Social media Identity Final Copy



Facebook Logo!!



          What exactly is social media and why is it so popular? Social media networks are known for staying connected with friends, communication, meeting new people, sharing pictures and more.  Facebook was the biggest social network in years. Now Twitter is slowly taking over. Facebook was a big part of my life. There was never a day that went by that I did not check facebook at least twice. I use to be a huge fan of Facebook for years along with millions of other people I’m sure. I was addicted. Being an Army Bratt I moved around a lot so it has been very easy for me to stay connected with old friends from facebook. When it first came out Faceboook was the biggest thing. I feel that I have changed a little bit through these social networks from Facebook to Twitter.



Mark Zuckerberg

           Facebook was originally called thefacebook and was founded by Mark Zuckerberg who was a Harvard student.  It spread within months across the Harvard campus and eventually to other universities. When this site became a national student network phenomenon, he dropped out of Hardvard and focused on facebook full time. In 2005 it was officially called Facebook. It was first opened to college students, then it got popular with high school students, then eventually facebook opened up to anyone 13 and up. 

One of my first Facebook pictures in 9th grade.



I made a facebook account when I was in 7^th grade but didn’t start using it till my sophomore year of high school in 2009 which was when MySpace started to fade away. I quickly became attached to Facebook when my friend from school got me hooked on it. Then before I knew it my whole school had a facebook.  I found my old friends on there and was able to stay in touch with them and see what has been going on in their life. I get on there to read the latest news and gossip. I wasn’t the type of person that always posted things every thirty minutes. I was mainly on there to post pictures, read what’s going on, and see what other people have been up to. Honestly, I basically would be nosy. There was always some type of drama going on that I found entertaining. There were always a lot of games to choose from that you could play which I never found interesting. The status I posted was mainly about my day, what I did, or something funny. I would also post quotes and even song lyrics. Just like about anybody else, I liked when I would get notifications that someone liked my post and my pictures. I mean who wouldn’t. Posting things on facebook I was able to show old friends how I have been doing and if I have changed any.



One of my many pictures that I edited.

          When I first started using facebook I was on there all the time. Sometimes I would be on there all day when I was bored on a weekend and during the summer. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one. Even when I had important things I had to do I was always distracted by Facebook.  My parents hated that but I couldn’t help it.  Usually there was always something going on and I didn’t want to miss out. I would always know about any events or parties that are coming up. Anything that went on in my community I was informed about it through facebook. On my facebook page I didn’t want to put personal feelings or show certain emotion. I wanted to appear how I am in person or even better. I liked to come off on facebook as a person that had a fun life and was always doing things. I would post pictures of me at school, hanging with friends, and with my teammates. When I would take pictures to post on facebook, I didn’t just put any kind of picture on there. I would edit my pics (not too much) to make them look nice. Photo editing was very popular and still is. Everybody wants their pics to look cool with all the different effects to choose from. I would spend a lot a time getting my pics to look perfect on websites like PicNik.com. Before I discovered the Facebook app, I could only be on it from a computer. When I realized I could access it on my phone it was a WRAP. Lol. Eventually, Facebook became popular with the older generations, as in my parents and older family members.
          Around my junior year is when parents and older adults started to get into Facebook. My parents and extended family would send me friend requests and I hesitated on accepting them. Having adults on my page from the ages of 30 and up, I really had to watch what I say. I couldn’t post any kind of status that I wanted to because my family members were always watching me and commenting on my stuff. How embarrassing Lol. This past year I haven’t been posting much on Facebook because I have moved on to Twitter.


My first Twitter Picture

           Twitter started in 2006 but didn’t become popular until 2009.  Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone and Evan Williams are part of a company called Odeo that created Twitter. I made an account my freshmen year of High School but didn’t start using it till the beginning of my senior year. It took me a while to get into Twitter because it looked boring. I didn’t get the point of it and really didn’t know how to use it. But just like any other site, when you start to get the hang of it, you become attached. That is exactly what happened to me with Twitter. At first I thought it was stupid. I saw that everybody from my school was getting Twitter accounts so of course that is why I started to get on mine.  I had to keep up with what was the biggest thing. “Follow Me on Twitter” was the phrase everybody was putting in their facebook statuses. As I started to follow people and get followers, Twitter was becoming more and more entertaining. All you do on Twitter is post statuses which or known as “Tweets”. I am extremely addicted to twitter. I guess you can say I’m a Twitter Junkie. I am on there 24/7, literally.  I have a twitter app on my Smartphone which allows me to have access to it all day. I am constantly reading tweets and composing tweets throughout the day. I like to stay connected and twitter keeps me updated more than facebook. I like when I get new Twitter followers. When I post things on Twitter there is usually an audience. This site gives me a bit of a platform to be heard that I don’t get in person. When I get retweets and mentions I feel like I am noticed. Twitter feels like a public diary and an escape for me. My parents and older family members don’t have twitter accounts so I am free to say whatever I want and be myself without having to worry about them reading and having something to say about everything I post. I’m usually quiet so I talk to people easily on Twitter and met a lot of my friends from college on there. I came to college alone so it was good to know some people when I came here. Because of Twitter I stay updated on things going on around campus and stay in the loop.  The students that go to my college are always on my timeline talking about things that I can relate to. Without Twitter, I would have come to college alone and probably would have taken me longer to make friends. On Facebook I wanted to appear more fun but on Twitter I am just being myself as talk about my college life and my experiences.


Most recent picture I last uploaded on Facebook.

          Even though facebook was very big and popular with billions of users, it is slowly getting old and Twitter is taking over. I stopped getting on facebook all the time around November 2011. I still always look back to facebook on all the old pictures and memories that are stored in my account. I don’t delete any pictures so I can always look back and see how much I have changed. Also see the changes in not only me but my friends as well. I still get on Faceboook every now and then, but not as much anymore. Even though Twitter is what I use now, I catch myself looking back on Facebook to reminisce on the old memories it still holds.