Brave New World of Digital Intimacy

1) What is Thompson's main argument or claim? Use the Paraphrase x3 heuristic to rewrite  and reword the main argument in 3 different ways. Try to find new ways to present the information to help you better and more completely understand the article's argument.

1.    Social media allows a person to identify themselves as express themselves through this form.

2.   Making a clear evaluation of your life and identity is what social media tends to make people do.

3.   Although people use social media to understand other peoples’ lives, it provides a stronger description of ones own identity instead.

2) Why did Zuckerburg introduce the News Feed? What does this say about our ability to find information and our attention span to locate all of it? In your opinion, is the News Feed a good thing or a bad thing in terms of "literacy?" 

-       The news feed was introduced so people could easily few their friends’ recent activity.

-       Now, information is available much easier but there is so much to view that people can lose their train of thought for what they were originally looking for.

-       Yes, it is very essential for literacy because people can learn from others’ posts.

3) How does the article define "ambient awareness?" Do you experience ambient awareness?

-       Incessant online contact

-       Yes I always will ask my friends about them if they post something that relays how they may be feeling that day

4)What is the paradox of ambient awareness and how does it impact our relationships with Facebook friends? Is there a downfall of being aware of our friends' lives without actually having to talk to them? A benefit?

- It is a gradual realization that things that seem small on social media slowly form ideas in our head about the way things are.

- Yes because sometimes the information is perceived incorrectly.

- Yes, it helps us stay in touch with people we are incapable of seeing regularly.

5)What is an ambient update? Give an example. 

-       It is a skimmable post that is bunched together with at least 2 or more posts.

-       A status, then a picture, then an advertisement all on one news feed page.

6) Thompson talks about social media updates as "skimmable"-- how does this connect to our ongoing class conversations about literacy?

-       Literacy causes people to lose attention to detail because there are too many news feeds that make items skimmable.

7)What does Thompson have to say about our "weak ties" or our "friends" on social media that are really more acquaintances? Do they help or hurt us?

-       I think they hurt us because we don’t know how they aare in real life, so all we see is the edited version they present themselves as, which can make us feel lesser about ourself.

8)According to Thompson, why do 20 somethings feel pressured to stay connected on Facebook?

-       They are pressured to stay in touch on social media because they need to know what their friends are doing as well as their friends want constant updates on their lives. The 20’s are a very social age.

9) How does this article define literacy in the 21st century? Does the article change or add to your own understanding of literacy?

-       This article defines literacy as not only being aware of your own social media identity, but comparing it to that of your friends’ identities on social media