I use social media mostly as a way to keep up with friends and family that I don’t normally see every day, at least that’s what I tell myself. I tend to usually end up using it as a way to waste time or to occupy myself when I don’t feel like doing my school work. See this article. I like that social media does allow me to keep in touch with the friends I made studying abroad, friends who moved away from Omaha, and other people I’ve met that I wouldn’t have normally taken the time to call on a regular basis.
My roommate from study abroad Sheereen and my friend from horse back riding Ann who lives in Ireland, and facebook is one of the main ways I keep in contact with her.
I however do not like that social media has changed from merely a way to keep in contact with people to the main form of communication that some people use, I know many people who only communicate via snapchat or facebook messaging, which I find strange. It also makes me nervous that so many children, and I mean actual children (we’re talking 8 year olds) are on instagram and facebook and twitter. I don’t think that they should be on these sites at that age, they will inevitably be exposed to things they shouldn’t see and it makes me nervous that parents aren’t more in control of their children and technology, I cannot imagine if I had been able to access social media at age 8, I have no idea how that would have effected me in the long run. This article mentions the pros and cons of facebook for kids, not sure I agree completely with it but its food for thought.
I am often finding myself on facebook, instagram and twitter as my main social media sites. These have changed a lot for me, I spend more time on instagram then the other two when previously I used to spend a majority of my time on facebook. I hope to discover ways that I can use social media for good, and use these sites for my professional advantage.
Julianna Blogs 