Just Avoid It

Drama has no age.  Proof lies in the posts on social media.  Whether it is Twitter, Instagram, or even Yik Yak, drama can makes its way into anybody’s life and the only way out guaranteed for online?  Deactivate. 

            People should not ever have to deactivate as a last resort, though.  Drama should not even happen on social media.  Some people are able to knock down the drama, grow up, and move on, while keeping their accounts up and running.  Others… the drama can get pretty intense.

            Online drama can range from problems between friends, to opinions being shared and then challenged, to break ups that did not end on a mutual level, etc.   Indirecting (posting about somebody without being direct using their name) can sometimes be the trigger to drama online as the person being indirected catches the post and gets (as expected) angered.  The indirecting is a form of a post about drama. 

            The main reasons this drama even takes place are it is easier to instigate and add to online drama behind screens not face-to-face.  You do not directly get hit back in response to the drama in person and you can just ignore the drama. The drama is also public, so people (including strangers) can add to the drama and stand up for whichever side they choose no matter their location as it is just a mere message sent via the internet and it is speedy.  Then there is the ability to take as long as needed to think of a good comeback and reply rather than not being able think of something to say in person or just saying the wrong thing and not being able to go back and “delete” what you have just said.  Online is a medium that can be manipulated, so anything can be said and then changed or deleted. 

            This is no excuse to instantly turn to the internet to start drama.  Moreover, why even start unnecessary drama in the first place.  If the problem is something minor, it is best to keep it on the down low.  If it is something incredibly pathetic and can help others in life if they experience the problem that is starting drama, then it is best to keep it mature and more of a debate, but usually, the maturity is not even a factor. 

            All in all, if you have drama, stay off the internet. 

           

            

Top 10 Ways to Gain More Instagram Followers

1.     Find your theme: Find something interesting that you would like to be posting up about, like daily life activities, animals, events, and photography.

2.     Develop a schedule for your post: Create a regular schedule for making your post. For example, you can decide to to be making your post about 3-5 times a week.

3.     Take your photos with good lighting: Make sure your photos and videos are clear and not blurry. Try to put out good quality photos.

4.     Edit and filter your images: Use different tools to improve your photos like crop, color, and black & white.

5.     Use hashtags #: Use hashtags that relate to the topic of your post. This will help you to get more recognition and possibly followers.

6.     Have interactions and network: Basically get around, like what you are interested in, repost and comment. Try to network with other people that seem to have the same interest as you do.

7.     Keep it Interesting: Keep your post interesting for your viewers. Don’t get boring.

8.     Promote your Instagram and follow other people: Advertise yourself. Tell people about your page and to follow you. You should also try to support other and follow other people as well.

9.     Be consistent: Keep posting on a regular basis. Keep your audience interested and happy by giving them something to view

10.  Have fun and enjoy it: You have to love what you do to be good at it. Have fun and enjoy posting content to you page and keep at it. People will see that and would want to follow you.

The Spread of Terrorism Through Social Media

Terrorist groups, such as Al Qaeda and ISIS, use social media and modern technology to promote their militant interests.  Technology increases communication, and by extension, better communication leads to better organization.  Because of social media, many extremist groups have the capability of operating from any corner of the globe. Terrorist organizations have mastered social media to promote their agenda and they have been successful recruiting members from around the world using social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube.

These organizations have proven their skills in social media by developing a sophisticated, online campaign in order to distribute their messages and recruit members beyond the Middle East.  The videos showing the beheadings of Western journalists by ISIS are examples of propaganda that aim to instill fear in the Western world and to recruit new members sympathetic to their cause. Social media gives ISIS the ability to broadcast their atrocities in a matter of just a click around the globe.  Individuals and groups think carefully about how they place information on social media.  Likewise, terrorist groups use the same strategy while presenting their grizzly acts to the world. 

As we can see, terrorism has reached a whole new level with the advent of social media. Anybody can use the tools that social media offers in order to promote the messages in which they want to convey.  People post on social media, primarily, in order to illicit a response from their friends and followers and ISIS uses Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube for the same purpose.  ISIS is using social media like everyone else in order to connect with its followers and gain new followers around the world.  Social media is designed for exponential growth and ISIS fully understands this concept and has used it to their advantage. 

Distance Won’t Separate Us

Growing up, ears tended to take in the warning “Don’t talk to strangers”.  There are murderers, kidnappers, stalkers, you name it, lurking around at any place any time all around the world and the one stranger you talk to could be that person.  But then again, should we always live in fear and almost drop socializing?

No.

Socializing takes place both in person and online.  At first, online socializing focused on dating, but now in this time of era there is a new type of relationship forming: internet friends. There are not too many people who are aware of what internet friends are, but to sum it up, they are friends made via social media.  These bonds have spread worldwide.  Friends are made across the world, one country with another, one state with another, even one town with another.  Some bonds so strong, the friends meet up, taking the next step and even flying to one another.  How did these bonds form?  Talking to strangers, just as all bonds do.  With social media, people may come across others who like the same celebrity, and then bonds form; people may come across others who went to the same event as they have and posted in the same hashtag, and then bonds form.  With the live broadcasting app YouNow, some people may come across a broadcaster who catches their attention, the broadcaster and audience members talk, and then bonds form.  There are a variety of ways to meet people online, and any of them can result in internet friends. Video chatting is expected to take place at some point as well during the friendship, to feel closer to the friend and to avoid an instance of "catfishing".  

Sometimes, the person who understands you the most and even is one of the best friends you will ever have is not near you.  Social media is the ultimate way to meet that friend and connect with them. 

For those parents who do not believe in internet friends, I suggest witnessing them and then the judgment can be further made.  Experience goes a long way; changes your perspective in a 360.  Internet friends do the same.  They change lives.  They bring a happiness that was out of reach. 

Internet and Beauty Standards

When scrolling through Instagram or simply browsing the Internet, women cannot escape from the media’s demand to get fit and shed some extra pounds. We are constantly bombarded with images of emaciated models, dietary supplements, and fitness strategies and these abnormal expectations have become embedded in our brains.  The push to be thin has become more extreme with the use of social media and these images of “fit” girls have brainwashed us into believing that in order to be beautiful- we need smaller thighs, longer legs, and flat stomachs.  Just type in hash-tags on Instagram such as “fitspo” or “thinspiration” and the trend is noticeable.

According to the NationalAssociation of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Eating Disorders, the body type portrayed in advertising as the ideal is possessed naturally by only 5% of American females. Additionally, in a survey of 185 female students on a college campus, 58% felt pressure to be a certain weight and 25% of college-aged women engage in bingeing and purging as a weight-management technique.  These statistics illustrate the fact that the thin trend has had a significant impact on a lot of women, especially at the college age.  As the ideal body has shrunk to almost nothing, women have experienced an unhealthy battle to become beautiful according to an almost impossible standard.

What we can see from advertising, the fashion industry and fitness models on social media, women are continuously barraged by images pressuring them to be thin.  The emphasis to be thin brings highly dangerous consequences for women. Women are constantly comparing themselves to other women they see online, oftentimes comparing themselves to computer-manipulated images of unhealthily thin and cosmetically altered models. Although it is important to be healthy and exercise frequently, what see on social media and in advertising represents an extraordinarily small portion of the population and it is unrealistic to emulate the bodies of some of the women we observe in online images. It is impossible to turn the computer on, open a magazine, or watch television without somehow being forced to confront the fact that thinner is better and more desirable.

Internet Bullying

Imagine being bullied on the internet, and there is nothing you can do about it. That is how most teenage kids feel when they are being bullied online. Social media platforms such as Facebook has made it easy for kids to get bullied. People sit behind their computers and attack viciously with their words without caring about the amount of emotional pain they are inflicting on these kids. Internet bullying causes depression amongst kids and brings down their self esteem. Internet bullying can sometimes lead to suicides and severe mental damage if a child doesn’t get help.

Depression is one of the first stages of hurt a child faces after being bullied which is sad because this brings their self esteem down. At this young age kids do not know how to deal with this situation so they can sometimes take it out on themselves. They start to believe the things that are said to them as being true, and this affects them is a negative way. A couple of years ago, there was a report on the news about a girl who was being bullied on Facebook through her comment feed. She posted pictures of herself, and people would comment saying horrible things to her like calling her names and telling her she is ugly. This girl was about 14 years old and didn’t know how to handle this situation. She started believing the horrible things that were said to her and started cutting herself and ended up committing suicide. How many more teenage lives are going to be lost for us to start taking internet bulling seriously and take immediate action.

Internet bullying is not a joke and should not be done for fun. People need to watch out for what they say to young people. Ask yourself, would I be able to say this horrible statement right in front of the person? just because you are comfortably sitting at the behind your computer does not mean that you have the privilege to say anything you want. People should think more about how they use their words because words are very powerful. Bullying is not accepted in any shape or form and should be terminated.