Necessity of the smart-phone

            I think one of the biggest technological advancements that have had the most impact on our society is the development and improvement of the smart-phone.  These relatively small devices are everywhere today.  Almost everyone either has a smart-phone or wants one.  With all the smart-phones capabilities and applications it is so hard fathom how anyone can get through their day without one.  I bought my first smart-phone, the droid with an android operating system, last summer and I have not put the phone down since.  I realistically use it daily, but I probably pull my phone out every few minutes to do something on it.  I still believe I use my phone most for texting, but when I am not immediately texting someone I am generally on my phone surfing the internet, checking Facebook, or playing downloaded video games.  I may be a more frequent phone user than most, but in my experience everyone with a smart-phone mostly use it for the same purposes I do.

            The smart-phone is definitely appealing for entertainment purposes, which I believe is a huge reason for people to purchase the phone, but from a practical sense the smart-phone has so much to offer.  This device allows us to communicate with each and stay in touch with people in so many new and unique ways.  Using the smart-phone we can of course make calls and text, but we can send pictures, videos, and voice calls with just the factory settings of the phone.  But there are certain applications that broaden the spectrum in which we can communicate.  Some applications allow us to communicate with each other without even using our minutes or texts. Through the use of the wireless network the application, HeyTell, allows its users to communicate as if with a walkie-talkie.  Since this application is free and only uses the wireless network, it costs nothing to the customer as long as they have a large enough data plan.  Also, with social networks anyone can keep in touch and most smart phones have some type of alert system to let people know they have a message on Facebook or Twitter. 

With the increased use and sophistication of the smart-phones, there is no longer a reason for people to not be able to keep in touch with each other.  So now this only does not help out the average consumer, but it is also beneficial for big businesses.  Now businesses are able to respond faster and be in contact wherever they are.  So as a whole this technology has helped our economy become more efficient and has allowed it to be even more globally spread.

Improving Facebook

            One night when I first set up my facebook account I had trouble sleeping because I was thinking about a way to incorporate two of the most influential online sites today, Facebook and Google.  Since, these are arguably the two most visited sites and spend the most amount of time on, so I thought that they should somehow combine to give the users a better experience.  I then was trying to decide if it would be best to have mainly the Google site with Facebook aspects or should Facebook integrate some of the Google technology.  I settled that it would be best and easiest for the social network to have search engine capabilities.

            I first stumbled upon this idea when I was thinking how could Facebook be improved.  This social network has become such a phenomenon, but it is not perfect.  I thought by adding some Google search abilities it could be vastly improved.  Facebook already had a limited search option.  One used to be only able to search for other people or groups on Facebook, but there really was no real search engine within the site.  At one point if somebody wanted to search for a particular word or phrase within someone’s post or comments there was no way for them to do that.  Now in Facebook someone can search for a phrase, it is only limited to posts by friends and groups that the user likes. 

I was hoping that Facebook could expand on this search engine by broadening its search results.  For example, instead of being only limited to posts by users and liked groups, they should adopt more of a Google search engine.  The search engine should be able to look throughout the entirety of the site.  Of course, all the user pages set to private could not be viewed by non-friended users, but besides those secured pages all of Facebook should be searchable.  Then by incorporating the Google search engine which, as I understand it, prioritizes pages according to visits, relevancy, and similar criteria.  So when searching in this social network the obvious first things to pop up should be the information of friends and liked pages.  Then probably most pages visited or something of that nature. I think that it is great that Facebook is improving their site every day, but there is always room for improvement and hopefully that add a feature similar to this soon.

            Also, I thought that the social network could also add an element from Yahoo as well. I visit the Yahoo website everyday in order to look at the recent global stories.  I was thinking that Facebook could add a similar aspect on the site.  In addition to the News Feed and Most Recent tabs, they could install an article feed that would generate the most recent and relevant news from around the world.  Of course as a user starts use this feature they are able to pick and choose which type of article pop-up most on their page. Also the site on its own could start to discern the type of articles the user reads.  These are just small improvements that the already impressive site could hopefully user.

Technology and Social Interactions

I believe over all the spread of technology and its sphere of influence has had an overall beneficial influence over our society.  With the growth of the internet and the social networks/ sites there is so much evidence for the benefits of technological advancement.  People have developed thousands of relationships with people they could have never met or keep in constant contact with in any previous era.  Albeit, most of these relationships are superficial and are only pertaining to specific topics or interests at hand, yet I still believe that we as a societal whole benefit from this. 

I do not see the all the superficial relationships we build on the internet as a negative or even something that inhibits normal face to face interactions.  I think for the average person who play virtual world games or have social networking accounts are able to balance their lives in reality and virtual worlds.  For some people, their extra-curricular activities include sports, music, and various person-to-person clubs.  So if these are socially acceptable norms for students and young adults, then I do not see why spending one’s free time in a virtual world cannot be just as a norm.  If that is what a person enjoys and is not harming anyone then let them relish in their passions.  Also, the people that spend most of their free time in virtual worlds may have been social outcasts and depressed individuals without an outlet for them to express themselves.  So without these expressions of their identity, we could have had a generation of young adults who did have any way to reach out to individuals with similar interests and would become lost as a result.  However, of course there has to be some moderation in all aspects of life.  No matter what hobby or activity one must exercise a little self-control.  So it probably is not smart for an individual to spend his entire time in a virtual world, thereby forgetting about real social interactions.  I will admit there are probably some people who lose themselves online and have a hard time interacting in a real life social setting.  Yet, these people are an extreme and a rarity. If you look at other extra-curricular activity you will always find the extremist of the activity who do not have any other social interactions outside it.  So avid virtual world users are not alone in their narrow passions, but they tend to be the one most picked on.

So of course it is not wise for someone to spend all their time online for that will not lead to a truly happy life (from a philosophical life) for we all need to exercise balance.  On the whole I generally see these online worlds as an advantageous social tool. There always those who abuse too much of a good thing and the power that comes with it.  These avid online users should no longer be considered outcasts, but instead the new normal.

Social networking and privacy

            I only have a facebook account right now; I have never had a twitter, mysapce, or blog (besides the one for my sociology 49 class) before.  However, even though I only have one real social network account I still feel that I use facebook enough to be considered an average user of social networking sites.  I generally check my facebook every time I turn a computer.  Sometimes I actively browse through friend’s accounts for extended periods of time, however, once I log in I generally just check my updates and just leave it on in the background.  I think what would categorize me as a less avid facebook user, would be that I do not post statuses very often and almost never upload a picture or video of myself.  Even though it seems like I am facebook as much as most users, I tend not to take as seriously or use it share all of my personal details.  Comparatively I have much fewer facebook friends for I do not send friend requests and do not accept most requests unless they are a close friend.  I think the reason for this is primarily because I am a very conservative person and seem to be on the more quiet side.  So this personality trait of mine transfers over into my social network.  However, I am not alone in this.  I have found that the people that are more attention starved and feel the need to be heard or are just more out-going are the ones who have thousands of friends and post multiple statuses daily.

            Although I am seemingly a less than avid facebook user, on the other hand, I am a very keen on texting and phone usage.  Anyone that knows me or is around me for even short period of time can see that I am constantly using my smart phone.  Before I bought my first smart phone in the previous summer, I was always texting someone, although it was generally one of the same three people.  Now that I have my android phone, I am always on it whether it be texting my girlfriend, surfing the web, playing games, or checking my facebook.  It is actually very scary how addicted I am to my phone now.  I cannot imagine how I was able to make it through my day before I had all these capabilities on one device.  It seems that my android has become the most important piece of technology that I have right now for it does pretty much everything I need, except for some minor tasks. 

            I am a firm believer that all this new technology and convergence has become essential in our lives and cannot be removed from our society.  The only real drawback to this explosion of technology is how addicting it has become, for example most people feel as if they could not survive if they went a day without checking their facebook or just searching the internet.  Unfortunately I have become of those addicted to technology, however I do not go as far as to post my every thought and have my entire life posted on the internet.  For those who do live their lives on the internet, it can be a bitter-sweet relationship for it is the best way to stay connected but can also be used to take advantage of people.

Media consumption in a week

For the past week, January 31 through February 6, I have been trying to keep track of my daily media consumption.  I do not really read any hard copies of media, like newspapers or news magazines.  The only physical media I read this week was, maybe sadly, an Us weekly magazine since my girlfriend’s family subscribes to this magazine and I am constantly at their house, so I may have glanced at an article or two.  Even though I did not read any this past week, occasionally I will read TIME magazine or Sports Illustrated when I have a chance. 

However I do spend some significant amount of time watching television.  The television shows or movies that I do watch either come physically watching the T.V. or from my laptop.  I would say that I on average have a show or movie on about 3 to 4 hours during the weekday and closer to 5 to 6 hours on a weekend.  However, most of the time I have the T.V. on in the background while I am doing other tasks.  For example, while doing homework, eating or surfing the internet I generally have the T.V. going on in the background (even as I am typing this blog I have Rocky I on AMC on in the background).  When watching television my favorite and most frequently watched channels tend to be ESPN, TBS, Nick, Comedy Central, FoodNetwork, the CW, AMC, and any other premium movie channel.  Again, most of the time these are just on in the background, the only time I get to intently watch shows that I am interested in is on my laptop.  I generally watch all the new episodes of Modern Family, Men of a Certain Age, and Jersey Shore.  I also frequently download or stream movies too, since that is probably my favorite type of media. 

Now I spend most of my available free time surfing the internet, unfortunately I may spend too much time on the web when I should be doing homework or paying attention in class.  Most of my time is spent on google, facebook, yahoo, jackthreads (a men’s clothing website), espn, various new hip hop music sites, and throughout the past week I have been on different consumer websites as it is Valentine’s Day soon and my girlfriend’s birthday is coming up.  I generally do spend about six plus hours on my laptop depending on the day.  It is used for work and entertainment.  It seems that now I cannot really go a day without using my laptop or the internet.

Also, some extra sources of media that I am constantly using throughout the day are my android smart phone.  This has probably become my newest and most prevalent source of media entertainment since it basically does everything I need brought all onto one medium.  I am constantly texting or calling people, using the 3G internet, just playing video games when bored. 

I do think that when it comes to media consumption and the mediums through which I gather it is typical of any person my age and in my demographic.  I think the biggest indicator of this is the advertisements that are constantly thrown at me and others of my demographic.  For me it seems like the advertisements that I am most bombarded with is that of most generally consumerism that is typically supposed to turn me into the socially perfect man or person.  Advertisers are not subtle in their attempt to coerce me and others into buying their products in order to become someone better than I already am.