Social Media Usage Reflection
I remember getting my first AOL screen name (AIM) and the sound it made whenever you sent an instant message. It was the main medium for me to communication with my friends outside of school because I didn’t get a cellphone until high school. I also remember everyone had a xanga back in middle school, the site where people poured their heart out and gave ‘propz’ (a.k.a. comments) to each other’s entries. Then MySpace got popular and everyone was on MySpace, though I cannot recall anything significant I did on Myspace except changing my profile layout constantly. I think it was when Facebook allowed High School students to sign up for an account that I deleted my MySpace profile. At the time, Facebook compare to MySpace was exclusive and more sophisticated (since none of your Facebook friends have the name ‘BabY_G1RLZ’).
Now whenever I open my internet browser, I automatically do the following (in order): check my personal email and school email, look at news feed on Facebook, read timeline on Twitter and then scroll through my Tumblr dashboard. For a class last semester, we had to not use any Google product for an entire week and I failed that task the night it started because I opened Gmail without instinctively right when I open my internet browser.
Checking all the social media medium became a habit for me. In order to make sure I do not miss any message from potential employer or the upcoming sale on Gilt Groupe, I have to check my email. Checking the news feed on Facebook let me know everything that’s going on in my friends’ life so I can stay up to date with them. Twitter is where I read my news, interesting articles or witty line from @Lord_Voldemort7. Tumblr at the moment is where I reblog interesting posts I see on my dashboard. Facebook is probably the site that I use most often compare to the others since most of my friends are on it.
Also, Recently I was reconnected with my elementary school friends back in Taiwan on Facebook, it made me feel really good that there is a common platform that we now use across border. However, I cannot say I completely love the relationship I have with social media. The way it has became a habit of mine to have to check all these different sites in order to feel connected to the world and friends and family.
Jessica Y.