Net Neutrality

February 7, 2019 at 2:03 pm (communication, Social Media/Technology, Telecommuting)

Net neutrality is the constitution of the internet in America. The Obama administration passed legislation in 2015. Sadly, Net neutrality died a horrible and sudden death at the hands of Ajit Pai at the end of 2017. This appeal was one of the biggest controversies of 2017 amongst the American people.

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Without net neutrality, internet service providers can control content and service across the board. These providers can slow down internet service, charge extra fees, and even block content for other internet services. The bottom line for this appeal is monetary gain for a platform that was once free and accessible to anyone. Without open internet, information cannot be shared as easily among the North American population, which can cause people to be ignorant of political and social policies. Without net neutrality, how would we, the people, keep up with Donald Trump’s twitter account? We would have to pay extra or not see it at all if the providers decided to restrict access to Twitter.
Twenty-two state attorney’s general are asking to reinstate net neutrality rules. AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast are for the death of net neutrality, but other companies oppose the appeal. These other companies are Facebook, Amazon, and even Pornhub. When your porn preference involves themselves in politics, the stakes are obviously high.

So far, internet providers have not made the major changes that most Americans fear. These companies still have that power in their hands without regulations. Right now, it is a huge waiting game. Once another Democratic candidate is elected for the Oval office, net neutrality will more than likely be instated, once more. Until then, the American population can thrive on hopes and prayers that internet service providers keep the internet playground fair to all.

By
Kaylee Gaddie
IUPUC Psychology Major

 

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Do You Hear What I Hear???

September 27, 2018 at 10:09 am (Add Value to Business, Business Conflicts, Business Ethics, career, Coming Out LGBTQ, communication, Communication Problems, Conflict, Diversity in the Workplace, Effective Communication, frame of reference, Job Interviews, Listening skills, Motivation, Overseas Business Conflicts, Social Media in the workplace, Social Media/Technology, Telecommuting, Uncategorized, Working Well with Teams)
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woman wearing headphones standing beside man

Photo by Nicholas Githiri on Pexels.com

Listening to me and Hearing me are two different things. How well do you listen? According to PR Daily, less than two percent of the country’s population, have had formal education on how to listen. Did that not just blow your mind, because mine is flabbergasted. We communicate everyday with people from around the world, only to realize what we are saying to each other is only being heard, and not comprehended. I have three quick points on how we can enhance our communication skills, by simply improving our listening abilities.

  1. Pay Attention
  2. Open Your Mind
  3. Interact

These tips do not have to be completed in order, but it is much easier to understand the conversation if you do. Let’s break these tips down into a simpler form.

  • Paying attention is the key to any conversation. This allows the sender and receiver the opportunity to feel each other out. It is also needed to retain pertinent information.
  • Open your mind to all ideas whether you feel like they are good or bad. You never know what someone else can bring to the table, not to mention we all fall short of knowing everything, so always be willing to learn something new.
  • Both the sender and the receiver should interact with each other. By doing this the other knows if the message sent is clear. Interaction could be as simple as eye contact or a nod of the head. The point is you are letting the other know you get it!

I have found in relationships with others in my life, communicating effectively is so important. Not understanding what someone is trying to tell you after they have said it over and over and you have heard it over and over is beyond frustrating. That is why during the communicating process, we must openly listen to each other and pay attention to the details in the message so that we can respond to effectively. Considering there are so many cultures that make up our country, some ways of getting a message across will vary. These steps might not work for every situation, but they can assist with the process.

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Pro and Cons of Telecommuting

November 8, 2011 at 12:00 pm (Telecommuting)
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I believe that telecommuting started to become popular in the twenty first century.  This is when computer and Internet technology really started to advance.  More people than ever before now own a cell phone.  Very powerful computers including laptop computers started to become very affordable and popular for people to own in their own home.  High speed broadband Internet became much more affordable and available to many more people than in the past.  There was also the desire for more people to be able to spend more time with their family at home than to have to travel to and from work each day.

The major advantage for someone to telecommute is the ability to work from home.  I do believe that this can be a major advantage for many people.  Some people have families with children where they would like to stay close to at home.  In this case telecommuting can be a major advantage to them if the job has very flexible hours working in a very relaxing environment at home.  Most people that do telecommute every day from home have a separate area in their home away from the rest of their family so that they can focus on their work.  I do believe that telecommuting is very popular for stay at home parents.

Telecommuting can reduce the amount of money that is spent on gas.  With gas prices over three dollars a gallon now in many parts of the country, it might make sense to work from home more often than to drive to work every day.  This can really benefit the environment.  The life of a person’s car can be extended as well by not driving to work everyday. The telecommuter might be able to focus more doing their work from home then having to deal with the daily office distractions.

Telecommuting might also open up the job market for some individuals.  The economy in the U.S. is not really doing well right now.  Some people might have to look for a telecommuting job online in another state.  In the past if someone wanted to work for a company in another state, they more than likely had to relocate to another state.  Now they can just work from home anywhere if they were to get hired.  Telephones including cell phones, web cams,  and video conferencing might be used if the telecommuter has to talk with coworkers and managers in another state.

The major disadvantage of telecommuting is that there is no daily social interaction with coworkers and managers.  This could make it harder for some telecommuters to get promoted because managers do not see their employees daily.  Telecommuters can also sometimes be lonely.  The telecommuter has to really be self-motivated to be able to work every day from home because some people consider the home to be a place to relax and not work.  Some people might have a hard time separating their work life from their personal life working at home everyday.  Telecommuters working from home might be easily distracted from work if they do not have a separate area in their home for work.

Telecommuting does have some advantages and disadvantages.  Full time telecommuting is not for everyone.  It depends on what the person’s personal situation is at home and what type of job they would prefer to do for a living.  I do believe that full time telecommuting is not for someone who is single because they might desire the social interaction with people by going to work every day.   A telecommuting job might be more appealing for someone that has a family at home.

Personally, I do not believe that I would like or enjoy a full time telecommuting job but I would consider a job with some telecommuting work at home after I am done with college.  I would be someone that would enjoy going to work every day and having interaction with my coworkers and managers than someone that just does their work on the computer at home every day.  There are many benefits to a job that has some part time telecommuting.

I do believe that telecommuting will keep on getting more popular in the future because technology just keeps on advancing.

By Eric Shepherd-IUPUC Business Major, Ivy Tech Alumni

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