Update

I have basically kept my same plan for this project, but have not yet started it. Tomorrow, I will make my survey using GoogleDoc, and post it to every social networking site I can plus ask my  family members to, in order to reach the broadest range of demographics. I hope that some of my grandma's Facebook friends can respond to it, as well as my parents', brothers', and my own. I will ask why people use social network sites, how they impact their lives, and where they see the usage going in the future. I will pay careful attention to the way different demographics answer these questions, and look for patterns.

More Specific Plan

I am going to do a survey using GoogleDoc, unless I find a more efficient online survey website. I will post the link to  it on my Facebook and Twitter, and ask my family members to post it places, as well. I will ask adults, children, teenagers, males, and females how they use social networking websites. I will ask their age, gender, and location, and then how they use the websites, what kinds of things they post, what they hope to get from the sites, which sites they use, if they think it is having a positive or negative effect on society, how they have seen it impact their relationships, businesses, etc., and where they see social networking going in the future. I hope to send out this survey in the next week or two.

Suggested Research Method

For the semester project, I think that I am going to use a survey to conduct my research. I am going to use GoogleDoc to make it and then post it on my Facebook and Twitter. I am also going to ask my parents to post it on theirs. The reason why I want so many people to take it is because I am going to focus my research on the ways that different demographics, especially different age groups and genders, use social media. I will start by asking them personal questions in order to sort them into demographics, and then probably ask them about how much time they spend on social media, which websites they use, the purposes for which they use it, and how important they consider it. I will ask if they have used it for political updates, catching up with friends, business, gaming, meeting new people, etc. I will ask the kinds of pictures they post, like selfies, pictures at parties, pictures with family, pictures of their businesses, and so on. I want to know their opinion on colleges checking Facebook before admitting a student, and if they think Facebook is  a passing trend. I think it is important to focus on age and gender demographics, because I can already picture they way different members of my own family would be answering these questions.

Social Media and Election Hysteria

So, I'm sure everyone has noticed the influx of election-related tweets in their Facebook and Twitter timelines every time a debate is aired. And it's not just presidential candidates and informed adults. It is children and teenagers ranging from middle school through senior year voicing their opinions on each candidates' strengths and faux pas. But here's the thing: the Tweets themselves are sparking debates! Some people are responding and questioning whether or not people too young to vote can really be informed on the issues, or if their opinion really matters. Supposedly, they are only getting their information from their parents and shouldn't be passing it off as their own. But the people tweeting get defensive: Why can't they use social media outlets to express their opinions? I think it is interesting how users of websites designed to express opinions are also being told that they should keep it to themselves. Also, it is interesting how the use of social media is vital in this election, by both citizens and the nominees. But here's my question: What do you think? Should people use social networking as an outlet to express their opinions? And what if these people are under the voting age? Does their opinion still matter?

The Online You Affecting The Offline You

Because it is so evident that Facebook and other social networking sites have become integral parts of today's society, they are even being considered in college admissions processes! A recent study has revealed that up to 80% of college admissions officers have begun searching their applicants online, and being portrayed positively is key in the process. But, there are ways that students can be sure to present the best image possible, the website says. For starters, people should never post anything negative or discriminatory. They should make sure that their friends comments are not crude, as well. Also, profile pictures should always be kept modest, considering they are the photos that a recruiter is first shown. And finally, users be "proactive" about privacy settings, making sure that they are constantly checking that what they want to be private is actually private. But should students be forced to worry about their Facebook pages when there are so many other aspects of the application process to focus on? Does it make sense that because Facebook is such a large part of our lifestyles today, that a profile can be a deciding factor in the decision? Or is it an invasion of privacy, and admissions officers should stick to looking at the things students actually submit?

People's Friendships with Facebook are Hurting

In history class, we were given the September 3, 2012 issue of The New York Times: Upfront magazine, in which I found an article by Veronica Majerol entitled "Unfriending Facebook." While it concedes that the social networking site has undoubtedly "revolutionized" the way people keep in touch with friends, it also questions whether or not it is becoming a passing trend. Apparently, more than 50% of Americans think it is. Further proving why, the rate of new users joining is slowing, from 39% in 2010 to 6% in 2012.

Not only are fewer people joining Facebook than ever before, but more people are logging off. There is a variety of reasons for this, the two main ones being lack of privacy and lack of time. The article cites a situation where one boy posted his new car on Facebook, and people he wasn't even connected to on the site asked him about it when they saw him on campus. Another girl just said that she would prefer not to see the "banter about things like what people were eating for lunch," and instead has better ways to spend her time.

I found this article interesting because I feel the same way as the people in this article, but at the same time don't know if I will be able to "quit Facebook," too. Admittedly, I'm not sure how I would communicate with other students about homework whose numbers I don't have, how I will get the pictures people take of me without being tagged in them, or stay in contact with the people I live far away from. Facebook actually is essential to my life in these respects. But what do you think? Is Facebook quickly becoming unpopular? And if so, are you willing to delete yours?

How Many is Too Many?

For homework last night, we were assigned to organize our Facebook friends into three categories: Primary Group, Secondary Group, and Unknown. I based my groupings as such: Those in the Primary Group were people I regularly talk to and would not hesitate to hangout with, Secondary Group people were those I would say "Hi" to if I saw them in public, and Unknowns are the people I would probably ignore in public, should I even recognize them at all.

My numbers were startling. Out of 1,136 friends, only 50 of them I considered to be in the Primary Group. Less than 5%. The people in this group were my family members and best friends. The Secondary Group, the largest of the three groups, contained 655 people. This included the girls I talk to in school, people I frequently see out but don't consider my good friends, people I used to be close with but have drifted from, family members I don't see, and people that live far away but with whom I hope to keep in contact. And finally, the Unknown Group contained 411. (I know the numbers don't add up, I must have missed a few people. Hopefully they were Primaries.) This group contained the people I have honestly just never heard of, the girls at IHA that I am friends with although we have never spoken, and people that I have never met in person but we "just know" one another.

I noticed a few things while doing this exercise. First: How quick I was to immediately place someone in the Secondary Group. I knew exactly who my Primaries were, and was not willing to exaggerate my friendship with someone to put them there, so anyone who missed the cut was a Secondary. But then, there were the people who I didn't actually know, but felt like I did just through "liking" one another's posts on Facebook or, admittedly, stalking, that I was inclined to put in my Secondary Group, as well. I hesitated before each of these people to realize that I, in fact, had never even met them (so they were ultimately placed in the Unknown Group).

As we talked about in class, these acquaintances have always been present; we just haven't had the opportunity to categorize them. Now, the people-we-meet-at-a-party-and-talk-to-for-a-few-minutes people are labelled as "friends" and you actually have the opportunity to keep in contact with them (or just stalk them) if you so choose.

What does this mean for my friendships (and probably most Facebook friendships in 2012)? I have realized that social media gives me, and others, a false sense of intimacy with the people we are friends with. We may feel closer to those we have never met, or only met a few times, but how could we not when we are constantly being updated with what parties they are going to, what boys they are dating, and what is going on in their family life? But, despite the sense that we are growing closer to the people around us, I think this is a fallacy. The time spent on social media is taking away from face-to-face interactions, and it doesn't take much anymore for us to consider the people in our secondary groups somewhat close friends.

Social Media: Fad or Revolution?

This video presents alarming statistics about social media. It proved what was already pretty apparent: social media is deeply ingrained in every person's life and is probably not going away any time soon. I thought that the first interesting point it made was that we don't search for the news anymore, it finds us. While I have become accustomed to finding out about stars' deaths and sports teams' wins via Twitter and Facebook, it never really occurred to me that this would have been considered unusual in the past.

I also thought that it was crazy how it took radio 38 years to reach 50 million users, TV 13, Internet four, and the iPod three, yet somehow only 200 million users signed onto Facebook in under a year. Facebook could now become the world's third largest country. I feel as though these facts alone proves how social media is not a passing trend.

This video did a really good job of presenting unknown facts in an interesting way in order to prove its point.

A Modern Family

My family has not been exempt from the influences of social media. Like hundreds of millions of others worldwide, each of us logs in nearly everyday. What I find most interesting, though, is the different ways in which we utilize the networking sites. From what I have observed since starting my blog, I have come to believe that the way my family uses social networking can serve as a microcosm for the patterns of most users.

First, there is my brother. He is a 10 year old boy with an overwhelming interest in video games. He does not have a Facebook, however, because I think that he is a little too young for that. Him and his friends do use other forms of social networking, however, such as video games online and through the x-box, and forums to talk even more about their video games. By the way this use of social media is utilized by all of his friends, I have come to believe that most 10 year old boys with access to the Internet use it this way: to have constant contact about the things that are important to them, or just to explore the Internet, but not really to deepen friendships. Also, since my brother has grown up with easy access to these technological advances more than any other generation, he heavily relies on it for after school activity.

My age group, on the other-hand, is very well acquainted with Facebook and other social networking sites. From what I can see online, and through my own personal use, I have noticed that people in high school generally use it to share things about their own lives: pictures, relationships, thoughts, etc. While we use it to keep in contact with long distance friends, that is not its sole purpose. We also use it as a way to talk to people we could just as easily go see in person. Also, we are friends with people who we probably wouldn't call friends in real life. Different from my brother's generation, though, is that we also know how to have other types of fun and socialization. Because we were not so heavily dependent on it as children, we don't have trouble going without it for a period of time if necessary.

My dad and my mom use Facebook differently. My mom uses it mostly for business: she is a real estate agent, and often posts pictures of the houses she is selling or has sold. She rarely logs on or comments for purposes other than to promote her business (although even if she wanted to, she has no idea how to use it). My dad, on the other hand, uses it solely for the purpose of keeping in contact with old friends. Even if a peer from high school adds him on Facebook, he will not accept unless he actually wants to talk to them and they liked one another in the past. I think that, though the roles of my parents may change for other situations, this is generally the way social media works for adults. They either use it for business or for maintaining real friendships.

Saving Face(book)

Social media is becoming an integral part of today's society, and its widespread affects are already palpable. Admittedly, it was unavoidable that these cyber networks would be so influential: 845 million people use Facebook alone. Add this to the fact that the website offers a multitude of ways to meet new people and express your relationship status, and it inevitably turns into the perfect place to meet your next potential partner. According to How Social Media Affects Relationships, the  many societal changes to dating include, but are not limited to: the possibility of over-analyzing your significant other's online activity, obsessing over your exes new life post-you, facing the embarrassment of a public break up, and inappropriately sharing too much information. The average relationship initiated online lasts about 18.5 months, while meeting the "old fashioned way" leads to a relationship that will probably last over two times longer (to counteract this alarming statistic, guidebooks are even being written to help people navigate the evidently treacherous realm of cyber space). And, pathetically, 21% of people lack the dignity to break up with someone in person and now believe it is socially acceptable to do so online. Lawyers, picking up on this new trend, are quick to use social media as a defense tactic in divorce cases.

I found this article interesting because it shows all of the unintended, and often times unnoticed side effects of Facebook. People are quick to "like" the photo of someone whom they find attractive, and maybe gain the artificial confidence to even send them a message because they are behind a computer screen, but obviously the relationships which form over these networks are synthetic and ultimately end badly (for the most part). Of course, there are exceptions to every rule so with that I ask: What do you think? Do you believe that sincere bonds can be formed over the Internet, or are you, too, skeptical of Facebook's practicality as a platform for viable relationships?

Why Social Media?

For this semester in Sociology, I have decided to research the impact that social media has had on society and the way we are responding to it. I realized that this would be an interesting topic when, during class, Mrs. Wren gave the example topic of how most people are not actually friends with their "Facebook friends." This made me wonder how the meaning of the term "friend" may be evolving. This topic is very relevant, as most people with access to the Internet are now immersed in social media and no one is unaffected by it. The research of social media's impacts is current and continuous, and directly affects me. I hope that through this blog, I can learn about the impact various social media websites are having on every day relationships, their pros and cons, the way specific generations are being uniquely affected by it, and what changes to society it may lead to in the future.