Technology Thoughts

A Tale of Two Tragedies: With and Without Social Media

Waking up on 9/11 was just like any other day for an elementary school student living in New York City. My mom woke me up, made me breakfast, got me dressed and I was out to door walking to school with my father. It wasn’t until I was sitting in my first-ever computer class that my teacher burst through the door, screamed that a plane hit the World Trade Center, and then started to sob. Not knowing what to say or do, we sat at our desks quietly as we listened to people screaming outside. As we saw smoke creep up the sidewalks and up to our windows, we panicked. Teachers who had access to a radio were talking about the rumors that were quickly spreading about other possible attacks. We heard about the possibility of bombs being placed in schools and I prayed for my mother and brother who were in academic buildings. My dad soon burst into my classroom and grabbed my hand, telling me we had to leave. We then sat around his office with his employees listening to the radio, watching people scurry around outside, and trying to put the pieces together.

But the radio was all we had. I didn’t have a cell phone to call my parents, nor did they have cell phones to contact my school.  Twitter and Facebook had yet to be created, and there was certainly no TV nearby to listen to the news. We waited around our landline phones for calls from family members. At night, we watched one news station to try to figure out what was happening.

Waking up on July 20th, 2012 was just like any other day for a college student living in the digital world. I woke up,  browsed through my Instagram feed on my iPhone, and then started to check out the tweets I missed while I was asleep. I anticipated seeing word of how the most recent Batman movie was, expecting to hear about how amazing it was mixed in with a negative review. 

My Twitter feed was quickly filled with talk of movie theaters, children, and the horrific news of what happened the night before. Tweets of sadness, disbelief, and links to articles about the event were all that anyone was talking about. I read articles directly from my phone, retweeted links to spread the word, and continued to read reactions from people I followed. I then decided to run a general search on Twitter for Aurora to see what others were saying.Thinking that this may have been something personal that happened in her life, I dismissed the tweet and made a mental note to check back in with her later. Tweets posted shortly before this one included discussion of guns control laws, how people were in disbelief, and how sorry people were for victims in Aurora, CO. Feverishly scrolling through my Twitter feed, I quickly found the one tweet that summed up the events of the night.

It was only a matter of a few minutes before I knew the whole story. Facebook allowed us to keep track of what people were saying, along withReddit, Twitter’s search, and a Storify. I didn’t event get out of bed and yet, the news was sitting in various forms in the palms of my hands.

I then turned on my compter to watch the news about the horrible incident. (Mind you I do have a TV, but why would I watch it when I had a computer within arms reach?) My other roommate walked in, said that she checked Twitter and heard what happened, and then watched the news with me.

Checking Facebook later while at work, I stumbled across this status update. Developments, as well as continued condolences and reactions were overflowing the Internet.

News stations and Twitter accounts are still curating data and aggregating responses to best show the reaction to the news.Syracuse University is especially grateful to have Class of 2012 Class Marshall Stephen Barton (mentioned above) alive and well.  News will continue to pour in today as more people share their personal accounts of the story and updates on the alleged shooter are further investigated.

And yet, I can access it all from something I can carry in my pocket. I have yet to turn on the tv, sit around a television with my family, or look outside to try and get the news.

Social media has given us the ability to discover information faster than ever, discuss thoughts, send condolences, and share reactions.  Keeping up with the latest news or the ability to share your opinion with the world has never been easier, or more convenient.  What a difference eleven years makes.

Note: I do not think the events of 9/11 are comparable to the events of the shooting early this morning, the stories were compared merely for a comparison of the spread of news. My heart goes out to the victims of this awful tragedy as well as family, friends, and those injured. 

Is Your Social Media Presence An Accurate Portrayal of Who You Are?

It’s no secret that people are willing to say more digitally than in person. People are much more willing to text someone rather than call them, look up something on the internet rather than ask someone for an answer, or comment on something rather than tell a person their thoughts directly. The Information Age has put all aspects of our lives into the world of social media. We no longer need to send pictures out in the mail – we have Facebook for that. Twitter is used to share our ideas and talk to others, and we have Foursquare to tell our friends where we are, who we’re with, and when we’re there.

The Disinhibition Effect

People are much more willing to share things on the internet than in person, which begs the question: Is the person we present ourselves to be on the internet who we really are? Read Write Web published an article on just that. In the article, Rider University professor Jon Suler states, “When people have the opportunity to separate their actions from their real world and identity, they feel less vulnerable about opening up. Whatever they say or do can’t be directly linked to the rest of their lives.”

Such a phenomenon is called the disinhibition effect. People are willing to share information due to the lack of physical contact or emotion that an online environment creates.  In Professor Anthony Rotolo’s social media class, he recently said, “Everyone can have something nasty said about them, especially on social media.” It is much easier to type something than to say it out loud.

Social Media and the Professional 

Some companies are beginning to look the other way when it comes to hiring based on social media presence. People can be professional when it comes to the workplace but may show their more social side when it comes to Facebook. We all have several ways in which we present ourselves, so there is no reason why Facebook or Twitter should reveal who we are while we’re at our 9-5 jobs rather than who we are after work and on the weekends.

Undoubtedly, some people choose to make their Twitter and Facebook accounts an accurate reflection of their life at work. LinkedIn aims for just that; to market yourself based on your professional and academic achievements. However, with several social media sites out there all with a different purpose, how can you really seem like just one type of person on the web? It is difficult to find consistency between the tone and material one uses to present themselves on various social media platforms.

Although it’s possible to “be yourself” on social media, it is very easy to say things that you wouldn’t normally say aloud and portray yourself as someone you’re not. I mean, come on…can you really say that your 17-year-old Facebook self is an accurate portrayal of who you are?

Path - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

What is Path?

Path is a new social media app available for iPhone and Android users (sorry BlackBerry owners). The app allows you to share “moments” with your friends that include location check ins, photos, the music you’re listening to, the people you’re with, and the thoughts you’re thinking. You can watch the demo, advertisement, and download the app here. 

What’s new and great about Path?

The user interface is absolutely stunning. It’s easy to create a new moment, see the activity on your profile, and view someone else’s Path. While Facebook and Twitter are more complex, Path is simple and easy to understand. The app also combines a lot of features from other popular social media sites which gives Path the “all in one” feel.

So, what’s not the like?

The good things about Path are also the not so great things about Path. Since it combines features from Twitter, Last.fm Facebook, Foursquare, and Instagram, it’s essentially another app that does that same thing as other apps you’re probably already using. As I’ve been using Path, I’ve thought to myself “These people can get the same information on Foursquare and see these pictures on Instagram.” The only feature that is unique to Path is its asleep and awake feature. Users can tell the app when they’re going to sleep and wake up, which is then visible to friends following their Path. 

The bottom line

Path is a great app - it’s nice to find everyone’s information in one place rather than checking four different sites for the same information. But it does get repetitive. If you’re active on social media, you will see the same posts from the same people several times. You’ll also notice the poor sleeping habits of your friends. Path may get better once more people get on it. It’s fun at first but the cool factor seems to fade quickly when you realize how repetitive it is.

I hope that Path becomes more interesting in the future but I doubt it’ll be anytime soon due to the booming popularity of apps like Foursquare, Instagram, and Twitter. But we’ll see where it goes. Remember how long it took Twitter to catch on? 

My Digital New Years Resolutions

1. Get off Facebook. And get people to do it with me.
Let’s face it, Facebook is fading fast. Twitter, Tumblr, Foursquare, Path, and Pinterest have all becoming very popular social networking sites (especially towards the end of 2011). The only thing that’s keeping me on Facebook is my friends that are still on. Once they stop posting content that’s relevant to mr, I’ll leave too.

2. Get people to actually use Google +.
I’ll admit that I don’t use Google + often. I don’t because unlike Facebook, not enough people are using it. Google + is cleaner and much more organized than Facebook will every be. Plus, doesn’t the +1 button seem much more appealing than a “like” button?

3. Ditch the BlackBerry.
I am one of the only people that still admits to bbming. I’m sick of not having a touch screen keyboard and going through several unnecessary menus to complete simple tasks. Apps are taking over the mobile word and BlackBerry’s App World couldn’t be more frustrating.

4. Learn to code.
I’ve had very negative experiences coding. I took a class to learn Java but had a terrible professor that made me hate coding. That summer, I had an internship gone wrong and yet again, I had to code. The more internships I apply to and the more I explore technology, the more I realize I really need to know how to code. A friend of mine told me about codeyear.com, a website that sends you weekly interactive coding lessons. Check it out, it can’t hurt.

5. Stop using technology as much.
Yes. Take digital timeouts. Take a walk, go outside, just do something without worrying about texting, Twitter, and checking in on Foursquare. It’ll be there when you get back, I promise.

Social Media Overhaul: How much is too much?

This is something I’ve been wondering with the rise of social media. Twitter has often been referred to as a group text message for all to see, and adolescents spend more time on Facebook than physically conversing with people. It seems as though people type, tweet, and text (the three almighty Ts) more words per day than they actually say. But how much social media is acceptable?

Recently, my friend Jonathan passed away. He was 21 years old and an active Facebook and Twitter user. My first thought was to check Facebook and Twitter rather than call friends to inform them of the news. I wanted to see what people were saying rather than calling loved ones.

Immediately, statuses were written with a message of “RIP Jonathan, you will be missed by all” with several likes and comments. My Twitter newsfeed was also filled with tweets with similar messages. It wasn’t long before people were writing goodbye messages on his wall. Small anecdotes from his life were shared and people created a forum for communication right on Jon’s wall.

I was astonished to see that someone actually went into Jon’s account and started replying to his posts. I found this incredibly disrespectful. How did this person access Jon’s password? Was it morally correct of her to respond to her dead friend’s personal messages? It is still okay to post statuses on his behalf?

Most importantly, how much is too much?

Personally, I find this beyond rude. I’m aware that people are able to access email accounts when someone passes away, but to write back and respond? Isn’t that out of line? I’m frustrated that someone thought they had the authority to respond to people on the behalf of the deceased. Could she have not done that on her own profile? 

Although I do support social media, I do question how much is too much. There’s a difference between communicating and respect. This is one instance in which the line has most certainly been crossed.