Benkler

1. Benkler definately sees the social networking on the internet as a positive way to have more freedom. He talks a lot about freedom and human development. Through these two avenues he presents the freedom for humans now to take part in whatever interests they have. Since the internet has so many topics to be involved in, our society can pick and choose which ones they want to be a part of. For example I could be a fan of mission organization on Facebook or follow one on Twitter. I can basically choose what I want to hear and learn about versus the television news where I may have to hear about golf which I'm not very interested in. Through the internet and freedom to post or make personal websites, society can use the internet for self-help. It's a big positive to the internet. Instead of having to buy a book, program at 24-hour fitness, or DVD, I can just go onto the Internet and search for body workouts. It's a specific topic that I can get a lot of information on and make a plan that is suitable for my life. Through this I can have human development on my physique and increase in a healthier lifestyle. It is very practical and accomodates our societies busy lifestyles.

2. The first social networking that I thought of was eharmony. Maybe it's because there are so many commercials on TV. Through eharmony our society can find friendship, love, or even soulmates. They really don't even have to leave their home to have a relationships (although I would not advice this). On eharmony the profile can be anyone you want it to be. It can be true, made up with half-lies to look more appealing, or completely false. That's the hard part about social networking in that who knows if the information is really true. There has to be a lot of trust in these types of websites if you're really going to put a lot of investment in it. For example, I could say I was a 30 year old, attractive model who lives in New York. This is completely false, but the person on the other side of the screen wouldn't know that. They might fall in love with a completely different person than who I am and it sets them up for failure. I think social networking is great if the world could be completely trustworthy. I love facebook for the fact that I can connect with old friends, but I have known them in person and know that what they are saying lines up with who they really are. The only dilema in social networking is as I said before, who knows if what they are saying is true unless they somehow can prove it. It's taking a big risk. But somehow I have heard of amazing relationships forming from websites like eharmony, so it must work some of the time. (I haven't used eharmony, but it was one I have heard a lot of and have many opinions on.)

3. I have primarily used social networking the realm of Facebook. Last year I headed a Relay for Life team on my dorm floor, and I used Facebook to get information out. One girl on my team knew how to create a google.dox page and she did that so we could send out information to our friends and family. It was a great way to advertise what we were doing and ask for support in organization. We used Facebook to communicate as everyone had different classes and times they could meet. It worked really well, in that everyone posted thoughts, ideas, and some suggestions for something they didn't like. Writing on a wall versus complaining in person is much easier to communicate feelings and you're not so vulnerable. By using Facebook everyone could democratically be a part of the team and we came up with the best solutions for our team after hearing both sides of the argument or idea. I think we had the best team we could come up with because of the benefits of communicating on Facebook.