Tech Friday Survey Results

Today we conducted a survey on the topic social media.  We asked questions such as what social media cite to you prefer and these were our results.  Majority of people have three or four social media sites and spend roughly an hour on those sites.  The most popular social media site was twitter with Instagram in second then snapchat.  When majority of people create their social media sites they make them private so not everyone can see what they post providing more security.  Our most shocking statistic came from this question, Do you treat people differently on social media then in person? The result of this question was fifty-fifty which is unfortunate.  You should always post on social media like you were talking to the person face to face.

Tech Friday 3/21/14

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HSXCZCV

Discuss Emma's decision to change her future.

In the novel, The Future of Us, by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler, Emma makes bad decisions in order to change her future.  In the suburb of Lakeforest, Emma receives a computer from her dad and her best friend Josh brings over an AOL disc he got in the mail so she can access e-mail.  When Emma logs onto AOL she sees a blue tab that reads, Facebook.  Emma has no idea what this is because it is 1996 and Facebook has not even been invented yet!  Naturally she clicks on it and her Facebook page appears fifteen years in the future.  Next she discovers that multiple friends and family of hers have Facebook pages too, including Josh.  As Josh and Emma continue to pry through Facebook they are able to view their lives fifteen years in the future including details such as their jobs, who they marry, and where they went to college.  Knowledge of the future comes at a cost as Emma and Josh struggle to not use what they know about their futures in their everyday lives.  Emma cannot resist the urge to change her future.  Emma learns that her husband is gone for long periods of time and does not have a stable job.  Emma panics about her dreadful future and plots to do something drastic to avoid it.  She decides to call her future husband Jordan Jones Junior to guarantee they will never meet.  "Just like that, the future is changed forever.  Fifteen years of history-future history-is changed because Emma didn't like the guy she married...any person who was impacted by their relationship, even in the slightest way, will be twisted in countless new directions"(132).  Emma made a permanent change in her future even though she did not know that much about it.  She jumped to conclusions and immediately thought her life was awful from a few notes her future self posted on Facebook.  Emma continues to be disappointed with her future and adjusts her life in the future every time she is unhappy.  She never gives any new version of her life a chance to show how it really is.  Emma ends up regretting the choice she made to change her future life. She realizes that instead of worrying about her life fifteen years from now, she should have focused on the decisions she is making now so she can have a good future.  Adjusting the future was a poor decision by Emma and the risks she took resulted in serious consequences.

To learn more about the effects of social media and how it is revolutionizing society watch the video below:

Click here to learn more about social media!

Compare and Contrast future Emma to present Emma and future Josh to present Josh

In the novel, The Future of Us, by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler, future Emma and Josh appear to be much different then Emma and Josh are now.  As Josh and Emma live their present lives in high school their personalities are quite different from one another even though they are such good friends.  Emma is more confident then Josh and will go and talk to new people where Josh would not.  Though Josh is shyer he is much more personable with people.  Emma has a lot going for her because she is talented, smart, good at track, and plays the saxophone in the band.  Someone like that would not expect to have a bad future.  Josh on the other hand is very average.  He rides a skateboard, does well in school, and draws.  When they accidentally log onto Facebook in 1996 and view their lives fifteen years in the future, the tables turn and Josh is the one that has things going for him.  Josh has a high paying job working at a graphic design company, has a beautiful house on the lake in their home town, and has a sweet family with a wife, and three kids. Josh is delighted with how his future life is going but, Emma is highly upset with how hers is looking.  Emma has no kids, a husband who spends a lot of time away, and does not have a stable job.  Due to her frustration she makes alterations to her future, trying to make it better, when really she is making it worse.  She never is content with what her future life looks like.  "Maybe Josh was right and I shouldn't have gotten rid of Jordan Jones so quickly.  Or maybe I should have stuck it out with Kevin.  It wasn't perfect, but every couple has hard times.  Now I'm married to Isaac Rawlings, and we're already getting a divorced"(264).  In order to control her destiny, Emma changes her husband and other aspects of her life if she has the smallest concern about something she posted on Facebook in the future.  Now she regrets all those changes she made and is feeling awful about the risks that she took.  Future Emma's life is worse then it is now where Josh appears to have a better life in the future.  Always be cautious about the decisions you make now because your future is not set in stone and a major mistake could drastically change it.

To learn about some of the negative aspects of Facebook watch this video:

If you would like to learn more about The Future of Us click here to read more!

Tech Friday 3/7/2014

Discuss if the discovery of Facebook was beneficial or unfortunate for Emma and Josh.

In the novel The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler, the discovery of Facebook is unfortunate for Emma and Josh because it enabled them to see what their lives are like fifteen years in the future, both the good and the bad.  When Emma receives a new computer Josh decides to give her an AOL disc he gets in the mail.  When Emma puts the disc into her computer and logs on to AOL there is a small blue tab at the top that says Facebook.  Filled with curiosity, she clicks on the tab and her Facebook page appears showing her life fifteen years in the future.  The most peculiar thing about this is that it is the year 1996 and Facebook has not even been invented yet! Knowing both the good and bad things about their futures makes them more cautious of what they are doing now.  Learning about their lives fifteen years later causes Emma and Josh to constantly worry about what they are doing and how that is going to effect their futures.  For example, Emma discovers that she never really has a stable job in the future.  Instead of taking a grade level science class next year, which was her plan, Emma decides to take a much more difficult class at the college. Emma and Josh begin to adjust their futures to their liking.  Though they are trying to make their futures better they are taking a risk of creating unwanted changes to their lives.  Emma is displeased about how her life turns out and it causes her to make the risky decision of calling her future husband, Jordan Jones Junior, to make sure they never meet.  " Josh notices my phone card on the desk, with the silver scratched off the back to reveal the activation code.  His voice is hushed, 'You did it?' I nod slowly.  'You talked to Jordan?' 'It's over,' I say.  'We're never going to meet.' (131). Emma believes that she is just helping her future however, she does not realize the negative impacts of her actions. She needs to step back to have a broader view of life as a whole and not just an upsetting week she looks to be having on Facebook. A few gloried comments on Facebook do not show how someone's life is really going.  There is more to one's life then what is posted on their Facebook.   Knowing the future is perilous and becomes a burden for Josh and Emma.

To learn about the negative and positive effects of Facebook watch the short clip here!