Hump Day Humor

Just a little entertainment for this frigid Wednesday:

This video got me thinking of my own social media habits.  While I may not be the typical selfie-taker, I definitely feed into these gender stereotypes.  

All jokes aside, the ideas highlighted in this video are just more examples of how our generation uses social media platforms as a forum for attention and self-promotion.  

I think Katie put it best, when she said, "In this digital age, the word "narcissistic" can be frequently used to describe the majority of people in the world who have any form of social media."  Not only has social media turned many users into self-obsessed individuals, but it has created a platform for gender stereotyping.

I think that watching a male imitate the stereotypical actions of a female on social media is quite humorous.  However, it then makes me question if a female performing the same action may be actually embarrassing.  It's embarrassing for users to perpetuate these stereotypes, yet we find ourselves doing it all the time.

To exemplify my own experience with these gender roles, I have posted some examples from my own social media accounts.  Not my proudest moment. Enjoy.

Facebook Lingo

We dedicate a lot of our time to social media, but we seldom stop to think how it is impacting our lives.  More specifically, this mashable article revealed the extent to which social media may be impacting the language of our generation,

From "Prof Pic" to "Stalk," this article lists ten terms that have either been introduced into our lives or who's meanings have changed through Facebook.  My personal favorite is "Facebook Official."  Used commonly amongst my group of friends, I never actually accredited its origins to our use of Facebook.  The term seems like a natural choice to describe a couple of our age that is beyond the stage of "talking" and have taken on a more serious title. This demonstrates the commonality of Facebook in our everyday lives and as a result, its impact on our language and behaviors.

While the terms being used in our daily jargon do seem silly to me, their presence is undeniable.  I wonder what new slang will come with the social media platforms of our future.

Twitter Fatigue?

What are you looking at on twitter?

After the social media attention around Justin Bieber's arrest, Jenna Wortham claims that their is a newfound "fatigue" with twitter.  She suggests that twitter is no longer a forum for finding significant information, but rather a simple competition for attention.

While I definitely agree with the claim about attention-thirsty tweeters, I think that most people crave the praise and attention of others in everything they do.  So what makes the world of twitters and retweets any different?

However, I do not agree with her opinion that twitter news has become less informational or relevant.   With the uprise of twitter, more and more news organizations have created accounts, allowing users to follow them and get instant news updates.  For one, my personal twitter feed has become more informational and relevant as I have learned to navigate and filter these accounts.

In addition, is it twitter that has become less 'relevant' or just news in general?  The article references Justin Bieber as an example of useless news taking over twitter.  But we learned from Jourdan's post that Bieber's DUI didn't just take over twitter news, but news in general.

So maybe we should change what and who we follow on twitter?  I know that I have not yet grown fatigued by twitter.  Have you?

Social Media in a Consumer Society

After reading the infographic  about social media's influence on buyer decisions, I am sad to say that I was not shocked by the figures presented.  Sellers are constantly bombarding social media users with advertisements with every scroll of the mouse or swipe of the finger... And according to these statistics, it definitely works. I mean, I can barely scroll down my Facebook timeline without being persuaded into buying a whole new wardrobe from Tobi!

One specific statistic that stood out to me was that "41 percent of people who found the item they purchased because they just happened upon it said that they hadn't even thought about buying it or something like it."  That's a pretty large statistic, but I'd like to see how it compares to shoppers in the mall who "just happened upon" an item they purchased.  We live in a consumerist society.  With constant promotion of purchasing, it is natural for us to buy things that appeal to us when they are presented.  However, social media has allowed sellers to constantly be presenting goods to us.  Does a society defined by consumerism really need further encouragement to consume?  Consumerism suggests that we need to buy and buy and buy to remain happy.  But still, that happiness is only temporary until we need to buy something else.

While I appreciate the occasional helpful advertisements that remind me of something that I actually need.  I do not appreciate the constant reminder that I need to buy more and more to be happy taking over the feeds of all my social media.  My wallet definitely doesn't appreciate it either.

Three Decades and Still Going Strong

Birthday shoutout to the Apple Macintosh.  You've always been there for me through grueling schoolwork, leisurely music browsing, curious googling, and constant social media checks.  Oh, and I'll never forget those long nights on Netflix we spent together.  It's time to celebrate you, because you deserve it!

Can you believe it's only been thirty years since the first Macintosh?  Can you imagine what Macs will be in thirty more years?  It's crazy to think of how far innovation has progressed in just a couple of decades.  I wonder what's next.

"They're interesting, because we don't know how they're going to be used tomorrow."

SnapChat: More than Just a Selfie?

Most of us are familiar with the smartphone application, SnapChat.  It allows users to send pictures to select 'friends,' for a short time.  With the new update of the application, users can now post "a story," permitting their picture to be available to others for up to 24 hours.

With this new development, and the current rise of SnapChat in the social media world, businesses can capitalize on opportunities to profit from the application.  Promoting users to add their business on SnapChat, could allow businesses to create a 'story' with product updates, news, and even coupons available to viewers. 

Imagine ten second advertisements!  SnapChat would allow users to selectively open the snaps of their choice.  Not only would they not be forced to watch or view an advertisement (like those annoying youtube ads), but the ten second video or photo would specifically cater to the short-attention spans of common SnapChat users (like myself).

Along with the advantages for the viewers, SnapChat would give businesses a free and simple medium for marketing.

While I think this new insight into the profitability of SnapChat for businesses has potential, they're are several kinks with the idea that would need to first be worked out.  To begin, SnapChat is not as popular as the ruling social networks, like Twitter and Facebook.  Also, from the comments on the original blog post, I discovered that businesses would have to work hard to teach targeted consumers how to add them on the app.  Getting businesses and customers connected on SnapChat is an advertising endeavor in itself.

Once the connection is made, the businesses would need to engage the consumer in ten seconds or less.

This implies the use of major creativity. I'm not sold by a typical SnapChat selfie. If this becomes a major trend, I'm excited to see what companies will come up with!