"A letter to the editor"

Well, as the semester comes to a close, I would like to say a few sincere, albeit mandatory, words about the semester and how I have grown because of it. In this class I have learned more about the impact of technology for good and for bad than I had even thought possible. It actually frightens me to see the direction that we might be taking as far as our dependance on technology. Advances like Watson and Siri, while possibly convenient, are not to be taken lightly. We need to be aware of the power that we give our programs, as every Sci-Fi horror film has shown us. There cannot be a day when "I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that," is a reality.
This class has also made me more confident in my ability to write, although I wish there had more opportunities for freewrite/discussion. I guess this was what the blog was for but I really don't think that  anyone really did that. I also think that if the creative writing exercise that we did on the last day had been on an earlier day, say right before we started the websites, that it would have helped to streamline the creation process for the project. Getting the group used to thinking and creating as a group and so on.
I found the subject matter of the course to be of great interest, even though you were within the context of the syllabus you found fun things to talk about and you were engaging. That is not an easy feat and most of the classes I have taken at the University of Oklahoma lack that luster. Good job.
If I happen to stumble upon another class that I need to take that you offer you can bet all of your sweaters I'll be in it in a heartbeat, but until then:

Thanks. 

The Internet often makes me late…. That driving wish to update one more thing, or watch “just one more” video, laugh at some meme, or worse yet check Facebook.  And it’s not just class I’m late to: I’m late to work and social interactions with friends, EVEN WITH MY GIRLFRIEND. It’s a serious issue. What is this desire? Is Facebook some sort of playground where fun and exciting things happen? No. If you’re like me you just scroll through hundreds of vaguely interesting statuses looking at the random pictures that people put up. It’s a giant waste of time. And worse yet, the people that you don’t care about flood your news feed, leaving you no choice but to unfriend them immediately, although you’re not sure why you ever friended them in the first place. But why must we continuously check this meaningless website? 

I’ve seen a couple “Specials” on the news about Facebook addictions and problems in the workplace, John Tesh even did a piece on talk radio, which I admittedly couldn't find but here's a link to an article that he wrote about it. The University of Bergen in Norway recently released a study on Facebook addition. They came up with six warning signs that you may be addicted to Facebook. 

They also stated that younger users and women were more likely to develop an addiction to Facebook, while a more organized and more ambitious person is more likely to just use it as an integral part of work and networking. That being said, many corporations restrict the use of social media while at work because it is such a distraction.  What are we coming to when employers have to restrict access to a simple website in order to promote productivity?In a study done by Nucleus Research, an IT research company, they found that companies that allow employee productivity drops 1.5 percent in companies that allow full access to Facebook in the workplace. Is it some sort of dopamine addiction? What causes a person to constantly want to be updated on the posts of their "friends." 

This Post Has Been Postificated with a Test-Like Mannerism. Yeah.