Does social media affect out relationships and behaviours?

In this first blog post I will be discussing how social media affects our relationships and behaviour positively and negatively. Firstly i will be discussing how relationships get affected by social media positively and negatively then i will move onto discussing how behaviour is affected by social media positively and negatively.

Relationships

Social media can affect our relationships positively and negatively. It affects us positively as it allows people to talk whenever and wherever e.g. Facebook messenger. Facebook messenger does not need to provide a phone number so old friends who do not have your numbers anymore can still be able to message you on Facebook messenger allowing you to be able to catch up with old friends. They would not of been able to do this if they did not have social media. It helps with maintaining relationships as it allows people to talk to each other rather than it having to be in person as not everyone has the time or is able to meet up with their friends or family as they may be too busy or live in a different country/city so it will be hard to meet up/make plans with individuals. Social media allows people to message (Facebook messenger), call (Skype), send photos (Snapchat) etc. 

On the other hand, social media could be negative on relationships as many people post their most ‘perfect’ selves, no one really posts the bad stuff so everyone has expectations for many different things. An example for that is there have been many people on social media platforms posting about their relationship/s and many people could compare theirs to that couple leading to arguments and possibly break-ups. People also lose friends over social media as this is where everything gets posted so this could lead to arguments such as: someone posted a picture someone did not like on Instagram, a screenshot of a photo or message could be sent around leading individuals not being friends with that individual or the individual themselves not being friends with the individual who sent the screenshot around, even though individuals do have social media some individuals may not try and message their friends or family making them drift and loose the relationship etc. 

Behaviour

Social media can also affect our behaviours positively and negatively. It can affect us positively as individuals with a platform are able to showcase to their following the important stuff and make them aware of things. For example the fires going on in Australia, they could showcase the importance of helping out and donating to help and due to them having a following they will get a few of their following to help. I have seen many people with a platform use it to appreciate the things that individuals get insecure about for example stretch marks. Many people do not edit out their stretch marks in photos as they are normal and want to showcase that to their followers which has a positive impact as many people are insecure about their stretch marks and may feel better that a person who has a following/ a celebrity is appreciating something that they hate.

However social media can be negative on our behaviour as many people will do whatever it takes to go ‘viral’, ‘famous’ or even ‘known’. Due to wanting this popularity people could go to extreme measures which could lead to bad behaviour as that seems to get individuals popular as anything can make anyone famous now on social media. For example, a young girl called Danielle Bregoli or ‘bhad bhabie’ got popularity by appearing on the Dr Phil show on YouTube and her bad behaviour is what made that video go viral and what made her as popular as she is to this day. Individuals may even put them in harm by hurting themselves to get this popularity. There has been a case of someone called Luka Magnatta who wanted this popularity so bad he killed kittens on YouTube. Therefore, people will go to extreme amounts of effort to get this ‘fame’, this especially happens on YouTube ,or any apps that you post videos e.g. Tik Tok.

Exploring the different tools.

Google Docs

Google Docs is the first IT tool that I will be talking about. This is a word processor that is free to use as you just have to have a google account and it is offered by Google. Its service includes, a presentation programme, Google slides, a spreadsheet and Google sheets.

I personally use Google Docs very often as its competitor, Microsoft Office, you need to install it which can take time, internet to install and take storage up however with Google Docs you do not as the web browser is already installed and does not take anymore storage up on your computer as it is already there, this allows individuals to be able to get onto Google Docs using any computer and can get on it anywhere for example at home. So when it comes to holding my work and writing new work I use Google Docs. I personally have been using Google Docs for a very long time as I used it in college so I was very experienced with it when we learned about it in lessons however the lessons did help as I thought that google docs only saved your work into the docs I did not know that you could do presentations, spreadsheets or anything like that so in college I would use Microsoft to write down my work but save it in google docs as it was the only way I could do my work at home as like I have said I do not have Microsoft on my computer. So knowing this has really saved time as I do not have to go on two different things I can use one which is very helpful.

Overall, on reflection really enjoy and like google docs when it comes to doing work as I am able to do my work at home and not having to go into university just because I saved on Microsoft. I will be using this in the future to do my work for other modules and most probably when I have a job.

WordPress

The second IT tool I will be talking about is WordPress. WordPress is an online blog and website creation tool which I have used to create this blog. This allows people to make websites/ bogs either using templates or completely from scratch. WordPress can be used for free however some features cannot be accessed. For example, by paying £15 a month I would have been able to use the domain I wanted but I had to use the free option which was not what I wrote when they asked what domain I wanted however this does not bother me as this blog is for an assignment however someone who does make blogs may be bothered that they have to pay to get the domain and many other features for their blog.

WordPress gives directions on how to use it so it could possibly be easy enough to use for someone who has basic computer skills as I have basic computer skills and I still managed to create the blog without any struggle.

However, due to the free option having limited features, many individuals (especially with assignments as individuals will pick the free option just for an assignment) blog will somewhat look the same so this will make people struggle trying to make their blog stand out. You also have to accept adverts being placed on your blog if you choose the free option so individuals will not have control over the advert content.

Overall, WordPress is a good option if you want to make a blog or website quickly and for free. It is easy to use and is a quick way to publish content on the web. It is a good way to speak out and to educate people and you can stay anonymous if the individual wanted to. Staying anonymous will allow people to speak more freely as they may be afraid to speak their mind as they do not want to be judged for how they feel or think. I personally will not make a blog but if I did I would use WordPress.

Prezi

Lastly I will be discussing Prezi. Prezi is an online presentation software just like Microsoft PowerPoint however is different because Prezi puts more of a twist on the presentations as the involve boxes not slides. Prezi is easy to use and has a wide variety of templates that can be used. Each template sets the presentation up differently making it unique to the individual creator. Prezi has a collaboration feature which allows the creator to add people to their creation and edit the document which is ideal if you were working in a group on an assignment, people will be able to add to it and edit it and work on it at the same time.

I personally have not done a Prezi presentation however I use to use it in college to help with assignments as some Prezi presentations were made on assignments I did. I used Prezi a lot as they have so many presentations already and would always recommend Prezi if they were stuck on an assignment. Some teachers have also used Prezi and I enjoyed them presentations more than the normal ones as Prezi in my opinion is more fun most probably why I liked using Prezi presentation for my assignments over my actual teacher presentation.

Overall, my reflection, I have always used Microsoft PowerPoint when it came to PowerPoints due to using that since I was in primary school so I would most probably stick to Microsoft as I am very experienced with that and know exactly what I am doing however Prezi I have never used so I would be confused on what to do. I would like to know however to use Prezi as I personally do like it a lot more as it is more fun in my opinion and when teachers use it, it catches my interest and makes me want to learn more. So using it in the future is a definite especially with the fact I want to be a primary school teacher so this may also help with the children wanting to learn as it has that effect on me.

Links

https://prezi.com

www.wordpress.com/

https://docs.google.com

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What kind of societal changes have digital technologies brought about?

In this last blog post I will be discussing the kind of societal changes that digital technologies have brought about in everyday life.

There are many societal changes that technology has brought about in everyday life. Digital technologies have changed our everyday life as it has changed the way we communicate. In the past people had to communicate using a letter, this took days to arrive, however now, individuals can communicate instantly using instant messaging such as text or through social media. This has revolutionised the way people communicate. This is positive as it won’t take days for the receiver to receive the letter and then another couple of days for the original sender to receive their reply, through message it takes a matter of seconds.

Another way it has changed our everyday life is, it has changed the way we watch television. There used to be televisions with set channels however now, individuals can download movies/programs, can stream online using websites, use companies such as netflix and amazon to pay monthly subscriptions to watch as many TV programmes and films they want. In the UK we have Sky which allows us to have many channels from sport to movie channels to kids channels etc. It allows us to record whatever we like. This is useful as we may be at work when our favourite TV programme is on so we are able to record it so we do not miss it and can watch it at a more convenient time. There is also an option to remind us when something is on so if a football game is on and we want to watch it but do not want to wait by staying on the same channel and watching the stuff before it we can put a reminder on the specific game and watch something else and then when its on we get a reminder that it has started which is useful as they may forget about the game or forget what channel it is on so when the reminder pops up we press a certain button and go straight to the channel.

Another way technology has changed in everyday life is that dating apps/websites have changed the way we date. Tinder, bumble, match .com are all dating websites/apps. In the past this did not exist and people talk to people in person id they was interested in the individual however these apps/ websites allows you to do it online. This could be a positive for some individuals and may prefer meeting new people in this was as people may struggle talking to people in person and feel better behind the screen. However dating websites have been seen to be negative as it is online and you do not know who you’re talking to, so there is a possibility of being ‘catfished.’

Lastly, another way technology has changed everyday life is by the way we pay and handle money. In the past there was no such thing as paying online individuals would get letters of the amount they had to pay however now it is all done online which is a positive as there are not piles and piles of letters with numbers on them where you would have to work out the amount of money you have to pay it is all done online which is less stressful. When we go shopping we no longer need to bring money we can just bring our bank card where all our money is and in there safely. This is positive as it is easy for money to fall out of your pocket or purse and easy for people to steal with bank cards no money is lost and if the card get lost or stolen you can easily call your bank to cancel your card so no one takes money out of it. When transferring money we no longer need to hand the money or give out cheques we can just use companies such as PayPal or online banking to give people money.

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