WEEK 13

THE ONLINE FOOTPRINT - WHAT'S NEXT? MY SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER?

Wow. The articles that I read regarding Internet privacy were extremely eye-opening.

I feel like I have a decent sized online footprint. I have Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube that I actively engage with every single day. However I do not have a personal website. That is actually something that I need to put on my to-do list.

On Instagram and Facebook, I share the highlights of my life. I might take a picture with a friend, a picture of my cappuccino or simply just an update about my life. I do often post on social media.

A visitor could find out my location, where I live, my job, where I attend school, the clubs/organizations that I am a part of.

I have given out my number and e-mail address to every single social media site that I use. Simply because it is one of the "steps" when making your account. The sites claim that it is a "safer" route and allows for there to be some kind of back-up to information. Reflecting on it now, it is kind of stupid.

I think social media can be amazing. I also think social media can be very toxic. In order to healthily use social media, you need to only follow or connect with accounts that you actually like. You want to enjoy the content that you are seeing. If seeing someone's posts or pictures makes you upset, jealous, or unhappy you need to immediately unfollow/unfriend them. This is where the user makes the decision to use social media in a positive or negative way.

I think social media can make people depressed and isolated. People think that everyone's social media is an accurate reflection of their life. Spoiler alert: it's not. It is only the "highlights" of everyone's life. So you might think that Sally has an incredible, fun life but actually she is very unhappy.

It was one of my New Year's resolutions to make my Instagram less about ME and more about MY LIFE. So I post pictures of what I am doing, the people I am with, the things I am experiencing, etc. Simply not a picture of me. I also have unfollowed or unfriended accounts that I do not enjoy seeing.

It has been a cleansing process for me and now I love social media and do not really feel saddened at all.

https://www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/blog/centre-mental-health-blog/anxiety-loneliness-fear-missing-out-social-media

WEEK 12

EVOLUTION OF FACEBOOK

I recently looked up the Diffusion of Innovations on Wikipedia. This idea was developed by Everett Rogers. It states that diffusion is the process where innovation is communicated through people in a system.

When thinking about recent popular social media platforms, I immediately thought about Facebook.

Facebook first started out as a networking site for college students in the mid 2000s. It instantly became popular. It spread because it was one of the first, what we now call "social media" platforms to be discovered. It was somewhat of a brand new ideal. It was very exciting to be able to see what your friends were doing and that they could share it on a large platform, instead of just a small text. Better yet, you could react to it!

The downside for Facebook was time. This led to some consequences with its demographic. Originally, it instantly gained popularity and all of a sudden, it was not just with the college kids. Older adults began to use Facebook, which turned away the younger audience. What kid wants their parents to be all over their social media? Now you cannot have a picture with an alcoholic beverage in your hand and your parents question your intentions and location.

So Facebook became popular, which then allowed other social media platforms to develop, like Instagram. So the younger generation made Facebook popular and so popular, that the result was adults wanting to join too. The result of this was the younger generation moving to Instagram.

Facebook is still extremely popular, but over time their demographic has changed. At the start it served as a networking site for college students. Now Facebook's demographic are adults 40+.

This serves to be very true in my life. I, unlike my peers, am actually very engaged on Facebook. But the majority of the content that I see is from my friend's parents OR my parent's friends. Older adults love Facebook I think because it almost serves a daily high school reunion.

So it is very interesting to see that over time, Facebook's demographic has made an extreme change.

https://digiday.com/media/social-platforms-college-kids-now-prefer/

WEEK 11

INNOVATION AS BACKBONE OF HIGH POINT UNIVERSITY

The value of free expression that speaks to me the most is "Promote Innovation."

This value states that it is, "a community in which free speech is valued and protected is likely
to be a more energized, creative, interesting society as its citizens actively fulfill themselves in
many diverse and interesting ways."

This ideal especially hits home being a student at High Point University. Our school heavily
focuses on innovation. We not only are a life-skills university but are a hands-on school.
I can definitely preach that being a part of the school of communication. I have had many
experiences working with cameras, editing software, reporting on HPUNews, etc. Things a lot
of students will not get to do until their senior year.

With being a hands-on university, this allows the ideal of innovation to come along. When
students can get their hands dirty, that is when the exciting things start to happen. It is when
innovation can be present. 

The value of innovation directly correlates to Cottrell Hall. This building houses our student
success coaches, a Starbucks, an airplane model to remind us to “never miss an opportunity
to network,” and a mock-interview room.

There are also many study spaces that incorporate a creative and collaborative work
environment. One of my favorite places is the Entrepreneurship Center.

The Entrepreneurship Center has white board walls and tables for students to create and
bounce ideas off of one another. Not only does HPU offer entrepreneurship as a major and
minor, but it is also a club organization.

HPU brings in individuals like Marc Randolph and Steve Wozniak, who are founders of Netflix
and Apple, respectively. They will come to campus and connect with students. Students can
share ideas while the highly respected individuals share their expertise.

This, to me, is one of the main selling points of High Point University. I love my school and am
very happy that I chose to come here. So the value of, "promote innovation," speaks volumes
to me because it is a characteristic that HPU practices.

I am very thankful to attend a university that heavily focuses on the image of innovation.
Especially with the incredible advancement of technology, it is a very exciting time to be
a student at High Point University. 

http://www.highpoint.edu/blog/2020/02/netflix-co-founder-marc-randolph-returns-to-mentor-high-point-university-students/