Discussion Questions

Personally, I am not a fan of the amateur videos. Thinking more on a societal level though, I do think the population creating these videos and advertisements will continue to grow. I feel as though society enjoys watching these videos because it gives us a sense of relation to the actors/participants, and it appears more realistic. People enjoy relating to people, and prying into their lives (whether it be a professional amateur or an actual amateur film). YouTube is the perfect example of prying into other people's lives via actual amateur films, while Cloverfield is a good example of a professional amateur movie that appeals to the public through allusion of reality. 
I am a chronic "Facebooker". When school is not in session, I find myself sitting on facebook day in and day out. I feel like it is a constant update of all of my friends and the people around me. Even if I cannot physically be with a friend, I know what they are up to. We can chat, message or post messages for all friends to see. I feel like Facebook is here to stay for a while. It seems to be catching up with all of the new mediums that are released. It stays up to date with technology while letting people stay connected to their friends. 

When school is in session, though, it is a different story. I rarely have time for Facebook. I try to go on once a week to make sure I get to talk to friends that are no longer local. I think it is a great way to catch up. Yes, it is addicting, but I also find it helpful to stay social. I am a believer that it prevents face-to-face social skills from growing, but that is the individual's responsibility. I like to stay social both online and face to face. I do not feel it has personally changed my in person communications, but I know that it does for many.

Facebook has become much more popular than MySpace. This could be for a number of reasons. This could have to do with the fact that is started out as a college student only website. Many people moved away from MySpace as they got older. MySpace seems to be dumbed down and less instant communication. Facebook has appealed more to the customer's needs of communications, rather than fancy design and music. MySpace seems to be dragging behind Facebook now. 

Openness, communication and accountability-- these are all major aspects of transparency. This has become more common online, but should be equally as important offline (if not more important). People need to be able to interact in person. That is how people get jobs, relate to others, and demonstrate proper communication. Of course everybody is open online. You can find anything out about anyone. It has become popular online. People need to start moving back into the offline world. Online transparency will not get you places in the real world, that transparency offline can get you. ortant in the offline world?