Social Media -- Changing the way we live without realizing it.

Social media has completely dominated the way we communicate as well as live.  For instance, if we go out for a night out on the town with friends, it used to be that you take along your camera, snap a few pictures then take the film to be developed the next day and you usually had to wait a couple of days before the film was processed in order to be able to share the memories you and your friends created with others.  That whole process has completely changed due to social media sites.  Now all you have to do is upload the pictures you just took with smart phone and upload them to Facebook and/or Twitter and they are instantly shared.  Facebook and Twitter have made it accessible for virtually anything to be seen immediately within minutes of capturing the photo.

Thanks to Facebook, if a user has their information about themselves public on their page, we are able to find out religion, political views, what their hobbies are, if they are in a relationship and if they are then it displays who they are in a relationship with.  We are able to find out tons of personal information about someone by simply typing that person’s name in the search option on a website.  Facebook has recently added a feature that allows its user to tag their location meaning if you are at Target shopping, you can go to Facebook on your mobile device, click the “location” option and it will tag and show not only that you are at Target, but exactly which Target and it even comes along with a map so people who are friends with you on Facebook can locate you.  I don’t know about what you think, but the fact that someone can see where another person is without even calling to ask, is pretty astonishing.  Sometimes it completely amazes me just how accessible our information is to others. 

It has been documented that 1 in 8 marriages started by the two spouses meeting on social networks!   Connecting with someone over the internet has become extremely popular.  I think it has something to do with the fact that we don’t have to leave the comfort of our home and we have the ability to find out more information about someone before we meet them so it’s less of a gamble when and if we decide to meet up with that person.  It has gotten to the point where we, as society, don’t even have to leave our houses in order to meet our potential life partner!  When the internet was invented I am certain that no one ever thought that relationships and marriages would develop through it! 

To show you just how popular being a part of a social network is, I’m going to leave you with two facts that I found pretty astounding:  Generation Y has already outnumbers the amount of baby boomers in 2010, and 96% of that generation is a part of some kind of social media networking site. 

http://tweetthisjob.com/twitter-2/social-media-is-changing-the-way-we-communicate-globally/

Something you're college doesn't want you to know!

As a college student, it amazes me at just how much my tuition has been raised in the past couple of years, and that doesn't even include the heavy cost of text books that are "required" for class.  I decided to take a look at some of the fees that go into my tuition.  Some of these included a "Land Acquisition" fee that racked up to $75.00!  What exactly that charge means or how it is benefiting my education, I honestly would not be able to properly tell you because I myself do not know.  

When I first applied to the University I currently attend, my tuition was nearly half of what it is now.  Even with the H.O.P.E. scholarship, which is a $3,000 scholarship that is provided here in Georgia for students with high academic achievements, that used to cover my entire tuition as well as cover the cost of books.  Now, it fails to do that due to the ever increasing tuition rate and it only provides an additional $100 for books.  It is getting to the point where my college degree is becoming more of a financial investment than anything else. 

An article I stumbled upon makes a very valid and interesting point about college.  "“The current system makes little sense,” argues Henry Eyring, author of The Innovative University. “A student pays one amount regardless of credit load or type of course being taken, and the university has no financial incentive to help the student get a good grade,” he told FoxNews.com. " The fact that it doesn't matter how many credit hours we take, we are still expected to pay the same amount as someone who it planning on taking 18 credit hours.  It simply does not make any logical sense. 

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/09/03/stanford-yale-and-oxford-educations-are-free-online/

The fact that it doesn't matter how many credit hours we take, we are still expected to pay the same amount as someone who it planning on taking 18 credit hours.  It simply does not make any logical sense.  

There are now Professor's at Ivy league University's, such as Stanford, that are taking a different and somewhat controversial approach to educating their students.  There is a class that is currently being offered at Stanford called "Introduction to Artificial Intelligence". It is only offered online, and guess what? Yup, that's right, it is completely free! The only set-back about these free, online classes are that they are unaccredited, however, they do put you ahead of the game when it comes to putting it on your resume.  There are currently more than 135,000 students that have decided to take on these additional free, online classes that are being offered by these prestigious universities.  Some may ask, why would any university offer free classes?  It's simple, exposure for the college which in turn will give them a "good" image as well as the possibility of potential new students.  As much as I disagree with the almost 400% increase of tuition over the past few years, I do commend the universities that are going against the norm by offering such unique classes are of absolutely no charge to students!