How Does Facebook Impact on Your Life Essay Example for Free

How Does Facebook Impact on Your Life Essay What is the most popular social network in the world? I believe that most people prefer the answer â€Å"Facebook†. Nowadays, there are more and more people join the Facebook. You can always see such situations that some people refresh their Facebook when they have nothing to do, and there are some people even only use Facebook to keep in touch with others. Actually, Facebook has already become a part of our life; and it changed our lives in four aspects: it changed our online life, relationships with our parents, relationships with our friends, and also eased our feeling of loneliness. The first aspect is that Facebook fulfilled our Internet lives. Do you still remember what did you usually do on the Internet before the Facebook was invented? Use my own experience for example; before the Facebook was invented, I only use the basic functions of the Internet, such as check the emails, look for some news on the Internet, sometime I also play some online games. At that time, I prefer to watch TV rather than surf the Internet. However, after the Facebook was invented, my online life changed. When I surf the Internet, the first thing I have to do is check my Facebook, because many of my friends who changed their states everyday. From their states I can know what happened to my friends. Sometimes I can also share some interesting videos and pictures to my friends, it also made me feel closer with my friend. Actually, not only myself, but also other teenagers have the similar situations. In â€Å"Facebook is a major influence on girls, says survey†, Sean Coughlan (2010) reported that there is a survey based on 3000 parents and 1000 children in the UK, and they found that Facebook made a big influence on children, especially on girls. In that survey, children are asked to list three important things in their life. The result shows that 41% of the girls and 17% of the boys believe that technology is one of the biggest influences, and many girls regard the Facebook as their important part in their life. They believe that Facebook is more important than TV, magazines and even their brothers or sisters. It sounds a little crazy, however, it is true that Facebook has already changed our Internet life. In fact, Facebook didn’t only change our Internet life, but also create a new way to communicate with your parents and friends. As there are more and more teenage Facebook users, many parents try to communicate with their kids through Facebook. However, is it an effective way to use Facebook to get closer with their child? In â€Å"Student’s Facebook ‘friends’: public and private spheres†, Anne West, Jane Lewis and Peter Currie (2009) analysis that most teens feel weird when adults have Facebook. Huffington Post (2007) use a student’s words as example, the student said that if his or her parents know so much about his or her Facebook activities, he or she will has a feel that his or her parents want to know the secrets between his or her friends. He or she wants his or her parents could understand that Facebook profile is prepared for people who are sharing his or her experience (cited in West, Lewis Currie, 2009). From this example, we can see that many teenagers don’t like adding their parents as friends. They want a world that they can chart with their friends without worrying about their parents. However, there are still many teenagers believe that Facebook is a good way to communicate with their parents. For instance, there is a girl noted that her mother just got into Internet for few days and her mother likes to see her photos. The girl believes that it is a good way to keep in touch with her mother (West, Lewis Currie, 2009). In another case, there is a friend of mine insist on communicating with his mother through the Internet. They believe that add each other as a Facebook friend is a symbol of reliance. My friend likes to update some photos with his friends, and his mother likes to share some tips in daily life with Facebook. With the help of Facebook, their relationship became better and better. As there are more and more people who know how to use Internet, we need to believe that one day, parents can get closer with their kid by using Facebook. Facebook does not only change our relationships with our parents, but also with our friends. Before the Facebook was invented, maybe the most common way to communicate with others is cellphone. You can text or phone others. However, with the birth of the Facebook, we have a new way to communicate with our friends. In â€Å"Me and My 400 Friends: The Anatomy of College Students’ Facebook Networks, Their Communication Patterns, and Well-Being†, Manago, Taylor and Greenfield (2012, pp. 374) did a survey on 400 people. According to their study, the average time that people spend on the Facebook is a little over an hour, and 80% of the people would log in the Facebook many times a day. Most people would like to update their status a few times a week. Status is most common use of the Facebook. From our friends’ statues we can know more about our friends’ life. To some degree, it is a kind of communication when you see your friends’ statue and leave a comment under their statue. According to Manago, Taylor and Greenfield’s study, the most common statues are others’ emotion condition (51% of participants). Then the second and the third most common statue is â€Å"what you a doing† and â€Å"vent frustration†. Therefore, we can easily know something from others’ statue. That is why Facebook provide us a new way to communicate with our friends. Actually, most young people like to use Facebook to keep in touch with their friends. Use my friends for example; Dale and Ronda are young couple with two kids. They like to go vocation in holidays. Each time when they come back they will update their statues and photos. It makes them feel closer with their friends. From these examples we can see that Facebook really changed our relationship with our friends a lot. The forth aspect that Facebook influent our life is that Facebook can ease our feeling of loneliness. In the article â€Å"Is Facebook Making Us Lonely? †, Marche (2012, P. 62) points out that Americans are much more lonely than ever before. In 1950, only less than 10% of the homes have only one person. However, by 2010, nearly 27% of the homes have only one person. From these information we can see that people became more and more lonely, because many of them living alone, they don’t have somebody to talk with them. That is the problem, and Facebook can solve this problem perfectly. Although you could not live with your friends, you could communicate with them through Facebook. Marche (2012, P. 64) also reported that in 1985, only 10% of the Americans had no one to talk about vital matters. However, by 2004, the year when Facebook launched, 25% Americans had no one to talk to. To solve this problem, Facebook provides a platform that you can discuss important matters with others. Facebook is not only a social networking, but also a â€Å"medicine† which can reduce the feeling of loneliness. There are some people argue that the motive for using Facebook may impact on loneliness. For instance, some people may addict to Facebook, so they prefer to use the Internet to communicate with others but not talk to others in reality. About this point, Mathew Ingram, an excerpt from BusinessWeek blog post, explains that Facebook would not promote connections in real world. He met many friends from Internet. He agrees that there are people became lonelier because of using the Internet, just like many lonely people like to watch a lot of late-night TV show. However, it doesn’t mean that Facebook causes loneliness (cited in Marche, 2012, P. 17). From the information above, we can see that Facebook really changed our life. In conclusion, Facebook changed our life in many aspects. It does not only add more happiness on your Internet life, but also make your relationships with others better. In the modern world, people became lonelier and lonelier. With the help of the Facebook, we can meet more new friends; we can keep in touch with our old friends, it can also help us to get out from the shadow of the loneliness. Facebook or social networking has already been a part of our life. Therefore, all we need to do is to make good use of the Facebook and let it serve us in a better way.

International Expansion Strategy of McDonalds

International Expansion Strategy of McDonalds Globalization has made the globe considerably smaller. States lines have turned into practically a divider separating certain regions of a massive unitary community. Businesses are the one that are highly affected by this occurrence. The virtual closeness of states has made trade and commerce an international event. Together with these advances, the key standards of business are similarly taken into account. The discussions in this paper shall involve an analysis of the international expansion strategy utilized by a multinational company. In this case, the situation surrounding McDonalds will be taken into consideration. The following annotations and propositions employed in the following discussions are to be supported by claims on journals and academic pieces that address international expansion strategies and international marketing theories. II.BACKGROUND The modest beginnings of McDonalds in Illinois turned out to be among the main brand names in the international scene. It has been synonymous to what is widely-accepted the fast-food concept. The company operates over thirty one thousand stores all over the world to date. It was one of the first to perfect the concept of fast service in the food industry in its early days of operations in 1955. Given that the products of the company are mainly western in character, its operations has also expanded to the Asian region. The first McDonalds store operated in Hong Kong in 1975. The first shop operated at Paterson Street in Causeway Bay. Up to this data, the functions of McDonalds in Hong Kong covers over two hundred restaurant chains spread in the whole of Hong Kong alone. In the rest of the globe, it operates thousands of store franchises that functions autonomously. III.PESTLE ANALYSIS Pestle is an analysis of the external macro environment in which a business operates. According to (2008), pestle stands for political, economic, social, technology, and environmental factors. A. Political Factors The international operations of McDonalds are highly influenced by the individual state policies enforced by each government. (2001, 705) For instance, there are certain groups in Europe and the United States that clamor for state actions pertaining to the health implications of eating fast food. (2005) They have indicated that harmful elements like cholesterol and adverse effects like obesity are attributable to consuming fast food products. On the other hand, the company is controlled by the individual policies and regulations of operations. Specific markets focus on different areas of concern such as that of health, worker protection, and environment. All these elements are seen in the government control of the licensing of the restaurants in the respective states. For instance, there is an impending legal dispute in the McDonalds franchise in India where certain infringement of rights and violation of religious laws pertaining to the contents of the food. The existence of meat in their menus in India is apparently offensive to the Hindu religion in the said market. There are also other studies that points to the infringement of McDonalds Stores with reference to the existing employment laws in the target market. Like any business venture, these McDonalds stores have to contend with the issues of employment procedures as well as their tax obligations so as to succeed in the foreign market. B. Economic Factors Organisations in the fast food industry are not excused from any disputes and troubles. Specifically, they do have their individual concerns involving economic factors. Branches and franchises of fast food chains like McDonalds has the tendency to experience hardship in instances where the economy of the respective states is hit by inflation and changes in the exchange rates. The customers consequently are faced with a stalemate of going over their individual budgets whether or not they should use up more on these foreign fast food chains. (2004) Hence, these chains may have to put up with the issues of the effects of the economic environment. Particularly, their problem depends on the response of the consumers on these fundamentals and how it could influence their general sales. In regarding the operations of the company, food chains like McDonalds tend to import much of their raw materials into a specific territory if there is a dearth of supply. Exchange rate fluctuations will als o play a significant role in the operations of the company. As stated in the paragraph above, McDonald stores have to take a great deal of consideration with reference to their microenvironment. The companys international supply as well as the existing exchange rates is merely a part of the overall components needed to guarantee success for the foreign operations of McDonalds. Moreover, it is imperative that the company be cognizant of the existing tax requirements needed by the individual governments on which they operate. This basically ensures the smooth operations of the McDonalds franchises. In the same regard, the company will also have to consider the economic standing of the state on which they operate on. The rate at which the economy of that particular state grows determines the purchasing power of the consumers in that country. Hence, if a franchise operates in a particularly economically weak state, hence their products shall cost higher than the other existing products in the market, then these franchises must take on certain adj ustments to maintain the economies of scale. C. Socio-Cultural Factors Articles on the international strategies of McDonalds seem to function on several fields to guarantee lucrative returns for the organisation. To illustrate, the organisation improves on establishing a positive mind-set from their core consumers. McDonalds indulge a particular variety of consumers with definite types of personalities. ( 1994) It has also been noted that the company have given the markets such as the United Kingdom, an option with regards to their dining needs. (2005) pointed out that McDonalds has launched a sensibly valued set of food that tenders a reliable level of quality for the respective market where it operates. Additionally, those who are aged just below the bracket of thirty-five are said to be the most frequent consumers of McDonalds franchises. ( 2005) The multifaceted character of business nowadays is reflected in the harsh significance of the information on the subject of the existing market. This procedure is essentially identified in the field as market research. (1997) Information with regards to the appeal and potential fields of the market would double as obstructions to the success of the company if this area of the operations is neglected. In the case of McDonalds they establish a good system in determining the needs of the market. The company uses concepts of consumer behaviour product personality and purchasing decisions to its advantage. ( 1998) It is said to have a major influence on the understanding of the prospective performance of the organisation in a particular market. (2000) D.Technological Factors McDonalds generates a demand for their own products. (2006) The companys key tool for marketing is by means of television advertisements. There are similarly some claims that McDonalds are inclined to interest the younger populations more. The existence of play spots as well as toys in meals offered by the company shows this actuality. ( 1995) Other demonstration of such a marketing strategy is apparent in the commercials of they use. They employ animated depictions of their characters like Grimace and Hamburglar. Other advertising operations employ popular celebrities to promote their products. The like has become endorsers for McDonalds worldwide loving it campaign. Moreover, the operations of McDonalds have significantly been infused with new technology. Elements like the inventory system and the management of the value chain of the company allows for easy payments for their suppliers and other vendors which the individual stores in respective markets deal with. The integration of technology in the operations of McDonalds tend to add value to their products. Basically, this is manifested in the improvements on its value chain. The improvement of the inventory system as well as its supply chain allows the company to operate in an international context. E. Legal Factors There has been the recurrent bellowing in opposition to the fast food industry. This has similarly made McDonalds apply a more careful consideration on their corporate social responsibilities. On the whole, this addressed the need of the company to form its corporate reputation to a more positive one and a more socially responsible company. ( 2005) The reputation of McDonalds is apparently a huge matter. Seen on the website of the company, it seems that they have acquired strides to take in hand the key social censures that they have been berating them in the past decades. The company has provided their customers the relevant data that they need with reference to the nutritional substances of their products. This is to attend to the arguments of obesity charged against the products of the company. In the same way, the consumers provided freedom in choosing whether or not they want to purchase their meals. This is tied up with the socio-cultural attributes of the market on which they operate. For instance, operations in predominantly Muslim countries require their meat to conform to theHalalrequirements of the law. In the same regard, those that operate in countries in the European Union should conform to the existing laws banning the use of genetically modified meat products in their food. Other legal concepts like tax obligations, employment standards, and quality requirements are only a few of important elements on which the company has to take into consideration. Otherwise, smooth operations shall be hard to achieve. F. Environment The social responsibilities of McDonalds on the state are influential to the operations of the company. These entail accusations of environmental damage. Among the reasons why they are charged with such claims is the employ of non-biodegradable substances for their drinks glasses and Styrofoam coffers for the meals. (1997) Several civic groups in Hong Kong have made actions to make the McDonalds franchises in Hong Kong aware of the rather copious use of Styrofoam containers and the resultant abuse of the environment. (1997) further indicated that in 1995, McDonalds Hong Kong went over the Styrofoam used by both Australia and the United States combined. IV. CONCLUSION Debatably, the most significant contribution of this generation is the combination of globalization and internationalization in the businesses sector. Developments in the international setting have an effect on the more particular factors in the operations in individual organisations. Alterations could take placer and require intense modifications to the operations such that it could have an adverse effect on the entire structure of the company. However, as indicated in the arguments and comments in this paper, this could be acquired by setting a certain level of flexibility in the organisation. This level of flexibility is basically acquired through the acquaintance of both the internal and external environment of the company. Even though McDonalds may have been deemed as demigod in the fast food business in the international scene, what it preserves as revealed in its processes is the need for flexibility. The slight changes that take place in the market have an effect on the operations of the business in any case. This denotes that having the information on the effects of these alterations swiftly provides these fast food industry giants to take fine-tuning actions on their acts and still preserve their market position. As implied in the introduction of this paper, the markets of nowadays manifest a cutthroat rivalry with the individual competitors, recognized brands or otherwise. Hence, any business in spite of the muscle of the brand name or the size of its reserves could not afford any failures in their individual markets

Cosmic Teleology and the Crisis of the Sciences Essay example -- Philo

Cosmic Teleology and the Crisis of the Sciences ABSTRACT: This paper analyzes recent work from within the physical sciences which argue for the emergence of a new paradigm capable of unifying the sciences and demonstrating the ultimate meaningfulness of the universe. I argue that while there is powerful evidence for cosmic teleology, the works in question do not represent a new paradigm and neither unify science nor adequately accommodate the evidence in question, but rather attempt to "put new wine in old skins." As Aristotle demonstrated, only teleological argumentation offers a complete scientific explanation, and authentic teleology is effectively ruled out by the hegemonic scientific paradigm which gives first place to mathematical formalism-something which makes possible rigorous description but not authentic explanation. This does not mean returning to Aristotelian science, but rather exploring the "road not taken" when Aristotelian science entered a crisis at the end of the medieval period: generalizing the concept of tele ology so that it can accommodate both the physical (especially astronomical) evidence which created problems for Aristotelian science long before Galileo and Kepler, and account teleologically for such phenomena as chaos and disintegration. The work of scientists like Gal-Or, Bohm, and Prigogine provides important resources for moving in this direction, but a more explicit option for teleology is necessary if the evidence is to be accommodated and the internal contradictions of the existing paradigm to be resolved. There has been considerable discussion in recent years regarding the emergence of a new scientific paradigm centered on holism and self-organization. This discussion has been motivated... ...ohn and Sylla, Edith. 1978 "The Science of Motion," in David Lindberg, editor, Science in the Middle Ages. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Pedersen, Olaf. 1978. "Astronomy," in David Lindberg, editor, Science in the Middle Ages. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Pines, David (ed.). 1987. Emerging Syntheses in Science, New York: Addison Wesley. Prigogine, Ilya. 1977. Self-Organization in Non-Equilibrium Systems, with Nicolis, G. New York: Wiley. ________. 1979. From Being to Becoming: Time and Complexity in the Physical Sciences. New York: Freeman. ________. 1984. Order Out of Chaos, with Stengers, I. New York: Basic. ________. 1988. "An Alternative to Quantum Theory," with Tomio Petrosky, in Physica 147A: 461-486. Spinoza, Baruch. 1677/1955. Ethics. New York: Dover Tipler, Frank. 1994. The Physics of Immortality, New York: Doubleday

nathaniel :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nathaniel is a magician’s apprentice. All apprentices live in their masters’ homes and their masters teach them magic, how to summon demons, and provide schooling for their apprentices. The also pick a name for them. The name is so that a magician or demon doesn’t find out what a person’s birth name because knowing someone’s birth name is a source of power to an enemy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Now to the story. The story starts when Nathaniel is selected to be an apprentice to Mr. Arthur Underwood. He trains Nathaniel, only he doesn’t realize that Nathaniel is brighter than he looks. When Nathaniel is ten, he finishes all the books that his master said would keep him until he was twelve. At the age of ten, Nathaniel meets the villain of the story, Simon Lovelace. His master takes the liberty of showing him off to the other magicians. Simon questions Nathaniel’s smarts, and proves that Nathaniel is smart. Nathaniel answers all the questions correctly, but that ticks Simon off. Then, Simon puts a spell on Nathaniel, and embarrasses himself and his master. Since then, Nathaniel has been focused on revenge.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When he turns twelve, he summons a demon called Bartimaeus. Nathaniel charges him to steal the Amulet of Samarkand. Little does Nathaniel know that Simon was planning to use it to overthrow Mr. Rupert Devereaux, the Prime Minister, and the rest of the government. One day, Nathaniel charged Bartimaeus to spy on his master in the study, but Nathaniel is called down to the study to talk to his master, exactly where Bartimaeus is. Mrs. Underwood uses â€Å"Nathaniel† because that’s his name, but it’s also his birth name. Bartimaeus hears it and thinks it’s his second name, but in the study, Mr. Underwood schedules a day for his official Naming. Bartimaeus is thrilled to hear this because whatever punishment Nathaniel uses, he can just direct it back at Nathaniel. Nathaniel threatens with a spell that confides Bartimaeus in a tin and Bartimaeus eventually backs down.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A couple of days after Nathaniel was Named, Mr. Underwood, family, Named apprentices, and other ministers are invited to Parliament for a gathering. Now Nathaniel is officially name John Mandrake. At the gathering, an attack is carried out by a group of people that call themselves the Resistance. The Head of Internal Affairs, Mr. Underwood, is really upset about this attack because he is supposed to be in charge of the finding and stopping the Resistance.

Pest Control and Waste Management Essay

Pests cause a lot of destruction to the crops. Even though there are lots of chemical pest controls available to help reduce or remove the presence of these destructive pests, the non-chemical pest control is the most reliable and safest form of pest control. One of the most destructive pests that are encountered by many farmers is the beetle. Non-chemical pest control can be done in many different ways like applying balanced fertilizer to keep the crops and soil healthy and free from beetles, removing weeds from that may surround the crops, and using milky spore powder when dealing with Japanese beetles. In addition with these, according to HGTV, â€Å"planting pest-resistant species that contains insecticide in nature can also help in getting rid of these pests(â€Å"Non-Chemical Pest Control†, 2006). † The production of a healthy and productive crop system all depends on the supervision of the farmer itself. Nevertheless, non-chemical pest control is all about prevention. I will not be in opposition to the idea of having hazardous waste landfill, waste treatment plant, deep-injection well, or incinerator in our community. The waste of a community grows enormously as time passes by. These wastes can affect the health and livelihood of a community. The presence of hazardous waste landfill, waste treatment plant, deep-injection well, or incinerator in a certain community reduce the waste that may cause pollution and other negative effects on the residents of a certain community. The hazardous waste landfill keeps the hazardous waste from going into the soil and eventually to our body. Incineration is only an alternative to land filling. Incineration is not a very good way of waste reduction because it produces toxic air pollutants that can even cause a great problem to the health of the community. These systems are of great help in the reduction of waste although it is inevitable that wrong management of these waste management system may always lead to an unlikely consequences like the pollution that can be brought about by incineration.

Group Influence: Surface Navy Association Essay

For this paper I decided to sit with a group that I know, but I choose to stay away from because I did not want to be part of that â€Å"mold† According to Myers, an group is â€Å"two or more people who interact with and influence each other† (Myers, 2010). However, the scopes of a group spread further. Behaviors within the group affect the other and, events within the group affect all members, and behaviors affect the success of the group. I picked the Surface Navy Association because the group dynamics within the organization displayed unity, and I also saw people conforming to what they felt was the norm. This type of group shows a heavy degree of social influence. Which occurs when an we interact with other people or group. The impacts of this interaction may be positive or negative on the individual. Hawaii branch of the SNA is located in Honolulu, Hawaii. This organization is comprised of the local military members enlisted and officer. The organization is comprised of approximately 1500 members; made up of retired and active military US Navy and other braches of the military that hold and interest in the Surface Military. SNA was incorporated in 1985 â€Å" to promote greater coordination and communication among those in the military, business and academic communities who share a common interest in Naval Surface Warfare and to support the activities of Surface Naval Forces† (Surface Navy Association, 2014). Meetings for the association are held on the first Wednesday of the month at the Hale Koa hotel. They hold their meetings in a conference room, but the setting is very laid back and open. Seating for members is not fixed; he or she is free to sit in any available seat. SNA is very diverse in the ages of members, which range from 21 to 70 years of age. Members are primarily male; a small percentage is female, and ethnicity of  this group range from Caucasian, Asian, Hawaiian, African American and many others. However, there is a hierarchy within this association. There are officers, which consist of an president, vice president, secretary, treasurer. The highest attending officer usually the president or vice president facilitates the meeting. The meeting starts off with a conversation of anything that is happening that will affect the military then moves to a pre-set agenda. The agenda consists of the minutes of the last meeting being read, the president’s report, the treasurer report, and the awards report. The other members are allowed to comment and communicate about the information being stated during these reports however they are not allowed to mention any new information. Once these reports have been read and discussed, the other members of the group have an opportunity to discuss issues or concerns they have with any topic or how they choose a winner for a certain award. Primary topics discussed in the meeting were the previous month’s SITREPS (military or SNA news), upcoming events, and membership issues. The members of the group exchanged information based on previous situations as related to current situations, and they give advice and criticisms for the previous month’s activities or lack there of activities. Members were open to information exchange and did not take any criticism in a negative manner. Communication was open so that all members could communicate with one another. All members had the opportunity to exchange comments or concerns about any of the topics covered. Psychologist Irving Janis coined the term groupthink, the term relates to the group’s desire for conformity and its decision making process. Groups that use groupthink are more concerned with the conformity of the group that the members may make incorrect decisions in order to preserve the harmony. Janis had three requirements he believed that groupthink would need in order to be developed. These requirements were that the group was cohesive, the group was isolated from dissenting views, and the group had a leader who signaled the decision they favored (Myers, 2010). Surface Navy Association did meet of these requirements, and I almost felt bad that it took a school assignment in order to see what this group was really about. While the group did seem to be mainly a united group, there were times of disagreement but they were settled quickly. This dissension was met in a positive way to help  the members learn and grow. The group did make decisions that benefited not only the group as a whole but benefited the members as individuals and the community. Based on the definition of groupthink, SNA was vulnerable to it, but at the same time the group was concerned with making informed decisions than to keep harmony within the group. Conformity is when changing or adopting behaviors or attitudes are consistent with the social norms of a group (Wood, Wood, & Boyd, 2011). Surface Navy Association has social norms, or standards of behavior expected of its members. These norms include behavior while representing this organization and also any military unit they are with as well as behavior in general while out in town because members of this association for the most part are well known within the military. These standards include basic behaviors such as refraining from criminal activity and moral behaviors. While most members adhere to these standards in his or her everyday life in general, all members are expected to conform to the standards. There are punishments for the members who do not conform to these standards. These punishments include rejection of membership and even them reporting any behavior to their commands. The affect of a group may have a significant influence on an individual. However, studies have revealed that social interaction can intensify individual emotions (Barsade & Gibson, 2012). These social interactions can affect both the person and the group outcomes. Social facilitation is an important quality of the group experience. Social facilitation is the positive or negative effect on an individual’s performance attributed to the presence of others (Wood, Wood, & Boyd, 2011). SNA group gives it members a sense of filament and gives them a chance to give back to people still in the military and to also share what they have been though to people that are thinking about joining the military and also to help give insight to what military personnel go though. The members within this group understand the importance of the tasks they must perform in order to show what good military personnel can do. Due to this understanding, the members work together as a team rather than as individuals. The member of this group are unified and appears to be as close as family, and members are together in  this group show their desire to help others in the military community. In the end groups are part of everyone’s life no matter how much you try to avoid them someway you once or are part of a group. Groups help to assist us in various different tasks and situations throughout our lives. Groups have their own standards, rules, and organization, and can have a negative or positive impact on your life. The Surface Navy Association strives to have a positive impact on all people both members and citizens. This organization helps to save lives by providing an outlet for retire and active duty military people to have people to talk to that understand and also achievements they are recognized for. The members have learned to work together to achieve the goals of the group, and they have conformed to the standards set forth in order to maintain membership and have become a unified group because of the efforts of the members. References Barsade, S. G., & Gibson, D. E. (2012). Group affect: Its influence on individual and group outcomes. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 21(2), 119-123. Myers, D. (2010). Social Psychology (10th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill. Surface Navy Association (2014). SNA Website. Retrieved from: http://www.navysna.org/default.htm Wood, S. E., Wood, E. G., & Boyd, D. (2011). The world of psychology (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.

The Impact of Aerial Forces in the First World War

The Italo-Turkish war, which lasted from 1911-12 and was predominantly fought in Libya, was the first recorded event of a bomb dropped from an aeroplane onto the enemy. The 1912-13 Balkans also witnessed elementary aerial bombing executed against the opponent from aeroplanes and airships. However, World War One was the first major conflict to implement forces on a large scale that would literally elevate the battlefield. The aeroplanes and zeppelins of the Great War opened the door to an entirely new way to wage battle, which has unquestionably altered the nature of war forever. Nevertheless, despite being the war that ornamented the importance of military aviation, it is unclear whether or not this monumental achievement in military technology actually affected the course of WWI. Did the vividly coloured bi-planes and cumbersome airships flying over the muddy, blood-soaked trenches actually alter the course of the war, or were they just prototypes seen to have a great deal of potential? The key objective of this essay is to examine the impact that aerial forces had on the war; to determine if and how they shaped the outcome. Therefore, it is not the purpose of this essay to prove the monumental significance of military aviation in the First World War, but rather to investigate the importance of the role that it played. For the purposes of precision and brevity, we will focus mainly on the British –and to an extent, German- involvement in aviation during the First World War. Although other nations that were involved, such as France, USA and Austria-Hungary, contributed significant achievements to the field of military aviation in WWI, analyzing the impacts made by the air forces of these countries would make an essay –meant to be concise- far too complex. However, it is difficult to understand the impact of Britain’s Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) on the war without comparing them to the opponent. Therefore, we will also occasionally examine the Imperial German Army Air Service (Luftstreitkrafte) and its role in the skies above Europe during the Great War. We will first ascertain an understanding of the magnitude of aerial contributions to the war by comparing the number of those enlisted in the aerial services to those enlisted in the other military branches. We will then examine the various duties of the air services in the war and analyze the impact that these roles had on the war. Finally, we will discuss the psychological attitudes held towards the aircraft and pilots during the war, and whether or not these shaped the course of WWI in any way. By looking at these various components of military aviation during this period, we will be able to determine the impact it made on its debut large-scale conflict. For the purpose of clarity, it is important to define a few terms that will be used frequently throughout the course of this essay. For example, when attempting to determine the impact that military aviation made on WWI, we are trying to determine how large a role it played throughout the war and whether or not the war was drastically altered due to the inclusion of air services on a large scale. Moreover, an obvious –but also crucial- clarification to make is that aircraft and aviation are not terms strictly limited to areoplanes, but to all vessels capable of flight. Consequently, zeppelins and balloons are also encapsulated by the term aircraft in this essay. Keeping in mind these clarities will certainly enhance the focus when reading this report. Throughout the course of the war, British planes were operated either by the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) or the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). In 1918, the two services amalgamated to form the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the war-time statistics of both services were also conjoined. Throughout the course of the war, roughly 30,000 officers and 300,000 enlisted men served in either the RFC or RNAS. This figure of men who served in the aerial branches of the British military made up only 6% of the 5,397,000 British soldiers mobilized in the Great War. Of the men who served in the RFC and RNAS, 6,166 were killed; 7,245 were wounded; 3,128 became missing or POWs; and 84 were interned. Therefore, the total number of casualties sustained by the RFC and RNAS was 16,623, which was only 5% of the total number who served in air services. Of the 2,367,000 British military casualties in the war, less than 1% of that figure was comprised of RFC or RNAS casualties. Similarly, of the 5,952,000 German war casualties, only 16,000 of those were members of the Luftstreitkrafte. We can gather from this statistical analysis that the British and German (similar trends for the air forces of other nations) air forces did not have a great quantitative presence in the war in comparison to the other military branches of WWI. Furthermore, because WWI was a war in which success and victory relied heavily upon the number of troops deployed, the combat contributions made by aerial forces cannot measure up to the combat contributions made by the armies and navies of WWI. Military aviation was still in its prototypical stage, which prevented it from making a serious impact on the actual fighting of the war. However, as we will discuss later on, aviation played a crucial role in observation and reconnaissance, which was a hugely significant strategic impact. The impact that aviation had on the bombing campaigns of the Great War was rather miniscule. For example, C. G. Grey, an aviation historian, wrote: â€Å"During 1914-18 the damage done in England by [aerial] bombing was practically negligible. A few houses were damaged in a few English towns. About 1,500 people altogether were killed. No armament factory of any importance was destroyed. † Germany –considering her geographic location was closer to the war epicenter- was slightly more prone to bombings than Great Britain was but it was still a minute threat when factored into the whole grand scheme of war-induced devastation. Nevertheless, aerial forces did play an ample role as support units during land and sea battles. For example, during the Battle of the Somme in 1916, the RFC played a substantial part in providing support for the British and French troops on the ground. The Luftstreitkrafte was also present at the battle, but the British, with the assistance of the French Armee de l'Air (Army of the air), had the strength in numbers. Tactics would comprise of bombing and gunning the enemy trenches as a means of cover for advancing infantry and patrolling the skies for enemy aircraft. However, reconnaissance and observation was undoubtedly the most useful role conducted by the aerial forces of WWI and probably the way in which it made the greatest strategic impact. Artillery was arguably the deadliest risk to the soldiers on the battlefield, as one shell explosion could jeopardize a multiplicity of soldiers. Airships, balloons and aeroplanes all assumed the task of scouting out artillery positions and relaying the information to the ground forces. Moreover, aerial photography was becoming more popular with the military, which allowed suspected locations of enemy activity to be confirmed with photographic evidence. In this sense, aviation affected the Great War to a considerable extent, as it allowed both sides to see the enemy prior to combat engagement. Furthermore, at the battle of Jutland in 1916, the largest naval battle of the war, aeroplanes were used by the British to observe the activities of the German fleet. The HMS Engadine was able hold up to four seaplanes -in a hanger on her deck- that could be lowered into the water to take off. Short Type 184 seaplanes took off from beside the Engadine in the first recorded instance of aerial reconnaissance of an active enemy fleet. Although these Short Type 184s were capable of carrying torpedoes and bombs, they were only used for reconnaissance during the battle of Jutland. The HMS Engadine and other ships of her class were the initial models for the modern day aircraft carriers, the flag ships of contemporary navies for their ability to dispatch aerial units. Although the HMS Engadine and her four Short Type 184 seaplanes did not seriously affect the course of the battle (Britain maintained naval supremacy in the North Sea but suffered greater losses than Germany), it did demonstrate the potential of naval aviation to determine the movements and position of an enemy fleet before it comes into contact with the home fleet. Two years before Jutland, Winston Churchill, when he was Lord of the Admiralty, described the importance of using seaplanes in the military: â€Å"Seaplanes, which when they carry torpedoes, may prove capable of playing a decisive part in operations against capital ships. The facilities of reconnaissance at sea, where hostile vessels can be sighted at enormous distances while the seaplane remains out of possible range, offer a far wider prospect even in the domain of information to seaplanes than to land aeroplanes, which would be continually brought under rifle and artillery fire from concealed positions on the ground, among trees, behind hedges, etc. This clearly shows the potential that seaplanes were believed to posses, and despite the rather limited role they played in fighting the war, they certainly captured the attention of some notable figures in the hierarchy of the British military, like Churchill. We can conclude that the strategic value of aviation in the First World War was not as precious as the other components of the military (infantry, artillery, navy, etc), simply because aviation was still in its elementary phases and was not yet implemented on as large a scale as the other components. However, the psychological impact aviation had on the war was undoubtedly staggering. The idea of man flying through the air in a winged contraption was essentially unimaginable twenty years prior to the war, but the aeroplane, which only took off for the first time in 1903, was now being implemented against the enemy in armed conflict. The pilots who flew these aeroplanes were encapsulated by the imagery of pioneers exploring the vast unknown, and those who excelled in the cock pit, the flying â€Å"aces†, became national heroes. For example, Manfred von Richtofen, popularly known as ‘The Red Baron’, became such an icon for the German people in WWI for his number of â€Å"kills† (Richtofen shot down 80 enemy planes) that the Luftstreitkrafte was hesitant to continue sending him on missions. This was because it was feared his death would affect the morale of the entire nation, which could potentially alter the course of the war. This fear was partially due to the fact that the German government propagandized the image of Richtofen to build up morale in the first place. It seemed obvious to choose a man who excelled in flying, the exciting new novelty, to be a national hero. His face could be seen on postcards throughout Germany and his tales of impressive bravery were embellished by the government to create a hero that the German people could love and support throughout the war. In Britain, the government took precaution to avoid the risk of losing national morale, which meant the government would not publish the names of the ‘Aces’ until they either died or exited the service (the government did, however, embellish stories of the British ‘Aces’ a few years after the war to create a sense of national pride). The aviation historian J. M. Spaight wrote: â€Å"Her pilots were magnificent, though it was not the practice in the British service, as it was in all other services, to publish regularly the names of the ‘Aces,’ i. . of those pilots who had brought down five enemy machines or more. † Britain (including the Commonwealth countries) was the country with the most ‘Aces’, although only a few had their identities published during the war, because it was a concern that these pilots would become idealized as national war heroes, lifting morale with every enemy kill and diminishing it their own fatalitie s. This precaution certainly makes clear the impact that aviation had on the wartime morale. A brave pilot who would shoot down the opponent in a thrilling dogfight in the clouds certainly caught the attention of the masses, and because of this, it shaped a significant mentality of WWI. The zeppelins of WWI also contributed to the psychological impact. Even though the balloon had been used since the days of the Franco-Prussian War, WWI was the first war that witnessed the military zeppelins capable of traveling long distances (German zeppelins were able to travel impressive distances across the English Channel to conduct bombing raids on Britain) to inflict damage on the enemy. The zeppelins, which were predominantly used by the Luftstreitkrafte, also conducted important observation and decoy missions. The way the zeppelins created a psychological impact, however, had to do with their bombing abilities, as they were able to transcend the battlefield and bomb areas not directly affected by combat. Even though the damage caused by zeppelin raids in Britain was minimal, as we discussed earlier, it did eliminate the feelings of safety and isolation that were once a great reassurance to the British population when their country was at war. C. G. Grey wrote: â€Å"The psychological moment of the populace of any country is likely to be much more affected by air [zeppelin] bombing than by any artillery bombardment. † The British government capitalized upon this by publishing posters saying: â€Å"It is far better to face the bullets than to be killed at home by a bomb: join the army at once and help to stop and air raid. †The fact that the British government was able to capitalize on the fear of aerial raids certainly suggests a deep impact caused by the potential of these zeppelins. Therefore, it would be acting outside the realms of validity to say that the zeppelins in WWI delivered no impact. However, Winston Churchill believed the zeppelins to be a minimal threat once the aeroplane started to achieve greater potential: â€Å"I believed that this enormous blabber of combustible and explosive gas would prove to be easily destructible. I was sure the fighting aeroplane, rising lightly laden from its own base, armed with incendiary bullets, would harry, rout and burn these gaseous monsters. This theory – the aeroplane being able to easily destroy the zeppelin- which Churchill called the ‘Hornet Theory’, proved to be true throughout the war. Therefore, even though the zeppelins did impact the psychological moment of the British populace to an extent through the use of bombing campaigns, aeroplanes were the predominant victors in the skies over WWI. It goes without saying that there was not one universal opinion on military aviation within the highest ranks of the British military and government. It is important to consider the attitudes of powerful figures in the government and military, as they wer e the ones who could control the degree of impact aviation had on the war. There were some stout advocates who stressed the importance of deploying aircraft into military affairs, like Winston Churchill, who was mentioned earlier, and Hugh Trenchard, the â€Å"father† of the RAF. Churchill considered aviation (aeroplanes and airships) to be the most efficient approach in conducting reconnaissance missions. However, there were feelings of the contrary held by Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig, who a starch opponent of the implementation of areoplanes into the army for reconnaissance purposes (arguably the most important function of the aeroplane at that time) and was caught saying in 1914: â€Å"I hope none of you gentlemen is so foolish as to think that aeroplanes will be able to be usefully employed for reconnaissance purposes in war. There is only one way for a commander to get information by reconnaissance, and that is by the use of cavalry. Haig commanded the British Expeditionary Force from 1915 until the end of the war, leading the British armies in some of the greatest battles of the war. It is a valid conclusion to say that British military aviation would have taken off to a greater extent had the commander of British forces in Europe been a greater advocate for flight. However, despite being an old-fashioned soldier who preferred the use of infantry and mobilized ground units, Haig saw that the nature of war was changing. It was no longer practical to send cavalry units across the field charging the enemy now that artillery and rifles were more advanced and powerful. Furthermore, Haig knew that a hussar could not stand up to the newly implemented battle tanks rolling across the fields. Therefore, the use of aviation may not have been preferable to Haig’s military taste, but it was not dismissed by him, as the changing nature of war meant it had to be recognized. Hugh Trenchard, who would become the first Marshall of the RAF in 1918, said to the Haig in 1916: â€Å"As far as at present can be foreseen, there is absolutely no limit to the scale of its future independent war use. And the day may not be far off when aerial operations with their devastation of enemy lands and destruction of industrial and populous centres on a vast scale may become the principal operations of war, to which the older forms of military and naval operations may be secondary and subordinate. † Trenchard, among other politicians and high-ranking officials in the RFC and RNAS (Frederick Sykes being another igure who emphasized the importance of military aviation) , may have convinced Haig that aviation was a serious thing, but there is no record of Haig ever embracing military aviation as a monumental achievement in military technology. To specify, it is not being stated that Haig was not in awe of the technical capabilities of aviation, but he did not consider it the most valuable tool on the battlefield. By analyzing the various components of WWI aviation, we can agree that our findings were rather varied. For example, by comparing the quantitative presence –as well as casualty figures- of air force servicemen to the enlisted men of the other branches of the military, we reached the conclusion that there were far less men and resources invested into the aerial theatre of the war than the amount invested in the other theatres of the war. Furthermore, we examined the extent of damage caused by aerial bombing raids during the First World War, and concluded that the impact was not nearly as intense as the other factors of war-induced devastation. However, we did explore the ways in which aviation benefitted the process of observation and reconnaissance. In this sense, aviation in WWI displayed a hugely significant strategic value that undoubtedly helped save the lives of soldiers on the ground. Moreover, the aeroplanes used in the naval campaigns of the war demonstrated the potential value of observing an enemy fleet before an actual engagement. Therefore, the strategic impact aviation made on the war was mainly due to reconnaissance. Although the bombing and support roles of aircraft did make a humble impact on the war, getting ‘a bird’s eye view’ of enemy activities proved more valuable than imprecisely dropping a bomb on an enemy target. However, the realization of its potential and the psychological attitudes associated with it are arguably the greatest impacts that military aviation had on WWI. The pilot ‘Aces’ became national heroes that their countries could idolize as symbols for great military achievement in the war. With their successes came high morale, and with their deaths came iconic losses. Moreover, aviation introduced the idea of the battle transcending the battlefield to the factories and farms at home that aided the war effort. Consequently, psychological attitudes of those on the home front were seriously affected. When we determine the impact that aviation had on the First World War we must ask one question: would the war have had a different outcome had aerial forces been exempt from the equation? The answer is probably not. Nevertheless, it did open the doors to an entirely new way to conduct warfare, which has changed the nature of war forever.