Cool Thing: Student Presentations (cont.)

Here are some sweet things that I've learned during student presentations:

• Shantel
  
  What a really interesting presentation. I'm the type of person that likes facts, I couldn't believe that 50% of people post profanity! I wondered what exactly qualifies as profanity. My friend's mom growing up thought the word "crap" was a very bad word (Sorry Mrs. Castle if you're reading this). I don't see crap as a profane word, but some do. Crap, crap, crap! The thought I had regarding all of this is that individuals can create whatever personality or persona for themselves that they want online (because of some level on anonymity)
  
  
• Carlee
  
  I had never heard of the "mormon bachelor pad" blog before this class. I of course, had to go and check out this really controversial site. I couldn't believe some of the things that I read. It goes to show that even people claiming to be "active," can tarnish that actual image and belief system of the Church. The blog as a whole is more of a joke, but I feel that the contributors take it to far sometimes. These individuals project themselves and the church in a very antagonistic way, compared to my personal social experience in Provo. I think there are some that follow the faith and some that don't. And the some that don't, sometimes write blogs with anonymous names to avoid accountability.
  
  
• Christopher G
  
  Facebook! I agree, it does seem that people really use Facebook to solidify offline relationships rather than create a lot of new ones. From my experience, back in the day at least, it seemed like it was a "myspace" thing to do, to meet new people. Facebook seems to have a different brand differentiation in the minds of consumers, in that it's more refined, the social media that you can take home to mom and dad, while myspace is the rebel, fish-net, short-skirt strumpet that would give your mom a heart attack.
  

• Chris H
  
  A virtual church? How about that! I couldn't believe the different ways that people are sharing religion and practicing religion. I remember back in the 2000 census, that "Jedi" was a religion that people could claim. It seems like that there is no end to the way media could be used to share or be involved into religion. I wonder though, if there is a line that is reached where a real in-person contact or relationship is needed for religion to be effective (obviously, I think there is).
  
  
• Sarah
  
  I agree with what Sarah had to say on how online relationship can be dangerous because people create a false reality and neglect their "real" or "offline" lives. It's crazy to think that there are some people who spend most of their courtship on the internet and have a very short "real-life" engagement before they get married. I personally don't think it's health to strictly cultivate and focus on relationships created and perpetuated online. I think online should just be a tool to help solidify relationships when needed.
  
  
• Spencer
  
  If we participate in something we'll get more out of it. That is what really stuck out to me. It was really interesting seeing the comparison of people who post in wikis based on whether they were registered or not. I thought everything Spencer said was really interesting because you could really tell that he dived into the information.
  
  
• Jessica
  
  It seems like a pretty interesting way to get involved--joining Facebook groups. One of the things that I thought of, was that on Facebook, when you setup a foundation, not just a group, you can actually set up a means to contribute financially to the cause. Facebook becomes a really easy way to create online content for a charity and raise money at the same time. I think that most people expect just about everything to be on Facebook. I mean, my laundry soap has a Facebook page.
  
  
• Megan
  
  Twitter! I've never really used twitter, but Megan presented a lot (a lot, a lot) of information on how twitter is used and how it can relate. It's pretty crazy to think how mainstream Twitter has become over the last couple of years. I mean, you can watch a Sportscenter broadcast and they talk about Twitter!
  
  
• Me--I brought cookies and I rock.
  
  
• James
  
  I did my presentation on Youtube as well. I agree that Youtube creates a new audience that we need to address in the Church. I think that because (as James addressed) so many people go to Youtube, we have an opportunity to reach more people that would not be reached otherwise. One of the thoughts that I had based on what James said, is that while there are thousands of user-created videos, there seems to be a propensity towards lower-quality videos. It might be an opportunity for the Church or members of the Church to create short, but high quality videos.
  
  
• Kyle
  
  Just how Obama used social media to connect with the younger demographic (18-30) and win the election. I think we as the Church can do the same thing. I really like how social media creates a wide variety of new vehicles to contact a market, that in some respects, was unapproachable by the Church. I think Mormon Messages is a great media vehicle for reaching young people. I think a potential weakness for Mormon Messages is that in an effort to maintain a brand image of the Church, the content or the way the content is presented (a very formal type video) may not be something young people are interested in viewing.
  
  
• Amy
  
  I think that Amy presented a really interesting idea. She compared smoking and anti-smoking ads on Youtube and some campaigns that changed the perceived dichotomy that existed on the site. I think that point she was getting at or at least what I was thinking while she was presenting, is that like the smoking ads there exists a lot of anti ads. We have an opportunity to tip the scale of apologetic content on Youtube about the Church.