DHU Social Media Fall 2025

  Please post your video and the writing here. Remember, the writing must be ABOUT your video, but not repeat the same things that your video will say. In a way the post and the writing is an advertisement, or invitation to watch the video, so please be clever and write in a way that will compel the reader to watch it!  Example: "Hey there, everybody! I want to share with you a funny story. It's about the time my friend and I went to an amusement park and met some of the characters there. Watch the whole thing for a surprise ending!" (Please do not copy this text! I will be mad!) The writing should be a bit shorter. We will need time to watch all the videos!

   Today and the next classes (11/3, 11/5, 11/10) we will work on our final project. What do we need to do? Make a video and then post it on our page. The topic of the video is a funny story. In this way, the topic is open and free, but the story has to be interesting or funny.  You can show images and have music. If you do, make sure match your topic and that they look and sound clear. If there is no music or images that is ok. For today, you can write, record and edit the video. Then NEXT Monday, write a post that will include the video. 11/10 is not the last class, but we will try to finish on this day in case there is some problem and someone can't finish on the last day (sick or computer problem) then there will still be 1 more day, just in case. The video must be 2 minutes or longer and include your voice, in English. No changed voices, no avatar character in place of yourself. NO V TUBER!! I don't even know what those things are, so I don't want to see it! The grad...

For nearly two months we have been reading and commenting on various things. Most of these were decided by me, but now it is your turn! What is something newsworthy to you? Tell us about some event that has happened between September 1st, 2025 and October 29, 2025.  This event must be major Japanese or world news. It is not about you and your friend wanting to go to USJ in 2 weeks. There must be some new source from tv or internet that reported on this news.  Please share a link of this news and give an explanation of what the news is all about in 100 words or more. This will be the last regular class. We will begin our final project on Monday. It will take several days so please be here and do not miss it!

 Today we will talk about "dead media."  Here is a story you might not know, but is 100% true!! MySpace  was the first big social media website. It started in 2003 and quickly became popular, especially with young people. Users could make profiles, add friends, post updates, and share photos. 20 years ago, Myspace was the most visited social networking site in the world. Because of its huge success, Myspace was sold to News Corporation in 2005 for  $580 million . At the time, people thought it would keep growing forever! But then Facebook came along. It was cleaner, simpler, and more organized. At first, in 2003 it was only for college students. You needed a university email. In the US, this was .edu. A "face book" itself used to be a real thing that universities would print and give to students that would tell a little bit about someone, so you could make friends more easily. It is the opposite of a  "year book" which is given out after school ends, and i...

 I don't need to tell you the big news in Japan. There is new Prime Minister! The first woman to ever hold the position in Japanese history!  Read all about it! I don't really have an opinion on her yet, because she just started the job yesterday! But it seems like Japan goes through PMs very fast! So will she stay around a long time or be out in a year?  The only PM I could support would eliminate all taxes, and raise the value of the yen back to 100 for $1US! But you know how the old saying goes. Wish in one hand... I think it might be good to  have a female leader. For one, people can stop complaining that Japan is run by "old men" but I don't think it really matters much one way or the other. If you're good you're good and if you're bad, you're bad. Time will tell. In a greater sense, it is a big change, because the coalition that ran things for decades is now over, the landscape will be different from that for at least a while. Please leave yo...

 Today let's talk about comics that we like. It could be from an individual book, the newspaper or from online. Explain what the comic is, what it is about and why you like it. Include a sample of at least 1 work from the comic and explain.   The comic MUST be in English, but if it is a translated Japanese work, that is ok!  NO obscene or vulgar images! If you can not show your grandmother, then it is NOT OK!!  My example: My favorite comic of all time is called "Calvin and Hobbes." It was printed from 1985-1995. It is no longer being made because the artist did not want the stories to become boring or unoriginal. The comic is still very good even though it is old. The story is about a boy named Calvin who has a toy tiger called Hobbes. When Calvin is alone, the tiger becomes real and he uses his imagination to do many exciting things. It reminds me of when I was a kid and imaginary things could feel real.  It looks like a kid's comic but the dialogue is often a...