupid." The article stated that people tend to prefer their own race for the most part, but in the 2014 study it shows white men, like myself preferring Asian, and to a lesser degree Latina women over white women. Black women had 30% penalty and were seen as the least attractive to white men. It is the 2014 part of the study that I will be comparing myself to for the remainder of this blog.

                It is funny that the Asian women have an 8% percent preference statistic. I lived in Japan a kid for 6 years and living in the states afterwards I have noticed many people being “asiancentric” hoarding up everything they can find on Asian culture and going crazy about anything that mentions Japan. I guess seeing this and having actually been there makes it seem less exotic to me and as a result, I don’t really find Asian women that much more attractive to other races. I do show a preference for white women, but it isn’t because the color of their skin, just some of the features I find most alluring are European in origin. Though it just seems to be a preference and I don’t place a penalty for a woman being a particular race or ethnic origin. I have dated black, Filipino, Asian, and Latina women and what really makes the difference is their personality and cultural similarities. I find myself more attracted the intellectual geek girl. A woman who enjoys reading, video games, comics, sci-fi, and fantasy. You know, typical nerd things. A funny thing is, I have noticed that I tend to be attracted to girls with glasses. Must be that whole glasses make you look smart stereotype. Not all the women I have dated have been very intellectual, but they have usually made up for it with that certain quirkiness a geek girl has.