Our good friend Buddy the Elf once said, “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.” Well, I obviously can’t compete with an elf himself (considering he works for Santa and everything), but I can come up with a few extra ways to make sure your holiday season is particularly merry and bright. As Buddy says, singing is way on up there on the list, but there are also a few extra things you can do to make sure you and yours are as holly and jolly as ever!
Author Archives: Margaret Jones
Social Media is Your Best Travel Buddy
This past summer, I had the privilege to study abroad in London, England. While I was there, I experienced people, places, smells, and sites that I would have never in Dallas, Texas. From Paris to Scotland, the travel bug bit me hard. Now, when I can’t sleep, my mind wanders to the next destination my feet will take me and when that excitement will take place. Thanks to our dear friend social media, I can now plan and dream about my next adventures using some pretty cool apps. Check them out!
Facebook Introduces ‘Notify’
Facebook is at it again, ladies and gents. Just this Wednesday, the billion dollar company introduced a new news and content app, “Notify.” Wired.com claims that this new invention isn’t just to please Facebook’s users but was created to specifically lure them in even more than before. They’re doing so by enticing you to now come to your phone, not just your Facebook newsfeed on your laptop. Whether it’s a promotional move or not, Facebook is providing its users with some pretty cool new features, especially this newsy app.
Instagram Makes Curation Moves
Halloween might be one of the largest recorded holidays on social media. From emoji costumes to the cast of Star Wars, costumes, candy and everything in between for this year’s Halloween celebration was found all over social media platforms, specifically Instagram. Over the weekend, Instagram started its own curated stream of Halloween videos submitted by users. Though they might be late in the game compared to biggest competitors Twitter and Snapchat, Instagram may have just created a revolutionary function for the site’s further development.
Happy Birthday, 1989!
It’s officially been a year since cultural phenomenon Taylor Swift’s pop album 1989 hit the shelves. This means that it’s been about a year since that “James Dean daydream look” has been in your eyes and since you first started “shaking it off.” For Ms. Swift, this record was more than just an album; it changed her persona as an artist and as an icon. So, it’s no wonder she’s been on the cover of Time and Rolling Stone just to name a few since the release. But what makes her better than the next blond singer or even “the biggest popstar in the world,” as vulture.com says? Well, if you don’t think that’s true, then maybe you should take a hint from the queen of pop herself: haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate.
Facebook ‘Reactions’: How Will Users React?
Well, thanks Facebook for officially killing our cynical dreams of dislike buttons and online controversy. It looks like Mark Zuckerberg’s big ‘dislike button’ announcement is more of an emotional roller coaster rather than a simple ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ option. Instead of a single ‘dislike button,’ Facebook is working on multiple ‘Reaction’ buttons through emoji options such as like, love, haha, yay, wow, sad, and angry. But what’s the deal, Mark? Your kingdom has been asking you for a ‘dislike button’ for years and now we get a smiley face? But maybe, just maybe, there’s a plan behind these little ‘Reactions.’
The Art ? of Emojis
Let’s all take a second to consider how many text messages we send a day. Yep, that’s quite a few. They are disturbingly convenient in our fast-pased, constantly communicating world. We love the idea that we can rapidly send a brief (and sometimes grammatically incorrect) thought across the country in seconds. But what’s even better in today’s world, thanks to digital developments, is that now we have even better and quicker ways of expressing ourselves, and that is what we call emojis.
Instagram > Twitter
At the end of September, Instagram officially took Twitter’s spot as the number two social networking site, right below its father site Facebook. With over 400 million monthly users, Instagram is kicking butts and taking names. From now on, it’s so long 140 characters and hello Valencia filter. But why is it that Instagram is slowly but surely taking over the spotlight? As social media fiends move into October, who knows where this artsy and resrouceful app will lead its mere 400 million users.
Yes, Job Recruiters Are Checking Your Facebook
Digital communication is changing everything, including unemployment. Yep, you heard that right. The economy might just be bustling back into business thanks to the rise in constant online communication. Last month, the unemployment rate was at its lowest it’s been since 2008, and according to Jobvite’s annual Recruiter Nation report, we have social media and interpersonal networking to thank.
Snapchat Introduces 99 Cent Replays
Ah, the elusive Snapchat, able to be seen for a mere three to ten seconds and then gone for eternity. Or so we thought…
Earlier last week, Snapchat announced on its company blog that it’s going to allow users to pay for extra replays. For two years now, users have been able to replay a snap once, but now Snapchat will let users pay 99 cents for up to three additional replays. Until this point, Snapchat has been making revenue off of advertisements seen on the “live story” function of the app, but now, the company is bringing users’ own dollars into the equation.
Facebook’s New ‘Dislike’ Button: To Like or Dislike?
How many times have we seen that yappy girl from high school posting 20 pictures of her dog on Facebook? Or even the oh-too-often political rant statuses that claim to solve the world’s problems? Sometimes we feel inclined to comment our annoyance, but many times, we simply just roll our eyes and show the post to our friend sitting next to us. But on September 15, 2015, Facebook announced that they are developing a function to fulfill our cynical hopes and dreams– the ‘dislike’ button.
College Students Rock Pope Francis’s Twitter Account
What do the Pope, Kim Kardashian, and Taylor Swift all have in common? Over 20 million Twitter followers, of course! But what Kim K and T Swift don’t have is a host of tech savvy college students working behind the scenes. After speaking with a few Villanova University students who were an integral part in starting Pope Francis’s Twitter account in 2012, NPR‘s Jennifer Lynn reports on how these students rocked the Vatican’s profile, showing just how influential social media and the millennial generation remain today.
Social Media Gender Gap Beginning to Close
Watch out ladies, your men are quickly catching up to your perfectly filtered Instagram posts, stream of consciousness tweets, and connections on LinkedIn. According to several Pew Research Center surveys, women have historically been more avid users of social media, but it’s 2015, people! And the social media gender gap might be starting to close.