WEEK 6: prawns + vitamin C = poison？

It has been rumored for years that eating prawns shortly after taking vitamin C will cause arsenic acid to form in the body and create a potentially fatal situation. It's an urban legend that has been going around the internet and is not based in fact（Snopes. 2005）.

Health and well-being is big business and misinformation is rife. It's quite difficult to tell an authentic news report from an invented one. Scientific rumor is particularly confusing because the general public is likely to be misleading by alleged research data and professional term beyond their knowledge.

It is difficult to escape the rumor! Although more and more rumor were proven false, many people still prefer to believe them.

According to Lewis, the medical literature saw lay users of the web not as discriminating health consumers actively accessing health information but as passive recipients of online health information prone to outbreaks of ‘cyberchondria’. It seems many people prefer to believe the information on internet rather than to ask a doctor when they fell uncomfortable.

As the new media emerges, posting information become much more easer and personal. For this reason, misinformation and wrong medical concept spread fast and general public believe easily.



Reference List:

Lewis, T. (2006). Seeking health information on the internet: lifestyle choice or bad attack of cyberchondria? Media, Culture & Society, volume 28, issue 4: 521-539. 

Snopes. 2005. "Prawn Shopped." Accessed April 9, 2011.
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/shrimp.asp

Week5：New Media and Lifestile

Silverstone (2002) discusses the experience of everyday life is no longer containable within physical space since media have penetrated deeply into the daily life. In the past people accept information passively by newspaper, magazine, radio and TV. As the new media emerges, communication becomes active mutual participation instead of passive acceptance. With new media including social networking sites, email, chat software and client terminal, people can reinforce existing relationships and get more information about new entrants into their offline world.

Subrahmanyam and Greenfield (2008) said that adolescents are heavy users of newer electronic communication forms such as instant messaging, e-mail, and text messaging, as well as communication-oriented Internet sites such as blogs, social networking, and sites for sharing photos and videos. Adolescents seem more likely to live in media rather than live with media. They use new media as a platform to introduce themselves, share their experience and tell their stories.

Nowadays, the first thing after getting to know someone might be asking his or her Mobil phone number, email address, personal home page, or blog. Hence, it can be learned that new media has quietly penetrated into every corner of people's lives, influenced their cognitive ability and moral sentiment, and changed their life stile directly.

Reference list:

Silverstone, Roger. 2002. “Complicity and Collusion in the Mediation of Everyday Life.” New Literary History 33(4): 761-780. 2007.

Subrahmanyam, Kaveri and Greenfield, Patricia. 2008. “Online Communication and Adolescent Relationships.” The Future of Children 18(1): 119-146. Spring 2008.