What is "Normal"?

Who gets the right or the privilege to decide who or what is normal? What is normal? Is the girl with pink and blue streaks in her hair, more piercings and tattoos than contacts in her phone, and fishnet stockings considered normal? Or is the guy that is constantly talking into his bluetooth headset instead of spending time with his family, always driving his Lexus, and wearing a business suit normal? Are those examples stereotypical?

Stereotypes are too common and are experienced everyday. They aren't always negative, however, the majority do have a negative connotation. For example, many say that african americans are the best at basketball or that caucasions can't jump. It is also said that women aren't good at math or science and men that are sensitive and talk about their feelings are gay. None of these are necessarily true. It is proven in some cases that if someone is presented with a stereotype that applies to them and a task right before they are about to perform that task, then they will not do as well as they would if they never heard the stereotype.

Here is an example of stereotyping.

Digital Nativity

What is Digital Nativity?

Albert Einstein once said, "It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity." The term digital native refers to someone who has grown up in a world of technology and is very familiar with it all; examples would include someone who is familiar with texting on a cell phone, using the I-pad, or using websites like facebook. 

Typically the younger generation is more of a digital native, but some of the older generation also is because of jobs. I would consider myself a digital native. Although I do not have an I-pad or a blackberry, I still text (probably more than I should) and listen to music on my I-pod while I add to my facebook page (usually instead of doing homework). I recently got a MacBook Pro and it only took me a few hours to understand how to use all the programs and all the shortcuts one can do with the click of the trackpad and the combination of a few buttons. 

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic," quoted by Arthur C. Clarke. If someone sees technology as magic and not something that is beneficial and something that has purpose than they are probably not a digital native. They are considered a digital immigrant. A digital immigrant is someone who has grown up with limited or no technology and is not familiar at all with it; someone who is intimidated by technology or frustrated easily by it. No one in my family is a digital immigrant because even my grandparents text. They sent me an email about technology that included a video. I do not have a personal connection to someone who is a digital immigrant but I would assume that they do not know the many perks of a cell phone or the internet and I doubt they have a facebook account. 

An example of a digital immigrant is in this video.

An example of a digital native is is this video.

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What is Media Literacy

What is media literacy and what kind of questions can I ask to better understand it? The definition of media literacy to my understanding is the ability to interpret and use the media in a unique way to deliver a message or express oneself. I feel like this definition can be interpreted more ways than one depending on the person and how they choose to communicate, however, I believe that because it is vague, there are more options one can do to use media as a form of communication. Examples of media literacy include but are not limited to youtube, facebook, twitter, blogging cites, and match.com; in all of these, you make an account with a picture, a small paragraph about yourself, optional details like age, birthday, etc., and you can upload videos or posts about what you like, think, or feel. I have provided a link so that you can see an example of media literacy. This is a facebook profile.