Image Manipulation

The last few years photoshop has been used a lot more in magazine publications to make women seem more attractive. As the cameraman in this video put it "99.9%" of photos in magazines are retouched to make the subject more attractive. I believe this is harmful to both women and men. For women, they are being pressured into trying to become the perfect looking person. It hurts their self esteem and confidence to see women that appear to be perfect in their looks. Some women strive to be the perfect looking women which can be harmful to one's physical and emotional state. For men, some, not nearly as many as women, fall into the same category as women as trying to construct a perfect body. The way it is most harmful to men is that they try and search for the perfect woman which does not exist. It leads to them being unsatisfied because there standards for physical beauty is too high. A potential solution would be if a magazine came out and publicly shared they were not going to use any photoshop in their photos. It would be more truthful of what beauty is in today's society. And hopefully if one magazine made this their policy than it would lead to other magazines changing their policy as well.

Social media sites are beginning to be introduced in classes. It's a way to increase communication between teachers and students outside of the classroom. With the use of social media teachers are able to post assignments, send messages to students, post class calendars, and post helpful videos. Sites being used by teachers are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pintrest, Edmodo, and Coursesites to communicate to their students. For high school students, I think teachers using social media sites is a good idea since most high school students are participants in social media and are accustomed to how social media works. A concern I have with social media is forcing students to use social media sites that are not strictly for academic purposes(Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram). Cyberbullying is present on these sites and forcing students to join this sites could lead them to online harassment, so if teachers decide to use social media as part of the class they should use a strictly academic only site like Edmodo or Coursesites where there is less cyberbullying. My other concern is social media discourages in person communication which may hurt a students social skill. According to campus technology, "Students may find themselves at a disadvantage during college admission or job interviews when they need to command attention and deliver a coherent message. At social gatherings and in personal relationships, they need to be able to effectively express themselves and connect with others." Teachers must help students succeed in their future which extends more than just the content in the classroom, so it is still important to still help students with their social skills.

Campus Technology. Pros and Cons of Social Media in the Classroom. Media Inc, Ed-Tech Group, 19 Jan 2012. Web. 4 March 2014.

http://campustechnology.com/Articles/2012/01/19/Pros-and-Cons-of-Social-Media-in-the-Classroom.aspx?Page=2