September 30th 2017

The month of September is coming to an end, fall weather is stating to begin, and the amount of empty beer cans I have stashed in my book bag because I am too lazy to find the nearest trash can is piling up. Man, I love this time of year.

My JV team had a volleyball tournament today from around 9 in the morning to 3 in the afternoon, and I was impressed with the level of play that they brought. One of the kid's parents bought me Chic-Fil-A, apparently being able to see the hunger in my stomach from 15 feet away.

School is actually going really well! (Something that at this time of year I usually would not be saying.)

Also, LeBron and DWade are teammates again... very hype.

Social Media in the Middle East

Much of the content that is in the readings assigned for this week explains what social media has done for the Middle East and the direction that it seems to be going in for the future.  In the article from the Pew Research Center “The Role of Social Media in the Arab Uprisings” authors Heather Brown, Emily Guskin, and Amy Mitchell delineate what is thought to be happening versus what is actually happening in regards to the effect of social media in the Middle East during the Arab uprisings. To clarify, a lot of what the Arab uprisings are about deal with the exile of Mubarak, the riddance of the former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and the civil/political unrest that is underway in Syria.

One would think that social media and internet access is found everywhere in the world, but that is not the case for certain parts of the Middle East and other regions in different countries. 65% of Egypt is without internet use, but the 81% of those who do have access to internet claim to use that force in order to stay in tune with all things political. This could be a solid representation of the rest of the Middle East. Most individuals in the region who have access to internet and new technologies use social media and other sorts of communication to let the rest of the world know what is going on in their hometowns, signaling the universal community of the travesties triumphing in their areas. Included with social media are the use of bit.ly links, an app that makes internet links shorter and more accessible to a mobile device. The age we live in now is very important for those in the Middle East, as young as the area is, where they can use social media and different apps to communicate with other individuals in efforts to get the word out about current situations happening there.

In Aljazeera’s article “What next for the media in Middle East and N Africa?”, several media related topics are underscored with details about where it could be headed in the future. One topic, Media and government, indulges readers about how some country’s governments appoint selected officials in certain agencies to regulate what is being exported by the media. This can create issues in regards to the legitimacy of what is being digested by its viewers. Media and surveillance is another key topic. Surveillance of consumers by the government has increased while the number of government leaks like Snowden’s case and the recent Panama papers case. The use of anonymous Twitter accounts to divulge important information in nations like Turkey and Morocco have also brought attention to other governments worldwide, letting them know that people like Snowden are out there in their communities ready to show the public what they think needs to be shared. Incidents such as those lead countries to make stricter security and surveillance policies, each country having distinct and different ways at approaching the matter.

In my opinion, social media has only heightened the way information is expedited to other parts of the world. Without social media during the Arab uprisings, who knows how many more people would have not been able to escape certain areas or assemble counter-protest groups to combat the evils upon them? But, with that being said, more and more government intervention is also going to come out of this, I believe. Surveillance techniques are only going to get stricter and stricter, and government censorship in countries that have not fully liberated their people (especially in the Middle East) are going to increase as well. It is up to those who are protesting, us as citizens and advocates for their cause, and the increasingly evolving world of technology to give the people what they deserve which is the right to live freely without the threat of intermission of a selfish government.

Sources

Sonay, Ali, and Roxane Farmanfarmaian. “What next for the Media in Middle East and N Africa?” Al Jazeera English, Al Jazeera, 7 May 2016, www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/05/media-middle-east-africa-160504131354194.html.

Heather Brown, Emily Guskin and Amy Mitchell. “The Role of Social Media in the Arab Uprisings.” Pew Research Center's Journalism Project, Pew Research Center, 27 Nov. 2012, www.journalism.org/2012/11/28/role-social-media-arab-uprisings/.

My car battery is running low

This last week at school has been pretty good. I talked to my professor about what I can use my degree for once I graduate, and got some really good answers from him.

I skipped class Friday cause I needed to study for a test in the class of the professor who I previously mentioned, actually. Feeling pretty good about what my grade is going to be on it. It's nice having that feeling of certainty instead of the hard plunge you feel in your stomach when you realize that you didn't study at all for the test and prepare to suffer the consequences of a dreaded 65 or below. But that wasn't this time so I am really excited about that.

This Friday night/ Saturday morning was pretty fun. Me and a few buddies went to a show to see the guys we know in Nesta and two other really good bands (Plunge, Dirty Turtles). The venue was someone's garage, and oddly enough it wasn't just a run of the mill garage either. It was spacious, but still standing room only with the amount of people there. Great music and even better times!

I also think that I am going to quit Mellow Mushroom soon and get a job somewhere else. Being a server really isn't as cut out as it is. A friend of mine told me that this was going to happen after the first couple of months, and I knew she was going to be right. I'm not mad at all or upset, but it's definitely time that I find another job instead of slinging pizza and hoagies.

Also, my car battery is running low. Should probably get that fixed soon...

21

Tomorrow, September 8th, will be my 21st birthday. One can consider this part of their life as a milestone, a time for celebration, and the start of your real "adult" life. But, I don't know how I want to feel about it yet. Yes, it is cool knowing that after tomorrow there will never be an issue with me purchasing alcohol or being carded at a bar. On the other hand, whether I was 21 or not, I would still be drinking on the weekends with my friends and enjoying my time. Like always, I really think I am just overthinking on the subject and should be very excited to drink legally! And go to bars! And call an Uber at 3:45 am to get home alive! (Don't know if I want to get that belligerent, but it is always an option).

I really am excited to urn 21, though. In my eyes, turning 21 marks a new chapter in your life where you aren't really just a college student (for those who are in school) or just someone who is working full time or just graduated high school a few years ago. I feel like turning 21 is the start of something new. New mindsets, new responsibilities, new areas of life to be explored. Shoot, I'll be turning 30 soon and who knows what I'll be starting in that part of my life. Hopefully it'll be something that consists of having a steady and well paying job with a family that my wife (whomever that will be) (if I find one) (I'm already stressing about my life 10 years from now) and I will take care of and support through thick and thin. It seems that I have strayed away from the idea of me turning 21, lets backtrack a little bit.

New responsibilities, new areas of life to be explored. Lots of my buddies have told me "Dude you gotta go to the bars downtown!" or "Let's go to Cha-Cha's!" and many other things that are related to those. I'm not too sure if I'll ever be a bar or club kind of guy, but who knows. I didn't think I'd be at VCU 3 years ago, and look at where I am now. I'm actually in the library right now making this post on a school computer because my lovely laptop is lingering at home with some technological issues that neither myself or the IT department at VCU can figure out. But hey, that's how life goes sometimes!

I skated for the first time in what, 2 days yesterday? 2 days isn't a lot to be honest, but sometimes when I'm not skating all I can think about is the next time I'll be back on my board. That's true love right there!

School is going well so far, but I've been sick for the last couple of days and I want to scream and break a wall and make a scene. I'm not going to do any of that because that's dumb but thinking about it makes it seem less unrealistic.

So what should I do tomorrow? There's a beer and wine festival at Maymont, or Byrd Park. Not too sure. Maybe I'll buy a case and crack open a few cold ones with the boys. My birthday is on a Friday, so I kind of HAVE to do something exciting, right?

Either way, whatever that happens tomorrow is what happens tomorrow. I'm excited to turn 21 and be able to go out with my buddies and not have to use the excuse "I'm too young!". I am finally of age... :)

But until the clock strikes 12 tomorrow, I have a boatload of homework and studying to do. Which means I'll be looking up random facts and articles in Google for about an hour or so. Cheers!