Unit 1 Draft

3 Curated Sources Analyzed

1. From Pencils to Pixels by Dennis Baron- http://www.english.illinois.edu/-people-/faculty/debaron/essays/pencils.htm

Baron started his article off with the idea that the computer is going to change literacy and writing, for better or for worse. This comes with going from the innovation of the typewriter, and then going all the way to the invention of the computer and the "world wide web".  Baron also admits his positivism and reliance on computers, and how it has changed his own writing for the past 15 years. "I readily admit my dependence on the new technology of writing. Once, called away to a meeting whose substance did not command my unalloyed attention, I began drafting on my conference pad a memo I needed to get out to my staff by lunchtime. I found that I had become so used to composing virtual prose at the keyboard I could no longer draft anything coherent directly onto a piece of paper. It wasn’t so much that I couldn’t think of the words, but the physical effort of handwriting, crossing out, revising, cutting and pasting (which I couldn’t very well do at a meeting without giving away my inattention), in short, the writing practices I had been engaged in regularly since the age of four, now seemed to overwhelm and constrict me, and I longed for the flexibility of digitized text." (Baron,1). He speaks about how he does not have to use paper, and did not have to participate in his own revisions. Baron also states how technology is not just admitted into literary society; it is tried, tested, and slowly conformed into peoples lifestyles. It gets adapted by smaller groups, and then once proven trustworthy, it is assimilated into our culture. 

Baron then brings up the topic of humanists and their rejection of technology. Even though they slightly use it, it is not something they go overboard with. Thoreau was against most advancements, such as the telegraph, but he was one humanist who made pencils, not only for his personal use, but he did think it was an advancement that once invented, it could not be lived without. The pencil was not the only advancement in communication/ writing. There was also the telegraph, telephone, and then the modern day computer  "As the old technologies become automatic and invisible, we find ourselves more concerned with fighting or embracing what’s new. Ten years ago math teachers worried that if students were allowed to use calculators, they wouldn’t learn their arithmetic tables. Regardless of the value parents and teachers still place on knowing math facts, calculators are now indispensable in math class. When we began to use computers in university writing classes, instructors didn’t tell students about the spell-check programs on their word processors, fearing the students would forget how to spell." (Baron,11) . He concludes with stating that even though Thoreau was against most advancements, if it came down to the only way he could complete his writing, he would also be using a computer. 

I think that Baron was successful in what he was trying to convey. He made it very clear that the advancements of the computer did change the way literacy works, but also no more than the innovations of the pencil, telephone, and the telegraph. He touched on the idea that even though computers were somewhat untrustworthy, they eventually contributed to a second cognitive revolution, the first being with the printing press. Without the computer, where would we be in the processing of paperwork, submitting assignments and work in possible bulk, and also communication that is received in a literal nanosecond. I think the thing I found the most interesting was the fact that at first, handwriting was considered a crazy idea, and at first, did not even have a creative notion. 

2. How Social Media is a Toxic Mirror by Rachel Simmons- http://time.com/4459153/social-media-body-image/

Rachel Simmons, the author, is a leadership development specialist at Smith College and also is an author of novels on the topics of being a girl surrounded by all facets of social media in today's society. Simmons states that there are already so many ideals that are in our culture just from magazines and television, but the second stage of body image being bombarded at teams are from aspects of social media and now cyber bulling. "With the rapid aging down of smart phone ownership, most parents spend “digital parenting” time on character coaching, making sure their kids think before they post and refrain from cyber bullying. For at least a decade, educators like me have argued that social media’s biggest threat was its likeness to a bathroom wall, letting teens sling insults with the recklessness that comes only with anonymity." (Simmons, 1).  In the beginning, comparing yourself to someone who was a professional, famous model was seen to some as unattainable, so it had little to no affect on most young teens, but the thing that is so toxic about todays social media is that children are comparing themselves to not only those models, but to their fellow peers, which is worse. There is so much nitpicking about what is beautiful and what is not, just by a comparison of people you know. 

Not only can people show off every beautiful aspect of their life, they can edit out every imperfection without anyone even being able to see. "And thanks to an array of free applications, selfie-holics now have the power to alter their bodies in pictures in a way that’s practically on par with makeup and other beauty products. If the Internet has been called a great democratizer, perhaps what social media has done is let anyone enter the beauty pageant. Teens can cover up pimples, whiten teeth and even airbrush with the swipe of a finger, curating their own image to become prettier, thinner and hotter" (Simmons, 2).  

3. Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr as Platforms of Alternative Journalism by Thomas Powell and Erik Borra-  http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1464884911431533

This article is about the Chicago protests and how people were urged to use social media in order to gain awareness from the outside community and how social media is now being seen as a sort of alternative journalism in some aspects. We have to remember that some things are not true, but that when some things come up on social media, it may be because the news will not cover it for political reasons or it is too controversial. "This particular use of social media is studied in the light of the history and theory of alternative journalism. Analyzing a set of 11,556 tweets, 222 videos, and 3,338 photos, the article assesses user participation in social media protest reporting, as well as the resulting protest accounts." (Powell and Borra, Abstract).