Word of the Day
Vestige (n., VESS-tihjdge)
The remnants or fragments of something that used to be in existence, like the renmants of Alderaan in Star Wars when our heroes come out of light speed.
Gif of the Day
AnimalsNon-teenage Non-mutant non-ninja TurtlesI think I can I think I canFail
Link of the Day
Social media platforms, as described by a teenager
Andrew Watts, a nineteen-year-old University of Texas student, wrote a fascinating article about how his generation perceives various social media platforms. His comments are an interesting "from the youth" perspective and surprisingly insightful.
Facebook is something we all got in middle school because it was cool but now is seen as an awkward family dinner party we can't really leave.
Those are some reasons why many people my age tend to use Instagram more than they do Facebook. Everything about the application makes it less commercialized and more focused on the content, meaning more teens are inclined to visit it. When we do visit the application it is a much more pleasant experience.
It will be interesting to look at this article in a few years. Will Facebook be around as the major player it is now? Will Google+, which surprisingly unsurprisingly isn't mentioned at all, be around at all? Will the "content-focused" designs and interests of the more-used platforms stay around or will they diminish into overwhelming, paid-content irrelevance like Facebook has?
EDIT: But there is another side of this too. Danah Boyd, who has extensively researched social media usage among teens, wrote a helpful companion piece that explored how much of Watts' article is (like everything) shaped by his origin and experiences. As Boyd points out, Watts doesn't "get" Twitter but there are plenty of teens who do, people whose timelines are not full of links like his seems to be. Be sure to read this to get a good counterpoint.
Social MediaJournalismThe youth are inheriting the earth!You're getting oldNo one likes Facebook