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Sunday, April 1, 2012

The Social Media Effect on my Life

Why do I use social media?

- I use facebook to connect and stay up to date with friends and their lives. I do this because first, it’s easier during the school semester when I’m extremely busy with homework, group projects and working, I don’t have much spare time. Ironically, facebook has made connecting with friends easier. It is also a matter of convenience, the effort and putting time aside is time consuming and with hectic lives it can be extremely difficult to coordinate schedules. Second, it’s now very common to be able to reconnect with many different people from different times of our lives, including childhood friends, people that moved away, family that lives in other parts of the country/world.

o Facebook has also made creating events much simpler than years ago when we had to rely on phone calls, emails and waiting for people to figure out their lives before they could rsvp. I am also able to watch my friends children grow up with the pictures posted, I am able to watch and look at pictures of events that I was unable to attend. It can also be used as a way to be involved even if I was unable to be involved.

o I am also on a marketing committee for a camp society and we are in the process of improving our involvement in the community; thus we have increased our presence on facebook and twitter. I am one of a few who makes regularly posts and picture albums on facebook and tweets on Twitter to keep our community and “followers” engaged in the off season.

- YouTube is a source of entertainment for the most part. I generally listen to music and discover new artists through the “suggestion” videos. However, I have also used it to search for “how to” videos, whether it’s for a new hair style or how to change the oil in my car.

- LinkedIn is a new site for me that I have not had much use for yet. I have made a few connections with others but so far it has been limited. I am hoping one day I’ll actually use it for its purpose, a facebook but for professionals.


When did I start using social media and why?

- I started initially with facebook back in the spring of 2007. As a typical university student I was avoiding studying for midterms and was “invited” to join by a friend. I became addicted immediately and loved that I could instantly connect with people I hadn’t seen in years. The games and apps that are a large part of facebook now did not exist back then. I have watched facebook change almost yearly and genuinely care much less now about my usage than I did back in 2007. My addiction has decreases yearly as I become older and busier with life.

- I have never been a large YouTube addict; I don’t even remember when I first discovered it. The videos people post as “blogs” hold no interest for me. It can be informative, or used to, until most TV networks started posting their news videos online. I have only ever been a major user of YouTube for music and I do not foresee that changing.


How would I replace it if it was taken away?

- It would be hard adjustment for sure. Although, what is there really to replace facebook with? I suppose a different social networking site would be an option. And while they hold no interest for me now, that may change if my current source was taken away. Google+ is supposed to be similar to facebook but more selective, at least for the moment anyway. Facebook has made so social online interacting much easier; being able to say hi because it is convenient or commenting on someone’s pictures is effortless. I would probably struggle at maintaining friendships because of my hectic life but encourage my friends to switch to a different site. And hopefully, make the effort to stay in touch.

- YouTube would be nothing to cry over since I don’t use it regularly. The only issue would be discovering new talent; I would have to hear of new bands from the radio (which are only mainstream ones) or hear from word of mouth. With the presence of YouTube being gone, I don't think it is easily replaceable for all different purposes.

- LinkedIn I barely use now so I don’t foresee that being an issue either. Networking would go back to making the physical face-to-face meetings essential.

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