For my project I decided to follow the destruction of our aquatic and oceanic ecosystems and marine life. This is a huge issue in the United States and across the world. Introducing foreign species into an unnatural habit, pollution, overfishing and the slaughtering of whales, dolphins and sharks. In using social media to address these issues I am going to find different videos, articles, causes, blogs, pages, and other tools that people are using to spread awareness and initiate change and post them on my own social networking sites. I am going to send invitations to my friends on various causes and see how much I can affect the growth of them.
The videos and groups that I have "liked" on my facebook page has already gotten attention from many of my friends. People have commented and "liked" the issues I have been writing about. This issue is important to me because I admire, respect and cherish our lakes, oceans, and rivers across the world. Scuba diving was like being in a whole different world, a mysterious world full of species I never even knew existed. It's incredible to be 80 feet below the surface of the water and still look underneath you only to find a dark blue abyss.
Can you imagine what our waters will look like in 20 years if we keep going at this same rate of destruction? The oceans would be polluted, desolate and eerie without the marine life we have today. It is important to eat fish that are caught in an eco-friendly manner with as little by catch as possible and it should be regulated just as the hunting season is. People need to learn that bringing foreign species into a place they don't belong will ultimately kill the native population. The most obscene of these things that needs to stop is the slaughtering of dolphins, whales and sharks. Killing for sport is unnecessary and inhumane and if enough people stand against it there is possibility for change.
Envision Music Festival March 1-4, 2012 Costa Rica A little piece of heaven on earth...
Your power point was very powerful and I am excited to see where you go with your project. The issues surrounding our oceans and aquatic life is a huge issue. After the BP spill I cannot believe people still want to off shore drill. They obviously want to do this based on money and our culture relies heavily on cars. We need more public transportation to stop offshore drilling. I don't know much about your issue but I definitely want to learn more. I know about Dolphin killing, shark killing, and oil spills, but I want to learn more about the effects. It is a horrifying though knowing that we are killing our planet due to our consumer needs. I can't wait to hear and see your final project and I am excited to see how you incorporate social media.
ReplyDeleteI think you have a great project! I knew a little about this but I'm definitely glad to hear more. The BP oil spill stuff is so sad. Its unfortunate that the news of that spill has fallen by the wayside. Its still just as important as it was when it happened.
ReplyDeleteAre there already "hunting season" type rules for the ocean? Just as if you kill out of hunting season or without a permit, punishment should be given. Its hard to tag animals/mammals in the ocean, however. However, maybe when boats pull in, they can check that the owners are not over killing populations of fish, dolphins, whales, etc. I agree that killing for a sport is inhumane and unnecessary.
The BP oil spill and the crisis of the destruction of our ocean are important to me for two reasons. First, I am a big fan of the ocean. One of my hobbies is scuba diving and at one point in my life I wanted to be a marine biologist. The second reason that I feel this is a tragedy is because it is human actions that are destroying the ocean. Two specific cases are the BP oil spill and the Japanese fishing of dolphins, whales, and sharks. To me it is depressing when a natural disaster such as Hurricane Katrina or the Japanese Tsunami occurs. However, I find it exponentially more depressing when the cause of the crisis is mankind's fault. In my perspective the oil spill is not nearly as bad as the overfishing. The way I look at it is mankind has made oil a necessary evil. Although nearly everyone loves the ocean, absolutely everyone relies on oil. Sad but true. My problem is the overfishing because it is unnecessary. After watching the movie 'the cove' I realized that this problem is directly driven for greed. I watched with my own eyes as a man held a baby dolphin in his arms and smiled while he clubbed it to death (what an asshole). Everybody benefits from the drilling of oil but nobody benefits from the clubbing of dolphins. Mankind needs to rethink its priorities when it comes to preserving our ocean.
ReplyDeleteI too, love the ocean. I grew up with it and feel at ease around it because of its powerful beauty and life. The ocean is really the only thing that sucks about CO… or the lack of.
ReplyDeleteI think it’s great that you’ve already gotten feedback from friends ‘liking’ and commenting on your efforts. I’m interested to see how many responses you can accrue in a few weeks.
Are you going to be looking into specific efforts for change or raising awareness of the issues?
Something you might want to consider is finding a way to encourage more action than just clicking “like.” We all know how easy it is to click the icon and raise the counter, and I think this does have value. But, if you could somehow get people acting as well or even just sharing your links with their friends I think there would be a greater impact.
Amanda, this is a great topic to choose for your project! Although it is broad in scope, I think it is valuable to show how different crisis events that have affected the oceanic ecosystem is part of this larger disaster that is destroying one of our vital natural resources. It would be great to see a map mashup that incorporates multimedia (e.g., videos, photos, links to news articles and causes, etc.). Also, observe how your friends respond to your social media activity. Think critically about how the features designed into this social media sites affect their behavior. You made a good point that it is hard to create engagement around this issue. I think it is worth exploring how this crisis can become personally meaningful for people in a way that encourages engagement and participation on this issue. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns as you proceed.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dr. Sophia B. Liu