social media, and the world we live in today.

Let me start off by saying this video is great:

I have used this video (from prevous years) in a lot of my other comm classes because the way we communicate with each other is changing each and every day. I took an interesting class last quarter which was media literacy or Comm 444. It was one of the most eye opening classes I have taken while at Western Washington University and it continues to probe my interest in social media and what kind of effect it has on us as scholars and individuals.

The video above makes a powerful statement and that is "Social media isn't a fad, its a fundamental shift in the way we communicate." I cannot help but to agree with this statement. It is pretty obvious that the way we communicate has changed significantly in the 21 years that I have been around. I know that, my parents know that and my grandparents know that. I find it comical that the older generation that I surround myself with is astnoished at some of the stuff I can do on a computer when they couldn't even dream of doing what I can do, and all I know are the basics.

There are quite a few articles out there talking about how social media is changing the way we communicate and how it has made out generation stick out from all the rest, but I have my own opinions about a few of the bigger social networking cites that are all mostly household names by now. Those include: facebook, twitter, youtube, linked in and blogger.com.

Facebook:
In my opinion, facebook is the most popular social networking cite that is out there. In the video, it stated that if facebook was a nation it would be the third largest nation in the world. Before there was facebook, there was myspace but that has fizzled out over time. Facebook has made it so that you can have a bunch of friends, keep in contact with people around the world, and share what is going on in your daily life. There are plenty of businesses and corporations that use facebook to get their information out there, which is great because they can reach the younger generation and reach a very wide array of people as compared to other media outlets.
In terms of facebook and social media, I think that it is an extremely useful tool for getting a message out there. At the same time it does have it's downfalls if you don't know how to use it. Nothing is worse than people posting negative things, or terrible pictures. Doing that sort of thing can ruin someone, literally. As a student hoping for a career in the future, I really need to watch what I say and what I do on facebook. Employers look at that sort of thing, and wether you like it or not, they judge you and decide if they want you at their company or not. All in all, I believe that facebook can either help you or hurt you in terms of careers, you just need to be aware of what you are doing and how you are portraying yourself online. One's something is on the internet it is difficult to take it down.

Twitter:
I don't understand. I have a twitter account, and honestly all I use twitter for is to follow people and see what is going on in the lives of celebrities. I have talked to other students, and it is possible to use twitter to further your career. It can be used to follow professionals in your area of study, and you can have a heads up on what kinds of events are going to be coming up. At the same time, twitter can have the same downfall as facebook in terms of putting yourself out there. I think that in all social media and networking we have to be careful what we post because it is possible that someone is always watching. With that being said, I feel as though there are also a great deal of benefits in participating in social media because there is so much information out there. Being on these websites causes that kind of important information to find us, and though we may not like it...there is really nothing we can do about it.

LinkedIn:
I haven't spent much time on this cite but what I have gathered from being at Western is that I need too. There are professionals on this website that are scouting for people to come work for their company. The video at the beginning of this blog said it best, a large percentage of employers look for their future employees on LinkedIn. This is a forum for us to present ourselves in the best way that we can and to connect with people who are in similar careers or are in careers that we would like to be in someday. This cite is very different from twitter and facebook, and I think that is great. It is a professional set up and is something that as college students we can really use to our benefit. In my final quarters at Western I plan to build up my profile in the hopes of getting a job in the field I have studied. I think that LinkedIn is a view into the future. Before school I had never heard of it, and because of that I think that this website gives students a leg up on the competition. This is a great tool for finding a job and I see it getting bigger and bigger in the future. It is a solid example of how social media has changed the way we communicate.

Blogger.com
I am new to this, but I have wanted to blog for a while now. I know now that it is very easy to do and plan on doing it for a very long time. With that being said, it is important to be knowledgeable about what you are posting so that you don't get yourself into trouble. It is the same basic concept as facebook and twitter. What you post can come back to haunt you and that is something you don't want if you are trying to get a job.

Overall, I think that social media has had a huge impact on the world we live in today. We are bombarded with images, advertisements and everything else on the internet every single day and this has brought about social change. We have changed in the way we consume products and we have changed in the way we put ourself and our business out there. We are able to start social revolutions, we are able to spark a thought in a lot of peoples minds with just a simple status update. All that being said, social media has made it so that we can easily put ourselves out there and it has changed the way we further ourselves in terms of careers. This can be a great thing because the doors for opportunity are opened more because of our ability to put our ideas and personalities out there.