Digital Portfolio

Language is the way that we all communicate with each other. There are many different languages and communication styles across the world. When achieving a language like English that is mostly spoken in America, there are a lot of advantages. One example would be, how language and good communication skills could help someone succeed in different work fields. I would say that English has helped break down certain communication barriers and has allowed global communication to be successful. The author expressed that one issue in our world today, is allowing language to become too diverse. I agree with this statement. Language is very important for our world and it always will be.

In this reading, there were 5 ways to get the most improvement from testing drafts that stood out to me. The first one was establishing the test objective. You want to make sure to think about the audience and how you can impact the readers. The second one was picking test readers who fall into the same category as your audience. Make sure to find people who are similar to the audience you want to reach out to. The third one was interviewing the individuals who tested the usability after they have feedback to give. Always take the time to understand the feedback that you receive and ask questions if you need further explanation. The fourth one was to avoid being bias because that could intervene with the test results. This puts emphasize on the idea that some individuals will add their opinion to make the tester feel that it needs to stay the same. If you’re just going to be bias and consistently add your feedback, there is no point of a peer review. The last one was to always ask for consent and keep reminding the individual that they can stop at anytime that they want. These simple rules can help improve anything that needs testing. We read this at the perfect time because in class we have peer review days which allow other individuals to give feedback on our assignments. Using these simple tips can help improve my writing tremendously.

Through this reading, the authors main focus is trying to argue whether the design of websites reflect cultures. There were examples comparing places like the United States and other countries that discussed how they use the internet. The author specifically chose South Korea and the United Kingdoms charity website to study this belief. The results made them believe that manifested advanced features and cultural aspects attract more local users. This is why they argue that the design of websites reflect different cultures and users. I agree with the author because a lot of individuals follow trends that are put into place. This is especially witnessed in the younger generation. Knowing this, it makes sense that adding culture into websites more frequently, would draw more people into their websites. This is a very logical topic that is rarely discussed, but I believe everyone will continue to see increases in users on particular websites if culture is applied.

According to this chapter, arguments expand our knowledge, lead us through facts that are backed up with evidence, and build onto what was already written. In an argumentative essay each person should make sure that they have a main idea (thesis), reasons to back it up with evidence, and opposing views just to make it even stronger. Readers should understand the writers argument clearly through the whole essay. Even though it is an argument, writers should argue respectfully. They should respect the fact that there are some people who might read their essay and completely disagree. Everyone in this world has their own opinion on things and that form of understanding is what makes an argumentative essay stronger. Ever since I wrote my first argumentative essay when I was a little girl, it’s always been my favorite. In an argumentative essay I believe that it helps me get my point across easier than writing another type of essay. In class we have to write a 7 page argumentative paper on a global crisis. I am glad that I read this chapter beforehand because now I can look back and remember these steps while writing my paper.

According to this reading, some of the reasons why terrorism exists in countries is because poverty, globalization, humiliation, and failure of government. Poverty leads a feeling of hopelessness so that’s what can cause a terrorist attack to happen. Globalization is a reason because some countries may be resistant to changes in things like the military, economy, etc. Humiliation is a reason because countries don’t like to seem weaker than other countries so to them, a terrorist attack fixes this issue. Lastly, failure of government can be a reason for terrorism because all countries have their own issues and sometimes if the government can’t fix an issue that the citizens want them to, the citizens of that country fight back which could be considered an act of terrorism. In this reading the author also expressed 4 different types of terrorism. What I found most interesting is the reasons why America is so targeted. In high school I learned about America being considered a superpower country and as I learned more on global terrorism topics, I started to realize why America would be targeted so much. This reading was well written and really educated me on different types of terrorism and why terrorism would even happen.

While reading the article, the author talks about environmental issues and how it is different from previous issues that our globe has experienced. Some examples of our global environmental issues is biodiversity, ocean resources, endangered species and wildlife protection, and deforestation. Biodiversity is focused mainly in developing countries. Ocean resources is a environmental issue because there are counts of overfishing and fisheries collapsing. Endangered species and wildlife protection protected whales from getting killed and ate. Lastly, deforestation is an environmental issue because forests are disappearing rapidly. For example, the Amazon rainforest decreases 3 million acres a year. When I read this I was completely shook. This is something that is happening but isn’t talked about enough. I believe that another major environmental issue would be global warming. Some people don’t believe in global warming but after seeing images and reading information on it, I do believe in this. Environmental issues are normally ignored and not talked about as much as financial issues. People have to realize that our Earth is just as important as our money.

In this reading, it talked about the cause of the global financial crisis and how people all around the globe responded to this crisis. The causes of this crisis was because of the deregulation of the financial market, financial innovation, executive compensation, low interest rates, subprime loans, and speculation. Each of these 6 things had an affect on our world financially in their own way. America was the most affected and was very anxious to find a solution. The Europeans kind of depended on Americans to adopt something. Lastly, the Chinese gained more power and their economic growth rates increased by 7%. I learned only a little about this crisis while I was in high school but after this reading I got a better understanding of what it was and how it happened. I believe that now countries around the world have learned to never let this type of situation happen again. Sometimes a global crisis like this one needs to happen so our countries know what not to do in the future.

In this article called, “Social Media, Public Space, and Emerging Logics of Aggregation” by Jeffrey S. Juris, he looks at the connection between public space and social media that is within the #Occupy movements. The author really takes his time talking about the #Occupy movements and how social media can push a protest further. An example of this was when he talked about occupying Boston. There were plenty of cases that involved police violence and the people of Boston were tired of it so they decided to take action and began to protest. Shortly after, many individuals expanded their fight onto social media. Majority of us use social media every day, from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to sleep. The best way to spread information and get a reaction out of people in America is through our social media sites/apps. Personally, I am always on social media sites and it has got to the point where I don’t even watch the news anymore, I just follow KTLA on these sites so I can still stay updated with what’s going on in the world. This proves that social media really can help push a protest so the protesters can win their fight. This weeks reading did a good job connecting public space and social media and even though it was a little difficult to read, I think I was still able to pull out key points. 

In this weeks reading, James K. Elmborg starts off by writing about how the digital world is replacing libraries. For example, technology allows us to not have the need to search all day through the library for an answer because we can get the answer with one click of a button on sites/apps like google. This information leads into the fact that nowadays spaces are disposable meaning property can be sold or turned into new spaces quickly and that’s why the author expresses that places like libraries need to advance their technological use so that they can be able to stay open and compete with companies like google. The author then begins to mention the Third Space. After reading this article, I am a little confused on what he means by the Third Space. I understand that he is saying the, “Third Space is the space of potentially meaningful contact between cultures and people” (Elmborg 344), but how does it connect to libraries and the spaces between us? This weeks reading was a little bit more challenging for me. The author did mention public spaces which allowed me to connect the information from this article to last weeks chapter reading, but I am still having a bit of confusion. 

In this weeks reading, this chapter talks about how Web 2.0 technologies complicate the difference between public and private spheres. The author used the social media site called Facebook as an example. He expresses how Facebook claims that they’re a private sphere because of its privacy setting when in actuality, users information can be shared to third party websites and to facebook owners. This proves that Facebook is not neither a private or public sphere and that is what the author argues. Not only does he argue this statement but he also provides a way that could help users, and that is by understanding Michael de Certeau’s notions of strategy and tactics idea. After reading this chapter, I learned valuable information about the differences between private and public spheres. Many websites or apps promote a privacy sphere but now I have realized that our privacy only goes so far. When signing up for these sites and apps every user has to check off a terms and agreement box that states that we accept the rules and regulations of this app or site. What we all may agree on is that most of us don’t actually read through all of the pages we just click the accept box. The one question I do have after learning all of this information is if these websites and apps tell us in the terms and agreements contract that even though it says our information is private, our privacy only goes to a certain extent because other third party sites or facebook owners can see our information. They promote privacy but look into all of our information and can watch any move that we make on their website. I agree with the author that many sites or apps are neither a public or private sphere, but are more of a combination of both.