OMG, I have to Tweet that
A look at the ways that social media has changed our lives
Katie Manko
Issue date: 2/4/10 Section: News
Many companies use Twitter so that employees can follow announcements. Twitter also gives people the opportunity to post their reactions to national events. When Michael Jackson passed away in summer 2009, so many users began tweeting that the site had to shut down. This temporary system failure was due to too much traffic even though the star's death was public knowledge and plastered over the news worldwide.
The same is true for natural disasters such as the recent earthquake in Haiti. After the earthquake, people tweeted prayers and some users posted advertisements for organizations such as the Red Cross in order to raise money for the victims.
New opportunities have opened as a result of social media for young entrepreneurs. Some businesses run solely on the advertisements they get from Facebook and other similar social media networks because of the attention these sites get online from viewers.
"Twenty years ago it would have been hard to market and build businesses while being in school. However, social networks provide an inherently easy, inexpensive way to market oneself, especially as it pertains to young entrepreneurs like college students. The use of fan pages and Twitter to announce special sales contests draw peoples' interests and drive hits to your sites so these pages are very accessible for students who are constantly online," said Milless.
Here at Union, social networks are used in a plethora of ways. Students use these sites to find out about events, keep in touch with friends and family, view pictures, spread information, as well as to meet and connect with others.
The members of the incoming freshman class know each other months before arriving on campus in the fall because they can find both their roommates and their classmates from nearby areas on Facebook.
Entrepreneurial, tech savvy spirit is very alive at Union.
Guss Firestein '11 and Brett Sussman '11 recently started Grublink to make student life more efficient. One of the main ways that the two students have promoted the company to the student body is through a facebook fan page.
Another way that social networks have played a role at Union is by getting students' attention about new organizations and fundraisers. The Schenectady chapter of MEDLIFE, a non-profit healthcare organization, was started this fall by Mark Chaskes '12. An early member of the Schenectady chapter of the organization used Facebook to recruit members and advertise the mission of MEDLIFE.
Every day hundreds of users continue to join these social networks to connect with more people and post messages. These sites have changed our society so drastically over the past several years that it seems impossible to predict what our lives will be like in decades to come.
The same is true for natural disasters such as the recent earthquake in Haiti. After the earthquake, people tweeted prayers and some users posted advertisements for organizations such as the Red Cross in order to raise money for the victims.
New opportunities have opened as a result of social media for young entrepreneurs. Some businesses run solely on the advertisements they get from Facebook and other similar social media networks because of the attention these sites get online from viewers.
"Twenty years ago it would have been hard to market and build businesses while being in school. However, social networks provide an inherently easy, inexpensive way to market oneself, especially as it pertains to young entrepreneurs like college students. The use of fan pages and Twitter to announce special sales contests draw peoples' interests and drive hits to your sites so these pages are very accessible for students who are constantly online," said Milless.
Here at Union, social networks are used in a plethora of ways. Students use these sites to find out about events, keep in touch with friends and family, view pictures, spread information, as well as to meet and connect with others.
The members of the incoming freshman class know each other months before arriving on campus in the fall because they can find both their roommates and their classmates from nearby areas on Facebook.
Entrepreneurial, tech savvy spirit is very alive at Union.
Guss Firestein '11 and Brett Sussman '11 recently started Grublink to make student life more efficient. One of the main ways that the two students have promoted the company to the student body is through a facebook fan page.
Another way that social networks have played a role at Union is by getting students' attention about new organizations and fundraisers. The Schenectady chapter of MEDLIFE, a non-profit healthcare organization, was started this fall by Mark Chaskes '12. An early member of the Schenectady chapter of the organization used Facebook to recruit members and advertise the mission of MEDLIFE.
Every day hundreds of users continue to join these social networks to connect with more people and post messages. These sites have changed our society so drastically over the past several years that it seems impossible to predict what our lives will be like in decades to come.
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