Apps

In the digital world that we live in, apps are a part of our daily lives. Whether it's facebook or pandora, or Pinterest, or Twitter, most people use apps every single day. Simply defined, an app is computer software designed to preform simple tasks, specifically on mobile devices. In 2008 Apple launched it’s App Store, and in the last 7 years apps have become increasingly more prevalent and useful. Other app stores have since been launched, including The Android Market, which was launched only three months after the App Store, and the Windows store, making apps available on virtually every mobile device.

By 2011 there were over 500,000 apps available in Apple’s App Store, which means there are even more available today. With so many different apps out there it is hard to know which ones are actually useful, which ones are a waste of time and/or money, and which ones we are overlooking. PC Mag created the following list of top ten apps for the iPhone:

1. Downcast- this is a great podcast player for those of you out there who enjoy listening to podcasts on the go

2. Easilydo- essentially a very high tech planner

3. Evernote- an app that allows you to take and share notes on your mobile device

4. Gmail- to have your email on the go

5. Google Maps- keeps you from getting lost 

6. Last Pass- an app that keeps track of your various account passwords

7. Mint- an app to help you budget and manage your money 

8. Monument Valley – a gaming app 

9. SwiftKey- this app allows iPhone users to use “sywpe” style texting that is typically only available on Android devices

10. Weather Underground- gives you specific weather details for your area. 

While there are certainly other apps out there that are arguably just as good as these, this is one organizations opinion on the best for Apple devices. 

Sources:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2400522,00.asp

http://www.webpronews.com/the-history-of-the-mobile-app-marketplace-2012-02

Viral Videos

Viral videos- some of them are funny, some of them are musical, some are inspirational ,but they all have one thing in common; they have been circulated around the internet very quickly. This is a rather general definition of a viral video, but Social Times gives a more specific definition, saying “A video, I submit, is “viral” if it gets more than 5 million views in a 3-7 day period”. The Social Times also points out that this definition has changed over the course of the past couple of years; as the internet has expanded and gained more users, videos now require more viewers than they did two or three years ago to become viral. It seems that this definition is not accepted across all platforms or by all people, but Social Times makes the point that videos that only get a million, or 1.5 million views are not the videos that are going to be remembered over time. The videos that are going to be remembered are videos like Justin Bieber’s Baby, which has gotten 1,153,793,235 views since its release in 2010, or Daft Hands, which has gotten 60,696,907 views. Besides the number of views, the amount of discussion is what makes a video truly viral. A viral video will be talked about both on and off line, and will become common knowledge among most people. 

But what aspects of a video make it popular enough to become viral? Forbes magazine created the following list:

1. Be short and sweet

2. Be upbeat 

3. Be timely 

4. Be involved 

5. Be informative

6. Be inspirational

I think that all of the things in this list are very relevant, and will definitely add to the likelihood of a video becoming popular enough to become viral. The world is full of enough negativity that it seeks positive things, that are relevant, to consume in the media. 

Sources:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ilyapozin/2014/08/07/6-qualities-to-make-your-videos-go-viral/

http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/what-makes-a-video-viral/62414

 

Arab Spring and Social Media

The Arab Spring was a wave of revolutions, demonstrations, protests, and civil wars going on in the Middle East and Northern Africa from late 2010 until 2012. This period of revolution began with the Tunisian Revolution that started on December 18th, 2010, and continued with revolutions in countries such as Egypt, Yemen, Libya, and other countries across the Arab League. Though the Arab Spring technically ended in 2012, many of the conflicts in the Middle East and northern Africa that are currently on going are considered to be an extension of this Arab Spring. While the Arab Spring might seem to be a typical revolution, similar to those that we have seen across the globe since the 1800’s, the extensive use of social media in this revolutionary movement classifies it as unique and different from those in the past.

Social media is certainly become a dominant part of our world; Time magazine even said that “Facebook is now the third largest country on earth and surely has more information about its citizens than any government”. As a result, Facebook and other social media platforms have become the best way to spread information quickly and efficiently, and there is no better example of this than the Arab Spring. We see this specifically through the example of Mohamed Bouazizi, a fruit vendor who publically lit himself on fire in 2011 in an effort to protest the intense corruption being found among the police. This act of defiance was video recorded on the cellphones of countless witnesses, who then chose to take this video and spread it via social media platforms, which in turn really ignited the revolutions of others. In an article featured in The Huffington Post titled “From Arab Spring to Autumn Rage: The Dark Power of Social Media” the author points out that this revolutionary action took the government by surprise, which is one of the beautiful parts of social media. People are allowed to share essentially anything they please, which can be in line with or completely against what their government is promoting. The things they are sharing have the potential to be spread all over the globe, depending on who is interested in their content and makes efforts to share it. The power of social media is incredible, it allowed the revolutionary ideas of people in many countries to spread, thus allowing them to make movements more quickly and accomplish their motives. Social media allows the people to have a voice; it’s not just the government and high up officials who direct history now, small people who have an idea they want to share are given the opportunity too, which is seen clearly throughout the events of the Arab Spring.

An article titled “Explaining the Role and Impact of Social Media in the Arab Spring”, statistics are given showing that there has been a huge increase in social media use and creation of Facebook profiles in recent years; in fact the number Facebook profiles created in the Arab World in 2011 had a 78% growth from 2010. This means that more people are using social media, because it has a reduced communication cost than other forms, another benefit of social media- it is available to so many people at such a low cost.  

While there are definitely benefits of social media, there are also its drawbacks. What about when social media allows for destruction and harmful violence or other negative outcomes to occur? Social media allows for a groups to be formed, that don’t always have a leader thus leading to chaos. Many groups of this variety were formed in the midst of the Arab Spring, which created an environment for the criticism of political leaders- both a positive and negative thing. On the one hand, it allowed for people to gather and discuss their feelings towards the government, and then make strides towards the changes they desired to accomplish. On the other hand, violence then ensued and some chaos.

Social media allows for everything to be shared at the click of a button, which has obvious benefits, but isn’t always ethical. In 2012 some video clips were released, by an American, that mocked the prophet Mohammed, which in turn led to much anger from the Arab world toward the United States and further fueled the actions of the Arab Spring. Freedom of speech is a constitutional right, but when it mocks the religion of another group of people (whose rights are also protected by the constitution) should it still be protected? This kind of media falls into the category of defamation, which is not protected by the constitution. The videos produced definitely were not done in good faith, and were intended to mock and harm the reputation and credibility of both the Islamic religion and the prophet Mohammed. This provides the perfect example of one of the negative sides of social media; it’s various platforms allows for defamation to be spread easily, and without the source being easily traceable.

The internet, technology, and social media had a definite and huge impact on the events of the Arab Spring, and this foreshadows the way it will affect all future conflicts in this world.

Sources:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-lam/social-media-middle-east-protests-_b_1881827.html

http://www.academia.edu/2370755/Explaining_the_role_and_impact_of_social_media_in_the_Arab_Spring_

Search Engine Optimization

The Internet has become the most important way to create business in the last five years. Having a strong online presence increases customers/consumers and makes it easier for people to find your organization. This means that search engine optimization is a crucial part of your organization’s online presence. But what does that actually mean? Business Insider defined search engine optimization as “finding ways to increase your site’s appearance in web visitors’ search results”. Let me explain a little bit, when consumers want to find an organization or business that meets their needs, they turn to search engines such as Google or Bing to find what they are looking for. As the owner of an organization you want to ensure that your web page is one of the top five that shows up in a search result relating to the type of organization you own. The first five search results that show up are the ones that a consumer is most likely to look into further, which creates incentive to make your page one of those five. 

Some of the ways to search engine optimize are really pretty simple; monitor your pages rankings through tools like Google Tool Bar to keep track of how well you are doing, use keywords throughout your site (within reason) that would make your site easy to find. It is also important to have quality content that is regularly updated, that way people want to visit your site because it is obvious that the information is current and up to date. Another tip is to have a place within your website that show cases your most recent news. Think of this as a news center or a press room on your website that will make the most current and up to date news readily available to people. 

As you search engine optimize the amount of traffic to up your webpage will undoubtedly increase, thus leading to more involvement in your organization or customers for your business. 

Sources:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/dansimon/2013/05/09/10-seo-tips-for-2013/

http://www.businessinsider.com/10-basic-seo-tips-everyone-should-know-2010-1?op=1

Hootsuite

It is obvious that technology and social media are a huge part of our world, and are one of the top sources of communication in our generation. Social media is especially important to businesses and organizations that are trying to get their start in the world, but some times it is hard to know exactly how to handle all aspects of social media. There are so many available and relevant platforms, how do you effectively address all of them? If I were attempting to promote an organization via social media, it would seem to be a very daunting task, which is where tools like social media aggregators come into play. 

Social media aggregators are tools that allow all of your feeds from your various social media platforms to be brought into one, easy to read, place. An example of one of these tools is Hootsuite. Hootsuite allows you to manage all of your social media accounts in one place, making it easier for you to improve the quantity and quality of your posts. Improving the quantity of your posts, and thus increasing your amount/level of exposure, can be done through scheduled posts. In Hootsuite you are able to create a post, then schedule a time for it to be posted to a specific social media platform. This would allow a person to spend one block of time in their week creating posts, scheduling when they will be posted, and then allowing them to focus on supplementing those posts, replying to comments and other social media interactions, and other aspects of the organization throughout the week. The quality of these posts can also be improved by utilizing Hootsuite’s function that allows multiple people to contribute to a social media account. Having multiple contributors increases the flow of ideas, and brings a different level of creativity to the board. One person might have a particularly amazing idea involving one part of the organization, but be at a loss as how to best promote another part of it. By having multiple people working on these social media accounts the work and stress load is lightened and many people’s ideas are bounced around, to then find the best one. Hootsuite is easy to use and will update you via email an analytical report each week. This allows you to see how many page views you are getting a week, your top referrers, and your top links. By being allowed to view these statistics you are able to more easily understand what aspects of your social media accounts are most effective and what you can improve on. 

Hootsuite is just one of many different social media aggregators, that is definetly effective and helpful in social media management. 

Sources:

http://iag.me/socialmedia/reviews/7-reasons-why-you-should-use-hootsuite/

http://www.inboun.com/social-media/98-top-5-benefits-of-hootsuite-for-small-business-social-media

Business and Social Media

We live in America; a country where innovation and success are encouraged and pursued constantly. People are continuously coming up with new ideas to introduce to the world, thus leading them to often times create their own businesses. While we do live in a country that encourages entrepreneurship, it is still a scary thing to start your own business; there are many unknowns and uncontrollable factors. Though it might not seem like a big deal, I really feel that Social Media is a huge part in getting small businesses up and running. 

An article titled “5 Benefits of Social Media Business Owners Need to Understand”, it is pointed out that social media allows you to increase the awareness of your business and brand. As you make a presence on social media people will start to recognize your brand, thus increasing their likelihood of doing business with you. The article also discusses how social media is a fantastic revenue for increasing your quality of customer service. By following frequent customers on various social media platforms you form a personal connection with them, which then increases their loyalty to your company. Having a presence on social media also allows customers to voice their complaints in a way that is easy to respond to; instead of being on the phone for half an hour before they can talk to a member of your company, they can post their complaint on social media and you can respond in a timely manner. 

A second article that I found discusses, titled “7 Steps to Productive Business Use of Social Media”  the proper steps to using social media in a beneficial manner. These steps coincide perfectly with achieving the benefits mentioned above and include things focusing on your desired outcomes first and incorporating brand personality and voice. By focusing on your desired outcomes first you are able to set a strong foundation on social media, thus making your efforts more effective by showing customers exactly what your company /business is about. This is also part of incorporating your brand’s personality and voice. By establishing what kind of customers and people you are aiming to bring to your company you are able to determine what kind of personality you need to have on social media. This voice can influence those that are interested in your company and more clearly illustrate the kind of business you are running. 

Sources:

http://www.inc.com/peter-roesler/5-benefits-of-social-media-business-owners-need-to-understand.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/martinzwilling/2013/08/17/7-steps-to-productive-business-use-of-social-media/

Class Cloud

When I was first introduced to the idea of the hashtag, it seemed kind of silly and pointless to me. From my (limited) experience there was really no rhyme or reason to using a hashtag, it was just a fun thing that people did. Then I had a few experiences where I realized that hashtags could be useful; about a year ago I attended General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon/LDS) in Salt Lake City, I posted a picture of my friends and I on instagram and used #ldsconf, a hashtag widely associated with this conference, which then led to another account finding my picture and using it in a huge collage/post they made about General Conference.  Slowly I was beginning to understand the power of the hashtag. Then I went to class on Tuesday and learned so much more. 

Before class we were asked to make two posts on twitter: The first would be asking a question about social media, the second would involve tagging someone, and we were instructed to use #socmeddiscuss in both tweets. Then, we were instructed to make a post during class, also using #socmeddiscuss. The goal of this was to start a discussion and see what kind of involvement we could get. Before class I made the two posts (see here and here), but I was very skeptical at how well this experiment was going to go; I didn't think my posts would make a difference. While sitting in class I watched as my classmates favorited and responded to each others tweets. Some people tagged others from outside of the class, including celebrities, in an attempt to get others to engage in the conversation. I favorited a few tweets, but I was really at a loss as to what I should post. I was trying to think of celebrities or friends I could tag, when I thought of tagging Fight the New Drug (FTND), an anti-pornography movement that I support (learn more about them here). I posted the following tweet:

Shortly after posting that, FTND responded to my tweet. I then took their response, quoted it, and added #socmeddiscuss. The really cool thing is that after that they followed the hashtag to my professors post:

After finding that post they responded explaining how social media has helped their movement grow and spread. Then shortly after that they tweeted, something completely unrelated to the post I had tagged them in and the response they made to my professor, using #socmeddiscuss. 

Side note: The couple in the picture is my best friend and her boyfriend and that’s pretty cool. 

This experiment was so much more than I thought it was going to be and it taught me so much about social media! First, hashtags are powerful and useful. With the use of #socmeddiscuss our class was able to get people involved in a discussion about social media and it’s usefulness; some of these people weren't even in Logan, let alone the state of Utah. I found it so amazing that we were able to involve people from such a far distance in our discussion. Second, social media is really powerful and, if used in the correct way, can be very beneficial. Many of my classmates asked questions involving how they can use social media to help them professionally, and got some really good responses. Fight the New Drug pointed out that social media is how they were able to grow and spread as a movement. Another thing that this experiment taught me, was the keys to reaching out to people and/or organizations you want to get involved with. I was able to interact with Fight the New Drug because I used #socmeddiscuss, even after my initial post. Using relevant and meaningful hashtags makes you stand out and helps people to notice who you are.  

Social media is a powerful tool, and the hashtag is a powerful element within that. I got really excited about my interaction with Fight the New Drug through this experience, but beyond that I realized the true power that social media holds. 

Online Reputation

I can’t even tell you how many times I've been talking with my mom or best friend and told them some piece of news from one of our mutual friends, to which they respond “Oh, really? How did you find out?”, and every single time the answer is Facebook/Twitter/Instagram. Every single time. And this happens on a very regular basis- at least weekly. Social media is how information is spread these days, and our social media profiles can say a lot about who we are and what we believe as an individual. Our social media profiles build an online reputation for us, and sometimes we don’t even realize what that reputation is. For this assignment each member of my class was given another member of the class to research online and discover their online reputation. We were told to find all the information that we could about that person, discover trends, and notice patterns. I have been assigned to research Derek Misener, and have been discovering his online reputation over the past few days. 

One of the first things that I noticed about Derek is that he loves his family. The first place I checked was his Facebook profile, which I was limited in what I was able to see because we aren’t friends, but I was able to see some of his pictures, almost all of which included his wife and/or daughter.  Derek also has his relationship status updated to reflect that he is married. Twitter was another platform that I searched for Derek on and also found evidence of his love for his family. Below is a picture of his Twitter bio:

Derek obviously cares about his family a lot, by putting that he is a “husband” and “proud father” he is publicly saying what matters most to him and wants everyone else to know that he loves his wife and daughter. 

Another trend that I noticed was Derek’s love for USU sports. This was mostly prevalent on his Twitter account, where he tweeted his support of USU’s athletic events, and pictures of him and his wife and daughter getting ready to go to various events. Here are some examples:

Derek shows a genuine interest in USU sports, and doesn't seem like a bandwagon fan that just gets interested when the team is doing well. He encourages other students to support the sports teams as well, and has his whole family involved in supporting the University. 

A final thing that I found is that Derek is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, also known as the LDS or Mormon church. One specific post that I found was an article that he had shared on his Facebook profile which reflected the Mormon church’s views and attitudes towards homosexuality. Homosexuality and gay marriage are very controversial topics that many people avoid talking about, especially when religion is brought into the conversation. Derek posting this article shows that he really believes his religion and supports their stance on the matter of homosexuality. 

Social media and the internet can tell a lot about a person, whether we like it or not. Once something has been posted to the internet it is very difficult, if not impossible, to erase it. Because of this we need to be aware of the things we are posting and the reputation we are building. 

Ethics

Social media is a relatively new, yet increasingly prevalent, part of our world. As a result of social media being a newer part of the world there are often issues that arise with it in terms of what exactly is legal and ethical. There are many little things that people aren’t aware of that are technically illegal and unethical. In recent years legal matters involving social media have become more regulated by things like businesses creating specific policies involving social media. These policies dictate what employees are and aren’t allowed to post on social media platforms in regards to their employer and protect companies from confidentiality breeches and other similar issues. Policies of this nature can be difficult to write because it is hard to know where to draw the line; are you being too controlling or not specific enough? One recommendation I found was to keep it simple by merely asking your employees to be professional and trusting that they will use their discretion to post appropriately. In my opinion this is the best route to follow; it is understandable why social media policies are necessary, but making them too restrictive could be frustrating to employees. if you hired an employee then you obviously think highly enough and trust them enough to work for your business, display that trust by creating a simple yet effective policy. 

Forbes created a list that they titled the “5 deadly Sins of Social Media”, which included ethical issues such as unreported endorsements, improper anonymity, compromising customer privacy, overly enthusiastic employees, and using the online community to get free work. These aren’t the only issues to arise within businesses involving social media, but they are certainly some of the most common.  

Many of these issues are specifically geared toward businesses and how they can stay safe from legal and ethical issues, but there are similar issues among individuals too. It is difficult to always know what is legal and ethical, but educating yourself and being skeptical can help. Before reposting or sharing information ensure that it is accurate, and inform others when you know that the information that they have shared on various social media platforms is incorrect. Once we put something on the Internet there is really no way of permanently deleting it; be cautious with what you post.

Sources:

 http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidvinjamuri/2011/11/03/ethics-and-the-5-deadly-sins-of-social-media/

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/ethics-and-social-media-where-should-you-draw-the-line/

Skype

Skype is a calling platform that allows people to communicate via wifi from essentially anywhere. I have personally had a lot of success using skype; I have family that lives in Hong Kong and Skype is a platform that allows for us to easily communicate, regardless of the type of device we choose to use. For example, I will call my aunt using my HP laptop and she can answer using her iPad. There are many types of video calling platforms available now, so what are the pros and cons of using Skype?

Pros:

Skype is a free platform because it operates over WiFi and, like I mentioned earlier, you can use to to communicate with people regardless of their location. There is also the option to video call or simply voice call, offering a level of versatility. Skype allows for you to screen share with the person you are communicating with, which can be highly beneficial for collaborative projects. If you’re having a business meeting with people from across the globe, screen sharing can be used to present a power point presentation or other visual aid.

Cons:

Skype is entirely reliant on internet connection, which is beneficial in the way that it allows it to be a free platform, but if the connection is poor it makes using Skype rather frustrating and annoying. Skype lacks any form of language translation and many other tools that would be beneficial for small businesses. Beyond screen sharing there aren’t any tools to help in business collaboration, while many other platforms of this variety offer finance and accounting tools. The sound quality of calls is not always the best, and decreases even more when a video camera is in use.

Skype obviously has it’s drawbacks, but from my experience it works well for personal communication. Most of the problems people run into are in regards to business usage, but overall Skype is a platform that I have enjoyed using.

Sources:

http://www.techjaws.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-using-skype/

http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-Skype

Location Based

Location based social media isn't something that I think about very often, but I actually use it a lot more than I realized. There are services like yelp or Google places that provide reviews of different businesses and are usually one of the first links to pop up when you do a Google search of a business. Suffice it to say, location based social media is extremely useful and relevant in our world. Two of the most popular platforms within this realm are Yelp and Foursquare; the following links will help us compare and contrast the two:

http://marketingland.com/yelp-versus-foursquare-got-78227

http://readwrite.com/2013/04/22/5-reasons-foursquare-lost-the-social-local-mobile-revolution

The first link points out the pros and cons for each platform. Yelp has over 53 million reviews posted on their page, thus offering a large variety of opinions for people to look over. Yelp reviews also appear on the first page of a Google search, which increases the traffic to their site and the amount of reviews/opinions people are offering. On the flip side though, Yelp is also known for pressuring businesses into using their services. The reviews left for businesses also require a longer form, while Foursquare encourages short, sentence long reviews. Another great thing about Foursquare is that it encourages users to connect with each other, though it is harder to find a Foursquare review through an organic search. 

The second link points out that Yelp makes it much easier to find what they are looking for and filter to meet their needs than Foursquare does. While Foursquare is useful it's business intent isn't always clear. Another difference between the two is that Foursquare will inform you that people you know and our friends with recommend the place, while Yelp informs you about anyone who's posted. Neither are necessarily better, just different. 

Both of these platforms are incredibly useful, I have definitely benefited from them and think that they are an very important part of social media. 

Irate Pizza Man

Recently a video showing an interaction between a pizza delivery man and a group of employees from a car dealership has gone viral (watch here-http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.boston.com%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Fmassachusetts%2F2015%2F01%2F14%2Fwestport-car-dealership-messes-with-pizza-delivery-guy-feels-internet-wrath%2FzXO7rV6jreriD63xG0bj5L%2Fstory.html&h=6AQH4ynPs&s=1 ). In this video the pizza delivery man returns to the car dealership to give them back about $7, that he had previously assumed was a tip. When he had originally delivered the pizza he was given two twenty dollar bills and two five dollar bills to cover the just over $42 dollar bill. He explained the price of the pizza and asked if they were sure that they wanted to give him all fifty dollars, then assumed that the change was what they intended to leave him as a tip, only to be forced to return to the dealership after his manager was contacted and told that he had stolen their money. Upon returning all the employees present treat the delivery man very rudely and unkindly, though he handles the situation very calmly and professionally. Since this video has been posted on the internet fundraisers have been put together to raise over $11,000 for this pizza delivery man, employees from the dealership that were involved in the interaction have been fired, and the manager and delivery man from the pizza place have been publicly apologized to. My mind is blown. 

When I watched this video for the first time, I was angry. The delivery man didn’t do a single thing to purposefully antagonize or offend the employees, yet they verbally attacked him and didn’t give him any sort of tip. To add to that, they forced him to use more of his gas (which costs money) to return to their dealership. This man works a minimum wage job, in addition to a second job, to support his family and these people were so petty and unkind that they made him waste his time and money to give them back a few dollars, that should have belonged to him in the first place. I really relate to this delivery man. I am a student in college, working three jobs in an attempt to support myself, and any and all money that I have is a precious resource that I don’t want to waste. I can’t imagine the added pressure there would be if I was also trying to support a family. It blows my mind that there are people in this world- like the employees of that car dealership- that go out of their way to be unkind to others. I understand being frustrated with receiving less than ideal service (which wasn’t actually the case here…), but regardless of how frustrated you are the people you are dealing with still deserve kindness and respect. This interaction would have been completely different, and wouldn’t have received nearly this much attention, if the employees of the dealership had just accepted the money from the delivery man in a gracious manner and spoken to him kindly.  Additionally, the delivery man had every right to assume that the money left over from the transaction was intended to be a tip. They handed him an EXTRA five dollar bill. Their bill would have been covered with just the two twenties and one of the fives, so what was the point in handing the man another five dollar bill? Granted, I can understand that the extra money could have been a mistake, but the delivery man clarified that they meant to give him the second five dollar bill. Why? It doesn’t make any sense, in my opinion. Had I been in the delivery man’s shoes, I also would have assumed that they were giving me the second five dollar bill as a tip, it’s the only idea that really makes any sense. 

After I watched the video a few times I started researching the situation, which is when I discovered how much money had been raised for the delivery man. I became less angry and my hope for humanity returned. While the employees of the car dealership were incredibly rude and disrespectful, there have been exponentially more people who have reached out in kindness to this man. There is good in the world, and that brings me so much joy. While I was reading various articles I was reminded of the fact that more often that not, the good outweighs the bad in this world. No one had to donate any money to this man; No one had to start a fundraiser for him, no one had to pay any attention to his experience, but people did. People went out of their way to spread goodness and kindness because they related with this man, they connected to him and wanted him to feel their support; What a beautiful thing. 

I’m inspired by this whole situation. I want to make more of an effort to be kind to all people that I come in contact with, regardless of how frustrated I am with a situation or their actions. I want to support people in any way I can, especially those who have been treated poorly. I want to be the good in the world. 

Sources: (click to link)

CNN- http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/15/us/car-dealership-pizza-guy/

Mass Live- http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/01/westport_car_dealership_worker.html

Social Media Platforms

Twitter. Instagram. Facebook. Pinterest. MySpace. All different social media platforms, all with different goals and purposes, and many different pros and cons. My personal favorite form of social media is Twitter. I love the concept of microblogging, the way information spreads so quickly, how useful hashtags can be, and the networking opportunities it provides.In my opinion twitter is becoming more relevant; people are more willing to read what you have to say in 140 characters (or less!) than they are to read the long political rant that you put on Facebook and aren’t as annoyed afterwards either. Just because Twitter is my favorite platform does not mean that it is everyone’s favorite platform so, what is the most commonly used social media platform? Interestingly enough, it is still Facebook though Twitter takes a close second. Twitter and Facebook are the most popular forms of social media, but what are there differences and similarities? Lets look at the following links:

www.diffen.com/difference/Facebook_vs_Twitter

www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2014/10/14/facebook-versus-twitter-infographic/

The first link points out that Facebook tends to be a lot more personal; the people you’re friends with are typically people that you have at least met in real life, while that is not always the case with Twitter. Facebook also allows you to customize your privacy settings to the point that you can share posts with just a specific few people, while Twitter simply has the option of being public or private. Facebook also have a variety of uses and allows for sharing of longer messages and larger media such as videos, while Twitter is more restricted.

The second link points out that Facebook has more users than Twitter and makes more money annually. The most popular users are completely different, which I found very interesting. I also found it really interesting that 86 percent of twitter usage is on mobile devices, compared to only 68 percent of Facebook usage. 

Social media is a huge part of our world and I honestly think that it’s only going to increase in prevalence. While Twitter and Facebook are only two platforms of the many that are available they are clearly the most popular and therefore the most important as of right now. 

Why Blog?

 I’ve been thinking about blogging a lot. What’s the purpose of it? Why do some people find it to be a valuable use of their time? Why has it become such a popular part of the internet? 

There are many different purposes of blogging; some people use their blogs to let the world know what is going on in their everyday lives, others to give themselves a voice concerning their views on the world. The fantastic part about blogs is that they are exactly what the author designs them to be. I have read blogs that are an expression of religious beliefs, others discussing their unique experience regarding a loved ones experience with cancer, and some sharing recipes and crafts that they have tried and enjoyed. The one common theme of all of these blogs is that they share information with others; beyond that the purpose of each individual blog is essentially whatever the author designs it to be. People find this to be a valuable use of their time because they value that trade of information and want to be able to share their unique insight with others.

I spent some time researching the purpose of blogs and their impact on the internet and found the following two links:

blogs.lse.ac.uk/help/2011/02/22/7-uses-for-blogs-in-higher-education/

www.leadsleap.com/blog/why-blog-the-purpose-of-blogging/

The first offers a great insight as to how blogs can help in an academic setting. A few of the points discussed included using blogs as an avenue for sharing research, somewhere to share commentary and analysis on a specific subject, or the location to post news and announcements. Before reading this article, I hadn’t really thought of blogs being used in this educational way. In my mind blogs were a place where one person posted their views on a particular subject matter, but this article opened my eyes to the idea that blogs can be a collaborative effort that is beneficial for education. 

The second link discusses blogging in a business sense and why it is so useful. I honestly had no idea how useful blogging could be to businesses, but they can really make a difference. A good blog can be a huge asset in advertising and creating more traffic on your businesses website. This article also discusses the fact that blogging allows you to get your creative juices flowing, which in and of itself can be of a huge benefit to your business. 

Blogging is such a multi-faceted thing and I truly love the way that it can become anything you want it to be. Blogs are a huge resource in the way that they offer everyone a voice and allow everyone to share their unique perspective. No one goes through the same experiences in life, thus no one has the exact same information or knowledge as others. Our knowledge is so much greater as a whole than it is as individuals, so we should share whatever we have in whatever area it pertains to because we never know who we could help. 

Social Media in our World

How has social media changed communication?

Social media has become a major part of communication in recent years, which has been both a negative and positive thing. Social media allows for people to let the entire world know exactly what they are doing at any given point in the day and view what others are doing too. This means that there is a greater amount of knowledge that is more readily available and accessible to us. 

One of the things that social media has done for our world is allowed everyone to have a voice. If you have an opinion about any topic at all you can express that opinion on a variety of platforms and make it available to anyone. The good part of this is that people have been discovered and made very successful careers off of social media platforms. People have expressed that everyone speaking  their opinion on social media platforms like Facebook can be rather frustrating. Arguments and debates start, people choose to post political rants, or call people out personally, which many people find inappropriate. 

With the increase of social media we have also seen more and more people choosing to socialize over the internet instead of in person. This means that we are allowed to communicate with and meet more people, including people that we may not have met if we weren’t using the internet, but also affects people’s social skills. Many young adults are uncomfortable having a face to face, or even over the phone, conversations but have no qualms talking for hours over Facebook. Social media makes it easier for people to communicate and stay in touch, regardless of how far apart they may live. Thanks to services such as Skype, Facebook, or snapchat I can talk to my Aunt that lives in Hong Kong, free of charge and with relative ease. If I had to just rely on phone calls we wouldn’t be able to talk very often and it would be easy to not stay in touch with each other. 

Social media has become such a huge part of our society that I really feel like it’s necessary at this point. While it does affect us negatively, I think that it has been a positive influence in our world.