Stay Connected!

Facebook has taken over our lives! In the last six years people all around the world have been exposed to the biggest social networking sight know to man.  Facebook,. with nearly 800 million active users  has become a new way to connect with friends, family and socialise online.

We all know what Facebook is, but how did it start?

Founded in 2004 By Harvard Student, Mark Zuckerberg  and his roommates. Facebook was originally call ‘thefacebook’ it soon became popular as, a free collage networking website and later was expanded to include anyone and everyone. Ii soon became one of the biggest forms of mass media, and is the worlds most visited web site to this day, even overriding Google.

With Facebook being the new phenomenon, it has largly affected our social life. With its easy access through mobile phones, IPods, computers and many other developing technologies,  it allows users to stay in touch with  their  ‘Facebook friends’ anywhere  and everywhere in the world with internet access. Within a few minutes of ‘Stalking’ someone’s profile you can find out what gender, religion and country they live in. Facebook allows people all around the world to connect with friends and family near and far, through one website and bring them together regardless of the physical separation. It has become an easy way to communicate. Uploading photos and videos from our daily lives for  our ‘Facebook’ friends to see.

Facebook has also become a  convenient way of learning, even though Facebook is banned in most New Zealand high schools, it  has become an excellent way to learn and ask questions outside of school. With Teachers creating restricted groups on Facebook, where students can have the teachers guidance and help with homework after school hours. 

The following link shows how Pompallire Cathoilc College’s Science class finds Facebook helpful out of school.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/northland/whangarei-leader/6127140/New-tool-for-after-school

Although Facebook is generally used to ‘stalk people that you ‘may’ or may not know, it could be used for so much more. With the vast number of people on facebook,  just think how fast we could help people! Or become aware of a problem such as KONY. A few months ago me and many others around the world have never heard of the name KONY  

but after a few days of the video being shared it seemed to have to have spread over Facebook like a virus.  

 Although Facebook is a convenient way to keep in touch with friends, family, play games, study, upload pictures, videos and make Statues on how your day went. There is also a negative side – because sometimes people are affected by cyber bulling. This can happen on all social networking sites, they can also get extremely addicted to Facebook that they lose touch with reality.

Facebook has taken over the world!!

Can you imagine the world without facebook?

Youtube-Broadcast yourself.

I am one of Millions of people who spend several hours a day watching pointless, humorous, interesting, scary, and knowledgeable videos online.  “Founded in February 2005, by three former PayPal employees - Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim . YouTube allows billions of people to discover, watch and share originally created videos, TV clips and music videos for public viewing. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform and inspire others across the globe”

Youtube, is one of the most effective online public communications sites and allows registered users to upload videos for viewing. With nearly Sixty hours of video uploaded every single minute, 5 months every hour, 10 years per month, and around two billion video views per day.  Youtube is a good way to broadcast your talent to the world, without you even paying a dime.

Youtube has created internet celebrities of its own, for example, Justin Bieber, one of the most famous Teen Singers in the world was discovered on youtube in 2008, after he began posting homemade videos of himself singing. He is now Eighteen years old and one of the most known popular singers in the world. According to Wikipedia, Justine  is earning approximately $53 million a year.  Justine’s song ‘Baby ft. Ludacris’,had seven hundred and twenty seven million, nine hundred and twenty two thousand, and forty five views!! This is the most viewed video of all time on youtube. Justine is  one of the biggest, known youtube stars,  but he isn’t the first and he won’t be the last. You could be the next big thing, that’s how effective YouTube is.

You might be thinking, ‘How can I get millions of views on my YouTube account’?

According to Kevin Allocca, YouTube's trends manager there are 3 ways to help get your video viral.

 Taste makers: if Taste makers (famous or well known people) view your video, share their point of view on it with their friends through Social networking sites such as twitter and Facebook. The views on your video will boost up, because, people want to see what all the fuss is about.

This is where ‘Word of mouth’ comes in, people start talking to their friends about it and it spreads around like a virus. This makes more and more people subscribe and view your video, it makes them feel part of the hype. The last thing is unexpectedness; this is one of the most important things. People are looking for something different. That is what makes people like lady gaga famous.

In America making Youtube videos has become a career for hundreds of people.  If you have a successful YouTube channel you can join in partnership with youtube. This means that you share the revenue from ads that appear on your video. This is now available to people in New Zealand, who have successful YouTube accounts.

Not only has YouTube become a place to entertain people for hours and make money, it is also a place for the world to connect with the world without even leaving your seats.

Want to go to  Samoa?

This youtube video shows you everything you need to know about Samoa.

 

Youtube also is very useful for learning purposes. To many people the internet is more interesting than, sitting in a classroom and reading from books.  Youtube gives us the opportunity to go online and learn and interact with others with No charge!!

YouTube has become a huge part of advertising and is form of education and entertainment. It is slowly becoming a career for many people around the world. It is a way we can see the world with the click of a button.

Young and Famous ♥

 I’m sure you have all heard about the Boy band that has taken the world by storm, ONE DIRECTION!

One direction is a British boy band,  that took third place on the X-factor UK,  but have made their way to fame. The band consist of five young British talented teenage boys .            

Niall Horan

 Zayn Malik

 Harry Styles

Liam Payne

Louis Tomlinson

After placing third on X-factor  UK, the five boys were signed to an American record label company, known as Columbia Records  where they  made their debut Single   ‘What Makes you Beautiful’. This song  toped the music charts in Ireland, UK, Scotland and came second on New Zealand Music charts. The song sold 153,965 copies in its first week of sale and as of the 12^th of April it has sold 

 1,129,852 copies in the US.

This is the song 'What makes you Beautiful' that has become so famous.

 

It’s amazing how quickly One Direction became popular with such a huge  fan base within a year of making  music. With their entire 2012 New Zealand tour selling out in under 10 minutes. The New Zealand Concerts were so successful that another tour has been promised in 2013.

But what Makes girls fall in love with the boy band - One Direction?

Apart from the boys good looks and singing talent, they have been  followed by their fan base right from the  X-factor Series in 2011.  They are constantly being  watched  on YouTube and many fans have seen each of the boys develop into the well known band that they are today! Each of these girls feel that they have a special connection with each of the boys.

 Famous People have such a big impact on Media. Since One Direction have risen to fame, they have released two books featuring - private captured moments, the ‘incredible story of One Direction's rise to fame’, they have merchandise dolls, T-shirts, posters, stationary and lots more!!

It all seems a bit crazy.

Will the Boy Band Revelation ever die?

I don’t think so;

From the back Street Boys to the Jackson 5 ,  have all been in the top ten of music charts.  I think that girls have a  fascination with boy bands, and it started with the Beetles. We will never know why.

Although there are many One Direction ‘Haters’ It is really good to see such a young group of talented boys rise to fame and become successful. It shows us how much impact talent shows such as the X-factor, America's Got Talent, The voice, American Idol, have all given rise to a new star. 

Imperfectly Perfect

 When cutting posters out of some magazines I had recently bought,  I realized that not a single person in the magazine had a pimple on their skin, or a wrinkle on their face; they all seemed to be somehow ‘perfect’. Although I did not notice it at the time, I was wishing I had gorgeous hair like Vanessa Hudgens, and clear silky smooth skin like Selena Gomez. They seemed picture, ‘perfect’ to me.  

This got me thinking, why do we purchase magazines or watch advertisements if they make us feel so self conscious and ugly about ourselves? 

After researching, I started to understand that we are all striving for some sort of physical perfection which is unrealistic.  Without realizing, we are actually trying to  compete with the fake standards media portrays through Television and magazines. Our “Individuality has been abandon to strive towards an unreal perfection”(-Killian Curry). 

Media creates ‘perfect’ people in adds to convince us to buy their products; they play on human insecurities such as body image: by creating adverts that imply that their products will make your life better. The adverts make us think   “If it’s good enough for that famous Hollywood stars, then it must be good enough for me “or “Wow her skin looks perfect! I want my skin to be like that”            

While doing a little research I came across a video called ‘Dove evolution’, it is a sixty second  video showing how they transform a standard looking woman into a flawless perfection of a women, using heavy make-up and Photoshop. Without makeup we see the woman with imperfections such as pimples, pale skin and flat hair, but  within a matter of seconds she has been transformed into this beautiful, gorgeous women who and has smooth skin, big eyes and a long neckline. 

A desire to look as a top model is becoming all-consuming and due to this  teenagers are experiencing serious body image problems.  People who are unhappy about their bodies can develop eating disorders turn to diets, pills or steroids. These false and misleading advertisements have distorted our perfection of beauty.  Teenagers do not realize that the perfect image is not so perfect, but has been made perfect using technology.

During the last 10 years, mainstream society has been able to access free photo shop websites such as Picnic, Adobe and Photo bucket these websites help us try fit into media’s false representation of beauty. From smoothing skin and erasing wrinkles to enlarging muscles and slimming waistline.  

Through  all the research I did for this blog, I have realized that beauty can be lost or gained within a matter of seconds, real beauty is more than skin deep. It is time we accept our bodies and celebrate health and confidence over false advertisements.

♥Single Person Awareness Day!! ♥

"I hate Valentine's Day. I think everyday should be a day of romance. Then, on Valentine's Day, you should get to tell whoever you hate that you cannot stand them. There would be one day of hating, and 364 days of love." - Ashton Kutcher ♥

As the day of ‘love’ approached us, my facebook newsfeed reminded me of it. Post after post of people declaring their undying love for each other. The thought of it makes me queasy. I think Valentine’s Day is just another excuse for people in love to give gifts to each other and fall in love even more, so when they do eventually break-up they are extremely heartbroken and have all these gifts to remind them how blinded they were by love.

Every February the 14^th lovers all around the world buy each other gifts to portray their affection for each other.  But, where did all this lovey -dovey stuff start?

After doing some Research, I learned that Saint Valentine was a holy priest in Rome, who secretly married off couples. The Emperor Claudius II at the time forbid marriages and engagements in Rome, as he felt that the men were not joining military because they did not want to leave their beloved at home.

To commemorate Saint Valentine ’s Day, we buy expensive gifts for the one we love and make them feel special. Many of the people who celebrate Valentine ’s Day don’t even know the significance of it, or who  St valentine  was. They are just simply one of many who are affected by the Media’s use of propaganda.

 But, what is the reason for all the hype on Valentine’s Day.  Is it because we are all commemorating St. Valentine? Or do the media just create a big promotion to find a way for companies to market their products. This year(2012), Valentine's Day was estimated to contribute around $17.6 billion to the economy, according to the 

 National Retail Federation.

Love also comes with a price.  According to TV 3 news - in Wellington during Valentine’s Day, red roses can costs as much as $250/- for a dozen roses or a single rose costing up to $20/-. This is nearly three times more than the usual cost of roses during the year.

I think it’s safe to say that Valentine’s Day is another excuse for people to waste money unnecessarily on gifts to ‘please’ or ‘woo’ their lovers. 

♥If Cupid is meant to shoot you in the heart its bound to hurt.

Cupid sucks, I hope he dies!
He fills your heart with empty lies.

He makes you think that love is real.
He completely manipulates how you feel.

He is really mean deep down in his heart.
He'll rip and tear your world apart.

So if you see him with his bow in hand.
Be cautious of where his arrow may land.

For it may seem great from the start.
But it'll do permanent damage to your heart.

Although with time your wound may heal.
I'm just trying to save you from what I feel.

You see, I was hit by Cupid with his bow.
And I still feel the pain from so long ago.

But it's getting better from day to day.
As long as Cupid stays the hell away

(unknown author)

Natasha ♥