Blogging

               I have been interested in what blogging exactly was and why people do it. In the first article I read it mentions what the word blog actually meant. It is a mixture between the word “web” and “log”. Just knowing that simple definition made it more clear. It is a log of thoughts and writing posted publicly on the World Wide Web. It used to be known as a Web log, but quickly switched over to the word blog.

                It seems that blogs are a lot more personal. In some ways it is considered an online diary. A blog is usually very personal and tends to be about what the individual likes, their experiences, family, etc. A diary or a journal is typically made for others to read in the future. A blog makes it instant. Once you upload the blog or create it, it is opened to everyone on the Web. Of course in your diary or journal you are going to be more personal/private, than you would be on a blog. However, it does help you get out the information you do want others to know.

                I wanted to see why people blog. I came across an article online “15 Reasons I Think You Should Blog”. It was very interesting to see why people do it. The main thing was that blogging just became a hobby. The writer mentions a few other hobbies they were interested in, but none of them brought them as much satisfaction as blogging. Blogging has changed their life and the way they live life, which I thought was very interesting, since I am new to this concept of blogging. I am more of an introvert I guess you could say, so having the world able to access my business did not seem to appealing. The writer does go on to explain 15 reasons why they think we should blog.

                The writer doesn’t say why we should blog, but explains how blogging has impacted his life. Blogging has been very educational for him. He mentions that blogging will help you improve your writing skills, help you become a better thinker, help you notice meaningful things in your life, and be able to live with more intent in your life. These first 4 things really stood out. What more do you want in a hobby? It improves your knowledge, and helps you gain a greater insight on who you are, and to care about the little things in life. I think if you get into blogging it could help you become a better person. I think you could inspire others to be a better person as well. Not just a better person in how you act/behave, but a happier person with more meaning in your life. I never thought about how influential blogging could be.

                I honestly think blogging could benefit many people, and not very many people are taking advantage of this opportunity. I think blogging will get more and more popular as time goes on, and it’s up to all the active bloggers to keep it going. Every person has a different aspect of life, and could help reach out to others with the same interests, that may have thought they were the only ones who would do something like that. So my advice to the bloggers new and old is blog on!

Below are the URL’s to the 2 online articles:

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/11/why-i-blog/307060/

http://www.becomingminimalist.com/15-reasons-i-think-you-should-blog/

Social Media Change

How has social media changed communication? Social media has connected the world in more ways than they probably imagined while creating social media programs. Accessibility to Internet and being so easy, and pretty much all over the world besides in a few countries (China, North Korea) just to mention a few. You can now hear and read about problems in other countries/states before it hits the news channel. Most problems hit Facebook and other social media channels immediately following the occurrence. It is much easier to contact a person/people in another country than it was 5 years ago. We just jump onto the Internet and we are “connected”. So many things are done via social media.

 People are losing their interpersonal communication skills, because a lot of the communication nowadays is through social media and cell phones. Very few communication channels are done face to face. It is easier to throw out negative, degrading remarks over a website or in a chat than it is to say it to someone’s face. A great example is from an incident that occurred last night during an NBA regular season game. The defending champs Golden State Warriors returned to Cleveland to face the Cavaliers for a 2015 NBA championship rematch. There was a little scuffle between Lebron James and Stephen Curry. Nothing too intense but Curry ended up on the floor. On Facebook a video was posted and the comments just started getting heated. People throwing out their opinions, and of course everyone thinks that their opinion matters the most and they start getting defensive and throw out negative remarks to people they don’t know. It is interesting how feisty people can get online. Here is the link to the Facebook page the video was posted to https://www.facebook.com/NBAVines/?fref=nf. You can find example of this pretty much on any Facebook post.

If social media has changed how the world communicates this much in the last few years how much more will they be able to change it? Facebook has connected the world and I don’t see how much more we could connect the world. I guess people will just keep getting creative and throwing ideas out there to see if it works. Will the social media channels change? Facebook being the #1 social media channel right now, will they ever have a competitor?  According to ebizmba.com Facebook has over 1 billion users, and twitter being the second largest channel is only at 300 million users as of 2015.

http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/social-networking-websites

Social Media Case Reflection 1

               I find it interesting to see what catches fire on social media and what does not. It seems like many people like dramatic stories. It is merely what people find entertaining. I guess that is why we have social media programs, to keep us entertained. In this Kilroy bar & grill experience it is unfortunate how viral it went for the poor hairdresser, but it was good to see the manager supporting his employees. It even went to the point where people who read about this situation online went and would write reviews on the page where the lady worked who complained about not being helped. When I searched yelp.com for where this lady worked, the first thing that popped up was warning that the selected page was going through a “clean up” due to the recent involvement in the news. I had never seen that before and it portrayed the seriousness of this event. I did not spend too much time on the website to read the reviews, because they had most likely been taken off by now thanks to that warning at the beginning. It had nothing to do with where this lady worked. However, people were so enraged with how she reacted to the situation she was in. People wanted this lady fired from her job. Now that is a little much. We are not all perfect, and we do a lot of dumb things. These people posting were most likely NOT at the bar that New Year’s Eve night. This lady may have just been having a “bad” New Year’s Eve, and nobody wants to have a “bad” night before they start the New Year. How do you expect to have a good year, when the night leading to the New Year is terrible?             

               I did like how supportive people were for Chris Burton (the manager) who responded to the Facebook post of the disappointed customer. The scenario was seen very differently even by those in the same bar. Situations like this occur ALL the time, maybe not the same situation, but similar. People get upset over little things when they are not being “catered” to. Mr. Burton realized that there was a MUCH bigger problem here. A woman’s life was on the line, and his employee’s and himself did whatever they could to get this lady the medical care she needed. He explains it wonderfully in the message back to the disappointed customer. He probably could have stated a few things differently in my opinion, but his point was made. This response stood out and many people were happy the manager “put her in her place” according to a comment on dailymail.co.uk. Many other people commented and mentioned other places where a similar situation occurred. What made this one get so popular? Social media people “sharing” the experience on their feeds, and giving feedback/their opinion on the situation.

                This could have been talked about even more by the public if it was someone of a different race. What if the person having a heart attack was a different race? Or the person complaining? Or even the manager? How much more publicity would it have received? It all falls back onto what’s going on in the world that day or how people are feeling. It could have been little to no concern for some people most days, but the information just caught them on the “wrong” day.

                Another thing to think about was the situation they were in, where they were, what they were doing, and why. The majority of people go to a bar to drink alcohol. Some may say that would impair someone’s judgement. However, when you are intoxicated you are usually well aware of someone who is in dire need of medical attention. So that is not an excuse to act in a certain way when it comes to a life or death situation.

                The Kilroy bar & grill manager did a tremendous job in supporting his employees. The lady who was offended for not being “catered” to could have gone about it in a different way. If you do not want things to blow up, do not post it on social media sites unless you know the full story. I understand it is a lot easier just to post something than actually confronting someone about it, but just know the consequences for that. Anything posted on social media is going to get criticism of some sort. You may not think it is a big deal personally, but someone in the world might.

If you are interested about the readings here are a few links to where I found some information

http://www.indystar.com/story/life/food/2016/01/04/kilroys-goes-viral-after-response-angry-customer/78252026/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3383021/The-manager-told-dying-important-Cold-hearted-bar-customer-goes-rant-saying-New-Year-s-Eve-ruined-woman-having-HEART-ATTACK.html

http://www.yelp.com/biz/serenity-salon-indianapolis