Fun and social media

This was a very fun class, I was already familiar with social media so this class helped me become more familiar with it. With a fun and exciting teacher like Carol made the class even better. Out of all the assignments I really enjoyed going to the Humane Society mainly because I love animals. This was hands down the best class I’ve had a Creighton, I mean what other class in college do you take a field trip? I also learned about social media sites that I had no idea they were out there. For example, Goggle+ and linkedin I had no idea about these sites until this social media class introduced me to them. I think this class should become a  requirement  simply because social media is going to change a lot and people are going to have to know about all these different sites and how to use them, and I think this class will prep them for that. Another thing I noticed that social media is really becoming more of a news outlet to many people. For example, take the whole Kony 2012 thing I had no idea what that was until I heard about it in this social media class and on Twitter. All of these things that I have mention where fun and I had a great time experiencing them with a great group of people.

My attitude about social media has always been its whatever its really not all that important to me. I always say Im going to delete my facebook or get rid of my twitter. After taking this class I dont think I can do that because there is too much going on out there and I might miss something. Without facebook or twitter I would have to check news websites and watch TV for the latest news. I think in a way this class showed me that social media is not only for fun and to keep in touch with friends but also it is used in all seriousness too. I think the most valuable lesson that was learned during this semester was the point that Carol made about building your own personal brand. This is important because this really makes sense because this is how people will perceive you.

Where do you get your news from?

The news industry is very interesting, if you can thing back to when there was no internet and all the news had to be received  by newspaper its crazy what it has become now. The newspaper industry is obviously suffering from the emergence of things like face book and twitter. Things that lets people know news almost right when it happens growing up in the generation you get use to these things and things like newspaper don’t even matter anymore. It is even getting to the point where television is not even the first source  anymore. I think the social media sites are the first thing people go to when they hear about news. I am guilty  of this myself when I hear about important issues I immediately go to Twitter or face book either to say what is on my mind or see what people are saying about it. Reading the Pew Center Report it really didn’t tell me anything I didn’t know about news that I didn’t already know, just gave me statistics about it. News websites are not what they use to be when you go to these sites there is a lot on the page and the user can easily get overwhelmed. This is why social media sites are better not as much words on the page and it gets straight to the point users know what they want to look at and get it without all the extra stuff. To me Twitter is the best for of news now, I say this because with Twitter you only have so many words to get out what you are trying to say and if the user is interested in the story they can click on the link and read more about it. Its better for everyone and most of all it doesn’t waste people time.

News is important and how people receive it its important. I think in the future social media will continue to be the main tool used to get the news out there for people. People just pay more attention to it that way. I don’t think the newspaper will ever be like it was before there was social media and internet, there is just to much out there for people to just rely on print. Who knows maybe there will be another way people will get news out there and social media will become old too.

I Did It!

Its finally here what I have worked for for the last 5 years of my life is finally here. In a way I can’t believe that I am about to graduate college. Being the first person to graduate in family is a very important thing, for the most part it will make my mother proud and for her I will do anything to make her happy. The choice to stay in school an extra year and not go play over seas was because my mother always stressed education and the importance of it. I may not be the best student or maybe not the smartest but one thing I can say is that I didn’t give up and I am proud of myself for that.

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I have always been surrounded by a group of people that love me and care about me and always supported what I have done. These people are important in being successful, but there were also those people who did exactly the opposite. These people are also important too, I have had people tell me that I would never graduate high school let along college but look at me now. I would like to thank those people for their negativity to fuel my fire to prove them wrong. These last 5 years have been a journey and I am glade that its over but really its only just getting started.

 

Field Trip!

I cant tell you when was the last time I went on a field trip, maybe this is why I was excited to visit the Humane Society. Going to the Humane Society was fun just like I expected we got to see alot of different dogs and cats. That was really all they had I was really hoping to see something exotic. Me being a dog person it was difficult walking down the aisle and having all the dogs and puppies look at you with their sad little faces. In all the Nebraska Humane Society was a great experience and Elizabeth did a great job of being our host. Even though she did a good job and the Humane Society was fun the show was stole by the puppy Baxter. Even though I didnt get a chance to pet him it was fun watching him run around. the story Elizabeth told us about him was touching, how his previous owner treated him was really terrible. It is really sad that someone would treat an animal like that. I know animals are not people but they shouldn’t be treated that way. Elizabeth explained to us that this is what the Humane Society does. Animals that are getting neglected or in a bad living environment usually end up there.

 

 

Elizabeth was a great host and really gave us the ends and outs of the Humane Society in a way that we didn’t know. All we see is the cute puppies and kittens. I didn’t realize how much they use social media but it has a big part to do with what they do there at the Humane Society.People respond to the pictures this is where they get most of their comments. In all I had a great time at the Humane Society and learned some things that I had no idea about.

#StopKony

Learning about this whole Kony thing was shocking to me, watching the Kony 2012 video I was really shocked that this was going on and nothing was being done about it. The invisible children story was an amazing story and it really touched me and made me want to be a part of the whole Stop Kony campaign. This has been going one for a while so for people to just now find out about it shows how much the United States cares about others. But at the same time I can understand not wanting to get involved with all of this, but when little kids life’s are in danger that’s a different story.

Just think if something like this was going on in the U.S. it would not go on for long. I think it’s a good thing that we know now and that we are doing things to try to stop Kony. The thing that is really disturbing is that he is doing all of this just to maintain power. There is really no motive behind this madness, this is really sad and unfortunate for these kids. We as people should really pay attention to things like this, It is something that doesn’t affect us but if innocent people are getting hurt I think it should become our problem or we should help out as much as possible. I feel like we are doing a good job of that. I am happy people are getting involved to stop this terrible thing that is going on and hopefully we can stop it.

Would this have gotten out if it wasnt for social media? I don’t think so, with the power of social media it got this video to an amazing amount of views. This news spread like a wildfire all because of social media. The world today depends on social media to get news and it is becoming the future of of the news.

How much better are we this year than last year?

Creighton Basketball is having an amazing season, it may be a shock to many but for the people that have been around the program and actually in the program this is not a shock at all. For the past three season Creighton has been always stacked with talented players, that has never been the problem. The problem has been getting these players to mesh together and play as a unit.I was a member of the 2009-2010 team and the 2010-2011 team, and from my personal experience getting along together as a team and actually caring about the people you play with goes a long way on the court.

My first year here at CU I believe we had one of the most talented teams CU has seen in a while. With that being said talent isn’t everything if the players dont gel together and actually like eachother. Even though this team was never the closes team and did not have the best record we showed signs of being a good team. We just wasn’t able to put it all together at the same time. With that being said the next year was a bit of a shock win coach Dana Atlman decided to leave, it shocked everyone. New coach Greg McDermott came in right away and was an instant fit.

The start of the season was up and down our out of conference schedule wasnt the best but it wasnt the worst. This team was extrememly close and I think that may be the reason the team is so successful this year. If you look back at the season last year you can point out several games if we win we could easily be a ranked team or win a conference title. For example, Iowa State many of you remember this game a player makes a half court shot which was clearly after the buzzer goes off, who knows what would of happen if we go into overtime that game. Another game, BYU we held Jimmer Fredette to a season low of 13 points, but another player goes off for 22 points a career high. Another game, Missouri State last shot at the end to beat us along with Wichita State and Indiana State who beat us with shots within the last few seconds of the game. Thats five games right there that show how close we were to being a top 25 team. So were we really as bad as people say we were last year? Or was that just our first year under a new coach and learning his system and how he expected things to be done? I think all the players that were here last year really learned from the previous season and told themselves this wasnt going to happen again to us. The players and coaches included, We had many close games last year and if you have noticed our last three games agains Long Beach State, Evansville, and Indaina State have been really close. I think these guys learned from last year how to close out a game and that is why I think they are being as successful as they are. O yeah and Doug McDermott playing like a man on a mission might have something to do with it too.

NBA Allstar Weekend

The NBA all-star weekend was Friday February 24 through Sunday February 26. This three-day event is in my mind is one of the best events around, these guys showcase their talents to millions of people. This years all-star game was not the best by any means, it had its high points and it defiantly had its low points.

The game itself was not bad at all it had a lot of scoring which is always good and many electrifying dunks that brought the crowd to their feet. The rookie vs. sophomore game was also entertaining, bright young players who will possible be stars in the NBA. The 3 point shooting contest was also a success seeing sharp shooters light it up from deep is always a treat. The atmosphere was amazing just to see all the celebrities and stars all hanging together as one. Another event that I forgot to mention was the celebrity game, in my eyes was one of the best parts of all-star weekend. Watching celebrities play basketball and compete was really a treat and to actually see them  get serious about it is fun to watch. Kevin Hart who is a comedian was selected as game MVP not because of his amazing play but because of how he just interacted with everyone and made everyone laugh. His energy won him the honors but there was an all around good effort by all of the celebrities.

The part of the show that I’m mentioning last for a reason is the slam dunk contest. For many years the slam dunk contest is the event that many people look forward to when they come to all-star weekend. This is not the case this year the dunk contest might have been the worst its been in years, the four contestants that participated in this event you had to google their names to find out who they were. I’ve said this before and I will say it again “get rid of the dunk contest”. I say this because no one wants to see no name players in the dunk contest they want to see stars like Lebron James or Dwayne Wade players that we all look up to. Being a basketball player if I see a dunk in the dunk contest that I feel like I can complete it is not a good dunk. I felt like I could do over half of the dunks that were done that night. All the great NBA superstars have participated it the Dunk Contest and won, so for these upcoming stars to not be in it and let it go downhill like this is a shame. People like Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Kobe Bryant, Spud Webb have all been a part of the dunk contest and have won. In my mind in order to be great I think someone like Lebron James should really consider it. He is looked at as being one of the best players to play the game so would that being said follow in the footsteps of the legends.

Linsanity

I’m pretty sure everyone has heard of Jeremy Lin, if you haven’t let me put you up to date. Jeremy Lin is a NBA basketball player that plays for the New York Knicks that has emerged into a house hold name in the last few weeks. Lin played his college ball at Harvard University where he received no athletic scholarship. Some may think whats so great about this story? well the numbers that Jeremy Lin has been putting up are amazing according to NBA.com Lin is averaging 14 points a game along with 5 assist. For a player that went undrafted and got cut from several NBA teams this is pretty good. Lin posted a career high 38 against the Lakers, Lin play was incredible and has been for the month of Feb. many people feel that the only knock on him is his problem with turning the ball over. Lin averages nearly 4 turnovers a game, he averages 1 less turnover than he does assist.

I’m not completely sold on Lin just yet, I watched the last game before all-star break and he did not perform well at all. Lin finished with as many points as he did TO’s 8. As a NBA point guard that is unacceptable, granted he was facing the Miami Heat arguably the best team in the NBA right now on both sides of the court. Many people felt after this performance you should just write him off but I’m not sure. that was just one bad game he had out of a string of about 10 great games. Jeremy Lin in a way took over this team when the star Carmelo Anthony was out with injury. I don’t think he is the type of player that Anthony is he could really help this team be a force in the Eastern Conference. They have the pieces to be a successful team if they ever put them all together this could be a fun team to watch.

Jeremy Lin being Asian has nothing to do with anything, the fact that people keep bringing this up is just ignorant. What because he is Asian people are shocked that he is this good? So what he is Asian he can play the game the same way if not better than some of the people in the NBA who are African-American and white. Many people have things to say about this one person that had something to say was boxing legend Floyd Mayweather, he said “Jeremy Lin is a good player but all the hype is because he’s Asian. Black players do what he does every night and don’t get the same praise.” I don’t agree with this I think most of the hype came from Lin coming from Harvard, not having a scholarship working his way into the NBA. Lin became a star in a matter of weeks by helping his team win games when they were missing their star and needed someone to step up, and Lin stepped up.

Something that I’m sure many people have been reading about or heard about was the ESPN writer making a headline that read Chink in the Armor. This was very inappropriate and it leaves me to wonder how does something like this gets  passed the editors. Anthony Federico apologizes for writing this he says it was “an honest mistake”. Something like this shouldnt even be thought about getting published. It is to risky for your career and to risky for ESPN’s, this was very unprofessional and caused a lot of problems. With all this that has happen to Jeremy Lin in this last month I know things have been pretty fast, but he is a great player and it is all rightfully earned. I think he will eventually be a great NBA point guard and continue his great play.

Social Media For Good

The social media for good session on Wednesday was interesting, going into the session I thought I wasn’t going to be very into the whole thing but I was wrong. I wasn’t sure what to expect walking into the class room and seeing the chairs all in mini circles. I thought we would have to share what all we know about social media with our peers and besides Facebook and Twitter I don’t know much about social media.People that attended the session were able to ask questions and get informed about social media. For those who have never used it they were able to ask the speakers if they didn’t get a good understanding of it. Some of the older people in the session had many questions to ask and actually some of the questions that they asked I didn’t know the answer to, so it helped me out also.

A speaker that really caught my attention was the director of Creighton College of Arts and Science. He really gave us great information and informed a lot of people I think, I really enjoyed his sense of humor and the way he was willing to share his thoughts with each of us. He was really in tune with Twitter and Facebook, the part that caught my attention the most was when Moore talked about students posting things on Twitter or Facebook that they would possibly hurt themselves of others he would have to do something or tell someone about it. This was very interesting because I didn’t think that your personal information that you post on Twitter or Facebook could be looked at like that. In all this was a great experience and I learned a little more about social media.

Old vs. New

When I first took a look at Google+ I thought this looks complicated the same thought I thought whan I first looked at Facebook.Google+ and Facebook are two social media sites that are some ways the same but in many ways different. In a way people look at Google+ as being the new Facebook. Facebook took a while for college students to all get on it and accept it, now its almost a requirement. If you dont have a facebook many people look at you like, really? why not? Both of these sites allow you to interact with family and friends so what is the difference?

 

Google plus and Facebook are not the same thing they are alot different actually. Facebook as people know you can share pictures and chat and also leave comments on peoples walls as long as their pictures. Google+ has this but does it in a way not like facebook, which is interesting. The whole circle thing to me is interesting, having your own personal cicles that you can put people into is different than facebook. Google+ still has the Facebook feel its its on thing, Im still confused using Google+ just like I was using Facebook at first or Twitter. Im not the biggest fan of Google+ because I feel that its just a branch of Facebook or Twitter and its hard to get people away from those two sites when they are this popular. One part of Google+ that I did enjoy is the chat room where you could have people in a chatroom and all talk at the same time that was neat.

I wouldn’ go as far as saying that Google+ is the adult version of Facebook, but I can see where people can get that connection from. Like I said earlier I would say it is a different branch of facebook, I just dont think it will ever get as big as facebook or Twitter because it is too much like those sites. Why would people want something new if it does the same thing and is not neccessarily better but is more complicated?