What Social Media Means to Me

Why do I use social media?

Facebook
I use Facebook for 3 different reasons.

1.)Keeping connected to my family and friends.

I have never been one to update my status on a frequent bases but I do like to comment on others people statuses and pictures. I use Facebook to see what my friends and family are up to. I have traveled to many places in Europe and in North America. During my travels I have met many people who live around the world. Facebook is the most convenient way to keep in contact with my friends around the world.

2.) A place to store and share my photos.

I use many different computers and I have many memory cards for my pictures, making my pictures and videos scattered around my different devices. I like to have one site that stores all my photos in once place. I find that uploading photos to Facebook is very user friendly. I enjoy that I can make albums about different events in my life. I also enjoy that I can choose to share m photos with everyone, make private groups or have the photos just for me. Having my photos on Facebook allows me to access my photos anywhere I am.

3.)A great place to stay connected to my classmates.

The Human Resources program is known for having many group projects. Having so many different groups can be confusing and sometimes e-mail and group meetings are not always efficient. I have found that using Facebook to keep in contact with my group members to be very effective. For each group project I create a group on Facebook. In this group we can have discussions, post information and plan meetings. Facebook notifies you every time a group member posts on the group. Since Facebook is something that everyone uses on a daily basis, group members are more willing to check the group page while they are checking their news-feed.

Pinterest

The reason I enjoy Pinterest is because it is less about your personal information and more about sharing great ideas.  I get ideas for recipes, DIY (Do it yourself) projects, and outfits to buy. You can create organized boards that allow you to go back and see all the things you had looked at in the past.  Pinterest is entertaining because it is more about pictures than it is about writing. When you are bored and need a break from studying, Pinterest is a great way to shut your brain off. It doesn’t involve a lot of thinking and is something I use for entertainment purposes.

Twitter

Twitter is something that I have yet to get into that much. I created an account to read what my favorite celebrities where doing. It was something that I only checked when I was really bored. I never told anyone about my twitter account and never tweeted anything about myself on Twitter. I only recently added my name to my twitter, and started to add my friends to my account. It is still something that I don’t use often. The reason I liked Facebook was because I liked commenting on my friend’s photos and statuses. I find Twitters photo sharing to be less user friendly. I also don\t like how you can’t comment on your friends statues, the only options you have is to retweet or add their username to your tweet.

YouTube

YouTube is something that I use for entertainment purposes. I will watch music videos, funny clips and movie trailers. I use it quite often. I enjoy its easy interface and the broad topics you can search.

When did I start using social media and why?

I have been using Facebook since 2007. My older cousin who lives in Ontario showed it to me. She told me it would be a great way for us to stay in contact. Facebook changed the way we stayed in contact. Instead of calling, we send each other Facebook messages and Facebook Chat. This choice of contact is cost effective and convenient.  

Even though I started using Facebook in 2007, I was not new to social media. I had used many other social media sites that never had the staying power that Facebook has. I used sites like Nexopia, Hi5, MySpace and VancouverExchange. These sites I used all throughout high school. Most of these sites don’t exist anymore or are hardly used.

How would I replace it if it was taken away?

Living without social media would be a very difficult. I check my Facebook page anywhere between 4 to 10 times a day. If Facebook were gone tomorrow I would have a difficult time. I feel like Facebook allows me to know what’s happening in my friend’s lives without them telling me personally. I think I would definitely have to start using my phone more often. My texting and phone calls would probably double what it is now. Hopefully this won’t happen because it would change the way I communicate with everyone in my life.