Is media taking over our lives?

     Have you ever thought about how much of our lives we spend on our phones/ social media or how much we actually depend on things like twitter to tell us if there is a snow day or something like that?
I know i'm totally guilty of being basically obsessed with my phone and keeping all of my social media up to date. But honestly, there are so many things we could be doing.
     Almost every morning I wake up, instantly grab my phone, then lay in bed and catch up on everything I missed in that eight-ish hours I was asleep. I stay on my phone, in bed, for atleast fifteen minutes after i'm supposed to get out of bed then I complain that I am running late EVERY SINGLE MORNING. I'll bet you, and I know i'm not the only one who does this, that if I just got up and left the phone alone until I was all ready for school I would have time to get everything done and maybe even eat some breakfast.
     Another thing is that personally I find out so much things from the internet that I could easily find myself but i'm to lazy too and it's right in my palm. Half of the time I probably wouldn't even know the weather but I do simply because I can either look at my weather app or look on twitter because I gaurantee someone has tweeted about it.
     Also, snow days. Literally everyday in the Winter that I know it snowed/ is snowing I go straight to twitter first to see if anyone has tweeted about a snow day or delay, and again, I know i'm not the only one because I always see tweets like " LOL wouldn't of known about this snowday if it wasnt for twitter."
     But also, not having a phone or any access to the media is the best most relaxing thing ever, sure you may feel out of the loop at the time but in the long run it's probably for the better. Every summer I spend weeks at a Summer Camp and phones aren't aloud and it's awesome cause all your attention can be on what you are doing and not what everyone else is doing and you are " forced" to have face to face interaction.
     I feel that our generation is so dependent and obsessed with media and the newest technology and sometimes we may just need to take a break.

Do it for the Vine

     Vine is one of the "newer" social media out there in the social media world. The reason for the quotation is because it really isn't that new but it's just now making its mark and becoming a thing. For those of you who don't know what Vine is, it's basically instagram but with videos only that are about seven seconds long. Vine is great for everyone, my highschool newspaper has one, it's a quick and fun way to get news out, a lot of peope make Vines for comedy purposes, you really find vines of everything. There is also a lot of trends I've noticed on Vine recently, for example:
     The first one is the "Grind on Me" Vine. Personally, I'm really not a fan of this one, like isn't it awkward for you guys to ask your friend to tape you basically humping the ground. Basically, what this Vine is is boys "dancing" to the song Grind on Me, and by dancing I mean doing this weird handstand worm thing to the ground then basically humping the ground, eww it just grosses me out.
     There is also one similar to the "Grind on Me" one but for girls, weird I know... not. I also think this one is just dumb and a way for girls to get attention. This one is called the " Don't Drop that Thun Thun Thun" basically girls just do this little dance number where they twerk and shake their butt then post it on the internent. I guess i'll never understand the purpose of this.
     Then there is the basic " #Remake" Vines. These ones are mainly when people remake other peoples Vines because they are usually funny or they just really like them I guess. I don't really have problems with them, I mean they are usually pretty funny. When I start to have a problem is when every single person i follow remakes or re-vines the exact same vines and fill up my timeline.
     Also, believe it or not there are people out there who are Vine "Famous". They become famous by just posting a lot of vines who appeal to a wide audience of people. Then people revine their videos and then they get more followers, it really just goes on and on. I know there are a lot out there and sorry if I dont mention yours but i'm going to mention my two favorites.
     My first one is Tasia Alexies because she doesn't care what people think and she is so funny and wierd like me. I like her vines because usually it's her saying some totally ridiculous thing we all know is true but would never be brave enough to say on social media or her vines include her crazy dad who is just like her and doesn't care. Basically, they're just a really funny family.
     My second one would totally have to be Zach Cooper. Oh my goodness, first he's very attractive and two he's so sweet. He works with kids who have down syndrome and he always post really cute and fun vines with the kids he works with. I just feel like he's an inspiration to a lot of people and he has a very big heart.
     I actually really enjoy Vine there are just some things that need to go.

Adults, GIVE US SOME SPACE!

     I think this is a topic all of us teenagers can agree on... Why are our parents on every single social media now?!?! I get that they want to keep in touch with old friends and family, and that's cool but please keep it on your account and don't watch mine like a hawk.
    I'm not even one that posts bad things but it's still kind of like, GIVE ME MY SPACE! First, I got a Facebook and I was still in middle school so I kind of had to let my mom be friends with me, I didn't know being friends with your parents lead to being friends with every single person they know!
     I'm more than happy my parents aren't the ones to post/ comment on everything I post like some of my friends parents do. It's so embarrassing, but I guess that's their "job" right?
     After Facebook, came Instagram. My mom AND her friends again followed me on this site too. I guess a plus to it is that they like all of my pictures, I mean everyone likes those likes. The annoying thing is when they constantly ask you about the pictures you post, for example, " OMG! Who is that boy? Are you dating?" NOOOOOOOOOO. Just because I post a picture with someone of the other gender does not mean that we are dating, by that logic I would have like 17 boyfriends or something.
     Adults asking you about your posts brings me to my next social media, Twitter. Twitter is a place to post what's going on with you, maybe some jokes, and sometimes you might post song lyrics. My mom doesn't "follow" me on this, and those quotation marks are because she still twitter stalks me and asks, " I saw your tweet, what's wrong?" Oh, you saw it? CAUSE YOU STALK ME. And, no nothing is wrong those would be well known lyrics to a song, I am fine.
   The worst is when they start adding your friends, because they don't want them to watch what they're doing especially if their parents aren't watching them already, then they feel bad for "blocking" them or "declining" their follow requests. Now, I'm not trying to rant about adults on media ( but I kind of am), I mean cool you can have it. Just, PLEASE give the kids some space!  All, I'm asking is for one, just one, social media site I can have that isn't constantly being watched.

Media's influence on young girls

         I know this is kind of a cliche topic, but it's still an important one. How media portrays females often influences younger girls. Not only bad influences but their can be some good ones too.
          I think the biggest thig that is a problem is the apperances. Girls will go to extremes to look how they want or how some girl on tv or in a magazine looked.
          Watching the Victoria Secret Fashion show literally makes me sick, I don't understand how people can look like that. I watch it thinking that my leg is bigger than their entire body, and I don't care but some girls do, During the VS Show or anything like that is on, I will often get on twitter/ Instagram to see posts saying how they "wish" they could look like those people on tv.
         Sometimes girls try to make those " wishes" come true, and it usually ends poorly. Girls will become anorexic or belimic to look like those girls on tv, they will literally starve themselves because of how media portrays beautiful or "perfect" or make girls think that the only way they can be succesful in Hollywood is if they have the " perfect" body.
         Rhianna said, "Being size zero is a career in itself so we shouldn’t try and be like them. It’s not realistic and it’s not healthy.” I think the point she is trying to get across is that if you are trying to make it big, that focusing on trying to be a size zero will actually only hurt you. Because you will be focused on that rather than your job and you won't be as healthy as you once were.
          Actresses who look like the average girl are considered to be " Obese" in Hollywood because they aren't a "twig" and a lot of them are happy with how they look and don't want to change because they are trying to send the same message as me, that you should be happy with who you are/ how you look and if you wan't to change it that's okay just make sure you do it in a healthy way.
        Media can also influence girls in a good way too, like maybe it's how you dress or maybe the way you act? Anyway, good or bad media can influnce all kinds of people and personally I think that they should be happy in their own skin.

Instagram Dos & Donts

     Instagram is a very common social media used by people of all ages. In my opinion, there are some "Dos" and " Donts" of instagram much like anyother social media site.
     First, I'll start with my "Donts":
1. Do NOT post a ton of pictures a day, or at one time. Personally, I don't like scrooling through my timeline and seeing 20 pictures from the same person from the same football game, party,etc. I try to keep it at a 2-3 picture per day maximum.
2. This one kind of goes back to the first ones. Selfies. If you post more than one selfie a day, I will unfollow you. Also, with selfies, don't post them every day, don't post them with inspirational quotes or a " #selfie (whatever day it is."  I'm not saying selfies are bad, I'll admit i've posted them. But if the majority of your account is just selfies of you, im sorry I will not follow you.
3. Third one, do not be dumb and post pictures that could get you into trouble, then be mad about it when you actually get in trouble for it. For example; Do not post multiple pictures of you doing illegal things, you think you look tough but chances are you are just going to be caught. ( p.s. did you know what you post online isn't private anymore? yeah weird i know.. Not.) basically just be smart people!
4. Final one and this mainly goes to the girls, Do not post a picture everytime you get starbucks or everytime you just got your nails done/ painted them yourself. It's just annoying.
     Now, onto some of my "Dos":
1. Do post pictures of you doing fun things with your friends/family. Lets say, you go to a football game, post a picture all dressed up with your friends supporting your school. Those are always fun pictures!
2. Post pictures of/ with your pets or other animals. What person can turn down a cute picture of a baby animal? Nobody. Because they are so cute and everyone doesn't mind seeing them
3. If you're on vacation or somewhere cool take a picture of the scenery, people want to know what you're up too and they look pretty cool.
4. Participate in things like " Women Crush Wednesdays" or " Throw back Thursday" every now and then, not all the time. I personally like to when there are old pictures I never got the chance to post or I realize I haven't posted something in a while.

     I'm really not trying to offened anyone or asking you to change your profile/ what you post this is just my personal opinion.

Once something is online, it's no longer private.

Brian Holloway, Former NFL star's house in New York was completely trashed due to the 300+ kids who decided to break in and throw a huge party while he was in Florida. Holloway was contacted about this, and decided he wasn't going to press charges at first, but invite them back to clean up his house and return what they took and he would provide food and drinks for them. After, only about four kids showed up to clean, he decided to look online.

With today’s technology it's easy to find what you're looking for, because once it's online it's public. Holloway started to find many of the students from various videos, instagrams, and tweets. He also sent out things looking for help to find all the students. He has found a lot of them and his list keeps on growing, to learn more about this you can go to his site, http://helpmesave300.com/.

What's weird about this, is that the students’ parents are now trying to defend them and instead sue Holloway. Because, they believe that because he is making these pictures public he is invading the kids’ privacy and doesn't have the right to do so.

I don't get this because the kids already published all of these themselves, it's not like he's doing anything they didn't already do. And, police officers often use media to investigate things. The parents trying to sue him for taking the pictures they already published is like, a murderer suing someone for taking his tweet that could say something like “I just killed someone” think about that? The kids were obviously at the party and clearly wanted everyone to know that they were.

Holloway also had his grandsons headstone taken that was a granite eagle, then found a picture on Instagram from that night, that was a girl and THE eagle saying “Meet eagle” are you really trying to defend your child saying she wasn’t at that party? And, that Holloway doesn’t have the right to use that picture? Because, I’m pretty sure she doesn’t have the right to break into someone’s home and steal his property.  I don’t know, maybe I’m wrong on that one. But, I really don’t think so.

 

Everyone that is on social media should be totally aware that once you post something it’s public and out there forever, you can’t control whose hands it falls into. And, if you don’t want someone to “invade your privacy” then don’t publish it to the public. It’s that simple.
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Netflix

I honestly do not understand all the media things made in this world. All the thinking and complexity behind them just does not make sense to me. In this post I want to talk about my favorite thing in this world, thanks to media, and that thing is, Netflix.

            Words can’t even start to explain my love for Netflix. It’s also so affordable to watch your favorite movies and TV shows for hours. Whoever created this beautiful thing I use on the daily I thank you.

            Literally, Netflix has it all. Maybe not the newest movies but they still have amazing movies and TV shows. One of my favorite things to do when I’m bored is to get on netflix scroll through the movies and just click on some completely random movie.

 Lately, I’ve really got into Gossip Girl. I would really recommend it, if you were like me and a gossip loving teenage girl. It has so many plot twists and secrets that it just draws you in. Also, If you’re an One Tree Hill fan I can almost guarantee you will love Gossip Girl.

 

 Also, kudos to Netflix for the “ Just For Kids” section they made. It comes in handy for me when I'm babysitting and I’m sure it comes in handy for parents too. Because, you can trust the movies are appropriate for your kids. I think it’s neat how that simple of a thing can make a huge different.

 If you’re looking for something to watch on Netflix, I have plenty of suggestions. I’m currently watching the Emmys and Breaking Bad has been nominated for almost every award. So, if you’re into crime like shows, that seems like a popular one to look for.

 I would also recommend the like “Thriller” section if you are into that type of thing. I love it because i love crime investigation and getting that adrenaline rush. Its like the adrenaline from an actual movie in a less scary but still scary way. It’s by far my favorite section on Netflix.

Netflix also recently put up all of these old Cartoon Network shows that us teenagers watched in our childhood and they are still just as good. I and some people I know got way too excited when we found out about all these old shows being put on because you can’t watch them on TV anymore unless you’re watching at random hours in the night.

 Weather it’s an old movie or new ish one i’m telling you Netflix has it or something like it. You may even be like me and find some of your favorite shows and movies on Netflix that you have never even heard of before, it’s awesome.

            The thing I love most about Netflix is that it seriously has something for everyone.It has anything from children's movies, to anime, to action, to TV shows, to comedies, to romantic movies, literally there is something for everyone.

 

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