How has social media changed us?
You can take a picture with your phone and send it to friends with a few satellite beeps. You can tell your friends on Twitter the sandwich you finally decided on at Subway. With all these new crazes buzzing around that allow us to share our whole lives with each other, we have to wonder: How much is too much? Is it OK to talk to someone online only and never in person? Has technology gone too far, or have we only just begun?
While exploring Marquette’s dorm life and the Milwaukee School of Engineering campus, I noticed most students had some type of communication open on their laptops. Needless to say, there wasn’t much of a difference between colleges. Most students had a Facebook or Twitter open and laughed at Web sites such as “FML” and “Texts From Last Night.”
Unless you have been living under a rock, you know about our social media frenzy. At this time, we’ve personally seen the shift in our communication. Instead of talking to each other in person or over the phone, we can now Facebook, Tweet, text or blog. Because of the Internet, the speed of the information we share is the fastest we’ve ever seen. We have new ways to consume our information. With the means to give our information to anyone, we can be empowered by letting our voice be heard.
“It’s just turned into a part of life,” said Jacob Cooper, a freshman at MSOE. “You go to class, eat, study, sleep and sign in. It just seems as another way to talk and meet new people.”
“What you put out there is for everyone to know,” said Sara Kekula, a senior in the College of Communication. “It’s definitely something to watch out for when looking for jobs after graduation. Facebook used to be just for college kids when I was a freshman and has turned into something that everyone almost has to have as a way to connect to friends, family or business workers. It’s really taken on a life of its own.”
If the Internet could be seen as a person, every single one of us would have to trust it with our lives. We share our lives, our pictures, our events, our addresses and our phone numbers.
“It’s hard to trust everything you hear. I guess it depends on the reliability of the source,” said Rachel Davis, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences.
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