Twitter is what Twitter does....

Twitter has been around for some time now. It’s a source for those who enjoy writing, connecting, marketing, texting, exploring, you name it. It’s basically everything I just named in one. Twitter is a social media outlet but can be way more than that. Users sign up on Twitter to get out there and learn about things. Most teens use twitter just for instant messaging because of how fast and straight to the point it is. Having a profile gives the users that ability to brand themselves and gain followers based on how interesting they are. That’s really how it works, you sign up and you follow users that you may find interesting and from there you start tweeting. Within those 140 characters, that is when whatever you choose to say gets recognized. Now whether it is worth reading is solely up to the followers to follow you. 

Twitter is a nation wide platform that connects users all over to gather information. In this article Twitter was used as a journalistic tool. The Boston Marathon article revealed the two sides of twitter and how it served as different impact on users. What happened at the marathon took America for a surprise but right after the incident twitter took over. The reactions and comments made were nothing but facts that weren’t facts. Which makes it easier for people to believe that what they are saying is true when in reality it may not be. When the bombing happen a lot of people weren’t even aware of the situation until they logged on to twitter. Being that in this generation social media is the new source for all news, twitter is the first to get users attention. It immediately got the job done by sending out direct news from different new sources and lots of direct experiences from those who were there. 

In the article Egypt five years on: was it ever a “social media revolution” it helped get the story out about the overthrowing of the Egyptian president. No, twitter wasn’t the full reason he was overthrown, but yes, it definitely was an important factor.  The people of Egypt felt the need to use Twitter to broadcast all the protest that was going on. “Their online revolutionary spirit was infectious for those watching from afar.”  The number of tweets sky-rocketed per week as users began to pay homage using the hashtag #jan25. 

This past year as well as this current year, Twitter has done its best to deliver news about what is going on in America. Including: the unfortunate presidential campaign, the disasters happening across the country in Syria, and the controversial United Airlines story.  People on Twitter instantly jump on these stories and immediately tweet about it to get out there to the world. There are levels to twitter when it comes to news. When it firsts happens, all the tweets start off serious and informative then gradually it begins to be less benefical and more of a joke. People eventually start to make memes of pictures that are clearly not meant to be made fun of. When serious things happen it stays as a trending topic for a while then the people move on and wait for the next big story to surface. The cycle never changes and will continue to be the same. Twitter can be compared to an old saying “hearing it through the grapevine”, people get the information from one person and once it gets passed on, it is a complete different story. Information is tweeted about then after it gets retweeted a couple times, it is now a different topic. 

Twitter is a form of blogging or micro blogging. It is very simple to use, you broadcast your interest daily and people choose to follow and retweet. With only using 140 characters, it is easy to get your point across and actually have people understand you. It is a fun way to let the world know about yourself and get to know others without really knowing them. This why most celebrities have Twitter accounts, to connect with their fans and have them feel a little closer to them just by reading their daily tweets. 

Compared to the other social media platforms, Twitter is most used because of how instantaneous it is. It is more than just a simple tweet, it’s a marketing tool for those to promote their brands and see what the people like. It’s for those who love writing, and for those who don’t love writing but are curious about celebrities and others that influence them. It’s the perfect outlet to just connect. 

On my Twitter account I chose to follow @EllenDegeneres , the @NFL, and @CNN. My reason for following is solely because her show is all about giving back to those who are making differences in their communities and the people around them. A lot of people are famous today because of her; she invites YouTube stars on the show and builds them up. That inspires me because in a way, that relates to how I plan on becoming a teacher to inspire and educate youth. I followed the NFL because it has always been intriguing to me on how the actual sport is played because I could never understand it. The account is up to date with frequent news on players, draft picks and what’s to come from multiple teams in the upcoming seasons.  I am not a fan of CNN because I feel most of their information is mostly opinions. They are very informative and keeps me updated with the heavy amounts of news constantly uploaded daily. I do seem to always visit the page frequently on my personal account and find myself retweeting a lot of their posts. In this generation surprisingly, the news is what keeps alert of what is happening around us. Twitter is what keeps us connected to the news socially and is a valuable source that helps us come together as one.

Let Me Just say this experience was...

When creating the video for this project it wasn’t difficult but it was something the group had to really sit and think about. The content of the video was the most important we tried to convey through visuals. Communication was such a broad topic to communicate through video because at first it was difficult to understand how do we show the meaning of this word in a video without using words and making it understandable. In order for the group to fully understand how to show communication in the video, it was important to look up many types of examples of communication. When doing this, we found that we could discuss so many things and therefore understood the directions in which we can now go in. The research helped a lot and as a result was very useful. Working in this group each member worked just as hard to help successfully complete the task at hand. In receiving such a broad topic it made it a bit harder to find the right direction to at first but once the brainstorming, and group efforts came in, everything started to fall in place. 

As a group it was chosen to use happiness as a way of communication, it wasn’t that much of a struggle because after doing the research on different topics coming up with this idea came easy.  In using this topic of happiness, we took in to consideration that we had to be “overly dramatic” with showing happiness. Some of the clips used were examples of the girls being extremely hype and some were real actions being shown. Shooting the video wasn’t a struggle because the videos of each person used were things they did in their everyday lives. Like being with friends, coworkers, family members, and even playing with some pets.  Now editing the video, took a bit of time because this wasn’t something that each of us could say we were familiar with. Using the app IMovie was very much different from using it on your phone. On your phone the app is limited to certain things that it has on the computer. It took nearly a day for the group to get the video almost perfect and making sure the videos flowed well with each other. The editing was the most difficult, finding the right filters and music to go with certain videos was a bit tedious.  It was a trial and error process that was worth a great outcome.  

Using video as a tool of communication instead of writing is probably better to communicate because others can sometime understand the message behind anything by visually seeing it. Just like how some people are visual learners, this might work better. Video is a necessary tool of communication because it gives the viewer the chance of experiencing the topic themselves and interpreting it in their own way. Not saying that this may not be the case for writing but some people just have different preferences. Video is the number one tool for communication. It is more likely to sell a product using a commercial than having one read about it. Watching a commercial on television will draw you into the product more because as a viewer you are now visually seeing why you need to buy the product. Although reading about a specific product might work as well because when reading about it, it now begins to be more descriptive. Your mind starts to wander and imagine different images about the object. But for this particular project using video works well because of the content of the video. The public nature of the video did not affect the nature of the subject matter of the video because mostly all the clips that were chosen to be in the project would honestly go on any of the social media accounts of each of us in the group. The videos chosen to be posted publicly are most likely chosen for a reason and the same goes for the videos picked for this project. Because this was for class the fact that it was being posted publicly never mattered. The goal of this project was to create a video and successfully relate it back to the topics given. If the group didn’t choose happiness, it probably would have been a bit harder to create the video because of how personal other topics regarding communication could be. There were multiple ideas of how to communicate communication, including showing emotions such as: anger, happiness, and sadness. And if any other one of those examples were chosen the outcome for the video would have been much different. Finding the appropriate songs to go with the content of the video would’ve been a challenge and also getting the right footage to show that emotions would’ve been difficult. So therefore yes, in a way the public nature of the video did somewhat have an affect on the subject matter of the video.

As for the self-portrait experience, it was normal to complete because it was just as if it were a regular day. For most people recording yourself daily is very regular. With the new up-to-date social media outlets like Snap chat and Instagram, this is normal for people.  This is basically what a “selfie” is, just pictures and videos of yourself. For anyone this part of the project shouldn’t have been as difficult as the remainder of the project. Creating self-portraits of you should be easy for most and the rawness of it makes it even more natural. It tells a lot about a person and how they really are. Lastly there were no issues with posting the self-portraits individually and together on the IMovie app. Most of the issues as stated before, were just on editing the movie and creating transition. Also and making it look visually interesting to watch. Working with individuals to accomplish a common goal and create a video and such a difficult topic was definitely a great experience. 

Wikihow page analyzed

  

For me completing the wikihow page felt like a big weight was lifted off my shoulders. Having to actually make a how-to page that was going to be published publicly made me anxious because I had to make sure the tips and intsructions would be applicable to others. Also for a person to really take from these instructions and feel like after reading this, they have learned something new. When the idea was first brought up in class about making a wikihow page, I didn’t even know, let alone hear about a wikihow page before. This was my first time ever hearing about this, because most people just go on goggle and research how to do things or even just go on YouTube. YouTube has become the main search engine for learning how to do things because as you learning about the topic, two of your senses are being stimulated. Visually you are seeing how the particular object is being made or produced, and hearing what needs to be done. And of course as you’re watching the video, physically you can now mirror what is being taught. 

In my wikihow page, I demonstrated how to choreograph a basic routine in heels. I chose this particular subject because it was something that I know I can demonstrate properly and also still learn from. As the instruction was being created, I still was learning about the different things it took to even be comfortable in heels. As a female walking in heels comes very easy to most, but for others it is very hard. Standing up straight and keeping your balance while being about 2 inches off the ground is hard. I had to learn to do this being on dance team because we do multiple dances in heels often. Everything I learned from practice I tried incorporating it into the wikihow. But all the information wasn’t just from personal experience and previous knowledge. There were some sites I referred to for more factual information that was very useful in the process. Some blog sites gave multiple tips and ideas that can make the act of being heels way more comfortable. Reviewing those many cited help a lot. Instyle  helped a lot from reading some of their blog posts that gave helpful tips on practicing how to properly walk in heels. Also I looked the different shoes that are actually made just for professional dancing. The heel and the structure of the shoe is very different from a regular high heel shoe. The heel is much wider and the sole of the shoe is softer. Everything about the shoe us soft to make it feel comfortable on the foot.

Throughout the article that can be noticed, were photos used from actual practices held with my dance team. The reason being for photos taken from my practices were because I wanted to show the authenticity of “regular” people trying to this act in heels. The struggles were real getting the perfect picture and also the perfect “off-guard” picture to use. Most of the pictures were all action because it was better to see them actually moving instead of standing still because it doesn’t give off the reality affect of it. 

The communication aspect of the wiki was to show others that things are always broken down the best way possible for people to understand. Through verbal demonstration to digital communication, it all revolves around the same format of communication. On my wiki page, the tone given was to make readers feel as comfortable as possible reading the instructions so that when following through with the steps it wouldn’t be hard. If you read each step, nothing was hard to understand or difficult to complete. Each step is very clear on what should be done in order to go on to the next step Also the pictures are pretty clear and great depictions of every step given.

There were some things I did find difficult to do, and that was editing the photos on Photoshop. Using Photoshop was uneasy task to do because I never had experience with it before. Remembering the steps to take to make the quality and resolution of the picture was hard, but practicing on multiple pictures so that I can get use to completing each step made it easier. 

Overall the wikihow page was to show females how to properly create a basic routine in heels with a quick tutorial on how to walk in heels as well. So there was a little bit of both messages delivered within the page and can easily be learned if effort and time was used effectively. 

The Different Aspects of the World Wide Web

What do we know about the World Wide Web

       The World Wide Web is something that we all use and take advantage at the same time. It has become so relevant and important to our every day lives. There isn’t a second of the day that we don’t use the Web to explore the most tedious information there is to know. In so many ways, it has affected everything we do including how to even raise our children. Anything you could possibly think off can be found on the web and is taught to anyone willing to learn. 

Web 2.0 is the second generation or phase of the evolution of the Web. It is the progression from when it was first started and introduced to the world and is still constantly changing and growing. Web 2.0 is more advanced has more inventions useful for mankind. From what I now know, it is called the participatory web, meaning everything created has more involvement. Sharing and collaborations of user involvement, and it is possible to upload photos and digital videos. 

Web 3.0 is basically the extension of Web 2.0, and is based on easier ways to find and combine information. To me it is its replacement and is the new advancement. Daniel Nations defines Web 3.0 as the next fundamental change in both how websites are created. 

I believe Web 2.0 does live up to the hype after its reinvention from Web 1.0 because it has made an extreme change. Web 1.0 was almost like the prototype of Web 2.0. As mentioned in class it was a very big jump from 1.0 to 2.0, there were no interactions and definitely less functions. In Web 2.0 all the inventions of all the most infamous social media apps and different aspects of the new interactions evolved in more updated computers. 

In the previous paragraph, Web 2.0 has provided so many different new inventions for World Wide Web including the fact that now as a users, you can comment on news stories and leave reviews on multiple blogs and application. I believe Google is a part of Web 2.0 because it has allowed users to participate in all types of activities including exploring everything possible. Also using all the social media apps that are definitely positive advantages of the new Web has made it possible to communicate with others in parts or areas of the world. 

I think Web 3.0 is going to take us into a new dimension and bring forth a lot of dynamics we are probably not ready for. I believe it will be so far advanced but will have positive advantages for the Web. Things will probably be easier to get a hold of and produce.   

 The different versions of The Web

The World Wide Web evolved in so many ways that one can imagine. In time as the world was changing, so was technology. The web is still changing at this very instant and probably be more advanced in the years to come.

The Web has become the biggest outlet for users to promote, contribute, and also communicate to others. Many people have different viewpoints of how the Web has contributed to our society and the outcomes of it. But can all agree on the fact that it is very well needed in this world we live in. When web 1.0 was created the uses for it was very limited. It was entirely made up of web pages and hyperlinks, mostly informative. For example, company websites were only reachable by number and you couldn’t purchase an item by just clicking on it and paying with your card. Basically it was little to none interaction. 

Now as for Web 2.0 it was a very big jump from 1.0 because now a lot of things have changed and updated. The definition for Web 2.0 varies because of the many perceptions that exit for it. It was simply the infancy of web communication and interaction. Users can now have the abilities to participate in social media and be apart of the social networking community. Examples of Web 2.0 applications are Youtube, Wiki, Flickr, Facebook, and so on. With the inventions of the major social media outlets, Web 2.0 became mainstream and continued to flourish. 

Which brings us to Web 3.0, and how it is said to be that we are now using Web 3.0 instead of the second version. It is known to be the “executable” phrase of the World Wide Web using dynamic applications. This web is continuing to meet every need of the people that yearn for the evolution of technology and the web. Web 3.0 is the semantic web, which means future and now can interpret information like humans. This version of the web is so much more advanced and is about the collection of data. 

All three of these different phases of the web were needed for the other to even be invented. There is always a beginning, middle and end. In the beginning the web was just a readable platform for users to look at and for companies to contact. Then came Web 2.0 with participatory version of the web and how interactions are now available for the users to communicate. Like O’Riley said Web 2.0 was an improvement. And later came alone 3.0 with the dynamic applications and interpretations of data. 

The World Wide Web is something that is completely beneficial to our world and will continue to grow as the world continues to evolve. 

Many impacts of social media

Ryan Horne 

COM 336

  

In this generation social media has a significant impact and plays an important role in the modern society we live in. It is the cause for most of the positive and negative affects in the world and most importantly our children. In my opinion social media wasn’t always negative and was really started for positive reasons. When it was first created and established, it was simply made to make communication much easier and also reconnect others from all over.  In the world we live in today, social media is key and very important to have. Social media is the link for us to be able to communicate, for free! It is open for us to contact anyone from anywhere at anytime.  But because of the many negative effects it has had on people, there will be reasons for it to be very intrusive. It has allowed us to hide behind screens and falsely advertise things, create unrealistic relationships, and limit the social interaction of others face-to-face.  Then you have the topic of how it is taking over our lives and controlling the lives of children. In this day and age, it is rare you will see a person without a cell phone tweeting out in public. I can agree that it’s very time consuming and takes away actual time being spent when with others. Our lives are very much revolved around social media and cell phones. Without it, I can honestly say the world will be MUCH different. 

I personally believe there is a responsibility to using social media because, no one is forced to use it, and every one has a choice to live life with or without it. When getting a new cell phone, the first thing anyone does is go to the app store and downloads Twitter, Facebook, and or Instagram.  Immediately, we are already subjected to using those specific apps because of what’s out there surrounding us. If that’s all that you know and accustomed to, it will be automatically instilled in your brain.  Priorities and productivity is shot because of this, when doing things like being at work or sitting in class, we have to constantly check our phones to look at our profiles. No one can give any right or wrong answer on why this is done but it is now just the way of life and what our lives now consist of.  

There are many positive ways social media was used especially in great times of togetherness and unity. When President Barack Obama was elected social media was one of the reasons he had such a great amount of supporters. Celebrities and a lot of influential people went to social media to help get the people out there to vote and come together to make history happen. The president himself joined social media when making a twitter account and expressing himself about the many things that were going on in our country. With him doing that it bought about such a great unity that we needed at the time and it made others want to make a twitter account just to add the President of the United States as a friend. 

In the future, I see social media becoming more of an important factor in our lives. We can’t stop the growth of something that’s constantly growing by the day but what we can do is help make the outcomes of social media better for our world. Help promote unity, equality, and great tips on becoming a healthier person. If we can keep our lives centered and balanced, then we should all be fine with or without it. 

this is a link