Bombardment of apps changing the Internet, Pew study says

Here’s a recent package I did for Phoenix14News. The story was about a new Pew Research Center study about apps and how they will impact and shape the way users will use the Web and the type of content they will see. To ready the full story, go to Phoenix14’s website.

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New social media site has Elon students ‘re-pinning’ online

Here’s a story I did for Phoenix14News about the new virtual bulletin board and social media website Pinterest (of which I happen to be obsessed with!). What do you think, will Pinterest overtake Facebook?

If you want to follow me on Pinterest, look me up: Addie Michelle.

**After my story aired, I came across a new website similar to Pinterest called Gentlemint. It’s basically the male equivalent to Pinterest and is full of mustaches, high-calorie food recipes and other manly things.

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View from the Sky

I was scrolling trough Twitter just a few minutes ago, and happened to find this really cool time-lapse video of an 11-hour flight from San Francisco, California to Paris, France.

The reason I liked it so much is because not only does it offer inspiration for the time lapse video project that we are hurdling toward in DMC, but it is something that I’ve always wanted to do: take pictures while flying.

I hate it when the flight attendant has to tell passengers to power off their electronic equipment because I’ve always wanted to take pictures during take-off and landing – two of the coolest parts of flying.

But what’s even cooler to me is that he was able to capture the Northern Lights on film (well, memory card really), mid-air, sooooo close to them. Now, I don’t know if you know this, happen to be a nerd and I love astronomy. It has always been one of my goals to see the Northern Lights in person! How cool would that be?!!

But, I digress.

The photos for the time lapse were snapped every 2 miles, or 2-30 seconds (for 11 hours??!), with a Cannon 5D2 and 16mm-35mm lens. The take-off and landing photos were all computer models, since “the FAA prohibits use of approved electronic devices during take-off and landing.” (how many times have I heard that one?)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

I’m not sure who the photographer is, but when I find his name, I will give credit where credit is due. Journalist’s promise.

**UPDATE** I found out who the photographer is. His name is Nate Bolt and click here to visit his website and blog where you can see more of his work.

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Facebook: Friend or Foe?

By Addie Haney

More than 100 million college students incorporate Facebook in their daily lives, but one Elon student made the decision to cut it out completely, despite its possible networking opportunities.

Freshman Andrea Schultz, an athlete for Elon University, gave Facebook up for Lent her junior year of high school. Her grades improved so much that she chose to give it up completely for senior year.

“I think it’s a complete waste of time,” Schultz said.

Schultz is a member of the cross-country and track and field as well as several on-campus clubs. Because she cut Facebook out of her routine, Schultz says her day never has any wasted time.

According to Facebook, its 500 million users spend more than 700 billion minutes on the site in a month. That is the equivalent to about 1.33 million years.

Ross Wade, assistant director of career services for the School of Communications, said he understands the benefits Facebook could provide, especially when searching for jobs.

According to Wade, Facebook can be a useful research tool to locate people and places for networking

“[Facebook] could be a good lead for you to connect with them and talk with them about how they got that job,” Wade said.

Wade also said Facebook is a good tool for establishing a credible and marketable online presence.

Even with the benefits in job searching, Schultz said she doesn’t see Facebook returning in her future.

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Ted.com

It’s that time again. the TED conventions are being held!

You may be asking, “What on earth is TED?” Let’s be real, few people know what it is. (Ok…Well, at least I didn’t know what it was.)

Basically, TED, which stands for Technology Entertainment and Design, is an annual global conference that gives talks centered mostly on science and culture. Every year, speakers gather in either Palm Springs or Long Beach to present their ideas in innovative and engaging ways. In order to help speakers have their “wish” for a global change come true, the TED Prize is awarded to one speaker to put toward that wish.

Johanna Blakley

There are thousands of speakers to hear from on Ted.com (check them out!), but the speaker that I would like to highlight is Johanna Blakley. This year, Blakley spoke about the way social media is changing the perception of gender.

In her speech, Blakley explains how traditional media sources of today, such as magazines and television, target advertisements to certain audiences based on demographics, mainly gender, because they often behave with some predictability. However, according to Blakley, social media is changing the game and making it increasingly difficult to target those audiences based on gender or race or creed anymore. This is because instead of being defined by physical attributes, your online person is better defined by your interests. Advertising companies do this by monitoring your clicks (I know! Creepy, but very true.) on webpages, counting the number of times you visit a cooking or workout site. By studying your Internet habits, advertisers can make educated guesses at best about your age, gender, or race.

This brings up an interesting point for me as a communications student who hopes to become a broadcast journalist.

Most of the money used to run television production studios comes from selling ads during the commercial break. If it becomes increasingly more difficult to target ads to a certain audience during regular airing hours, how will that affect those television companies that I will one day work for? Although social media is good in a sense because it breaks down those old, tired stereotypes, if it grows into the only source of information people access, ads sales can falter and jeopardize my future career! (Yeah, that might be selfish of me to say.)

I guess, then, we must rely on the advertising companies to be inventive and hope for the best.

To hear more of Johanna’s speech, listen and watch below.

Johanna Blakely

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