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Sam's PageSam is a Communication & Media student, she is 20, and in her spare time she likes to see live music (when she can afford to) and play with friends. She has a fondness for cats - the real and lolcat variety - and spends an excessive amount of time trawling through op shops. Consequently, she bears an uncanny resemblance to her Great Aunty Beryl.
Catchup AssignmentMy concept: The use of creativity as an outlet for troubled youth. A website aimed at youth aged 15 - 18 years which encourages youth to express their feelings through being creative. It is a safe space, an opportunity for youth to meet likeminds and a means of group support. Ideas for content:
Site Design: The website design should be simple and easy to navigate yet vibrant and appealing to the demographic. Ideally, the website design and it's logo would be fun, recognisable and reflect the interests of the audience. I think a good example of this is the Youthweek.com logo:  also, the website design for www.youthagora.org:  The website will have a simple, bold and brightly coloured menu like the one pictured above. It will be visually stimulating and include images that the audience can relate to, such as photographs of people like themselves. How will it benefit Youth? Art expression can be very therapeutic. The website will be a space where youth can come together, meet people and share ideas. It is a safe space and a opportunity for group support, not only from mentors and the like, but from fellow youth that have been through similar experiences. As well as providing support, useful links and information, and allowing creative expression as a means of therapy, talent and self-esteem can both surface with the right encouragement. Youth Project Article: “Can you excuse me; I just need to update my status”WORDS SAM SPERRING Recently, while travelling the usual forty-five minutes via Premier Illawarra (Bus of Doom) from Wollongong to Warilla, I happened to “overhear” a conversation. If I had a buck for every painful yet strangely comedic hour I have spent on this bus gawking at fellow passengers or listening in on their conversations (this is achieved using the “I’m pretending to listen attentively to my iPod, but really, it’s paused” technique) I could buy Premier Illawarra.. Or you know, a car. This particular conversation was one of the less scarring things I have been subjected to on my daily bus rides, but prompted me to think about the current state of technology, and how it affects the way we live. It was between two 15 year olds, a boy and a girl, and went something like this: Girl: “Oh my god, like, Johnno asked this girl, Jess, out on Facebook and she said no and now he’s totally, like, stalking her”. Boy: (Laughs) “Whatever, I reckon MySpace is heaps better than Facebook” Girl: “Yeah but msn is, like, way better than both of them. I was chatting to Ben the other day, and he told me that Megan, y’know that slutty girl from Lake, she like, tried to cyber with him” Girl/Boy: (Eruption of laughter) Might I add, through the entire conversation the two of them were using their mobile phones. Ok, let’s be honest. I don’t like to imagine what life would be like without my mobile phone, and yes, I’m addicted to Facebook just as much as the next person. In fact, it’s open as I type from my laptop right now and my phone is in reach. If I’m anywhere within a 5 metre radius of a computer with internet, you can guarantee within moments I will be typing my email address into that familiar little white box with suspense. When I'm feeling bored or procrastinating from doing important things like school work, my finger can be found lingering over that precious little F5 key so I can refresh the page at optimum speed and see what my Facebook friends have in store for me next. Thankfully I can’t afford an IPhone. I suppose you could say that myself, and many others, would be facing a potential existential crisis if something were to happen to Facebook. Maybe that last statement was a bit dramatic, but it’s not just Facebook and other social networking sites that are consuming our time and spoiling things for those who are attached to doing things the “old-fashioned” way, its technology in general. Computers, mobile phones, iPods, mobile phone iPods… The ways in which we can communicate, entertain ourselves and access information are forever expanding. This ever-increasingly hyper-interconnected world we live in is greatly affecting the socialisation processes of youth. Gone are the days of throwing rocks at potential suitor’s windows, making them mixed tapes or writing sappy love letters. Why waste time, effort and awkward first dates when within moments, you can pry into their personal lives online? All without them knowing. Sure, that’s potentially creepy and has a stalkeresque vibe to it, but this way, you can spare yourself the disappointment of engaging in any real contact and being terribly let down. Personally, I would rather know that my love interest was part of the “World of Warcraft” Facebook group before engaging in any sweaty-palmed small talk. The question: Is the perpetual evolvement of technology and the younger demographics reliance on it having a negative or a positive affect? Arguably, the answer is largely dependent upon the generation gap and those old fogies who can’t quite grasp the concept of why we need to Tweet the most intricate details of the sandwich we just ate. According to Roy Morgan Research, almost 80 per cent of Australians aged 14-24 access the internet at least once a month, more than a third said they cannot live without a mobile phone and 44 per cent believed computers and technology have given them more control over their lives. It’s not only Australians aged 14-24 that are reliant on technology. Strangely enough, the “old fogies” I mentioned earlier are not all as technologically inept as we think. I’m sure I am not the only person to log into their Facebook account and find a friend request of the more irksome type. Yup, that’s right; our parents are buying into it too. My reaction to this was, initially, a mixture of confusion and disbelief - it seems like only yesterday I gave my mother the 101 on text messaging, and last time I checked she didn’t even have an email account -then it was complete and utter horror. The idea of my mother seeing into the less willingly advertised section of my life, i.e. drunk and messy on a Friday evening (damn you ‘tagging’, damn you to hell) was absolutely mortifying... Admittedly, seconds later I took a breath, realised that the rest of the world (AKA Facebook) could gawk at me making a fool out of myself whenever they fancied, accepted my new friendship and moved on. Point being, parents + Facebook = weird, no? I’ll admit it. I’m completely reliant on technology. Chances are, so are you. Why fight it when it feels so good? I’m also most definitely part of the 44% that believes computers and technology have given me more control over my life. In my opinion, having control over your life IS, in every way, a positive repercussion of spending a little too much time on Facebook. Basically, technology - WIN. edited by el Links:
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