What forms of new media do you use daily? How has new social media influenced your perspective of events? Are these positive or negative influences?

I use new media every single day. My cell phone, my tablet, and my smart phone are those that I most rely on. I also use several different social media accounts. Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram… it seems like my personal life and work life completely revolve around my smart phone and all of my apps. I find myself using Facebook every day to keep in touch with friends I went to college with, high school friends, as well as family members. Facebook is also a means for me to check out the “news.” Not only can I read up on local and national news stories that my Facebook friends share but I can also read up on current events occurring in my Facebook friends lives. This week alone I discovered that two of my good friends from college got engaged. Another acquaintance of mine had a baby. One of my friends got a new job and another friend of mine just moved to California. Sure, this type of news is a bit on the gossipy side but humans are naturally social and discussing their thoughts, events happening in their lives, ideas and feelings is instinctive in nature.

Social media has certainly influenced my perspective on events as well as communications in general. Because of social media I have been influenced in the sense that I am one of those people who want information instantly. I have been completely spoiled by the instant gratification new media has presented society with. If I have a question, I Google it to find the immediate answer. If I need to talk to someone, I text them and receive an immediate response. If I miss my brother who lives in Thailand, I Skype him and I instantly get to not only talk to him but see his facial expressions and body language just like I would if he were right in front of me. If I need to transfer money from one bank account to another I pull up my bank app on my phone and it is done in less than 1 minute. I could go on, but the point is all these conveniences have truly spoiled me! I recently was on vacation and broke my smartphone to the point that it was unusable. I was in such a panic I called my carrier and had a new one overnighted to the hotel the next day. I found myself anxious until I received my smartphone. In this way, new media has had a negative influence on me personally by relying on new media a bit too much. However, I do not dispute the fact that new media has done so much positive for our society in general. New media has advanced us as people; it has advanced technology, the economy and our culture. New media has changed how people develop and live. Without new media I do not feel that we would be where we are today as a society. In that regard, I feel that new media has brought us to an advanced state. I find it fascinating how much has changed in short time from when I remember my first computer to how every aspect of my life surrounds new media today. New media is advancing at such a rapid speed it is truly exciting to see where it will take us next.