12:12 12/12/12

Facebook is full of these today! "OMG! 12/12/12!! Last repetitive date!!" "The world is ending!" We'll as I've mentioned in my previous posts Facebook is good for telling you what's going on...and after a sea of finals I'm glad I saw it was 12/12/12 I guess.
Well the original topic of my blog to see if Facebook was a must or a bust and honestly I'm not totally sure. I mean I completely HATE Facebook sometimes but other times its really helpful. For instance one of my friends engagements just fell through and I, along with everyone else, found out on Facebook. I think people's main problem with Facebook is that there's a lot of drama so basically the solution to every problem...stop doing it. Lets all follow gunthars rule shall we? "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." It's really as simple as that, I promise.
So in the end, I think it remains a tie, Facebook and no Facebook, is the same

breakups and makeups

DRAMA!!! Holy cow! Okay, so I was scrolling down my News Feed when all of the sudden I came upon this post that said "I'd rather be happy and single than be with and miserable." My first thought was that it was from a song or something but I clicked on the comments....it wasn't from a song. I read 60 comments of the purest form of a facebook fight. It was horrible.
Back Story: This guy that I graduated from High School with has been dating this girl that's 2 years younger than him off and on for a while and rumors have been going around that she cheated on him and that she constantly lies to him. Well while all of her friends are commenting for him to take it off of facebook he's throwing her down and cant keep his story straight of whether or not she actually cheated. And then guys were commenting saying "bro this isn't right, take it off of facebook." OH. MY. LANTA. he flipped out when they said that. He was telling the guys to come and talk to him and that he has something to say and to stop hiding behind the keyboard and so on. To which the guy who said to take it off of facebook, his ex-girlfriend commented telling the main guy that he cant because he doesn't live there anymore and that he is being stupid. Needless to say there was a TON of drama and nothing got resolved....it was a pointless fight but a lot of fun to read. I don't have a tv in my apartment because im poor as junk so facebook fights are like soap operas...I got my fill for the next 3 years with this fight...

Snow and awkward moments

Social Media is great for one thing...and one thing only. For all of your friends to tell you what is going on in their day. Today for example I found out it was snowing before I even got a chance to look outside because Facebook was blowing up with "OMG snow!" "burrrr its cold outside" "let it snow! let it snow! let it snow!" Therefore I knew to dress for the cold weather before anything. Facebook is like a really distorted news channel, it tells you when its snowing, rainy, to hot, to cold, the end of the semester, Christmas time, Thanksgiving, Pearl Harbor, and black Friday just to name a few. Its nice to know everything but it can also get really awkward. Like this weekend for instance... One of my friends on Facebook was talking about the great night she had with her boyfriend and how great he is in bed....wow. So this girl posted that just thinking that her 300 friends would read it, but a screenshot was taken, sent to friends, who then sent it to their friends, who sent it to Failbook, and now it is being blogged about...I don't think it gets worse than that. And studies have shown that anything put up on the internet isn't just there for a few weeks or a few months...its up there for AT LEAST 10 years...AT LEAST. So I wouldn't put anything up there that's to naughty...

failbook

These pictures are from a hilariously funny website called failbook. Unfortunately we've all had these kind of Facebook fights show up on our newsfeed but we wouldn't dare blog about them because well that's tacky. So here are a few that I don't have to be tacky to blog about because they aren't on my newsfeed....so its different right?

Did you really just say that?

We've all gotten them. The texts that instantly boil our blood and make our fingers fly across the key board. I got one of these texts a few days ago....so many things I could have said, ended up saying nothing.
Here's the thing- why are texts like this sent? It is faster to pick up the phone and speak your mind than it is to text it. So when then are we still text fighting? Does it make you feel better because you don't have to hear their reaction? You can just read it and then decided if you don't want to respond. STOP DOING THIS!!!! It bugs the crap out of everyone.
I am an avid texter, I do not have anything against a "hey what's up" text or "hey what are you doing tonight" those texts are great and it's GREAT to be able to communicate really fast, everywhere, because no one else can hear you while you're texting your best friend "wow, this class is stupid." But lets ban together and stop sending this "wow, thanks for screwing me over and being a total b*tch."
Lets not text fight....your key board isn't a battle ground for world war 3, so don't treat it like one.

Pinaholic

With the Christmas season upon us my Facebook news feed has been FLOODED with pins on how to properly decorate your home to show the Christmas cheer!! Lights, trees, how to properly cut out snow flakes....don't get me wrong I absolutely LOVE Pinterest but Christmas happens everywhere, on the same day, at the same time...it's always the same. So do we really need 100 pins on how to decorate a tree? But then again maybe by me not pinning on how to put lights on a free or cut out a snow flake means that my Christmas will be really lame. So I guess we'll see.
Also on Pinterest, sister missionaries- how to do the future elders survive without a Pinterest?? Christmas, fashion, and all of my friends weddings. Of all my friends if they aren't going on a mission then they are getting married or having babies. What ever happened to playing with Barbie dolls, mom calling us to dinner and primary, can we go back to those days? Growing up is scary but hey at least we have Pinterest to help us grow up. As much as Pinterest is governing our lives- how we dress, what we make and what we eat- how would I live without it?

politics and problems

HOLY COW!!!! So the election was two days....I have never seen more posts within 5 minutes in my life! Only reason is because while the president was announced for the nation, some referendums were announced for certain states. Being from Washington we are one of the few states that legalized weed and gay marriage. While neither seriously affect me because I am neither gay nor do I smoke my friends on FaceBook were going WILD!!! It was seriously a feeding zone...so many pictures of bongs saying "legal now mother f***er!!! I can do whatever the hell I want now!!!" umm yeah....good luck with that....I mean am I the only who has seen movies like batman? You can't do whatever you want....there are consequences. Same sex marriage does not affect me at all, its not like gay people are like high people, they don't kill you while they are practicing. So I mean really, lets all be kind; however, with that being said, since my closet connection to a gay person is my best friend Josh I don't feel like I can really comment on it.
On Tuesdays I saw so many of "well four more years of hell" "let the unfriending begin" "Mormons are idiots are must be pissed haha f*** them!"
A post of FaceBook is yours, people like to treat it like a journal even though it isn't. But nevertheless anyone has the right to put whatever they want on facebook. But seriously you are going to trash Mormons? One of my friends who is also a member commented on that post and said "umm how about republicans are mad, not Mormons. The church does get involved with politics. Kthanks." And people went off on her! Saying that "obviously they don't know how to take a joke" "pull your head out of your a**" "wow, what a little b****" wow. that is all I have to say. wow. This goes along with my last post, just because no one can actually see you behind the keyboard does not mean that 1, they don't know its you and 2, it hurts less. Lets not cyber bully? Its obviously rude and the person who is doing it looks like an idiot, its not like it makes you look cool....you just look like an ass.

What the professionals have to say

http://www.cinewsnow.com/news/local/Ask-Dr-Joy-Miller-Social-media-drama-175680461.html

This is a link to a video put out by CINEWSNOW. It talks about why people are willing to type things that they would NEVER say in person. For example if you were to go on a girls Facebook where she has a revealing picture, the guys are going to say "sexy!" "so hot" and some of the girls are going to say "oh my gosh! I freaking love you! you look amazing!" while all the other girls just say "wow" or "slut..." Most of the guys that commented are in a relationship and would never ever say this to the girl but they will post it? Does that make sense? I understand that behind a keyboard that no one can see you, but here is the thing about posting, blogging, sending, emailing, texting... it is out there for at least ten years. People usually forget what you say but they will never forget what you wrote. So be careful! THINK!

CALLED OUT!

So as I was scrolling through my news feed today I came upon this lovely little post (I changed the names to spare them further embarrassment " STUPID BETH SAYS I HATE HER NOW I DO BETH IF UR READING THIS U R THE MOST HORRIBLE FRIEND EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Okay here's the thing about that, one I had to spell a lot of the words correctly, and this kind of thing is unacceptable. It is posts like this that make the older generations think that we only communicate over Facebook and that we can not have a conversation face to face. I heard a horror story a few weeks ago about this guy who asked this girl out on a date but was to scared to talk to her so he just texted her the whole time....texted her. WOW.

No Shave November?

So with no shave November I have a lot of friends that have decided to let themselves be "free" and not shave... So I posted today ( first time in a while) "Happy please shave November! And remember, not all hair is created equal." This one girl that I am Facebook friends with, we used to be friends but then she got married...and now we are way different got offended and commented "DISLIKE!!!!!! I won't be shaving!" ugh. we all know that, you posted that earlier. Here is the thing with Facebook right now, it has become twitter. Like seriously? Did you seriously just make a post about how you will not be shaving for a month?
Facebook Posts "thanks for all the birthday wishes, I had a great day with all my friends!"
Tweets "brushing teeth" "teeth brushed" "driving to friends house" "at friends house"
You could easily stock someone with their tweets.
OH and I know that with the younger generations turning to technology a lot of people may have forgotten....but there is this WONDERFUL thing called...drum roll please!! A JOURNAL!!! A journal is where you put things such as "oh my heck, I freakin hate Becky! she is such a UGH I don't even know how to describe it! I just hate her! but oh my lanta Joe looked at me today! he is soooooo dreamy <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 I could spend the rest of my life with him! Other than that today was alright. Chem sucks but I have a doctors appointment tomorrow so I get to miss it! heck to the yeah. huh, well I think that's good for tonight! goodnight <3 "
see the difference?

gettin views

So I wanted to do another quick experiment and see if people actually read posts while they're scrolling down their news feed, I know I usually go past posts especially if they are really long because seriously? Use a journal!! Anyways so I posted a link to my blog to see how much traffic I would get and within 3 hours of posting that I had 25 views for that day. Apparently people do read posts!

somebody pay attention to me!

How do you get someone’s attention? In person you can yell out their name or tap their shoulder, you can call someone on the phone until they answer, leave voicemails, and send multiple texts. But how do you get someone’s attention on Facebook? You can "poke" them but chances are they won’t see that, I don't look at mine, you could message them but that also isn't super effective. The most effective, and slightly annoying way, is the like a whole bunch of things. My best friend Kenny was trying to get my attention yesterday because my phone had died, so I wasn’t texting him back and since he lives in Washington popping over to say hi is not an option...so instead he liked everything he could without being super creepy...I hadn’t check my Facebook in 15 hours and I had 48 notifications. You have my attention haha

finding out through facebook

So when I went completely off Facebook I didn’t check it, or post....nothing! Well now I’m back on, but not really posting because it’s kind of useless. ...that all changed yesterday- I’ll tell the dreadful story! So yesterday I drove up to Salt Lake City because my best friend from high school was having a hard time, it’s roughly 50 miles to my friend’s house but it’s fine because it’s a straight shot from my house to hers going down I-15. I get to her house and am literally only in the house for 5 minutes before her aunt comes running in and says "whose red car is that??" "Oh, that’s mine. Sorry I'll move it." "YOUR ENGINE JUST EXPLODED!" .....silence on my end as running out to the driveway to look at my car. It seriously blew....there was steam; it looked like smoke from my engine catching fire, and fluid EVERYWHERE! Coolant, water...everything but oil. So I freak out and call my mom, figure out exactly what I need to do and then get it done in a stressed out I didn’t plan on this manner. But I end up getting it towed off and into the shop. The purpose of this long story is that no one would have known about it except for my mom, dad, best friend, and her aunt. But instead ALL of my friends on Facebook knew and were suddenly super concerned because my friend put up a picture of my car. Facebook seems to unify our generation but now I don’t know my view on it. I still enjoy being on Facebook and being able to check up on all my friends...but that’s just it, checking up on. I can see everything my friends are doing or have been doing by just scrolling down my news feed. So right now I think it’s,
Facebook:1
Non-facebook:1
it’s a tie.

7 days in the dark!

So I have been off facebook for only 7 days so far and honestly it feels like a month. I got an email from facebook telling me that I had a lot of activity I needed to check...the email said that I have 3 friend requests, 5 messages, and 68 notifications...HOLY CRAP! its only been a week and I already have all that? Thats a crazy amount to me and it amazes me that facebook sends you an email when you havent been on in a while, they want you to be on all the time. I don't miss facebook though. Even though I have a crap ton of activity that I need to check and I've been off for a week I dont feel like any of my relations have been under strain. So looks like the older generation was wrong! facebook doesnt control our relationships!

Experiment!

So over this next week I'm going to stay off of Facebook but having one of my friends change my password- then I wont actually be able to get on. After that week I'll talk about how hard it was, if I missed anything...all about that! ALSO! I've heard that its dang near impossible to deactivate your Facebook, so I'm going to make a Facebook under a fake email address and see how hard it really is, I'll tell you about that too!

Facebook

Facebook is the largest social networking site, with 955 MILLION active users, according to Wikipedia. There are lots of people to friend, or defriend for that matter. On Facebook you can let all your friends and family know what you’re doing by updating your status, in return you can see what they're doing, you can message each other, play games and reconnect with people. So why then do people have problems with it if it’s "bringing us together?" Is it because while you have 800 friends on Facebook you might actually talk to 30 of them? Because Facebook can cause immense amounts of drama? After talking to some old people about it…it’s because they feel like the “younger generations” rely on it too much. They think that we don’t make “real” friends anymore. As a member of the younger generation I feel like Facebook actually helps relationships. Being 1,000 miles away from home its hard staying connected with my family and friends back home, I can call them all which according to the older generations is more personal but that gets tedious! Saying the same thing over and over again!! BUT with Facebook I can just post a status or a picture about how my day is going…let my family know that I’m alive. While old people say that Facebook tears relationships apart I think that right now it’s bringing all of my relationships together. Another example of how it’s brought me closer to some people is, I made friends with a girl named Anna while we both lived in New Mexico, well I moved back to Washington and she moved to North Carolina- total opposite sides of the country. We never thought that we would friends again but one day, three and a half years ago, I got on Facebook and noticed that I had a friend request from Anna, I accepted it of course and we reconnected pretty fast and have spent every summer together and talk everyday ever since. Without Facebook we would still be on opposite sides on the country and have no idea where the other person is now. Right now… Social Media helping: 1
Social Media hindering: 0

Hey!

Hey y'all! So the purpose of this blog is to look at socail media and see if its improving relationships or actually making them worse. We all have our own opinions on it, most youth think it helps, and most well old people think that its ruining the younger generation. Well throughout the future posts we'll see which opinion is more correct! This blog will have true stories from conversations that happen through facebook, texting, email, twitter.... and then I'll look at whether what was said was legitimate or if it was said because its over social media so you don't have to face the consequences right away. There are a lot of pros and cons! We'll just have to see if the social media "wins" or "looses" may the odds forever be in its favor!