Instagram – A Message In A Blog

I’ve posted about Social Media before, and no doubt, there are countless blog posts about this subject all over the World Wide Interweb. But ever since I published my previous Social Media posts, things seem to have changed. A lot. Social Media has darkened, it has become a place of confrontation, trolls and sarcastically dry humour. And I love it.

Social media, it seems, moves with the tide of ever-changing society and it, again, seems to evolve and adapt to current affairs and, more importantly, how and why people react to things. That’s why it’s such an important aspect of modern life. It’s an entirely organic form of web-interaction.

When it comes to so called social media ‘trolls’, the most important thing to do is simply to ignore them. It’s so easy to keep replying to the bait, to keep feeding them more ammunition so that they can continue to ‘troll’ (or just bug the hell out of) you. I always find it curious that people become so wound up, or hurt or are emotional because of internet trolls. Let’s use Twitter as an example here, Twitter uses the system of following, so that each member of the Twitter society can follow each other and see what all of their favourite people are up to. Unless of course you want your social media private, in which case there is the private option, whereby only people you allow access to your feed, get to make any contact. You can also ‘Block’ and even ‘Report’ any suspicious or potentially harmful activity, or for the sake of this paragraph, any Trolls. This is the case for almost all social media website these days, so there really is no excuse to allow internet trolls to have any affect on you.

My favourite form of Social Media has, for a long time now, been Twitter. Facebook is old and out-dated; it’s struggling to keep up. Vine burned bright and extinguished hard and fast. And Tumblr is massive, but I still think it needs time for everyone to actually know what it does and more importantly, how to use the damn thing. In fact the only form of Social Media that seems to be keeping up with Twitter’s appeal, in my opinion, is Instagram, which, ironically, is owned by the incredibly dull and very tired Facebook.

Although it faces the same level of so called ‘trolling’ and sees a never ending stream of bad feeling in some comment sections, YouTube still has a wonderful sense of community to it. If you’re a fan of YouTube; and by fan I most definitely do not mean watching cat and angry driver videos. I mean if you are a fan of YouTubers who upload regularly to their channels and create consistent and entertaining content for dedicated viewers, then you’ll know what I mean about a community feeling. It’s really quite a marvellous thing. But as I said, you won’t know if you don’t watch YouTubers. Their fans are some of the most loyal, dedicated and often ruthless people. Sometimes more so than fandoms of pop-stars or actors. These people will defend their favourite YouTubers to the end and it’s a relationship between YouTuber and fan that only grows organically over time, that lasts. Fascinating really. There is no room for a ‘viral’ YouTuber. And certainly (for most fans) absolutely no room for ‘vine’ users to think they can become YouTubers. Leave it out.

Isn’t it weird how society has moulded itself around social media. In some ways it’s rather concerning, I mean, we spend more time speaking and interacting with people on social media rather than people in real life, and by doing so, gradually distance ourselves with the more important things in life. But on the other hand, you could say that we meet new people all the time on Social Media and really it’s not as dark and scary as your parents want you to believe. YouTube is such an amazing place to find new friends, I mean like real friends, not cyber friends. I’ve met a few people through YouTube and they’re the best. So it can be a good thing, when you actually end up meeting your YouTube friends, but when these people remain on the internet, it’s probably time to get out of the house.

Social Media is very quickly becoming one of the most common forms of interaction between young people. It has its ups and downs, its pros and cons. It has it’s wonderfully innocent and beautifully like-minded communities and it’s incredibly small-minded internet trolls. One thing is for sure though, it’s growing, and it’s growing fast.

Here are a few statistics:

YouTube has over a billion users–almost a third of all people on the Internet–and every day, people watch hundreds of millions of hours of YouTube videos and generate billions of views.
YouTube overall, and even YouTube on mobile alone, reaches more 18-34 and 18-49 year-olds than any cable network in the U.S.

And of course, the big statistic…

The number of channels earning six figures each year on YouTube has increased by 50% y/y.

YouTubers are earning BIG. And it’s only going to get bigger. TV, watch this space. This YouTube Space.

I love mostly everything about social media and am a self confessed addict.

But what I want to know is what YOU think of social media, Good? Bad? Not quite sure? Leave a comment!

And Until next time…

BYE!

Over the past few years there have been advances in technology that have changed the world for the better. People have been getting ideas that make all kinds of things easier for us mere mortals to do, from online shopping and e-books to anything Apple-branded and Google glasses (Top Tip: Don’t buy them, you’ll look rather silly). But the one thing that has taken technology by storm and that has become one of the most lucrative ideas for anyone to be able achieve is Apps. Yep, those little Applications on your iPhone and Smartphones are steadily taking over our lives. There is literally something for everyone and they are created to be ultra user friendly and mega helpful.

So here is my very own guide to my favourite Apps; both paid and free (excluding Flappy Bird, I can’t be dealing with talking about that evil devil, plus it has been taken down by the owner and therefore you can no longer get it, thankfully.)

1. Social Network Apps. I’m bunching these all in the same point as they are basically the same thing. These Apps make it so much easier for the user to access all of their favourite social networking accounts. Whether it’s Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, Keek, Pinterest. You’ll find an App for your favourite one whatever it might be.

2. Pic Collage. Create your very own collages easily with this App. You choose what picture you want to add to your collage directly from your phones images and then arrange them in a way that best suits you. It’s fun, free, and easy to use.

3. Movie FX. This is such a laugh. Just point and film anything, then watch it explode or get taken out by an alien. Watch a fighter jet crash land in your back garden or witness the Starship Enterprise rain fire down on your house.

4. Super Stickman Golf 2. You know that boring gap in the day when you find yourself commuting anywhere. Well ususally you’d Facebook or Tweet your heart out but not anymore. Download this App, and whether you like golf or not you will find yourself completely and utterly addicted to this game.

5. Snapseed. One of the best photo editing Apps you will ever download. The easily maneuverable and user friendly setup allows even the biggest novice in photography to transform their everyday mundane photo, in to something much more aesthetically pleasing.

6. Slopro- 1000fps Slow Motion video. This App gives some outstanding results, and if you practice enough you can create really eye-catching footage. This is a must-have App for anyone.

7. Wow FX. This App really needs no help in explaining why it’s amazing. So simply download it now and let it do the work for you. Simple.

8. Logos Quiz Game. Do you find yourself wanting to be more frustrated? Do you forget things quickly and need an App that reminds you how forgetful you are? Well look no further, because Logos Quiz App is one of the most addictive and frankly bloody annoying Apps out there. Think you know all of your logos, think again my friend.

9. Deer Hunter 2014. This might not be for everyone. But if you like this type of hunting/sniping game, it really is something else. Best when downloaded on the iPad, the graphics are amazing and really realistic. You can find yourself spending a very long time trying to get that perfect shot. Another must-have App, this time for gamers.

10. Emoji. I love this one. I use it everyday, you simply download it to your iPhone and you can automatically use the emojis provided in your regular texts. The emojis are far better than your bog standard default emojis and you’ll find yourself using them for everything!

There you have it. My Top Ten Apps. If you have an App that you find amazing and you really want to share it with me, feel free to leave a comment on this post so I can try it out and let you know what I think.

Bye!