Cellphones

The use of cellphones has changed over the years. Ten years back, the phone was used simply to call people that were not in close proximity of you. Now a days, phones are used as a GPS, as a search engine, and even for entertainment purposes such as games and music.
Pre-smart phone ages, cellphone's were a useful tool for people. It was deemed a resourceful way to communicate people virtually wherever you were. They made landlines and payphones obsolete. No a days, most people do not even have a landline and  payphone's are rarely used.
The creation of cellphones has also changed the way people behave. For instance, before people had the ability to pull up GPS on their phone, people would have had to go to the gas station or a public place and ask for directions. No a days, people find those kinds of things socially awkward and depend on their phone to help them find direction.
There is an unwritten phone etiquette that people abide by in our generation. For example, if someone is talking on their phone you generally do not interrupt them. But people have also become attached to their phone to the point where the outside world is obsolete to them. Often times you will see large gatherings of people that instead of having face to face conversation, have their heads buried into their phones.
Our generation has become accustomed to this boarder lined rude behavior and accept it. With the creation of smartphones, more and more stuff that we take for granted becomes obsolete.  

"The Medium is the Message"

Having a smart phone as the medium for a message has a different meaning five years ago from now. Phones are not only used to communicate with people through phone calls but now can be used to instantly share messages, play games, read the paper, and check into places you currently are. Phones have given people an outlet for coming up with more excuses to get out of everyday things such as reading the paper because it is too much of an effort to buy a paper from our local Walgreens instead of simply downloading an news App onto our smart phones.
What you can do on your phones has transitioned to being able to use other devices for the same application such as using a tablet or a Kindle. We have come up with a plethora of technological devises that can perform the same function.
The message is that we are becoming a society that is dependent on technology. We supply our children with cellphones at a young age and most teenagers cannot imagine a life pre-technology. We are ridding ourselves of items such as a map and instead we use the GPS on our phones. These mediums are becoming unappreciated.
I am not projecting a anti-technology view but more or less I am expressing that technology has changed dramatically in a short amount of time and is only going to progress providing users with more options in the future.

Ranting about books

I think a lot of book lovers will enjoy this video because there is so much to relate to!:)

Twitter

With the ability to compose a tweet of 140 characters, a person can really make an impact on the internet. You can use those characters to express how your day is going or what food you ate, or like many people you can use it to pose your own views on social problems. People use Twitter to express their personal biases. By doing this, they are creating a turbulence in the internet because when a person starts a fight it creates a ripple effect that spreads into other people’s news feed thus everyone can jump on the bandwagon and form their own opinion.

Hash tags are then made and retweeted thus bringing more attention to that tweet. The popularity of that tweet may last for a short amount of time but it would create a buzz and spread outside their friend group. Twitter is designed to spread communication all over the world. When one person creates a tweet they are expressing their thought for everyone to see. When this privilege is taken advantage of then things get spun out of control; however, if used correctly, Twitter is an entertaining outlet for one to express their thoughts. 

Pinterest

As an English for New Media major, I am always on the lookout for new ways to advertise. After I graduate I want to use social media in the world of advertisement. One of my favorite social portals I have come across has been Pinterest. Pinterest is a useful tool of advertising because of its user friendly set up. People browse through pictures which makes it easy to use the website. Once you become a user, you have your own personalized boards in which you can pin pictures to.

With this easy to use navigation users are prone to this site. I think Pinterest has become a great source of advertisement because people will dedicate boards to their favorite shows, fashions, and books. Once a pinner has pinned something, the general public catches wind of it then it becomes popular. People have started utilizing Pinterest to advertise for their own business. People can create pins of anything and pin I to their page, thus causing a buzz about their business. Pinterest is an app you can download for free on your phone and can be accesses through computer or tablet.

Because of its popularity, Pinterest has become a resourceful tool for advertisement. 

Inspiration for Tumblr

Tumblr has become a huge social portal within the last year. I have been trying to convince myself to stay away from Tumblr because I thought I would feed into the addiction that many people have of spending hours upon hours browsing through countless pictures and stories.
I was on Pinterest and I stumbled upon a Tumblr blog that caught my eye. It was an inspiration blog on a girls lifestyle change. I myself am going through a personal healthy eating lifestyle change so I gave her blog a chance and was pleasantly suprised with what I found.
Taralynn McNitt is the creator of the Tumblr Blog, "Undressed Skeleton." Her story itself is inspiring but what caught my attention was how her blog was laid out. It was very user friendly. I like that because I am not great at managing Tumblr. Also I liked that she had ways in which to visit her other forms of social media.
What I learned from going through her blog is how I could better manage my own and how I can use social media as a tool of information and advertisement. After going through her blog, I think I am going to step out of my comfort zone and give Tumblr a try.  

Arianna Huffington

Arianna Huffington is the creator of the Huffington Post which is a compilation of up to date news stories. She has written fourteen books and has been granted with many awards. I think her most significant award is the Forbes most powerful women's list in 2013. Among the Forbes award was her award Times magazine’s list of 100 most influential people and in 2012, the site the Huffington post won a Pulitzer Prize for national reporting.

According to addictedtosuccess.com she was awarded the first place for The Top 10 Famous Multi-Million Dollar Bloggers. http://addicted2success.com/news/the-top-10-famous-multi-million-dollar-bloggers/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/ 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com 

House of Night

When I fall in love with a book series, I love to know everything about it. I explore their websites to find out upcoming events and to learn more about the author and book series. When websites are interactive, they provide more entertainment. The book series, House of Night, has a very interactive website. On the website, you can take a tour of the campus, explore the novels, create your own vampire tattoo, and search through the yearbooks to learn more about the characters. With so much to explore, I learned more about the series. I would love to be a part of an organization that works with authors to manage their marketing department. I have skills working with blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest which would aid in advertising their series. Incorporating new media with books encourages reading. Teens spend a good amount of their time online and with online advertisement, they would be subjected to great literature which would spin off into reading more. My goal in working with new media is to encourage reading for young adults.House of Night