Modern social media has been a great resource and tool for keeping connected with all the people in my life. I post updates, pictures and videos of all of my experiences here at Syracuse and people that I know all over the country can consume the content and be informed into what is happening in my life. It keeps people that I do not regularly see in the know and up to date with exactly what I am doing. This keeps my relationships stronger and last longer because not only are they seeing and finding out what I am doing, but I am also learning things about them. As Ethan Zuckerman says, it’s about paying attention to what is shared online.
"Our challenge is not access to information; it is the challenge of paying attention." @EthanZ #NHsmc
— Jared Barton (@JaredTBarton) February 1, 2016
Jenny Skinner says, the different types of social media keeps the consumers informed in different ways.
@MIC395 Face Time keeps us connected, social media keeps us updated and supported, snap chat helps me see moments I otherwise wouldn't..
— Jenny Skinner (@Jskinnz12) January 28, 2016
In 2011, the Pew Research Center had a nice writeup about using social media to stay connected. The statistics showed that two thirds of the people on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. As social media continues to grow, people will continue to be up to date with everything in the lives of people they care about.
I like the examples of tweets that you used in your post, and agree that social media is a major part of my life in a sense of staying connected with people and seeing what family and friends are up to on a daily basis.
I agree that social media keeps us connected. I keep up with almost everyone in my life via social media, but I also need to remind myself to actually speak to people in person/on the phone because they may be having other experiences they might not be publicly posting about. There definitely needs to be a balance!