I enjoyed the readings for this week and found them very easy to relate to. In the Living and Learning with New Media Report I was reminded of the importance of an online community. I often have a bit of a negative attitude toward online communities since I’ve barely scratched the surface personally. I see the attachment people around me have to these communities and will often become cynical. Frustrated that screen time has also become part of actual physical hanging out time.
On the other hand I also see people engaging in there online communities in a truly enriching way that connects and informs. I can honestly say I believe this is one of the reasons I have decided to sign up for Coetails. I’m not satisfied with the small scratching of the surface I have been doing. I find myself wasting time and not feeling enriched yet I know that the possibilities are there. I see it around me in a more positive light all of the time. The people that I see “Hanging Out” and doing it in a way that I envy are often doing much more than hanging out.
I look at my own personal situation and how my husband and I each interact with social media in much different ways. He is often posting updates on Facebook, updating linked in, catching up on his reddit feed and so much more that I’m sure I know nothing about. I find myself often admiring how connected he is to family and friends back home. In addition he is usually very informed with global news and gets interesting job offers left and right. I know all of these things are directly related to how well he connects to different on-line communities. In conclusion, I see the importance of social media and how “hanging out” can become a positive and intrical part of social wellness for younger generations. I can also see how, if taken a few steps further, it can become an important component to other successes and personal well-being. I’m sure that “Hanging out” as a younger member of society can begin to pave the way to other social and professional opportunities in the future.
Cassandra Pupovac 
As we go deeper into our learnings about technology, one cannot but help think about how we have to throw out some or our old values and belief systems. It makes me think of ‘I used to think, but now I know… that “hanging out” can be really useful based on your comments.
It is definitely time to ‘hang out’ more actively!
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I do understand how an on-line community can be a positive thing, but I’m also a bit like Cassy in that I’m a little reluctant to jump into one. One of my biggest fears is how much time drifts away from me whenever I sit down at the computer. I don’t have enough time to connect with the people who I’m actually friends with in the community in which I live, and so the idea how jumping into an on-line community, which can have the potential of being a time drain, quite worries me.
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