Week 3 Aha - Gina Nellis

What I learned this week is that I still have no idea has this blog thing is supposed to work. I can't imagine being a person that pays attention to blogs because this is way too confusing and time consuming for me. That being said, I have learned some things this week. I really enjoyed the Zittrain video. The information he shared was fascinating. I'm very interested in studying human behavior so I found the information about Wikipedia and the internet in general very interesting. I liked the example he used of the traffic controller in the Netherlands that removed all of the street signs so there were no rules. My last online class had no posting requirement. Most classes say to post one original and two or three responses in the forum. This professor just said basically to communicate. The conversations were much more in depth and there was a lot more interaction between the classmates. It certainly could have been the class dynamics but I think it was probably related to there being no set number to hit and move on.

In addition, I learned that I'm a person that uses social networking for information. I don't really communicate alot but I like to have the information. Facebook allows me to see what is going on in my circle of the world without communicating with anyone. I'm very much an introvert and I find this fascinating. I feel more connected to people and feel like I have a better social network now than I did ten years ago. I guess I am now questioning whether that virtual social network is real or partly fictional. The only information shared on Facebook is the part of a person's life they want you to see. For example, my personal page has information about my kids and their activities and our family activities but I never talk about work or school. The fact that I'm burned out and want to change my career or that I am in school with plans to do that has never been put on Facebook. It's something I keep private other than with a few close friends that I hang out with. If I'm doing that, and everyone else is doing that, then do we really "know" anyone in a virtual setting or do we only know how they choose to be perceived?