explorationofsocialmedia-blog - Tumblr blog

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When you get introduced to a new website where they have so many new fan fictions! 

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Does Social Media Have Political Value?

     In class on Tuesday we got into a debate whether or not social media has political value. I completely agree, it does have political value. You are able to get your voice out there without having to leave your house. I feel that with social media you are able to put your input out there in the world. 

    When it comes to politics it is something that I have never been interested in. I am not the one who wants to get in a debate about what is happening with the election in the states, or what is going on with the government in Canada. I think that with social media you are able to have the latest updates with what is going on in the current bout of politics and know all the information that the candidates are putting forward and how they can make the country that they are running for. You can become more involved without having to go to a political rally and having to deal with the people who are true supports and will go to the lengths of beating people who don't believe in what they or their candidate do.

   You may be thinking what is political value? When we discussed it in class there were many ideas from both parties that were involved. Another definition is “Anything beyond voting, i.e. protesting.” (said by my professor Betsy Brey) Some of the terms that we had come up with in class were: aware, message, increase, access, broadcasting. With these terms you can see that with the use of social media the message that said person is trying to get across has increased in its broadcasting to give people more access to the information. 

  To me when I think that the use of social media the people are able to spread their opinions, whether they be harsh or not, across. People are aware of what they are saying and to me it might make them think that their voices can be heard. It may just be a tweet, or a Facebook post but when it comes to it they were involved they were able to put their opinion out there and not have to be ridiculed by the people around them, like their family members who may have a different opinion or their friends who would think that they are weird for having that view of politics or even something else. 

I personally don't like to get involved in the topic of religion because I know that there are many things that I don't know and having the access to the social media has made me more aware of some of things that have been happening. I may not like to talk about what is going on but I like to stay informed about what is going on and with the access of social media I have been able to stay up to date, even if I don't want to, I can stay connected. 

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Emojis?

In my english class we talked about the use of emojis. This is something that I feel in this day and age you should know about.... but for me, yeah I didn't want to be a apart of the emoji world. Yes I may use them the odd time but other than that I don't feel like I need the use of yellow faced character showing how I feel when I can just type out what I am feeling and express more. 

While I was listening to this lecture, we talked about how different emojis have different meanings... for example the eggplant.... I am just going to leave that there for you to figure out. But there are emojis that I find are useless. Like why do we need “A Floating Business Man in a Suit” emoji? Like what is the use of that? I just feel that they are creating things like that for the sake of it? 

It may just be me who is not joining this bandwagon of emojis... I know when I was younger I would use the beginnings of emojis and of course emoticons because that was all that my phone was capable of doing. 

There was another part in class where we had to compose two sentences, then once those sentences were finished we had to ‘translate’ them into emojis and allow the class to try and guess what the sentences were about. Composing the sentences were easy, translating them to emojis on the other hand was a different story. I know at one point while translating my group’s sentence there was a part where we asked what kind of animals do you like. To me when someone is finding another way, especially pictorial, to say you i automatically think of ewe and put a picture of a sheep. I don't know if it the crafter in me when i make spring cards that puts that when they say “thinking of ewe!” with a cute picture of a sheep. When i asked the group what they thought they didn't think of it. 

I find that maybe because I like expressing myself in words my than emojis it made think of that interpretation instead of something else. I understand the use of emojis and the only one that I use is the thumbs up button in Facebook messenger in a group chat to show them that I have read and understand the message. 

I have never seen the need to use emojis, and though the lecture gave me a new insight about the unicoding that goes into creating these emojis and how they are able to be seen on both Apple and android products. It gave me a better understanding how difficult it is to create emojis and make sure that they are able to be seen on an android if it is sent from an apple and vice versa. Though this may have given me a different view on emojis I just don't see myself using them anytime soon.

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Lazy Fall Sunday 💤🍁💛

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Use of Smartphones

In class today we talk about the use of the smartphone and how it is taking our attention away from the true conversation that we will have with another person. But what if there is the case (like me) where they don't like people, and the way that they get their social interaction through the use of social media. 

To me the use of our smartphones is something so natural these days. I know I not only use it to check bus schedules, check my work schedule, listen to music, talk to my family who live four and a half hours north of Waterloo, and the list can go on and on. There is not stopping the influence of the smartphone. There are times when I am around groups of people where having your phone out is not something that is appropriate and seen as disrespectful, i.e. having dinner or a conversation with my parents, grandparents etc., but when it comes to my friends and other people my age it is seen as the norm. Another example is my friend and I have the same class in the morning, and because it is not appropriate to speak out loud while the professor is talking we use Facebook to talk to each other while the class is going on. And then in another course that we share the professor has banned the use of technology in the classroom (as in there are no powerpoints and he doesn't even have a section on learn and will give a 20 minute spiel on why we can't use it) so we have to do it the other way and pass notes back and forth and hopefully not get caught like we are back in high school. 

What I think is that people are becoming more accepting in the use of the technology, though some are still staying put. We are now able to use the smartphones freely, like in ENGL 295. People are opening up to the idea that smartphones are a thing of the future and as we move forward with the advancement of technology we are able to see more of the advantages of having that technology in our hands. 

I know for me, not living close to my family I am able to talk to them instantaneously. All I have to do is open my phone, that is always glued to my side as I always have a sense of anxiety when my phone is not in my line of sight, and hit their contact and I am able to talk to them especially when in comes to family members going into surgery and me not being there in person to get the updates myself.

In class today one of the authors mentioned that we are losing touch with “the real world” and it is because of the advancing technology that it is happening so quickly. I believe that it is the opposite. I think now people are more informed than they use to be because they have that access to the information that is out there. They know what is sweeping the nation and they can now have a say in it that extends farther than their local paper. 

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Being a Member of a Fandom

Studying in class about the intimate public and how they are studied, I feel I can give a little bit of insight on what it is like to be a part of a couple fandoms...

The ones that I am involved in are Harry Potter (which is the main one that I will tell people I am involved in), Supernatural (don’t follow Destiel though), and a couple that go along with the animes that I have watched. To me being a part of these fandoms means having an escape from the real world. I am able to pick up my phone, or iPad, and read the stories written by others who like the same pairings as I do (I am big into Hermione/Draco, Hermione/Severus Snape, and Hermione/Bill Weasley). I find while I don’t tell a lot of people about the things that I am reading or what I am looking at on this wonderful site of tumblr, I just want to keep my corner of the world to myself. Though I may tell my best friend (who is just as involved and dedicated to these fandoms as well) what I have read, I feel that she understands because she knows the feeling of not having the characters that you like together.

 I know when it comes to the animes and the main characters don’t get together by the end of series is so frustrating! But going to websites that allow people to write what they want with the characters that they want to be together is something that I will be forever thankful for. I am able to go and see how things would have played out (though with different scenarios than the book/TV show) and finally be happy about the couple getting together, getting married and having the perfect family that I had envisioned in my head.

 I am also the person who will write fan fictions but never post them. I have written so many but the only person who has read them is my best friend who knows what I am talking about and will help me make them better. I have never posted a fan fiction that I have written. I am terrified of what people will think when they read them. I am always thinking what if I get a fact wrong, or my portrayal of someone is not how they are supposed to be.

I know that when you are writing them you have to give the readers the warning if the story is going to be AU (alternate universe) or if a character is going to be OOC (out of character). That way people are somewhat prepared when they start reading and aren’t surprised with how you have portrayed their favourite character. There is a certain standard that is supposed to be up held when you are putting fan fictions online for other fans to read. If you get one thing wrong or you don’t have a warning for a character being out of character you are entering a dog eat dog world. There are users who will specifically tell you what you have done wrong. It won’t be helpful it will be something that will drag you down. They will also judge you for the pairing the you choose. No matter what there is always going to be that one person who is going to be your critique.

Sometimes you can even be your worst and best critique but you know that the other fans will always be there to support you when you need it the most.

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Me when people make me think about what i want to do when i finish school....

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The Use of Avatars

For me personally I am not a gamer... When I think of Avatars my mind automatically goes to gaming and how people can create a person that is completely different than themselves in the everyday life. 

The avatars that I use are the profile pictures that are on social media like tumblr and Facebook. They allow me to put a visual representation of myself that I feel will make the best impressions on the people who I know are going to be viewing my tumblr blog or twitter account. 

When I think about avatars on social media I feel like it is a way for someone to be able to put their best face forward in a sense. There is so much pressure in the media these days that make the picture you are using pass certain standards. Like for example on Facebook. I am not going to put a profile picture of myself where I look like a fool and making a stupid face. I know that I can be tagged in one and have a good laugh about it but I am not going to make it available for all to see. When I am going to post a photo the lighting has to be right, the angle has to be just perfect and the filter has to make my eyes the bluest of blues they almost look clear. 

When a friend tags you in a post of you doing something silly or making a humiliating face I feel that it represents who you are when you are around that group of people. You aren't expected to be professional. You can be yourself and act the way that sometimes you aren't able to when you are in the public all the time with your job or just going out to a restaurant. You act different around your group of friends compared to how you act when you are with your parents or just by yourself in a public setting. I feel that having your friends post a photo of you doing something stupid builds who you are. You have the side of you that you keep up in the public eye and then the one that comes out when you are with your friends. Sometimes it may not be a good thing that those photos be put out in the world (I know I have a few where I look like a complete fool and would rather not have on the Internet) but they are something that I find I like to look back on and just have a laugh about what happened at that moment.

I feel that there is a pressure on females mostly that make it seem like they have to look a certain way to get the attention of the people around them. Your eyebrows have to be on fleek, eyeliner has to have the sharpest wings they could fly away on their own and you have to have the clearest skin. You have to look like you could have your picture taken at any moment and have your perfect model pose ready like a cowboy would draw a gun in a draw in the wild west. 

Nowadays it is all about how perfect you look and how you are viewed. It is kinda like the posts that you see now when people compare what they were like when they were 12 to the 12 year olds now (I can tell you when I was 12 I couldn't draw a straight line let alone have perfectly winged liner). 

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when we talk about online and offline in my english class and this is the first thing that comes into my head when i hear “Online”

Lyle continuosly correcting Billy’s “On the line” is just hilarious