Military Brat Probz no more

As a so-called military brat, my life has always been a series of moving place to place, meeting new people and forming new connections while leaving some behind. During my upbringing, I learned to adapt to unique lifestyles and immerse myself in new cultures from living in places all over the United States and Europe. […]

Is There Such Thing As Too Much Togetherness?

There is no question that social media brings us, as a society, closer together. It allows people to stay in touch with and connect to one another; new and old friends, family, classmates, colleagues, people with whom we share interests and passions. It allows us to communicate on a variety of social media platforms; so […]

Social Media for a Cause

People are quick to judge and claim that younger generations, such as my own, are extremely disconnected and struggle with human interaction due to technology. Speaking from my own experience, it is safe for me to say that social media has kept me more informed about not only what is going on with my friends […]

Communication Transformation

Communication is a prehistoric fascination that has spawned some of our species’ most significant inventions over the course of the last millennia. From the dawn of language and pictorials to the printing press, the telegraph and the telephone, each passing generation of humanity has found itself more interconnected than the previous one. Social media will inevitably […]

Social media for better or for worse

Social media is, in part, a medium that enables people to connect with others. The word “connect” does not necessarily have a positive connotation. Rather, it means that people who did not previously have access to talk with each other have the ability to do so through social media. The nature of that conversation, whether […]

Bridging the Distance

Social media: the thing our parents always told us to get off of at the dinner table. But today social media plays a bigger, more important role in our daily lives. It is bringing the distance and bringing the world together with the goal of making a difference.

Mark Zuckerberg briefly touched on this at the Facebook Community Summit. He says that in the next generation our greatest opportunities and challenges we can only take on together. Social media gives users the opportunity to support each other and give assurance that nobody is alone.

Support is more evident than ever on social media since the virtual Hurricane Harvey relief movement. From rescue requests to real-time up updates of where people can find food and shelter, social media saved lives in Texas during the devastating August 2017 storm.

This woman tweeted a plea for help when her family was in danger during the storm. The coast guard responded and added her to the rescue list.

Please Send Help To 9822 ,Shadow Villa Ln Houston TX 77044 2 Kids 4 Adults 7139279748 special need child feeding tube Pls send help

— anna spears (@peacepirate1) August 29, 2017

The USCG of Heartland tweeted what to do during the storm to stay safe:

Don't go into your attic. Rescuers from air can't see you. Get to high ground, mark your roof. #USCG #Harvey #houston #harveyhurricane

— USCG Heartland (@USCGHeartland) August 28, 2017

Though these examples show the positive side of social media, the storm also presented the negative effects. The spread of misinformation and doctored images is always a problem during crisis times, such as one that resurfaced during Harvey showing a shark swimming on a flooded highway.

If social media keeps coming together during these crisis times, all users have the power to be a leader. And if enough of us work together to bring each other together, the world can be changed.

One World Through One Screen

I can still remember getting my first phone when I was in 7th grade. It was a hideous bright red with a slide up keyboard, but I didn’t care, I could finally talk to my friends whenever I wanted. There was a sense of freedom I immediately felt, but what I didn’t realize was how […]

One Love

I was lucky enough (some may have other opinions) to grow up in a constantly connected generation. From the time I got my first phone, a Juke embarrassingly enough, social media has played a huge role in my life, specifically because now as a public relations major in college, I need it. However, I didn’t realize […]

The Beauty of Social Media Is in the Eye of the Beholder

It is easy to think of social media as something that is bringing the world closer together. It is definitely the intended purpose of social media (especially as it is stated in Facebook’s most recent mission statement) and I know several friendships and relationships that would not exist if not for social media. Today’s social […]

Are we using social media to get closer, or further away from each other?

Social media are bringing people closer together, and allowing us to have better connections than ever before. During the advent of social media, I thought it was something to stay away from since I saw my best friends every day, and this newfangled way of communicating would just unnecessarily complicate our relationships. However, I have […]

Newhouse

SOCIAL MEDIA

Month: September 2017