char-rowlson-blog

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The Gram Bible

The unwritten rules of the gram.

We all know them, but why isn’t there a Bible to let us all know what these unwritten rules are? Well here we go folks, I’m about to list the important ones for you.

1. Like your friends pictures. If you’re going to be a savage and not like your friends pictures, then are you really friends? You’re meant to be their biggest supporters, so this is just a major unwritten rule.

2. Always reply to people’s comments on your pictures. Why wouldn’t you? If you don’t do this, you could come across as rude, as well as not having the time for that person. I completely get it if you’re a celebrity, receiving thousands of comments on one picture, but for the most of us, it’s most likely going to be around 3 comments that we have to reply too, even if they are from your BESTEST friends that comment every-time, it’s just polite to reply.

3. Try to think of a funny caption, or something that links well to the picture you have posted. This makes people’s timeline a bit happier and funnier. Personally, I love reading captions people put alongside their photos, some can be hilarious and can sometimes set the scene and background of the photo itself. I understand that you can’t always think of a great caption (which is fine), so maybe you just want to put an emoji or nothing at all - but captions do make me laugh.

4. Tag your pals. Tagging your pals can not only help them get more followers, but it just interlinks you with who you like to be around and what you like to do. Some people say it’s a little selfish if you don’t tag them. Again, why wouldn’t you want to promote your friends and their photos? (Unless they don’t want to be tagged of course).

5. Think about others in the pictures you post. If you are about to post a really nice photo of you with your friends looking, not quite their best, maybe you should think again. Or ask for permission, or potentially crop them out? It sounds nasty, but could also save a friendship…

I think these are the main unwritten rules of Instagram, that everyone should follow. It’s just a way to keep supporting your friends in the best, most positive way, as well as posting all the pictures you love. Also, if you follow these rules, people are likely to follow, which could result in more comments, likes and interaction among your photos. But, the main rule of Instagram (that I believe anyway) is ALWAYS SUPPORT YOUR FRIENDS!!!!

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FitBits, are they really a good thing?

FitBits and Apple watches, they were the next best thing that came to life. From tracking how many steps you take a day, to when you’re dreaming in your sleep, who are the people tracking us? And why do they want to know this?

So, fitness has been one of the newest trends among today’s society, so the idea of something that could track your fitness seemed like a great idea to Eric Friedman and James Park. It also came across as a great idea to the general public too, as over 76 million have been sold, world-wide since 2010 - present. This number is insane. But why are they so amazing?

Funnily enough, people would rather something/someone else track their fitness for them (hypocritical I know, going against the fitness thing), but the Fitbit, does just that. It keeps a log of everything you do, from the amount of steps you take a day, ensuring you do 10,000, and notifying you by buzzing, once you have reached this goal. To tracking when you sleep, with an app allowing you to see how well you have slept, due to your heart rate, which also means they can somehow track how well you’re sleeping (weird, I know). But, this can help you see how your fitness is going and how much sleep you, personally, need to live and get through the day.

However, it turns out all of this data could be useful to many companies. If the Fitbit tracks that you’re not sleeping well and for a short period of time, an advert for sleeping tablets might pop up on your Instagram, for example. This could be helpful to many stakeholders involved; the Fitbit (who could sell your data to sleeping tablet companies) and Instagram (the sleeping tablet companies would pay to advertise their product to you specifically, on their social media site). It works in a full circle. But do you feel okay with companies knowing almost everything about you, including when you’re sleeping?

I have been talking to my flat-mate about her Fitbit and her feelings towards the tracking system. She thinks that it has been a great addition to her lifestyle and fitness journey, as it makes her aware of her fitness, but you shouldn’t take the results at face value, as they aren’t as accurate as they could be, although they give a great indication of where you’re at. She also went on to state that she loves the sleep tracking. When asking her why, she said ‘I just think it’s useful for making sure you’re getting enough rest, especially with a busy university lifestyle, sleep can be underrated, but the dreaming tracking system can help me to realize the importance of good quality sleep.’

It’s a very odd concept nowadays. Everybody seems to be promoting safety and privacy and how we need to keep things to ourselves and not share too much about ourselves, but companies like FitBit, are tracking how we are sleeping, where we are going, how many steps we take in a day and our eating times. This is the opposite of privacy. 

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The Greatness of Twitter #MakeTwitterGreatAgain ???

Everybody knows of Twitter. Most people know what we do on twitter, thus writing ‘tweets’ of around 140 characters to share our emotions, thoughts and feelings, whether they be relevant to anything or not. From this, we can like, re-tweet or quote-retweet, any tweets already made. Personally, I think it is a great place to make yourself smile. It is now full of funny gifs, memes, video’s, photos and of course, tweets. 

So, who invented Twitter?

Well, Jack Dorsey did on March 21, 2006. He decided to base his idea of Twitter around instant messages, allowing users to only post a small amount of characters/words at a time. To begin with, it was 140 characters, so only short, instant messages could be exchanged. 

So how does Donald Trump relate to this blog?

Well, In 2016, he used the medium of twitter to get his name out to his fans, as well as his haters. 

As most people know, he was a celebrity before he was President, after hosting The Apprentice US and being a reality TV star. So, he used this to his advantage. 

He used tweets such as #MakeAmericaGreatAgain to get his fans to re-tweet, to promote his campaign as much as possible. It allowed him to get his name out to almost everyone in America. Not only this, he used twitter to promote his manifesto, 140 characters at a time. A famous one being about ‘The Wall’ he wanted to build between North America and South America. This was very hypocritical, as well as causing up-roar with a huge percentage of America as it is a very old-fashioned view, not allowing people to immigrate into ‘his country’. 

He did this all on purpose. Whether he gained haters or fans from this, his name was being promoted and he was the most posted about in the summer of 2016. His win on presidency just shows how his strategy of using social media worked and allowed him to target almost every voter in America, if that be for the best, or worse. 

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Tinderella? Will you find your Prince Charming; for a night, a month or the rest of time?

We all know about Tinder. We all know someone on Tinder. We all know a story about someone who’s been in the press about Tinder (whether this be good or bad).

Tinder is a dating app, where people create a profile, add around 4 photos of themselves and write a short biography to potential lovers about themselves. It sounds so simple and like any other dating website, but is by far the most popular. Why is this?

Tinder has a reputation. Many reputations in fact. One of which is that people use it to supposedly find love, but may end up with a FWB (Friend with benefits).

But, what are the advantages and disadvantages of social media sites like Tinder?

Advantages:

Firstly, Tinder has over 50 million users (according to Google). This has to say something about the general public of the world. They all want to find love, whether it be for a night, a month or the rest of their life. This must be an advantage. It gives people a range of candidates to find for their potential love life.

It’s a great way to meet new people in surrounding areas. On Tinder, you can easily change the distance range, of wherever you want. So, here in Reading, we could set the furthest distance to 99 miles. Within this 99 mile radius, there is bound to be a lot of people with Tinder profiles. Thus, allowing people to ‘match’ and chat to thousands of people.

You MUST be 18 to sign up for a Tinder account. This makes it a ‘safer’ environment (although I must admit, I still find the concept a little bit risky). But, 78% of the 50 million Tinder users are 18-34. The prime time to find love.

It’s just a bit of fun. Swiping and judging people on their short bio and pictures can be fun. It sounds like a horrible concept, but it can be quite amusing, along with the cheesy chat-up lines that also come with it. It’s a great way to meet new people through the medium of the online world, also giving people a barrier, which they can either hide behind (if they are a bit shy for example), or they can be just who they are. 

HOWEVER...

I do believe that there are some disadvantages of Tinder.

I have never had Tinder as I have a boyfriend, so I think I might be slightly biased and understand the disadvantages more, but;

You could be talking to anyone. People could be easily cat-fishing each other, pretending to be someone else, or editing the way they look dramatically, just to get attention on sites like Tinder. This is a scary thought. Who wouldn’t want to know if the person they are chatting to is real or not? NOBODY!!!

On the topic of cat-fishing, someone actually made a Tinder account, using my Instagram pictures, which was very scary because they were impersonating me, when I definitely DO NOT want to be on Tinder. This is very scary and just goes to show anyone could do anything and I obviously need to keep my Instagram on private (it scared the living daylight out of me - someone trying to use my identity, luckily my friend found it before it was a live account for too long).

Even though Tinder obviously does have disadvantages, almost every social media site has disadvantages, but we can choose to look at the advantages, which is the fact that it could help us to find love. And who doesn’t want that? Whether you use Tinder as a pass-time or to find your prince/princess charming, I believe it is a great modern invention.

[char-rowlson-blog]

Iz txt spk chngng the eng lng n a gd way?

Text speak is a form of language created to communicate with people over SMS (text) when texting on phones started to become a common thing in the early 2000’s.

Most phones people had were on pay-as-you-go schemes, meaning you would top it up at your local Tesco’s or cashpoint and once the money was gone, there would be no more texting for you, obviously until you went back to Tesco…

Because of this, it meant people started to shorten words and therefore, ‘txt spk’ was created. It allowed people to fit more conversation or information into one text and therefore they wouldn’t be wasting as much of their credit.

But, how has txt spk affected the way we text nowadays and how has it influenced our spoken language?

Txt spk has some specific characteristics, such as acronyms. For example, ‘LOL’, ‘TGIF’, ‘LYSM’, ‘WTF’, ‘BRB’, ‘SOZ’, ‘NGL’. These are (in my opinion) the most commonly used acronyms on text, but some of these are occasionally used by people, mostly in the younger generations in the spoken language. My cousin, Dan, who is 13, uses the acronyms ‘BRB’, ‘SOZ’ and ‘LOL’ a lot. It just goes to show how the younger generation like to use, what was and still is ‘txt spk’, but in ‘real life’.

Is it shaping/ has it shaped our language?

When thinking about if it still is shaping our spoken language today, I would definitely say yes. People are growing up, learning what these acronyms mean, therefore incorporating it into their everyday spoken language. Especially for younger children, who are still learning new words, if they are told by a sibling that ‘BRB’ means ‘be right back’, they are likely to use it, as they have been taught the meaning from a younger age than, my mum, for example. However, if an adult, like my mum, was told that we (as the younger generation) use the word ‘SOZ’ a lot, she purposely tries not to use it. When asking her, she stated that she didn’t want to be down with the kids and use ‘SOZ’ in a real life conversation because it sounds immature. Although, when texting, she does occasionally use words such as ‘THNX’, which is probably because she was within the generation that had to use txt spk to keep their texts short and within the character limit.

Since phones and social media sites have been on the rise, it has led to more and more new words, whether they have been added to the dictionary or not. Take ‘LOL’ for example. An acronym that has been created by people texting, a word under the ‘text speak’ umbrella, and it was put into the Oxford dictionary in 2011, along with ‘FYI’ and ‘OMG’. This just goes to show how as the years go on, as more technology is created, more and more words are also invented, some of these definitely coming under the ‘txt spk’ umbrella.

But what do I think about it all?

I think ‘txt spk’ was bound to happen as well as be incorporated into the English Language. I also think people over the ages of 50 (my parents) find it harder to adjust to things like this, as they were not raised around the modern technology that we were. However, my parents do think modern technology does have many advantages.

What do you think about txt spk? And is it shaping our language?

Thnx. LY

[char-rowlson-blog]

Cracked, but not yet beaten...

Eugene the egg.

Need I say anymore?

Well, I’m going too, there’s a whole lot more to the egg. The egg has become the most liked photo on Instagram - de-throning Kylie Jenner’s picture of her baby, Stormi. Over 52 million Instagram users liked this picture, but for what reason? Many say it was funny, therefore gaining their like. Some dislike the fact that Kylie Jenner had the most liked picture on Insta, consequently causing them to ‘like’ the egg, just to stop her from being ‘Top Dog’. And some, well, some people just liked it because it was a trend and all their friends had liked it too. 

Did you like the picture of the egg? Why? 

We have all seen this egg, there has been so much about it on social media recently. But have you heard about its newest campaign, ‘The Cracked Egg’?

The Cracked Egg is a campaign that is spreading the word about mental health. Since the original picture of Eugene the egg was posted on Instagram, 5 pictures have followed, each of Eugene cracking, more and more each time. The objective of the cracked egg campaign was to show how social media anxiety can ‘crack’ people, with the overall message, persuading people to seek help if they need it. 

The whole idea was created by Chris Godfrey, a creative at The & Partnership. And it has gone viral. 

The purpose of it, was not, in-fact to ‘de-throne’ Kylie, but to share a very important message, simply. Eugene the egg has proved how great social media can be, as well as how destructive to a persons self esteem it can be. Many people nowadays, take pride in how many ‘likes’ they receive on a photo. Not receiving enough, or even receiving nasty comments is going to put almost anyone down, causing them to crack a little more every time. 

The follow up photos of Eugene shows just how people crack, due to comments such as ‘wtf is this egg doing’ and ‘why are people liking this picture of an egg?’  being posted on the original photo of Eugene, creating a little crack at a time. Similarly, this happens to people. The point of the cracked egg pictures, is to show how much a little comment can damage someones self-esteem. 

As well as displaying the nasty side to social media, that people struggle to egg-nore, Eugene also demonstrated the great side too. How something good and meaningful can go viral, ever so quickly. 

I think it was a great idea for a campaign, especially as social media anxiety has become a big issue recently. It allows people to understand that it is OK to crack, as well as informing people that small, immature, rude comments are not OK. The fact a simple egg went viral in days, just goes to show how incredible social media can be. 

[char-rowlson-blog]

Tablets, the electronic drug we NEVER admit to being addicted to...

When talking about writing, Plato said “If men learn this (writing), it will implant forgetfulness in their souls, they will cease to exercise memory because they rely on that which is written”.

So, when ‘exercising’ writing, what do people prefer? Physical books? Or the modern tablet?

I can fully understand why people might prefer reading an actual book. They give you an ‘experience when reading’. You have to go into the shop (or nowadays, you can buy online), read the blurb, and get a feel for the book. Technically, you have that book for life.

But why does our generation, in general, prefer tablets? Out of 10 people I asked this question to, 7 of them said they would rather read off a tablet (or some sort of electrical device). And why is this, you may ask, while reading this blog off a tablet?

Reason #1: Practicality

If you’re going on holiday, or just going somewhere other than home when having intentions to read more than one book, a tablet is ideal. How many books can you take with you somewhere, without it being a hassle? I think we can say 3...max. And how many can be stored on a tablet? Thousands. The practicality of having as many books as you want on one device, that you can take anywhere is amazing.

Reason #2: You don’t lose your page!!

When reading a book, something that is essential is a bookmark. This is of course unless you fold down the page corners (which will ruin the book’s aesthetic). However, when reading through a tablet, it saves the page for you. Just a little thing that can make your whole reading experience a tiny bit better.

Reason #3: Easy to read

Sometimes, the words in books can be a little too small and end up merging together, or you could lose the line (well this happens to me anyway, I probably need glasses). Using tablets allows the reader to increase or decrease the sizing of the font. I find this very helpful and 4 of the 7 people who stated they prefer tablets, raised this as their main reason as to why they would rather read from tablets. This makes the book personal to you, you can do what you like with it and make reading an enjoyment again, rather than having to put a lot of effort into just reading a sentence and squinting a lot.

Reason #4: The variety

Tablets hold every genre of book, making them your own ‘mini-bookshop’. You can switch from one book, to another in the blink of an eye. When your mood changes, you are likely to want to read something different. This could range from a different story, to a different genre. The variety of books stored on a tablet is insane. I’d say that speaks for itself.

Now I’m finished promoting tablets, I can understand why people would want to read a book, it’s an experience. But, in this day and age, people tend to be busier and want to read on-the-go, eg. on the tube. A tablet can provide a number of books, that you can change in one swipe. This makes them just perfect for readers anywhere and everywhere.

So, which one do you prefer?

[char-rowlson-blog]

Walking around in our own bubble, how do we pop this?

Social media. Is it really ‘just an app’? I think not. Social media places us very specifically into our very own bubble. Whether that be big or small is up to you.

These so called ‘bubbles’ are well known as ‘filter bubbles’. According to Google, a filter bubble is “a situation in which an Internet user encounters only information and opinions that conform to and reinforce their own beliefs, caused by algorithms that personalize an individual’s online experience.”

On Instagram, for example, we follow whoever we want too. For me, this includes celebrities, models, fitness gurus and fashion lovers. This means, my filter bubble includes only these people and they are almost all I see on Instagram. But, it also means my filter bubble does not allow me to see anything other than that, unless I decide I want to search for something completely different to what I normally would.

When looking at the whole concept of filter bubbles, it enables us to think about what we are potentially missing out on. Advertisement's are specifically designed to you and your filter bubble, consequently filtering out the topics that are outside of your bubble. Personally, do not follow things like cartoons, or video games, therefore I do not see any advertisements to do with new releases of games, for example. However, I always see ads for independent clothes and jewelry shops and quite often, fitness programs, which I do tend to click on, but can never afford to purchase (I wish I could #studentlife). 

So are filter bubbles are good or bad thing? 

I would say a GREAT thing. 

For companies targeting a product at a certain audience, using Instagram to find the selected people within this audience, they are perfect. We put ourselves within this filter bubble, making it our own space. We have not been put inside it, forcefully. We can look at whatever we want too, and if we decide to venture outside of the usual, then we can, easily. I think that could be seen as the only con of a filter bubble, although we can change that. It is up to us (making it a weak con, I know, but still a potential con). Many people believe that filter bubbles have come around since the rise of social media. I would agree to disagree with these people. Granted, the official name for them may have been formed when social media arose, but when you think about it, filter bubbles have been around, more than likely, forever. A persons social bubble, for example, my Grandma, her bubble would include; baking, Church, knitting and art (she is a very cute woman). This bubble may not be on a device, but it is her bubble and what she likes to do. She has recently expanded her bubble, by joining ‘Grannie pilates’, something she wouldn’t normally do. 

Overall, I believe everyone is within a bubble and can expand it, but only if they want too. 

[char-rowlson-blog]

Does the ability to virtually “unfriend” make it too easy to lose true, real-life friendships?

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Everyone is living for everyone else now. They’re doing stuff so they can tell other people about it. I don’t get all that social media stuff. I’ve always got other things I want to do – odd jobs around the house. No one wants to hear about that.

Karl Pilkington, actor, author, radio producer, Idiot Abroad

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Would the click of an ‘Unfollow’ button end your world? A first world problem of the up and coming generation...

Instagram. Twitter. Facebook. Snapchat. Social media sites that rely A LOT on followers. So...ask yourself, does someone unfollowing you change your life so dramatically? 

Many people believe that popularity is a result of more followers. But, when it comes down to actually unfollowing someone, what are our reasons? Are they valid? And how upset are millennial when loosing followers?

Reason 1: To GET RID of negativity

Removing negativity from your life is something many people try to do to become a happier and more positive person. Social media now has such a large influence on peoples lives, whether it is for better, or for worse. If you decide that somebody is bringing a negative ‘vibe’ into your life, in real life, you would try to stay clear of them, so why not in the social media world? The ‘unfollow’ button allows you to get rid of anyone you would like, so their posts don’t pop up on your timeline, which is stopping the ‘negativity’. 

Reason 2: Posting too much, or not enough 

When making the decision of whether or not to follow someone, the amount of posts and how frequently they post is often looked at. Influencers, on instagram for example, will post a lot more than a normal person using the social media site. This is usually because they could be getting paid to post pictures, and want to keep their fan base happy and followers high. But, people can also unfollow somebody due to too little posts, as they aren’t providing enough content for their followers. 

Reason 3: To make yourself feel better

When looking at posts, especially on instagram, a lot of influencers with a vast amounts of followers can pop up on the ‘discover’ page. This causes more people to see their content and therefore want to follow them. But, ‘instagrammers’ post many model-like pictures, showing off their life, which is far from normal, especially if they’re a famous influencer. Although, when thinking about what actually happens on instagram, people almost always show their ‘best life’. When deciding on a picture to post on instagram, the majority of people don’t want to show the bad parts of their lives. Therefore, post the best bits, potentially giving a false representation of real life. This can really affect peoples self-esteem, making them feel ugly, fat and unsuccessful and overall, not great about themselves. Thus being a reason as to why people could unfollow someone. 

There are many, many more reasons as to why we might unfollow somebody, which can differ between everyone. Everyone has their own reason. But, being unfollowed, depending on who by, can lead to a range of emotions. 

If a close friend unfollowed you, it would most likely be very confusing and maybe upsetting. It is most likely that the younger generation of millennials would be more upset if this happened, as they have never known anything but social media. 

However, unfollowing someone who you don’t really know, or just don’t like anymore is probably not going to affect that person as much. 

Social media is very follower based and the general trend is that the more followers you have, the more popular (with fans) you are. But, many people follow celebrities for being controversial, just to see the next ‘bad’ and controversial post. For example, many people dislike Piers Morgan, and he still has 6.5 million followers on twitter. This could be for the strong opinions he has and how he voices them can be very controversial, which is also entertainment and ‘online beef’ that follower may want to witness. 

Overall, being unfollowed can affect people in different ways, depending on the relationship between the unfollower and the person. The reasons for unfollowing a person can also vary, whether it’s for the greater good of the person unfollowing or not.

But, does someone unfollowing you cause your world to come crashing down? Or are you not that bothered and can deal with it?