Assessment One: There's a Lazy Way for Everything

Yeah, that's right. I said it. There really is a "lazy way" to do just about everything. And it's all because of the Internet. Thanks to the Internet you can now order pizza online, buy your socks and underwear online, go to school online, watch TV and movies online, hang out with friends online, even tour the Grand Canyon online... and better yet, protest online. What? Yeah, apparently so.

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So I saw this bumper sticker the other day while driving to an undisclosed location: 

I had the kindness to blur out the dude's license plate... But is it all that nessiscary? I mean, look at the bumper of his 4Runner. From the back of this guy's gas-gobbling SUV you can see that he's a firefighter (special license plate), he's a right-winged republican (Mit Romney bumper sticker) and he doesn't believe in the liberal media (the obvious one). 

Well sir, thank you for all that information. Now if only you had a sticker with your name on it... Then I'll be able to look you up on Facebook and see what high school you graduated from and all sorts of other information about you. 

I guess I could do that with any car on the road - stalk them and such - but this guy is making things extra convenient for me by displaying who he voted for and what kind of person he is. 

This guy seems like a genuinely cool guy. He drives a pretty cool car that can get over 200,000 miles and still drive like new. He's a firefighter who relates to the hardworking, conservative American. He's obviously a very smart guy... Who also disagrees with the liberal media. 

Why? 

Why would you have a biased bumper sticker about biased news? And another biased bumper sticker regarding your biased opinion on who you think should be president?  

I don't play the little game of "I'm pro this. I'm anti that." Overall, I don't do politics. At all. I don't have a stance on abortions, I don't care who the president is and I don't care all that much about this dumb gay debate. 

I mean, who am I to say that gays can't get married? I don't care. So go do what you wanna do, leave me out of it and leave me alone. 

In other words, stay out of my life and off my Facebook profile, everyone. 

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Assessment One: 

"How [I] believe public opinion may have been influenced through social media and new devices"

Let me ask you something, you know those posts on Facebook that go around saying "click 'like' to find a cure for cancer" or something dumb like that? Well did you ride the wave of changing your profile picture to a red equal sign during that equal rights debate in the summer of 2013? Because apparently some people think that counts as voting.

In an article on Mashable.com, Alex Fitzpatrick asks the question "Did Red Equal Sign Avatars Affect Court's Marriage Decisions?" Although the answer to the question seems to be undoubtedly "no" there are still some people, such as those who participated in the "changing your profile picture for a cause" phase, who believe this is a strong show of protesting. (I only see it as affective as a bumper sticker.)

The definition of "voting" is: to express a wish to follow a particular course of action. And voting is generally submitted anonymously. So why would anyone want to tie their name, their martial status, pictures of their kids and what they're a "fan" of to their vote for the government to see? Doesn't that seem like a lot of free private information? Is that the cost of being lazy and not protesting out on the streets or even simply doing some homework on this liberal communist before voting for him because "he's cool because he's black"?

I believe social media has the power to made anything look good (and sometimes bad), but I still need to ask myself if what I'm observing and learning from the Internet is really what it appears to be.

"How social media [has] contributed to the push for action, either in efforts to petition for or against marriage equality in Utah, and to organize for civil protest"

Facebook lets people express freely and instantly. It's able to catch the attention of people in power, much in the same vain as what happened with proposition 8. People outside of influence, in an entirely different state, were able to make an impact. The Internet and social media give us the opportunity to voice our opinion and come together with people with the same values and perspectives. 

People who participated in this movement changed their profile pictures hoping that the government would see the red box with the pink equal sign and then make gay marriage legal. So... that means these people are okay with the government spying on them and looking at their profiles? Well, so it looks like you guys got your way, I'm sure it helped but it didn't entirely convince the courts - according to Fitzpatrick.

So now that you gay guys can get married what're you going to do next? Try to legalize sodomy? Yeah, let's not put up pictures of that all over our Facebooks.

Moreover, I don't think changing your profile picture should be considered a valid ballot. Fitzpatrick's article states that the red equal signs showed a great deal of support and it wasn't over-looked but it didn't actully affect the court's decision. I don't think the government should be looking at our private social media outlets for opinions or votes. Everyone on the Internet is opinionated. Myself included. But the government needs to restrict itself when it comes down to our private lives. 

"What [I] think about technological determinism's role in this"

I think technology should never take the role of parents or social activities. It can be a great tool but it needs to be used responsibly. Advances have given us more opportunities to learn and explore, all from the safety of our own home, but it's important that we get out of our home and learn how to be a normal civilized person and function properly in society. 

I've seen how influential social media can be and its foolish not to believe that it hasn't affected gay rights. People use the Internet to let their voices be heard and this topic is no different. 

When the TV show Glee comes on in the homes of our society it becomes "normal" to see gay people having a good time and enjoying life. All we want in life is to be happy and when we see someone expressing happiness we are happy for them. I'm not gay myself but I do see that there are happy gay couples and I don't want to be the rude one that doesn't support their happiness. But at the same time I didn't change my profile picture to support their happiness.