Personal and Social Media

Chapter 14: Social Media: How we use it and how it uses us

Then:
Social media has evolved tremendously in the past 46 years since the first social media service was introduced in 1969. Long before Twitter, Instagram and Facebook there was a social media network called CompuServe. This network was established in 1969 CompuServe was used as a mass media tool for distributing information and media content. 10 years later it became the first media service to have email and technical support.  Between 1980 and 1989 CompuServe grew to be the leading Internet Service Provider spanning from North America to Japan and Europe. In 1980 CompuServe created the first online public chat program. It wasn't up until about 1997 when AOL took over instant messaging.

*Most network services like CompuServe were used for technical support for big name companies like Adobe and Microsoft. And CB was used for simple chat.

Then following AOL, in 1999, were services like Open Diary (recently shut down in February 2014), Live Journal and Blogger.com. These programs would be the dawn of a new age in social media.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfUyR1wlcus

Now:

With blogging and sharing ideas over the World Wide Web a new social networking service was introduced, Myspace. In 2003 Myspace was introduced bringing millions together. But mostly driven by the younger demographic and pop culture most people used it for music and chatting.

**I remember when I started using Myspace. It seemed like the coolest part about it was customizing the layout of the page, but very quickly became monotonous.

In 2004 Mark Zuckerberg, launches Facebook. Now people are able to private message, or share personal information with the world.

**You had to do it Mark, you had to let 16 year old girls post statuses telling us how sexy their boyfriends are. WHY?! At least Twitter only allows 140 character messages.

*Although sharing information can be useful to keep others updated on news and events it seems to be overly used for personal and private information. Today many people are posting anything and everything to get recognition (or "likes") from people they probably don't even know.

In 2006 Twitter launches. This service is similar in part to Facebook, but is more like a blog allowing users to share 140 character messages. Following in 2010 Instagram is introduced.

**I wonder if anyone will ever post something other than their cat or food on Instagram. Or if I will ever read anything useful on Twitter.


*These social media networks allow connectivity between people, but perhaps in the wrong way.
It's okay to share information, but what about TMI. Some people don't know where to draw the line and share much more personal information than they should or that people want to know about. Once something is sent out over the internet it can't be deleted, people see it, it goes viral and there comes a price.

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross "I believe that we are solely responsible for our choices, and we have to accept the consequences of every deed, word and thought throughout our lifetime."

 Later:
**I don't think the trend of social media is going to slow down anytime soon.

Statistics show that there were 829 million users on Facebook on a daily basis in the second quarter of the year which is a 27 million increase just from the first quarter of the year and 267 million more users than in 2012. There are over 645 million active users on Twitter and over 58 million tweets a

day. The numbers are continuously climbing and with more and more people joining social media it is becoming more of a requisite in today's generation.
The information people share is going to be more important. Employers are already looking at candidates online information and presence. Companies use social media to make better decisions when hiring new employees and to protect themselves from future problems.
Nancy Flynn, who is the founder of ePolicy Institute argues her case that employers should be monitoring social media. She argues that is is all to easy to hire in employees with immature behavior and bad social skills which can lead to company conflicts or even lawsuits in the future.

* So with these millions of people online, daily pumping out tweets, status updates and messagages to the world they don't realize how effective it really is to their social life and reputation as an employee.

** It's a good thing I keep the cursing to a minimal online.

**Should employers be allowed to dig into employees personal information? Or is it private and unnecessary? - And if it's private why is it posted online for the world to see.....

*Theme Concept
**Personal Thoughts