Stasis theory is an extremely useful tactic to dive into an issue and examine an argument more entirely. It consists of four levels of questions to clarify thinking about a dispute and understand both sides of the case in order to make a decision if necessary. The levels are organized from general, to more specific, to even more specific, to very specific. The themes of the questions in that order tend to be conjecture, definition, quality, and policy.

In terms of our controversy project, this theory is extremely useful. We can begin the discussion with general framing questions as introduction. For example: Is the issue of possibly paying college student-athletes a legitimate issue? Are college student-athletes paid now? Were college student-athletes paid before? Do college sports bring in large enough revenue to the NCAA and the school to pay their student-athletes? These questions will introduce the current situation to the audience.

The second tier of questions is questions of definition. These questions clarify exactly who is affected by the argument and categorizes the issues. For example: Does this change the structure of NCAA sports? Which sports players will get paid and which ones will not? Do women’s athletics receive less attention than men’s sports? What will be done about schools that do not bring in as much revenue?

The third set of questions explores quality of the topic. These questions hone in on the audience members’ values in terms of the argument. For example: Should NCAA division I, II, and III student-athletes be paid for playing their sports? Is tuition enough payment for their athletic talent? Is the NCAA cheating student-athletes out of a deserved salary?

The final series of questions discusses policy. These are the most specific questions that the audience can answer once they are educated about the subject. For example: How much should they get paid? Will women be compensated for as much as men? Do women deserve equal pay for their athletic performance? How will this be good for the NCAA? Bad?

Andrea Gade

English 137H

Hamilton

19 June 2015

Selfies: A Cultural Shift

Generation Y, Echo Boomers, or most commonly known, Millennials, have changed the world with technology. Millennials, those born from the 1980s to the early 2000s, were the first generation to grow up with technology at their fingertips. They think differently than older generations because rather than having to learn how to use new technology, technological learning was ingrained in them from a young age. Millennials have control over the majority of technology because they are the ones who use it most. Beginning with the Internet and through the development of social media, particular trends have dominated popular culture. These trends include memes, online gaming, and a huge topic today, selfies.

A selfie is “an image of oneself taken by oneself using a digital camera especially for posting on social networks” (Selfie). The term was added to the Oxford Dictionary and Merriam Webster and even named by Oxford Dictionaries word of the year in 2013. The term was added to our culture within the past ten years and is being universally adopted as a norm. Selfies became common not only because of convenience, but because they symbolize where we stand with technology. A selfie is an independent, confident act that shows a person in real time.

Though selfies are so common, they also have a particular negative connotation attached to them. They are frequently regarded as narcissistic, which reflects back upon the Millennial generation. The general thought is that young people constantly capture their own image because they are infatuated with their own appearance. Further investigation is necessary as to whether selfies display narcissism or whether the Millennials have created a new level of self-awareness.

Technically, the selfie originates in 1524, when Parmigianino painted a self-portrait in a barber’s mirror. The first American photograph was a selfie Robert Cornelius, chemist and photographer, took in 1839. Continuing to look into the past, Colin Powell, retired Secretary of State and four-star general, took a mirror picture selfie over sixty years ago. It is not the desire to see our own image that has evolved, instead it is the means of doing this that has. Most people nowadays have access to smart phones and digital cameras. Selfies date back farther than expected, but the trend did not gain popularity until recent years. In 2003, there was a 17,000% increase in the use of the word (Coulthard). This means people who never used to say selfie, were eventually participating in the mass craze.

Selfies, as known today, were created through social media sites such as Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter. More recently, there have been more media gateways that consist of only pictures like Instagram and Snapchat. These have the power to strip technological communication of the verbal aspect. Applications such as Snapchat that allow users take and send pictures to their friends play to the fact that most of communication is nonverbal. What a person can tell from another’s reactions and facial expressions is more than one could ever know from words. Snapchat, Facebook, and Twitter are used constantly to communicate with others and stay updated. According to Techinfographics, one million selfies are taken daily because of this social media obsession (“Selfie Infographics”). Millennials gained access to cameras and cell phones at a young age, and the introduction of technology to children will happen earlier with each generation nowadays. This shift toward technology is drastically changing the world and possibly the personalities of an entire generation.

Social media propelled the popularity of self-pictures in 2005, when MySpace became the most used social network site. The site included a “MySpace pic” that was visible to all of a user’s friends and potential friends. Indubitably, people want to show their best selves in the picture that acts as an online first impression. Teenage girls spend an hour applying makeup and picking out their most appealing outfits, and teenage boys flex their arms in the mirror for the best possible photos. These pictures are not true representations of how people looked; rather display examples of the best possible self.

The largest jump in the trend was in 2010 when the iPhone 4 with the front facing camera was released. This deemed other self picture formats such as pictures taken of someone and mirror pictures irrelevant. The difference between selfies and other formats is that provide the photographer with a unique ability to see the adjustments they are making as they take the picture. Also the picture is not reversed as a mirror picture is, so a photographer can see himself or herself as any other person would see them.

When selfie took over social media hashtags, a tool used on social media to connect media with specific content, were also created. These include #SelfieSunday and #MirrorPicMonday. While these went viral, celebrities jump on the bandwagon of selfies seemingly overnight. Celebrities who take selfies include The Pope, President Obama, and Betty White. When celebrities endorse something, they show the public that it is acceptable and even desirable. The most famous selfie was taken at the Oscars in 2014 received over 3 million retweets on Twitter. The impromptu selfie consisted of eleven well-known celebrities laughing during the show.

Ordinary people desiring to be like celebrities s not a new concept either, but selfies has made changing appearances easier than ever. 36% of people admit to retouching their selfies before posting them (“Selfie Infographics”). Retouching includes adding filters and changing features of pictures with editor applications. This is where the distortion between someone’s self image and their pictures begins. People edit their selfies in order to achieve a more desirable look, but when people begin to understand that selfies are not about looking the best they will become more confident in their own image. Rather than creating a selfie to appeal to society, people should be taking selfies that show who they truly are. This is the self-awareness that comes along with technology. Individuals cannot only dive into new fields, but they can explore themselves. They can use this real time, not reverse image to see themselves as they truly are.

Work Cited

Blumberg, Antonia. “A Brief History Of The Selfie.” The Huffington Post.

TheHuffingtonPost.com, 15 Oct. 2013. Web. 17 July 2015.

Coulthard, Charissa. “‘Selfie’ Named by Oxford Dictionaries as Word of 2013 – BBC

News.” BBC News. N.p., 19 Nov. 2013. Web. 20 July 2015.

“Selfie Infographic – “Selfiegraphic” Facts and Statistics.” Infographic Design & Data

Visualization. Teleinfographics, 16 Mar. 2014. Web. 20 July 2015.

“Selfie.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, 2015. Web. 14 July 2015.

I loved the paradigm shift project, especially watching the presentations in the studio. Firstly because the One Button studio is really cool, and secondly because everyone’s ted talks were really great! I enjoyed Ishan Phadke’s ted talk about obesity in America.  His speech was different from other talks I have heard about obesity because he tied in American body image issues as well.  He dropped some concerning statistics like the fact that almost one third of America is overweight, but  he also discussed how we have been changing in the past few years to live healthier lifestyles.

Another favorite of my favorite ted talks from yesterday was Olivia Richards’.  Her talk was about the increase in STEM education in the past few years.  I thought it was extremely relevant, obviously because the program we are in, but also because the world around us is changing with technology and we need people who are prepared to lead the world in science, technology, engineering, and math fields. I knew that society has put a higher stress on advancements in STEM, but I didn’t know why. Olivia explained that because American students have been outperformed by students from other countries, we have dedicated ourselves to STEM.

Overall, I think Friday’s class was the best English class  we’ve had because we all did well and learned so much from each other. Now for the top five moments of the day: the first great moment was Victor’s was last slide of his presentation. It was a picture of Childish Gambino’s album cover for Because the Internet, which was punny (I know it’s not a word, but I’ll use it as one right now) because his talk was about the use of the internet. Idan’s presentation was also another top five moment because I never understood why people are anti-science , but he provided better insight on their perspective. Arthur’s ted talk was also really interesting and I loved how he connected it to prohibition.  And one of the very best moments was Sarea’s presentation because as a lightskin person, I have experienced issues with skin color and people wanting their color to be different. I can’t wait to read her paper.

Generation Y, Echo Boomers, or most commonly known, Millennials, have changed the world with technology. Millennials, those born from the 1980s to the early 2000s, grew up with technology at their fingertips. Beginning with the Internet and through the development of social media, particular trends have dominated popular culture. These trends include memes, online gaming, and a huge topic today, selfies. The Millennials gained access to cameras and cell phones at a young age, and the introduction of technology to children will happen earlier with each generation nowadays. Many believe that our culture has become narcissistic because of our new trends. Technically, the first American photograph was a selfie Robert Cornelius took in 1839. Continuing to look in to the past, Colin Powell, retired Secretary of State and four-star general, took a mirror picture selfie sixty years ago. Selfies date back farther than expected, but the trend did not gain popularity until recent years. Selfies, as we know them, were created through social media sites myspace, facebook, and twitter, and more recently, there are more media gateways that consist of only pictures like instagram and snapchat. According to Techinfographics, one million selfies are taken daily because of this social media craze. Self-taken pictures could possibly be changing the personalities of an entire generation. Investigation of whether this is simply a trend or a much more detrimental reflection on our society is necessary.

Social media propelled the popularity of self-pictures in 2005, when MySpace became the most used social network site. The site included a “MySpace pic” that was visible to all of a user’s friends and potential friends. Indubitably, people wanted to show their best selves in the picture that acted as an online first impression. Teenage girls would spend an hour applying makeup and picking out their most appealing outfits, and teenage boys would flex their arms in the mirror for the best possible “pics.” The pictures were not true representations of how people looked; rather they began the fad of Internet personas.