Social Media on the run, towards developing the future.

     Inevitably, social media has dominated our current era. With the use of social media and social networks, we became a lot more sociable, cooperative, etc. These social ways of communication have made our lives easier and has played a huge part in our lives, economy, business statuses, and a lot more. A lot of our source of living are based upon the social media through the use of social networks. An example of this are online business stores. Also, some advertising are also done on social networks. Indeed, social networks are really helpful not just in businesses, but also in our school works.

     Social media and social networks will eventually evolve in the following years. Due to the advancement of our technology, it will really happen in out world. Since the start of trend of technology, everything has evolved to the next level. I perceive that social networks would have a huge number of subscribers. Also, I believe that strong competition would be on the run. but, as for now, Facebook is still dominant. They would make a lot of different applications to compete against each other. These applications would be the basis of their firm competition and would boost up their competitiveness so that they can offer the best set of new technologies they can make. Another thing is that maybe every social network would have their own live chat so that it is more convenient for the user to depend upon only one network. On the other hand, for social media, it really will evolve in the coming years. Right now, different companies have already developed awesome gadgets that will make your mouths drop in awe. I believe, in the coming years, it would continue to evolve in a more tech-y and advanced way. Since then, we have used social media as a means of communication. In this way, the use of this will evolve into a more unique way wherein we may use these in a more effective way.

     In this era, we really do rely on social media as a means to communication. Through the use of technology, we may upgrade our way of living because of our dependence on such things. But, we must still depend on the traditional ways because through this, we can still appreciate our culture. But all in all, we still live in a world full of new advances wherein we live in such things.

Social - Media. A reflection.

     For my 1 academic year stay in De La Salle University, it is clearly seen that I have learned a lot of different, new things that I can apply to my life. Like what we learn from school, we must also apply these things to make our learning fruitful. It is truly nice to see that we can achieve something based on the things that we have learned from such. All the activities that we have done in SOC-MED class has really been unforgettable and in here, I'll start to reflect upon myself on what things made my 3rd term in De La Salle University fun and exciting.

     As my stay in De La Salle still continues, I have learned a lot of things that I didn't expect to come on my way. As for SOC-MED class, it introduced me to new innovations that are in trend right now. This class has taught me different kinds of technology that will be improved in the coming years, or even, for the future. Technologies that will be essential in our lives for the coming years ahead. This, is what we have accomplished.

     We have done different experiments and activities. The first one was the introduction to Twitter and on tweeting everyday with the hash tag #socmed. From the first day, up and until now, Twitter has been with us through thick and thin. In here, we say all the things that we feel and all the burden that we can throw on Twitter. We are free to say what we like to say to the world. It is, indeed, helpful for our lives and even, to our social lives. The next one was about a blog of  a memorable childhood experience. With this activity, we have reminisced past photos of our childhood and through that, we have appreciated on what being a child is. We have missed on being little cute babies and the crazy antics we have done in our childhood days. The blog we posted was such a nice activity wherein we have gotten to know our group's childhood memories which will make us all more closer.  The third activity was about the VOST2011 videos. I have seen a lot of submissions and it was nice to see that we, Lasallians, can contribute to such magnificent, creative ideas we can share to the world. These videos relate to us on how we use social networks in our lives and what college life has to offer for us. I have to say, it was fun shooting for our video submission because we have seen the deeper meaning on why social media is essential for us. During our reporting, all I can is that I am in awe of all the creativity and the flow of ideas Lasallians have gave on making their video submissions. Indeed, we have our own creativity and uniqueness that we can showcase to the world. The fourth activity was on reputations. It was a paper activity wherein we answered questions that has something to do with reputations on social media.

     That was half of the activities that we have done on SOC-MED class. The fifth one was about The YouTube Traffic Experiment. This, I think, was the best experiment so far because we have done a lot of things to accomplish this. To record the newly uploaded videos, to segregate the status, and other such things so that we can make our evaluation on the most number of tags used, the commonly used language and etc. This activity helped us to manage the use of a tag cloud. The next activity was about the conflict/difficulty in social networks. In this activity, we have interviewed 2 resource persons who we think has a different kind of job and way of living. This experiment helped us to understand better on how social networks helped in their lives and how it made their live a lot easier. The last activity to be done was about the 6 degrees of separation. In this activity, we will make a video to interpret it. We still haven't finished it but we assure you that we will do it. :)

    All in all, I can say that I am thankful for having SOC-MED in my last year as a frosh. Also, I won't regret on choosing IM track over the IT track. Indeed, SOC-MED has taught me a lot of things that I am thankful of because it helped me on making my life easier and more technological. In this class, I thank Ms. Mavic for patiently sharing all of her knowledge about the technology industry now. Also, I thank all of my group mates who were with me in all the process and accomplishments. :)

Avatars, expressing creativity

EMOTICONS

     Usually, the avatars we use for social networks such as Yahoo Messenger, Twitter, etc. are from emoticons. Because of the simplicity of such faces, we appreciate them and they somewhat represent what we feel as of the moment. Also, these faces are really nice to look at.

But, for me, I don't use emoticons as my avatar. Instead, I customize faces that I think will look exactly like my face right now.

THIS IS MY VERY FIRST AVATAR:

     I made this avatar when I was in 3rd year high school. Since avatars were the trend on social networks during that time, I also made myself one. I use the color purple for my background because that was my favorite color. Also, I wore glasses since Grade 6 up to that time. Even though this avatar is very simple, I really appreciated this because it somewhat had the features that I had at that time (hair, glasses, etc.) Also, my friend was the one who helped me make this avatar :)

MY FIRST AVATAR AT YAHOO MESSENGER: 

     Yahoo Messenger is really used by many. It offered some new features that users would love and would like to offer to others. This avatar that Yahoo Messenger offered caught my eye. When I first started using Yahoo Messenger, I used this avatar instead of my personal picture because I was shy to upload my real picture. In this setting, I am wearing a simple t-shirt and skirt to symbolize that I am a girl. Also, the background used in this avatar is the mall because I like to hang-out at the mall back when I made this avatar. I am wearing jewelries and eyeglasses because in real life, I really wear such things. My mood in here is Happy because I really am glad that I have successfully made my first avatar at Yahoo Messenger.

MY CURRENT AVATAR:

     This avatar is the one that I am using now in Yahoo Messenger. In here, I am holding a laptop which symbolizes that I am studying BS Information Systems since we do programming. Also, the background is somewhat similar to De La Salle University because of its long buildings. Since we still have regular classes up and until now (unlike other schools who are already on their summer vacation), I still use this avatar. When our summer vacation begins, I am planning to change this avatar :) Unlike my first Yahoo Messenger avatar, I am not wearing eye glasses anymore since I have switched to wearing contact lenses. Also, my mood here is happy.

     Since not all of us would like to publicize our real photos online, we make avatars the would express ourselves. In expressing this, we use our imaginations and our creativity in creating our own avatars. Through this, we can hone our talents and creativity in a way that we can show others what we think and what we are.

Broadcast Yourself

     YOUTUBE. This website had been there for us since... like for a lifetime. We get entertainment from YouTube through watching the videos that had been uploaded and for the community to watch and benefit on. Some use YouTube for good purposes while some, do not. They just do it for their own benefit and sometimes, may harm others. But, as time passes by, we see that YouTube is a good place for people to get discovered by to become great singers/actors in the future. But, different people have different corresponding views on what's the purpose of YouTube for them.

     It was just during the 3rd year of my high school life that I got to know what YouTube is. Back then, it was not a familiar term for me because I really do not use the internet way back. Now, for me, YouTube has made a huge impact on my life. Ever since 3rd year of high school, I got hooked up to Korean pop music. I watch their music videos and also some performances from YouTube. YouTube is my only source of videos. Because of this, I begin to make it a habit to check my YouTube account every time I open the computer for new videos available from subscribed users. Also, I go to YouTube for Korean dramas that had been uploaded with English subtitles so that we can understand the story. Because of YouTube, some things that give me happiness are from YouTube itself. It also saves me from boredom (except when the video buffers for a long span of time). Another impact that YouTube has made in my life is when finding videos for reports, etc. YouTube will surely be there to make life for us students, easier.

     YouTube has helped students in different ways. First is when doing research. Second is when finding related topics about your research. Third is when you had a hard time understanding the lecture of the teacher, you can find some tutorial videos (like mathematics) at YouTube and through there, you can fully understand what the topic is really all about. Right now, our country is mostly operated on technology. Technology had made a huge huge impact on the lives of all the countrymen living within it. Without technology, some of us would think that we may not survive on living because we are truly dependent on technology. Since YouTube is operated on technology-based, the education of the Philippines' level of education can elevate to a much higher standard. Through the use of YouTube, teachers may use the videos uploaded to be the tool used for teaching. Also, there are videos about statistics and real life situations and through these, the student's perspective on that particular subject would broaden.

     Technology is now evolving into a more effective way. It evolves so that we can live an easier life. As this process continues, technology will evolve in a fast paced view and the next generation are the ones that would benefit the most. YouTube, on the other hand, it would be used in education and would somewhat evolve in a kind that would fascinate the younger generation because they are the one who really uses YouTube. Also, I think it would be like in pixels in which it is kind of 3D. Because right now, some professionals are doing everything to make our technology more advanced.

     It is true that YouTube has been there for us through thick and thin. It helps us in some of our school works, and at the same time, for entertainment purposes. YouTube has made a huge impact to the whole wide world. Some base their future on YouTube whenever someone discovers what their real talent is. It somewhat applies to the purpose of YouTube. It says so on their tagline "Broadcast Yourself", which is true because we live in a democratic country and we have the right to freedom of expression.

A Blast from the Past!

I have lots of memories about my childhood. Some of them are good while some of them are not. But the ones that are worth keeping are those that made us who we are right now. Failures may also be a part of what you have been from the start up to the end. We all learn from them. Being a child, I think, is the most wonderful thing that will be a part of your precious memories.

Sometime in 2003, it was summer vacation and our family planned to spend it with our relatives. Of course, we planned it with the family whom we are very close to. We went to Pangasinan with my cousins from my father side and also with our grandmother. The trip lasted for about 5 hours. We slept at the car and when we got to the destination, we all can't sleep (except for our father who drove the car and stayed awake for 5 hours) because of excitement. Me, my siblings, and my cousins planned to stay in a room where there are no adults so that we can experience playing with our cousins just by ourselves (no adults).

We saw a lot of beautiful places at Pangasinan. It is known for their landmark "Hundered Island" and it makes Pangasinan a place where tourist can have their vacations. The beach was so nice but the only thing disturbing about the beach are the icky jellyfishes that will sting you when you come close to them. But, we must not let a little creature destroy our planned fun vacation. We only stayed at Pangasinan for 3 days. By the time when we were about to leave, we all felt really sad because we will miss the things about it that made us happy. That was the only family vacation that we had when I was still in grade svhool. But then when I reached high school, our family vacations are now based on abroad. Being at abroad is a lot fun but nothing can beat the fun that I experienced at Pangasinan with my siblings and cousins.

This experience was a special one because we really became closer with our cousins that started from that planned vacation. That was the time that we really all bonded and had fun playing with our dearest cousins. If I were give a chance to share it to others, I would post pictures that we took and share to them the nice things about Pangasinan. To a particular person, I would disclose it to my cousins so that we can reminisce all the fun things that we had there and laugh at the moments where we  had sleepless nights. Reminiscing a childhood experience is a nice way to make you more productive in the future.