Legal Blog on ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution)

a)      ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) consists of three different methods that are used to come to mutual agreement in case of a disagreement between two parties. One might ask how these methods are different than litigation and the difference is what I’ve learned in my business law class. Litigation is simply a lawsuit against a party whereas ADR are the techniques/methods used to eliminate dispute and come to common grounds. The three methods include Arbitration, Negotiation and Mediation.  Arbitration is where an arbitrator is accepted as an impartial person who hears presentations from two parties and makes a decision based on those presentations. It’s different from litigation because litigation is where a judge can make a decision by relating the case to an older case or by stare decises. Negotiation is where the two parties discuss and see what’s best for both sides and come to a decision where it’s almost a win win situation for both sides. Once again litigation is different because only one party would win the case. Mediation is process where a third party is involved, known as the mediator, who helps both parties come to a decision by helping the two parties communicate better. This is different from litigation because during the litigation process, no third party helps both parties at the same time. ADR relates to my learning objectives by showing me that there are other options instead of just litigation to solve court related problems or even problems at a workplace. When an argument starts at a workplace or a conflict occurs, these methods could be and are effective ways to use to stop a dispute.  ADR can definitely be used in other areas in my life such as sports. I play a lot of soccer and basketball and my team mates and I always use mediation to communicate better when a dispute occurs. Even at school with my groups, we use these methods to get through disputes that can easily be solved since there are always disagreements in a group.

b)      One of the main questions ADR raised for me is questioning what process is the best to use. I mean Negotiation sounds like a good process to use every time but it could still turn out to be unfair if one party can’t negotiate properly. Choosing which process to use is definitely one of the tough decisions to make for me now since they all seem appropriate for most disputes.  Definitely feel like the mediation process is most helpful when communication is a problem. A third person never hurts to have to help communicate.

c)       In the future, if I have any minor or major disputes, I will be using ADR as a way to successfully solve problems.  At home, at work or at school, the ADR idea will always stick with me now to help me solve problems and show others as well that this is an effective method they could use. Perhaps I could be the mediator at times since now I understand the idea of it. 

How do you think social media will change in the future? What other trends would you add to the mix? Are they any specific technologies that you think will gain popularity or emerge?

In my opinion, social media already has brought upon a huge change in our daily lives. Every day there’s talk about Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Every where we go there’s always someone sitting on Facebook looking at pictures or going through someone else’s profile or there’s always someone tweeting about someone or something that happened the night before or happening at the moment. Other’s always sitting on LinkedIn trying to find a professional mentor or employer for a better future. These 3 major social media networks have already changed our lives so much that in a few years, everything be related to these networks. Right now there are still networking tools being used but in the future, without a doubt, Facebook will have applications being created and used by most companies which could possibly turn our to be a future trend.  LinkedIn is another network that is quickly developing into a major network for professionals to use for networking. LinkedIn helps make the job a lot easier for people since they can just be at home or at work and can find someone easily rather than going to places and or looking for employees or professionals any other way.

            In the future I believe there will be many different types of technologies coming out. One of the technologies that could possibly gain a lot of popularity would be touch technology such as IPhones but with other gadgets such as tablets or smaller phones. They’re already gaining popularity as I’ve noticed in the past few years but could also lose popularity as other technologies might come out and take over such as other companies rather than apple products coming out with iPhones or similar products. A lot of companies are already competing to make better products creating more and more competition which brings out more and more popularity in the products. 

Do you think that social media has the potential to bring out real social change?

In my opinion, I believe that social media has the potential to make a lot of changes in the world. From the amount of people that just sit on social networks, one piece of news spreads so fast that its unbelievable. An earthquake would happen in China and people in Canada would know about it before the news could even be broadcasted in any other place thank to Twitter or Facebook. Or a song would be out and posted on Facebook before it would be out in market and would get leaked. But before I get off topic, I think it could definitely bring a real social change.
                A perfect example is what recently happened on Facebook and Twitter. Kony 2012, a dangerous criminal in Africa, was exposed thanks to the help of social networks and finally a change is being made thank one man followed by thousands of people from many different countries all because he posted his short video on Facebook and exposed it to the world and everyone ended up sharing it making Joseph Kony famous and a target for the government to catch and get rid of since he causes a lot of distress in the daily lifes of many people in Africa. This definitely brought a real social change because no one has ever experienced so many people come together and help make a difference. I still remember waking up the next day and hearing about nothing but Kony 2012. So if something like this can happen, I’m sure another change could be made easily. So in conclusion, Social networks are an awesome way to help fix the world in many ways.

Do you believe that social media has increased the quality of news and information or decreased it.

Do you believe that social media has increased the quality of new and information or decreased it?
In my opinion I think it has increased the quality of media in many ways and also has decreased the quality of news in many ways. Back in the day there was only one way of hearing about the news and it was through the radio. Then came the television and now you have too many sources through social media. It decreased because different networks are used such as twitter and facebook for news by tv channels such as CP24 or CityNews and from they tweet or post on facebook could contradict what other channels tweet or post causing confusion in people and who rely on the news. One can never know which information's right and what's not. Also by using these networks to spread news, more and more people have started reading or watching the news but many have stopped since they seem to think that the information is faulty.

The positive part of using social media for news is that the news gets around way faster than it would through just television or the radio. Since majority of the people use social networks these days, they all pass on the news that shocks them and eventually people hear about it. One can never tell which one's the rumor and which one's that actual news.

Waqar: Social Media & Society Blog # 1

Waqar: Social Media & Society Blog # 1: Social Media in our society in todays world has a huge impact on our daily life’s. Each day I notice more and more students and adults join...

Social Media & Society Blog # 1

Social Media in our society in todays world has a huge impact on our daily life’s.  Each day I notice more and more students and adults joining networks such as Facebook, twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn...etc. A lot of people seem to rely on theses networks to contact their peers or get their school work or professional work done. In my personal opinion, I believe this isn't a very smart decision since if one of the networks goes down, it could mess up a lot of schedules and planning’s. Even one day of the network going down could cause a lot of problems.

                To certain extent, I believe that this is a fad since a lot of people follow and join these networks to find someone else they might be looking for a while or just to see how the network is or to find someone they like etc… People use many excuses to go on these networks but at the end of the day, the truth is that more and more people are going on these networks because most of their friends are on it and they feel left out.  Some people although refuse to believe that these networks are everything to people these days and stay off the networks living a not so normal life, meaning people think that people who are on these networks are the normal people and more old school people don’t seem to care and aren’t blending in with the next generation.

                I definitely believe that this has been the biggest shift change since the Industrial Revolution. As mentioned before, our daily life consists of going on Facebook, Twitter … Although there might be some people that might not have joined these networks, sooner or later they will because even teachers at school and students seem to make groups on these networks to do their school work or for extra help. Even though it’s for a positive situation, it could have a negative impact by students being more shy in person with the teachers and students and being more antisocial and sitting on these networks all day.