Analyzing My Text's Cultural Setting

Analyzing My Text's Cultural Setting

In this blog post I will analyzing the cultural aspects that surround the text and it's author. The article I will be analyzing is titled Social media is reinventing how business is done and was written by Tim Mullaney.

Author

• Tim Mullaney lives in the Greater New York area. This means he is coming from a wealthier area and an area where businesses are huge.

Time Period

• This article was written 5/16/2012, meaning that this was around the time that Facebook and Twitter were the giants are the social media world. Social media apps like Instagram and Snapchat had not taken off to as huge as they are today. At the time of the article social media was just beginning to be utilized by the majority of companies. 

Location

• The article was published on USA Today, which has it's headquarters located in Virginia. The USA Today is a very large and well known publication.

What values, ideas, norms, beliefs, or even laws of the culture play an important role in the text?

The idea that we are living in a golden age of technology and it must be utilized plays an important role in the text. Businesses would be stupid to not take advantage of getting themselves out there using social media. It has become a norm for businesses to utilize social media. The belief the Web 2.0 is about being creative is shared compared to the Web 1.0 which was about processes. The belief that innovation is very important is also present. The value of the customer plays an important role because customers are all over social media.

Does the text address these cultural values, beliefs, etc., directly or indirectly?

The text directly addresses each of the values listed above for the most part. The idea that we are living in the golden age of technology is not directly addressed but it is made clear through out that businesses that do not take advantage of today's technology will fall behind those who do. The other values are all addressed pretty much directly but some inferring is required.

What is the relationship of the text to the values, beliefs, etc.? Is it critical of these aspects of the culture? Is it supportive? Does it seek to modify these aspects of the culture in a certain way?

The text is there to display what values are shown through the topic. Whether the text states these values, beliefs, etc. directly or indirectly is due to the decision of the author. It is important to understand the importance of social media in todays business world and the author makes that very clear. The author only supports the idea that social media is good for business. I do not think that this attempts to modify the aspects of the culture.

"Magnifying glass 01". https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Magnifying_glass_01.svg. 5/17/2006 via Wikimedia. Public Domain

Cultural Analysis of "Social media is reinventing how business is done"

Cultural Analysis of "Social media is reinventing how business is done"

In the blog post I will be performing a cultural analysis of the article "Social media is reinventing how business is done".

Cultural Keywords

• Social Networks: There are many different social networking platforms that over a billion people use. This shows how prevalent social networking is today.
• Internet: The internet is what made this all possible. It's invention has made so many things possible and has changed the way the world works.
• Customers: The customers are the most important thing to businesses besides money, which the customers have. Through social media customers are able to give feedback to companies very easily.

Thesis

The emergence of social media has great impacted the ways businesses operate due to the advertising opportunities it offers, how easily customers can give their opinions, and how huge the internet has become.

  

Bons, Hykle."Applications-internet". https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Applications-internet.svg. 10/2/2012 via Wikimedia. Public Domain.

Evaluation of Rhetorical Situations

Evaluation of Rhetorical Situations

Public Photos. "Scandal". https://www.flickr.com/photos/133090710@N03/18433407889. 6/8/2015 via flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic

In this post I will be finding three different articles and will be evaluating the author, audience, and context. All of these articles will be relating to my field of study, business.

Social media is reinventing how business is done

Author

• After a google search of author Tim Mullaney, I was able to see that he is the top result. I found out that he writes mostly of economics and has wrote for the USAToday, a well known publication, from 2011 to 2014. He links to his twitter account, allowing for one to see his personal views

Audience

• The audience to this piece would be those interested in how social media effects businesses. This could be business owners, advertisers, or even just the average social media user. This article has a very general appeal.

Context

• The date of the article is 5/16/2012, so it is not the most recent article. The medium for this source is that it is just the average article. There are two subtitles but it reads like an article. 2011 was around the time that social media began to get big but not as big as it is today. If this article was written today the content would be similar but have newer information.

Toshiba CEO, Board Members Resign Amid Accounting Scandal

Author

• Yuki Noguchi is correspondent for NPR and works out of Washington D.C.. She covers things that relate to business. Her special interest in workplace issues relates to scandals. She has worked with NPR since 2008. She grew up in a Japanese speaking home. She graduated from the prestigious Yale.

Audience

• The audience to this article would be those interested in the Toshiba company, those with stock in the company, those who work with the company, or just those generally interested in what is going on in the business world. This article appeals more to some of those than the others. However, Toshiba is a large company so many people have heard of it.

Context

• This article is dated July 21, 2015 so it is fairly recently. This source is a podcast, with the dialogue written after for those not interested in listening to the podcast. The event surrounding this article was a scandal at Toshiba that resulted in many top level Toshiba employees resigning.

Volkswagen emissions scandal: Switzerland bans sale of some model

Author

• Graham Ruddick writes for The Telegraph and for The Guardian, two well known publications. When searching for Ruddick I found out he is the deputy business editor at The Telegraph. I was able to find his twitter handle as well.

Audience

• The audience for this article is Volkswagen owners, investors, and the general public. This also appeals to environmentalists and those looking into purchasing a car. This could be a big turn off to those looking to buy a new car and to investors.

Context

• This article is dated 9/26/2015, the current date so it is as current as possible. This is written as an article and includes a picture relating to the subject. The event surrounding this is a scandal at Volkswagen relating to emissions. This has resulted in models of the car being banned from being sold. 

Reflection

I read the evaluations of rhetorical situations of Katherine and Charles and I think my post was developed just as well as both theirs. I was similar in that I had three different topics but all fell under the same larger category. Seeing that they both did their blogs similar to mine helped me because it was reassuring that I was doing the right thing.

Developing a Research Question

Developing a Research Question

Mysid. "Ambox blue question".https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ambox_blue_question.svg. 9/10/2008 via Wikimedia. Public Domain

I have just finished project 1 and this blog post represents the beginning of project 2. In this post I will begin to brainstorm potential research questions that I would use for project 2. These questions would relate to my field of study, business.

In the business world there many ongoing topics of debate. Most of these relate back to the subject of business ethics, or what is morally right. There are many scandals that relate back to this topic. A topic that would fall under this is the use of technology in the business world.

Some potential research questions could be:

How do scandals effect the success of a company?

• I would find this question an interesting question to research because I am curious as to how these companies perform after the public hears of a scandal. While I am sure it is different for many companies, it would be interesting to see what happens to the majority of them.

How has technology effected the business world?

• It is clear that today is very technology driven. That is not hard to see. Nearly everyone has a smart phone. Technology surrounds us. So it would be very interesting to see how all of this technology has effected the business world.

What affect does social media have on the business world?

• This would be a very interesting question to look at with how big social media is. Millions of people use it per day. But how does it affect businesses? Can one persons tweet influence the success of a business?

Reflection on Project 1

Reflection on Project 1

Inaglory, Brocken. "Reflection in a soap bubble edit".https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Reflection_in_a_soap_bubble_edit.jpg. 3/26/2008 via Wikimedia. Public Domain

What challenges did you face during the Quick Reference Guide project and how did you deal with them?

• One of the challenges I faced during this process is that I did not know what a Quick Reference Guide was when I began this project. I dealt with this by reviewing various examples of Quick References Guide.
• I also struggled with finding scholarly sources because I had never reviewed scholarly sources. I used google scholar to help me find these sources.

What successes did you experience on the project and how did they happen?

• I felt that once I found out how to make a Quick Reference Guide I was very successful in making it. I was able to utilize the subtitles effectively and keep my explanations from becoming summaries.

What kinds of arguments, rhetorical strategies, design choices and writing practices did you find the most effective for your project? Why?

• I felt that it was very easy to find arguments for both sides as this is a very current topic. It was very helpful to have a large variety of sources. I was able to use images to show off statistics and to give images relating to the topic.

What kinds of arguments, rhetorical strategies, design choices and writing practices did you find were not effective for your project? Why?

• I did not find the use of the book to be very helpful. Especially for clarity I felt that I did not have many issues in the categories that I used.

How was the writing process for this project similar to other school writing experiences you’ve had in the past?

• The writing process was nearly identical to those I've had in the past. Starting with a brainstorming period, moving to drafts and having peer editing, and then a final draft with a reflection.

How was the writing process for this project different from other school writing experiences you’ve had in the past?

• The only part of this writing process that was different was that we did not have time to work on the project in class.

Would any of the skills you practiced for this project be useful in your other coursework? Why or why not?

• Brainstorming and the rest of the drafting process are definitely skills that would be useful  in other coursework. They are always good to make sure a final draft is as good as it can possible be. I would also use the skill of researching in the future.

Reflection

I read the reflection blog posts of Jenny and Annelise and what I discovered is that we thought very similar things. We all agreed that it was difficult in the beginning because we were not familiar with the QRG genre. This could be solved by looking at the given examples of QRG's. We also all agreed that the scholarly sources did not go well with our topics and we did not use them in our finals.

Final QRG

Final QRG

This is the final draft of my QRG.

OakleyOriginal. "Fireworks at the celebration of the United States 4th of July". https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fireworks_at_the_celebration_of_the_United_States_4th_of_July.jpg. 10/4/2009 via Wikimedia. Public Domain

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VcXOYL4YemAL1QjjRFDsvDjXlFskN27OVj-U5BqyxkU/edit?usp=sharing

Clarity, Part 2

Clarity, Part 2

Flies, Adam. "Clarity - Zedd". https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clarity_-_Zedd.png. 10/31/2014 via Wikimedia. Public Domain

In this blog post, I will be continuing to write on clarity in writing. This time I will be choosing four different subcategories. I will then read through my essay looking specifically to improve on these four categories.

Add needed words

When writing, sometimes writers leave out words that they do not feel is necessary but it confuses the reader. Often when a sentence should be compound sentence the wrier leaves out a small word that is actually very important to the meaning of the sentence. The reading says that if there is a chance of misreading a sentence, add that. Adding a and an can be used as well. This made me think about how when writing the idea is in your head but the readers aren't in your head.

Repair misplaced and dangling modifiers

A modifier should point right to the words that are modified. Modifiers only go in front of the verb if they modify it, otherwise they go in front of the word they are modifying. When the modifiers are misplaced it can cause confusion for the reader. A misplaced modifier can make a sentence awkward. If a writer wants to clarify their writing than a good place to start is to check their modifiers.

Emphasize key ideas

It is very important to express the key idea so the reader knows what they should know. In order to combine two ideas in a sentence, a writer may choose the method of coordination or subordination. With coordination a writer draws equal attention to multiple ideas. To do this a writer uses a comma and a coordinating conjunction or a semicolon. When using subordination, the writer gives unequal emphasis to the ideas but this should not be done on main ideas. It is also important to combine shorter sentences where the ideas are not as important. 

Provide some variety

Variety is important in writing so the reader does not fell like they are reading the same thing over and over. There are many ways to change the variety in writing. This can be done through changing the opening of sentences, changing the structure of sentences, and trying to invert sentences. Seeing change up in sentences can be a nice change as it can get boring reading the same thing over and over again.

Reflection

When reading over my draft I was able to find some clarity issues. My biggest problem was missing needed words. As I read through I found multiple sentences that needed a word or multiple words.

This is the first example "Uber's view on all of this is that they should be able to operate [their business] how they want because why would they not want to" in which I added the words in the brackets. I felt that adding "their business" was a necessary addition to make it clearer for the audience. The second example is  "The first example is that Uber is manipulating [the business of] other companies" in which I added necessary words again.

Link to my Draft

Identfying Basic Grammar Patterns

Identifying Basic Grammar Patterns

In this blog post I will be sharing a paragraph from my QRG. In this paragraph I identified various different types of grammar basics.

Longest Paragraph

Through doing this activity I discovered a lot about myself as a writer. I found that I had a lot of variety in parts of speech but in other areas there is room for improvement. While looking through my paragraph I noticed that I did not have to much variety in my sentences. I ended up having to add a sentence in order to complete the activity. I need to add more commentary to my paragraphs in order to have some variety in my sentences.

BenLaParole. "Guernsey Grammar School" https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Guernsey_Grammar_School.jpg. 5/14/2009 via Wikimedia. Public Domain.

Paragraph Analysis

Paragraph Analysis

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zW4kMPCFQ_rS1AOxBT8gC3HQqz1jua2NLojprVW4WmU/edit?usp=sharing

Overall, looking at my paragraphs I thought I did very well on the focusing and developing my main point. In every single paragraph where it would be necessary I developed upon the moan idea. An area I could see myself improving is the use of transitions. Well I thought my sentences flowed well most of the time, I think there is till room for improvement. Transitions are very useful in improving sentence flow. I think that while there is a lot I need to add, what I have so far is pretty strong.

Yann. "Paragraph-mark". https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paragraph-mark.svg. 8/28/2008 via Wikimedia. Public Domain.

Reflection on Project 1 Draft

Reflection on Project 1 Draft

During the stage of the peer editing process, I reviewed Addie's QRG and Rosa's QRG.

In this blog post I will be reflecting on the drafting process.

Audience

• The audience that I am trying to reach with my argument is my instructor and my classmates, as they are the ones most likely to reading it.
• I think that the expectations of my audience is that I have done my research and provide sources that back up what I am saying. I do meet these expectations because I have done my research and I have lots of sources.
• I need to give my audience enough information so that they understand the issue, who the major players, what is going on in the issue, and what is being done about the issue. As this is a quick reference guide I need to give the audience a lot of background information on the topic.
• The language that is suitable for my audience is informal but still professional. This is not a formal guide for the audience
• I should use an informing tone in my QRG because that is what I am doing. I am informing my audience of this topic so an informing tone will make it easier for the audience to follow and learn.

Context

•  There are not really strict formatting requirements for this assignment except that the writer should have subtitles and images. I will meet this formatting when I add images.
• The content requirements were to use many different types of media to inform of a controversy in an individuals major. They had to include all the sides involved, who the major speakers were, and what they are saying. I do meet this requirement I believe.
• The draft reflecting the skill I learned in class of embedding a quote into a paragraph. It also shows my ability to analyze an article.
• I have not had any grammatical issues highlighted by my teacher but I have addressed grammatical issues that I have had in the past.

Through the peer editing process I was able to get my mistakes highlighted and I was able to fix them.

Piolle,Guillaume. "Loch Alsh".  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Loch_Alsh_-_reflection.jpg. 8/7/09 via Wikimedia. Creative Common Attribution 3.0.

Clarity, Part 1

Clarity, Part 1

In this blog post, I will be writing about four different items that relate to clarity in writing. Clarity is very important to a writer as it makes it easy for their readers to understand what is going on. I learned abut all of these items from Rules for Writers.

Untangle Mixed Construction

This section is all abut making your sentences clear grammically and logically. This can be done be changing grammatical structure, straightening out logical connections, and avoiding certain constructions. Doing this allows for ideas to come across clearly and it makes it easier for the reader to understand. I don't usually struggle in this category but every once in a while my logic will not make sense. That can easily be fixed by taking my time to read everything over.

Eliminate distracting shifts

Distracting shifts can easily throw a reader off. Distracting shifts can happen by point of view shifts, change in verb tense, change in mood and voice, and avoid sudden shifts from indirect to direct questions or quotations. These changes make a situation very unclear to the reader. They will no longer know the tense or who is speaking. I have struggled with verb tense in the past but I fixed that through slowing down while I write and keeping sentence tense in mind.

Tighten wordy sentences

This is one that I often struggle with. I feel the need to get down as much as I can and this leads to sentences that are too long. I often repeat unnecessary words or ideas and that can make the reader get lost before reaching the end of the sentence. A writer can also cut out phrases that add nothing to a sentence to make it shorter. This is very important especially for a genre where it is important to be brief.

Choose appropriate language

While I normally keep my language formal and appropriate, I think this is a very interesting category because our genre is pretty informal. Due do that, formalities may split and they piece could quickly be filled with slang and words that would never be seen in a formal paper. While a QRG is less formal than an essay for example, it is still important to remain professional.

Jenny Downing."Clarity and brightness of chablis wine". https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clarity_and_brightness_of_chablis_wine.jpg. 3/24/2009 via Wikimedia. Attribution 2.0 Generic.

Reflection
I peer edited Addie's QRG and Rosa's QRG, I discovered that both of them did very well in the categories of clarity that I chose. Both of them used appropriate language, didn't have any distracting shifts, or any mixed constructions. If they could improve in one categories it would be to get rid of wordy sentences. In Rosa's QRG, she used the sentence "Newman sees the connection social media creates between people as real and beneficial to users; they become more aware of issues affecting people they care about over social media than they would if they were connecting less efficiently and less often in the real world" which could be cut up because it is a little wordy. In Addie's QRG she says "According to these activists, although nobody can determine whether or not Jackie was telling the truth due to the lack of evidence, that does not mean it didn't happen, and it does not mean that the issue is not prevalent in our country, particularly on college campuses" is very and either needs to be split up or cut down.  

Thoughts on Drafting

Thoughts on Drafting

In the previous week I completed the first draft of my QRG. Drafting is a very important process for me as I prefer to get all of my thoughts and ideas down and then I will be able to revise them in a future draft. I am not concerned with having perfection in my first draft. I reviewed the Student's Guide writing my draft and this blog reflect on the advice from the book.

The guide discusses five topics: drafting a thesis statement, writing paragraphs in PIE format, writing introduction, organizing information, writing conclusions.

• Writing paragraphs in PIE format is helpful for this genre as long as it is brief because it allows for the point to be made, with an illustration to back up the point and an explanation of how the illustration backups the point. The book however, asks for more illustrations and explanations than would fit into a QRG because it is supposed to be scannable.
• An introduction is important as well in this genre because the topic the guide is on needs to introduced. It would not make sense to just start jumping into describing a the topic so it needs to be introduced. While an introduction for an essay and a QRG will be different an introduction is still needed in both.
• Organization is very important in a QRG because all the information should come after a subtitle so that the reader know what is about to be discussed. It is also important because the writer does not want to put the conclusion of the topic right after the introduction, but there should be a progression to the end. The book says that transition words should be used but in a QRG transition words are not really necessary.
• The books advice on conclusion about answering the "so what" and circling back to wrap up the topic was helpful because it allows the topic to be wrapped up nicely. I do not think that in  a QRG it is necessary to say what needs to be done as the book suggested.
• Regarding the thesis statement, the book suggested to narrow the thesis which I thought was a helpful tip because you can't have too much going on in a thesis statement. The book says to connect the thesis to all of the central ideas but that is difficult in a QRG because there is so much that needs to be written about.

Gerome Ferris, Jean Leon. "Writing the Declaration of Independence 1776".https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Writing_the_Declaration_of_Independence_1776_cph.3g09904.jpg. 8/12/2010 via Wikimedia. Public Domain.

Reflection: After reading Lauren's post, I discovered that we had a very similar view on the tips. We both agreed that the introduction and conclusion sections where more helpful for writing essays but still kind of helped. We also agreed that organization was helpful. After reading Addie's post I discovered we had very similar views in the reading as well. We both thought that certain point of the introduction were useful but some were not. We also agreed that the whole section on organization was useful.

Draft of Quick Reference Guide

Draft of Quick Reference Guide

My rough draft is very rough. I wanted to get down all of my ideas and sub-paragraphs for the rough draft and will be able to add more later. I would like to know what I need to add to complete the C category of the rubric because I would like to complete before I move on to the B category.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/10qlwyHYr5lw3MhbhRp4oUATHlc6s7EkbOYCprPTo-os/edit?usp=sharing

Practicing Quoting

Practicing Quoting

Quoting is a very important part to any essay. Not just having a quote, but the way it is done. In this blog post I used two quotes from my sources and practiced embedding them into sentences.

"Quotation Marks".https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Quotation_Marks.svg. 9/11/2015 via Wikimedia. Public Domain

QGR's: the Genre

QGR's the Genre

Nicosmos. "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy,_english.svg. July 2009 via Wikimedia. Public Domain.

This blog post will focus on the genre of quick reference guides and what they encompass. This is a new genre for me

1. The genre seems to have five conventions. These conventions are use of images and visual data, hyperlinks, subtitles are questions, paragraphs that are short and to the point, and tons of context.

Images and visual

• Provide evidence in graphic form
• Emotional impact
• Visual Appeal

Hyperlinks

• Provides context background
• Condenses the writer's job

Subtitles are questions

• Scannable
• Leads into topic
• Transition
• Storytelling
• Clarity

Paragraphs are short and to the point

• Scannable
• Simplifies a complex story
• Gives the purpose
• Digestible

Tons of context

• The purpose is to provide tons of context
• provides insight into all sides
• who, what, when, where, why, how

    2. These conventions are defined by the author's formatting and design choices because the author

• Writes in short paragraphs with big font making it scannable
• Has images to go with the short paragraphs or separating them
• Includes hyperlinks to different articles
• Embeds tweets into the QGR
• Makes subtitles different color than body text to stand out

    3. The purpose of a QGR seems to be to give a overview of a much larger event by giving a short description in what happened in the many sub-events. It gives the reader all the information they would want to know on the topic with out overwhelming them. It's brief descriptions make it very easy to digest so you can learn about the topic quickly.

    4. The intended audience for each article is different but also similar

• Example 1: This is written for those who are interested in the health effects of an E-cigarette user.
• Example 2: This is written for those who are interested in learn about the gamergate scandal.
• Example 3: This is written for those are interested in learning about the Greek debit crisis.
• Example 4: This is a guide for those who missed the Sochi Olympics or did not understand parts of it.
• Example 5: This is an guide for those who do not understand the connections between the black lives matter movement and presidential candidate Bernie Sander.

While these cover different topics, the overall intended audience is those looking for a brief but detailed easy to read guide on a topic or event.

    5. QGR's uses visuals and images to appeal to emotions and to use the images as evidence. Because QGR's are trying to be brief, the pictures are able to send a message or show a real shot from the event without using any words. This makes showing what happened a lot easier.

Reflection:
After reading the "OGR's the Genre" of Rachel, Chingiz, and Clay I realized that they all put very similar things. There were a couple of things that I missed though. Rachel said that images can be used for cultural perspective and that was something that I had not thought of. Chingiz talked about having graphs and videos which I left out. Other than those two smaller details, our blogs on the subject were all very similar.

Cluster of My Controversy

Cluster of My Controversy

I have brainstormed many different ways before but I have never made a Coggle before. I made two branches, one contain the values for the groups and the other containing the groups and information about them. I feel this was a good brainstorming technique as I was able to get all of my starting ideas down.

https://coggle.it/diagram/VfEhQD6etj02V03b

Reflection: After reading Addie's blog and Mark's blog on their cluster, I discovered some ideas that I felt would have made my cluster even stronger. I really liked how Addie's cluster kept it brief, not throwing to much information at you. On Mark's cluster I liked how their were branches that connected. I feel that this is a meaningful step in the process because personally I like to map out my ideas which I feel helps me.

Annotated Bibliography in APA style

Annotated Bibliography in APA style

Tfinc. "Citation needed sticker".
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Citation_needed_stickers.jpeg.
2/26/2013 via Wikimedia. Public Domain.

I was having formatting issues so I have linked to my annotated bibliography.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6eOC9E9kXOjd3dJSFdncXRTUGM/view?usp=sharing
APA citation example

Reflection:

After looking at the bibliography's of Thomas, who did APA like myself, and Ann, who used MLA, I was able to see that others struggled with formatting on Blogger. I had to make it work to get the hanging indent because I could not figure out how to do it in Blogger. Ann and Thomas had the same problem. Thomas's entries matched the formatting of mine and Ann's MLA which I grew up using matched the example page that I looked up. I do not understand why different citation styles are used  and think that everyone would benefit if one set of citation style could be agreed upon.

Ideology in My Controversy

Ideology in My Controversy

1. There many groups that are involved in my controversy but they can be wrapped up into a few larger groups. The first group is the ride sharing companies. This would be Uber, Lyft, and other ride sharing companies. They are the ones trying to get into different cities. Another groups would be the cities that they are trying to get into. These cities are trying to protect their own business(taxi companies/public transportation) but many prefer Uber. The next group would the general population. These are the people who will be using the ride sharing companies or choosing a taxi/public transportation method.
2. One of the biggest speakers in this controversy would be Travis Kalanick. He is one of the founders of Uber and the CEO. It is his companies that is improving transportation for everyone trying to get around a big city. Another big speaker would Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York City, he has spoken against Uber and other ride sharing companies. As New York City is one of the biggest cities in the world, it was he when Uber was finally able to reach a deal with de Blasio that would allow for Ubers to run in New York City.
3. The cities hold lots of political power because it is the city council and people like the mayor who decide whether or not the ride sharing companies will be allowed in each individual city. Without the backing of the cities then the companies would fall as it would limit the amount of business that is available to them. The ride sharing companies hold massive economical power. Uber is valued at 50 Billion dollars. This is an insane amount of money. Without the amount of money there is nearly nothing financially they would not be able to do. The general population holds the social power. All of the ride sharing companies rely on the general population. Without the general population needing to use the service, the ride sharing companies would suffer. A movement started population could sway the businesses either way, making them even more powerful, or bringing them to the ground.
4. The ride sharing companies have all the money in the world as a resource. They also benefit from having many celebrity backers. The cities of course have the resources of money but also that if they wanted to, while it would be a very unpopular decision, could ban ride sharing companies. The general populations only resource is their voice. With their voice they can do a lot if there are enough backers.
5. I think both the cities and the companies primary value is money. Uber also would value giving the consumers what they want so they can continue to make more money. The general population would value customer experience and that's what they base what type of transportation they will use. Customer experience would include things such as cost, convenience, and actual experience among other things. But they also value the word of others. Uber has a lot of celebrity endorsers which definitely doesn't hurt.
6. Evidence that backs that cities and Uber value money are the way they do business. Cities have to strike a deal with the companies so that the do not steal all of the business from the transportation option they offer. Uber has been known for some shady ways they pay their drivers showing that are not a perfect company. They do not reimburse gasoline or other car related costs. The general population chooses Uber because of the customer experience. If other companies had the reputation that Uber has, Uber might not be the clear Number 1 in the industry.
7. I think that the cities believe that thy hold the power but really the ride sharing companies do. It's not a coincidence the Uber is valued at 50 billion dollars. People would much rather get an Uber than ride in a taxi and I think cities have come to realize that which is why they have began to allow them.
8. There is definitely an acknowledge common ground that Uber is the number 1 choice for transportation. Everyday walking around you can hear people saying "I'm ubering" or "Let's get an Uber". Uber has taken over the nation.
9. I think the only unacknowledged ground, and some cities have already admitted it, is that cities need Uber. Uber's offer affordable, convenient transportation that is very helpful. Other wise it would be impossible to get around places like New York without taking the subway or walking. And those two are not for everyone. 
10. Many of people have complained about Uber and ride sharing companies in cities, mostly those in the taxi industry, but there is really nothing that can be done. It's too late to clean about the taxi industries image. Uber holds the crown now and will continue to for the foreseeable future.

Jericho. "Money Cash".

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Money_Cash.jpg
 . 2/19/2009 via Wikimedia. Creative Commons 

Evaluation of Social Media Sources

Evaluation of Social Media Sources

The final type of source that will be used is a social media source. Hundreds of Millions use social media so truly only a small percentage could be considered a reliable source. Those included in this small percentage are the experts in the subject that are on social sites.

I found both of my sources on twitter by searching for keywords in the search bar.

My first source comes from Steven Greenhouse and he includes a link to a New York Times article on the subject.

1. Greenhouse appears to be a creditable source. Upon googling him, his Twitter is the top result. He also has his own website and is the author of a published book. He has held a position since 1995 with the New York Times, a very well known and respected publication, as a labor and workplace writer. He has the credential that would make him a reliable source on things related to labor.
2. Greenhouse is not in California but there have been disputes about Uber all over the country. This issue with Uber is one that relates to labor issues which is what Greenhouse specializes in.
3. Greenhouses followers range from random people to CEO's of smaller media companies as well as other members of the media world. I noticed many of his followers include something to do with labor in their bio's which is, as stated before, Greenhouse's specialty.
4. The information in their tweet comes from a New York Times article. The New York Times is a very well known and respected publication.
5. This tweet was made 3 days ago so it is fairly recent. He has not tweeted about Uber recently other then this but since his tweets are mostly about labor situations he will most likely be tweeting about Uber as more develops.
6. Greenhouses account was created in March of 2011 and he has 20.9k tweets to his name.
7. I would consider Greenhouse to be a reliable source for Uber but only when it relates to labor.

My second social media source comes from Susan Shaheen and she included a screenshot on news regarding Uber from a story in North Carolina.

1. When I searched for information on Susan Shaheen her page at Berkley came up. She is a professor at University of California-Berkley which is a prestigious University. She is researching sustainable transportation which Uber falls under.
2. She teaches in California so she was not in North Carolina nor is she directly involved but she does research these types of events.
3. She does not have a high amount of followers but others involved with transportation do follow her. A man's whose bio says he is a director for transport technology at a company follows her.
4. The information from her tweet comes from another source. Upon a quick search one can find more information about the ride sharing bill in North Carolina.
5. This tweet is a fairly recently one and nearly all of her tweets are regarding something to do with Uber or other ride sharing companies. This would make sense given what she is researching but all of her tweets are relating to what my topic is about(Uber/ride sharing companies).
6. Her account was created in November of 2012 so she has been an active user for a while. She has 3255 tweets so she tweets fairly often, especially recently.
7. I would say she is a reliable source because all of her research relates to Uber related things. She is up to date on all things ride sharing so she is constantly updating her twitter followers on what is going on.

Evaluation of Scholarly Sources

Evaluation of Scholarly Sources

As looking into the business controversy of allowing Ubers and other ride sharing companies in cities. Looking at scholarly sources, the results are limited regarding Uber but, there were many available regarding ride sharing.

The first scholarly source is titled Dynamic ride-sharing: A simple study in metro Atlanta.

• The purpose of this sources is explain a study showing that ride sharing technology offers many useful benefits to its users. It offers many reasons that ride sharing is a very beneficial technology. It states it saves money and time for users as well as reduces traffic congestion. Many people would benefit directly from the technology and many would benefit indirectly.
•  This source was published in Transportation Research Part B: Methodological. It was published by Elsevier B.V., which is an academic publishing company.
• They offer a wide variety of different sources. They use in text citations and have many references. Given that the authors were conducting their own study, they use there sources to back up their research.
• There are four authors to the source. Niels A.H Agatz represents Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, The Netherlands. Alan L. Erera represents School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, United States. Martin W.P. Savelsbergh represents Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Sydney, Australia. Xing Wang represents School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, United States as well. All of these men seem to come from impressive academic backgrounds.
• The intended audience would be those fighting for ride sharing technology. It would also be intended for those looking for more information on the benefits of ride sharing. City planners could use this as well for to looking into implementing a ride sharing service.
• I found this source by searching for ride sharing on google scholars.

The second scholarly source is titled Market research evaluation of actions to reduce suburban traffic congestion: Commuter travel behavior and response to demand reduction actions.

• The purpose of this source is to offer information on current modes of work transportation. This meaning driving by oneself, carpooling or taking public transportation. This source offers data that could lead to reducing traffic.
• This source was published in Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice. It was published by Elsevier B.V as well.
• This source offered a wide variety of sources as well. It includes many in text citations and has a long list of references. It utilized foot notes as well.
• Frank S. Koppelman, Chandra R. Bhat and Joseph L. Schofer all represent Department of Civil Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, U.S.A.
• The intended audience would be city planners, City planners could utilize this report to reduce costs and implement the use of public transportation much more efficiently. Also those looking to find the most cost efficient ways to get to work could look at this and make their choice off of the information in this report.
• I found this source by searching for ride sharing on google scholars.  

Queenland Newspaper. "Mr A. A. Heath, chief town planner with the Brisbane City Council, ca. 1958".

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:StateLibQld_1_105664_Mr_A._A._Heath,_chief_town_planner_with_the_Brisbane_City_Council,_ca._1958.jpg. 1958 via Wikimedia. Public Domain.

Evaluation of General Sources

Evaluation of General Sources

One of the biggest companies to emerge in the past couple of years is Uber. Uber connects users to drivers for a reasonable price and in a short amount of time. However as good as Uber is for people, it is very controversial with cities around the nation as the city loses business for it's taxis.

Uber. "Uber logotype".https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Uber_logotype.svg. 8/142015 via Wikimedia. Public Domain.

The first source I used is from CNN Money. The article I used is titled Big win for Uber, New York Backs Down.

• The URL ends in ".com" but, it is posted on a very well known news site. While there are many unreliable websites that end in ".com" so we must rely on the reputation of the news source.
• The article was written by Sara Ashley O'Brien and Laurie Segall. Laurie Segall's name does not hyperlink to anything. O'Brien has her own website which lists that she has written for many well known publications. After some searching I was able to find Laurie Segall's bio which lists some impressive feats. Both of these women have strong backgrounds in journalism.
• It is not stated when this article was last updated however, it was published on July 23 of this year so it was fairly recent. There is a link that leads to the proposed bill. There are two other links that lead to relevant info.
• The purpose of this article is to inform on Uber's current in New York City. There does not seem to be an ulterior motive as the writers do not try to twist anyone's words. The article provides a summary on what has happen and quotes that give the views of people involved.
• There are no images but there is a video that because sums up what has happened.
• The source does not seem to lean towards either side. Not many people benefit from reading this except those who live in New York or plan on using Uber in New York know they will able to use Uber. This report was first reported by the New York Times so it has been reported by an even more well known source.
• The source cites the New York Times as reporting on this subject first so a reader could read that article as well. It also offers quotes from people involved so it offers valuable views.

The second source I look at is from The Las Vegas Sun. the article is titled Uber, Lyft could be Nevada streets in a month.

• This URL ends in ".com" as well. The Las Vegas Sun is a Las Vegas online newspaper. Similar to the source before, while this source is a ".com" it is a reliable newspaper. It is owned by Greenspun Media Group which owns numerous Las Vegas publications.
• This article was written by Conor Shine. Shine's profile states that he attended the University of Minnesota and worked for two different publications before working for the Las Vegas Sun.
• This article was written August 14 of this year so it was written fairly recently. It does not say when the page was last updated but this could be because there is no new information available. As it has not been a month a decision may have not been reached yet. There are no links available.
• This was written inform readers on the ongoing attempts of Uber and Lyft trying to get into to Las Vegas. It does not appear to be promoting any sort of product which could easily be done in an article about Uber/Lyft.
• There is an image that shows a women driving an Uber. This does not really not much in improving the article but it relates to it.
• The source does not seem to be biased. Those of would profit from this article are those of prefer Ubers because they will most likely be able to use a ride sharing company in Las Vegas.
• There are no suggested further links or readings. It also does not give sources or quotes. 

My Major

My Major

I have decided to pursue a career in the field of business. The field of business is a very broad field which works well with me because it is not exactly clear to me what I would like to pursue.

Ltljltlj. "Business Plate".https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Business_plate.svg. 3/21/2006 via Wikimedia. Public Domain

1. Students in this program learn so many different things. There are specific classes that every student who hopes to major in business is required to take. The first one is MIS or Management Information System in which students learn how to maximize technology in the business world. There are many different things in this field students can learn to do based on where in the field they want to go. There are six different field which are accounting, economics, finance, management and organizations, management information systems, and marketing. These six categories offer so many different career to those who chose to pursue a job in the field of business.
2. Given that there are many different degrees available in the major of business there are many options available for work. With a degree in accounting, there are a lot more jobs available than becoming an accountant. There are many different jobs involving money like an auditor or financial analyst. If one were to choose the field of Marketing could go on to work a sales job. Many of theses degree have cross over and allow for similar or the same job.
3. I was drawn into this field because while I do not know exactly what I want to do but I have an idea. Something that is really appealing to me is owning my own business. I also like the field because it gives me some time to really decide what I want to pursue. I am not ready to decide exactly what I want to do with my life. Another reason I am drawn to this field is that there are a lot of exciting ways that technology is utilized in this field. As new technology is developed, new jobs open up offering great job security and opportunities while provide good pay. 
4. There are many exciting leaders in the business field. With the technology boom at the turn of the century so many new companies have exploded. One of the biggest companies in the world (started in my home town of Seattle) is Amazon. The companies was founded by Jeff Bezos. Amazon is an online retailer that ships all over the world. He was one of the pioneers from startup to billionaire. Another huge leader in the business world is Cisco. Cisco is a networking company so they have benefitted immensely due to the internet boom. Cisco's biggest offering now is the cloud which allows for data to be stored on the internet rather than a physical hard drive.
5. One of the top journals in finance is the Journal of Banking and Finance. They are published at  Elsevier. The top journal in marketing is the Journal of Marketing. They are published at the American Marketing Association. One of the top journals in Management Information Systems is the MIS Quarterly. It is published at the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.

Reflection:

After reading Ann's blog and Scott's blog I was left very impressed. Both of the fields they are choosing sound very difficult. It was also cool to see how everyone is different and wants to pursue different fields because while neither of those fields are one that would fit me, Ann and Scott both seem excited about what's next to come for them.