Internet - should we believe it or not?

Do you often take what is on the Internet as truth without thinking much about it? If yes, why? If no, why? Discuss this in your own words. 

Nowadays you can find any type of information with just a click away, it is so simple and fast. But the reliability of the information in any websites is still doubtful to me because anyone can make up any stories or 'facts'  in any website. Like Wikipedia, anyone can edit the information and somehow people do believe the contents. So, for me i will trust 70% on the articles in the internet given that the sources of the information are from trust-able websites.

However, i don't really trust the websites which operates product selling business especially the websites that sell cosmetics and facial products. Normally the seller will say how good is the product and how the customers like it. People always promote their products on forums to attract more customers. If i were to buy any products, i will do researches and find reviews about the product before putting my money on it.

To believe what's on the internet or not, is our own view. But it is better for us to think wisely before we believe it to prevent from getting any fake information. That's all for my last post. Sayonara!

Internet-should we believe that --- o.O???

Here come our last blog assignment --- Do you often take what is on the Internet as truth without thinking much about it? If yes, why? If no, why? Discuss this in your own words. 

For me, I will answer yes.
Welcome to the Internet. As I hope my analogy makes clear, there is an extremely wide variety of material on the Internet, ranging in its accuracy, reliability, and value. Unlike most traditional information media (books, magazines, organizational documents), no one has to approve the content before it is made public. Information is everywhere on the Internet, existing in large quantities and continuously being created and revised. This information exists in a large variety of kinds (facts, opinions, stories, statistics)and is created for many purposes (to inform, to persuade, to sell, to present a viewpoint, and to create or change an attitude or belief). For each of these various kinds and purposes, information exists on many levels of quality or reliability. It ranges from very good to very bad and includes every shade in between.

The first stage of evaluating your sources takes place before you do any searching. Take a minute to ask yourself what exactly you are looking for. There is the purpose of your research to get new ideas, to find either factual or reasoned support for a position, to survey opinion, or something else? The answer will be depend in INTERNET! Once you decide on this, you will be directly screen sources by testing them against your research goal. For an example, you are writing a research paper, and if you are looking for both facts and well-argued opinions to support or challenge a position, you will know which sources can be quickly passed by and which deserve a second look, simply by asking whether each source appears to offer facts.

Thats why,  with so many sources to choose from in a typical search in internet, there is no reason to settle for unreliable material. 

Internet: Believe it or Not?

If we are lost and want to find the location: just Google map it; if we are curious and want to know everything, we just 'Wikipedia' ( instead of buying a thick book of encyclopedia to carry around).With this thing called Internet, the access of knowledge is just a 'click' away BUT how reliable it could be?

How much do I trust this new encyclopedia of mine?Well, i can say almost 80% I trusted the validity of it PROVIDED that the information came from trusted websites such as -CNN , THE STAR and Wikipedia. These media to me, are actually 'mainstream media ' at the internet.The rest- (blogs/ forum) are like alternative media that provide us another point of view where i often question the validity of the information. This is because a lot of time, the internet users misused the power of internet to spread rumors just to gain attention. Just like the case of journalist and blogger, i trusted most of the article written by the authorized journalist on the official website but will still refer to the blogger to know what others think about this issue and to get a better understanding of it issues from another another point of view.

♥Internet.. to believe or not to??

Do you often take what is on the Internet as truth without thinking much about it?

If yes, why? If no, why?

Discuss this in your own words.

Finding information or news in the internet is quite easy nowadays. With just a click, you will get a lot of information that you want to find but have you ever think about the information that you found is true or untrue. Honestly, is quite hard to judge the info that you found is true or untrue, because you wouldn't really check all the details of the writer. For me, I seldom believe the information that show on internet, even thought some of them might be true, but i will choose not to trust all.

We can't deny that the internet had bring a lot of benefits to the society, everyone can share their information together, connecting each other in different place. Almost everyday, there will have a lot of news and information update in different networking site, thus people will follow up the information and news that they read in internet. More over, people like to find information from some networking site that is mainly for searching information, such as Wikipedia. Do you know that Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia that anyone can edit. If it is like this, the information that we get to find will not be that accurate, but there's still a lot of people like to find information with Wikipedia.

Have you ever received any mail saying that you have will win a grand prize, and ask you to meet up to take your prize. Will you believe it?? For me definitely i will feel like it's a trap, i will just delete it, what if other peoples received it and they believe it. They will fall into the trap, end up they will lost their money or even worst. Is a must for us to be aware whenever we received mails from others, don't simply click it, it might be a trap. Information that we read from the mail sometimes might be untrue, maybe is just a rumor that spread around.

Is a choice for us to believe the information or not to, therefor we need to think wisely before we choose to believe it. That's all for my last post. =)

IS THE INTERNET INFORMATION CORRECT? NO?

Attached here is a comic strip entitled "Rumors, lies and innuendo spread far, wide, and fast on the Internet." taken from "Introduction to Mass Communication: Media Literacy and Culture" by Stanley Baran, pg 324.

As they say, informations are all at the tip of the fingers.... The internet made it possible though. Everything and I mean 'everything' is at the world wide web including shopping per order, learning tools and many other cool stuff....But the problem is... Are the informations inside that web can be trusted?

It is true that the information are now easily found but it can also be easily spreaded too...In that case, the information in the internet can be true at times... And false too. Depends on the web we are in. There's a secure info web like 'Emerald' which are heavily protected and only allowed the info to be posted by the professors and all the researchers around the globe. A web like this are safe to believe. On the other hand, some web like the 'wikipedia' and other independent web that have no authorities, we cannot be too trusting. This is because everyone can change and edited the contents inside that web...Annndddd yeah, I can't be that sure of the info whenever I go to this kind of web...

So, in overall, I am not too confident to use the info that are spread across the internet..

Well, I guess this is my last post though... Soo, see you guys around. :)

~Internet information true or fake?~

Do you often take what is on the Internet as truth without thinking much about it? If yes, why? If no, why? Discuss this in your own words.

For this topic, it must be a "No" for me. I would not take what is on the internet as truth without thinking. This is because, we all should know that there is a lot of different kind of peoples in the world, and of course, there must have some of the peoples that like to make out stories and declare it’s a truth.

Spreading news through internet is a very common thing to us, spreading rumors or fake information also very easy as well nowadays. Many people use internet to discuss thing, chatting, gossips and much more, most of them talk based on their feelings, comments, and what they trust its true but not based on valid source of information.

So, it's hard for us to judge or examine the validity or the information is true or not. Moreover, there are people who use internet to spread some fake information in order to reach their purpose or even to harm others.

Besides that, I think we usually encounter the situation of receiving a lot of emails, which we call them "spam" emails. This also one of the ways they spread news and there could be most of it is a fake information. For example, few years back, suppose those who have a hotmail account or MSN should have receive such emails claim that MSN or hotmail is going to charge for using it in the future or after a date, and we suppose to forward the email to all our contacts or our account will be closed and we have to pay for using it. The condition it requires is different when you realize you has been receive same kind of emails even after a period of time. They write it in a "formal" way and claim the writer is the chief officer of MSN or hotmail company. But after the due date, even we did not forward the emails, our account still can be use and it does not happen to charge us for anything. This proves that those emails is actually fake.

As conclusion, information in the internet cannot be trust without thinking much. We must think it over and make sure it's a reliable or valid source before we believe it. Well, here we come to the last discussion, hope we still can share other things in the other time. See you all. =D
(1 chef "retired"~~xD)

Internet ~ trustable ?

Do you often take what is on the Internet as truth without thinking much about it? If yes, why? If no, why? Discuss this in your own words.

Yes, I usually get fooled by some fake articles on the internet when I wasn't aware about it because anyone can make up any stories that look or sound real. Plus they can pose as anyone on the internet. You'll never know who's behind all these.

From what I have experienced before, Twitter which is the most popular social media website now, some of the users from there like to create accounts and pose as someone famous. At first, people or fans will 'follow' that particular poser's account and thinking that is real. Everyone goes all happy and tries to talk to that 'poser', they get so excited when they receive a reply from the 'poser'. I have no clue what's their purpose of doing this but these accounts doesn't last long.

In addition, some internet users like to spread fake rumors or gossips around the net. Usually they doesn't have prove of what they said, so it's easy to tell whether it's true or not, but those who are gullible fell for it easily.

But now, I only trust official articles from some reliable sources. Even when it's fake but looks true, I will ask for the source they've gotten from and only I will believe it.

Internet... truth or lies?

Attached here is a comic strip entitled "Rumors, lies and innuendo spread far, wide, and fast on the Internet." taken from "Introduction to Mass Communication: Media Literacy and Culture" by Stanley Baran, pg 324.

Do you often take what is on the Internet as truth without thinking much about it? If yes, why? If no, why? Discuss this in your own words.


Sourcing for information is no longer a hassle for people compared to the past where the only source of information is from books and encyclopaedias. Since the advent of computers and internet, information is only a click away. The internet has become a major source for information, entertainment and many more. Even though information-searching has become so much easier with the internet, the validity of the information obtained remains questionable.

As for me, I can say that I trust what is on the internet most of the time, maybe around 70%, IF the information is from a slightly more trusted website such as Wikipedia or from journals. That is to say that I often do think about the validity of the information I search for especially when it comes to searching reliable information for writing assignments. I do not think that we should take information from internet and believe that all of it is true simply at face value. There should be room for doubts because some of the information found on the internet are written by amateur authors and are not supported by true facts. Plus, there are millions or maybe trillions of information in the internet and it would be rather foolish to believe that all of it is true. I believe that it is our duty as the user or audience to filter the information and take into account only what we believe is true and relevant as some information on the internet could have been exaggerated.

Besides that, with the advancement of technology, there has been a rise in cyber crime. Hence, it would be dangerous if we were to believe what is on the net without thinking first. All in all, the internet may be a powerful and useful source for information but it comes with a risk. It is up to us as users to determine whether the information obtained from the internet is true because for all we know, that information might just be some sort of scam.

So, let us all be wise enough to think rationally before believing something that is written on the internet. That is all from me!! My last post!!! xD yaaaaaay!!!! ;) bye bye guys!!!

Hello peep's. :)

Now, it is time to post the third question of the week...

...MEDIA STEREOTYPES...

From what I know about the word 'stereotype' is that.... It is an oversimplified thoughts, image, perspective or point of view... (Umm... is it the same? haha... whatever..) This stereotyped media can make the society receive the sent massage quickly. Stereotypes can appear in the media because of the biases of writers, directors, producers, reporters and editors. This is because the deadlines looms...It is sometimes faster and easier to use a stereotype to characterize a person or situation, than it is to provide a more complex explanation.

These stereotype media can sometimes be dangerous... It can be One of the most dangerous ways in which the use of racial stereotypes. The entertainment industry, especially the film industry, is notorious for presenting their minority characters in a much more violent fashion then the white ones. Harsh language is far more overused in characters of racial minority than of their white counterparts, for example. This impression that people of color are somehow more violent, leads to fear and ignorance that fuels racism in America. Ouch. These are the racist movie that I can think of: Tokyo incident. Although it is not about America, but it is a racism story.

The sources can be from various types of media such as... Magazines, Internet, television and many more.... So, it seemed very very verrryyyyyy impossible to avoid these stereotyped media....I was once influenced too. :D Haha, when I was lil' of courseee.. When I watched a cartoon, their antagonist character will surely be an ugly and fierceful personality as well as their physical looks...And the bad guy seems obviously evil. Something like this:

This guy's name is T100..... A cool machine don't you think?

Lord Zedd, an antagonist from the movie: Mighty Morphin Power Ranger. Hehe, I was once a fan. Haha.

He does'nt have any skin left..... He always walk around public like that.... Eeeuuuuu, grossss..

But now, the antagonis I see right now can be deceiving... They sometimes can pretend to be a good guy.... And not always be a 'bad guy'....I guess that they are not predictable anymore... I think...

Stereotypes media can affect the way society views them, and change society's expectations of them. With enough exposure to a stereotype, society may come to view it as a reality rather than a chosen representation.

The media can be a powerful tool in creating or reinforcing stereotypes. An example is the public perception that youth crime is on the rise, or out of control.....

Media stereotypes

With only few seconds to deliver, they spoon feed the viewer with a standard protocol in order for them to understand the information quickly. Watching it for the first few times, we may still be conscious and doubt that its true, however, when it is repeated many times again we will subconsciously apply this knowledge towards those we meet in real-life.

One of the most common stereotypes is the gender issue. Not too long ago, the media used to portray female as a housewife that cooks and take care of the family while the husband’s job is to earn hard to make end meets and so they live happily ever after. Now, as the situation change where women yearns for equal rights with the men, the media now portray female as successful working women, earning too along with her husband for the house BUT when the children have attitude problems, they blame the mother not the father; when the husband is having an affair, is because the wife is too busy and not attentive to him (not the other way around!).

The story usually end where 1.the wife quit her job in order to maintain the ‘equilibrium of the society’ or 2.the partner separate in their own way— 3.the women end up being a helpless loner/ desperate housewife.

The media may have portray a women as competitive as a men, BUT they are usually women that are fierce, rude, careless about the family. In real life, there are many successful working mother who have a happy family.

Another common stereotypes found is in the tourism advertisement. An example from daily life on how these ads affect us:When we think about Sabah and Sarawak, we will think of undeveloped place with the native living on the rumah panjang in the middle of the forest. In fact, they are quite as developed as us now. When we think of Middle East country we tend to think of camels as they main transportation. Infact, when I told this to one of my friend from Saudi Arabia, he told me that ‘camels are only for tourists, we have cars and trains’

Although these stereotype do exist in society but we must bear in mind not to be prejudices and justify them base on that as not all of them act in that way. Everyone is special in their own way!

MediacStereotypes---o.O???

Based on my personal experience,there are many media transfers the stereotypes, beliefs and values of the society to reproduce the existing order of social life. It seems like media creates the unique pieces of art: movies, documentaries, magazines, music, TV shows and others.Basically, to what we had seen on TV screens or in newspapers is produced to reflect the life of people, it needs to be on such level that people would understand and except.

For an example, women are scandalously marginalized by the stereotypes of the advertising industry. Models seen on television and in magazines are often depicted in demeaning poses that over-sexualize women and girls, sometimes even suggesting that it is okay to take advantage of them. Besides, models are often pictured as unreasonably skinny, and the airbrushing techniques of modern technology make women in the media look impossibly perfect. Sometimes, a model pictured in an advertisement isn’t even a real woman, but a composite of the body parts of several or being photoshop.

Moreover,the homosexual community is victim to raging gay stereotypes in all media outlets. How many times has the overly feminized and always sex crazed gay man been a sidekick to some movie heroine in today’s romantic comedies? Conversely, it is equally common to see gay women portrayed as “trying to be like men.” That why in the cases of gay stereotyping, the homosexual community is made to look like they are promiscuous and morally questionable, which often leads to the terrible bigotry that implies that all gay people will (or even should) die of AIDS. Gay stereotypes in the media are extremely detrimental to the progress of the homosexual community’s fight for equal rights.
As a conclusion, it is very important that people are able to recognize the stereotypes. Especially, children should be taught from earlier that what are the stereotypes that exist in society and how one should understand them. So that they will not able to reproduce the existing stereotype, and, secondly, did not except everything what they see in movies, press or Internet for the pure truth.

.Media stereotypes.

What do you think of the plus-size models above when you see this picture? I think most of the people will think that the models are not beautiful and sexy as they are not slender. People have set the national stereotypes of  beautiful woman when they watch tv, movies, advertisements and read magazine. The models should have slim body, large breasts, skinny legs and fair skin. In order to look as good as the models, fat woman will take quick weight loss diets, diet pills and even undergo surgery to make themselves thinner. The aesthetic point of view of a beautiful woman is not just only to become thin. I think women should just try to be the best version of themselves that they can be, and aim to be the right weight for their height or age. This is one of the impact of media stereotypes have done to people.

I believe everyone have watch Disney's animation movies, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Cinderella. Most everyone is familiar with the fairy tale reputation of stepmothers; they are evil and not caring.

Because of the stepmother stereotypes, children easily believe that stepmothers are bad. They are afraid and resist of having a stepmother. But in real life, most stepmothers are kind and caring, they dedicated to their families and wildly in love with their partner’s children.

There are many media stereotypes which we have get used to them and never notice that our thinking are also influenced by them. For example, people think that the blacks are good in sports, little girls only play dolls while boys only play robot toys, all Sichuan chinese man likes spicy food and all Malaysians like durian. I personally don't really like durian, is that mean I'm not a Malysian?

There are positive and negative stereotypes and they are rarely fair or accurate. People always say they do not judge certain people or stuff based on theirs looks as if they are not influenced by media stereotypes. Actually, our point of view on most of the things are already influenced by media stereotypes. Thus, we should not judge the book by its cover.

Well, that's all from me. :D

~Media Stereotypes~

From your personal experiences and research, what other media stereotypes (besides the example from the documentary "Reel Bad Arabs") have you seen either on TV, magazines or in the movies?

When talk about media stereotypes in movies and TV, it sure reminds me of middle age guy with black beard which have a feel like Saddam is always be the bad guy in movies. Besides that, in those action movies which have those bodygaurd character, they must be wearing sunglasses and looks serious, and mostly are men with the feel of "Man In Black".

Then, in the other way, it also another stereotypes contains in TV or movies is the American or western whites are usually potrait as rich, there rarely can saw them act as poor people, while African or blacks are always potrait as poor peoples or uneducated peoples. Other than that, other places peoples like Asians act in English movies usually have some kind of weird slang when they talk in english, although actually there is a lot peoples which is not from western country are able to talk very proper english.

For the stereotypes that always appear in magazines are we usually saw famous actor, actress or singers are use in the cover pages for magazines. The publisher usually use their popularity to attract the readers, and when it comes to gossips, those popular actor, actress or singers are always the one become topics and used in cover pages. It become the stereotypes of entertainment magazines. While for fashion magazines, the stereotype of it is always pretty girls or sexy girls, or handsome guys. We saw the cover styles we can know that its a fashion magazines.

Media stereotypes are really affecting us so much, and we usually get used to it without we knowing it. As for example, in the reality, when we saw peoples or whites from the western country, we used to get the feeling that they must be rich, while when saw African and blacks, we won't put them the same group or level as those whites from western country, thats the "ugly" facts; which we suppose should not judge others by how they look. But we just automatically got such feel because we used to their appearance in the movies, without we knowing it that we automatically judge those in reality base on the stereotypes created in movies.

♥ Media Stereotypes

From your personal experiences and research, what other media stereotypes (besides he example from the documentary "Reel Bad Arabs")

have you seen either on TV, magazines or in the movies?

I think almost everyone have watch at least one Hollywood movie before, did you notice that all the bad guy that act in the movie are often play by black people, or those Asian actor that they find will be stick with certain type of feature such as, slit eyes. This is one of the stereotypes that bring by media. All these movie told us that Asian people must come with typical slit eyes. Although i can't say that black people is bad guy, but automatically i will feel unsafe to look at them, it is because from the movie we have been taught that black people are bad. This is the power of media stereotypes.

We often get to see sexy lady or pretty lady as the cover page for certain magazines, especially fashion magazines. In order to be sexy and pretty, people will start to learn their wearing style that show in the magazines. That is why we often get to see pretty model as cover page, you will be super hard to find a cover page with a super ugly model. You wouldn't buy a magazines that come with such cover page, because you know it will not be a fashion magazine that you want to look for.

TV, another media that bring us a lot of stereotypes. Take an example, after watching a TV advertisement, people will wanted to buy the product, in order to be as cool as the model that show in the advertisement. Product such as LV, Gucci and Coach have attracted so many female buyer to purchase their product, it's like owning their product, they will feel like proud with it, they will be consider as high class people. This is one of the stereotypes that bring by the media. Advertisement have it's own power to set up stereotypes, influence the society's mind.

We can't deny that we are not getting influence by the media. Media have bring a lot of stereotypes to us. This is the power of media.

media stereotypes ~

From your personal experiences and research, what other media stereotypes have you seen either on TV, magazines or in the movies?

Through my experiences about media stereotypes that I've seen on TV and also in the movies, the Asian characters ALWAYS seems to have these same features. For instance, the infamous slit eyes. Also, in western movies, the Asian characters always speaks with this funny Asian accent they have. Most of the actors doesn't even have this kind of accent, but they have to act it out to make it sound more 'Asian'. You've seen Asian characters as the nerd, geek, and the one who knows Kung Fu or Martial arts.

As for the stereotypes for men in media, they always play the lead role, also known as the hero. The most common stereotype is the action hero you find in movies. He has a buff body, good-looking, strong, makes all the females drool over him, everyone adores him and etc. He can never die no matter how badly he's being attacked by the villains.

Now for the female stereotypes in media whether it's in TV, magazines or in the movies. Female characters always look sexy/pretty/innocent/nice/kind-hearted and the list keeps going on. It's just a complete package that every men in this world wanted. Nowadays, I think media has abuse these females to 'sell' their work such as movies and magazines. It's kind of common to see naked women in western movies these days, even asian movies have started to follow this 'step'.

In my personal opinion, these stereotyping is controlling our mind and what we think of others especially having negative views on the Asians, Arabians, Iranians and other excluding the western people. What we usually seen on the media are totally not like what we saw in reality.

Media Stereotypes...

Hello! This week we are going to talk about stereotypes that are found and created by media.

“From your personal experiences and research, what other media stereotypes (besides the example from the documentary "Reel Bad Arabs") have you seen either on TV, magazines or in the movies?”

Media such as television and films have often portrayed certain stereotypes without us even realizing it. These stereotypes when shown to the society for over a period of time create an impact towards the audience/public subconscious and with time, we will start to believe in these stereotypes which are often not true. In the documentary “Reel Bad Arabs”, we realize that Arabs are often stereotyped as terrorist, just like how Chinese are often stereotyped as people with slanted small eyes. However, people are not the only ones being stereotyped by media.

Animals are also stereotyped in media. Among them is the bull dog. Based from my own experience watching cartoons and Disney films when I was young, the bull dog is always depicted as a violent, vicious and dangerous animal. The bull dog is also stereotyped with a trademark spike collar on its neck and tied to its kennel with metal chains. This stereotyping on the bull dog creates fear in children whenever they see one because the children will think that all bull dogs are like those shown on TV when in actual fact bull dogs are known to be friendly and not aggressive.

Besides that, another well known stereotype is the stereotype on art students. While this stereotyping may or may not be created by the media, the effect of this stereotype is so strong that it lasts and remains in most people subconscious until now. Although I have not seen this stereotype on films and such (maybe there is but I’m not sure if I know any), I still feel that I want to share my opinions on this as I feel that this stereotype is very personal to me and I believe it also relates to the most of us pursuing our passion for arts.

Art students have always been stereotyped as the ‘dumb students’. This is especially true when it comes to choosing different streams upon reaching Form 4 where parents will always tell their children to go to Science stream because “art students are not good in studying”. I obliged my parent’s wishes and studied science. Even after I have finished high school when I tell people that I want to do arts, I am often given this sceptical look which probably meant “Are you sure you want to do arts? Are you out of your mind?? Arts have no future.” Followed by questions such as “Are you sure you can find work later if you do arts?”

Such is the effect of stereotypes created subconsciously not only by media but also by the people and the society itself. I feel that stereotyping is actually pretty dangerous because stereotypes are often far from the truth and if people refuse to think beyond the stereotype, there will never be improvement. For example, if the society refuse to think beyond the stereotype, the chances and opportunity for us aspiring artists to break free from the "art-student-is-stupid" stereotype will never come true and Arabs will forever be thought of as terrorists.

Well, that’s just my take on this week’s topic. Until next week, bye bye!