An Interview with Ashley J.

Hello, thank you for participating in this interview.

You're welcome. It's nice to be here.

How old are you?

Recently turned 19.

How do you feel about Social Media as a whole?

I personally feel like it's very stupid, but it does good for the world sometimes.

What sites do you use? Why?

Tumblr because my friends were on it like crazy and I wanted to see what the hub bub was, and Google + because it's awesome. I also use Facebook to talk to friends.

As a teenager/ young adult how do you feel about the use of Social Media by other teens?

I feel like it was a good way to communicate but now I feel like it's of no use, because now everyone has phones.

What about the adults who use it?

I really don't know. I never thought about it. I guess its a good was for them to communicate with their family if they can't by phone or to even talk to their kids.

What advise do you have to say to teenagers/ young adults involving Social Media?

I say use it wisely and don't over use. It's pretty stupid to put your whole life on the web.

Thank you.

 

Last post.... Not Too Much

    A very important thing to remember about Social Media is to limit the amount of time you spend on it. Many people enjoy a lot of what it has to offer but they sometimes forget that there are other things to do outside of the Internet. In the article "How Much Social Media is Too Much" written by Ami Burns in a parenting magazine it is reminded that "social media time shouldn't take up all of your child's time, but it's really easy to get carried away- not just kids, but parents, too."

   Everyone of all ages should be aware of all effects of social media. Whether it be good or bad it does not hurt to be informed. 

Some positives

      Not everything about social media is bad. In fact there are many positive effects to it. It is very difficult to find an exact answer to the debate of "Is Social Media good or bad." I think there is a lot to both sides of the argument. Most of this blog has been leaning on the 'yes, social media is troublesom'  side so now I will talk about a couple of reasons why it is not so bad.
  1) You can communicate with people that you don't usually have contact to or can find people you have fallen out of contact with

There has been many stories about people reconnecting through social media sites such as Facebook. When people don't live near each other it is easy to drift apart but through the connection of people online it it a lot easier to remain in communication with.



2) Social Media has helped allot of causes get their word out.

 Word spreads like wildfire through the use of the Internet. It is a lot easier today to organize protests and such that it would have been around 20 years ago. In the article "How Charities Make Better Use Of Social Media," David Lawrence explains how useful social media has become in gaining charity support. "With 80% of 18 to 24- year- olds and 73% of 25 to 34- year- olds using Facebook and Twitter respectively," there is a much larger base of people to spread the word around and support the cause.


3) You can find communities of people with the same interests as you that you would have an otherwise difficult time finding in person.

Online communities are a wonderful part of social media. It is a great way for people to meet and talk about similar likes and lifestyles.

Online Lolita community having a meet-up

Me getting interviewed by..... me

 How do you feel about social media as a whole?

I sort of think that it is a little over rated.

As a teenager how do you feel about other teens and their use of it?

I think that a lot of teens (and adults) rely on it too much. They mention it a lot at school and I sometimes think that it becomes a little ridiculous.

What social media sites do you use?

I use tumblr and youtube.

Have you ever left a social media site. If so, why and what sites?

I had a facebook account for a while but I started getting annoyed with it. Then my account got hacked and I 'deleted' it right then and there. I felt a lot better the moment it was gone.

Any advice to others using social media?

Just try not to use so much of it. It's good fun but it doesn't need to be used 24/7. Take breaks to do other things and just be conscious of any future repercussions that can potentially come out of something that you upload or post.

When even the news does Social Media parodies

 

http://youtu.be/5r5U4Imx4Xo
Fox 4 news posted this comedy video on their facebook page. It makes fun of the use of social media and its relations with news.

Fox news uses satire in this video, showing how ridiculous Social Media has made the news.

Lets look at some demographics

Many different people use Social Media but which age group uses it the most? Here is a chart that shows the average amount of social media people of different age groups use.

Prior to what most people believe it seems that it is not teenagers that use it the most but adults between the ages of 35 and 44.













Now lets look at the types of social media websites that people use and which ones are used the most.

The downsides of social media.....Jobs on the line?

     

Social media and the workplace

       By now it should be no surprise that social media can put one out of a job. Whether the post be a joke, an after hour image, or a heated rant the workplace can find it, and if they deem it inappropriate it could cost someone a job.  In fact, some companies actually ask the job hopeful to log into their facebooks during the interview. It catches them by surprise and really puts social media in perspective for them. Jennifer Preston author of the article Social Media Becomes a New Job Hurdle says that "it is photos and videos that seem to get most people in trouble." It appears that there are several pictures of weapons and many many images of drug use. There has even been mentions of inappropriate relations with minors.
  People of all ages should watch what they post online. It doesn't matter if they think it is a joke or if they are just angry and need to rant. Whatever is posted on social media never goes away. There is always a trace of it somewhere on the net. The article Hey, At Least You Can Be Virtually Immortal by J. Pedar Zane talks about the fact that nothing online actually goes away. There is always a trace of it.

An interview with Mr. Timothy Simpson

Today I've had the pleasure of interviewing Timothy Simpson (my father) on social media. We sat down and I asked him a few questions on his views.

Hello, how are you this afternoon?

Great, how are you?

Very well, thank you. As an adult how do you feel about social media as a whole?

Uh, it's a great way to get your business out. Connect with fans, clients, and to bring business to your website.

You speak of business, what kind of work do you do?

Music producer

How do you feel about teenagers and their use of Social Media? Do they use it too much?

I can't say at this time. It can be a great learning tool.

How so?

As far as information.

Which Social Media sites do you use?

I use twitter, facebook, and youtube.

Why do you use them?

A outlet to my company. I sometimes use it to talk to my family also.

Any advice to teens who use Social Media?

I would say use Social Media to your advantage of getting ahead in life.

Thank you Mr. Simpson.

You are welcome.

Wow! Times have changed.

                                               
           Now in current times it seems that you can't do anything without social media being mentioned. Technology has advanced majorly since, say, even 20 years ago and it continues to advance as we speak. The moment something happens the first thing people do is go "Is it on Youtube yet? Check Facebook, check Twitter, check Instagram." News has changed quite a lot due to social media. People quickly post the news or their own reports on what ever event happened. It is rather difficult to hunt down to 'true' information. As Devin Harner author of the article The Twitter Effect: How Social Media Changes the News Narrative said "Perhaps 24 hours or so of Twitter chunks, sifted and sorted out of de facto stop-motion narrative mode, might yield a story that harnesses new media's power." From experience I know just how difficult it is to get correct information on the Internet. You have to sift through website after website to find the correct sources. Even this blog could be mistaken for a correct source.
      Words travel quickly through technology. Just a few people posting and sending out information to a few of there friends can spread to more people and it will keep going. Yes, it is amazing and quick but  it can sometimes be hard to decipher what is fact and what is fiction. J. Peder Zane of the Hey, At Least You Can Be Virtually Immortal article believes that the use of Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter "create[s] a sharp break with the past."

Instant news feed

Edwardian era- reading about Titanic crash 

First post....Social Media Websites I use- my views

   Social media is a huge part of our world in modern times. It is especially used by teenagers. As an eighteen year old I cannot say that I am unaffected by social media. I mean, here I am, on blogspot. I've known and read several blogs in the past few years. I feel as if I don't use social media as much as many other teens. But then I sit back and look at the time I spend on my computer. I don't have a Facebook (I had long since disabled my page after having it for about half a year), I do not have a twitter, or an instagram, or myspace. I do, however, have a tumblr, a youtube account, and a goodreads account. Why don't I view these websites as social media? I think the answer is because I view social media as a bad thing most of the time.

                                                              Tumblr
When I first began going on tumblr all I did was stay on one persons blog. It was Jillian Venters, The Lady of the Manners, blog. She is an idol of mine, so I spent a fair amount of time looking through her pictures and reading what she had to say- virtually getting to know her.


Jillian Venters

I had followed her goth advise blog and read her book both titled Gothic Charm School for some time before I had discovered her tumblr. All I did was look through it silently. It was several months before my friend actually made an account for me, knowing I would probably never make one for myself. I barely ever upload things on there. My tumblr only contains two pages of pictures. The sad truth is I don't really know how to work it that much. I am just bad with technology. I can do simple things like, write a blog for instance, but tumblr, instagram, all those other websites are just a bit too complicated for me. Not only in the manual way but also figuratively. On tumblr I only follow 4 or 5 blogs. These are people who I know have things I want to look at and who I know are safe. When I mean 'safe' I mean blogs that do not post nude or inappropriate pictures.

                                                         Youtube 


Allison Eckfeldt- a Goth youtuber

I have had a Youtube account since I was in middle school. I hadn't actually thought of it as social media before but now I realize that Youtube is perhaps, one of the most 'social' websites I interact on. I watch listen to music, watch videos, and comment. On Youtube I watch a lot of videos regarding Lolita fashion and the Gothic subculture. The Youtubers answer questions left by viewers, and yes, sometimes I am the one leaving questions or comments that get answered by others. But sometimes on Youtube people become really harsh. I have seen it several times on Gothic Youtuber videos. People will say cruel things about the person being filmed or say mean things to a comment-er. I don't really have much patience for those types of people so I, to the dismay of my sister, just 'spam' them. I like Youtube. It is fun and accessible, but I don't like the way some people talk to others. They will break out in full blown arguments with people they have never even

Shelby Cloud- a Lolita youtuber

met. Most of the time I don't comment unless I want to ask a question to a Youtuber I know will answer or to comment on something I feel is important enough for me to word.













                                                      Goodreads
Goodreads is a website where one can document all the books that he or she read, review them or read reviews, marks books that they want to read, and find new books to read. You can also meet people, friend them, join communities, and chat with each other.

 The fact that people can share ideas, views, opinions, and can discuss them with others causes me to look at goodreads as a social media site.  Unlike the other websites I have not found many negative things on goodreads. Yes, there are negative reviews on books and yes I have seen very small, very stupid arguments break out over views of a book. I think that there will always be an ugly side to social media, even if it is well hidden.