Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

"It’s a space for kids to exercise their imagination and to connect with others to also want to build and create things." This is a quote from the article written by Diane Mehta as she tries to sell the virtual world to the rest of the world. 
For those of you who have no idea what I'm saying when i say "virtual world," a virtual world is an online social gaming site to be short. On there you can literally create your own world, your own avatar, and more. Some use it for the gaming, others for only the social part, and most of the time people love both of these aspects of the virtual world. Just like Mehta said, the great part about it is it's an outlet for those who wish to express their imagination and creativity. However, just as with any social networking site, there are some dangers behind children connecting with strangers on the internet. Kid's can be very gullible and believe that the avatar they play with online whom they are about to meet in person is also a child, when in fact they could be an adult planning to cause them harm.  
While these virtual worlds seem to be all make believe, there is a component believed to be reflected the avatar of the player. For example, if a villainous avatar causes harm to another avatar, it is believed by some that that action reflects the true behavior of the player. "People are prone to be unaware of the influence of their virtual representations on their behavioral responses," said Yoon and Vargas, who are researchers about this topic.
I can only assume that these virtual worlds will continue to grow despite the problems they have brought about with strangers and behavioral issues. I hope these issues can somehow be fixed in the future.

Blog about Twitter

Twitter is a great way for people to share their brief comments about an idea. However, what happens when you have more to say than only 140 characters? This is what make the Blackboard discussion board different from twitter. There is no limit to the amount of letters and words your type! Yet, some people prefer to respond in the heat of the moment without having their words documented  online regardless of how much or little they say, and this is why some prefer a discussion in person.
While some may like the short responses of twitter, or the organization of a blackboard discussion, there can not be one that is considered the best way to have a discussion. It truly all depends on the preferences of those who are discussing.

Social Networking

Social networks are used in many different ways by many different groups of people. Some may use it for job recruiting, such as the site "LinkedIn." In an article written by Frank Langfitt on NPR, he states, "LinkedIn says users include executives from all of the Fortune 500 companies. Typing keywords into a search engine, Crawford can scrape the entire network to dig out high-quality candidates that she can't find elsewhere."
Others have used social media to stay connected to distant friends and family members.Social networking has made it easier for families, that are separated by oceans, to stay in touch with each other. However, this has created a laziness in people to no longer make the effort to go see your friend down the street. People don't even feel the need to converse with someone they consider themselves close to, because they all ready know about their lives by what they post on Facebook. Virginia Heffernan, from the New York Times Magazine in an article titled, "Facebook Exodus," was discussing Facebook with her friend when she said, "I felt fairly detached from my Facebook buddies, because I rarely directly contacted them."
So social networks have their positives and negatives, but hopefully in the future we will learn how to only use them for the positives. Perhaps Facebook will limit the amount of time you are allowed to be logged in. Or maybe you will only be allowed to "stalk" someone for so long until you no longer have access to their page for a certain amount time.