Personal Narrative

Jason Martell

Sister Steadman

Writing 150

March 29, 2012

Wait, where is that?

I was downstairs in my room, probably doing homework or playing a game with my older brother Jake when I heard the same, familiar call I had heard thousands of times before.  My little brother Jordan yelled down the stairs “Jake, Jason, it’s time for dinner!”  After finishing the problem, I rushed up the stairs with my brother, just like we would any other day.  Everything was shaping up to be another good night filled with very little homework and a lot of fun.  Or so I thought.

We were sitting around the dinner table.  It was quiet... too quiet.  Normally by now my mom or dad would have asked us how school was going, how our basketball or soccer game went, something like that.  Not today though, today we just sat in silence.   We knew something was up, so it came as no surprise to us when my dad wiped off his mouth, then proceeded to give us the news.  He asked us, “How would you guys feel if we moved?”  My older brother Jake, younger brother Justin and I knew exactly what this meant.  He didn’t need to word it as a question, the only one of us that took his question literally as a question as my littlest brother, Jordan, being only a first grader at the time.

“Why?” My brothers and I asked nearly simultaneously.

My dad responded, “I got a promotion at work, to be the head of an office in North Dakota.”

Jordan promptly asked, “Dad, how far away is North Dakota from America?”

That gave us all a good laugh, and made the situation a little lighter.  There were several other questions answered that evening, most of which made us less and less excited and more and more scared.  My dad explained to us that we would be leaving during the summer, at the end of this school year.  We would divide the 18 hour drive into 3 days. He went on to say he wasn’t sure how long we’d live there, or if we would be moving back to Utah at all.  There were definitely a lot of things that we didn’t want to hear.

“But what about all my friends here?” Jordan asked.

“You’ll have plenty of time to make new friends when we get there.  You’ll have part of the summer to make friends, and it will be a fresh school year so you won’t have troubles fitting in.” My dad responded.

By this point Jordan was pretty much in tears.  My older brother Jake and I really felt bad for him.  While this would be the first time that any of us had moved, it seemed especially hard for him, being only seven years old at the time. 

After our short interrogation with my parents about the details of the move, the rest of dinner went by relatively quietly.  Nobody really had anything to say.  Nothing we could say seemed to really matter at that point.  My brothers and I were too focused (or maybe frightened is a better word) on the news that our parents had told us.

The final couple months of the school year were weird for me.  You’d think that most people would try to spend as much time as possible with their friends because it was their final chances.  To me, however, it was different.  I didn’t play with friends as much because it almost seemed to me like it didn’t matter.  I knew that at the end of this year, I wasn’t going to be here anyway, so why make relocating harder than it needed to be?

The next thing we knew, the school year was over.  This marked the time that we would start packing up all of our belongings.  What seemed like a very short time later, the whole house had been transformed into endless stacks of boxes.  We spent our last night in Utah eating McDonalds in sleeping bags at our empty house in Sandy.  The next morning we would get up early to start the journey.

We divided our traveling into three days, as previously planned.  It was the most time I have ever had to sit in a car in my entire life.  When we arrived in North Dakota my parents informed us that our home wasn’t done being built yet, and we’d have to spend a few days longer in a hotel.  We did, however get to go look at our house.  That was a really fun experience for me as an eleven year old.  Looking through every room at the house was surprisingly exciting.  We decided which room we would all get, and waited impatiently for the time we could move our stuff in.

            Finally the day arrived; the day when we could finally start moving into our new home.  After spending what seemed like countless days in a hotel, we couldn’t wait to move into our house.  After driving the short distance to our house, we saw the moving truck there too.  It was the same one that was at our house in Sandy.  We started to unload all of our stuff.  The piles of boxes, once again, seemed endless.  However, after we finished unloading the truck, my brothers and I were still excited to begin organizing and setting up our new rooms.  That step didn’t take long.  Then, after that, reality set in again.  We were in a completely new area.  We didn’t know anyone.  My brothers and I couldn’t decide what we wanted to do now.

Common Arguments against Social Networks

Despite the countless positive features and conveniences that social media offers us, there still remain those people who say that we would be better without them.  There are also many people that are on the fence as to whether social networks are more good than bad, or vice-versa.  In this section, we’ll look at some of the arguments against social networks, and discuss how these problems can be minimized or avoided completely.

In his article “Introduction to are Social Networking Sites Harmful”, Ed. Stefan Kiesbye points out some of the dangers of social networks when he stated the following:

Media critics and others have voiced unease about various aspects of social networking sites. Some fear that sexual predators will befriend unsuspecting teenagers via Facebook or MySpace. Others point to the possibility of identity theft and believe that social networking sites might erode real-life friendships or cause obesity. The news media has often increased these fears, highlighting disturbing, mostly isolated, episodes involving MySpace and Facebook.

            I must agree that social networks can be very dangerous if used carelessly, but the hazards pointed out by Kiesbye are quite easy to avoid.  We’ll start with the idea of sexual predators and identity theft.  Kiesbye points out that social networks are perfect grounds for sexual predators and identity theft.  While there continue to be cases of both predation and theft, both are actually quite easy to avoid.  All social media sites nowadays have multiple levels of security that users can use to keep their profiles, information and posts safe.  We’ll look at Facebook for example.  Users of Facebook can adjust their security settings so their information, status updates, pictures, profiles, friends and videos are only visible by friends, friends and friends of friends, specific people or only yourself.  There are so many security measures that you can adjust your settings so only you can view certain parts of your profile…  So, while I admit these hazards can very dangerous, with a little bit of safety and careful thinking you can avoid both of them.  Make sure your security settings are set to your liking, and avoid connections with people you don’t know. Most important, avoid posting private information altogether.

            Another common argument against social networks by people that are on the fence as to whether to use social media or not are the time people commit to it.  As Dan Bobkoff points out in his article “Online Social Networking has Altered the Rules of Social Interaction”, many users of these social networks are replacing their real life face-to-face communication with people with technology, and more and more people are committing more and more time online.  With this argument, I can’t provide any facts or statistics to help me prove my point.  I’ll leave it at this; users of these social networks need to be careful that they don’t commit too much time online.  Use some common sense when you decide to check Facebook, Twitter or some other site.  You don’t need to be on for more than 30 minutes; You don’t need to be on for more than 10 if you check it at least twice a day.  Some simple time management can make certain you don’t let social media take over all your communication and time.

The Positive Side of Social Networks

Do you want an effective way to catch up with old friends?  How about a convenient way to find out what your friends, family and other loved ones are up to?  Maybe you want to stay up-to-date on your favorite hobby, sport, book, TV show or movie.  How about following your favorite bands, artists, actors, athletes and celebrities?  Even if you’re bored you can hop on and play some games with friends!  The upsides of social networks seem limitless.

            One of the most important ways that social networks are used is to stay close to friends, family and relatives in an effective way.  In the past, one might need to send e-mails, make phone calls or send letters to communicate with people far away.  However, these 3 methods of communication can be inconvenient and inefficient at times.  E-mails work well, but sometimes setting those up can become a lengthy process. Making phone calls can be very unreliable because you have to hope that the person on the other side has time to talk, and sending letters is just too slow, and an even more lengthy process than e-mail.  Social networks can avoid all these issues by allowing users to quickly send messages to other users nearly instantly, while completely privately.  If the recipient isn’t online at that particular moment, they can check it when they are online, if they are online, they will be notified immediately.  It is a quick and effective way to communicate.  Social networks have become such an effective way to communicate, that they are becoming one of the leading forms of communication.  Laurie DiMauro reports in her statistics entitled Communication Choices made by Teens with Access to Multiple Technologies compared with all Teens that teens with access to multiple technologies use social networking sites to send private messages as means to communicate only less often than cell phones, (both calls and texts) and instant messages. (This is often done on social networking sites as well!)  In another set of statistics called Percentage of Online Adults who use Twitter or another Status Update Service, by Demographic Group, DiMauro reports that 19% of all adults use Twitter or other status updating services.

            Another way in which millions of people enjoy social networks is by following celebrities that they love.  Nowadays one can be nearly certain that their favorite celebrities have Twitter or Facebook accounts that fans can subscribe to or follow to stay up-to-date on their activities.  In the article Online Social Networks, the author points out that “during the 2008 presidential campaign many candidates, including Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and John McCain, had support pages on Facebook and MySpace.”  From athletes to actors, celebrities to politicians, the possibilities are endless.  Social network users all across the planet are staying updated on their favorite famous people.  Do you want to know what your favorite actor is doing?  How about what your favorite athlete is thinking?  With technology today, you can find out in just a few clicks.

            Another form of convenience that social networks provide is instant feedback.  By posting updates in the form of discussions, debates and inquiries, one can be assured that there will be numerous people that have a comment to make.  Instant feedback might is one of the most important features that social networks have to offer.  With ease, one can find out what a wide range of people think about a certain issue or idea.  Some social networking sites, such as Facebook, take this one step further.  By posting a link to an article that is interesting, discusses something you’re interested in, or is just funny, the social networking site will provide a title, as well as a quick introduction about the article!  This lets the viewers know exactly what the article will be about, and might spark some interest. 

While social networking sites have many features that are useful in providing convenience, let’s not forget that they also provide numerous forms of entertainment.  As mentioned earlier, you might find a funny picture or article online that you’d like to share with all your friends and family.  Nearly all social networking sites allow users to post pictures, as well as post links to funny things they might find.  You can be assured that social networks will provide some form of entertainment to all different kinds of users.  Facebook takes this to the next level by allowing users to actually play games with friends.  By using certain “apps” on Facebook, you can play all different kinds of games with your friends!  There are hundreds of games and quizzes you can take just for fun!  Then afterwards you can see how well you stack up against your friends and family, or what the outcomes of the quizzes they take are.  Imagine what social networking sites in the future will have!

Research Paper

Jason Martell

Sister Steadman

Writing 150

15 March 2012

Thesis:

            Despite there being several concerns when unsafely using social networks, the convenience, simplicity and fun of social networks outweigh the risks if used in a secure way.  The history of social networks show the future of them is only getting bigger and better!

The History and Future of Social Networks

            Facebook was created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, a student at the University of Harvard.  The initial goal of, and idea behind creating it was to connect the students on campus.  By fast-forwarding seven years into the future, to the spring of 2011, we can see that Facebook now boasts some amazing numbers.  Ed. Dedria Bryfonski states the following in her article “Introduction to The Global Impact of Social Media: Current Controversies”:

“By the spring of 2011, it had six hundred million users. If its users made up a nation, it would be the third largest in the world.”

The third largest nation in the world!  Bryfonski also adds that, even though Facebook was founded as a US college site, more than 70% of users now are outside of the US.   However, in order to take a glimpse into the future of social networks, first we need to look at the past, and see how far these social networks have come.

The very first form of social networking is still a way we all connect with one-another today. You guessed it, it’s e-mail.  With the launch of the World Wide Web (WWW) in 1991, millions of people were able to connect using chat rooms and games over the web.  Bryfonski states that by the year 2000, the WWW had 23.2 million subscribers.

In 2002, the first website dedicated as a social network was launched.  This website is called Friendster.    According to Bryfonski, Friendster racked up a remarkable 3 million members in just 3 short months!  While an amazing idea for a website, Friendster wasn’t executed very well, and has since lost its rapid growth. Bryfonski reports that by June 2010, Friendster had 90 million members.   Friendster is important, however, because it created the path for many other social networking sites to be created and enter the spotlight.

In 2003 the next major social network took its position in the spotlight.  This competitor of Friendster was much more innovative and attracted artists, musicians, actors and all people everywhere.  According to Bryfonski, the site’s “ability to connect with others and to create a distinctive web page,” made it especially popular.  As you may have guessed, we all know this social network as MySpace.  However, as creative and ground-breaking MySpace was, it too had several concerns that have led to its downfall.  MySpace is renowned for its safety concerns, and has since declined in number of users.  Bryfonski reports that as of March 2011, MySpace had 260 million users.

This brings us to February 2004, when a certain sophomore in college decided to launch his own social networking website.  Today we know this sophomore as Mark Zuckerberg, and we all have heard of his famous creation:  Facebook.  Zuckerberg soon thereafter opened up Facebook to multiple other universities, followed by high schools soon after that.  By 2006 Facebook was available to everyone that had an e-mail address.  While discussing the creation of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg had this to say about connecting Harvard students:

“Six thousand people to share some information about themselves and stay connected with their friends and family. And what we basically just found since then is that that application is something that almost everyone wants to use.

Everyone has an identity that they want to express and friends and family that they wanna stay connected with.”

While other social networks have reached peak in number of users, and then started their decline, Facebook continues to hold strong, and, according to Bryfonski, had reached 600 million users by the spring of 2011.  Facebook’s user-friendliness, ease of connecting, simplicity and fun keep it thriving online even today.

Although it is arguable that Facebook is the king of social networking today, it would be foolish not to say there aren’t competitors.  In 2006, a more information-sharing based social network was started.  This social network is known for allowing users to send short messages (or tweets) instantaneously, helping people follow their loved ones, friends, and favorite celebrities.  If that didn’t give it away, the name of this social network is Twitter.  Bryfonski reports that by spring 2011, Twitter had racked up more than 200 million users, and that number continues to grow rapidly.

From Friendster to Facebook, social networks have come a long way.  From the 3 million people in 3 months that Friendster boasted, to over 600 million users on Facebook today, it is staggering how fast these websites are able to grow.  This leads me to thinking, what will social networks in the future do to stand out?  How will people be able to even more easily stay in close contact with their friends, family and relatives, while still being able to follow their favorite actors, musicians, artists, athletes and celebrities?  Social networks have come so far that the future of them seems limitless.