Say It To My Face

The Scenario:
Your best friend got into a fight with some kid today in school. Later that night, you’re on Facebook. That kid that was messing with your friend posted a status about the fight. You get angry and decide to let him know how you feel about it. You go on and on saying really mean things to get your point across. You threaten him and tell him you’re going to fight him. Things start to escalate very quickly. Are you thinking about the consequences of what you’re saying? No. Would you say these things to that person face to face? Probably not.

The Problem:

A serious issue with many high school students nowadays is that their high school drama is easily transferred from school to home using social media. In other words, in todays world, you don’t need to wait until the next school day to argue or harass someone because social media networks like Facebook and Twitter make it possible to connect with or bully people at any time of the day.

The Solution:

The next time you decide to get into a fight using social media, ask yourself two questions: What’s the worst thing that can happen if I do this? And would I say that to a person’s face? If the answer to either of those is no, chances are you should be the more mature person and keep what you have to say to yourself.

The Menace Behind the Machine

THE MENACE BEHIND THE  MACHINE

More than one in three young people have experienced cyber threats online. Over 25 percent of adolescents and teens have been bullied repeatedly through their cell phones or the Internet. Cyber bullying is a huge issue that more people need to start noticing.  Mean or hurtful comments and rumors spread online are the most common types of cyberbullying. Skipping school, receiving poor grades, have lower self-esteem, have more health problems, and suicide are all side effects of cyberbullying. Suicide is the most serious effect to this horrible act.               

SUICIDE

Teens, especially in middle school, are starting to take the stress of being bullied out on themselves. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people, resulting in about 4,400 deaths per year, according to the CDC. For every suicide among young people, there are at least 100 suicide attempts. Over 14 percent of high school students have considered suicide, and almost 7 percent have attempted it. Suicide directly links to cyberbullying because teens get bullied behind a computer screen and have no one to stand up for them. They go through the whole process on their own. Sometimes, suicide is their only option.

For Example, Rebecca Ann Sedwick, 12 years old, committed suicide in near home in Miami over cyber bullying. She changed her username on Kik Messenger, a cellphone application for messaging, to “That Dead Girl.” Rebecca then delivered a message to two of her friends, saying goodbye forever. She then climbed a platform at an abandoned cement plant near her home in the Central Florida city of Lakeland and leaped to the ground. For more than a year, Rebecca was cyberbullied by 15 middle-school children (including her own boyfriend) who encouraged her to kill herself, her mother said. The Polk County sheriff’s office is investigating the role of cyberbullying in the suicide and considering filing charges against the middle-school students who apparently taunted Rebecca with hostile text messages. Florida passed a law this year making it easier to bring felony charges in online bullying cases. Hopefully, cyber bullying will be completely stopped and children understand the dangers of other’s lives.

Cyber bullying is the most negative effect of social media. It is the most unhealthy act. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people, resulting in about 4,400 deaths per year, according to the CDC. Social media enables young teens to bully others without dealing with the other person’s feelings. They cannot see how someone actually feels or is affected by the bullying through a computer screen. Although parents can try to prevent cyberbullying by limiting the use of their children’s computers and monitor what they are doing, it is still slowly ruining more and more teens lives every single day.

Think Before You Post

Why can’t students understand that anyone can see anything they post in their social world? You know that in the 21st century with the technology advances our country has made, that high school students and college students, of social media like Twitter, Instagram, Vine and Facebook is inevitable. How these students choose to use this new technology is their decision. Students live so much in the present that they don’t think too much about the future, especially when it comes to the job application process and the involvement on sports teams.

For example, with most job applications or interviews, there are questions asked about the future employees use of social media. When you're in a job interview your interviewer is most likely going to ask you “do you have a Facebook?”, if your answer is yes then you should probably delete any inappropriate photos, videos or posts. Even if it is just a photo of you with a red cup and you weren’t drinking alcohol companies don’t want to be associated with someone who lives that type of life, especially when you're underage. It doesn’t even matter if you’re 21, jobs still won’t want to hire someone whose profile picture is you with a drink in your hand at some bar. It creates a bad image for the company that hires you. CBS news did a report on how Facebook updates cost young people to lose their jobs and pointed out “The report, by On Device Research, states that one in ten people between ages 16 and 34 have been turned down for a new job because of photos or comments on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and other social networking sites” http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57586908/. Even with these statistics students still continue to post what they want to post. CBS news also adds that 66% of the students who were rejected from the job still don’t care that these accounts affect their job opportunities. I believe that unless you are individually affected by this or you know someone who has been, it becomes hard to see the reality of the consequences.

Being on a sports team, I have to be very careful of what I post on my social media apps. My coaches have access to everything and the last thing  I would want to happen would be my coach to see me at a party and me get kicked off the team or suspended. In high school, a girl on my soccer team got kicked off because of what she said about our coach on Facebook. It was somewhat harmless, but someone printed out the post and left it in my coach’s mailbox. We all had a good laugh until playoffs came and our star defensive mid was watching from the bleachers.Unfortunately this happens to many high school and college athletes. Students just need to become aware of what they're posting on their social media and who can access their posts. So think twice before you go around sharing your life with the world!

View Image: http://ow.ly/qmcNr

Keeping in Touch Instantly

Name any news organization imaginable, on Twitter, you can receive the latest news in the fastest way possible.  You can be up to date with the events happening at home, in the country or even around the world in a matter of seconds.  For me I enjoy news from at home, national and world wide.  Following a TV news station from your home, or a newspaper from home will give you links to full stories and/or a brief of said story.  While at college it’s easy to stay disconnected from the outside world.  I know this all too well because I haven’t been updated as much as I could be from news back at home.  By following news media while you’re away from home like attending college, or on vacation you can always be connected on the go.

Importance

Any news under the sun can be followed. It is important to keep up to date with current events close to home.  Even events around the world can impact you.  A teacher could have passed away, a close friend could have been in a car accident or your favorite restaurant could have been burnt down.  Some event overseas could impact the United States so it’s important to know that.  Things similar and more serious than this could be happening unbenounced to you, important things.

Thoughts

In my opinion Twitter and News Media is very important, and a useful tool around the clock no matter where you may be.  It can really help you stay in touch with what’s happening around the world as well as what’s happening close by.  Twitter bridges the gap between people and all news media across the world for easy instant access.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Twitter_Badge_1.png

THE WEB WE LIVE IN JUST TANGLES AROUND US

THE WEB WE LIVE IN JUST TANGLES AROUND US

One in five relationships today start online, and three in five gay couples meet online.  Online relationships may seem like a great thing right? Yes but not when you got catfished. What is catfish? Catfish is a person who creates fake profiles online and pretends to be someone they are not by using someone else's pictures and information.

Nowadays when people hear the word catfish they think of the hit TV show, not the fish. It’s a very popular show and it also educates the watchers about catfish.  Today I’m going to be mentioning the positive and negatives of the show catfish. This will help you from getting tangled in their hooks they layout.

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The show presents life stories about people who have been catfished. It explains why they want to meet their catfish person. Also why did the catfish person do this to them in the first place. Sometimes its revenge, someone to talk too, they think their cute and plenty more. In the end it most likely never works out.

The show is a safer way of finding your catfish person than in person. The show has cameraman and the two hosts (Nev and Matt). The hosts make sure everything is going smoothly and is with the person for most of the time. The negatives with finding your catfish person alone is you could get raped, murdered, abused, etc. You think you know this person but you really don’t this is why you should never EVER go alone.

READ NEXT PAGE FOR GREAT ADVICE ON CATFISHING!!

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TO AVOID BEING CATFISH!

Signs (when first adding you as a friend):                            

• No mutual friends
• Very little friends on social media page
• Pictures that look fake and don’t have many

pictures

• Only the same few friends write on their page
• They don't write on many other friends social

            media page

• They aren't in any tagged photos or post
• Only pictures of themselves; having no friends

            and family in any pictures

Signs ( Talking to Catfish person)

• Make excuses why they can’t see you
• Ask for money for you because their phone

broke, rent, etc

• Say they been in traumatic accidents
• Make you feel bad for them
• Tell you they love you and want to be with you,

sometimes even marry

• They don’t webcam you or sends pictures of

them self

• Their voice doesn’t fit their fake picture they

pretend to be

Don’t Get Hooked By The Catfish

Taken from http://ow.ly/qlp7A

What is Catfishing?

If you think you need a boat and a fishing pole for this you're completely wrong and I strongly suggest you read this entire post. A Catfish is someone who pretends to be someone they’re not using Facebook or other social media to create false identities, particularly to pursue deceptive online romances. Some people don’t do this for romance, instead they do this to hurt someone else.

Why This Shouldn’t Be Done

This is not something that is funny in any way, shape, or form. Catfishing can lead to someone committing suicide and someone being kidnapped because they don’t know who they are actually talking to. Catfishing is a serious matter because it can be used to bully other kids and can be used by sexual predators. Many don’t have the intention of bullying someone to the point where they commit suicide, but how would you be able to live with yourself if you were the reason that someone took their own life?

Be Careful Or You Can End Up On The Hook

Also you have to be careful if you are talking to someone you don’t know. This is a serious problem of social media just because you don’t know who is on the other side of the screen. You have to be smart and use caution when talking to someone you just met online.Make sure to never meet with someone you just met on social media if they want to see you in person. Try to stay away from talking to people you don’t know because something serious could end up happening to you. Make sure you don’t get pulled in by the bate and end up like the catfish on the hook!

Invisible threads are the strongest ties

Taken From http://ow.ly/qhJHa

Why go bankrupt investing time into advertisements, when you can be in control of your own thoughts & ideas with one click of a button. I once was a  young entrepreneur who did not have a large audience; who questioned whether my product being dished out to the world would be accepted. What would the critics say, would they like it or would they trash it?

Questioning while doubting my capabilities I happened to stumble across a site known as Instagram. “Instagram is a fun and quirky way to share your life with friends through a series of pictures. Snap a photo with your mobile phone, then choose a filter to transform the image into a memory to keep around forever. We imagine a world more connected through photos”. How ever what many people do not know is that instagram has become a great form of  marketing. The term marketing is like an invisible thread, in between these lines link stronger ties through the use of media. Instagram is a great framework for entrepreneurs to market their merchandise.

Numbers don't lie 

Did you know The top 50 brands on Instagram have 722k followers on average. As importantly, an average of one point five million posts mention each of these brands on Instagram.

Taken From http://ow.ly/qloiO 

• The most followed branded account is Ellen DeGeneres’ @TheEllenShow, with three million followers, adding about 200k each month.
• The most Instagrammed brand is Nike, with over 18 million posts mentioning the #Nike hashtag so far, and adding over one million each month. Following behind is Starbucks with six million posts mentioning & of course ending the top three percentile  THE NBA with three million.
• The Car, Fast Food, Soft Drink and Apparel industries are most represented on Instagram with a 100% adoption rate. The insurance industry is the least present on Instagram with only a 30% adoption rate.

A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.

Majority of social media sites do not receive recognition that they deserve.  As bad as it may sound; media sites can actually be beneficial for many. Though instagram has many fun attractions, beneath the app’s playful appeal is a powerful way to market your services and connect with customers. Using Instagram, small business owners can instantly put a face to their businesses’ name—and watch their customer relationships and sales flourish as a result.

Here is a business owners that explain how he  adopted Instagram as a marketing tool.  

Taken From http://ow.ly/qlm3L

Michael Satterfield, owner of Morgan’s and Phillip’s, an automotive-inspired apparel retailer, uses Instagram as a window into his business as well as his life. Satterfield’s Instagram feed reflects what is important to him on a daily basis. For him, that includes his dog and grilled pork burgers as much as it includes the T-shirts he sells.

He insists that when people feel personally connected to a brand, they’re more likely to “follow” your business on Twitter and Instagram and “friend” you on Facebook. Each social media channel is another venue to advertise your product.

“We just posted new shirts for summer,” Satterfield says. “And we’ve already gotten ‘likes.’ It’s a great way to showcase things, especially if you’re a visual-based company.”

Don’t Get Baited into Catfishing

WARNING

If you don’t want to get raped or kidnapped you should totally read this...

Hey guys this is Jagger checking in. Todays topic is catfishing. Catfishing is bad for the environment and is a main cause of global warming. We need to put an end to this so called “catfishing.” Now that I have your attention, what catfishing really is, is when someone creates fake accounts using Facebook or other social media to create false identities, with intention to meet someone online hoping to meet them one day to rape or kidnap them.    

Taken from http://ow.ly/qlkb4

Three years ago a 14 year old girl went missing and the police did an investigation and found out she’d met the 48-year-old man charged with kidnapping her online. People create fake accounts on social media websites like Facebook and pretend to be cute boys but they are really very old dudes that are weird. They will bait you into thinking that’s who they really are. They will friend request you and you’ll just think “ohh who is this hot guy who wants to be my friend, I should totally accept this.” Next thing you know you’re getting raped.

There’s reason why these “catfishers” will be able to find you in real life and have a chance to rape or kidnap you. One of the reasons being, once you accept them they pretty much know everything about you because people put most of their real information online not realizing random rapist can see it.

GETTING BAITED INTO CATFISHING

• People see a cute girl or boy on Facebook or other social media websites and right away accept their friend request
• When accepting their friend request that allows that person to see and know most things about you because that’s what kids are posting online now a days
• That person will message you with compliments and giving you their number(personal experience)
• If you answer their message and talk to them they won’t seem interested in meeting you face to face.

WAYS TO PREVENT CATFISHING

• Don’t put any real information on whatever social media website you’re using
• Always keep your account private
• Don’t ever accept someone you don’t know
• “Catfishers” will have one or a couple of pictures of them self online
• They will have only a few friends on the social media website they are using

So just remember kids don’t ever accept someone on Facebook or other social media websites that you don’t know or don’t have a lot of mutual friends with. This is Jagger checking out saying stay classy San Diego and that catfishing is bad for your health.

The ‘Gram helping the Game

                                                                          taken from  http://ow.ly/qhIW5

You turn to look at your phone, pictures being posted   after Blake Griffin and “Lob City” are going what they do best, dunking. People freaking out saying” OMG yu see that!” and “he is a beast”.

Teams and athletes use Instagram and other social media sites to keep fans feeling like they are part of the team. Teams like the LA Clippers have a instagram page for fans to keep up with what is happening in Clipper Nation. Teams and players with these pages allow fans to see their lives day to day and stay updated on them. But why would someone like Kevin Durant, of Kobe Bryant care about little old us, the fans?

 from http://ow.ly/qhKVL

As a fan we are always excited to see and learn more about our favorite athletes like such as their day-to-day lives. Players like Nate Robinson, a person with a large fan base and is well know on the court, can express and show his life and learn something new about him we never even knew before.  Seeing the athletes we look up to humbles us.  The ability see our superheros using   social media apps like instagram, shows why we would look up to them as role models for us in society.

Instagram and other social media site help to not only bring players closer to their fan but allows fans to see how an athlete really lives. Online there is a list of 25 Best Player to Follow on Instagram, and out of the 25 players on the list, 19 of them are are household names and players we all know. Why is that you ask? It’s because these players utilize social media sites, like Instagram, to help their popularity and develop a even stronger fan base.

Last Nights Posts Todays Problems

Sharing Isn’t Always Caring

Many high schoolers these days have twitter, instagram, and facebook. These accounts are a great way to keep connected with your friends. However, most high schoolers also drink, go to parties, and have a good time. But wait, do u really want your pictures and posts of what you did last night on the Internet? Think about who would see them; family, friends, employers, teachers, and other adults in your life.

There is no reason that your pictures from the party; with you and your friends can’t be posted. Why incriminate yourself when you and your peers are sloppy drunk?  There is a strict difference between what is acceptable and what isn't. For example a picture of your friend throwing up with beer cans all around is a no. But one of you and your friends just simply standing there fully clothed and posing at a party is acceptable.

This photo is an example of one that is unacceptable

Taken from http://ow.ly/qhIFc

Busted

Future employers could see these posts and what would they think? What would your grandma think? I know that I am friends with mine on Facebook, and would be mortified if some of the pictures me and my friends have of each other would end up somewhere for her to see.

There is also the issue of posting while you are drunk. I can say first hand that I am able to recognize when my friends have drunk tweeted or posted. It is not as incriminating as a picture or video but they can still be harmful to your reputation.

Sadly our society seems to some what glorify this current trend. With twitter accounts such as @sunypartystories or @drunktweets, it is encouraged for you to brag about your party experiences.

I'm not saying don't have a good time I'm just saying watch where your pictures and posts end up, you never know who's watching.