Senior Project Online Source #5

“Specific Page Title or Article Title”	Facebook Effects of Self Esteem
Primary Contributor to the Website (if given) (author, editor, producer, etc)	Beth Levine
Title of the Entire Website (not www. )	Baseline of Health Foundation
Publisher or Sponsoring Organization of the website (if given)	N/A
Date Page was Last Revised	26 March, 2011
Date You Read It	7 February, 2012
<URL address> (ALL of it)	http://www.jonbarron.org/natural-health/bl110326/facebook-improves-self-esteem

FIVE FACTS FROM THE SOURCE (Embedded):

Although many believe that social networking sites have a negative effect on individuals, "New research shows that Facebook can actually improve your self-esteem" (Levine).

While most individuals argue that Facebook is the home to cyber-bullying, it is said that, "not all cyber-bullying takes place on Facebook" (Levine).

Researchers say that most people's self-confidence is increased because of, "being able to present their present best qualities on a site such as Facebook" (Levine).

Levine agrees that, "it is pretty hard to imagine any boost to the self-esteem of the many people who have experience cyber-bullying on Facebook" (Levine).

Many people who are for self-esteem but not for bullying asks, "wouldn't it be great if the geniuses at Facebook could write a program to weed out the bullying so that everyone could just get a daily boost to their self-esteem instead" (Levine).

Summary of Source (Three-Four Sentences of the Who, What, Where, Why, and How in your own words. NO OPINION): 


Credibility of Source: 
Author or Site: Who is the author? What training have they had? If there is no author, examine the site. What is the purpose of the site? Who funds the site? 

Beth Levine is a writer for the website Baseline of Health Foundation. The purpose of this site is to inform those individuals who are focused on living a longer and healthier lifestyle. The founder of Baseline of Health Foundation website is Jon Barron. 

Attachment: Does the author or site have anything to gain from writing this, or is it simply informative? For example, is it a cigarette business posting an article about the benefit of cigarettes, or is it a scientific community unaffiliated with the cigarette business? 

The author does not have anything to gain for this writing but to inform readers that Facebook is not a website that decreases self-esteem, although it can. She talks about the positive effects that Facebook had for users who are constantly changing their profile to better display themselves. 

Bias: Do you detect a bias (a favoring of either side) in the author's writing? 

There is no bias in this article because Beth Levine starts by talking about the positive effects Facebook has for users. But further into the article, Beth Levine argues that cyber-bullying takes place on Facebook and can lower confidence.

References: Does the author cite references in the writing? If so, do these add or take away from the credibility? 

The author talks about studies at Cornell University that have been tested to prove her point. She also talks about personal experiences with teenagers who have been affected by cyber-bullying of Facebook. All these help the author's credibility. 

Use of Source: How will you use this source in your project? 

Beth Levine states both the positives and negatives Facebook. I can use her article to help support my position. 

Senior Project Online Source #4

“Specific Page Title or Article Title”	Are you so awesome you'd friend yourself? Facebook found to be a great esteem builder
Primary Contributor to the Website (if given) (author, editor, producer, etc)	Karen Kaplan, LA Times
Title of the Entire Website (not www. )	Los Angeles Times
Publisher or Sponsoring Organization of the website (if given)	N/A
Date Page was Last Revised	3, March 2011
Date You Read It	7 February, 2012
<URL address> (ALL of it)	http://articles.latimes.com/2011/mar/03/news/la-heb-facebook-self-esteem-20110303

FIVE FACTS FROM THE SOURCE (Embedded):

Karen Kaplan suggest that if individuals, "Need a pick me up, try updating your Facebook profile" (Kaplan).

When users are need a boost in self esteem an, "exposure to mirrors, photos and recordings of one's voice encourages people to view themselves the way others see them" (Kaplan).

After being able to view their profile for three minutes, "the students who looked at their own profiles for the entire three minutes had higher self-esteem..." (Kaplan).

Having the ability to change their profile pictures, information, and activity on Facebook, "had higher self-esteem than students who didn't" (Kaplan).

Since the number on Facebook's friends list are viewable to others, "the self-esteem boost may also be traced to being reminded of how many 'friends'" (Kaplan).

Summary of Source (Three-Four Sentences of the Who, What, Where, Why, and How in your own words. NO OPINION): 
Karen Kaplan a writer of the Los Angeles Times argues that Facebook is a social networking site that actually increases individuals self-esteem. The reason why self-esteem is boosted is because of the amount of access they have to change their profile and make them look prettier and more handsome than they already are. When other viewers are to view your own profile, their comments change the way you view yourself. 

Credibility of Source: 
Author or Site: Who is the author? What training have they had? If there is no author, examine the site. What is the purpose of the site? Who funds the site? 
Karen Kaplan is the author from the Los Angeles Times website. The purpose of the site is to inform readers of outside news and news that is relevant.

Attachment: Does the author or site have anything to gain from writing this, or is it simply informative? For example, is it a cigarette business posting an article about the benefit of cigarettes, or is it a scientific community unaffiliated with the cigarette business? 
The author does not anything to gain from writing this. It seems as if she is only to argue and oppose those who continue to state that social networking sites decrease self-esteem. 

Bias: Do you detect a bias (a favoring of either side) in the author's writing? 
There is a bias in Kaplan's writing because she only sides with the fact that Facebook encourages self-esteem and helps individuals better view themselves. She does not talk about the negative side of Facebook at all.

References: Does the author cite references in the writing? If so, do these add or take away from the credibility? 
Karen Kaplan sites an academic journal called the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking as well as talking about self-esteem test that have been proven to support her position on Facebook. 
Use of Source: How will you use this source in your project? 
This article is a counterargument that I can use in my Senior Project research paper.

Senior Project Online Source #3

“Specific Page Title or Article Title”	Social networking and your self-esteem
Primary Contributor to the Website (if given) (author, editor, producer, etc)	Author: Ashley at Nourishing the Soul
Title of the Entire Website (not www. )	Nourishing the Soul
Publisher or Sponsoring Organization of the website (if given)	Not Applicable
Date Page was Last Revised	29 September 2010
Date You Read It	2 February 2012
<URL address> (ALL of it)	http://www.nourishing-the-soul.com/2010/09/social-networking-self-esteem/

FIVE FACTS FROM THE SOURCE (Embedded):

The article begins with the question that asks, “have you ever considered the threat of these sites to your self-esteem” (Ashley)?

When there is nothing else to do with your time, most people are, “transporting [themselves] away from the realities of [their] own situation and allowing [them] to immerse [themselves] in snippets about [their] ‘friends’ (Ashley).

After a few hours of realizing how much time she has spent on her laptop, Ashley found that, “facebook was my [her] feel like crap” (Ashley).

Although individuals choose how much time they spend on social networking sites, “social networking sites are not themselves to solely blame” (Ashley).

No matter how much, “these sites continue to wear you down instead of lift you up, it may be time to close twitter and go spend time in (gasp!) the real world” (Ashley).

Summary of Source (Three-Four Sentences of the Who, What, Where, Why, and How in your own words. NO OPINION):

Nourishing the Soul is an organization for people to write about how they feel the world has affected them in anyway. In this particular article, Ashley talks about how the internet and social networking sites have impacted her self-esteem as well as decreasing the amount of time she spends with her husband. 

Credibility of Source:
Author or Site: Who is the author? What training have they had? If there is no author, examine the site. What is the purpose of the site? Who funds the site?

The Author: Ashley, the one who is impacted by this situation talks about her own personal experience instead of gathering up studies to show how much social networking sites affect people’s self-esteem.

Site: Nourishing the Soul is an organization that helps people with body image problems and how it impacts their life in any way. They come together to help mostly woman on their image and how to better shape their lives instead of focusing on the media of women.

Attachment: Does the author or site have anything to gain from writing this, or is it simply informative? For example, is it a cigarette business posting an article about the benefit of cigarettes, or is it a scientific community unaffiliated with the cigarette business? 
Because the author had personal experience with her self-esteem due to social networking  sites, the author helps others out there and tries to better shape the way they see themselves.  

Bias: Do you detect a bias (a favoring of either side) in the author's writing? Due to the personal experience of this author, Ashley only talks about the negative effects that Social Networking sites have on individuals. She does not completely put down social networking sites but she puts the blame on the individual instead.  

Senior Project Online Source #2

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

“Specific Page Title or Article Title”	Family under the microscope
V Primary Contributor to the Website (if given) (author, editor, producer, etc)	Oliver James
Title of the Entire Website (not www.)	The Guardian
Publisher or Sponsoring Organization of the website (if given)	N/A
Date Page was Last Revised	29 May 2009
Date You Read It	3 February 2012
<URL address> (ALL of it)	http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/may/30/children-low-esteem-internet

FIVE FACTS FROM THE SOURCE (Embedded):

Social networking sites like Facebook create a problem, “for several decades, [which] have shown that we have more friends but fewer intimates” (James).

Being able to create a profile where individuals are able to post pictures, personality and looks, “[create] winners and losers” revealing that this is the main, “problem for some children” (James).

Self-photographs that individuals post up only give other individuals the right to “rate” them, “but, mainly negative comments severely diminished that of the 7% of users” (James).

Teenagers who feel like an outcast in their school, “try to use networks to upgrade themselves, personally and socially” but, “unfortunately, they often did not succeed” (James).

When at a very young age, most people rely on the, “who’s in who’s out” statement that defines which crowd of people they fit most in. (James).

Summary of Source (Three-Four Sentences of the Who, What, Where, Why, and How in your own words. NO OPINION):

Oliver James describes how young adults to the age of twenty one are affected by how social networking sites decrease self-esteem. Oliver James cites psychologist and states his studies that make the article more reliable. The author chooses to give the advice to parents to help lower the amount of time their children use on the computer. He also ends the article to warn parents about how today’s society crashes and diminishes the self-confidence of teenagers.  

Credibility of Source:
Author or Site: Who is the author? What training have they had? If there is no author, examine the site. What is the purpose of the site? Who funds the site?

Olive James, the author of this article continually cites psychologist and also talks about the studies that have been made to help support his position.

Attachment: Does the author or site have anything to gain from writing this, or is it simply informative? For example, is it a cigarette business posting an article about the benefit of cigarettes, or is it a scientific community unaffiliated with the cigarette business?

Oliver James seems like he wants to help warn parents about the usage of social networking sites of their kids and make sure that their kids are not so much affected on how society views and seperates people into “cool” and “not-cool’ crowds.  

Bias: Do you detect a bias (a favoring of either side) in the author's writing?

There is somewhat of a bias in this article due to the idea that Oliver James only lists the negative side of how Facebook lowers self-esteem in young adults.  

References: Does the author cite references in the writing? If so, do these add or take away from the credibility?

The author cites the psychologist Enrich Fromm and talks about the two studies that have been experiemented on and how the studies further support his position of self-esteem. This made the author a very credible and reliable source. The Guardian is a US and England Newspaper website that informs individuals across the two countries about news that is traveling around the world today.   

Use of Source: How will you use this source in your project?
This source was more reliable because Oliver James cites many sources that make his position stand stronger. I will be using this source to try and make my senior paper have a strong opinion.