Social Media 10

Unlike the case of Trayvon Martin, the media is not always portraying positive messages. Sometimes people in the media try to tear a person down. For example, Tiger Woods who once upon a time was the best Golfer in the world. He dominated golfing legends of the past and present. His legacy started after he dropped out of college to purse a professional golf career. The media blew him up to new heights and ultimately became a superstar. The saying all good things come to an end relates to this situation pretty well because news stations went crazy when news got out that Tiger Woods crashed his SUV into a tree. It was later found out that his wife had chased him out of the house with a golf club because she found out about some of his many infidelities. This forever changed Tiger Wood's life. His image was tarnished and took years to repair. This also affected his play, he has yet to win a major tournament. The media built Tiger Wood's image to the world from the ground and tore it down just as fast as they built it. Media has both positive and negative effects.

Social Media 9

The case of Trayvon Martin is a very sad and emotional case. As many of you already know Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch member in Florida. I am going to talk about this  article, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-04-26/trayvon-martin-reflects-rodney-king/54569324/1, that relates the Trayvon Martin tragedy to that of Rodney King's case way back when.

The King beating was caught on tape, which showed four white police officers brutally assaulting and unarmed Mr. King. This beating reflected the over 300 years of or racial struggle. When the verdict came in that the officers were acquitted of state charges the media exploded. Today a similar case as arose in that of young Trayvon Martin. This unarmed black teenager was shot and killed by a White/Hispanic neighborhood watch member who thought Trayvon looked suspicious because he was wearing a hoodie with his hood on. This neighborhood watch member has since claim self-defense, regardless of the fact that he shot dead an UNARMED teen.

Both cases are twenty years apart have garnered quite a bit of media attention. Some people feel as if the Trayvon Martin case was blown out of proportion because "murder happens all the time". What these people do not understand is this case shows that despite all the efforts of the black community to be equal there are still those who have put up walls. This case, I feel is something that needs to be heard by Americans because Trayvon Martin was a black innocent young teen who was shot and killed because someone thought he looked suspicious and killed him.

Rodney King's incident was about putting a black man down, plain and simple. Trayvon Martin's case was eliminate a threat, a threat that this neighborhood watch member did not like at first sight. This case has seen much media attention not because it was a murder but because there is something really wrong with some people. This case, I believe was highlighted to open peoples eyes to what is going on around them. A young boy from Florida who went outside to get some ice tea and skittles is now dead because of a misjudgment.

Social Media 8

Today I am writing about how Maryland has become the first state to outlaw employers from asking for your username and password for social networking sites. This article can be found here http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/md-becomes-first-state-to-pass-bill-outlawing-social-media-password-requests-by-employers/2012/04/20/gIQAYarFVT_story.html. This article explains how Maryland went about this process. Maryland had a bill passed which will keep managers from looking at password protected content on your social media networks. Their reasoning behind passing the bill is that employers violate potential employee privacy and also intimidates them. A man named Robert Collins was reinterviewed for recertification as a corrections officer after a leave of absence and was asked for his password and username. He could do nothing but watch as the employer roamed through his Facebook pictures, wall post, and private messages looking for reasons not to rehire him. This case right here is one of the driving forces behind the state of Maryland pushing this bill to get signed and passed. They wanted to prevent others from feeling what this man felt while trying to get his job back. I personally feel that Maryland has taken the appropriate steps in ensuring a better interviewing process.

Social Media 7

The impact Youtube can have on a persons life is amazing. You can go from being unknown to becoming a viral star overnight. An example of this would have to be this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qhm7-LEBznk. This video was about a couple on their way back from taking a final, when the man proposes a question to his wife. He asks "if you are traveling 80 miles per hour how long does it take you to go 80 miles." His wife struggles he way to an incorrect answer which now has the web buzzing. This video has now been video over six million times. Her husband tries his best to explain to his wife why and how she is wrong, all while holding back laughs. Her hilarious explanation was viewed on many websites and also some notable shows such as Good Morning America.  The show even had the couple on air to discuss the video and America's reaction to it. The wife claimed she was angry at her husband for filming her answer mainly because it went viral. She also admits that although she was mad it has made their relationship that much stronger and that this was just a bump in the road. This embarrassing video has probably been seen on computers all around America. It has turn this college student into somewhat of a "celebrity". The power of social media today is amazing. Who knows what will be the next video that will catch America's eyes.

Social Media 6

Recently Garrett high school in Indiana has taken discipline to a new level, that level being taking disciplinary actions based on what a student posts on a social media network. This high school has expelled a senior for swearing on his Twitter account during what seemed to be after school hours. The tweet that got Austin Carroll kicked out of high school with just about three months of school remaining went as follows,"F*** is one of those F****** words you can F****** put anywhere in a F****** sentence and it still F****** makes sense.” The school claims the student used a school owned computer to post the tweet and kicked him out. The former high school senior, Austin Carroll was interviewed by Indian's News Center and said this, "If my account is on my own personal account, I don’t think the school or anybody should be looking at it. Because it’s my own personal stuff and it’s none of their business”.  The school's principal claims that their computers system tracks every tweet a student sends when they log into Twitter using the schools computers. Also that if he tweeted the comments posted above from a computer at his home and logged onto a computer at school again the system would retrieve all of his tweets no matter when it was sent from. Some may argue that this students first amendments were violated while others will side with the schools actions. I feel that schools should not be allowed to take a persons social life and punish them for it regardless if it the tweet was posted on school computer or not.

Social Media 5

Today I am going to write about how my generation, today's teens, are all "wired up". In this article about social media, http://www.livescience.com/15433-facebook-social-media-effects-teens.html, teens are described as being constantly connected to the internet whether it is Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, or texting. Teens today are always connected to the internet in one way or another. The author of this article claims that a new scientific study has shown there are psychological effects of constant face booking. According to the article the psychological effects are both good and bad. The bad effects that Facebook start to have on teens are the signs of narcissistic tendencies. A positive effect that Facebook would start to give  someone would be the opportunity to begin to socialize. Particularly those people who are not comfortable socializing in public or who are just shy. It is a why for people to connect with other in what seems like a safe environment to them. Another negative impact social networking sites such as Facebook presents to teens would have to be the decline in academic performance which may become prevalent. This also can be a positive effect on teens if used properly because some teens work well when given the opportunity to connect to the internet. It can be a way for them to get engaged with their academics. There are many ways to combat the negative effect of social networking sites. This article suggests parents reward their kids with whats called a "tech break" and allow them to surf the web after completing a substantial amount of work.

Social Media 4

I am going to write about this article that I found about the National Basketball Association which I found interesting http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/24/idUS140846563820120224. It discusses how social media has affected the NBA through its lockout shortened season. Since the beginning of 2011 the NBA has received the most social media discussion of any other sport. As of late that trend seems to be continuing with the recent emergence of Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks otherwise known as “Linsanity”. Social media sites have been a buzz since the arrival of the NBA’s newest poster boy. Lin’s name was mentioned on Twitter about 2.6 million times within a week. Facebook has seen a plethora of Jeremy Lin posts, comments, pages and or photos. Lin is also responsible for the increase in MSG’s ratings as of late. If it was not for people spreading the latest news of the NBA on social networking sites I doubt the NBA’s merchandise sales would be up 30 percent like it has. This article argues that a Lebron James has much more of an impact in the social media world be cause he is a superstar of the NBA rather than a superstar in the NFL because the NBA’s fans are more attuned to the social sphere. In closing, social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter can be used for a greater purpose when used in the right hands. The NBA used it to capitalize on the unexpected rise to fame of Jeremy Lin.