To properly discuss my hometown, I will have to use the MacTavish article for evalutation.  In the article, River Terrace Mobile Home Park is described in two way: it has a very good sense of community and then on the other hand it is a very isolated place to live.  It is hard for me to agree with just one and this is why…well, where my actual house with is more of a sense of isolation, but the town where I have grown up, played sports, gone to school, etc is what I consider my community and that would align well with the first argument: the tightness and welcoming sense you get from a small community is one of a kind. 

         Now that the confusion is out of the way, I live in a rural area about 5 miles from the Canadian border called Alexandria Bay.  It is a river town on the St. Lawrence River and is absolutely beautiful.  The houses are close together and everything is within walking distance.  The sense of community, especially social capital, is amazing.  Going to the grocery store, for example, could be an hour affair when you went to go get a gallon of milk.  Everyone knows everyone, so people are constantly catching up on life and the gossip in the aisles of our shopping market The Big M.  How my town is set up makes it easy for people to go around to stores, meet up with friends, and be close to the action at all times.  I think that this helps maintain our high social capital because the community is in such tight quarters that you are almost forced to know your neighbors. 

         The only limiting factor would be that people from the outskirts of Alexandria Bay, such as Redwood (where I live) and Plessis, are not “in the loop” at all times because we do not live right in town.  We all go to school together though, so all of the villages are interconnected in that way.  We all participate on the same sports teams, committees, and musical events therefore all having the same “community experiences”.

         Aside from social capital, the layout of our town provides for many village wide activities that bring us closer together.  Since our community is so small and tight-knit, we have an annual village wide rummage sale, which brings all the surrounding communities that make up our river community together for an afternoon.  People converse and buy each others items increasing capital amongst them.  Also, we have a week and two weekends of Pirates Weekend, which is filled with activities for children and adults.  Many activities are held in the center of town, local bars, and on the beautiful river as well.  There are mock pirate invasions, magic show with pirates, and also many drink specials at the bars.  These are just two of the many ways my community promotes close ties.

         Needless to say, I love my community and have had the best experience growing up in such a supportive, close knit town.

Lauren vs Boyd: Clashing Opinions

Overall, Danah Boyd’s article “Streams of Content, Limited Attention” is something I do not agree with.  I think because I am living in this time of constant technology that I do not see a problem with it.  I believe it is a good thing to constantly know what is going on with out peers, heroes, and government.  With that being said, Boyd thinks that this shift from broadcast to network is a disaster and that we are consuming garbage instead of what is actually important.  Well, who is she to label what stimulates us and our minds garbage?  To us that could be food for the soul, and from a personal standpoint it is.

            Getting into the article, at first glance I thought I agreed with her as she explained this far-fetched idea of Web 2.0 and how glorious it would be.  Sure, I think that it would be awesome to live in a constant world of technology, which is so respects we do now, but not as she explained it.  I agreed with her picture of Web 2.0 only because I am in awe when it comes to technology and the new knowledge it brings to the table.  Her idea of “flow” was genius because we thrive on the flow of information and how we consume gossip, news, and messages from chat rooms.

            But, as I kept reading I started to believe she was actually cynical and on the opposing side of the argument of the “flow” of technology.  Her four core issues is when I began to seriously disagree because I feel as though the aspects she is putting down about technology is what is so great about it.  In her paragraph about democratization, Boyd said that we are not paying attention to the important aspects in our world, but only what we see as important.  I think that what we pay attention to is what is important to us as individuals.  Who wants to read things that we don’t care about?  Certainly not me.

            Also, she said that what stimulates our minds is not a good thing.  Why?  I feel like if my mind is being stimulated and I am interested in what I am looking at, then what is the problem?  I set time aside to look at what interests me aside from schoolwork and school related things.  My brain needs time to enjoy a couple hours of what Boyd would probably consider garbage.

            Boyd says that she believes that we live in the world we create and we cannot see past that.  Yes, I agree with that however I do not see that in a negative way the way Boyd sees it.  I think that who we talk to online and what we look at is a reflection of us.  So why would we do anything different?  That may be a close-minded statement, but I am not saying that I am not for doing something different.  We all fall into comfort zones and it is very hard to come out of it. 

            She ends with saying that what is happening is both exciting and terrifying, but that is like with anything else.  Life is both exciting and terrifying.  It is important to take the good with the bad because everything is like that.  However, I believe that technology is helping us in ways that nothing else could help us in.

A Chain Reaction: How An Individual Decision Can Impact a Community.

It is important to engage in our community to become productive and well-rounded individuals in society.  Putnam has given examples as to how we can increase social capital, which is social networks and trust, which is how we defined it in class.  I agree with Putnam when he points out in his work Bowling Alone that we should be involved in clubs, such as bowling leagues, his great example.  I believe that it brings people together in the sense of bridging, rather than bonding because you are bringing together people of different backgrounds into a common light.  This is important as a community because if you unite people of different backgrounds the social capital will increase, resulting in a stronger community.  Also, by being a member of a club, it increases not only collective social capital, but individual social capital as well.  Individual social capital is a necessity to becoming a “whole” person.  The more people you know and the more people you can rely on, the richer your life and the experiences you have will be.  Life is all about moments and what you do with the memories you gain.

            However, besides Putnam’s example of joining clubs as increasing social capital, we also talked about several other examples in class on Tuesday.  Several other ways to increase social capital exist, and they could be considered more useful than just joining clubs.  One miniscule way someone can increase trust and other feelings in the community is by holding the door for others when you enter or leave a location.  Small gestures such as that, and others like shaking hands, saying hello/goodbye, and making eye contact when you speak, are all ways that trust can be established in a community.  It shows the genuine nature of ones character and it is a trait that most people will not forget. 

            Being a frequent supporter of local causes, teams, and benefits is also another way that trust and social networks can be established.  In my town, my Mother is part of the Relay for Life team and they raise money for cancer awareness.  Due to the fact that she is apart of that, she is known as someone my community can count on to help out wherever is needed.  She is known to be a good-spirited person because she participates in several other fundraisers, benefits, and teams in my community.  By making the individual decision to be active and support aspects of your community, it could be a chain reaction.  By a chain reaction, I mean that if one person seems to be getting positive feedback from participating in said events, then more people will follow that example.

            I guess what I am trying to say is that being your own person and following your individual decisions all the way can truly cause a chain reaction.  I believe that in saying that, it is important to set a positive example for others in the hopes that they will also follow what you are doing.  If chain reactions happened more frequently, I believe that communities would have a strong collective social capital, as well as a strong individual one.

My Exclusive Community-- Assignment #1

            Throughout my life, I have been apart of various sports teams, such as soccer, softball, ice hockey, and golf.  In my opinion, in all sports there is a sense of community and it feels like you always belong.  You are bonded with your teammates, maybe not through personal experiences and your background, but you are united through a common goal: to succeed.

In high school, I was always into sports and always busy with team activities.  My junior year of high school I was apart of my Girls’ Varsity Soccer team.  Going into preseason, I had a different feeling about that year more than any other year.  We got along extremely well and we just clicked.  It was unlike anything my coach and our school had ever seen.  My talented team had scored more goals in the first half of our season than the soccer program had produced in the last 3 years!  What an accomplishment to be apart of.

I was not only part of a team and sisterhood; I was also part of a community.  We had our differences and we did not come from the same places, but we were bonded our love for soccer and for each other.  We had a perfect regular season with an exceptional record.  The playoffs were next.  We stepped out onto the field wearing out purple and white, out heart on our sleeves.  “Leave it on the field” my coach said before we went out.  I scored our first goal and at that moment I had never felt more proud to be apart of that team. 

We ended up losing the game 2-1, but I had never felt apart of something so big, powerful, and overwhelming.  I think that is what it feels to be apart of a community.  It is just this amazing feeling of belongingness that I believe is indescribable.  My heart was filled with pride to be a Purple Ghost and at that moment when I walked off the field with tears in my eyes, my best friend and sister put her arm around my shoulders.  I think it was at that moment that I realized this team was a family and we were apart of an exclusive community made for the 2012-2011 Girls’ Varsity team.

I honestly believe that there were elements that allowed this sense of community to come about.  When I scored the first and only goal, I felt as though my team valued me and I was essential to our success.  Individually, that was such an amazing feeling.  Also, when the game was over we held our heads high and all our fans stood in the stands and clapped for our accomplishments of that night as well as our amazing season.  Having “outsiders” look in our exclusive community, I was never more proud to be apart of something that people looked upon as something special.  Lastly, when we hung up our cleats in the team room we all looked up at each other and instantly held one another’s hands.  Our bond was complete and we had never been more united than that final moment we shared together.

First post…testing 1,2,3

Figuring out the blog.

That is all.