DS Initial Proposal

I never really thought about social justice and digital media until my eyes were opened to it from my First Year Seminar class. Now I have been thinking about what social justice and digital media mean to me from my life experiences. To me social justice and digital media have their positives and negatives. A positive is cultures coming together and embracing one an others cultures and beliefs. A negative is that there is cyber-bullying going on now as a result of digital media. My philosophy on digital media and social justice is that digital media does not promote social justice because as the world is coming together media is tearing cultures apart. I will find research that goes towards and against my philosophy. It may be confusing to why I want research that goes against my philosophy, and the reason is to show that there is another side of my argument. I will use some of the articles we talked about in class and will find others online through google. To expand off my philosophy, if everyone had computers and a social network there would still be cyber-bullying going on. Also, people in developing countries are happy with what they have until they see on the television that Americans have more and then they want that. The problem with digital media is that at first people thought it would bring together cultures, but instead it is tearing them apart. The reason to this is because cultures are not accepting of other cultures beliefs. This is causing social injustice all around the world because cultures looking to protect their own identity are causing conflicts with others cultures as digital media brings them closer together. Digital media causes globalization. Globalization is the world coming together. An example of how digital media does this is by social networks such as Facebook. Facebook makes it easy for news to travel. An example is if you “like” a news company they can post a news article on Facebook and anyone who likes that page can see it within in seconds. News can spread this way across the country much quicker than before. In the past, our knowledge of ongoing news stories had a greater delay from the time it happened to the time we found out about it. People used to have to watch news at a specific time or read the next days newspaper to find out what happened in the previous day. My digital story will prove how digital media proves a major role in the social injustices that we see in the world today. 

Annotated Bibliography:

Barber, Benjamin. "Jihad vs. McWorld." The Globalization Reader. By Frank J. Lechner and John Boli. Malden: Blackwell, 2000. 21-26. Print. This article is about globalization. Jihad represents the old world which consisted of wars. McWorld represents todays technological advance and companies spreading all around the world. As McWorld expands cultures are being brought together and cultures want to be independent and not be forced to accept other culture's beliefs.  This article will help my paper because it shows how cultures are being forced together and cultures not wanting this. As a result, a war occurs because cultures are not accepting of one another's beliefs. My digital story is about globalization and cultures not wanting to be forced together and therefore this article will help. 

Packer, George. "When Here Sees There." Global Issues, Local Arguments: Readings for Writing. By June Johnson. Boston: Longman, 2010. 421-23. Print. This article is about how developing countries are satisfied with what they have until they see on television what other countries such as the United States have. After this, the developing countries are jealous and want it. The article will help my digital story because my digital story is partially about how countries are happy with what they have until they see what other countries have and that is one of the main focuses in this story. This article is also about how countries such as America read something in the newspaper about something bad in another country and then two days later they are onto something else and forget what just happened. This is showing how the world is coming apart when it should be coming together. This article will help my digital story by showing how the world is falling apart due to technology such as the television. 

WebLog6

My twitter literacy level is very low. I have made three accounts because I keep telling myself that I am going to learn how to use it, but every time I try I give up within a month. I am part of Nielsons study where “60% of new Twitter uses fail to return the following month.” I think twitter.com is a very hard site to learn for beginners. I am usually able to navigate easily around on webpages, but not on twitter. I could not even figure out how follow a friend. Maybe one day I will figure it out. 


After watching that video, I think I will try to use twitter again.


In the past, literacy skills included reading and writing. Nowadays it is being able to use a computer to look up information, navigate programs, and contribute information to others. Schools are now also teaching students how to use a computer. There are classes that are mandatory for students. Also there are after school programs students can take. These programs are to teach students how to use a computer appropriately. Appropriately would be to use it for school work, looking up information, and reading the news. Social networking at time can be positive, but sometimes people use it too much. The relationship between technology, participatory cultures, and 21st Century Literacy is that technology is the physical piece which is used by participatory cultures who have the 21st Century Literacy. Technology causes a social divide because not everyone has the 21st Century Literacy skills of technology. 

WebLog5

I have been using a computer as long as I can remember. Being able to have access to the internet allowed to me learn about new information as well as being able to post information. Whenever I do not understand something or need to learn about a specific topic usually the first thing I do is go into google and look it up. Without the internet I would not be able to do any of the above and those who do not have permanent access to the internet I feel bad for because it has helped me so much. I know how to use the computer not only by teaching myself, but also having to attend classes in school to learn how to look information up better and how to use a computer more efficiently. However, this was very easy for me because I have had access to what Howard Besser is saying his article, the technology, the content in my own language, and people who have knowledge about computers, throughout my life. I have made my own google website for my senior project website and I have a Facebook account. This is how I have been a creator of the internet as well. As you can see Warschauer’s model was correct. 

Mark Warschauer, “Reconceptualizing the Digital Divide” First Monday, Volume 7, Number 7 - 1 July 2002

Howard Besser,  “The Next Digital Divides” ,Teaching to Change LA 1:2, Spring 2001 

WebLog4

Until I read the information on the website, Where Race Lives, I was unaware of everything that goes on with how the federal government helps out whites more than minorities. Without the federal government, many whites would not have achieved the American Dream. The federal government did not do anything for the minorities. It was hard for them to buy homes and accumulate wealth. More Americans are wealthy due to their ancestors. Many white families money is passed down from generation to generation and that it why 71% of whites own their home while only 44% of African Americans do not. With the example shown on the website, Where Race Lives, about how Byron and Max live in the same neighborhood, but Max has twice as much wealth as Byron. This example goes back to how Max’s wealth is passed down from his ancestors. It surprised me when I read that in “1995, the average white family had eight times the wealth of an average nonwhite family.” If race discrimination did not exist years ago all types of average families would have roughly the same amount of wealth. People of all colors should have the same access to the American Dream. If a colored and a white person are working and doing the same job they should receive equal pay and equal benefits. I believe race discrimination is a major part of social justice. People should recognize discrimination more when they talk about social justice since it is a major influence. 

Source: Where Race Lives 

WebLog3

Social Justice is “the equal rights and opportunities within a society.” In Miller’s “The Scope of Social Justice” he explains his three points of social justice. His first point is knowing how many people are in the society. His second point is knowing how to distribute the rights and opportunities among the society. Miller’s last point is how the society is regulated. In my blog, I came up with two contrasting theories from Le Guin’s story. My first theory is that everyone should come together and do what is morally and socially correct. My second theory is that everyone should watch out for themselves, only worry about them being happy, and that their own decisions lead them to where they are in life. Miller and Le Guin both have some same opinions as well as different ones about social justice. 

Miller and my first theory of social justice have a lot in common. My first theory states that everyone should come together and do what is morally and socially correct. My theory is about equality and everyone should come together and help each other. They both think equality is the best way. Meaning that everything should be divided up evenly and that just because someone is of a different color does not mean that they should get more. Another example is that men should not have more rights than women. They are different because Miller believes that a government should handle everything while my theory is depending on the people of the society. 

Depending on the source, theories of social justice can widely vary. My second theory and Miller’s theory are not alike. My second theory is that everyone should watch out for themselves, only worry about them being happy, and that their own decisions lead them to where they are in life. My theory is stating that individuals should make sure they get what they want even if it hurts others. Miller believes in the opposite. He believes we should know how many people are in the society and make sure everything is distributed out evenly. 

Citations: 

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-social-justice.htm