Facebook...The good, the bad, and the ugly

Facebook has become the one of the most popular ways to keep in touch and communicate with family and friends. It allows you to post pictures, share information about yourself, and access others profiles to learn about them. As convenient and exciting as Facebook can be, it can also cause some social barriers and can sometimes make communication a little more difficult.

Imagine the future and if everyone lost their ability and skills to talk to one another face to face. People feel more comfortable asking questions or getting to know other people through the Internet so if they are rejected, it will be less embarrassing, but this can cause trouble down the road if this is the only way we are communicating.

Dating is something that is on every young person’s mind. Many look at Facebook as a tool for dating and socializing which it can be, but not the only tool. Picking up the phone or meeting them in person to ask them on a date or get to know them better will be more effective and increase chances for a successful dating experience.

Now I am not saying that everyone should cancel their account or not use Facebook, but like all other media, Facebook communication should be used in moderation and limited. Serious conversations and topics should be done in person and leave the asking out for another time when you are actually in the same room.

Despite these negatives of Facebook, we can also gain and experience positive aspects through this social network. It is a great way to keep in touch with friends and family away from us, share photos with friends, and find long lost friends. I have Facebook to be a great tool to even market things I am interested and share it will all my friends at once and even plan social gatherings and reach a bigger audience than email or text messaging. I have also bee able to share my photos and art that I have done and look at others for ideas and inspiration. Facebook is a free social network and we should take advantage of tools like these, but make sure to use them in the right way and not abuse them.

Camille

Facebook User

A Face of Facebook

Below are a few pictures taken by Camille that represent how she uses social networking to share moments of her life with others.

"This is a sunset in Colorado...I like to take nature pics and share them with friends on facebook."

"These are some friends from home...I use facebook to keep in touch with them when I am away at school."

"This is hike is called Hanging Lake in Colorado.
I loved this hike and want
everyone to see it so I posted it on my
facebook to "advertise" and get people to go."

 "This was my freshman year of college...facebook is suppose to be fun too! I took and posted this pic all while my roommate was sleeping."

Texting

“Texting” as it is most commonly know is when you use the letters on the keypad to form simple messages to send to people within your contacts in your cell phone. Texting has become such a prominent form of communication that cell phones have adapted in such a way to provide easier texting ability. I know that on my phone, I have a miniature, but full, keyboard built into my cell phone. This capability makes it much easier and faster to text.

My parents always ask me why I would take so much time texting when I could get my answer via phone call so much faster. I never had a response. Texting is more of a distraction then anything. It keeps students entertained in class, it’s useful when you can’t talk out loud, and it allows users to send multiple people the same message instantaneously. Those are the main perks of texting from your cell phone.

One researched disadvantage of texting is that it is breaking correct social interaction between people. It used to be that individuals would rather call someone rather than going over to visit them, but not a phone call seems to be too inconvenient. Too many relationships are becoming reliant on texting communication alone. Other problems rely within texting as well. There have been hundreds, if not thousands, of accidents caused by texting and driving simultaneously. If texting can cause accidents and ruin social interaction, why do we do it?

I believe that texting, like other social networking, has many benefits. It is an efficient way to stay in contact with people you normally wouldn’t have time to call. I do think that texting can be rude. There is nothing that bothers me more than to have my roommate texting all the time not matter who she is with. The two of us went out to dinner the other night and I was appalled at how many times she texted while I was sitting there. I felt like she had more of a conversation with the people in her phone that me sitting across the table. I think that texting is a great invention, but needs to be controlled, because to some it is an addiction.

Chelsey

Social Media Revolution

Why Blog?

Visit the website eBizMBA and you'll find lists of the top website for almost anything: gossip, business, video games, travel - anything, including the top 20 most popular blogs.  Of those 20, the top five are:

1. TMZ.com
2. Gizmodo.com
3. PerezHilton.com
4. engadget.com
5. boingboing.net

Have you ever visited one of these blogs?  Each of them has the following characteristics: a distinguishable logo, an obvious theme, millions of followers, and lots of pictures, videos, and articles.  But anyone can create a blog with all these characteristics! Well, maybe minus the millions of followers.

For most people their blog is a personal journal + multimedia.  One year ago, I started my own blog.  I uploaded pictures of the apartment my husband and I just moved into, a few wedding photos, and followed with  a few of my own comments, or "Posts."  Every once in a while I post about our new puppy, new recipes, and vacations.  Then friends of mine who are invited to my blog can write a comment about my post.

So what's the point?  I've asked a few people why they have a blog and here's what they've said:

Sarah Haynie, blogger for 2 years said,"[I blog] so family that are far away can see pictures and read about what's going on in my life."

Noelle Murray, blogger also for 2 years said, "I have a blog to keep me in touch with old friends and to meet new friends.  It keeps family updated on new milestones of my daughter...also, it keeps me sane on lonely days!  I feel like its also a great way to share and learn from one another's talents."

Besides being able to keep people updated on your life, blogs offer unlimited space to add countless posts, images, and videos.  They will last as long as blogspot.com lasts. And if you want a hard copy of your blogging in the past year, print it out and bind it in a book.

So what's your reason to blog?

Don't have one yet - go to blogspot.com, follow the step-by-step directions, Google any questions you have, check out your friends and friend's friends blogs to get creative ideas - and start blogging!


Ashley