Social Media 15 Blog - Sophie Nieto-Munoz

[sen39]

week 12

social media is really the main source of information for most people. how did i know zayn left 1D? Facebook. or how am i keeping in touch with the boston bombing trial? through CNN’s twitter updates. it has become known that people can easily talk and express their ideas through social media, and really not get judged badly, or at all. if someone answers, it could be in agreement or criticism, but many people see it as better because they don’t have to face the pain of someone telling them in person, i believe. social movements are huge nowadays. remember when everyone changed their Facebook profile picture for equal rights for humans? or the equality symbol for gay marriage? or when people post only pictures on instagram of them wearing blue for autism awareness day. these all are ways to educate the public of what is going on and educate them through a way they know how. also, since social media never goes away, someone could be “stalking” another person on Facebook (we all do it don't lie) and see the picture of marriage equality from years ago, look it up, and could have their perspective changed after being educated - but maybe they wouldn’t have ever been educated if they weren’t on social media. it’s a part of life now. we are essentially told now that if you don’t use social media, you’re not getting a job, no one will hire you, and you have to be really proficient in how you use it. the unwritten rules are known and must be followed, but at the end of the day, social media is a necessity and has influenced us in ourdaily lives- whether its attending the “Carry your weight” march you got invited to on Facebook or attending a #blacklivesmatter die-in.

[sen39]

week 11

i’m personally a huge proponent of social media. my mother was a beta user for Facebook, and i’ve had pretty much every kind of social media you could think of. I use it for fun, but celebrities tend to use it to feel closer to their fans, such as Lady Gaga. She was the “pioneer” for celebrities that spoke to fans using social media, and then went on to have her own little fan club. she made it personal, not using a PR team and creating a relationship with her fans at the end of the day. i think this is interesting because there are still people who have PR teams run their twitter or instagram and why? it looks as though you are belittling your fans because they're not worthy of a personal response under 140 characters. Lee says that popular celebs are objectified by their fandom and are used for self reflection, which Gaga uses and doesn’t think that highly of herself for being a pioneer, but brings herself to the level of fans. 

[sen39]

week ten

in my house, video games were never allowed. i remember being maybe 11 or 12 and saving up for a nintendo DS before my mom gave me a stern “no,” forcing me back to my room to read a book. in the long term, i thank her, because now i’m a great reader, writer, and it kind of makes sense to me as to why she didn’t let me ever have a video game system. when i was in 8th grade, my mom bought my sister and i a Wii, seeing it was okay because it was a form of activity and had more of a thinking process than sitting in front of an xbox and shooting people or staring at steam waiting for a friend to log on. i was drawn to the article by millington about the wii not being a modern video game, just because this is pretty much the reason i had the game. reading about it’s flaws, such as not being able to detect body fluxes and other type of physical sensitivity to humans, made me realize i still have no idea why my mom bought me this. there’s nothing sophisticated about this - it’s just another $100+ console that distracts you in, how i was raised to believe, an uneducated way. I never found video games appealing, even after playing a bunch and giving them all tries, but to me, they’re honestly all boring and don’t really give me much of a reason to play them. 

[sen39]

week eight

This week we focused a lot on consumption and branding. All around is how we can brand ourselves and make ourselves into the brand. We are shaped by this and don’t even realize this. We’re just used to it because we are born into a brand, always. We are born and already wearing clothing to represent a brand and targeted to be manipulated into wearing it. Personally, I was really persuaded into buying the bag wew ere shown in class. I’ve always wanted a specific bag and couldn’t really find one, and it’s perfect to be able to buy one that can accommodate you (even if it’s so expensive and I would never ever drop that much money on one). 

In the readings this week it brought up a lot of immaterial labor, and how to use social media to act as a platform instead of actual material items. In this day and age, social media such as Twitter and Instagram or personal websites may be better than merchandise when it comes to branding and personal advertisement. I believe in 2012, my personal favorite band, All Time Low (they’re punk rock, proving punk isn’t dead), starting randomly releasing lyrics through their bandcamp and website and took down all their music. By doing this, they didn’t even have to put effort into advertising and marketing but instead everyone found out through social media, including hashtags and online fan clubs. The media interactions are worth more than just plain old branding now a days. 

[sen39]

friendship - week four

so in class today we discussed faux friendships vs real friendships. a big part of the change in friendships, i believe, is the change in the way people interact. in boyd's reading, they talk about the way networked spaces became a way to hang out. It became a place to "negotiate identity, gossip, support one another jockey for status, collaborate, share information, flirt, joke, and goof around." this by all means is true nowadays. there's this constant running joke about how guys will "slide into girls DM's" on twitter and supposedly, the more creative it is, the more likely the girl will respond. and it's actually true. the boy i'm involved with now, i actually know through mutual friends, but we started talking because he messaged me on twitter, and that's the way we flirted, gossiped, goof around, and even supported each other during finals week. so i guess one could say he started out as a faux friend and then became a real friend. a lot of people do this now, but finding a real friend i think is easier to do on twitter. you can find people who are tweeting about similar things, instead of on facebook which will suggest friends based on your preferences and what movies two people like. 

the hang out culture has changed. no longer do two people meet at a mall, but they will meet on twitter or facebook. but are these online people really considered "friends?" bloor answers this asking if these online people are distractions or friends... are they something that occupy our time by being someone we can "stalk" and constantly look at their wall and timeline or are they people that we actually care about? Aristotle would say they are not our true friends, but faux friends, as we cannot devote time to them as we do our real friends. maybe we devote even more time to them than real friends, though, since we are infatuated with the world around us, and even with our true friends, we are discussing what faux friends are positing on instagram or what someone just tweeted about, showing how obsessed we are with the world around us and all these fake friendships we have and keep to make sure our follower count is up and the ratio of likes on your instagram picture is equivalent to the amount of people who have seen it. we are officially obsessed with faux friendships, but to an extent, it is what is keeping our real friendships going during this day and age.

[sen39]

intro - week one

hi! my name is sophie nieto munoz and i'm currently a sophomore studying journalism and media studies with a minor in italian and debating on a minor in poli sci. although i'm studying italian, i'm actually first generation here, with both of my parents from argentina and i have dual citizenship in spain. i hope to one day be an international reporter or corespondent, since upon graduation i'll have three languages in my pocket. 

i love social media, a lot. in high school i actually won the superlative of social media queen. no, that's not a joke. i love being connected with the world around me, receiving updates about everything thats going on, and being connected. since i started typing, i've already checked my phone twice for two different notifications, scrolled through twitter, and changed the song playing on spotify four times. 

one thing i love more than social media, besides my friends and family, is music. music has saved me and has been there for me through some tough time. i can always relate to it, and one of my favorite things to do is drive to the water front in my town and sit in my car with the music blasting. i listen to a lot of pop punk, and it totally reflects who i am and the passion i have for what i do and how i feel. i go to a ton of shows and other concerts, which is where i have the most fun - especially when i'm crowd surfing. 

i hope in class to learn about how to be more professional with social media and use it to my advantage instead of just as a procrastination. i'm super looking forward to this year and everythings that's coming up!