‘You are what you tweet’ (Alex Tew)

I’m getting into social media. Not because I want to, but because I feel I should. It’s the way the world is going- the 10 o’clock news, and newspapers now provide old news, thanks to the instant reporting on social media sites. The riots throughout England that were all over the news this week were mostly coordinated through social media and networking sites. Although on the one hand it’s great that it can be used to unite people over a common cause it is, however, terrifying that it can facilitate acts of mass violence. And the speed in which this can happen is even more terrifying. Despite this, social media does have less negative uses, such as being a place for people to raise awareness of charitable causes etc. It is also becoming more and more important to businesses for recruitment, especially in the media sector, which is the area I want to get into. So for the sake of my own future, I feel like I have to get involved, or else get left behind.

To be honest I’m a bit scared of it all and I don’t agree with the idea that everything one does has to be reported and therefore is free to become public fodder. Twitter, especially provides this sort of platform. I can understand, to some extent, why celebrities and companies use it, as it is a great way to advertise a brand and reach out to millions of people. For celebrities, it allows for their own views to be published, and not be skewed by the mass media of tabloids and gossip columns. I am aware, though, that this can still get them into trouble, as it is a place for people to state their uncensored views and opinions, which aren’t always in line with the status quo. But for the ordinary Joe Blog on the street, I really don’t understand who could find what they had for breakfast or what a ‘mad night out’ they had interesting, which is why I tweet reluctantly and with the realisation that not many people will care what I have to say.

The other thing I can’t get my head around, is the fact that Twitter allows you to communicate one on one with celebrities. With Twitter, unlike Facebook, you don’t have to be friends with or ‘follow’ people to engage with them. You simply write to them. And they can write back. And although I can see that some people would argue that this is no different to sending a fan letter, I argue that it is massively different. For starters, the whole world can see what you write, unlike a private letter, and also, with Twitter only allowing snap statements due to their character limit on Tweets, people are more likely to reply as it takes less effort. I also think the way people view social media is different to any form of media that has come before. Because the general public are getting more involved in making news and shaping the way people communicate, they expect more, and feel that they are no different to celebrities and politicians, for example: it is breaking down the barriers between celebrity and human. I know this can be seen as a good thing and call me old fashioned, but I quite liked it when celebrities were untouchable. It made them more interesting, but now that you are able to know everything about them through the likes of Twitter, you realise that actually they aren’t always as interesting as were once made out to be.

I realise that I sound rather hypocritical as I myself am taking advantage of social media in attempt to advance my position, but I do so reluctantly. It still unnerves me that anybody in the world could access this blog if they so desired, (although I admit not many people do, and not many people would bother to look for it) and I do feel a bit awkward about talking about myself and my views. But as I said, I feel like I have to try and make some mark in order to get noticed at a time when there is such high competition for jobs. There are some aspects of social media which I like. I don’t have a problem with Facebook, which in my opinion is the original and best form of social media. I love the fact that it is almost like an online diary: somewhere to sort out your social life, store your photographs and a great way to keep in touch with old friends. All this with the comfort of knowing that only people you want to get involved can (dependent on your privacy settings, of course, which is a constant concern of my mother, even though she has no idea how ‘the internet’ works). All in all though, social media is an unstoppable force, so for now I think I’ll try and embrace it.

Carpe Diem!

I realise my last post was rather negative, but in the last week my outlook has seen a turnaround. I am becoming what my friend Hannah calls a ‘yes person’. Something as simple as saying ‘yes’ more often is definitely making me feel more positive about life, as after all if you open yourself up to possibilities, more opportunities come you way. This was demonstrated this weekend, and as a result reinforced the benefits of ‘carpe diem’-ing, that is, seizing the day.

The weather this summer has been typically British: wet and grey, so I was not going to miss the opportunity of catching some rays this weekend, which could potentially be the only sun we get for the rest of the summer. After a failed attempt at a croquet party at my house (an extremely underrated sport in my opinion) I very willingly accepted an invitation to a barbecue at Hannah’s house in Leeds. Normally I am reluctant to travel to Leeds as it means getting a bus. It’s not a very long journey, but the sorts of people who get on the bus to Leeds, without meaning to be rude, aren’t the most normal people in the world. But this time I decided to say yes, without hesitation, and it turned out to be one of the most fun weekend’s I’ve had in a long time, and in a way gave me back the focus I needed. So armed with scones and a bottle of Pimms I braved the journey.

My Saturday afternoon was spent just sitting in a garden with a couple of friends, a barbecue and a jug of lovely Pimms…the very definition of Summer. Sometimes there’s nothing better than sitting doing nothing with friends. There had been talk of going out later on, which I was initially unsure about, but as saying yes to the Leeds barbecue plan had turned out so wonderfully, I decided to risk it and say ‘yes’ again. We were meeting up with some of Hannah’s friends from university, people I had never met before, which provided the opportunity to make some new friends of my own. Since returning from travelling, making friends has become one of my favourite past times. I enjoy striking up conversation with strangers, as often you meet some really interesting people. In fairness, they’ll probably never be life long friends, and in fact, you’ll probably never see most of them again, but you never know… Anyway, we danced the evening away at Hi-Fi, to some soul, motown and rock and roll classics before hitting McDonalds (which I definitely regretted when I weighed myself this morning) and then home, well, Ashley’s spare room.

I had fully intended to go home the next morning, however Hannah rang to inform me that she had a spare ticket to Party in the Park, ‘Britain’s largest free pop party’ apparently. Again, my usual self would have probably said no, but hell, I was on a roll. YES. And it was great. The line up included Tinchy Strider, Jay Sean, Example, Pixie Lott, Olly Murs, The Wanted and JLS, among others. Example and Olly Murs were surprising highlights in my opinion, and of course JLS were pretty amazing. For most of the afternoon I felt very old, the average age of the people that surrounded us was probably about 15, but when JLS arrived on stage, I’m ashamed to admit that I did regress to being an over excited teenager again.

The issues I have been having recently with regards to job hunting and my life in general, are because I have been unable to choose one career to focus on. This weekend, however, made me realise that I my original career choice of radio production or something music related is definitely the way forward. It is something I can see myself being good at and really loving, which is an added bonus. Its obviously a very competitive choice so I will have my work hard, but hopefully with my new ‘yes’ mentality, I’ll make it.

My final YES of the weekend was to Chinese and pub quiz. I am embarrassed to say that despite three university degrees between us, we could only manage 16 out of 38 and failed miserably to make the required paper aeroplane. Shameful, but a lot of fun. I am definitely looking forward to saying yes more.