In an article published by Psychology Today, author Ray Williams writes about the affects of Facebook on a persons self-esteem and sense of self with an emphasis on Facebook's connection to narcissistic behaviors. The article references a study done at York University, which found that among Facebook users between the ages of 18 to 25, the people who used Facebook the most tended to have narcissistic personalities. In his research, Williams also found competing data that suggested Facebook may in fact boost self-esteem. Because the phenomena of social media is still so new to us, it is difficult to come to finite conclusions about the affects of social media. Williams, Ray. "Do Facebook and Other Social Media Encourage Narcissism?." Last modified June, 19th 2013, http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-success/201306/do-facebook-and-other-social-media-encourage-narcissism.

Regina Lynn's commentary Virtual Rape Is Traumatic, but Is It a Crime? discusses the concept of cyber rape, and the position it currently holds in our culture. Lynn discusses the serious nature of cyber rape and address the psychological trauma involved; but she questions if it should be considered a crime in the real world. Lynn states that while traumatic, cyber rape is not to be equated with real life physical rape. I selected this article because while I do not necessarily agree with Lynn on the subject, I thought it was interesting to read an article from a viewpoint that is oppositional to the majority idea that cyber rape is a crime in it's own right.

Comparing the site in 2007 to the way the site is now in 2014, it definitely looks dated and like it is still in the process of being developed. The thing that sticks out as looking the most dated and out of place is the "ways to shop" menu on the left side column that features large and stylistically ill fitting icons with their category names. In comparison to the current version of Etsy that is designed and branded with aesthetics in mind, the basic homepage layout and awkward use of color and icons make it appear bare and the lack of style or design suggest the brand was still new and had yet to develop a distinctive style.