TED Talks

TED Talks

     TED talks are always very informative & have a thing for opening eyes and eyes.
I recently watched a TED Talk video of Wael Ghonim & his views towards social media. He believes that there are 5 challenges one has to face while being in social media sites. To begin with, let me explain what he meant by these challenges. Challenge one was that "We don't know how to deal with rumours" he says. Rumours change people's mindset sometimes to bad. We let them at times ruin our lives. "We create our own echo chambers" Wael explained as the second challenge. On social media there's a mute button & a block button. Those two options help us create our echo chamber. We only let people see what we post if they have the same mindset as us. The third challenge is having online discussions becoming angry mobs. At times when you say something that can be taken as a very controversial topic or that you yourself is saying something against what you believe in, it can be a start of an angry mob. Which leads on to the fourth challenge. Challenge number four is that it is very hard to change your opinion on something. When you change your opinion, people start reacting and taking you as a person who is changing sides. Because its either you're with us or you are against us. The last challenge is that social media experiences favours broadcasting over engagements, posts over discussions, shallow comments and not deep ones. "As if we agreed that we are here to talk to each other instead of talking with each other.

     Wael Ghonim believes that the people should liberate the internet. He suggested four different things. The first suggestion was that we should give more incentives to engage in conversations. We shouldn't just be all about the shallow comments. Let's have deep conversations. Suggestion 2 was that we should "make it socially acceptable that we change our minds, or probably even reward that...." and Ghonim has a point. When you say something like, "I hate Donald Trump" on a social media platform and then you start to think that you actually support him, people will criticise that you fancy Trump. (Just an example, not saying I like him or anything.) And I use this example because lately he's a very controversial person due to his actions. The third suggestion was that we should have a matrix that says how many people changed their minds after saying something. This is just like when you get into a fight with a sibling or a parent. At one point you are angry, yell at them, & tell them you hate them. Then next thing you know you are sad because you actually don't hate them. In social media, you can end up liking an activist page then after a while you may realise you actually don't want to change a certain belief or system that the activist and the followers want to achieve. And people should know that that is normal. It is human like to change their minds. Ghonim suggested that we should "probably write more thoughtfully trying to do that, rather than appealing to the people who already agree."

     One should take all of this into consideration before the next time you go onto social media platforms. one by one can make a change. Soon we can all have said we helped out to liberate the internet.

A Letter for the Future

Dear Future Self,

       I hope that at this moment as you read, you are achieving all your goals in college to be and I hope that you know how to use that brain of yours. You are like a Russian Doll. Your true self hidden under several different layers. You have a wild imagination. You just have to open your wings and soar across the sky. You tend to hide because you feel small and fragile. You have what it takes to succeed just don't let others intimidate you. Think of the long way you have gone to get there. Don't give up ever.

     You have dreams of success in different ways. I hope u keep up with your hobbies. I hope that these dancing classes, surfing classes, & music classes, help you out. I hope that you use these to succeed. You're not like the rest. You know what my dear future self, all these problems you have with people calling you names that they don't really mean, it is all happening now so you can be stronger later. You are just getting tested to see if you will violently fight back, if you will ignore them & see karma hit them back. Or if you are going to go ask for help to an elder. And the way I you present self am handling them is very curious.

     You know there's this one issue right now. That issue is family. You family currently is turning their backs on you. You want to open up about someone who've you've been your true self to for almost 3 school years. It sucks that now you can't. You see it differently than them. I mean dad is having the wrong idea about your feelings but it funny. Yet mom..... Mom changed. She is not that happy person anymore. She, for the past 2 years misses father and we both know that. We see it and we sense it. That is why she sees this as danger, when you know that it isn't. All this music I've been writing and keeping hidden, they aren't love songs from my eyes. They are my moms tears she shed for nights. I hope you find a good use for them future self.

     All these documents I have on my computers now, tell me you will reveal them. Tell me that what I am doing now is bad but all these secrets will be revealed. I don't want to hurt my family. I don't want them to think I am hurting them. Friends come and go but family is forever. And I want them to understand that. Dear future self tell me you're going to talk to my parents. Please take this pain away. Take it all and send me the joy you have. Take this weight off my shoulders and let me be free.

     I only have one thing I really want you to do though; get me my sweet life back.

With Big Hope & Love Always,

Jackeline Sagastume-Salguero

(Your mini me)

Which Personalities Do I have?

Taking A Personality Test

     Today I took my first personality test. I didn't expect to get what I got. I knew I had all this in me I just probably didn't want to admit it. In this test I got as a result of my strengths and weaknesses a few things that I didn't really know about it. For my strengths I got that I am a curious, observant, energetic, enthusiastic, an excellent communicator, good at relaxing, very popular & friendly. I agree with all of them except the fact that it says I am an excellent communicator & I know how to relax. I don't really think I am good at communicating. I start to stutter or I turn pale. Other times I like to feel superior and it boosts up my confidence in talking. Also when I relax, it is either in the shower or sleeping. Other ways I can't.

     For my weaknesses it says that I have a hard time focusing. Which is mostly not true. I only have a hard time focusing when I am doing something I don't like or that it just isn't something I am into. And that is mostly it for the parts I disagree with. My other weaknesses are that I get stressed easily, I'm independent to a fault, highly emotional, an over thinker, & that I have poor practical skills.

     For friendships I am not gonna complain about nothing being not true. I like adventures due to the huge amount of curiosity I have in me. Although I am very reserved. Being reserved I am not much of a talker with new people but later I get into making conversation. It just takes time. If I do talk to someone instantly it usually is not a great idea because then things go wrong. The reason why I carry this reserved characteristic is because I analyze the person first. Which is why I was saying it isn't good when I make conversations instantly with someone just when I met them. Once I get a friendship, not all of them are going to want to go outside and have an adventure. Others will talk about themselves and that's when the quiet reserved me pops out again.

      For career paths, I have an advantage of having good people skills. Which I don't disagree about. Why? Well, when I know I have to do something to be a better person socially and economically then my family, I raise my self esteem up. I act all innocent with some people then with others I talk more than a parrot. That is because I use humans as my advantage just that I don't let them know. Socializing with people makes me feel great about myself & I see that social me as a different person. This different person like to talk and be known. That is why it carries on these great people skills. Which comes along to breaking the status quo. Why not be both popular & a nerd? Both things come in handy anyways.

     In conclusion, I am glad I was very into this test or else I would probably have disagreed with many of the things in my results. Sometimes it is good to challenge yourself to see if you really know who you are or if you are just hiding your true colours. One has to embrace who they are even if it is a bad characteristic you have to embrace. If you want you can habitually change it over time into something good or change th euse of it from bad to good.