so crystal peer reviewed my paper, and her insights were helpful.  she said that she had to re-read some of my writing because it was too complicated/wordy.  i think this is probably true, especially in the philosophy portion that i have written.  perhaps i need to give more background as to the basics of the social contract; i admittedly didn't really think of that.

otherwise, she said my content made sense, but that it was a little overwhelming.  unfortunately, i agree with her slightly (ha).  i need to work on making this cohesive and connecting my ideas smoothly.

FINALLY!  i found my academic in.  i've identified key terms in the field conversation in which i want to participate, and the research i've found has been spot on.  i'm thrilled.

my five pages are completed and are ready for submission.

i'm starting to feel really good about this.

okay.  so here i am, for the third night in a row, working on this paper.  and it's going terribly.  i think.  last night ended nearly ended in tears.

i am having trouble sewing together the pieces of my paper.  it contains three very separate parts: i have to define internet culture, explain the social contract/its relation to internet culture, and then cite examples of real life instances.  i'm having trouble finding sources about the internet (on the internet - of course), because i don't quite know where to look.  after tirelessly searching jstor for articles about the internet and politics/democracy, i've decided to split my search completely and look only for articles about internet culture.

the social contract part is going fairly well; sources are readily available, and i found a really interesting book by ruth weissbourd grant called "john locke's liberalism."  it's been really helpful in synthesizing ideas.

the current events stuff will be last; i don't want to worry about that just yet.  honestly, i'm really overwhelmed and exhausted and frustrated.

as for a bibliography, so far i have the grant book and the article i posted a few blogs back.  everything else i've found has been too far into a field conversation of which i don't want to be a part.

hello, blog!

on thursday, we have five pages to turn in.  i'm nervous but also excited.  tonight i will begin working.  updates later/tomorrow!

in other news, my 750words account info is as follows: gmail address - ginagaetano25@gmail.com; name - gina gaetano.

so i already know this project is going to be quite an investment, and i'm vaguely intimidated.  however, this is a topic in which i feel invested, and i intend to complete it to my satisfaction.

i found this article: http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy.libraries.uc.edu/ehost/detail?sid=dcceeb2a-be01-4f9b-bd1c-b30bb08bd10b%40sessionmgr15&vid=5&hid=8&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ufh&AN=58528987.  and that is what initially sparked my interest.  it won't be difficult to find current events/news features on occupy wall street, labor unions strikes, or any other type of democratic unrest/social issue in the U.S.

i do think it will be frustrating to only have the internet as a resource; obviously articles about 4chan are not going to be catalogued in the library (i would be concerned if they were).

at any rate, i intend to start this first five page chunk as an explanation of what new media is.  i will also write a portion about how it differs from social media, because i feel this is an important distinction.  i have no idea how many words that will be, so we will see.