Social Media is something I didn't know a lot about until I was fifteen. I wasn't allowed to use Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Meetme, or any other social site because my mom thought it was a bad idea. I started using Facebook at 16 when my mom said I was finally allowed to use it except only on her computer. Once I got my own computer at 18 I found that the social media world opened up. I created a Tumblr which I now regret and I created a twitter.

                I use social media mainly to keep up with my family and friends who have moved away or are still back home. It is really good for cute pics of animal’s too and even political garbage that drives me nuts. What drives me more nuts is football posts. Only two more weeks of peace and then boom football everything. Other than those minor annoyances my social media sites help me keep in contact with those I love and those who I just know.

                Social media can also be used for research. I use YouTube for how-to videos, rants from YouTubers, and funny cat videos. It really does help when you’re in history class and you’re looking at the history of something, but you don’t want to read it. It makes it more interesting when it comes to learning subjects that can be very dry. Google is another one that is good for school. What you cannot find on Google is probably something dusty in a library that no has touched for 100 years.

                Searches for other information is very easy. If I wanted directions to Disney land from SCTCC all I would have to do is type it in. It would show me car, walk, bus, or bike for my choice of travel. It also helps with looking up companies. I mainly look up makeup companies because I don’t like to use products that test on animals. It’s really easy to read about them and see what their standards are and if they test on animals I won’t use their products.

                With social media comes a price and that price is being targeted by ads. I know when I looked up info on pregnancy to help out my friends if they had questions I started getting baby ads. I’m not pregnant so these ads are pointless most of time. I also looked up pandas because I love them and then saw panda ads for everything from cups to prom dresses. I wish I could have bought the prom dress. It took a while to recognize the signs that I was being targets, but once I did I learned to clear my cookies if I knew my passwords.

One thing to consider with all that I have said is everything on the interent true? Some will say yes and others will say no. I chose no because I know that some people will lie through their teeth to get what they want/need. They don’t care who it hurts or how it makes them look. So don’t trust everything on the internet (cough cough Wiki).

Social media is a way to connect with my family, friends, and look up cute video’s/pictures of cats. I do view social media as a weakness to me though because YouTube and Facebook are my morning coffee and newspaper.