Overview

The main topic of my blog is the Social Media Generation. I've done a lot of research on my topic from how social media affects Generation Z in school, work, or in public places, to how it has changed throughout the years. My opinion at the beginning of my research process was that social media was kind of a distraction to us, but as I learned more about my topic, my opinion began to change. It amazes me how much social media has changed our lives, and how it can have a positive impact on kids and teens. I enjoyed working on this topic, and I hope that you would learn a few things from my posts.

Social Media Generation

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The video shows how social media could be uses as a way to make new friends, for career opportunities, and also for relationships. Teens use social media more than adults do, and some even use it as a way to get to know new people, and hopefully find love. Some relay on social media to look for jobs, and some employers use social media as a way to get a glimpse on what their employee is like, some workers get fired from jobs because of what they have posted on social networking sites about their boss or their company. With the advancement of technology it won’t surprise me if in the next year or so we would all be relying on social media as a way to communicate with each other, because almost everything can be found on social media.

The Generation Born in the Digital Age

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Moodie, G. (2015, February 11). Generation Z: Born in the digital age with so much FOMO. Retrieved April 14, 2015, from http://www.biznews.com/grubstreet/social-media-2/2015/02/11/generation-z-born-digital-age-much-fomo/

Social Media has changed our lives. Generation Z is the generation born into the digital age. They do everything and anything online, they get all the latest trends from social media and their vocabulary is filled with world that older generations can’t comprehend. They find it easier to talk to their friends online through the form of instant messaging instead of talking to them in person, and are on dating websites by the age of 16, sometimes even before they are 16. With the help of social media teens have self educated themselves and learned a lot of new things from videos on youtube. Generation Z live in the constant fear of missing out or “FOMO” as it’s called, they always want to be updated with the latest news and trends and can’t stand being kept out of the loop. Facebook has been the main go to website for them, while Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and Tumblr are used as well. They also make video blogs and post them on Youtube or Vine in hopes of becoming “The Next Big Thing.” The future of this generation however is that they share the same goal as every other generation, and that is to change the world, which a quarter of american teens are already doing. 

A Faster Way of Communication

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Deivasigamani, S. (2013, September 12). The generation of social media. Retrieved April 14, 2015, from http://dailyprincetonian.com/opinion/2013/09/the-generation-of-social-media/

The article written by Princeton University student Shruthi Deivasigamani is about how social media has defined us in different ways. We are the social media generation, and our obsession with social media says a lot about who we are, thus allowing us to communicate in ways differently than our parent’s. Skeptics think that social media are just clusters of websites that take up too much of a teen’s time, however, it represents a newer form of communication that is different from sending an email or a text message. It is a much faster form of communication because with social media one status update could be seen instantly by your friends who you haven’t talked to in a while, you could also see countless pictures from family members all over the world. With social media you could feel in the loop with what is happening in your friends and family's lives, and can also be a way for people to know what is happening in their community. The social media revolution is a reflection of how we interact with others through the different form of technology that is available for us to use.

We're Already Zombies

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I find this picture interesting because we are already zombies with our smartphones and all these social media sites. The picture depicts how people, mostly teens, rely on social media so often that it has been a part of their daily lives. When we wake up, we automatically check our phones for new notifications we got while we were asleep, we use our phones at the dinning table while we eat our breakfast, lunch and dinner, we use it wherever we go that it makes us seem like zombies or slaves to our phones. If zombies in movies depend on flesh and brains to stay alive, social media zombies depend on their phones to keep them going.

Think Before You Post

Bibliographic post #3

Eduque, A. (2015, March 6). The Social Media Generation. Manila Bulletin Retrieved April 14, 2015 from, http://www.mb.com.ph/the-social-media-generation/

Alex Eduque writes about social media and how we use it in our day to day lives. His purpose for writing the article is to inform us that we are privileged to have social media accounts, but with privilege comes responsibility. We must be mindful about what we post online because we are placing it on a platform for the whole world to see. Everyone has feelings so we should also be mindful about what we tell people when we talk to them, whether it be through text messages, commenting on a Facebook post, or even tweeting about them on Twitter. Our generation is blessed to have the entertainment and knowledge we attain through the form of social media, however, we should think wisely before posting anything and we should not abuse the right we have to access these social networking accounts, because the world is round, and eventually everything will come right back to you. The article would be a good article for people to read because it will make them think twice before posting whatever it is they want to post.

Teens Take to Social Media to Bully Others

In Mary’s blog there is a video of a girl getting bullied on Facebook by someone she doesn’t even know. I think that the post and should be an eyeopener to people and that they should stand up for themselves against the people who are bullying them. Mary goes on to say “I believe that if we all stand up against bullying we can make a difference.” I agree with her, because cyberbullying isn’t a joke, a lot of people are getting bullied online, and some can’t seem to handle all the derogatory remarks they are receiving so they commit suicide. It’s sad to know that people my age are getting harassed and are receiving hate for being themselves. I for one am against cyberbullying, because I know how it feels to be bullied online, and there really isn’t a nice way to put it other than that it sucks to be bullied. At the end of the video there is a quote saying “Stay strong and keep your head up.” We all could use a little boost by someone in order to have the courage to overcome bullying. There are a lot of ways to deal with bullying, and inflicting self harm on yourself isn’t an option. I think a person could over come cyberbullying by deactivating their social media account or reporting the person that is bullying them. Keep strong and sometimes ignoring a cyberbully would make them stop bullying you. 

Social Media 2.0: The Next Generation of Hyperconnectivity

Bibliographic Post #2


Schwartz, D. (2014, March 1). Social Media 2.0: The Next Generation of Hyperconnectivity. Law Practice.

Link: http://www.americanbar.org/publications/law_practice_magazine/2014/march-april/social-media-2-0.html

The topic of the article is about social media sites and keeping up with the latest trends. The article's purpose is to inform the audience about how social media has sort of like a “bandwagon" effect, wherein people seem to migrate from one site to another and wherever more people are that’s where others will follow. It also informs us about how adults specifically 65 years and older are joining the social media scene. One example the writer used was how teens have migrated away from a once popular site called Myspace and how others soon followed. He also uses examples like Facebook and LinkedIn and how they gain a lot of new users everyday. In autumn 2012, 42 percent of teens said that Facebook was the most important social media site, a year later however, the numbers decreased to 23 percent. Instagram was rated the most important site with 23 percent in 2013, and 17 percent said that they used Vine and Snapchat more than any other site. Statistics have shown that in 2005 only 8 percent of online adults use social media, but by 2013 72 percent of online adults have social networking accounts. The growth of 65 year older and older went from 13 percent in 2009 to 43 percent in 2013. Facebook was that among the most used social media website for online adults. The writer uses statistics to back up his findings, and also uses information from Piper Jaffary’s report on habits of American Teens. This article is interesting, especially for people who want to know which social media site is used more often and and if they want to know the different statistical numbers for certain sites. 

Online Reading Is In

Nicholas Carr’s essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid”claims that with the advancement of new technology it is faster and easier for people to communicate with others and to learn something new, however, we are slowly losing our ability to read. Carr supports his idea by pointing out that reading has turned into a “skimming activity.” People often go online to do research and they seem to just skim through articles instead of reading it toughly. He also includes his personal experience wherein he can’t concentrate on reading a book, he states “I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin to look for something else to do” (2008, pg. 92). In addition to personal experiences he adds the experience of pathologist Bruce Friedman, who at one point could read War and Peace, has now “lost the ability to do that” (2008, pg. 93). Carr then explains how we do more reading now than we did in the 1970s and 1980s, but the reading we do now is a different kind of reading, one where we spend too much time reading texts of the internet and messages off our cell phones. He backs up his statement using Maryanne Wolf as an example, as she states “when we read online, we tend to become ‘mere decoders of information’” (2008, pg. 94). Overall, Carr’s idea on the internet is that it is slowly making humans are becoming machinelike, while machines are becoming more humanlike.

Carr’s overall generalization of the internet made me disagree with him. Yes, reading and concentrating has become difficult due to the internet becoming a kind of distraction, but it could also be helpful at times. With the advancements of technology, we can take reading with us everywhere we go, not in the form of a book, but in the form of our cellphones. New applications have been created to allow us to read e-books, and even books by aspiring writers. I find reading online a much easier way to read than reading in a form of a book. People may think that I spend too much time on social media because I’m always on my phone, but what they don’t know is that I use my phone to read books on Wattpad. Being able to read on my phone makes it easier for me, because I could read just about anywhere. Statistics have shown that teens and young adults are among those who use Wattpad as a way to read, whether it be online, or on the go. Wattpad has been getting good reviews from people all over the world, with over 8 million visitors visiting the site every day. In conclusion, I disagree with Carr’s idea about technology making us lose our ability to read, because with the use of technology people around the world get to read books without having to pull out a paperback or hardcover book from their backpacks, instead they could read books from their phones. 

Our Dependency on Technology

In “A Reunion with Boredom” Charles Simic (2014, p.375) says, “Being temporarily unable to use the technology we’ve grown dependent on to inform us about the rest of the world, communicate with others, and pass the time, is a reminder of our alarming dependence on them.” Simic says that we’ve been too dependent on technology that we can’t seem to go a day without it. I have to agree with what Simic is saying. Ever since social media has become a huge part of our society, we seem to depend on it too much to the point were we can’t seem to put down our electronic devices. When we have power outages we seem to not know what to do because we don't have Wifi to go on our social media accounts. We have been too dependent that we can’t seem to set down our electronics and mingle with our family members at the dinner table. It’s shocking how dependent people can be on their electronic device, but it’s more shocking how they act when they don’t have their electronic device with them, it’s as if their world stops and they don’t know what else to live for. 

We Are the Social Media Generation

Bibliographic Post #1

St. Aubin, E. (n.d.). We Are the Social Media Generation. The Pointer University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Link: http://www.uwsp.edu/pointeronline/Pages/articles/We-Are-the-Social-Media-Generation.aspx

The topic of the article is that social media could be beneficial for students, but if study time is being replaced by scrolling through your newsfeed then it is a distraction. The purpose of the article is to inform the audience about how students view social media in college, whereas some see it as a distraction, while some find it helpful, and some feel that they are better off without it. In the beginning of the article, St. Aubin uses AOL Instant Messenger as an example as to how internet technology has evolved and has become what a lot of us know today as Social Media. We can still remember how our lives used to be without social media, but that is moving quickly behind us. 96% of college students use Facebook, making it a common social media tool, while the other 4% of students are being questioned as to why they don't have it. St. Aubin uses two college students as examples in her article, and asked them how they felt about social media. Students have made Twitter part of their daily lives, that they don’t participate in class discussions because they feel that they can’t speak until their thoughts have been edited and compressed into a “140 Character” mentality. I find the article interesting because it gives an insight about college students’s views on social media and how it affects their college lives.

Look Up - Gary Turk

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So look up from your phone shut down the display, take in your surroundings make the most of today. - Gary Turk

If I were to estimate how many times I look at my phone a day I would say about 20,000 times. Social Media has become a huge part of my life, but am I actually social? I have a lot of friends on Facebook, but why do I still feel lonely? I have people interacting with me on Twitter, yet I still feel alone? Is social media really making us "social" or is it making us "unsocial? I've been too dependent on my phone that all my conversations are made from a scene and not through physical interactions.

Gary Turk's spoken word film entitled "Look Up" made me rethinking Social Media as a whole. He describes how we are spending too much time on social media that we shut the real world out. We depend on Social Media that we take things for granted. It was easier when we were children, where we would go outside and play with other kids, ride bikes, play hopscotch, etc. Social Media has overrun our society that we don't seem to interact with one another anymore; we should put down our phones and embrace the world we live in, because we might not know that something exciting might happen today.