Social media has made such a dent in society that even the English language has been affected by the Internet craze.
When someone has a falling out with a friend on Facebook (or if they are a stalker) then you can "unfriend" them. This phrase has become so well-known that it was named one of Oxford English Dictionary's words of the year in 2009.
Another word found on this list is "hashtag", used when one wants to put a Tweet in a category of other tweets. That way you can search the "hashtag" to find other entries of that topic.
A word that I learned by looking at this list is "tweetup", a combination of "meetup" and "Twitter." As you could probably guess, this is used when a group of people meet together based on plans created by Twitter. Social media is based on things like this, getting people together, so this doesn't surprise me.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
What is Social Media?
Kids today spend tons of time online. Some use it to play games. Some use it to research stuff for school (or at least, that's what they tell their parents that they are doing). Some use it to find out how their favorite sports teams are doing.
But one of the most important features of the world wide web is the ability to connect with other computers. And who is better to connect with than all of your buddies? That's what sites like Facebook and Twitter are capitalizing on; while some sites are solitary and allow people to hide from the real world, social media sites let people spend time with their friends... online.
Let's say I want to make plans with my friends. If I log on to Facebook, I can do this in a number of ways. If I want the plans to be private, I can send them a private message. If I want the plans to be something other friends can see, I can make a wall post. If I see one of my buddies online, I can instant message them. If it's something like a party and I want to get a lot of people to come to it and know about it, I can make an event page.
The possibilities are endless. Personally, I use Facebook for the reasons above. It's great for keeping in touch with friends that have maybe moved away or I met at camp and live in other states. I use Twitter for my website (which the school blocked, but you can find it here: http://abscure.net ).
My opinion on social networking is that it's a way for EVERYONE to get involved with the internet. If the internet could only offer things like games and Wikipedia, it would be missing out on a large audience of... people with lives!
But one of the most important features of the world wide web is the ability to connect with other computers. And who is better to connect with than all of your buddies? That's what sites like Facebook and Twitter are capitalizing on; while some sites are solitary and allow people to hide from the real world, social media sites let people spend time with their friends... online.
Let's say I want to make plans with my friends. If I log on to Facebook, I can do this in a number of ways. If I want the plans to be private, I can send them a private message. If I want the plans to be something other friends can see, I can make a wall post. If I see one of my buddies online, I can instant message them. If it's something like a party and I want to get a lot of people to come to it and know about it, I can make an event page.
The possibilities are endless. Personally, I use Facebook for the reasons above. It's great for keeping in touch with friends that have maybe moved away or I met at camp and live in other states. I use Twitter for my website (which the school blocked, but you can find it here: http://abscure.net ).
My opinion on social networking is that it's a way for EVERYONE to get involved with the internet. If the internet could only offer things like games and Wikipedia, it would be missing out on a large audience of... people with lives!
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