Welcome to the class blog for COMM 4014/6014 Communication on the Internet. This is an online class being offered in the spring 2013 semester at the University of Memphis, taught by Dr. Kris M. Markman.
We will use this blog as one of the primary tools for discussing the class readings throughout the semester.
Please post a short note about yourself to get started on the blog and introduce yourself to your classmates. Why are you taking this class? What is your major?
Hello all. I’m Tim, and I’m a part-time Comm MA student and a full time comm specialist at FedEx. I’ve been in the program for 4 1/2 years now (seems like 100) but if all goes as planned, I’m hoping to complete the degree in December 2013. My primary focus is organizational comm and PR. This will be the third course I’ve taken with Dr. Markman. Internet comm is highly relevant to my line of work, and my team is even in the process of launching a new internal intranet called the Purple Hub, which is a hybrid blog/social media site/search engine/etc.
On a personal note, I live in East Memphis with my wife and our Springer Spaniel, Chloe. I completed my undergrad at Memphis and have been here for about 20 years. I’m a huge sports fan. I pretty much watch every Tiger basketball and Grizzly game throughout the season. Suffice to say, my wife hates the winter.
Hi Guys! My name is Erica and I’m a Communication major/Spanish minor. I am taking this class because it seems pretty interesting and definitely applies to our daily lives because of the advancements in technology. I will be graduating in May. I am a Resident Advisor for the University of Memphis. This is my first online class, so I’m pretty excited to see how different this will be from an in class course.
Hi there! I am Susan, an undergraduate Communications major. In a nutshell, I would categorize myself as a student/server/music devotee/baker/couchsurfer who is genuinely interested in your take on the world.
This is my first online class; I can’t help but wonder if it is either fitting or ironic. I took Dr. Markman for Media 2.0 and loved the topic & interactive structure of the class… so I came back for more.
I find the ever-expanding & evolving realm of the internet to be fascinating. I love reading about the sociological & psychological effects of various phenomena, and am especially fascinated by the media & internet.
Our submersion in this digital age has major effects on our behavior, but the culture created by it is simultaneously intangible. Only upon later reflection can we begin to peek outside the structure that shapes our thoughts and patterns. So scholars speculate & we somewhat understand bit by byte. I hope to learn with you this semester and look forward to the experience.
My name is Meagan Fertig. Please don’t try to say my last name out loud, it sounds like you are sneezing.
I’m a part time MA student in the Communications department and a full time U of M employee in the Recruitment and Orientation department. This is my second class in the program, and my second with Dr. Markman. I hope to determine through this class if I want CMC to be my focus moving forward.
I do have a background in media, receiving my bachelor of music with a concentration in music industry in 2006. However, I worked for the university as an undergraduate and came back in 2011 to work for them full time.
I learned so much last semester about the role of “the network” while taking the graduate level Trends in Mass Communication class, and I hope to expand that knowledge further in this class. I particular, during last semesters studies, I became aware that the only time I was unplugging myself was during sleep, and even then my smart phone was less than three feet away.
I look forward to reading everyone’s perspectives as we move through the materials.
My name is Adrienne Henderson. I am a Senior and this is my last semester and it’s a heavy load! This is my first course with using this blog format so bear with me.. Please tips are welcome! I am a mother of two BIG kids 14 year old daughter and a 10 year old son. I am not from Memphis, TN but have been transplanted thru marriage and extended family being here in the south.
My degree is in Professional Studies with a concentration in Organizational Leadership. I chose this course as an elective study because I spend so much time online and need to learn more about effective communication on the internet. I have never written a “blog” per say, but have a facebook, twitter, instagram, etc. I hope to get a good handle on the course materials and the format as I mentioned earlier it’s a bit different from courses I’ve taken in the past.
I enjoyed reading everyones posts above so far, nice to meet all of you.
Hello, everyone. My name is Jacob Merryman, and I’m excited to be getting started with the first semester of my last year in the B.A. program. I’m an Emerging Leader, and I work for the University part-time as a tour guide and desk assistant. When I’m not doing those things, I enjoy design, coffee, film, and music. I’m proud to be a native Memphian, and my great grandfather was the mayor in the 1900’s.
I’m looking forward to taking a course with such obvious relevance to our daily lives and our culture. Like your average millennial, I’ve spent a great deal of time interacting with the internet and social networks. However, I’ve never had the opportunity to spend time examining these technologies from critical, academic vantage points. So, I think taking some time to analyze these tools – tools we most often take for granted – will be an exceedingly rewarding experience.
It also seems to me that, whenever new technologies emerge, there’s invariably a barrage of conflicting ideas about how these technologies will affect society, i.e., “television is the zenith of human ingenuity” or “television will turn our brains to yogurt.” There are no shortage of such statements and predictions about the internet, and I often discount such polarized rantings. That being said, I think we have a unique opportunity in this course. By actually studying online communication from an academic perspective, we’ll be able to begin developing – or, continue developing – balanced views about the web, and how we ought to utilize it. All that to say, I’m definitely looking forward to the class.
Hello, everybody. My name is Jay Bishop and I’m a full-time Communications major at U of M. I’ll be 21 years old next month, which I’m partially looking forward to. This is the second semester of my third year in college, so I intend to do my best for these next few semesters. I plan on graduating next May. After that, I plan on being a radio D.J. and eventually a voice actor for movies, television, and video games. I have taken classes at Lambuth and the Collierville campus and commuted to these campuses from my home in Middleton, TN, where I live with my parents and my younger brother. I have had several online courses before this one, so I have had some experiences with this type of learning method. I’m not exactly “tech-savvy”, but I plan to do my best in this class and every class I take during my run at U of M. I’ve never “blogged” before, so it will be interesting to learn how to do this. The true reason I’m taking this course is so I can both learn more about how to use the internet than I already know and to satisfy the requirements for my major.
I’m very excited to welcome back former students and meet new ones this semester – hi everyone!
Jacob, I think what you said here:
“It also seems to me that, whenever new technologies emerge, there’s invariably a barrage of conflicting ideas about how these technologies will affect society, i.e., “television is the zenith of human ingenuity” or “television will turn our brains to yogurt.” ”
is a great point – and is actually going to be a prominent theme for the semester. While it’s very easy to make sweeping generalizations about how good or bad a technology is, nothing is ever totally bad or totally good (well, except maybe cat videos – those are pretty neat!).
I am looking forward to us all having some really great conversations this semester!