The Holiday Season

                                   

Everyone loves holidays. From Christmas to Easter, there are just so many holidays, and each one comes with a different meaning and way to celebrate. Most people have a favorite holiday, but which one that is depends greatly on what they personally do for each one. Holidays bring people together. For the most part, all holidays are just a time for family and friends to come together to celebrate different events from our past. This week is Thanksgiving, and it’s a holiday all about eating turkey and other food with family. Thanksgiving is only celebrated in America, and it is a time when Americans can all really relate about something. Things such as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade even further bring people together.

                What religion you are, where you’re from, and so many other factors go into what holidays you celebrate. It brings everyone who is similar to you together, and you all have something to talk about and relate to. Holidays have developed, and as time goes on they continue to develop with the changing times. When you are a kid, every holiday is even more exciting and fun because of things such as Santa, the Easter bunny, and all of the other holiday icons. Then as you get older the holidays are still great, despite knowing that these things don’t even exist. This is because there is just a certain feeling that is associated with holidays. It is one that everyone knows. By bringing people together, holidays are one of our most powerful mediums.

College Decisions: What do they really mean?

What college you choose to go to is a very important question in your life. Then once you get there you will end up becoming friends with a certain group of people, depending on your interests, where you’re from, and a lot of other factors. A college campus is a very interesting medium, and the look, feel, and location can vary very much from school to school. However, it is also one of the best and most successful mediums because it brings so many people together from so many different areas. Babson for instance brings students from all over the world, and we get to learn about so many other cultures and societies.

                There are many factors that go into choosing a school. One might be the extra-curricular activities that the school offers like athletics or theater. Another big factor in many cases would be family. Many children follow their parent’s footsteps and go to the same college. People become devoted to certain schools. Also there are schools that are public and schools that are private, some schools that are expensive and some that aren’t. There are the Ivy leagues, Catholic schools, community colleges, and so many more. The fact that there are so many different options when choosing a school simply shows how great of a medium it is. It allows people to really look and research what college they would fit in best at and where they could be the most successful.  It is really an interesting process in choosing a school, and then once you’re there its amazing the things you can do and the people you may meet.  Another interesting thing is that once you choose a college, people associate you with what they know about the college. People will judge you and group you with the college’s successes or failures. If you go to a school known for being harder, then you will then be viewed as being smart by anyone who knows that. So much is then assumed about you in regards to your academic capability. Basically at colleges everywhere you could go and meet people who otherwise you might never have had the opportunity to.

The Narcissism of Twitter

Narcissism could be defined as being when a person has excessive self-admiration and self-centeredness. I think Twitter is really a pointless invention, and I think it is simply a way for narcissistic people to only further admire themselves. Even on facebook, some people update their status that says exactly what they're doing. I think maybe it isn’t a bad thing to do in moderation, for example I've seen statuses that are used to try to get support for something, or to get a question answered. It is just when people use twitter and facebook to talk about things that no one else really needs to know. I'm sure that Twitter is useful; however I do think that some people use it unnecessarily.
In an article by the Times clinical psychologist Oliver James said. “Twittering stems from a lack of identity. It’s a constant update of who you are, what you are, where you are. Nobody would Twitter if they had a strong sense of identity.” Although I think this is a very strong view point, i do slightly agree. It is interesting that people have to constantly say what they're doing, when it just isn't necessary. I obviously don't know exactly what makes people use Twitter and constantly update their status on facebook, but I am simply saying that it comes off as being narcissistic. I'm also not anti-facebook since you can do so many other things besides update your status; I just meant that facebook is simply another possible way for people to do this. Overall, I think our society in general is becoming more self-obsessed, and I am interested to see what comes next.

Nude Pictures

Texting has become very popular within our society. Children, parents, teenagers, and pretty much every age group texts. However, more recently "sexting" has become more and more popular among teenagers, in particular teenage girls. Sexting is a pretty self explanatory term, and I am pretty sure most people have heard of it. The growing issue is that teenagers are beginning to send nude pictures of themselves. They may not realize it, but once they send any pictures, they could then be uploaded to internet, forwarded to friends, and so many other things could potentially be done with these pictures. It is a serious issue because these girls might not realize the potential harm of these pictures. Another issue is that these girls could be getting peer pressured into doing these things, when they might not even feel comfortable with it.

Recently there has been a lot of debate about the laws surrounding sexting. There have been some cases where teenagers have almost been charged with possession of child pornography, but in reality it wasn't actually a violation of any of these laws. The sending of these nude pictures is a very new development so, many people think that we need to come up with a completely new set of laws to regulate this sexting. I think that they are going to have to start regulating this soon because it is becoming more and more of an issue.

The Effects of Appearance

                                                

One medium that I think has definitely begun to have more of an effect on our lives would be our appearances. In the past your appearance still mattered, but in our current society there is a lot of pressure to look, act, and talk a certain way. Things that never used to matter like what brand of clothing you prefer, whether you eat organic food, and what type of car you drive now matter greatly. We have become a very materialistic society. I am not saying that I don’t do this as well, but when you take a step back and look at it all, we all have become very judgmental of each other. We seem to size each other up as soon as we meet. We form an idea of who they are and what their personality is going to be like based simply on their hair, clothes, car, and weight.

            We can use our appearance to our advantage, by looking professional and ready for a job interview. However, on the other side this means that if you aren’t dressed in the right way, that alone could be a deal breaker. I think that there is a reason for keeping up a good appearance at the work place and at certain functions and events. I just find it interesting how much our appearance could potentially shape our lives. I do believe it is a medium because in a way you are marketing yourself, and you are trying to look a certain way. Then, if your appearance doesn’t fit with certain people, they might disregard you. I know that I am guilty of this, as I’m sure many people are. It is nice to look good, but I think there is more and more pressure on our society to act and look a certain way. A great example of this would be with cell phones. Many people look at what type of phone someone has and make judgments on how much money they have. It is like you always need to have the newest and most advanced model of everything. I think that this won’t change, and people will probably always judge people and make a decision of who they are within the first minute of meeting them based on their appearance. Our appearance will continue to be a big part of our lives.

The Move to 3-D Entertainment

                                

Movies have been around for a very long time, and they have come a very long way from what they originally were. I personally love to watch movies because they are like an escape from reality. They provide entertainment in so many different ways. From thrillers to love stories to horror movies, the level we are entertained doesn’t change no matter what type of movie it is. Whatever someone is in the mood to watch they have that ability to. I think that it is very interesting to look at how much movies have changed over time because it is such a great difference.

            One example of movies changing would be cartoons. If you watch one of the older Disney movies and compare it to a newer movie the difference is amazing. It is clear that the technology has come so far. Another example would be the difference in special effects in action, adventure movies. The explosions, war scenes, and every aspect of them has come so far and is now so realistic.  The difference from what movies were and what movies are is quite obvious to anyone really. However, now we are moving into whole new area of movies, 3-D. it seems like every movie that comes out now, or at least most, have both regular and 3-D as an option. 3-D movies are again an amazing example of how far technology has come. I just wonder where we will be going next. It is interesting to look at the history of movies simply because of the huge leaps they have made. If we keep going on this track then who knows how we will be watching movies in ten years.

Has texting taken over our lives?

      

Since technology has continued to develop more and more, each generation has adapted to live with the technology they know. When cell phones first came out, texting was non-existent. Now, there are so many smart phones that it has almost become impossible to get by without having texting on your phone. People whose ages ranging from 3rd or 4th grade to senior citizens are learning to text, and we have to ask ourselves, is this really necessary? Do children at such young ages and senior citizens really need to learn how to text?

        Now, we even text at times when we shouldn't. Some people text mid-conversation, which I know I personally do this, and it is in fact very rude to do. However, since we have grown up around this sort of behavior, we think it is ok to zone out and text when someone you are with is trying to have a conversation with you. People also text in school during class, in meetings, at family gatherings, and now there is even a law in place to outlaw texting while driving. I personally am guilty of texting in all these ways, and I'm not saying that I think texting is a bad thing. I realize that there are in facts so many advantages to texting, and that it has helped our society develop. I simply think that we need to learn or at least realize, since it really is common sense, when it is acceptable to text and when it isn't. By acting as though we need to text every minute of every day, which many people do, makes it seem as though texting has taken over our lives, and that we can't live without it. I just think that we need to realize that as great as texting is, we don’t have to do it as frequently as we do.