Realizing There's a How-To On Just About Everything

It took some time and much soul-searching, but I was finally able to come up with a list of three possible WikiHow page topics. For his project I decided to start closest to home and examine what hobbies or activities I do the most and write about that. Outside of school I am a member of a national sorority on campus, so for that I thought it would be fun to write a how-to on how to decorate a sorority paddle since I have done multiple. Next, I realized one of my greatest hobbies is to cook. I love to cook any and every type of food but first I started with my love for cooking my ethnicity’s food, specifically a how-to on making paselitos which come from Puerto Rico. Lastly, I chose my final topic because it is a recent recipe I have nailed down and thought to be super delicious so I want to share it with the rest of the world, greek turkey burgers! Opa!

My first topic, how-to make a sorority paddle would be interesting because I feel many people don’t understand why a paddle is made, where you can buy materials from, or how to make one in general. In my how-to I would discuss that a paddle is made for many different occasions, primarily to give your big sister, but can also be made for a sister’s 21^st birthday, for the president of the chapter, or for the new member pledge mom. I would also discuss where you would be able to purchase everything needed to make the paddle such as the wooden paddle, the letters and Greek symbols, paint and brushes, etc. Lastly, I would discuss the steps to making a paddle and give some insight on how to create a paddle that the person receiving it will love and appreciate. Since I have already made 3 paddles myself, I feel I have the knowledge and credibility to create a how-to on this topic.

The second topic I decided would be fun and interesting to write about is a how-to on making pastelitos, a traditional Spanish delicacy from Puerto Rico. I grew making Spanish food and have much experience in the kitchen when it comes to my ethnicity’s food. I would discuss the ingredients and kitchen tools necessary to make pastelitos, prep time, a detailed step-by-step account on how to make and cook them, and lastly alternative and creative ways to make pastelitos, as opposed to a traditional beef pastelito.

My final topic I chose was a how-to on how to make Greek turkey burgers. I have a love and passion for cooking and just recently nailed down the perfect recipe for these delicious burgers and want to share it! I would list the ingredients necessary to make the burgers, kitchen equipment needed, prep time, and a detailed list of how to prepare and cook the burgers. Also, I would include fun toppings for the burgers and some health benefits of eating turkey burgers as opposed to ground beef.

I feel I have selected 3 topics I can write a great how-to on because I have a love for all 3 topics and am very knowledgeable about each of them. I also have 3 topics that do not have a WikiHow on them yet and feel that I could add something useful for the Internet should someone need it.

Is Social Media Making People Crazy?

Remembering my initial exposure to social media, Myspace, and comparing it to the forms of social media I frequent now, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. it is impossible to deny how rapidly social media has grown and infiltrated the communication world. When I first began using social media websites there was a large emphasis on the sharing of music and showing off who were your “Top 5 Friends” on your profile page. In present day social media, the trend seems to be sharing videos and pictures you find entertaining or important, as well as updating “followers” on occurrences in your daily activities. Also, social media seems to have migrated towards networking opportunity for people, allowing them to connect with companies they are interested in or prospective employers they follow.

I feel social media has become slightly intrusive because people have developed the habit of posting every thought and feeling on their profiles, which brings with it the chance for hundreds or even thousands of followers to comment back and pose judgement against those thoughts and feelings. An example is celebrities and social media, thousands of people feel the need to comment on their posts asking questions or try to pry into a public figures life when really they are people too and should be allowed to have social media without these issues.

My views on responsibility and social media is that although everyone has the right to freedom of speech, harmful or slanderous comments just don’t have a place in cyberspace. Also, anyone in the world can view what you post on social media, it is there forever. Posting personal information can be dangerous, as well as posting embarrassing or compromising pictures. The main thing to remember when using social media is that whatever you post is being used to create an image of you in people’s minds that may not know you, how do you want to be seen?

Social media has many positive aspects and has introduced great things into our society but there is a very dark side to social media that has begun to emerge in just the last 5-10 years. An example of this is when an enraged man killed his wife for changing her status on Facebook from “married” to “single”, even though they had been separated. Another example out of hundreds, a woman killed her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend because this new girl kept posting pictures of her and her new man on the web, which did not please the ex-girlfriend, so much so she stabbed her in the chest. These are just two examples of horror stories and I found hundreds on the Internet.

Social media is beneficial and can connect families and friends, but there are those few people out there that need to find a way to defile it. In the future I see social media continuing to inform, entertain, and connect people, but I also see it taking over the younger generations to the point of becoming a detrimental obsession. 

What Would We Do Without the Wonderful World Wide Web?

Back to the Past, and Into the Future

The evolution of the Web has greatly expanded over the past few decades; that is no life-altering, mind-blowing statement. What is mind-blowing, and certainly life-altering is how the Web has changed throughout this time period, surpassing what I thought could even be possible for technology to accomplish. Although I was too young to witness the beginnings of switching from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0, I can see the significant changes that have developed since the days of archaic dial up computers and simplistic interface web pages. For example, if anything takes longer than 5 seconds to load, irritation sets in, or how about being able to take a tablet with you anywhere in the world and still access the Internet? We have come leaps and bounds from where we first began in the field of Web and the Internet.

Starting with Web 1.0, we were able to present information and services with simple user interfaces, but had no opportunity to allow people to alter or contribute to the information. Well that just wouldn’t do, now would it? Which is precisely where Web 2.0 came in. This new and improved version of the Web offers users the chance to be interactive with people from all over the world, access thousands of pages of information in seconds, and upload their work to share with whomever they please. Now that the Web has been nailed down in a socially interactive aspect, it is time to focus on new technological advances, which brings me to discuss Web 3.0. Web 3.0 takes what we already know how to use and amps it up by 100, creating more intelligent search engines and faster network connections that give us what we want to know and take us exactly where we want to be in seconds, with more accuracy and precision than what we have been used to.

I believe Web 2.0 has surpassed the expectations of what people thought was possible to accomplish with computer technology. Everyday there are new applications and user experiences created that enhance the Web’s quality and productivity. Web 2.0 has given users a way to connect with their friends and family, not just through simply a wordy email, but actually video chatting with them in real time. In my opinion that is the greatest thing that has come out of the transition from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0, the ability to link together family and friends across the globe and allow them to see each other face-to-face.

With Web 3.0 becoming more developed to serve us faster and make our lives easier, I am afraid there will be an increase in how addicted to technology human civilization already is. Web 3.0 has the ability to connect databases in seconds to find information that much easier and it troubles me to think it may decrease the willingness to learn, or increasing the dependency to having a computer do all the hard work for you.

How have we gotten to this point?

Web 1.0 or the “Read Only” web was the beginning of the information age, according to Flat World Business Blog. Though this version of the web gave users access to information, there was no active communication flow from users to those sending out that information. Along with giving access to data Web 1.0 also began the e-commerce revolution, allowing consumers to view and buy product online versus in a retailer’s store. According to WittyCookie, Web 1.0 is the passive version of the web filled with flat data and no outlet to communicate with users.

Transitioning from that is Web 2.0, or the “Read-Write” web, where a lack of interaction from Web 1.0 led to. According to Randy Matusky, owner of randymatusky.com, a blog dedicated to educational technology and leadership, no actual update or technical modification was done between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0. A writer on Flat World Business Blog stated that 1999 marked the start of heavier user interactions and the “Read-Write-Publish” era, with sites like Blogger and LiveJournal. This version of the web is set up so that even a non-technically savvy individual can navigate and intermingle on the web. Randy Matusky, in his blog post here, he declares Web 2.0 is the “architecture of participation” because the user has some power and control over the data being distributed. Web 2.0 empowered the population through blogging, social media, and video streaming.

Lastly, the Web is transitioning into its latest phase, Web 3.0 or the “Read-Write-Execute” web version. Flat World Business blog, in their post here, it is stated that Web 3.0 is made up of two things; semantic markup and web services. First, semantic makeup is the communication gap that exists between web users and computer applications, which will be remedied through formatting data to be understood by software. Second, we service is a system designed to support computer to computer interaction over the Internet. Flat World Blog states that both semantic markup and web service will have the potential to have applications connect directly with each other, with broader search engines, and easier interfaces. The problem with 2.0, according to Randy Matusky, is that Web 2.0 results in information overload. It is unable to tell whether context is relevant or not, the search just generates all relevant data, which is precisely what Web 3.0 aims to change. Matusky says it well when he writes in his blog post, “Web 1.0 and 2.0 the Internet is trapped within the physical walls of computers, bur with hands-free devices such as tablets and cellphones, it will become an omnipresent force.”