Sara+Mason

=__Sara Mason__=

Post- November 17, 2010
[|More Than 250 Million People Use Facebook on a Daily Basis]

This article particularly caught my attention because it demonstrates what a vast imprint Facebook has left on society. Facebook is said to have 500 million users. This means that half of those users, 250 million, are using Facebook every single day. This therefore, illustrates what an impact Facebook could have on society. It could be continuously used for much more then just a the social aspect of staying in touch with friends. It can in turn, be used in order to advertise, or raise awareness on specific products or topics. I believe that due to this statistic companies and organizations should use this tool in order to capture peoples attention. This social network continues to grow rapidly, and with so many users per day it should be used in many positive ways in order to benefit society.

Post- November 4, 2010
[|Twitter Increases Student Engagement]

Although we may think that Twitter seems of little use, this article demonstrates that in a recent study Twitter illustrated that the relation between this social media and academia were less opposed then one might think. The students in the study were asked to contribute to class discussions and complete specific assignments using this particular social media. It demonstrated their increase in engagement over a semester and was more than twice as much as a control group. In addition to these results the students that used Twitter achieved on average a .5 point increase in their overall GPA for the semester. This article demonstrates that social media could have a positive impact on one education and could possibly be used in various ways to help students become engaged and interested in their classes.

**Post- October 28, 2010**
__[|Social Networks Are Not Killing Our Social Lives]__

This article shows research done by ExactTarget and CoTweet illustrating that social media is not having a negative effect on face-to-face relations. This study illustrated that many individual's were having concerns about how social media affecting their relations with other individuals. The research revealed that despite concerns amongst people who say they are using Facebook more, 27% say they hang with friends in person more often. 13% convey the opposite, in that they hang out with friend less often. These statistics are interesting because many people get the impression that because people are using social media more often they are not interacting with friends on a regular basis. However, this prove that the opposite is happening. Therefore, social media is not negatively affecting our interaction with family and friends as one might think.

Post- October 13, 2010
[|7 Resources For Handling Digital Life After Death]

This article illustrates the various steps an individual can take in order to "manage a digital life after death". Death is an inevitable part of life. Therefore, it is important to understand that even when an individual passes away their digital life will still be present on the internet, in less certain steps are taken. According to the article "there are more than 5 million accounts on Facebook that are inactive due to death, according to the calculations of BlackBook Media's Executive Editor Chris Mohney". This includes just accounts on Facebook alone, therefore meaning that there are countless other abandonded profiles due to individuals death. This article brings up the issue of what individuals would want to do with their online social media accounts if or when they pass away. The videos show services that individuals can use in order to help answer and solve their questions on this issue.

Post- September 23, 2010
__[|Social Media: The New Battleground for Politics]__

This article illustrates how powerful social networks are becoming amongst today's society and how they are changing the dynamics of politics. Therefore, throughout the article it is demonstrated that "online engagement can lead to enormous influence", especially in politics. These social networks involve lots of effort, management, and tactical execution from a team of individuals. This article illustrates that individuals, as well as political parties, are using social networking sites for more then just leisurely communication with friends. Political parties are using these sites in order to create awareness of current political issues and draw a buzz of communication.

Post- September 11,2010
[|Facebook Places Article]

[|Burglary Ring Uses Facebook to Target Victims]

These articles are important for individuals to understand the technology that Facebook now allows individuals to use, and the dangers that could possibly be involved with such public display of personal information. With this application, Facebook Places, individuals are able to "check in" there exact location in a Facebook status in order for individuals to see where they are. However, with this information outsiders could possibly use this information in ways that are harmful to the individual such as a burglary, like the article above describes. This new technology takes Facebook to a new level of communicating and public display of personal information.