My First Ethnography

For the first time ever in my academic career, I have been assigned to create an ethnography on an online community for my intro to new media class. Before this, I didn't even know what an ethnography is, but later learned that it is a research method central to knowing the world from the standpoint of its social relations. I began analyzing some websites to look for a group to research, but I couldn't find any. I then decided to focus my ethnography on an online group that I am already a part of. The group I decided to analyze is on Facebook and is titled Robinhood Penny Stock Traders. This group has about 45,000 members and many posts per day. I learned about this group from a friend of mine named Charlie that lives in Patterson Hall with me, he too showed me Robinhood and taught me the basics and introduced me to this Facebook group. The main focus of this group is sharing earnings, interesting stocks, and advice for stock trading off of an app called Robinhood, which I am also a member of. I have been a member of both for a little over a month and thought it would be the most interesting and enjoyable group I could write about. In my personal experience, this group is very lively with many new posts each day about many different things. This group is not strictly about stocks, but people post updates on their lives, what they're up to, where they're going, etc. People also post articles from various news outlets on stories and events that could hurt or help a companies stock price and initial public offerings that have a lot of potential. This page is very intriguing to me because I just started trading and there is such I can learn from other members of this group as many people also post articles with tips and ideas on how to be successful. I think this project will be very interesting and will help me become a more active member of Robinhood Penny Stock Traders and expose me to more helpful information for my hobby and possible an online friendship with some of the other group members.

Fred First

Fred First started a private blog in March of 2002 named “Fragments from Floyd” and made it public in April of the same year. Fred was asked what the first weblog he ever read was, and stated that it was Chris Pirillo’s which was about families collaborating with each other while planning vacations. The thing that appealed to him most about the blog was the fact that instead of just hitting save for himself, it went straight to being published and would be instantaneously available for anyone in the world to read. Fred is a very interesting blogger and I feel like him and I would have a lot in common. I thought the reason he started blogging was very interesting, he explained in the interview that blogging was his way of blowing off steam from work as he needed to talk out the anger and frustrations that it brought him. Writing or venting about my misfortunes and mishaps also relieves some of the stress I have just like it did for Fred First. Along with Fred, making a blog would be for personal gain rather than money or any other perks it may come along with although money and perks would not be a bad thing. Fred first gave advice for new bloggers in this interview, he stated that the first step is to find your voice and to not try to be all things for all people. He also mentioned writing from the heart, which for me, is the only way any writing should be done. Fred first blogs in order to better connect with himself, those who read now, and those down the road who will read his blog. Another interesting response Fred gave was when he was asked how his weblog has changed his life. He answered by explaining that it is his way of taking pictures, a blog can snapshot a moment, thought, or scene. Along with this, he stated that he has made friends through his blog.  After reading Fred First’s interview, I can tell he is a very interesting man that is extremely down to earth. One of the last questions in the interview was “what is the most telling thing about you?” and he answered with "One characteristic about me that is more or less evident on the blog and the book is that I am readily amazed and often in awe of nature, human and otherwise. This reflects a genuine and life long sense of wonder -- a trait that has made me, at times, a successful biology teacher and which sustains me as a nature and place blogger and writer. This answer adds to my perception that him and I are very similar as writers and wonderers.

Is Google Evil?

Google in todays society plays such a crucial role in so many aspects of our lives. It can be used to share documents, find directions to a certain destination, scheduling our weeks, watching videos of almost anything on YouTube, searching for information and data for class or work, and the list goes on and on. Along with Googles many perks, they are found in the spotlight for negative reasons, topping that list would be the privacy of users. Although there are other search engines like it, such as; Bing, Yahoo, Ask, etc., I believe they hold a monopoly on the online world as almost 75% of all online users across the world rely on Google to find the information they are seeking. I believe that Google has too much information on its users and too much power over our lives. Google uses private information to supply certain ads based on what a specific user has clicked on before. Another issue brought on with a massive search engine like Google is censorship. Personally, I am 100% against any censorship to the public because it can lead people to believe false statements or just block them from ever hearing about certain events in our history. The only issue with this is that people can find very bad things on the internet that Google must add to their search engine because of censorship laws. When it comes down to it, I believe that avoiding any type of censorship overpowers the evil that can be brought on if unethical and dangerous websites are encountered. It is the moral duty and obligation for all Google participants to avoid illegal activity on the internet, just like in real life. I believe that people should be banned from using Google if they are caught using websites that provide illicit activity rather than censorship. All in all, I believe Google has the best intentions in making life much easier for its users, but with such an important and crucial responsibility, will always come issues and back lash down the road as society is always changing. It is difficult to say if Google is evil or good, but it is a fact that it makes the every day lives of its users much easier.