Assigned Blog: Is Twitter the new Facebook?

You can go up to anyone under 30 and ask them if they have some sort of social media and I can bet every single one of them does. But what is social media? I feel like the word, social media, has become something so much more than what it is. 

In this link, there is an official definition of the word "social media." http://jobsearch.about.com/od/networking/g/socialmedia.htm

Whether it's Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pintrest, or Tumbler, I bet those 30 people I talked about above most likely  have more than one of these. And truthfully this applies to people even older than 30. It seems like all of my older relatives are popping up on Facebook now and liking all of my pictures. When looking at all of the types of social media, each and every one are all so different. They all started for different reasons too. Lets take Facebook for example, it started out as a website for college students to get to know each other better. It was a place where people could post statuses and pictures that let people know who they were, it has an information place for people to put their hometown, their favorite movies, and where they work. Twitter on the other hand, started as a small version of Facebook. It was a place to make short little posts to inform people what was happening in quick ways. All in all they were all started as a way of communication, to keep those you don'f usually keep in touch that normally you wouldn't keep in touch with. 

So, now that we  have the background of social media, a popping questions strikes social media users and that question is "Is twitter the new Facebook?" . Here is  a graph that breakdowns the social demographics of those who use twitter and Facebook and how both differ. http://www.digitalsurgeons.com/facebook-vs-twitter-infographic/

This graph really shows what I think on this matter. Personally I think there is too big of a difference between the two to compare them, and in the graph you can see that different people probably use each of the networks for different purposes. Facebook has transformed into a long-term source of information. It's the place to go when you are checking up on high school friends you haven't seen in a while. Facebook generally has information that includes the whole life-span of a person. Whereas twitter is more of a short-term source of information. People generally post what they are doing in that particular second on Twitter. 

        When discussing which network is "better" for media and journalism, I think Twitter is the better fit. More and more reporters and journalists are using twitter as their gateway between themselves and their audience. Twitter is an easy way to get news to people and fast. 

         When dealing with media however, it is hard to maintain integrity. Therefore I don't think there is a media that really helps maintain the integrity of journalism and this is because  social media has transformed into a place where people can be whoever they want to be and say what they want to say, even if it's not true. So personally I think that is one of the main obstacles that reporters and journalists are going to face when using social media for their work. They are must really stress to their readers that their information is honest and accurate.    

Yours,  

Sarah Day

Current Event: Crazies in Our World Today

This picture was taken at the Navy Memorial in Washington on September 17. More pictures from the Navy shooting can be found on CNN's website or the following link: Navy Shooting Pictures  

I am always so interested by serial killers and murders. I think society as a whole can admit to this strange fascination. 

For those of you who aren't keeping up with current events there was a shooting at the D.C. Navy Yard this past week that was marked the deadliest shooting at a U.S navy base since 2009. On Monday morning a former navy man, Aaron Alexis, launched an attack at the Washington Navy Yard. He fired shots all through out the cafeteria of the Navy Base, killing 13 office workers. After the shooting there were many questions on Alexis' motive for the attack. In fact I wonder myself. How could someone just go into a building and shoot a bunch of people? In my opinion no mentally stable person would do such a thing. 

Today, a Fox News article shows evidence that Alexis, the gun man, actually had a history of physiological disturbances. Here is the gist of craziness that was going on in this guys head. A month before the shooting a Rhode Island police sergeant reported Alexis to the naval police after he claimed he could hear three people talking to him through the walls and ceilings of his hotel room. He said that these three people were sending him vibrations through his body. In the police report it shows that an officer was sent to the hotel room where Alexis was staying, and had a conversation with Alexis about what was going on. Alexis said that while traveling someone planned to have  three people follow him and keep him awake by putting there voices in his head. These three people  were using, "some sort of microwave machine," whatever that means. From the looks of the claims Alexis was making he seems pretty messed up to me. And honestly I can't decide if that makes this tragic shooting more comforting or not. But my heart goes out to not only those you died in the shooting, but also all of the families that were affected by this tragedy, including the family of Aaron Alexis. 

Here is the link to the article if you would like to read about all of Alexis' past in further detail:    Fox News Article

Sincerely Yours,

Sarah Day

Current Event: Here comes another iPhone

Remember when the first iPhone came out? The whole world thought, what a revolution. I actually remember when I got my first iPhone. It was the 3g. I was in 8th grade and it was the transition between the hot pink razors and the iPhones. Since then, there has been quite an evolution of the iPhone. Almost every other year there's another upgrade and rumors have been flying about the new iPhone 5s.

Zach Epstein writes a BGR article, "iPhone 5S: Here’s everything you should expect from Apple’s new flagship phone" and this article can answer several of the questions generating from the anticipation of the iPhone 5s.  Here is the link to the article on yahoo for those of you who would like to further your understanding: iPhone5s Article

However, for those of you who just want the "gist." I'll try and give you the low-down on what Apple has in store for this next iPhone as it continues to be “the most popular smart phone in the U.S."(Epstein.) What apple is really trying to accomplish with the 5s is to fix all of the mishaps that occurred with the 5. For the most part the 5s will resemble the 5 on the outside but will offered in a variety of colors. Unfortunately, they will not be offered in rainbow colors but in a champagne and a grey. Here’s a high-quality video of the new champagne gold iPhone housing, and here’s one of the new gray and black model. The biggest changes that will differ the 5s from the 5 are the upgrades that are in the inside, including: the touch screen to work faster, double the amount of memory storage, and will be set up with Apple's newest software update, iOS7. So when can we all officially get our hands on this piece of technology that has been buzzing since March? the current release date is September 20th, only a few weeks away!  So put the date in your calendar and keep your eye on the new iPhone 5s. 

Always amazed with the advances in technology, 

Sarah Day

           
               

Welcome!

Hello World! My name is Sarah Day; I am a freshmen public relations student at the University of Southern Mississippi. I am a Dixie Darling and hope to belong to a sorority once recruitment is done. I'm originally from Baton Rouge Louisiana, so you could say I’m quite a southerner. I am a not-so-new blogger due to the fact that I follow fashion blogs, but that's about as far as I have ventured into the blogging world. I have never actually had my own blog. But, here are the blogs I currently follow: Both of which are great if you love monograms and bows!  

College Prep- http://www.thecollegeprepster.com/ and

The Pink and Green Prep- http://thepinkandgreenprep.blogspot.com .

 Before a friend told me about these awesome blogs I had this preconceived notion that bloggers were old cat ladies with coffee mugs and wool sweaters. I was obviously wrong!  Soon I realized that was kind of a naive assumption. Blogging has almost become a new trend among my generation, in my high school fashion blogs became very popular! I love the blogs I follow now. I am so excited to be writing my own blog but followers bear with me as we take on this new assignment that I hope will turn into a real hobby!

Yours,

Sarah Day