This section covered the topic of how a lot of people use social networking sites in order to define themselves based on the friends that they have or the amount of friends that they have, some people get to a point where it’s not just about being friended by people they haven’t seen in a long time but more of where they stand with their friends on social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter. For example, if a friend of a friend gets invited to a party but the leader of those group of friends don’t; it can cause a rupture of hurt feelings and negative behavior. What I found the most interesting about this section is how people use social networking sites to deal with the people they want to, and to be identified for posting their business as the world most competent person not to mention actively spending more time on Facebook. For a lot of people, their Facebook pages define who they are.
Perception
The big points about this section is how people perceive things around them that they otherwise wouldn’t, things that are going on in the environment are going on whether some people see it or pay attention to it or not. Also, there are stereotypes that portray people positively and negatively, it can make a person of a particular race feel like they’re being categorized or forced into this stereotype. For example, all black people are angry and aggressive, this stereotype couldn’t be more wrong because that’s just speculation; there’s no real truth to it. What I found interesting was how some people accept some stereotypes as truth rather than to take the time to get to know a person of a particular race. Another thing I found interesting about this section is Attributions, which is basically saying a person is acting a certain way based on a situation that is going on at that very moment; some people actually operate that way. For example, a person who
is having bad luck for the whole day will take their frustration out on people who had nothing to do with it. This is just simple transference in the aspect that they want other people to feel like they feel so they’re not alone in it.
Trenholm & Jensen
This summary is simply about the concept of self and the many other concepts of self that have evolved over the years, there were very relevant changes to the self that have given people the peace of mind over the ages. In general, the self is how we define who we are. For example, a person who’s always been there for a friend throughout the years will automatically be called reliable. Conversely, a person who spends all their time trying to impress people by being fake and trying to keep up with the latest trend will often be referred to as a person of questionable morals and no identity. People with a true sense of self will individualize themselves and go outside of the crowd to find their own sense of self and individuality. What I found truly inspiring is that this section is all about helping people see that they don’t have to be something that they don’t want to be, a cool nickname or a general role that the person took on because they had to does not a sense of self make. It’s all about getting people to see that there’s no shame in being their own person which will in turn boost their sense of self and individuality, which usually brings other people to them instead of that person working hard to be a part of a group that’s not even worth being a part of. Another thing I found interesting is the concept of the Noble Self, this I can relate to because the hardest thing to do is the right thing despite how harmful it can be to the other person. Most people can be defined by their Noble Self which usually dictates how they handle right and wrong, this usually drives a person to always do the right thing in spite of the consequences.
