Social media: are there benefits?

By Kayla Fletcher

Social media seems to exist everywhere as people of all ages utilize different forms of social networks to their own personal advantages. In order to get a grasp on the personal opinions and benefits of people using social media, I conducted a survey to see what people really think about social media and how it has had an impact on their daily lives. I interviewed ten people with the demographics of various ages between 16 and 50 years old. Seven of the interviews were with males and the remaining three were females.

Caught you with your hand in the mailbox

By Sarah Miller

I have been checking my mail everyday for a week and still nothing!  My cousin from Ohio said she was sending me a letter in the mail, I spoke with her on the telephone yesterday and she said she sent it two weeks ago. Seriously?  Um...No!

Social media: how much do you use it?

By Jared White

Let us all face the facts. As a society we are driven to communicate with each other. Every person has the need to talk with other people and express themselves. Most of this is done through social media.

The 2010 generation and social media

By Ingie Al-Nakhlawi

In this age, the social media has become a part of our everyday life. Whether used daily for personal use or professional use, most our interaction has become dependent on social media. Almost all organizations and businesses have made groups on Facebook or Twitter for loyal customers to follow them and to be kept updated daily on their current news; as well as to attract new followers.

Social media, family trees and finding friends

By Kerry Schofield

@obsesscreative

I asked a group of social media users several questions about their use of social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Myspace. Users in the group say they are on Facebook and Twitter more so than MySpace. But one user has been on MySpace at least one year longer than Twitter or Facebook. The group overall has used social networking from one to four years.

It's more than just for fun

By Colin O'Hara

The objective of the survey I conducted was to explore the variations of users of social media. The results yielded a unique range of information. Six of the people I surveyed were fellow students of mine at the University of South Florida, ranging from the ages of 18-23 years old. The general consensus was that people of that age group have been using social media for about anywhere between one year to eight years. I noticed that when the people claimed they spent eight years on social media, they either started at myspace or a blog while in middle school. Of the surveyees, 100% of users claim that they do multi task while on social media, whether it is at work, school, or home. Most people say they use facebook at home or school and are watching television, doing homework, talking on the phone, or another online activity other than using social media.

Social media users and their media motivation

By Christina Barron

When I try to picture someone who uses social media networks I sometimes get a blurred vision of a nerdy teenage boy constantly in front of his computer screen uploading and downloading content like a mad scientist. Who exactly are social network users and is there really a category that they can be placed? And is social media use really that detrimental to society as most argue it is? My answers from multiple interviews showed me that social network members span through a wide variety of traits and that online activity can actually promote involvement in the real world.

Social media is a way of life

By Austin Arias

@austinarias

A few years ago, one would wake up, shut off the alarm, get ready for the day, grab some food and head out the door to school, their job or out. Today, one does all those same things - but makes time to sit at their computer or smartphone to check their accounts on popular social networks. Taking that 10 - 15 minutes extra first thing in the morning is proof that "social media is a way of life."

Just log off

By Dayra Rodriguez

How hooked are we really to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter? In this day and age, it’s very difficult to escape social media, we more often than not see people everywhere talking about what happened on Facebook and what he or she tweeted about. I recently took a survey about eight women and three men and their day to day usage of popular social media (SM) sites; focusing on how social media plays a role in their life. I found that interviewing my peers to be an interesting experience, reading their responses were fascinating because they all had different things to say about social media sites and yet, they had similar views.

The social media network experience for adults

By Namreh McGee

I wanted to find out what users thought about their experiences on social media networks. So I interviewed 10 people ages 25 - 50, four men and six women. I found that majority of the women have been active on social network sites for 2-5 years. All of the men interviewed have been active 1-2 years. All six women are active users of more than one site such as Facebook, Twitter and Myspace.Only one of the men interviewed used more than one social media network. All of the subjects used Facebook and visited the site most often. I noticed that the younger persons checked in to their sites at least once a day, while the eldest checked in once a week. Usually prompted to visit after checking their email accounts.

Social media has impact

By Stephany Reihing

Social media is where we get our news. It’s where we chat with our friends. It’s where we look for romance. It’s where we educate ourselves and connect with people. It’s a craze, but not one that looks like it’s going away anytime soon. For the purpose of this blog, I surveyed a handful of social media users in their mid- to late-twenties. All of the users have personal blogs with. All of the users except for one use Twitter and they all use Facebook. One girl reports using the new website, DailyBooth, a photoblogging website where users document their lives by taking a picture of themselves daily. Another girl uses DailyMile, which is a fitness website where people update their exercise progress by posting how many miles they ran, walked, swam, etc. Users can follow other users and post motivation and comment on their profiles.

Social media: could we live without it?

By Jordan Weber

Social media has “taken over the world”, so to speak, with its applications ready and able for anything from phones, to iPods, to able to work on anything with internet access. After talking to some people about their social media habits, I realized more and more just how much people depend on their social media outlets and how, if those outlets were taken away, they may not know how to function correctly.

Why the hype?

By Jennifer Israel

What's all the fuss about? Social media is everywhere. It is intertwined in our lives as a daily routine used in personal and professional settings.

I interviewed ten people (7 females/ 3 males) about how social media (SM) plays a role in their lives: one female teenager, three male young adults, three female young adults, and three female adults.On average, study participates have been SM users for about five years. Half are users on multiple networking sites, while the others only use one. Facebook is the most popular SM for all ages and genders, followed by an occasional Tweet on Twitter or update on MySpace. Blog sites are used by 50 percent of the surveyed young adults. There is also one Linkedin adult user and one young adult gamer.