Art in Social Media

Many people feel that social media is the demise of contemporary art. Through my research I have found that social media actually develops art in ways that are not possible otherwise. Art online has become an increasingly popular activity; for buyer, seller, or anyone who appreciates art. The use of social networking alone has exploded in recent years. It’s not often you meet someone who doesn’t have a facebook. Technology and social interaction have banded together to create a new world of peer to peer conversation, content exchange, and influence in the realm of art. The reality is, if you are not utilizing social networking sites, you are falling behind.

In today’s society, an artist no longer has to physically go to a gallery or make flyers to post on the street corner; they can simply join a gallery online. The ways to promote art work on the internet have expanded and are more effective than ever before. There are significantly better ways for an artist to advertise and elevate work with the use of social media and networking, allowing the circulation and appreciation of art to develop further. Social media and networking allows anyone searching or studying art to have easy and vast access, expanding the circulation and appreciation of art all across the world.

The way the art work is viewed and searched for has completely changed. It is cheaper and more convenient for today’s entrepreneur or student. It has also changed the way people are educated about art and how they can study art. Anyone can view the art work in the comfort of their own home; with the click of a button. The product is available to anyone who has internet access, and the user can search according to what they are specifically looking for. I have experienced in my art education class, the main way we study and respond about art is online. Our teacher emails us a link with directions. This is the future of studying art. An artist can promote their product through a variety of social networking sites, like blogging sites, forums, online portfolios and galleries, photo sharing sites and newsletters. There are easy ways to further chances of success when selling, with the variety of sites that are available to help. An artist can go deeper into social networking by blogging or using forums such as deviantART or ArtNewsBlog. Using these tools and others like them, sharing work is simple and effective.

Before the surge of the use of social media, an artist may have been confined to flyers, ads, physical galleries, and word of mouth to promote their work. And the customer was also confined to the same aspects when buying or studying artwork. Now, with social networking so widely used, there are significantly more ways to promote, advertise, view and share work. There are over 500 million users on Facebook today. More than 30 billion pieces of content (including web links, news stories, blog posts, notes and photo albums) are shared each month. Statistics show that Facebook is a great place for a beginning artist to start promoting their work. On Facebook, an artist can create groups, events, and blogs. Endless photographs of work can be uploaded for the world to see.

Using different social media sites are very helpful to me when I create artwork. I often need inspiration and ideas. I can view a vast amount of work on the internet, which inspires me and helps me to be creative. I also use social media sites to learn about famous artists. It is so much more convenient because I don’t have to go the library to look at books or articles. I can work in the comfort of my home.

Art has vastly changed because of social media and networking. The expansion of art appreciation has occurred due to the use of online tools. The aspects that make art in social media so efficient are the availability, convenience, and variety of new ways to communicate. The way people interact may be what really makes the difference. Communication is most important in all aspects of human life. Humans thrive on social interactions and the relationships they have with others. I am not to say that traditional forms of art display are over, because we all like to see things in person and feel them, but social media and networking allows artists and students alike to communicate and share with each other in ways they never could before.

"Teen Mom" Frowns Upon Teen Pregnancy - Samantha Martin

MTV has always been the popular source of drama when it comes to television. Teens turn to MTV to hear the latest celebrity gossip and learn about the newest tunes. Other than keeping up with the 411, what else is MTV useful for?

Learning about teen pregnancy.

16 & Pregnant, a recent hit series on MTV, stars pregnant teenagers and shows the burdens that are put on these adolescents. The show became outrageously popular, having approximately 2.1 million viewers. Soon after, MTV decided to produce a second show called Teen Mom, which follows four mothers from the original season of 16 & Pregnant and focuses on their stories of life after their child is born. This series was even more popular than 16 & Pregnant, having approximately 3.4 million viewers. These teen mothers are everywhere; covers of tabloids, talk shows and radios. Some say that these teen mothers are being embellished, but let’s look at the facts.

Over half of the scenes in MTV’s two series are negative. Every episode contains a combination of violence, tears and stress. From broken hearts to custody battles, these teens don’t have it easy and MTV makes certain that the viewer understands that. Adolescents watching the show are learning just how strenuous it is to raise a child. Viewers enjoy seeing these real-life consequences because it teaches them to learn from others’ mistakes and allows them to observe reality’s challenges. Through these episodes, young people are taught exactly how not to act, and parents are able to use the show as a gateway to talking about sex with their children. According to Teen Mom and 16 & Pregnant, the life of a teenage parent is not appealing.

We’ve all heard about Juno, the award-winning film starring a sarcastic sixteen year-old girl. Juno had it easy; no job with supportive friends and family. This film does the opposite of what MTV’s series’ do. Juno paints a picture of how life might be for a lucky pregnant teenager. She gives her baby up for adoption, which according to a study done by The National Campaign for Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, less than two percent of young parents give their babies up. Juno is a faulty example for young teens, showing basically the opposite of what might happen in most situations. The other two shows are totally different; they show real-life circumstances that are relatable to many viewers. A recent survey showed that eighty-two percent of the teens who watch 16 & Pregnant say the show helps them better understand the challenges of teen pregnancy and parenthood – and why they should avoid it. When teenagers view these struggles on television, the response is different than an adult’s response. When a teenager watches the shows, empathy kicks in. They feel for the parents, and also think to themselves, “I’m glad it’s not me”. Whereas some adults watching the show are more likely to think, “They shouldn’t have had sex”. The two dissimilar responses are what cause so much controversy on this topic. Younger generations are more adapted to change than older generations; they understand the message that MTV is attempting to get through to the viewers.

Since these shows have been on television, the United States teen birthrate fell dramatically in 2009 after a five percent increase from 2005 to 2007. The network’s 16 & Pregnant documentary series cause many teens to open their eyes to the consequences of unprotected sex and early parenthood. When airing this series, the idea was to “address the problem of teen pregnancy and to do something about it”, MTV stated. That is the exact outcome of these two reality shows.

Carly, a young mother from Teen Mom, desires to share her story with high schools all around. She claims that she doesn’t want others to make the same mistakes she made. The reason she agreed to do the show was not to become the next person to be on US Weekly, but to prevent future mistakes of young adolescents.

Is so horrible that pregnant teen moms are the “new thing”?

No. These young men and women are all over the media, but not because they were picked up for a DUI or decided to shave their hair off. These girls are not celebrities, just young mothers trying to make a difference. According to the studies and pregnancy rates, the girls have indeed made a difference. They made a mistake, they’re dealing with it, and they’re teaching fellow teenagers what not to do.

Final on 4chan by Dino Celli

A new underground group has formed and you may have heard or seen it without even realizing it. The groups name is Anonymous and the members are known as Anons. No one knows who is a part of Anonymous because it's not organized and doesn’t have any official members. Anonymous has been known to be made fun of for being a group of foul immature teens and hackers. Although Anonymous is not just a “Nerd Brigade” as Stephen Colbert put it. Anonymous was originally created on a image-board site known called 4chan. 4chan a site for people to go, post pictures and discuss topics and interests is most commonly associated with its board random known as /b/. 4chan is unconventional in that it has no sign up or any sort of identification when you enter the website. When people go on and talk no knows who is writing any comments. This creates an unbiased opinion from the reader’s perspective. Nothing is known of the author so the reader must decipher what the message really means and why it was written. Anything and everything is posted and there are absolutely no rules when it comes to posting.

Anonymous and /b/ are tied together as one. When one talks about /b/ they talk about Anonymous and vice versa. Anonymous is unpredictable in its action. When an Anon wants to attack or raid a specific site it does so by posting on /b/ and asking others to help. When Anons agrees to raid it usually is because it had been provoked or saw something it didn’t like.
Recently WiKi Leaks claimed that they had information on a major U.S. bank regarding corporate malfeasance but never directly specifying who. Bank of America became worried that it was them and hired a counter hacker by the name of Aaron Barr. Aaron Barr said that he would begin to attack WiKiLeaks credibility by falsifying documents so WikiLeaks would look unreliable and “Cyber attacks against their infrastructure”. The group Anonymous had been known to protect WiKiLeaks so Aaron Barr had also issued a threat against them. Anonymous retaliated by hacking Aaron Barr’s email account, took down his website, and remotely wiped his Ipad. After hacking his email account Anonymous began posting his controversial tactics of hacking as well as many personal emails including one where his wife told him she was filing for divorce. This was seen as a great success for anonymous protecting WikiLeaks from a corrupt corporation for trying to expose them.

This group “Anonymous” does not only defend WiKiLeaks specifically though. It defends or attacks whatever it feels like. Sometimes it attacks websites or groups for the simple reason of “For the Lulz”.”For the Lulz” is another way of saying just because or for fun. This begins to worry people because there is no real purpose or set goals involved in the way this group acts. Almost like a super hero without the moral compass, it is unpredictable and has no name or set person and it cannot be questioned or punished.

When Anonymous attacks one of its most common methods is a Dos attack. A Dos stands for denial of service, it’s where a group of people or person crash a certain website forcing the site to shut down denying access to the people who would actually use it. They used this method when Anonymous had declared war on Scientology. In 2008 Scientologist removed and banned the playing of a humiliating interview of tom cruise anywhere. Outraged by this censorship Anonymous declared war on Scientology. Using the Dos attack they shut down the website many times to annoy and agitate scientologists.

For the cases of attacking Scientology and Defending WiKiLeaks Anonymous feels like it is contributing to society and making it better. However many groups despise Anonymous. Anonymous receives much criticism being called a cyber terrorist group or just antisocial nerds not having anything better to do. Most of Anonymous actions are not different from standing outside of a building and protesting. It’s just a special way of doing it through the internet. Occasionally, Anonymous has been known to fight for something substantial. This however is masked by how it does what it feels like and pranks random sites for no reason.

"Stumbling" vs. "Digging"--Megan Sherrod

As a bored college student, I have tirelessly looked for sites to aid me in my procrastination of schoolwork. Throughout my search for wasting time, I have come across two websites that meet my qualifications. The two sites are Stumbleupon.com and Digg.com. Both of these webpages are very similar but are also very unique to the services that they provide. Basically, Stumbleupon and Digg are web-based searches with a focus on entertainment. As an avid user of both of these sites, I have come to the conclusion that because of Stumbleupon’s setup and ease of use, it is more popular than Digg.

To understand why I believe Stumbleupon is superior to Digg, it is useful to analyze the differences between the two sites to see why this is so. Upon visiting Stumbleupon, the audience is refreshed with a simple and organized layout that is easy for any mediocre person to navigate. Once you make your account, which takes no more than five minutes, you are prompted with a list of topics that you are to choose from that reflect your interests. After hitting the “stumble” button you are taken to a site that in some way or another, reflects the interests that you just indicated. If you get bored with the site then you are just a “stumble” away from viewing a different site. A feature that interests a lot of its users is the ability of Stumbleupon to connect with the popular social sites Facebook and Twitter. Overall, Stumbleupon permits its users to waste their time and allows them to view an array of websites with just a quick click of the mouse.

Unfortunately for the users of Digg, a little more work is needed to find useful and interesting sites. Like Stumbleupon, it is necessary to make an account to fully utilize the webpage. Something worth considering when it comes to Digg is the similarity it shares with the websites Facebook and Twitter. At first glance, one could mistake Digg for Facebook because of its layout, color scheme, and font. At the top there is a blue border with “Digg” in white letters and the login box is to the right. Sound familiar? On the left hand side of the webpage there is a list of suggested topics that you are to choose from, and once you have done that Digg brings up a list of profiles/websites that fall into the topics you have chosen. The process of “following” on Digg resembles that of the popular site Twitter. Once you are “following” a particular site, you are free to navigate through the page. Instead of being able to just click a button to view the next site like Stumbleupon, you have to “digg” through a list of webpages to see which one might interest you.

So now you are probably wondering, what do these differences have to do with Stumbleupon being better than Digg? A study was done in 2007 to discover which site is used more by people of the internet, and the results are pretty convincing. Researchers came up with an article whose topic has no relevance to the study, and posted it on both Stumbleupon.com and Digg.com. What were the results? Well, during the three day period that was observed, Stumbleupon saw traffic of almost three times the size of Digg.com. Not convinced? Why don’t we take a look at the number of registered users on each site? As of 2009, Stumbleupon had 5 million users whereas Digg have around 2.7 million users. This fact alone, supports my view of Stumbleupon’s superiority. I do, however, have a few explanations for why these very similar websites are used very differently. For starters, Stumbleupon is a completely new concept and has a very simple layout that attracts its users. Digg uses the best ideas of other existing sites like Facebook and Twitter when it comes to its setup and layout, but seems very cluttered and distracting. The biggest difference I have noticed as a user of both sites is the ease of use on Stumbleupon. All that is required of you in viewing these webpages is a click of the mouse. Digg, however, involves actively searching for sites to view. I believe this speaks to the needs and wants of users of the Internet. The public wants information at the tips of their fingers and if there is a site that offers that kind of exposure, they too can profit from it like Stumbleupon has.

Female Celebrities’ Images Send Wrong Message to Young Girls-- By Lydia Jolly

Female Celebrities’ Images Send Wrong Message to Young Girls

Young girls throughout the United States look up to famous female celebrities while finding their “places” in this world. Female celebrities have a great deal of impact on the lives of many young girls today. Some celebrities take this responsibility seriously while, unfortunately, others do not. Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, and Ke$ha, are some of today’s most popular female entertainers who often, unknowingly, can occasionally set negative examples, potentially contributing the influences on young girls’ decisions and actions.

Miley Cyrus is currently eighteen years. In 2006, she landed the lead role as Miley Stewart, on Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana. Because her role on the show was that of a super star, she sang in her shows. Her super ego became so popular to young girls, she started recording actual music. Ultimately, she created an album and even went on tour to promote it. Because of her extreme and fast success, she instantly became an idol to young girls everywhere. Although Miley has been caught with drugs, risqué photo shoots, and questionable performance moves, she is still looked up to. Miley spends her down time working on her fashion line for young girls. She makes sure that all clothing with her label on it is appropriate. Miley is passionate to giving back and charity work, as well. Girls everywhere are looking up to Miley Cyrus and use her ideas as inspiration for themselves, whether it being her positive examples, or sometimes, even negative.

Although Katy Perry is clean-cut and stands up for what she believes, she also is known for wearing “sexy and revealing” clothing and having inappropriate song lyrics. Of course, Katy is known to have a style of her own but sometimes her outfits convey the wrong message. Katy Perry is an upcoming celebrity, toping billboards all around the world. She is known for her outgoing and bubbly personality. While Katy is known for making sexual references in her lyrics, she tries her best to cover them up, making it difficult for young girls to understand what she actually means. Agreeing that she is not 100% what her image is suggesting, she admits, "I'm kind of a good girl - and I'm not. I'm a good girl because I really believe in love, integrity and respect. I'm a bad girl because I like to tease. I know that I have sex appeal in my deck of cards. But I like to get people thinking. That's what the stories in my music do." (Renshaw, 2010) Although she admits it is somewhat an act, it still can give young girls the idea that they, too, should follow in her footsteps.

Throughout the United States, Ke$ha is known for her ridiculous song lyrics. She exemplifies the image of a carefree, party girl with no rules. Sending the message that it is okay to do what you want, her songs are based around partying and living a crazy lifestyle. “Tik Tok,” her first single, is a song about getting drunk and going out to clubs. Wrongfully, she is sending off a racy message about sexual encounters. Not only do Ke$ha’s song lyrics show that she is carefree, but her outrageous appearance solidifies this as well. During her interview with Seventeen Magazine, she was asked how she describes her style. Ke$ha responded by saying, “Garbage can chic? I like vintage a lot. I like not trying — I think girls need someone to look up to who's not in high heels and a push-up bra.” (Meet "Tik Tok" Singer Ke$ha, 2010) She encourages girls to wear what they want and to be themselves. Ke$ha tries her best to promote individuality and to never take life too seriously. “I think people need to have fun with whatever they're doing — makeup, their clothes, music, live shows — anything you don't need to take too seriously, don't take too seriously.” (Meet “Tik Tok” Singer Ke$ha, 2010) Her projected image is complete with glitter, Goodwill clothing, and tangled hair- a look teen girls everywhere are beginning to emulate.

Current celebrities must acknowledge their responsibilities to set a positive image for young girls in today’s society. Unfortunately, there are times when female celebrities have a great deal of impact on the lives of many young girls today. Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, and Ke$ha, are some of today’s most popular female entertainers who at times, unknowingly, set negative examples, potentially leading young girls in the wrong direction.

Is the Rhetoric Really Violent? by Brad Valentine

Is The Rhetoric Really Violent?

Glenn Beck is often accused of inciting violence with a certain violent rhetoric. How can someone make such accusations when Beck often says things such as, “I denounce those from the Left, the Right or middle, who call for riots and violence as an opportunity to bring down and reconstruct our system.” (http://www.glennbeck.com/2011/01/10/glenns-letter-to-the-american-people-politicians-and-media/). By boldly questioning and researching these accusations, one can easily find the truth and see there is nothing concrete about these false accusations.

Looking at who is actually affected by violent rhetoric, is important in learning how one could use it to incite violence. Only five percent of the population has a severe enough psychological disorder to be affected by violent rhetoric. ““After a lot of laboratory research, we believe that a person must be psychologically unbalanced for hateful or violent messages to motivate violent behavior.” (http://star.txstate.edu/content/violent-rhetoric-affects-those-already-prone-violent-acts). Five percent of the population is a very small amount, and not all of them listen to Glenn Beck. However Glenn Beck is still accused of inciting violence in his listeners.

“What constitutes violent political rhetoric is subjective. What constitutes political violence is more clear-cut,” Says Daniel Flynn. So if violent rhetoric is subjective then, anything could be interpreted as inciting violence, by anyone. I think it would be easier to measure how many violent acts Glenn Beck has committed, which is none by the way. There is the saying that “actions speak louder than words,” let’s follow that when analyzing Glenn Beck.

Glenn Beck often challenges his viewership by quoting Thomas Jefferson, “Question with boldness, even the very existence of God.” So why don’t we use his words and ask why would someone accuse Glenn Beck of inciting violence? Maybe it could be that they are from a liberal background, but that couldn’t be because Beck will often times critique people from both sides of the political spectrum, in an appearance on the television show The View, Beck explained to the women that he criticized Bill Clinton when he was in office and also criticized George W. Bush when he was in office.

Don’t get me wrong if you really don’t agree with the guy then that is fine, but he has every right to say what he wants.

Furthering the questioning, maybe Beck is just wrong about what he is telling his viewers? That may be true, but consider that Glenn Beck has been telling his viewers to have a dynamic investment portfolio. Specifically he has told his viewership to invest in gold. Looking at the prices of gold per ounce in the last five years, the price has doubled. Glenn Beck told his viewers that this would happen.

When the protests broke out in the middle east, Glenn Beck displayed a map on his television show, on this map he highlighted the countries that he theorized that the protests would spread. When he came out with this map he was called crazy. Then a few days later, many of the news stations came out with a map that was very similar. (Beck’s map: YouTube - Glenn Beck-01/31/11-B)(CNN’s Map: Unrest in the Middle East and Africa - Special Coverage on CNN.com) That’s two very important things to be right about, so your motive behind critiquing him can’t be because he is wrong.

Glenn Beck calls himself a “Paul Revere” like person, because he is just trying to make people realize what is going on in America. Glenn Beck is an effective speaker. He organized “Restoring Honor Rally” on August 8, 2010. In the rally he told the crowd to have faith in America. Glenn Beck is a caring individual, he often will donate to charity; he is known for crying on the air because he is very passionate for what he does. Maybe instead of tearing down his integrity as a person, we can debate him. I strongly believe that when people civilly debate something, we can learn from each other. Let’s not waste time by making false accusations and use our time productively by finding our own truth.

Jersey Shore And The Messages It Conveys To Teens - - Ashley Conrad

Jersey Shore And The Messages It Conveys To Teens - - Ashley Conrad

The popular MTV show, Jersey Shore, can send mixed messages to young teens. Jersey Shore negatively affects teen’s behavior by portraying violence and aggression with little to no consequences. Young teens are at that age where they learn from what they watch on television. It has been proven that aggression is more often seen rather than physical violence on reality television. In regards to Jersey Shore, aggression and violence are definitely a major part of the show. “Over the long term, heavy exposure to violent media may shape and strengthen an individual’s cognitive scripts relating to aggression; in effect shaping the way the individual interprets the world…”

What causes men to be violent toward women? Psychological problems, unbearable life pressures, or some instinctive urge toward aggression are some problems that can cause men to be violent toward women. In the second episode of Jersey Shore, Snooki was punched in the face while at the club. Snooki’s attacker was Brad Ferro, a gym teacher at North Queens Community High School. Ferro tried to take Snooki’s cocktail, and when she denied him, he punched her in the face. This abuse was all because of his careless drunkenness. This could all have been prevented if he would have made more responsible choices. In result to his senseless attitude, Ferro was arrested and charged with assault and fined five-hundred dollars. Teens watching Jersey Shore are going to see all this violence and think it is acceptable behavior because it is coming from these “stars”.

Researchers have surveyed parents to see how often their kids were watching television. Researchers then found television plays a big part in encouraging childhood aggression. If a child is flipping through the channel and comes across Jersey Shore, he or she is not going to learn anything positive to make him or her a better individual. Do not get me wrong, there are television shows out there that teach your children good morals. Finding those positive television shows and encouraging your kids to watch them is the key. “Violence is one of the major worldwide concerns today in all segments of society”. Something that usually goes along with violent or aggressive behavior is consequences. A key concept that stands out the most while watching Jersey Shore is not only the intense arguments, but the fact there are no consequences for their destructive behavior.

The aggressive and violent fights that take place on Jersey Shore have a fascinating theme. One major component that stands out while watching the show, is when girls fight other girls, for example, Snooki and Angelina it is taken more as a joke. It is unclear to me as to why they want to portray aggression and violence as a joke. I feel they want it portrayed as a joke, because leading up to the fight they take out there earrings, trash talk, take off their shoes; then they show the aftermath which consists of nails all over the floor, hair extensions falling out, and makeup smeared all over their face. On the other hand, when there are fights between two guys, they are taken more seriously. For example, if you think back to season 1, when Ronnie was on the board walk and some drunken guy was trash talking him, they got into an intense fist fight. The man was trying to impress his girlfriend and kept aggravating Ronnie in an effort to start a fight. They were broken up by the cops and Ronnie left with a black eye. The outcome of that fight was entirely different than with Sammi and Jenni or Snooki and Angelina. Fights between men often seem to be taken more seriously and there is more physical violence done.Aggression and violence is not something to joke about. Why would they air a show on television that is portraying aggression and violence as a joke? Our world is suffering enough as it is from dangerous acts of violence.

Not all violence and aggression is necessarily a bad influence on teens, but when there are no consequences for their negative actions, that is where the show is going wrong. Jersey Shore is sending the message that it is acceptable to make bad choices and you will not get punished for doing them. When in fact, we all know in the real world making bad decisions leads to having to face consequences. Teens are at the age where what they see on television is how they want to act. Jersey Shore is a good show to watch, as long as kids watching it know what is going on is not right and not something they should model after.