January 26th: Social Media Finding Their Niche

The ways in which we communicate continue to grow and develop as we not only create new and innovative ways to connect, but also advance the ways in which we use existing media.

In a recent report by the Pew Research Center, the 2014 report on social media usage revealed some very interesting insight into the most popular social networks and the demographics who use them most frequently.

Facebook was discovered to be the most “popular” social media site, with 71% of internet-using adults having accounts. At first glance, this appears to put Facebook at the forefront of the social media world, but, upon further inspection, this may not be the case. The 71% from 2014 is exactly the same as it was in 2013, which seems to indicate that there has been no growth in Facebook activity in the past year.

While Facebook remains consistently popular, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest all saw spikes in total percentage of use, with Pinterest seeing a heavily female bias. This seems to indicate that, while not matching the sheer numbers of Facebook, other social media are continuing to reach a meaningful audience and spread use of their applications.

Most interesting to me, though, was the proliferation of “multi-platform use,” which increased by ten percent from 42% to 52% this year. This means that more and more, users are choosing to diversity their content consumption and production to different platforms.

What this indicates is that there is a shift from the ideas of social media when they were first gaining traction to now. It used to be that the purpose of a social network was to house any and all elements of social life. Facebook was the home base for all chatting, photo and video sharing, networking, and resume building. Now, you have the opportunity to create a Facebook profile to house your “friends,” an Instagram account for photos, a LinkedIn for your professional growth, and Pintrest as your crafting showcase. Lest we forget Twitter as the place to engage with life’s daily activities, all of a sudden social media become less of a website to visit and spend time on, and instead turn into the outlet for which we share our lives, as well as consume the lives of those in our communities.

Some like to claim that Facebook is dying. I don’t really believe that to be the case. What we use Facebook for is changing, and Facebook has, since it’s inception, been fairly clear about their desire to keep up with the demands of its users. Facebook has turned into your homepage. We don’t consider the time we spend on Facebook because we are so often using it as a launching point for other websites. We click on videos that take us to YouTube. We click on articles that take us to blogs and news sites. We click on photos that take us to Instagram feeds. To say that Facebook is no  longer viable is to ignore the central purpose of Facebook, which is to catch the things that will be most especially interesting to you.

As these trends continue, we should expect to see continued push for specialized media that attempt to target a specific niche clientele. The expression “you can’t be everything to everybody” is proving especially true, and has created the opportunity for specialized networks, rather than catch-all social environments.

In the grand scheme of things, social media are still brand new. We are very much learning how to use them both to get our messages out, as well as to receive messages that we find personally meaningful. We will continue to see more and more people using multiple social media at the same time, while also seeing the prevalence of niche apps competing against “catch-alls” like Facebook. While none will match the sheer population of the Zuckerberg giant, each will have more impact within the specialized community that is more thoroughly engaged with the site.

January 21st: Strength of a Union

A transcript of the State of the Union Address can be found here.

Last night’s State of the Union was a social media explosion, as has become the case for most events of its size and nature. The resounding opinion was that this was Obama’s greatest one yet, and that his confidence and determination brought new hope to a presidency that has, in recent months, seen a dramatic decline in support.

As a nation, it is great to see our leader demonstrating such bold strength and confidence. It inspires those feelings within ourselves. What happens today, the day after such a declaration, though, is what defines its success.

The primary focus of last night’s speech was to highlight the progress the country has made in the past several years, and note areas where the president would like to see progress and, in some cases, where he refuses to accept decline. The speech’s thesis statement was that “the shadow of crisis has passed, and the state of the Union is strong.” Comforting words, no doubt, for a nation that needs a little hope, amid a world that continually looks to be falling apart.

The idealism was palpable. A strong focus was placed on the middle class, centered around the notion of equalling the playing field, not for the purpose of dragging down the elite, but for the chance to elevate those who do not get a fair chance. He said “That’s what middle class economics is -- the idea that this country does best when everyone gets their fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.” One country, striving together to lead the world is exactly the type of image that we all need to hear about. The challenge becomes making it a reality.

Now, as we review the materials, it will be easy to slip back into the partisanship that has plagued the last six years. We leave the shared goals of a strong, united nation because of the distraction of the details along the way. Yet, in President Obama’s speech, he speaks directly to this issue. The words that ring clearest today for me from last night are when the president addressed not only the possibility for disagreement, but rather the need for it.

He said “If we’re going to have arguments, let’s have arguments -- but let’s make them debates worthy of this body and worthy of this country.” Obama knows that he will not say some magic words and suddenly have Republicans and Democrats getting along. He knows that the gridlock will continue, and that the aisle will continue to divide us. But the point of a speech like this is to remind us that there IS an option, that we can find ways to disagree while also striving for the shared goals of a single nation.

We now need responses from two different groups to turn last night’s emotion into today’s action. We need President Obama to continue to play that role that he did last night. We need him to continue to be sassy, to be strong, to be willing to have meaningful debates and be ready to listen. We need a leader who will be willing to stand above the drama of Washington and steer the country as a whole where the people need and want it to go. We also need Congress to have listened. The time for crossed arms, grumpy faces, and fingers in our ears are gone. We can’t afford that anymore. Representatives of the people in the federal government owe it to this nation to continue to work for what is best for the country, not what is best for keeping one’s seat or pandering to a certain demographic.

Some might say that these are dreams, fun to talk about in a speech, but impossible to get done. This isn’t what real government looks like, they might say. The problem is, government ceases to look as it should, and we now have the ability AND the need to fix it.

Last night’s speech concluded with another powerful statement. In his conclusion, he said “We’ve laid a new foundation. A brighter future is ours to write. Let’s begin this new chapter -- together -- and let’s start the work right now.”

Last night’s speech brought with it a heavy dose of idealism. Idealism is nearly impossible to actually enact. There are pitfalls and there are challenges. Yet, that is why we set the bar so high: so that we know that this country can be the greatest in the world, if only we were willing to make it so.

Well, let’s get to work.

January 13th: Drawing Conclusions

Sometimes, in our attempt to comprehend a tragedy that is utterly inconceivable to most rational, mentally healthy humans, we work ourselves into corners. The world is struggling to understand why 12 members of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo were murdered execution style by ISIS sympathizers in France. Along the way, the public can come up with some sad and often frightening comments.

The knee-jerk reaction to a horrible hate-crime like the one that hit Paris last week is a mixture of sadness and confusion. That confusion manifested itself on Wednesday with select few analyzing the reason that the attackers gave for their actions. In this case, the killers were looking for those involved in political cartoons that portrayed the prophet Muhammad, which were offensive and sacrilegious to many Muslims. That led a select few to attempt the argument “It’s absolutely unacceptable that these people were murdered, but what they were drawing was very offensive and wrong.” Or “I don’t support violence at all, but if you insult an entire religion, you are running the risk of backlash.”

To hear these things were, quite possibly, the most unpatriotic thing I’ve ever heard from Americans. Yes, the drawings had the ability to be offensive. Yes, the magazine was known for being, at the very least, insensitive and, at the very most, Islamophobic. But that should mean nothing now. In these moments, these people were killed for their drawings. These people were killed because extremists have been taught their entire lives to kill the traitors. These people were killed because they represented an “other” to a group that refuses to acknowledge their right to exist. There are days to argue about when free speech borders on hate speech. That day was not last week, or at the very least did not belong in the same breath with men and women who were executed for exercising their rights, whether politically correctly or otherwise. Using a qualifier when expressing condolence is simply unacceptable.

The day after the mass murder, the attackers stole the world’s attention again, this time holding hostages in two locations, one of them a Kosher grocery store. The inherently Jewish nature of this location added a level of antisemitism, only further causing strife, especially in my especially Jewish social media circle. Within hours, the proud declaration “Je Suis Charlie,” French for “I am Charlie” in support of Charlie Hebdo, became “Je Suis Juif,” or, “I am Jewish.” The hopes of bringing solidarity to the Jews of France injected just another element of religious fervor to an already complex situation involving Islamic extremism and the complexity of Islamophobia.

It was right about then that I saw the following post:

“Dear Atheists,

Once again, just gotta say, you’re doing a great job of not committing any acts of terrorism. Keep it up!

Love,

God”

Sure, the post is clever. But what really gets me upset is that religion is becoming a bad thing. Because of the actions of these select few, all of a sudden it is wrong to be religious. Religion is now synonymous with extremism, conflict, terror, and hate. Which is the exact antithesis of what religion is supposed to be.

The attacks on Charlie Hebdo attempt to rock the very foundations upon which we, as Americans, have grown comfortable. They attacked our freedom to express ourselves. They attacked our sense of security in public spaces. Most importantly, they have hijacked our ability to use faith as a meaningful part of our lives, for fear that relating to a religious identity will instead cast us as zealots or extremists.

I refuse to give them that power. We cannot let religion become a symbol for hate. Faith could be the one thing that saves us from this kind of destruction. Sometimes the greatest forms of medicine, when taken incorrectly, can make us terribly sick. We must not abandon our values, simply because others choose to use it for their own battle cry.

God didn’t get us into this mess. People did. But people will also be the ones to save us. Maybe then we’ll feel a little closer to God.

January 5th: Let's Be Honest

I don’t generally like the concept of a “New Years Resolution.” We don’t need a single day every year to evaluate our lives and strive to be better. That’s something we should be doing every day.

This year, though, timing just happens to put my need to evaluate things in line with the beginning of 2015. More than that, though; this year’s resolution is about the intersection between myself and the rest of the world. This year, I’m resolving to look for the best in people, in situations, and in the way I go about my daily life. And I’m encouraging anyone and everyone to join me.

Over the last several months, I’ve been confronted with the understanding that you never know what’s going on in someone else’s life. You don’t know what they’re thinking about just before they fall asleep. You don’t know what they’re dealing with in the darkest parts of their heart. You don’t know what another person’s challenges are. So how can you really judge a person based solely on what you see on the outside?

Patience is the virtue I struggle with most. I want things to operate according to a plan. More accurately, I want things to operate on MY plan. That isn’t the way the world works, though, and if I am going to be able to find any level of happiness, I need to be able to understand that. Patience with other people is even harder. Being patient means acknowledging that others are behaving in certain ways for reasons I may not understand. Being patient requires me to take a step back and realize that I may not know everything, and that sometimes that just has to be ok.

We need to be more patient with one another. The world is filled with pains and hardships. Airplanes fall out of the sky, orphaning children and widowing lovers. Disease takes not only the life but livelihood away from the strong. Natural disasters test the very foundations upon which we build our lives. These are all easy to see, blatantly in need of the combating of fear that caring, support, and love provide.

But everyone is going through something, no matter how significant or insignificant it may feel in comparison to the plight of others. We don’t need to belittle our feelings by saying that there’s somebody suffering more than we are. You are allowed to be disappointed by your shortcomings. You are allowed to mourn the ending of a relationship. You are allowed to feel doubt about your future. And we, as people interacting every day, need to give you the freedom to deal with those hardships without adding judgement, frustration or impatience to the mix.

The hardest thing in the world is emotional honesty. Emotional honesty means accepting how you feel and being willing to tell someone else, to communicate to another person that you are going through something. Sometimes it’s to tell someone you’re hurting. Sometimes it’s to tell someone you love them. No matter what it is, it takes incredible strength simply to know WHAT you’re feeling and THEN be willing to share that deep part of yourself. Yet, when we are most healthy as people, when we are most likely to be truly happy, is when we are able to accomplish this. There is no better feeling in the world than knowing that someone else in the world knows how you’re feeling, and can support you when you can’t carry your burden any more.

I want to be more emotionally honest. I want to be more supportive of those who are emotionally honest with me. And, maybe the greatest challenge for me, I want to be patient with those who haven’t found the time or the courage to tell me what they’re going through, so that I can make their road to emotional honesty and, eventually, happiness all the easier.