Don't Go?

Well, everyone, the Mifflin Street Block Party is less than one week away. While I think many people are excited, the recent buzz around the event has not been all positive. Dean of Students Lori Berquam became famous, (or maybe infamous,) last week for posting a video telling students not to go to Mifflin. After much criticism, the video was removed almost as soon as it was put up, however once things are on the internet, as we have learned, they do not simply go away. Here is the video:

And here is a remix made by students:

Now I will not comment on what I think about the content in the video. However, two things that relate to media fluency can be taken from this situation. One, like I said, internet content does not simply just go away. (A great meme could be made out of that idea.) Second, whether people criticize Berquam or not, she got her message of safety and advice across. Everyone can make fun of her, but the internet has proven once again that it reaches students in a strong way.

Hope you enjoyed the videos and understand I am not ripping the message. I just wanted to place a spotlight on a specific UW example of how quickly a simple message can turn into collaborative production and remix videos.

Have a great day!

-Woey

Club Bucky

It's that time of year again badgers, Club Bucky is back!  For all of you upperclassmen out there that think you are too cool to go, consider this: Free Chipotle and Milios! What college student can resist free food, loud music and fellow badgers?  You can find out everything else you need to know through none other than social media! Check out the event page on Facebook HERE and spread the word on Twitter by tagging #clubbucky or #acm, (All Campus Party).  This is in fact and ALL campus party, so come enjoy, you're not too cool, I promise.

Check out the progress the giant tent that will host the party has made in just one day!

Go have fun!

-Dubs

Opinion Leader

Well, it has been a week since I reached out to everyone I could think of on Twitter that is famous, and no one has commented on our blog. I have to say I am just a little surprised that only one person, Josh Sitton of the Green Bay Packers, responded. Sitton says he tried, but it did not work. While I find this a little hard to believe since all you have to do is click comment, I was pleased he at least messaged me to let me know. I guess we'll just have to keep trying.

Woey

RateYourStudents.com?

So we all just got done choosing our classes (Thank God). While I'm parying to the wait list gods I was thinking about how I definitely used RateMyProfessors.com to help me make my schedule. So we are talking about online identity this week and how we are perceived online and it made me think about this website.

People on RateMyProfessor.com are bluntly honest and I can't help but wonder if professors looks at the comments their former students write about them. I think I would if I was a professor. Something to think about is that a professor could look at their negative scores and try to improve from that and become a better teacher. But their online footprint makes them out to be this horrible person when they might be nice in real life.

So, I started to think what if the tables were turned? What if professors could post what they think of us as students and help them make their decisions on whether to let us in their class or not. Things would be very different. I could admit that I am a lazy student in some courses and a teacher's pet in others, it depends on the class. So if one professor made a comment about me online, that's 'who I am' in real life.

What are your thoughts on this? How would you feel if the tables were turned and there was a RateYourStudents.com? Would you have good or bad reviews?


-Zaquisha

How Does the Web Perceive You?

The Web is currently trying to take over people's identities and companies like Facebook are trying to reach this goal within the next few years.  It's frightening to think that the Web can have more control over your personal identity than you, yourself.  In my opinion, that's not the way it should be.  Facebook is creating our identity based on what we post and who we interact with, which lets us have almost complete control over.  Facebook is trying to create a single identity for each individual, and according to psychologists we have may identities.  Google is perceiving our identity based on what links we click on and what we search for.  We may not realize it, but what we do in our own private settings has an affect on us as well.  We may not consciously think of Google as creating an identity for us as much as Facebook.  We have to be cautious, realizing that everything we do on the Web is creating an image that reflects on who we are as a person.  Our Web identities could potentially hurt us in the future, or maybe they already do.


-Wrianna Besely

On a Mission

We are trying to get someone important people in the public sphere to comment on our blog, and we will not stop bugging them until they do. If any of you famous people out there are reading this, just click on the comment section below and post as a guest using your name or URL. If you could somehow confirm it is you, that would be great.

So far we have asked some Packer players and college sports figures and we think this is a good way to get the word out on our blog. Cross your fingers.

Packer Player Update

We are still waiting to hear from our favorite athletes. Here is a Twitter convo we have going with Josh Sitton of the Green Bay Packers:

@jsitton71 there is a blog post just for you to comment and I get extra credit points if you take 2 seconds to do so. http//madtownmindset.blogspot.com/


@jweiss713 I tried bro. Didn't work




Now we are working out the kinks, but that is clearly a start.

Packers Please Post!

We want comments. We want interaction. Why not go to Twitter to ask some Packer players to post? So that's what we did! Here's to hoping our guys in Green and Gold see this and comment. XLVII!

H3y U R a QT ;)

Something that we don't realize today is that the majority of us are fluent in another language that we see every day. Text lingo, online slang, call it what you want, but these abbreviations like 'omg', 'wtf', 'nm', or 'ttyl' were not always around.

I remember my mom called me a few weeks ago and asked me, "What does 'LMAO' stand for?" I laughed as anyone my age would, but looking back it makes me realize that it is like a foreign language to some people.

Almost everyone has those friends on a social network who TyP3 liik3 DiS && Itz s00 Ann0yInG! Or we may catch ourselves being lazy and abbrivating sentences like "OMG WTH!?!" And without even thnking twice, we can decode what someone is trying to say, or easily know the words of what each letter stands for.

25 years ago, no one would have known our slang and typing styles that we see and use today. But as fasicnating as that is, is that a good thing? I would say probably not. Multiple times I have heard teachers rant about how lazy we are getting when it comes to writing, and that the amount of spelling and grammar mistakes are increasing with each generation.

Possibly text lingo is to blame for this. Why would a 6th grader learn how to spell the word 'tomorrow' when online they just use 'tomm' or 'tmrw'? And maybe that's the most practice they get at spelling is through online socialization.

I think that the excuse used to be on our older cellphone we would have to press a button multiple times to get to certain letters and abbreviating was faster and more convienant. But why do we do it while on the computer? We have a whole keyboard there and pressing a few extra keys can take less than 2 seconds.

If we keep getting lazier and lazier each generation, will our writing and spelling suffer?

-Zaquisha

If you're looking for a great Italian restaurant on State Street, Tutto Pasta would definitely be the place to go!  It is a little more expensive and upscale, but it's definitely worth the price.  They offer plenty of pasta dishes, pizza, and delicious appetizers.  It would be perfect for a date night with that special someone or a birthday dinner with friends.  My favorite dish here is the Tutto Pasta.  It is their signature dish and is nothing like you have ever tasted before! Simply delicious!  Go check it out!




-Wrianna Besely

Inside Wisconsin Basketball

Hey everyone, its Dubs here with an inside look at Wisconsin basketball!  First year team manager Brandon Zall has been kind enough to answer a few questions about the program, Bo Ryan and even a little about the role of social media in the lives of student athletes.

Dubs: What are your main duties as manager? 

Brandon:  Managers are hired to make life easier on the coaches, staff and players. Jobs are wide ranging and there are many of them. These jobs include but are not limited to: running autograph requests from individuals and charities, setting up equipment before practice, wiping sweat if players fall during games and practice, taping opponents games so coaches can watch  

The Kevin Bacon Game

There is a little game people play called the Kevin Bacon Game. In this game, players name their favorite actors and then they try to connect them with Kevin Bacon using movies and co-actors. The idea is that any actor is related to Kevin Bacon within six roles.

This is a play off of the "six degrees of separation theory" in which people believe we are all connected with in six hops to everyone else in the world. This video explains it a little bit better.

It is long, but if you jump around a bit you get the idea. So do you believe the theory is true throughout the world? Are you connected in some way to every person in Denmark, Russia, and Ethiopia? Share your thoughts on the theory.