NET 102 1st reading 'Everyday life' and 'Conclusion'

As part of the introduction category for week one:


‘Everyday Life’ and ‘Conclusion’ sections (pp. 163 to 165) of Berger, A. A. (1995). Sociological Theory and Cultural Criticism. In Cultural Criticism: A Primer of Key Concepts. Sage Publications.

My Review.

Berger discusses his study on how popular culture and Mass media affect everyday life. His focus is on everyday life "on the experiences of ordinary people and on their routines, attitudes, beliefs, and ways of functioning, with a particular interest in how they find meaning in their experiences". (1995, p 163)

Berger suggests in his writings that there are three important main points, “about how sociologist of everyday life work” (1995, p 163), first, natural environment observation, second, face to face observation and third, what people find meaningful in their lives, their internal experiences. He discusses that there is a difference between how sociologist on different continents, in this case “continental social scientists”(1995, p163) and in particular Henri Lefebvre, vary from American scholars in respect to ideological aspects of everyday life. He discusses how some American scholars study and blend the two ideologies to which “it is possible to draw a line between mass-mediated culture and everyday life” (1995, p 164).

I’m led to understand by Berger, that everyday life if studied can provide us with an understanding of social and sociological perspectives and could help us enhance further our utilisation and connection between popular culture, mass media and everyday life.
My thoughts:

It was an interesting read. Did I understand it? Yes to a degree. What did I learn? That mass media really does need to be studied by sociologists and not philosophers (it’s not really a philosophical concept; it is everyday life so why get philosophical about it?). No wonder television, newspapers, magazines and in particular the internet have progressed in leaps and bounds, people have the desire for knowledge no matter how insignificant it is, and people will want to study those who have desires. The internet has certainly taken me to places I never thought I would go, given me access to things I’m curious about, why not study it?

References:

‘Everyday Life’ and ‘Conclusion’ sections (pp. 163 to 165) of Berger, A. A. (1995). Sociological Theory and Cultural Criticism. In Cultural Criticism: A Primer of Key Concepts (pp. 135-165). Sage Publications.

 
 
If you like my review, thank you. Please do not copy.

Web 101 Week 2 (week 1 activity )

(I'm just backtracking here as I'm pretty sure I was meant to blog this last week. I'm blogging it this week (we are now in week 2 of a 13 week course.)


Web Communications 101: Communication and Collaboration Online.
What's in a name?

We were asked in the introduction module (module 1) to think about usernames.

"Activity - Thinking about Usernames
Throughout this unit (and subsequent Internet Communications units that deal with web presence) you will be utilising a variety of online services and applications. Before we begin therefore, it is a good time to think about consolidating your use of these services by establishing a username that you can share amongst them. Fortunately, there are a number of services available to assist you in this process. In this activity we are going to use one of these, namechk.com, to search for a suitable username." (Curtin: Web 101 introduction unit information)

http://namechk.com/loulounilly

To find a suitable username that could be utilised over the duration of the course to use with different web 2.0 applications. (Internet streaming music sites, facebook, twitter etc, basically social  networking.)
 
I found that I am on 12+ sites, you could probably find me on more that aren't listed on namechk.
 
My username "loulounilly ", is one that I have been using for a while now. It's a combination of my family nick name, loulou, and that of my son's Nilly. I've been using that particular pseudonym for over 2 years and I haven't come across any others that are in any way shape or form, similar. (just as well!).

You can also find me on the following sites
Twitter : loulounilly
Windows live messenger : Laura L (loulouherbert@hotmail.com)
Skype: laura.louise.herbert1
Facebook : Laura L Herbert (there are over 45 Laura Herbert's on there so don't forget the L in the middle).

Ive been on the Internet for a long time, so you are bound to come across me somewhere.

THOUGHTS:
I'm slightly overwhelmed with returning to study, especially 2 units by distance education, but as long as I do the readings (re-read the readings) and try to keep one step ahead, I think I will be OK. Stress has been a huge part of my life for the last 3 years so I'm going to try and keep that to a minimum.
I love and hate the fact that all the courses are on line, the information is interactive which I am finding very intriguing.  Doing something like namechk was a bit of an interesting eye opener.