Pinterest and False Hopes

Ana Banana

So Hilarious!! This is exactly how I feel! I have found many recipes and other DIY stuff and out of those boards I have only done maybe like 5 things.

Kastle: Not Facebooking your problems

I just think this picture is hilarious, and also highlights an important point. Most people don't want to hear about your complaining, and your whining through Facebook. It's your problem, not ours. 

Kastle: How Facebook Saved their Life

I've been researching and seeing some articles about how Facebook saved their life, or someone who is close to them. In this article, this mother and son in this picture shared that Facebook helped diagnose a rare disease that her doctors initially missed that saved her son's life. It's such an incredible story. In another article: How Facebook saved my baby the same thing helped another mother find her son the right diagnosis. In another article: Saving a stranger's life this man clicked on a link on Facebook that led him to giving up his bone marrow to save a stranger's life. If he hadn't seen that on Facebook, the man would probably not be around still. All these heartwarming stories prove that although Facebook has had lots of negative feedback, there is still some good that comes out of having Facebook. Do you know anyone or have you experienced Facebook impacting your life in a positive way? How is this alternate universe any different from the reality we live in? Reality didn't save these people, the alternate reality did. 

Have you already pinned that?

Ana Banana

So I don't know how easy it is now to sign up for Pinterest, but when I first started you could ask for a request to get on Pinterest, which means that you couldn't officially get on Pinterest and start your boards or if you had a friend that was already a pinner then she could send a request for you and it basically would speed up the process so you could become an official pinner. So when I was waiting for my chance to have my own boards, I would see so many things that I liked/loved and didn't know what to do, so I just started to copy and paste it and save them in folders on my computer. but this picture that I found is so funny because you do think these things when you are going to post but don't know if you have already pinned...

Evolution of Social Media

Ana Banana

Found something else that looked hilarious!

People Who Use Pinterest

Ana Banana

Well when I first started Pinterest I definitely felt like the last post that I just did. But then a couple of months later I saw more people posting things that were related to weddings. So I started to re-pin things. For the rest of you Pinners, do you guys have a Wedding Board?

Pin Everything!

Ana Banana

This is exactly how it happened for me! lol

Kastle: Babies can be Facebook addicts from a very young age :)

Kastle: Is Facebook positive?

In www.positivelypresent.com this guy tells us the good about Facebook since this website is all about positivity anyway :P
             The Good

• Connecting with those who live far away. In the society we live in today, our relatives aren't a mere stone's throw away. They could be in different states, different countries, and sites like Facebook provide a great way to keep in touch with loved ones who are far away. Of course, there is always email too, but there's something about Facebook that allows for ultimate understanding of what's going on in someone's life. The pictures, the status updates, the postings all render a better picture of what's going on. For this reason, Facebook really is an amazing tool when it comes to keeping in touch. 
• More social interaction. For those who are less than super-social (um, like me), Facebook and other social media sites provide a great way to integrate more social interaction in their lives. Social interaction is key for human happiness; after all, we're designed to be social creatures. So, for those not as keen on the face-to-face stuff, Facebook provides an alternative way to get a daily dose of being social. And, for those who are super busy, Facebook is a great way to add some social interaction to a day that might otherwise not allow for it. 
• Keeping up-to-date on friends' lives. You might live only a few blocks away from your best friend, but life can get pretty hectic sometimes and it can be really hard to keep track of it all. Facebook allows you to stay up-to-date on whatever's going on with your besties without having to talk to them or see them every single day. Useful? Yes. Absolutely necessary? Probably not. While it might be nice to know that your best bud just saw an awesome concert last night, it's probably not a vital piece of information. That being said, it can still be a good way to keep current on what's going on with those you care about. 
• Opportunity to meet new people. Social networks like Facebook provide opportunities for you and others to meet new people, which can be a really great thing. By making new connections, you're not only being the social creature you've been designed to be, but you're also broadening your horizons and (hopefully) learning new things about yourself and the world. Meeting new people can be incredibly difficult, even if you're an extremely outgoing person, and Facebook is a great way to make connections -- and to do so with a little more background information about the person. You instantly have an opportunity to see what you have in common and to understand that person on another (albeit potentially superficial) level, making Facebook a great tool for making friends.  
• Ability to create large social network. There are plenty of people you probably would never call up and have a chat with, but you find them situated nicely among you friends on Facebook. This is one of the great beauties of Facebook; you can create a large social network without having to put in tons of face (or phone) time. Not only does this save a ton of time, but it also allows you to stay in touch with people who may be able to help you in the future. No matter what your needs might be -- a used couch, a job change, or a last minute idea -- if you have a large enough network on Facebook, there's probably someone who can help you out. Regardless of your age or interests, Facebook is an excellent networking tool. 
• Lots of great resources and information. Of course, you can always find information online, but sometimes there is information out there that you might not even know you are looking for and, on Facebook, it may present itself to you. On Facebook, you keep in touch with your friends and family and they might post some information or links that really interest you -- information you might otherwise have been unaware of. And it's all there, all in one spot, a tool to learn not only more about your friends and family, but also about the world of your social network. You can gain great understanding of those you surround yourself with (and, indirectly, of yourself) if you take a look at what's being posted on Facebook. 

Do you think of positive as more of positive or negative? What are your thoughts on it??

Kastle: POKE!

A lot of the things we do on Facebook we would never do in real life unless you wanna be REALLY annoying. :)

Kastle: Facebook creating jobs

The first positive aspect that Facebook has made it creating lots of jobs and boosting the economy, even in Europe. This article talks about the study done on the amount of jobs created and how Facebook has gotten there. Although Ana's previous post argues that people can be fired by use of social networking sites, and it's affected the workplace, Facebook also creates jobs. Many many jobs. They say that 182,000 new jobs have been created by businesses in the U.S. making apps specifically for Facebook. That is quite amazing what one website can do to make a difference in creating jobs for people who need it.

Social Media Sites at Work = Getting Fired?

Ana Banana

Are people that hooked up on all of these social media sites that they seriously can't just wait to go home and check these sites out. They rather risk their jobs and essentially screw themselves over a social media site. Well I saw this pin on Pinterest and it tells you different statistics and things on how a social media site can get you fired. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Kastle: Facebook.....

Kastle: Downsides to Facebook

I have now spent 2 weeks talking about the negative aspects of Facebook, and how it affects society and other forms of media as well. This website really outlines the most important downsides to Facebook networking, or really any social network in general. Facebook is an alternate universe with all it's nick nacks and special tools that make it it's own. Facebook still has troubles, worries, happiness, sadness, and all the emotions expressed in this universe. Facebook has it's problems, it's cracks that shows that it's not always a perfect little universe. Even it's your personal bubble, your bubble (your whole self) can get popped and ruined like in reality. What do YOU not like about Facebook? Do you have other alternate universes besides Facebook?

Kastle: Spotify

I have recently come upon this music player that connects with Facebook. Their slogan is "All the music, all the time" which proves to be very true. It has a very similar layout to Itunes, and with the free version of Spotify you can look up literally ANY song, and add it to your playlist. You can have multiple playlists if you like. But the catch is it's not free music, you can just listen to it. You can't transfer any songs over to your Itunes. Now this is a fun music site to use to listen to music, but there are some downsides. First, you have to listen to some ads after listening on Spotify for awhile before going back to your current song. Everyone can see what you're listening to through Facebook. It posts on Facebook whenever you're listening to a different song and shows how many times you've played each song. It's quite ridiculous in that regard, although on the main page of their website they claim, "Thanks to Spotify and Facebook, you can see and hear what your friends are listening to – just hit play on any music post. You can also share music with a flick of the wrist. Send it straight to your friends, or post tracks on social networks. It's how music should be." Personally i think this is NOT how music should be. Yes sharing is caring, but too much sharing is too much of an invasion of personal space. I would personally like my music choices to just be shared with myself. This augmented reality of Facebook keeps continuing to show invasion of privacy, and LOTS of sharing. In this website, it lists the downsides to Spotify, and also compares it to using it on your Iphone. They also bring up an important question: Do you think Spotify can replace your Ipod? Will soon everyone be using Spotify and we will get to see what everyone listens to? Is this an invasion of privacy?

Megan: HTML

It was only a few years ago when the thought of someone sitting behind a computer, constantly on the internet and fiddling with HTML, would be considered a bit ridiculous and geeky.

Nowadays it's the norm. Most high school and college students are extremely familiar with the processes of the world wide web. We at WWU cannot survive one quarter of courses without an understanding of blackboard and frequent access to the internet. They are a part of every day, if not every hour, of our lives. The generations who didn't grow up with computers (perhaps the prime example of the extreme growth of technology) have a harder time following and keeping up with all the intricacies involved in something as simple as blogging (simple to us, anyway).

Tumblr is not the only demonstration of our vast knowledge of technology; many blogging sites allow a great deal of personalization. Tumblr, myspace and livejournal give the user a great deal of freedom when it comes to designing the page(s). A user can design a blog in a short amount of time and reveal a lot about him or herself that way. Twitter and facebook are more restrictive; you can change profile photos and cover photos and backgrounds, but the template remains in place. With the latter sites, many users will want their blogs to look a certain way. They will scour the internet in search of templates (codes that dictate the presentation of a blog), and they can either take that template and use it as is, edit it and change anything from dimensions to colors, or learn from it and create an entirely new template.

In my own experience, I have learned quite a bit from the internet. I've been a part of the web for about eight years, and have since learned about graphic design and HTML. I only know the basics, but of what I know it all seems simple and similar to another language. I know this because if I were to right click this very blog and open the page source, I could understand a lot of the coding; my mother however would think I had stomped on my keyboard.

I ask this: Does personalization improve blog use? Is a self-designed blog such as tumblr more fun to use or does it have more appeal than facebook? Is it a good or bad thing that there are many like me who consider HTML another familiar language?

Guys Use Pinterest Too

Ana Banana

So if you thought that Pinterest was only for girls, well you are wrong! Many guys use Pinterest. So here are some "manly" Pinterest boards that you can follow and a small discription of what these guys like to pin on their boards. 

Tristan Walker – BizDev at Foursquare with great boards for books and technology

Adam Walker – FlyCanvas founder and SoCal surfer

Scott Monty – Global head of social media for Ford Motor Company curates for #BroPin and shares a variety of very classy boards, including Dress to Impress and Royal Warrant Holders

Evan Sharp – Pinterest cofounder with boards for anything from Crazy Star Trek Shit to Nuclear Beauty

Rich Rogerson – Newcastle graphic designer with boards for comics and World War II posters

Ben Golder – Fullbright Fellow in Spain with a penchant for architecture and robotics

Warren Quirk – Vancouverite with cool automotive boards

Justin Blumer – Wisconsin student with an eye for masculine design

Kastle: Accept your friend request from Jesus?

Churches seem to be finding more ways to incorporate Facebook as a way of getting more people involved in the church, and even to catch a young teenager's attention. In this article about creative ways that churches are using Facebook, they say that "According to the Bible, when Jesus spoke, he often attracted large crowds. Churches and religious organizations of all denominations now have a captive, potential audience approaching 1 billion people on Facebook. Talk about a sermon on the mount!

Churches that can adapt to the most popular current trends, including the use of social media as marketing tool, stand to spread their messages far and wide. If there was once a taboo around using secular techniques to attract an audience, these concerns appear to be less of an issue today." So it's not just about reaching out to people, they're also using it as a marketing tool and creating pages for people to "like" and find information about the hours, and upcoming events going on in your own church. Even using Facebook to vote your favorite individuals or groups within the church! But it seems to getting the word out a lot faster then the past. Is a church's involvement in Facebook good or bad?

Instagram Junkie

Ana Banana


So as I have said before, I am usually always late on the new technology website things. So I have noticed that a lot of people are using this new Instagram thing. And on Pinterest I just found a picture thing that is pretty funny that lets you know, How to spot a Instagram Junkie. 

Alison: Long Distance Made Possible

Long distance relationships can be a challenge. At least they’re not impossible to maintain like they used to be before the internet was invented. To say that our generation is privileged to have technology is well beyond an understatement.
There are many things that I am thankful for, Skype being one of them. Of all the online forms of social networking, nothing beats being able to see, hear, and talk to my significant other when he is half way across the globe. Appreciate the resources that are obtainable while you enjoy your loved ones.
What are you thankful for?

Ally: Need Job?

So apparently, if you are in need of a job, you can search through Twitter! Even though this economy isn't allowing for us all to get jobs, I guess there are enough out there that they have gotten to the point of posting it to Twitter with those lovely hashtags I posted about a couple days ago. Just go here. Type in what you are wanting to do in your profession and search away! I haven't played too much with it, but I am sure you can find some, um, interesting things out there. Enjoy!

Alison: Skyping into the Future?

I just finished talking to a friend via Skype who is in Italy! As long as both ends have a decent internet connect, then there isn't a problem with lagging images nor distorted sound. It's pretty awesome seeing someone in real-time when the sun is going down there and the sun is up over here in Bellingham. The time difference becomes more of a reality when you say 'goodnight' to a person during your personal afternoon. Other parts of the world are ahead of us- it's almost like Italy is living in the future! Hard to wrap my mind around the fact that it's Thursday somewhere while we're still trying to survive our Wednesday.
Anyway, whatever day it is for you right now, enjoy it!

Kastle: Addicted to Your profile

We all have one person who is always commenting and liking everything we post on Facebook. Haha. Yet another way that people can annoy us.

Kastle:The Reality of Facebook

My daily ritual of Facebook is something like that. Except every morning i also play my 2 Facebook games and use up all my energy :) If you have a Facebook, you would understand exactly what this little list is talking about. We all have our own rituals for Facebook. What's yours? Is it bad to be in the habit of going on Facebook often to see what your friends are up to? Most of us want people to get on Facebook to like our status's and looking through our newest photos. But why? Have we just become sucked into this augmented reality as a willing participant? All my life i wanted a Facebook but my parents never let me because of all the complaints and privacy concerns about it. I didn't get one until i was 18, which was about a year ago. Then i just became one of millions of people who had one. Conforming to the social standard. After a while, it wasn't so exciting to have anymore. I just had one because everyone else had one.

Megan: So far, so good!

{C&P from my tumblr post:}

I initiated a survey through my personal blog last night (I have more followers there, and I can circulate it better) and I already have 35 responses! For the most part, people seem to spend a lot of time on tumblr and they’re pretty happy with their experience here.

I think I’m also going to ask a few people unfamiliar with tumblr to tell me what kind of impression they get from the site, what they think of it and whatnot. That may be more difficult to do but it would better help me to understand the impression tumblr makes.

Part of me wonders if the anonymity is what makes tumblr feel so spectacular to people; the anonymous option keeps identities secretive and you don’t have to reveal your personal information when you’re making the blog, and the blog can contain absolutely anything. There’s a lot of freedom to it, freedom that doesn’t exist in reality. That is why tumblr can be argued to be an augmented reality. It is a place where you can be who you want to be. You can be the person who supports others who have low self esteem; you can be the person who is artistic with graphics/edits; you can be the person who is surrounded by people who understand your love of a fandom and look to you for your insight.

The fact that so many people spend time here and depend on their blog is only further proof that we are attempting to live better lives vicariously through the text and images on a blog.

If any of you would like to help me with the latter portion (an "outsider" view of tumblr), that would be great!!

Kastle: Fliptoast App

The Fliptoast app is pretty ridiculous i must say. This app will let you access Facebook anytime on your desktop computer. It's basically a little sidebar which doesn't require you going on Facebook.com for all your friend's updates. Drag and drop photos right into fliptoast to upload them to Facebook. All your Facebook news will show up in little alert windows whenever someone posts something new. Chat with your friends right from your desktop. Isn't this just a handy little app? I've had experience with this app and i tried it for a week....It drove me NUTS! It was always there! Just another reason to be distracted and not do your homework. It pretty much gives you full access on Facebook while your working. How are you supposed to get ANYTHING done now?! Facebook is thinking of any way to connect to us even more on a personal and social level. They want us socializing every moment! This is social networking at a whole new level! Would any of you use this app? Why else could this app be a bad idea?

Ally: Twitter Names

Have you ever had a hard time thinking of a username? Have you ever tried to use a name and have been denied because it is already being used? Well fret no more! Just go here!

Can you believe it? They actually have websites that will create a username for you. Am I the only one that finds this partly hilarious and partly saddening? 

Just a silly little site that I wanted to share. Enjoy. Have some fun with it! 

Alison: Calling with Skype

International calls and texts can rack up your phone bill abruptly when phone companies start charging $1.99 per minute and $0.50 per outgoing text. With rates like that, contact with a friend or family member out of the country will surely dwindle or be costly.

Skype provides users with free video-to-video calling no matter where you are. It doesn’t matter where in the world you are, your Skype calls are free if you are using the free video feature. However, if you want to call a landline or a mobile device, expect to pay a fee.

"In 2010, a report by TeleGeography Research stated that Skype-to-Skype calls accounted for 13% of all international call minutes in 2009; out of the 406 billion international call minutes a total of 54 billion were used by Skype calls".

The benefits are not only reaped by those who want to keep contact with friends and/or family. Small businesses as well as larger corporations use the video feature with clients across the country and even internationally. This saves costs and at the same time it helps build relationships between clients by having the opportunity to see facial expressions from face-to-face talk time, and allows meeting times to be flexible.

Megan

Tumblr's Impact

I just made an update on tumblr if you guys want to read it! I discuss how communication is done on tumblr, similar to Ally's hashtag research but primarily the language used on tumblr alone.

When your bored

Ana Banana


Honestly now that Pinterest exists I just basically "waste" my time on it. My favorite categories that I always look under are: Hair & Beauty, Food and Drink, DIY & Crafts and Wedding & Events. These are the categories that I love looking at and looking for things that I like, wish to have, wish to make, wish to taste or wish to do. Another site that I look at is Wanelo.com . I dont really know much about Wanelo but what i do on that site is also browse around and look for things that i like and pin them to my Pinterest. If you get on Pinterest what are the categories that you love to get on?

Ally: #hashtag

So you know those little number signs we see popping up.....EVERYWHERE?! They kind of annoy the hell out of me, but I figured they must have a purpose if every person uses them. All I could really find was this. I found this interesting just because it gives you a basic idea of what they are for, and where hashtags came from.... also a nice little guide on how to correctly use them. Another site that I found while looking for the meaning behind the symbol was this. Now you know what the hell you are talking about or what people are posting when they post random letters. I know that I usually go straight to urban dictionary but this is nice to have it specific to hashtags only.


Don't abuse your power now, people. Even though you are more educated on these little guys, doesn't mean you need to go all hashtag #craycray.

Kastle: Facebook Parenting Gone Wild

This video is honestly the funniest thing I've seen in years. This parent found a post from his 15 year old daughter on Facebook cussing and making this long speech about all the shit her parents make her do. Her dad, in this video, reads it out loud, comments on it, then puts like 6 BULLETS in her laptop! Craziest thing I've seen! Now this is an extreme case of what can happen when you post something without thinking on Facebook, and have your parents find out about it. But this video stresses an important point: Everyone reads your Facebook even if you don't always realize it. What would your parents think if they read some of your posts? My parent's still have rules about the things i can put on Facebook. No kissing pictures of me and my boyfriend, and nothing that shows too much cleavage. These are reasonable rules. Now a lot of us don't care what our parents think, but if you're still living in their house, you will get consequences just like that 15 yr old daughter did. Grounded till college. Facebook has a freedom about it that makes you think, "Oh, my parents will never see this. They're never on Facebook." But never be too sure. Be careful what you write on Facebook. It can turn parents against their kids, and kids against their parents too. Facebook can have some pretty negative impacts. Have you ever posted a status that you regret writing later on? Have you ever gotten in trouble regarding something you put on Facebook?

Megan

I wanted to see what people outside of tumblr think of tumblr, and I find that Urban Dictionary has an interesting insight on tumblr:

Tumblr is fine. It's a blogging site and allows you to interact with people.If you dislike HP (no Twilight lovers, it's just a sucky romance about vampires which they probably haven't even read & apparenty LOFTR is on the same level?), aren't a 90's child( the last generation with sense they say), or aren't perfectly grammatically correct in everything you type, you will be made fun of, judged & stupid.They despise people on FB because they are treated better than them; usually take a screen shot of the status and post it for lulz on someones spelling or just a question they had that may have been stupid.Then stick their FB links in their description. Basically, if you don't have the mindset of a 'misunderstood' teenager, you don't belong. & you also must be a future cat lady, eat nutella & pizza & have no social life. Don't tell anyone about it because they think no one knows. If you're homophobic, leave. Everyone on Tumblr will hate you as the site is predominately gay. J.K Rowling is God, God doesn't exist, Gays are the best, Obsesity is beautiful, Skinny people are bitches, tans are for whores, FB is shit & trolling is life. If you dislike any of this and express it, you will get anon hate telling you to kill yourself & you're stupid & insult you because you placed an unpopular opinion. Tumblr famous people don't talk to you, don't like you, don't follow you back or even attempt to do anything.Only a Tumblr user would look this up and the response would be: U MAD? -_- You know that socially awkward, dramatic, problematic, emo boy/girl at your school? They have a Tumblr.

I find that many people think this about tumblr when they're introduced to it and are attempting to gain followers and make friends and whatnot. Having been a part of tumblr for a while, I completely understand how "outsiders" can view tumblr this way. Anyone who is religious or conservative is a part of the minority, and if you are opinionated or have a social life you're not likely to gain a lot of followers.

It's definitely intriguing to compare and contrast the "insiders" and the "outsiders," especially considering how influential each of these realms can be.

Kastle: Will Facebook become part of our reality?

New Android phones have this new app called Viewdle. On the Android Applications website, it says that "Viewdle is an Android Application that mixes facial recognition, augmented reality and the social network for Facebook.Via the application you can take pictures your friends by filling in their name and Facebook account, the application will then recognize your friends who appear on the screen and display the information relating to their account (name and Facebook news) actually increased." Is this another way of making Facebook more real to us? Is it invading more of our personal privacy and others as well?

Kastle: Are your friends really your friends?

Confirming a friend request without even really knowing who they are can be a big mistake. So why do we accept their friend request? A lot of times we're comparing ourselves to other people on Facebook, thinking to ourselves, "That girl/guy has more friends than me, and more likes than me. I'm not as popular as she/he is." So to go along with the crowd, you accept every friend who wants to be friends with you. Now, although that is really nice of you to want to be so friendly and open, sometimes none of us really think about the consequences of that. The Internet can be a scary and dangerous place to make friends. I was really worried about my cousin when i saw her friend list....3,095 friends. There is no way someone can have that many friends, and she always was complaining about the creepy old guys she had commenting on her pictures. So why didn't she just delete them? Because she liked the attention. Sometimes we want to feel that we're sexy, hot, beautiful, and liked on Facebook. So being friends with EVERYONE can give you that. Lots of likes, comments, etc. But that comes with a price. Drama. And being friends with the wrong kind of person. The kind of person who could a pervert, stalker, bully, or even murderer. Now, not everyone says yes to every friend on Facebook, but a lot of teenagers do it. So be careful who you are friends with. Have you ever accepted a friend request that you regretted later? I want to hear your stories!

Kastle: Companies relying on Facebook

Zynga boosted by Facebook, Groupon, Linked
Mompreneurs Relying on Facebook
Dangers of Relying on Facebook

It seems that every site i keep clicking on, there are more and more companies relying on Facebook for getting it out everywhere on the web. Apps created by different companies completely rely on Facebook for them to make any profit whatsoever. What does this show us? That we shouldn't be so reliant on a site that keeps changing on us with different profile set-ups like timeline, and changing settings and the design every month. A social networking site with so many ads, apps, and tracking our information cannot be completely trusted. Some companies might not have a choice anymore, but we can learn from them now. And be cautious with everything that we do. Have you ever been reliant on a social networking site?

Kastle:

How often are you on Facebook?

First Name:
Last Name:
Every 2-3 hours
More than twice a day
Every day
Every couple of days

Kastle: Your Facebook Profile Picture

Going off of what Ana said about pretending to be someone you're not, and fake identities, i found this Facebook picture (which is a little crude) but i think it really stresses a good point. Speaking about us girls here, there are times when we crop our pictures to make us look more flattering and beautiful. I know that i have done it. But why do we do it? Would we not have as many friends if we had an ugly profile picture? Perhaps that is what many young insecure girls think. Which is why Facebook gives us the lovely option of cropping our profile picture to any way we like. To look like someone that we're not, and become the hot sexy girl on Facebook that everyone loves. This goes back to it being an alternate reality where we have the freedom to choose how we want to appear and act. Is this freedom a good or bad thing?

Pinterest Not Only for Social Life Things??

Ana Banana

So I was looking around Pinterest to see if there was more then just people posting different things that they liked or places where they would want to go to. But i found some boards that have Tips and stats on how to become more successful, or how to do your best in a job interview, basically all of the "important" things.

So on one of the boards that I found, Business Related Board, this guy has different posts on what media sites you should use to promote yourself/business. Basically he has found these articles that help you out how to use these different popular sites to your advantage.

Which Social Network Should You Use - and When? is a chart and small article explaining with statistics and information to help you see which site would suit you..

Kastle: Facebook Gaming = Time Wasted

Top 10 Facebook Games
10 Mind Blowing Statistics about Facebook Games

I must say that i am a die-hard Facebook gamer. I play Sims Social, and the Hunger Games adventure daily on Facebook and i complete goals and earn money and points. And yes, i HAVE spent $1 to get ahead in my Sims Social gaming. On the site with the mind blowing statistics, the most interesting statistic to me was "56 MILLION PLAY DAILY!" That's a lot of people and another reason to be addicted to Facebook. And what's even funnier is that 69% of Facebook gamers are women. Who knew? To be completely honest, Facebook games are a waste of time and i have found myself playing Facebook games for hours when i could be doing something a LOT more productive. Plus, once your addicted, you will do anything to finish your goals on time. Even pay money to get ahead and get nicer things for your "Sim" or "pet" or whatever. These Facebook games are exactly like playing video-games. Just on a computer and a different augmented reality. You can eat, sleep, have fun, and do all the things you can do in the real world but you get to create your own farm, house, or even social life. Facebook games also scam you. In a website, it mentions that "In exchange for participating in the advertising offers, at the end the users receive virtual goods in the form of virtual currency or items....The problems is that some of these offers are of questionable integrity or downright scams." So you can easily get scammed or get harmful things on your computer just because you were trying to earn more cash for your game. How many of you play Facebook games?

Ally: New searching ways.

Searching with Facebook and Twitter.

This is an interesting link, Kastle I hope you don't mind me stealing it :). I had someone that I follow on twitter post this link about a new way of Bing searches. Personally, I really don't like using Bing, I am a die hard Google fan, but I am sure this is something that will come to Google, eventually, as well.

You will now be able to ask friends and followers about something you are searching for or about on Bing. Through this new Facebook and Twitter feature there will be a side bar to ask your friends. And of course it also has that wonderful (sarcasm) "friend suggestion" section where they will suggest people that are searching the same information for you to friend or follow. Greeeat.

Anyways, I found it kind of interesting. Enjoy :)

Being Someone Else or Just Wishing for Something Else

Ana Banana

So Pinterest like other sites that my compadres are doing are sites that basically let you have "another" life. An example is one of my boards on Pinterest is a board full of things that I really like and wish I will have one day when I get married. If you want to check it out here is the site Wedding Wish List. Another example of having another identity exists in online dating or even on FaceBook. The internet has allowed for anyone to be anyone. Pinterest or any site can also be a place of giving someone hope. Hope for wanting something better for themselves or wanting to go somewhere. Other boards that I have are desserts, yummy recipes, places that I want to go to, outfits i wish i had, etc. All things that I hope to try or have or do. What do you guys think of these sites that allow other identities?

Kastle: 

Bullied on Facebook, 13 year old gets a nose job
The Facebook Fight that Fractured my Face
Halifax teen speaks against Facebook bully, a man who pushed three girls to suicide
Teen Suicide Caused By Facebook Bullies

There are literally over 53 million hits when i typed "bullying on Facebook stories" into Google. These are just some of the websites i found about stories of young teens who were bullied through Facebook. Reading their stories brings me to tears. It's so sad to think how cruel and easy it is for people to be mean and hurtful over the internet. The phrase "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me" doesn't seem to be the case anymore. Yesterday, this came to my attention very clearly when my cousin (who is my age) wrote a status update about a girl named Lizzie. This is what she said: "When you see your ex talking to Lizzie ___ lol. A major downgrade." She got dozens of likes on it, and a lots of comments from other people regarding Lizzie as a major slut and how she's crazy and psycho and all these horrible things about her. It was like seeing bullying right in front of my eyes as more people kept commenting and it just got worse and worse. Later i saw that Lizzie had wrote on my cousin ex's wall saying she was unfriending him because she couldn't handle all the drama and all the mean things my cousin and her friends were saying about her. So i wrote a status saying, "Why do people tear each other down on Facebook? It isn't going to accomplish anything." I got a lot of positive feedback from my friends and support. "We need more love in this world" was what one of my guy friends said. I don't know if my cousin saw my status but when i checked this morning to see if it was still there, she had taken that status off. 

I CANNOT stand to see bullying from my own cousin or from anyone else! It's not right and it can REALLY hurt other people! Just seeing so many stories online about Facebook bullying can really show you how this Facebook world is an alternate reality within itself, and a place for anything to happen. Facebook isn't the only place where bullying occurs, but it is a negative aspect of any social networking site.

Scary or Not Scary

Ana Banana

So I'm not sure if having technology advancing in such a short amount of time is scary to many people or not. Or even if people have stopped and actually thought, why is it that technology has advanced so fast? I don't know about anyone else but when i think about how technology has changed how this world thinks and acts, it scares the crap out of me. 

Well to tell you guys a little more about myself and how technology entered into my life. Well I'm a 1988 baby and the first computer that i first saw was in my elementary school in Seattle, WA. I had never touched one or played with one until 5th grade when I had to stay in an after-school program. In that after-school program they had us playing games on the computer like Math Blaster and other kid games. I remember that i would have such a hard time figuring out how to work that machine. Well to quickly flash forward through my life in middle school 6-8th grade, I still had a type-writer at home to write my 1-2 page essays for school. (Did anyone else use a type-writer for school?) Well I remember that in 8th grade is when a lot of my friends had computers at home and were IMing each other all the time. I hope people still remember what IMing was/is, but if you don't know what IMing was it was Instant Messaging on AOL which it is exactly like FaceBook Chatting or what is now TEXTING. So during that time that my friends were IMing each other and were able to surf the Internet on their dial-up, I was still living a life with just TV, radio and a home land-line (where you had to memorize all your friends and families phone numbers, which now I can only remember my mom's, brother's and boyfriend's cellphone number.) So finally High School came and my freshmen year I made sure that I signed up for a computer typing class because I did not want to be the only one that did not know how to type or use a computer. So basically that is how it started out and I finally got a cell phone when I was a Junior which it may be shocking to the many of you but that was in 2005-2006. And since then I have been hooked to being on a computer. Even though I am always late on what is "in and new" I have been hooked on the technology line and cant free myself from it.

So if anyone wants to share how they got hooked to technology leave a comment, I would love to hear your story! :)

Kastle:

7 Privacy Concerns For Facebook
If you click on the link, it will take you to a news article about 7 privacy concerns for the new Facebook timeline. Facebook is tracking your every move, everywhere your going, what your listening to every moment. According to Facebook’s privacy policy: “We receive data from the computer, mobile phone or other device you use to access Facebook. This may include your IP address, location, the type of browser you use, or the pages you visit.” This data is collected every time, even when a friend of yours has GPS turned on and tags you in a picture she’s uploading from her mobile phone.

This should be a concerning matter. Yet none of us even seem to care we're being tracked. What if someone who works for Facebook decided to use our personal information for their own benefit? What if they sent your phone number or email to different advertising websites? There are so many different scenarios! We all need to start paying more attention! :)

Kastle: 
This pretty much says it all :) This is everyone on their first day of discovering Facebook!

Megan

Tumblr's Impact

I've been making several posts on tumblr lately (a few original, but many interesting reblogs as well; you're welcome to check them out). My most recent original post discusses the negative effects of tumblr, and I'm going to make a post soon about how tumblr has such a huge impact both on our lives and on media. It's really intriguing to surf the web to see what other people are saying about social networks!

While you're at it, I would definitely suggest watching some of the videos I've posted. Interesting stuff!

Ally: That little blue bird.

Now, please tell me. Do you see any similarities between these two? Maybe the fluffy hair on top of the head? Anything else? Please, some one enlighten me.


Okay, the reason you are looking at these two is because, well, that little blue bird all of representing Twitter... yeah he is named after Larry Bird. A hall of fame basketball player.

There you go followers. A random piece of information about Twitter that I can almost guarantee you didn't know. You're welcome.

Ally: What came first-- Twitter or Facebook?

To answer Kastle's question on what came first.... the chicken or the egg scratch that.... Twitter or Facebook... :)

The answer......

Facebook. Launched in 2004.

The beginning of twitter was....
created in March of 2006. But wasn't launched until July 2006. It took about a year for this social networking site to hit it's tipping point. Here is a great graph of the content of tweets. Pretty great representation if you ask me! What is it about that damn pointless babble that we love so much?

Alison: Skype- What is it?

Skype is an online application that is free to download on any computer.  If you don’t have it, then you’re missing out! The most popular feature that Skype offers is free calls to any other Skype user. Not only do you have the privilege to make calls to your friends and/or family for no cost at all, but you get to actually see the person you’re speaking with via webcam. So, in order to hear, speak, see, and be seen, you and the recipient will need the following tools: Microphone and a webcam.  However, even if you don’t personally have a webcam or a microphone, you can still Skype with others that have these tools, but know that you will not be seen or heard without these two specific requirements. If you are one of these people that lack a webcam or microphone, you can still utilize the benefits of Skype by using the chat feature, which is ultimately instant messaging. 

Stay tuned to learn more about the benefits and awesomeness that Skype has to offer.

Pinterest Newbie? Here's some info for you!

So my name is Ana and as my other compadres (buddies) have said that we are doing this project on different sites/media that have been huge and for many people it's a huge part of their lives. People as myself, spend hours on the Internet entertaining themselves. Depending on their likes and interests they tend to spend it on certain websites. So my part in this project is to tell you guys about this site called Pinterest. In my own opinion, it's such an addicting site! Some people don't know of this site because like I said before it depends on the interest of the person they will know of certain sites. For instance, tumblr, I have little knowledge on this site but from what i have heard from my compadres is that its similar to pinterest. So because the rest of my compadres have found YouTube videos on the sites they are working on, I have also found a pretty funny YouTube video about pinterest :)

Pinterest Parody Video

The guy who did this video, did a pretty good job explaining what Pinterest is all about. So if you are new to Pinterest, go ahead and watch the video to get a quick overview on what it is. But just in case you don't want to watch the video, I will give a quick overview.

Pinterest is a site where you can share photos/ideas in a pin board style. When you go to the site and you want to have your own boards you can either login with your facebook account or make your login with an email address. So the point of having being on Pinterest is to basically post "things" that interest you and show it to the world and just maybe someone else has the same interests as you do or vise-versa and you guys can follow each other. Also when you pin something on your boards you can share that picture/idea/thing on twitter and facebook if you would like to show your other circle of friends that don't have a Pinterest account. If you guys want to get an even better idea what and how Pinterest works you can check out my Pinterest boards and see what I'm into.  

http://pinterest.com/banana2131/

Kastle:
Facebook has more than 900 million users as of April 2012. Crazy huh? I've decided i'm going to spend these next two weeks focusing on the negative aspects of Facebook, and the last 2 weeks about positive things about Facebook and how it's a wonderful example of an alternate universe. But first we're going negative here. Dark. Scary. EVIL! hahahaha! We are talking about....FACEBOOK ADDICTION! Now, don't freak out. It's totally normal to be addicted to Facebook and here are some ways you can know if you are according to thurs on Hub pages:

Symptoms of Facebook Addiction
Some symptoms of Facebook addiction are given below to help users in realizing whether they are really addicted to Facebook.

• Users and their siblings communicate through Facebook wall and messages, even if they stay in same house.
• Users check Facebook for updates and comments after every hour at their workstation or on their cell phone.
• Users wake up in the morning, and log onto their Facebook account first.
• Users’ Facebook wall is full of status updates, comments, and applications that they just used.
• Users give priority to Facebook over their commitments in professional and personal life.
• Users spend over an hour on Facebook at a stretch or in short episodes over regular intervals.
• Users can not stop thinking about Facebook updates and comments when they are offline.
• Users look forward to get home in the evening so that they can see what is happening in cyberspace. (on Facebook to be precise)
• Users can not go for a day without using Facebook, and even this thought makes them go into sort of depression.
• Users’ day ends with checking Facebook for that one last time bidding people 'good night' through their Facebook status update.

If users are facing any of these activities, then they are suffering from Facebook addiction disorder. Facebook addiction disorder contains the tendency to affect some serious problem of their mental health and social life. Therefore they need to throw away this habit as soon as possible.


It's amazing how just one site can affect your entire life. Your life literally becomes all about Facebook, facebook stalking, facebook games, facebook chatting, etc. How does this alternate reality affect YOUR life? 

Ally

After I posted a random video about twitter, I figured I should probably explain my part in all of this. Considering there is a good chance that random people stumbled across this site and have nothing to do so they are wondering what the hell is going on with this blog.

My name is Allyson usually go by Ally and in internet land I prefer allyjomac. Here we are 5 college students doing a final project about the wonderful realm of social networking. Each tackling a specific site, I decided on twitter. Why? Because, I have a twitter account. Duh. But more realistically I decided on this one because I am so interested in why it is so successful. Why did a simple site, where you tell potential stalkers where you are, what your doing, post pictures of everything going on around you, take of like a wildfire? I am going to dive in, as they say, and try my best to figure this out. To answer my own questions as well as others. So, if you have a question about this specific world, ask me, and I will get my sources to answer it for you (basically I will do the research that you, obviously, don't have the time to do on your own, and then get credit for it in a class. Awesome.)

 So, let's do this. Time to browse the internet with a purpose instead of aimlessly poking around on Facebook.... and Twitter..... and Tumblr..... and Pinterest..... and Skype.... damn, what did we do before all these sites?

Ally

Well since there was a Facebook I figured I would have to search for a Twitter song. Ladies and Gents, I was successful. This young man sings a wonderfully deep song about the beginning of the internet and how all you had to do was simply check your email once or twice a week. As we all know, that is not the case any more. We have to post about every single things happening to us. We have to be constantly connected, and twitter provides an outlet of our happenings. So my dear followers who may be reading this, enjoy yet another video of how we have been affected.

Kastle Huffaker:

This is called the Facebook Song. Not only do i think this song is really funny, but it brings up a good point! This brings up a negative impact of Facebook and how consumed so many different people get by Facebook. Adding and removing friends, commenting and poking people, and noticing how annoying other people's statuses can get and how a lot of it is irrelevant information that a lot of us don't really care or need to know about. We may not think about all the silly things we do or say on Facebook, but it just shows how wrapped up people can get (myself included) in this virtual world of stalking people's profiles, and "chatting" (which isn't even actually chatting) with five people at once for hours at a time. Why does this online world get so attaching? When did people even start caring what you said on Facebook? 

Posted by: Kastle Huffaker

 Facebook open graph API is now available. This means that Facebook and other websites can use our social information to customize each visitor's experience. If we "like" the movie Fired Up on IMDB it will show up automatically on Facebook for your friends to see and for other partnering websites to use our data to customize what we see based on our "likes" and preferences. Everything is becoming personalized for us. By using one site aka Facebook, people become the center of the web, and it intertwines us more into this apparatus. Is this a bad or good thing? Is it unsafe for Facebook and partnering websites to know so much?

Kastle: You would only get it if you watch Harry Potter and you know what poking means on Facebook. How many quirky phrases have we picked up from Facebook alone?

Megan:

As it is, posts from other sites can't be embedded or anything, so if I need to share anything on tumblr with you guys, I'll just link to it by logging in and making a new post here.

The tumblr is up! Right here. If you want to check out what tumblr is all about, feel free to log in and look around. The email is augmentedreality335@gmail.com and the password is augmentedreality335. I thought I'd get really fancy and original.