Social media has definitely become a big part of my life. The last thing I look at is my phone before I got to sleep and is the first thing I wake up to. Social media has helped me be able to stay in touch with people in my life all over the world, of which before I would have never stayed in touch with. Being originally from Canada makes it hard to stay in touch with all of my family up there. On social media I am able to talk to my aunts, uncles, and cousins at the touch of a button.
My first social media account was originally Facebook. I was in grade 9 of high school when I was first introduced to Facebook. Having had Facebook for many years I decided two years ago to deactivate my account. The whole perspective of seeing people happy all the time gave me a wrong perception of what their life was really like. I found that looking through people’s pages only created a comparison of their life to mine. Therefore I realized it was better for me to just live my life without having to compare on Facebook. Of course this is only a personal preference, however I do believe that Facebook is a really great source to get the news and to stay in touch with friends as well as to create an opening for possible connections for jobs etc.
The two accounts of which I use on a daily bases are instagram and Snapchat. I get a lot of news on instagram and it has recently come to my attention that I am now using Instagram more for news sources rather than people I know. I check instagram constantly. I think a lot of it comes from habit, of touching my phone and picking it up. I feel as if I check instagram without really knowing what I am doing. Snapchat has just recently grabbed my attention in the last 6 months and would have to be my favorite social media account right now. I must say at first I was unentertained and did not grasp the point of Snapchat. I love how fun and spontaneous it is! Its randomness and unplanned moments captures the beauty of it for me. However I do fallow a couple of restaurants and bars on Snapchat. They are very informative and quick to the point, exposing deals and activities of the day.
I also have a linked in account of which I rarely use but was advised by a professor to participate in it for connections of future jobs. Although I rarely check this account I am pleased to be a part of the account because I know that just having it is getting my name out there and it will be tremendously useful in my future. I believe that social media has drastically changed not only our world but also the evolution of humans. It is able to expose us in ways that were never even an opportunity before. You can constantly know what is going on in the world. With social media there is no excuse to not know what is going on in your local city or the country thousands of miles away. I do believe that one must be careful when using social media because there are pros and cons of the sites, just like everything else. Studying advertising as my major, I am thankful for all the social media outlets. Not only does it create a complete new outlet to see products, it is also the fastest way to get news out to the world as fast as possible.
SCAD ADVE ATL 
Facebook was my first social media account too! It can for sure create an urge in all of us to start comparing other people’s life to our own if you let it. I never really had a problem with that, but I totally see where you’re coming from. On the other hand, Snapchat is pretty awesome right? I don’t use it but a few times a week, but I have always found it inventive, fun, and an interesting way of communication amongst friends. I had no clue restaurants and bars actually use it on a daily basis for deals, that’s super smart to get foot traffic in the door! I wouldn’t doubt that we’re all thankful for social media in some way, but we must remember to use it with caution.
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I agree that social media has helped me stay in touch with many people that would be difficult to stay in touch with. I moved down to Atlanta from Ohio about 4 years ago, and it is nice to be able to keep in touch quickly instead of calling them. Social media has also been able to keep me updated not only in the world but the lives of loved ones. I’m able to see what they’re up to day to day.
My first social media was xanga. Most people haven’t even heard of that but it was a social media to blog on. I was so young all I really did was like post song lyrics or a status similar to what you see on Facebook.
Do you mean Linkedin? I have as well, and I have gotten some cool job opportunities from that social media, and jobs that aren’t even advertising. I got to model for a couple agencies and also am able to help out friends find jobs as well. It is a pretty awesome social media concept.
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I totally didn’t know that you could follow restaurants on snapchat! That’s kinda cool. I recently got it. I’m still trying to figure it out. But I agree with you about facebook comparisons. I find myself looking at others pages constantly. I think at first it was a bad thing but now it’s motivation for me to do more and get better. Hm. plus I never thought of using instagram as a news source… may have to. Good post.
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