technology and us
Hi guys! As you may or may not be aware of, our group is supposed to do a blog such that you can post your comments up... a more interactive form of presentation if you will, so I hope that all of you participate actively and help us make our project a success!
luv, mich.
As you all know, we're addressing technology with regards to us as teenagers. One of the topics that occured quite frequently to us as we were brainstorming about the different possible aspects of technology in our lives was the internet, and subsequently msn messenger. Basically, we all agreed that msn
1. occasionally/ often wasted our time (admit it)
2. was important to our social life as a teen (??)
3. was a very useful tool when applied with discipline
Hopefully you guys can tag as to what you think of msn (or general chat programmes) and of how they influence our lives, either positively or negatively. More importantly, although such chat programmes frequently 'waste our time' why do you think teenagers still use them?
Thanks!
Hi guys, I've just added the whole class to the members list of this blog, so all of you will be able to post soon, assuming that I didn't mess any email addresses up. If I did, my sincere apologies, and do let me know so that I can reinvite the correct person.
By the way, the question on msn was just a starter for you. There are numerous other aspects that you can address with regards to technology and teens. For instance...
1. online 'predators' (though this is linked to chatting)
2. accessing censored material via the internet
3. increased use of computers and therefore less social interaction
4. increased use of mp3 players etc, which lead to hearing problems
5. general reduced social interaction (handphone, music players, computer)
6. less healthy lifestyle (less outdoor activities)
7. one's social status being determined by what gadgets one owns
I can't think of any more points for the time being, this is just to give you something to work on, and hopefully you can give our group more ideas! ^ ^
I realise that some of the points might be a little repetitive, I'm sorry... but currently I've to scram to do my research for the pre U seminar and study for the bio test tmr..
Have fun pple! And good luck for tmr's test...
mich.
Thanks!
Hmm...hi! Okay, first time posting so forgive me for all the formatting errors and what nots...
So, about MSN...I think MSN is a convenient tool for communicating with your friends. For one things, it allows a few people to converse at the same time unlike on a phone where only two people are directly involved in the conversation. However, this may not necessarily be a good thing because I've noticed that points are often repeated as two people are typing the same thing at the same time (for example in response to a question). [haha, great minds think alike] Also, most of the time people are never allowed to finish what they are typing at one go because other people typing always interrupt you...(or this may just be my friends' uncivilized behaviour...haha)
Hmmm...with the introduction of MSN, we've definitely spent more time online, especially since we can talk to our friends for hours.(if I did that on the phone I think my ear would feel sore o_O) I suppose this can be a negative effect since this would allow us to "waste" a lot of time as we are not even aware of the passage of time when you are on MSN. This time could have been used for...mugging! haha...
Personally, even though MSN supposedly wastes time, I feel that MSN can help you feel better as you can rant and rave to your friends online about things you are unhappy about...that beats bottling up everything and getting depressed or something. Also, sometimes you feel really happy when you meet overseas friends online and start sharing experiences or just lame jokes. haha. I suppose this is one of the reason why people enjoy using MSN. Anyway, it's better to type some things than say it out loud on the phone because your parents won't know what you are saying to your friends...haha.
Hmm...the end. I couldn't see Di Kai's post so I don't know whether I repeated any points he might have raised. I hope this post appears but if it doesn't, you wouldn't know that I wished it would appear so what's the use...oh never mind. Off-topic already...haha.
gwyneth
I think technology is a previliage that people in the past were never ablle to enjoy.
Everything has both pros and cons, I strongly feel that technology today has made the lives of teenager much more enriching and interesting.
I feel that online chatting and other forms of high tech communication has improved tremendously the social interaction between teenagers, tools such as MSN provide a convenient form of communication between the teenagers of today. Somehow, it actuarially get teenagers to interact more with others, and does not have to imply a decrease in social interaction. Instead, many teenagers tend to interact more with their peers whom they would otherwise not have to chance to talk to in school.
Moreover, modern technology, mainly the television and the internet made information easily accessible to teenagers as compared to the convectional forms such as the newspaper and the radio. Moreover, the internet conld be used as a learning tool for teenagers, not just to for academic purposed, but also to pursue other areas of interest. Why do we always look at the negative effects the technology brings into our lives? Will problems such as less social interaction due to over usage of computers or less outdoor activities be solves just with the disappearance of technology from our lives? I certainly disagree with this. These problems are part of the new generation lifestyle that will still exist even without technology itself.
All that we can do it to maximize the benefits and try to resolve as many problems linked with technology as possible. It will never be possible to solve all the problems, but with the cooperation of family, school and government, we can always use technology in a way beneficial to ourselves as well as others.
Liang Zhen
To me, msn is more like a convenient way of contacting people, although i cannot say tt it does not help in communicating wif frens. Recently, i found out tt havin a grp of frens coming together and chattin on msn is really great. It allows me to chat with my sec sch frens whom are all in different jcs. Really helps to keep us in contact wif each other. This would certainly go against the arguement tt the increased use of computers result in less social interaction.
Also, the fact tt many ppl can talk at the same time allows us to do discussions from home, instead of having to meet up wif them in specific places or at convenient times (it can be rather late at night).
I don't feel tt it uses up a lot of time. But tt's juz maybe I don't logon to msn for the sake of loggin on, it's when i'm doin smth else online it makes things a lot less boring, or maybe it's just tt i don't actively look for ppl to chat wif and juz wait for someone to tok to me... haha... Maybe I'll add some stuff some other time. Off to watch KG. Haha. Zhi Hao
What I feel about MSN...
Actually right now considering that I am chatting online AND doing the post AND trying to do my bit for my own group's GP presentation, i think i am in the right mood to talk about MSN chats!
MSN is firstly a fantastic way to discuss things with others in the comfort of one's home. Socializing at home is much easier and convenient with MSN because one can talk to different groups of friends simulaenously without having to spend any time travelling across half of Singapore. This is time efficient, effective and also prevents one from, being scolded by one's parents for not being home all the time. Ideal right?
Besides this, chatrooms and other channels are FABULOUS ways to download nice songs! And also nice movies and nice MVs... yeah, but of course since downloading is bad and illegal we will skip this point.
MSN is an especially good way to discuss things that are not really worth paying serios attention to. That is, it is fun to talk LOADS of crap all the time but it is rude not to listen when someone is talking. However, one does not really want to listen 100% attentively when the onversation is meant to be all crap. So i guess, in extreme cases, MSN helps solve this problem! Well...
To be honest, all those serious points have been mentioned by Gwyn so i have nothing left to talk about besides these weird points that are still points, i guess...so i will devate gwyn points! haha!
i agree with gwyneth that chatrooms give us a good and convenient method to destress and vent our frustrations. However, i beg to differ that they are the best method as indeed, chatrooms are a foreign and cold way of communication and it is uncertain whether it can ever be used to "warm up" interhuman relations. it is ironical and doubtful whether such a cold method of technology can really help! Will pouring out one's troubles by pressing cold and hard letters really help without any real human quality injected in?
MSN chatrooms were and are still an important part of life now. Especially because life is so busy, the chatrooms can link me to anyone i want to speak to and converse with! My friends, family and everyone else can be reached very conveniently and especially sicne most people go online at night, it means that all my contacts are brought together and i can talk to everyone at the same time without having to free myself from something else!
Regarding discipline with regards to chatrooms, there have been certain moves by different groups of people to watch over their children to ensure that their kids do not do anything drastic or illegal. while i do agree that keeping tabs on a youth's chatroom dalliance can help protect the child or even other children from being victimised, or at extreme cases, prevent havoc from breaking out in society, i dispute the belief that such discipline should be maintained as this method is superficial and does not get to the root of the problem. i believe that discipline should be ingrained into a youth;s upbringing so that the child has the sense to toe the line and not abuse the chatroom or be victimised. Discipline comes from within, not without!
time is running. gonna end now. Karen
hi everyone, it's 2325 on friday and so far only gwyneth has posted anything relevant on the blog. (and me too, of coz=]) well, i feel that msn chat is an excellent way to relieve one's boredom; it can be considered as a form of entertainment and relaxation. it allows users to communicate with others and surf internet websites at the same time. in addition, with the newest version of msn 7.0 (u guys have it?), more fun has been injected into msn chat through "nudging" and "winks" sent from one user to another. it never failed to bring a smile unto my face=) msn chat has also allowed users to hold group discussions online, as well as send documents over to one another conveniently and quickly. this is definitely an advantage to the efficiency at which the project progresses. however, msn chat does have its downsides as well. like what gwyneth has mentioned in her post, it may not necessarily be productive if the group members in the online discussion all give their opinions at the same time. there is no proper sequence or order as to how the discussion is to be carried out, which might result in individual group members not bothering to stop to read others' views but instead try desperately to put his/her point across to the rest of the group members. discussions of this sort are not only confusing but also likely to end fruitless. in addition, the frequent reliance on msn chat to communicate with friends may lead to less-developed interpersonal skills. this is because interaction with others online is limited to a tiny chat window, and emotions are conveyed rather pathetically via "smileys". face to face communication is cut down and thus may lead to poorer ability to relate to others in reality. lastly, we cannot deny the fact that msn chat has caused many ignorant and naiive teenage girls to fall into the trap of cunning "fellow-chatters" in the belief that they are making new friends. they eventually arrange to meet with "friends" whom they have never seen and..i shall not go 0n to describe the cases that make headlines ever so often. hence, we can see that msn chat has actually become a tool of abuse used on young teenage girls. in this light, msn chat can hardly be said to be user-friendly and "fun to use". ok, i guess i've blabbered too much already...hope i've managed to contribute some ideas to your group (not that u guys need any, with mich in your grp..haha=]) ok it's 2350, i better log off now. -joanna-
Hello everyone!
I'm someone who loves to go online most of the time. Hmmm I think there was a brief period in Sec2 when I thought going online was meaningless and a waste of time!
OK I have thrown away those silly thoughts. I don't know why but I enjoy coming online to talk. It's fun and pretty addictive. On weekends, I can spend the whole day online? Of course,the company matters.
Personally, coming online has helped me increase my social network because most of the friendships I make outside school and class have been strengthened by talking online to various people. There are always the people you can simply click with, who you can talk cock with and really feel happy chatting with. Somehow, online conversations have not really damaged any of my relationships, I suppose.
Then again, most friends that I talk to online I may have never met in real life. Friends of friends of friends of friends who hit it off really well with me. Yet they are people who I look forward to each time I log on, probably because of that temporary high feeling chatting with someone of the same frequency as you!
Technology has been a blast. It's been fantastic. When my friends leave overseas, I am entirely grateful for technology for providing an inexpensive way of communicating with them online. With our webcams, audio microphones, laptops, and so on, it's almost as if my friends had never left. I feel happier with the way technology has helped to connect me with those who I would have lost contact with.
Then again I hope I will never open my computer and find porn pop-ups everywhere. Seriously, technology has helped to spread sexual content rapidly. I read Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood and it is a world, set in the future, where every book and webpage is sex-related. Quite true, our society is quickly moving towards one oriented towards sex, and are freely exploiting women (and men!) for other's entertainment by recording urm, filthy and sodomitic acts and making them available on the net. Disturbing and unhealthy indeed!
OK the end, no resolution or whatever, just a very happy ramble about technology.
I love MSN!
PQ
With rapidly advancing technology, teens now are more in touch with each other than their predecessors. Instead of relying on just the telephone to communicate with each other, like in the past, teens now have a variety to keep in contact with each other such as the email, SMS and online chatting services like MSN.
Online chatting services such as MSN allow teenagers to socialize with their peers more often and help widen their social circle. MSN will help to build and improve friendship because it provides a medium for people to communicate to others they rarely talk to. MSN also poses as a place for people to meet and carry out discussions for project work. MSN lets people pour out their inner problems to their friends, especially when they don’t want to meet face to face and talk. It also provides a channel for users to destress as they can talk “rubbish” to their friends as well as “scandalize” people. I, myself, have been a “victim” of this.
However, people may spend too much chatting with their friends via MSN and neglect their school work, causing their grades to slip. Most of the conversations on MSN are also quite unconstructive, mainly consisting of gossip. Whether MSN is a boon or a bane is really up to one’s self-discipline and how one uses it.
MSN has played an important role in my life as it has allowed me to keep in touch with my friends, especially those living or studying abroad. Coming home from a stressful and arduous day of school, going online and chatting with my friends about the happenings at school have proved to be a extremely good stress reliever for myself. MSN has also indeed allowed me to talk to some people who I hardly speak to in school, playing a significant role in class bonding.
This is just my opinion on MSN. That’s it for now.
Kelvin
okie.. hi. i'm finally here to give my 2 cents worth..
hmm.. many pts have been covered by others liaox.. but anyway, i'll still say what i feel about technology (um.. mainly msn..)
firstly, i definitely feel tt msn has helped many of us to interact more with one another.. in sch, we're quite busy.. n sometimes, we spent an entire day talking to onli a few pple.. (its quite sad huh..) its onli when we reach home, switch on our coms n log on to msn tt we start toking n crapping.. hahax.. yup.. in addition.. msn made it a lot easier to tok to pple tt we might not haf tym to meet up with.. eg.. my pri/sec sch klazmate.. n my relatives overseas.. its really nice to know tt despite being in diff schs/cty.. we still keep in contact.. yep..
however.. much as i like msn.. i wud sometimes prefer toking to pple face-to-face.. there's more emotions involved.. its lyk.. when someone makes a funny comment.. we wud laugh, instead of typing 'lolx' or 'haha'.. in tis sense.. msn makes chatting less 'alive'..
msn is gd if we juz want to tok crap.. but when we wanna discuss serious stuff lyk proj.. msn becomes rather ineffective.. coz u cant make sure tt everyone is paying attn.. (some mite be doing a few things all at e same tym..) n sometyms.. (lyk what joanna said) we all mite be trying so hard to get our pt across tt we ignore others comments.. soo eventually.. e tym is spent in a rather unproductive way.. (or is it juz with my grp in sec sch?!)
okie.. to end off.. i still LOVE msn.. hahax.!
ziping
Mich, Mel, Ben, YZ, The Brain
