I thought this article was very interesting. What struck me was the two comments about online classes. I think he may be right in saying that people in online classes do better than those who take face-to-face instruction. I’m taking a class called the Adult as a Learner. I feel like most (not all) people who take online classes are adults with jobs and families. They may understand the value of the dollar better than people my age (22) who take face-to-face classes. I know when I was in undergrad I barely got by sometimes because I forgot college wasn’t there for fun!

Overall, the media advancement to online classes has definitely made it easier for working adults to continue their education.

Thanks for the interesting post. Some of Qualman’s facts absolutely blew me away, and further confirmed how mass media is changing our world faster than ever before. I would like to focus on one of his points, the fact that “Radio took 38 years to reach 50 million users; TV 13 years. The Internet took only 4 years, and the iPod did it in 3.” This astounding fact just goes to show how mass media and the world of advancing technology combined continues to become a more powerful force. I have a hard time thinking what could possibly be next on that list. My fear is that our communication with one another is becoming less personal and eventually, the idea of calling someone to say “hello” or ask them how their days was is going to be virtually unknown. How can we stop that from happening?

I find it fascinating that the Internet and social media have gotten such a tight grip on such a large segment of the population in such a short period of time. When I graduated from Ball State in 1995, I didn’t even know what the Internet was, but by 1996, when I was in my first newspaper job, I began to learn about this captivating new technology on the one machine in the newsroom that had it (imagine that!). Fast forward a year or two, and that newspaper (and hundreds like it) were trying to decide what to do with this new technology, once they decided it wasn’t just a passing fad. “You mean that we have to put out more than one edition a day?” The answer is yes, and now those “editions” are updated every few minutes, and promoted through Facebook and Twitter. In fact, that is where I see about 50% of the news over the course of a workday. Not from a newspaper or TV program, but from friends (including a current newspaper editor) posting something on Facebook. The news does indeed find us. It’s no wonder newspaper subscriptions have fallen off a cliff in recent years.

Now, working in higher education, we are trying to figure out how to reach students using social media. Do we use it? How do we use it? When, how often, and what do we say? These are questions tossed around by us “oldsters” many times a day. And we are struggling to keep up.

It is also fascinating that young people today think that e-mail is passe. Many of us, in communicating with students, opt for text messages or befriending students on Facebook to get a prompt response. Works like a charm almost every time! Question is, how long will texting and Facebook and Twitter work with the young and hip? What’s the new big thing, and how do we “older” folks learn about it so we can stay ahead of the curve?

These statistics are astounding. I must admit, I question exactly how accurate some of them are. Still, when I consider that I often overlook that I am actually using social media (blog) to obtain information about media, I am only adding to these statistics. So, perhaps they are more true than we realize.

I am particularly intrigued by the statistic that Facebook added more than 200 million users in less than a year. People talk about how we can change the world if each person reached out to help another person. To be honest, this is the technique of a pyramid scheme, without the ability to drain your life savings away in a matter of weeks. Facebook has effectively tapped into this model.

The one interesting effect it seems to be having is that Facebook is connecting people who otherwise may have been content in real life to drift apart. I have several Facebook friends that are really more of acquaintances that I wouldn’t really hang out with much in real life. Could Facebook be doing more damage to my meaningful relationships by distracting me with information or communication with people I am not close with but feel obliged to acknowledge online?

The other effect I am noticing here is how quickly the absence of media knowledge can separate and isolated someone. I always knew one day I would get “old” I just didn’t think technology would make me feel that way this early in life.

It seems all it takes is one round of new technology to isolate certain groups of people from being media savvy. I held out on getting texting for about 4-5 years when it first came out. I really didn’t need it, my fingers are too big and hit the wrong buttons, and I was too cheap to pay for it.

By the time my wife convinced me to get texting (a little more than a year ago) it was old technology. In my case, not having this type of technology somewhat isolated me from others who preferred to communicate that way.

Could the effect of media actually be isolation if you are unable to keep up with it?

As a man in my mid-40′s I have been slow to adapt/accept the new social media. When I first heard about Twitter–I thought it ridiculous, who is interested in reading about what someone is doing all the time? And as for Facebook, it seemed like a good way to re-connect with old friends and acquaintances. Who could have envisioned what it would become. The numbers speak the truth and it is apparent that the way we communicate has changed from a written letter or a phone call to short and immediate blast that can go out at anytime to anywhere to anybody. It is a brave new world and as you mentioned in the article only vision (or lack thereof) can predict where it is headed.

I have to agree that the web’s social media is creating rituals that are becoming apart of our lifestyle habits. I like that fact that we can regroup on the effects that we have gone through with the history of media. Radio moved us away from the literary man. We were exposed to world news and new entertainment forms. Television increased this move with new technology. Now the web offers new forms of entertainment and routines through social media. We can now meet our spouses through social media and we are spending more time playing and searching on social media rather than general search engines like Google. Initially I have to say, it is kind of a scary thought to think I could possibly stumble upon my future husband on social media rather than having my “love at first sight” moment. But then again, who is to say that it is a scary thing? Clearly that is apart of the effect of the Web 2.0, changing our lives and routines. The statistics are clearly pointing in that direction.

You mention your interest in understanding how social media will affect our personal lives. I think we’re entering a time where having a different profile and reality on the Internet will be more common. Besides Second Life, which already gives someone that ability in an immersive experience, I think it will become more common for people like my daughter, who already has a pseudonym for her Facebook page rather than her real name. It was a choice as parents we required her to do to protect her online privacy and prevent identity theft. Perhaps your theory of the Shadow World should be considered beyond the news media’s portrayal of reality. With the Internet and social media, we have the power to create a reality for ourselves.

This reading relates a little to this weeks assignment on government officials. Now of course it really doesn’t touch on the government as much as it does facts about how social media is taking over and how.

The statistics in this blog stood out to me. They too stood out in the video we watched but with all of the crazy graphics sometimes I lost focus to what I was reading and wasn’t really paying attention to what I was suppose to.

This article proves once again that the government is putting their advertising dollars and time in the right place. Facebook the third largest country?? That is sad and crazy. The government pays attention to every little detail going on in the world and with something getting this much attention one can be sure they are focused on social media.

As I read through this article for the second time this semester (posting a response a few weeks ago) one stat really stood out to me this time that hadn’t jumped off the page before.

This post states that “ 78 percent of consumers trust peer reviews of products and services; while 14 percent trust advertisements.”

As I read the stat about more people trusting peer reviews for products I started wondering if my initial reaction against citizen journalism (a form of peer review of news) might have been wrong.

In light of the transition to the Web. 2.0, news is seeing a dramatic shift to user-generated content. Several factors contribute to this shift. First, news organizations are cutting back on personnel and adding more work to those that remain in the newsroom. The Internet, on the other hand, is providing much more space for news to fill. This means news organizations have to fill that space with something. This leads to more opportunities for reader contribution through postings and discussion groups.

My initial reaction was that readers won’t trust citizen journalists nearly as much as traditional journalists since they tend to not be as well trained in the field or educated on the necessity of objectivity. I may have jumped to an early conclusion. After further consideration I stand by my initial reaction but approach the topic more cautiously.

If consumers trust peer reviews more than expert opinion on items they will drive or put in their homes, then why won’t they trust non-experts for news? There is clearly an element of personal experience that contributes to the value of peer-reviewed products. We lend a lot of validity to people who have used a product over a long period of time in real-world circumstances.

So, why wouldn’t we trust citizen journalists who are news consumers themselves? I think the difference is objectivity. We expect peers who have purchased a car or a dishwasher to have an opinion of that item, either positive or negative. We don’t want them to be unbiased. We want them to share their personal feelings on the product.

Furthermore, there have been times when I am purchasing an item online that I wonder if peer reviews are even legitimate or if someone could have posted them from the manufacturer or the store itself. Also, if an item receives an overwhelming amount of negative feedback, could the store pull it down and reset the peer review scale to make he product more desirable?

The same is true with news. We want to know who is writing the story and at least know their connection or lack of connection to the story (their level of bias). Until we can clearly identify a citizen journalist’s bias and be able to verify the source of the piece, we should take a careful approach to the stories they present.

I remember these stats from the You Tube video we watched a while back. They still surprise me now just as they did then. These statistics prove social media has completely taken over. Social media and the many ways we can use it have become our pass time.

There is no reason why Face Book should be considered a country. This is absolutely ludicrous. If these statistics are true they are sad. In less than ten years we have become a society completely reliant on Face Book, You Tube and Google. No wonder why newspapers are declining, people are spending their hours uploading videos of God knows what to You Tube and making Face Book a country.

My main question in response to this blog is where did the statistics come from? Who came up with them and how? They almost seem too astounding to be true.

After reading the blog post, Brave New World 2.Oh! I am not surprised by most of the statistics. For instance, if Facebook was its own country, my friends list alone would be the size of the city I grew up in, not huge, but large enough. I do have quite a few friends who fit into the 55 and above category, such as my aunts, uncles and just friends in general. I like that it allows me to keep in touch. I have had several friends find dates on social media sources, though I am bit uncomfortable with the idea. One even moved to England. Now that is a connection I would like to make! I don’t believe that kids who take online instruction outperform traditional students really, but open book tests are a lot easier to ace than closed book in a traditional classroom, so I have no doubts their grades are better. I would like to have an eBook so I can sit at work and look very technological minded while reading romance novels, but I do love the smell of the library and books. I don’t think I could trade them in the end.
With 200 million blogs, I don’t know why I don’t follow one or two more closely, but I have not caught that blog bug. I do like the idea that anyone can have their say though. I do believe the news finds us, but I also seek it out daily. I take the paper for tradition sake, but read it mostly online. I listen to NPR daily on the ride in and always find out something more than other stations give, which are usually headlines to MSBNC.

I was just as astounded this time as the first time I read these statistics from Qualman’s “Socialnomics” site. (By the way, I have visited his site numerous times and am a big fan.) My favorite stat is “Radio took 38 years to reach 50 million users; TV 13 years. The Internet took only 4 years, and the iPod did it in 3.” WOW!! If that doesn’t say how media is changing and becoming more effective in reaching the masses, I don’t know what does. And it is scary to think that electronic books outsold actual books last Christmas. Our society is more and more dependent on the Internet as time goes on. This scares me for the simple reason that books, and print in general, are a more dependable, credible source of information. Since the Internet is still a fairly new form of information and networking, it is still not quite as trusted of a source as other media. And how about the stat of 1 out of 6 higher ed students are enrolled in online classes? Me being one of those students, this is the only way that education can fit in my schedule, especially since the school of my choice is in a different city. But for the opportunity to attend class online, I am grateful. Without it, I would not be furthering my education. So needless to say, there are reasons why the Internet is a blessing, but I am also fearful of how it’s going to eliminate the need for many classic media (books, newspapers, maybe magazines).

The statistics quoted here are eye-opening indeed. It’s hard to fathom how quickly today’s technology catches on especially with younger populations. The power of social media and interactive online media is incredible, but what does this mean for us? Well, no matter what industry you are in, or what you are trying to accomplish, it’s wise to pay attention to these numbers. It’s so easy to poo-poo new technology like Twitter and even taking a course online, but the reality speaks for itself. If more and people are choosing Facebook and blogs for their primary sources of information, that is something we cannot ignore.

Newspapers, for instance, have been very slow to adapt to the social media trend, and they still haven’t really figured out how to fit in the social media milieu. And as a result, they are losing readership in their printed editions. More and more people are wanting online content, and if they don’t find it from their local newspaper, they will find another source that will give it to them.

Social media growth has serious repercussions for those in other industries, too. Advertisers, for instance, have been forced to find their audience online, because if they don’t, it’s likely that the audience won’t see them at all. As more people clamor for YouTube videos, it’s interesting to see the number of major advertisers that are creating advertising content especially for YouTube (often referred to in TV ads). And for those in the public relations profession, the growth of social media has fundamentally changed how practitioners do their jobs. To effectively manage a company’s or client’s image and reputation, it is imperative that PR professionals be keyed in to all methods of social media, because that is likely where misinformation starts or is spread.

Keeping up with our “brave new world” is a challenge, but falling behind is not an option. Companies or industries that are not fully embracing the power of Web 2.0 are missing out on an ever-growing customer base. With the power of social media what it is, it’s likely only to grow faster in the future, so it is essential that we all pay close attention.

This presentation of statistics never ceases to amaze me, regardless of how many times I’ve viewed it in the past. While the Facebook statistics regarding rapid growth house the content I find the most fascinating, there is more to be gained from Qualman’s observations than mere awe at the phenomena that social media has become.

Assuming that the facts have been verified, there are a number of statistics here that would be of value to the media and advertisers today. With 50% of the population under the age of 30, there’s no question why social media has become so popular in recent years. Furthermore, this solidifies the notion that the longevity social media stands to obtain is one to take seriously.

In knowing that consumers are using Facebook more than any other site on a weekly basis, there is no question why retailers, news media, and various other corporations have turned to the site in an attempt to increase their audience. It appears, however, that the focus should shift from traditional advertisements to more of a testimonial base since audiences now favor peer reviews.

Pair testimonials and reviews from real people on Facebook or blogs with high traffic for a product or service and, according to this presentation, the users will flock and sales should skyrocket.

Is it really a “Brave” new world, or is it a world where we can hide within? Families used to crowd around the radio or the television. Now they run to their computers or iPhones. One of the data sets that you referenced was that social media has taken over pornography, but what are the social media users doing with social media? I’d be curious to see some of the numbers on people over 30, possibly married, who have reconnected with past desires, or even lovers and might be carrying on inappropriate relationships with those people.

The numbers regarding world population are some of the scariest. All those people have to find jobs, and yes, food. It’s not even about competition anymore; there are just too many people.

It seems like with the vastness of the online environment, any research would be open to subjective interpretation and ‘spin’. The Kindle numbers, do those figure in assumed gift card usage? The numbers who met via social networking; it would be interesting to see data about the longevity of those relationships. The number of years it’s taken the different mediums to reach 50 million users; there has been a population boom since the advent of radio and television. More people in the general population will, obviously, mean that more people will use a medium faster. It’s just a numbers game.

The final statement about news finding us; I wonder about the quality of the news that finds us. With all the blogs and the lack of accountability journalism and excessive amount of ‘noise’, is the news that’s finding us good news? I’m 33 years old, my computer is a 10 year old Mac G4 what was a graduation present for my undergrad, I’ve never owned an iPod or any portable mp3 player, I do have a blackberry, I don’t use twitter and have only used myspace or facebook because of my job as a radio personality. I make a point to take in some quantity of news every single day, and I honestly consider myself to be just as informed as anyone who is addicted to social media. Now, I do acknowledge that my profession casually exposes me to more media than the average person, but I believe that too much of a good thing is NOT a good thing and there’s a reason why you should duck when something is thrown at you.

Submission Field : It was only about a month ago that my friend and I were driving down the road and talking about how weird it is that we can say we were around for the creation of facebook. I can still remember about five years ago this time when I was a freshman in undergrad and facebook was only open to certain universities and then, you had to be a college student to join. I can remember when my university had not yet joined and I could not be on facebook and my other friends were. I can still remember making a myspace account also toward the end of my senior year of high school. I think its startling to see that within just 5 years facebook has gained enough users to equal the population of the third largest country in the world. I also found it interesting that 1 out of 6 individuals receive a post graduate degree from an online university, which is something we are all doing. I also found it interesting how last Christmas (I believe 2009) ebooks out sold printed books, that is just weird to me because I don’t even really know much about them, let alone very few people who actually read ebooks.

“Over 50 percent of the world’s population is under 30” and “96 percent of Millennials have joined a social network.” These two stats show just how many people are online. As a part of the under 30 group, I’m using the internet for EVERYTHING. Just the other day, my dad made a comment about how parents will never be right anymore due to cell phones and mobile internet. He said that because any time I don’t know the answer to a question, I google it from my blackberry. As a culture, people my age live for the internet. I really do believe we’d be lost and definitely a dumber society if it weren’t for the ease of access to the internet.

These statistics were surprising but very believable! With the alarming rate that social media and the Internet in general is making on our daily lives, it has reached a point where we are dependent on them. With this knowledge, retailers and other companies are creating their presence on social media. Like a statistic stated, Facebook has more daily traffic than Google. Throughout the years, Facebook began to allow more people and even organizations have their own pages. Now have segments on its site for advertisers and retailers to advertise! Facebook use to be so peaceful when it was just college students only!

It is through such changes that my favorite statistic that is listed can even be possible, “We no longer search for news. The news finds us.” I could not agree with this more! From simply checking your email to walking your dog, the media has a way of finding us. In our daily tasks, we are inundated so much with news, advertisements and even gossip that is hard to believe we haven’t all gone crazy. These hard facts are proof that society is evolving into an age where technology is running it all.

A main comment that stuck out to me was about the idea of online courses. Each of us learns on a completely different scale. I attended Purdue University and many of my classes were on a larger scale. Depending on the subject matter and course layout, several classes were difficult for me to keep up on all topics in time to do well on a final exam. My second semester there in spring of 2006 I began my first online course. I managed to turn a 67% first semester grade (Algebra/Trig) into a 98%–all online, all by teaching myself. Many classroom professors force you to sit for 75 minutes, no one cares if you fall asleep, and no one cares if you participate. Boring. (All my opinion of course, I don’t mean to discredit anyone that enjoys a good lecture.) But for myself, once I aced the online course, I kept distance education as a part of my course of study for the rest of my undergrad career. One or two online classes a semester and at least one line class for each summer semester. Online courses force you to participate and focus, many teachers layout the sources for you so that you can go directly to the source, study, and learn about it. It also comes with a great deal of discipline. You learn to navigate the internet, and in my opinion, the more online courses you take, the better off you are using the Internet—you are forced to navigate, cite credible sources and really find what you’re looking for. I think this is essential in today’s web 2.0 world. It is unlike a classroom where the teacher hands you a syllabus and says, “You’re off, now go!”

While reading this I am just as surprised by some of the comments. We have previously read about facebook being the 3rd largest population in the world if facebook was a country. It’s interesting to go through history of the media and see how each stage changes us. Radio drew us in and changed our evening habits, television did the same; both changed our schedules and rearranged our evenings. Now we have formed habits around our social media outlets. A friend of mine keeps a blog about fashion. Each day she gets up before dawn, gets ready for the day, takes pictures, and posts pictures of herself and the “outfit of the day” on her blog . . . along with her written commentary. Some may think the concept is foolish, but the idea to me is quite interesting. For the past three two months or 60 days she has made it a habit to devote at least an hours worth of time to this. It’s is quite interesting and clear to see the grip social media takes on us. If her posts are every behind, she openly admits to feeling guilty in her comments. Did your computer get mad at you? Did a friend text you and shame you for such forgetfulness? Wow. Where a long the line did it take such hold? But then again, the same goes to say for radio and television. Radio was before my time so no, I never sat around a listened to it. The only time radio was made a habit for me was listening to Casey Kasum’s country countdown every, I mean every, single Sunday with my family in the car on our way to church. Getting back to my point, television does much the same thing to me as facebook and other social media sites. I am not ashamed to admit that yes, I have made it a habit for the past five years to watch Desperate Housewives with my mom every Sunday night—granted if it’s a new episode. A lot of people do this I’m sure and it doesn’t seem out of the ordinary, after all TV programming has been around for year. But does it seem normal to get up every morning, get dolled up, take photos, write a post, and blog about what you are wearing every day? Not quite. But I think that is the interesting thing about media—the normalness of it comes with time. Taking time to update your twitter or facebook status may seem absurd to some, but with the growing popularity or number of users around us, eh it doesn’t seem so strange anymore. I think both are clear examples of the news finding us. We’re no longer searching for the information, we are contributing to it.

There are many interesting comments listed by Mr. Qualman, I find the social media so very interesting and wonder if Facebook will go the way of MySpace (or even e-mail) and become passing fad or we will as a society find real staying power in the social media. To support the potential of Facebook becoming passé’ one only needs to look at the line about Generations Y & Z finding “e-mail becoming passé’”.

These statistics are startling indeed (your comments are entertaining as well). These types of statistics, along with what I’m learning in my classes make me feel like deactivating my Facebook account (which my husband learned is just about impossible) and crawling under a rock. I’m not sure why, it doesn’t really effect me but somehow it scares me. I was resistant to Facebook until Fall of 2009 and I’m still resisting texting.
I find it sad that Generations Y & Z (I think I’m X?) are finding email passe, how will my 5 year old son communicate when he’s older. Hopefully, texting will be passe by the time he’s a teen although some other digital distraction would come to take it’s place.
A couple of the statistics that make me happy are that Facebook has surpassed pornography (I didn’t know pornography was #1 before), and that online students outperform traditional. I sure am working hard to keep up with my online classes, it’s nice to know that somethings are effective in the modern world.

Let’s talk stats. I’ve seen these statistics before, so the shock factor wasn’t as intense this time.

Ashton Kutcher and Britney Spears have more Facebook followers than the entire populations of Sweden, Israel, Switzerland, Ireland, Panama, and Norway.
Really? This one caught my attention. It’s comparing celebrities, B-list at that, to the populations of entire countries? It’s shocking the length these social media sites can reach and to what degree.

The U.S. Department of Education revealed in a 2009 study that online students outperformed those receiving face-to-face instruction.
I’m not too sure I agree with this statistic. I’m currently taking my first online course. It’s challenging not to have that face-to-face instruction. I understand everyone learns differently, but to say a general statement that online students outperformed the traditional student is hard to believe. Like Dr. Willis said, I would like to see more on how they reached this conclusion. I will say the interest in online courses have peaked. In fact, this statistic may just be predicting the future. This leads well into the other statistic about 1 out of 6 higher education students are enrolled in online course.

Facebook tops Google for weekly Web traffic in the U.S.
Lastly, this statistic caught my attention. I began tracking my own Web use. I concluded this is stat is right on. It’s amazing how many times you log on to Facebook without even thinking about it. In reality, it has been like this for several years. It’s amazing how these statistics get you thinking about how social media has shaped your own life. At least I’ve learned one thing: What happens in Vegas says on Facebook, twitter, flickr, and YouTube.

I think one fascinating area that will need to be closely watched with the rise of social media is the field of mass communication theory and its future development. As the Internet in general, and social media in particular, become more and more advanced, I do not believe that the old theories of mass communication will be able to stand for very long. The old models are designed for the old media, such as newspapers and television, and I do not believe that they will have the same impact on this new medium. For example, Gatekeeping and Agenda-Setting all rely on the idea that there are a limited number of distributors of information who then decide what the public reads or sees. This is clearly not the case on the Internet where there is an almost unlimited amount of information being it generated. While I do not claim to have the answers, mass communication theory will be forced to change with the rise of the Internet and social media.

Absolutely I agree with social media plays a key role in my life, but I’m not big fan of Facebook. For most of American, maybe facebook is the first choice, for me, I even log in less than once a week. I prefer to “Chinese facebook”, we call it Renren. I remember that facebook first went to China was in 2005, at that time, Renren and facebook started to compete until facebook retreat due to some reason. Some people find that many external online business industry fail in China, such as ebay, amazon, youtube. Maybe I use fail is too serious, but at lease the opration does not reach to the expect, even worse. However, most of these companies succeed in oversea market, so why they cannot achieve their goal in China? it is really intersting.

One of your points caught my eye: “The U.S. Department of Education revealed in a 2009 study that online students outperformed those receiving face-to-face instruction. OK, now this is a study I would really like to see for myself. I find it just a tad hard to believe, as well as being overgeneralized.”

I was an online California Virtual Academy (CAVA) student for all four years of my high school career. I found the experience very successful. I learned to be independent, but at the same time I had a host of teachers, administrators, education professionals, and tech support at the tip of my fingers…literally: I could call, email, text, IM, kmail, etc. any of these people and receive an answer to my question quite promptly. In the classroom setting (something we called the Elluminate), those students who refused to pay attention, or were defamatory, could easily be excused from the class and required to watch a recording (sending at the end of the day their proof of watching the recording). I was in the brick and mortar schools for four years, and in CAVA there seemed to be less time wasting and more focus on fulfilling the California standards for education. I am not saying that an online environment is full proof or the it is for everyone, but I do feel that that statistic/fact should not be hard to believe.

The growth and possibilities of the internet is a fascinating phenomenon. No wonder traditional media outlets are suffering. Social media is the king of the day, and the corporate and public world is wrapping its head around how to best utilize it. The facts in the blog that stick out to me the most are if Facebook were a country it would be the third largest and one out of eight couples who were married last year met on the social networking sites. Sites like Facebook are so much more than a website. It’s truly creating a community in way that the history of the world has never seen before.

Brave New World 2.Oh!
At first glance, some of the numbers provided by Erik Qualman are quite staggering, but also not surprising. I’m usually skeptical of the validity involving statistics and am in agreement with a famous quote that Mark Twain mentions in his autobiography, and is often attributed to Disraeli, which says “there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” But the societal impact social media is making, and that I’m seeing first-hand, is making me a believer in Mr. Qualman and his observations. There is no other way to say it, social media is consuming our lives and changing our culture.

Pornography getting ousted by social media as the number one activity on the Web is both astounding and encouraging to me. The fact that Facebook would be the third largest country in the world highlights value and endless possibilities this vehicle has when it comes to product advertising and promotion to an extraordinary audience of consumers. Notably, the 100 hours of video that gets uploaded to YouTube every 4.5 minutes makes me question just how productive people are at work and at school.

Social media is not just for tech savvy teenagers, but appeals to all ages. In addition to Mr. Qualman’s observation about females between the ages of 55-65 being the fastest growing group of Facebook users, my 4 year-old daughter and 7 year-old son are able to navigate my iPhone and laptop as well as I can, and have even shown me a few tricks and shortcuts along the way (thankfully they haven’t asked for a smart phone or Facebook account yet!).

Social media is everywhere and so pervasive and these statistics certainly prove it. Though I am definitely not in the Millennial generation, I can’t think of anyone (other than my parents) that I know that does not have a Facebook page. The sheer number of people participating in Facebook though is amazing to think about! It is kind of sad to think that Facebook has more traffic than Google though; at least when I am Googling something I am (usually) being productive. FB can be a great way to keep in touch but for many it is a time-waster.
The comment about “what happens in Vegas stays on Facebook…..” is a stark reminder of what I have told my children repeatedly. Just yesterday I read an article (that a friend posted on FB by the way) that the FTC has given approval to Social Intelligence Corp. to archive FB posts for seven years to be used as part of a background-checking service for employers wanting to screen job applicants. If something is ever posted on the web, even if you think you have deleted it, someone somewhere can figure out how to access it.
The volume of video uploaded to YouTube is amazing as is the number of bloggers out there. Especially amazing to think of the number of people out there that think anyone really wants to read what they post.

I’d like to comment on the last statistic: We no longer search for the news. The news finds us. And we no longer search for products and services. They will find us. And they will find us on the social media.

I have two takes on it. First, yes, it is true; consumers really don’t need to do much searching or researching to find what they are looking for, including news. You can go to a simple AOL or Yahoo account and find all the daily headlines on the screen. When I am logged into Facebook, I see advertisements on the side of my account page that are specifically directed at me! When I was engaged I received so many ads that talked about discounts on wedding invitations, honeymoon places, etc. I wondered how they knew that?! Well, it didn’t take me long to figure out that my status on my profile had a keyword on it, ‘engaged.’ Then, after I was ‘married’, I received ads on how house-hold items, pregnancy products, etc. It was amazing that I didn’t have to go anywhere to get the information I needed (or may need).

In my professional world, we too do the same thing to our consumers. We purchase a list of people that live in our community and receive all kinds of information on them. Some include name, city, age, gender, past health indicators (i.e., have they been admitted to the hospital for a heart attack, had a baby, had cancer, etc.), income level, etc. We even go as far as to partner with an agency that conducts research on individuals based on the aforementioned demographics and provides us with a summary of their interests, likes and dislikes. This helps us, as marketers, to strategically target them with advertisements. For example, I can send a targeted mailing for a heart screening to only those in the community that are of a certain age and income with the hopes that they attend our screening.

My second take on this is that in healthcare consumers really do research information when it comes to their health. Social media has affected the way we market in that we are able to tie in groups of people together via a common health interest. We use blogs housed on our website, Facebook pages and Twitter to keep people informed. However, we do know, based on research, the consumers will find information related to their health versus wait for it to come to them. They are proactive in their health care…and primarily because of the internet. Before the internet (and WebMD) people had to wait to ask their physician about a health concern. Now, they practically diagnose their own health concern and bring a full report to their doctor’s visit. I know a few docs who aren’t too thrilled with the internet for that particular reason.

I also want to comment on the statistic that ‘generation Y and Z consider e-mail passé.’ I had to chuckle when you said that seniors are just now enrolling in your class on how to use e-mail. Anymore it seems like I too am behind the trends. I think it depends on your use of technology to where you are in your life cycle. For example, generation Y and Z may not be in the professional world yet. Texting, Twittering, etc. are the ways in which their age groups communicate. While people in their 30’s, 40’s and 50’s (okay maybe 60’s too) primarily use e-mail as the method of communication. E-mail is a constant in the work world and it’s the easiest way for me to communicate with my peers and co-workers. My grandmother still loves the old fashion phone call and gasp, hand-written letter! What I think would be interesting to follow is if the generation Y and Z still use Twitter, texting, etc. when they are in their 30’s and are involved in the professional work force. Who knows, I am sure by then something more sophisticated will come out next. Maybe we’ll be able to tap into telepathy!

The statistic, ‘1 out of 8 couples will meet via social media’ does not surprise me at all. What do you expect when we have a technology-driven society that spends half their time on some form of communications device (e-mail, texting, cell phone, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc.). We are also a very busy society. Who has time to date?

Very interesting statistics!

I am shocked at the stats that “1 out of 6 higher education students are enrolled in online courses”. While I am a student taking online courses, I have to say that schools are making it easier for people to become educated. With a large number of U.S. population being a single income household, a lot of us just don’t have time to attend school at an institution. I for one live over 60 miles from Ball State and prefer to take classes online over driving an hour and twenty minutes to get to the parking lot and another 10 to walk to class. I simply do not have the time to attend class since I work a full time job, have two kids, and a house to maintain.

The stat that says”96 percent of Millennials have joined a social network” is hard for me to believe. Is this only taking into account first and second world countries? How many children from third world countries even have food, let alone an internet connection. If they did, they could mapquest directions to get the heck out of where they are and find civilization.

“78 percent of consumers trust peer reviews of products and services; 14 percent trust advertisements”, I am totally behind this one. I would prefer to ask someone’s opinion about a product rather than rushing out to buy it myself only to find out that the product is not worth the money. Let others waste their money on the crap products and services while you hold out to pay for the quality stuff.

I think this post – and the Facebook information in particular – hints at some of the issues Facebook is dealing with almost a year later. While Facebook added 200 million users in a year, there are hints that Facebook is starting to “jump the shark” in 2011. According to an article in Slate (http://www.slate.com/id/2296932/), Facebook membership growth is slowing, and they’re actually losing users in the areas where they grew the fastest – including the United States. Facebook blames temporary factors (like students graduating from college), but there has to be more to it than that.

Some think Facebook lost its cool when its popularity spiked among older people. I definitely censor myself more now that my mom is a Facebook friend! But more than that, I think Facebook is starting to fall out of favor because it’s infringed on people’s privacy too much. As this blog post says, “What happens in Vegas stays on Facebook.” And what stays on Facebook could keep you from getting admitted to a school or getting a job offer. Some companies are even hiring outside firms to do background checks of applicants’ social media postings according to http://www.itworld.com/it-managementstrategy/176227/have-you-cleaned-your-facebook-profile-your-next-job-may-depend-it. Facebook has done little to assure members their privacy is valued. If anything, they seem to be exploiting members more and more in an effort to increase the company’s financial value ahead of a potential stock market offering. This environment is a strong disincentive for new members to sign up for Facebook and for existing members to communicate online the way we did in the past.

(As an aside, that’s the same reason I only use my first name when I post on this blog. Google sees everything!)

I was astounded at the number of hours of Youtube video uploaded every minute, and laughed out loud at Anthony’s previous comment that such a statistic makes him wonder how productive people are at work and school. I am definitely guilty of using Facebook as a homework procrastination tool and mysteriously lose hours of time!

Although Dr. Willis mentioned being surprised by the idea that students in online courses outperformed those receiving face-to-face instruction, I have to say would definitely like to see the study as well, but I agree. My husband and I are both working on our master’s right now, me in PR through Ball State’s online program and he through Illinois State University’s standard MBA program. I do my work as I please, when I have time and energy, and he goes to class twice a week for four hours at a time. We actually both agree that the online method is better for individuals who are also working full time because it allows more freedom and time to comprehend the information. Which is why I’m not surprised by the statistic stating that 1 in 6 higher education students are in online programs – I wouldn’t be surprised if that number is higher now!

One statistic that I find particularly hard to believe is that Kindle E-books outsold paper books last Christmas. I’d like to see the source of this statistic, if only to quell my fears that one day paper books will no longer exist.

Overall, Qualman’s work is an interesting look at how far we’ve come, and a glimpse of where we might be in the next few years!

Like many others who have replied to this post, I too am intrigued by the statistics concerning the popularity of Facebook. It blows my mind how quickly the site took off. I remember logging onto the site for the first time as a freshman in college, when the social newtorking site was in its infancy. Back then, only those currently enrolled in a college or university (and only certain ones, at that) could sign up for a profile, which, compared to today’s profile template was very simplistic. There was no news feed, no like button, and no fan pages. The popularity of the site seemed to grow right along with its complexity, but I sometimes wonder if the site’s growing complexity might eventually be its downfall. After all, Myspace, another social network, was wildly popular once upon a time, as was Uber. Many users grew tired of those sites after they became too complex. Maybe that was the draw to Facebook in the beginning—the simple structure made it appealing to everyone, especially those who found other social networks too confusing to set up and maintain. But now that Facebook seems to regularly add new features, making the site more difficult and cumbersome with each addition, maybe its days are numbered. I know that personally, the novelty has worn for me, and I find myself spending less and less time on Facebook and more and more time on Twitter, a very simple social network. I’ll be interested to see what happens to Facebook in the future…will it remain the social networking giant it is today or will it eventually, like so many other social sites before it, bow out to newer networks as they develop?

The YouTube video that you are referring to was actually one of my favorites. I found others that gave some of the same information but added a little more. One of the videos reported that 80% of businesses use social networking sites for recruitment. I found this astounding and I had no idea that businesses were benefiting from social networking to the extent that they are. The information in this video was so interesting to me that I actually purchased Erik Qualman’s book, Socialnomics, on my Kindle!! Qualman stated that “social media isn’t a fad, it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate”. Based on the above statistics, I would have to say he is right.

Amanda Mikulski
Journ 620
Willis
October 18, 2011
Blog Posting Wk 6

My Response to: Brave New World 2.0h!
I just want to say-hey I read your blog! Haha! And, I would read it if I weren’t in this class and knew about it because it is very interesting. This post is especially interesting. I don’t know if it was this class or another, but I had to watch a YouTube video just like this and I was stunned by some of the statistics. I am with some of the other students though; I think online learning is the best way to go. You can learn in a comfortable environment, don’t ever have to deal with simply getting to class and can learn at your own pace. If I have to re-read something 40 times, I can. But, I am surprised that it says people do better all together, but look at the comparison, with one to six; it would seem that there would be room for this statistic to be swayed a bit. It scares me when I think about how fast technology can change. I just started working at the AMA in Muncie and have learned a lot about the transformation of flight. The Wright brothers had their first successful take-off in 1903 and then in 1961 people were going to space, that’s not that much time! I think it will only continue to get more mind shattering, I mean look at the IPhone 5 with hologram ability!

One of the points that Qualman points out, is quite interesting to me as well “ The U.S. Department of Education revealed in a 2009 study that online students outperformed those receiving face-to-face instruction”. I would also like to know what they believe contributes to this. Is it because online students are naturally more motivated and self-directed, or is it because the coursework is determined to be easier? I have experience with individuals looking at online courses more negatively than traditional classrooms thinking that the class must be easier, when in all actuality I believe they are harder, but studies like these may fuel their fire. I personally have done better in my online courses, but I believe it is because I am now an adult and I am working toward something real. I don’t think I could have handled an online class as an undergraduate.

Social media is amazing. It can do so many things for people. However, I could be biased because I am a frequent user of Twitter, not so many Facebook anymore. I fall in the over 50% of the world’s population is under 30. Social Media is my thing. I don’t post a lot of personal information like other people my age. I definitely agree with the what happened in Vegas stay on Facebook, Twitter, etc. comment. I still find it weird that a website, like Facebook, is large enough to be the world’s third largest country. I had no idea that pornography used to be the #1 activity on the web. It is a good thing that social media overtook that.
“The U.S. Department of Education revealed in a 2009 study that online students outperformed those receiving face-to-face instruction.” I’m not sure if I fully believe this. I definitely enjoy taking classes online since I can go at my own pass and do work in my pajamas, but I don’t know if I outperform people that receive face-to0-face instruction. I guess it depends on the course type. I took two computer programming courses online and didn’t do nearly as well as I did when I took it with an actual instructor. However, I do fairly well when it is a course that I have to read and write papers on.
I am definitely team social media; I can’t wait to see what is next.

This post presents fascinating information and revelation into just how much the Internet is shaping our lives. When I ponder how much the radio changed people’s lives, it seems to be minimal compared to the impact of Internet and social media. I personally know people who constantly update their Facebook status or consistently Tweet.

Increasingly so, email seems to be a communication vehicle that is more for business than personal communication. Why wait on email when we can contact someone via Facebook, instant messaging, or texting? It seems as though email is quickly becoming the new “snail mail”.

Some of these statics seem staggering however, it appears indicative of what most of us witness in media today. Facebook has users of all age groups, and it seems to appease most people. Millennials are leading the way for new technology usage and teaching the rest of the world how to follow in their footsteps.

One of the statistics that most stood out to me was that 1 in 6 students pursuing higher education is registered in online courses. This of course, lends itself to the propensity for individuals to be connected to their laptop and the availability for those who work a full-time schedule like myself. However, I do not believe it is just a matter of ease. Instead, a quote from Clay Shirky comes to mind. Shirky stated in his address to the Harvard Kennedy School that “Institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution.” I think this may pertain to the traditional form of education. Online degrees are a means of forming a variant of the former structure.

The evolution of mankind through media is truly stunning. We have so many things at our fingertips today, including news, information, things involving our personal interests, and a “different” connection with people. We can literally get to almost anything we desire through a computer, smart phone, or other device; that is truly empowering.
It also gives us the power to connect with more people. I have family more than five hours away, and utilizing Facebook, other social media sights, and modern technology, allows us to still be a part of each others’ day to day lives. We can share thoughts, ideas, pictures, video, and passions at any moment of the day. We can open ourselves up to closer relationships and connection with those we may not otherwise.
While there are so many blessings modern media offers, I agree with some of the cautions. While we can connect with more people, we are not forced to have the face to face and intimate relationship with family and friends. In addition to a loss of connection, we lose privacy as well. Technology is so capable that anything we share with others can be accessible to anyone. While we gain so much, we lose, as well.

Every single one of the stats in this blog don’t surprise me! The very first sentence, “The social media is the biggest change in society since the industrial revolution,” is the truth! You can’t go anywhere without a website being given, or being told to connect with someone on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or any other social media site. The world has definitely changed! And it’s not only “those darn kids” on social media. 50 year old mothers and 70 year old grandmothers (mine in particular) have logged on to start finding old classmates, and some are even finding those old flames after their significant others may have passed away. Technology has become a way to reach out, as well as a way to isolate. Instead of picking up a phone, you can turn on the webcam and have a conversation. You can tell people the moment after you do something what you were doing and send them proof in a picture. Take a nap on a plane? Why? You can be thousands of feet in the air and tell folks on Facebook. Heck, we aren’t even sitting in a classroom to earn a Masters Degree. We are online, being taught professors that we most likely will never meet. Technology is the way of life. When we unplug, we feel like we miss everything, and since almost everyone is plugged in like us, most of the time, we are!

It is true that social media is changing society greatly and has been for years now. It is interesting how the big thing was first radio, then television, and then websites like Facebook and Youtube. I often wonder what will happen years from now and what kind of social media will be popular in the future. The fact that over 50 percent of the world’s population is under 30 is shocking. No wonder our society has become so technology driven. In addition, the fact about Facebook being the third largest country was almost unbelievable. Who would’ve thought this would even be possible? As I continued to read Mr. Qualman’s observations, I continued to be astounded. All of these facts were ridiculous and prove that our world is being taken over by the industry of technology. We rely so heavily on it, that it is a scary thought to picture where we will be five, and even ten years from now.

I don’t think I’m surprised by many of the statistics presented in the post, most of the stats still holding strong in 2012, I think my reaction is more of sadness. I think it’s great how connected the world is now, but am faced with disappointment in how human interaction is taking a backseat to online interaction. The state, “1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media” is believable and I’m sure it is larger now. Sites like eHarmony, Match.com and the like have made this possible, there is even a rise in the niche field of finding a mate, which can be seen with new sites like OurTime for the older generation.
As for the U.S. Dept of Edu stat about online students outperforming those receiving face-to –face instruction, I believev it as this is the way that generation communicates. Again, another area for concern, as I attribute much of my resourcefulness and communication skills to those I learned in the classroom, through elementary, middle and high school. There are now online K-12 programs that eliminate this, while this may help some students excel in academia it will do a great detriment to their social skills.

The most striking facts in this story relate to how we now communicate in a much different way because of the internet and social media. The fact that 1 in 8 marriages began on social media shows how we are meeting and communicating like we never have before. Social media has also made other traditional forms of communication obsolete and this is demonstrated when Qualman tells us, “Generation Y and Z consider e-mail passe.”
The stats about how online students perform better than ones with face-to-face instruction are another effect of the new kind of communication we are becoming accustomed to. Today we are becoming more likely to scroll through text on a screen than have a conversation over coffee.

I’m not at all surprised by these statistics because I can relate to some of them. I met my husband on Match.com in 2003 and we married in 2006 (still married six years later, so we have most Hollywood couples beat!). Social media and Web 2.0 has made it easier for people to access information and connect unlike any other media before it. But in that process, we lose interpersonal communication skills inherent in the face-to-face form. The fact that Facebook is such a behemoth in size and activity is somewhat disconcerting. More people are likely to read and post daily status updates on Facebook than browse news stories about issues that concern them (or will one day), and that’s a frightening prospect when you consider the societal implications of an ill-informed populace.

Millennials have become so sucked into the social media craze that I fear they will never know any communication of real depth beyond a 140-character tweet. This statistic, “Radio took 38 years to reach 50 million users; TV 13 years. The Internet took only 4 years, and the iPod did it in 3,” is telling of how various media have advanced and evolved over the past several decades, closing the gap as the technology becomes more intelligent. As technology evolves so, too, does media literacy; I think that’s why we’ve seen the Internet and social media reach the masses so quickly in such a short amount of time.

I am surprised at some of these statistics. Such as most of the world being under 30. The direction that entertainment is going now makes a lot more sense. I personally don’t understand how facebook grew so large so quickly. I understand that it is useful and beneficial in many ways, but there are other sites like it. Its almost as if facebook has a monopoly on social media. I know very few people who don’t have one. And they are all grandparents. I enjoyed this post, and found myself laughing at much of it.

I found this post to be very interesting. I think it is so fascinating to look at the facts surrounding social media, or media in general for that matter, and really see just what a revolution it is. However, I feel as though people look at the statistics gathered in Qualman’s research and automatically think negatively about it. For instance, when it was proven that if Facebook were to be a country, it would be the third largest, most people freak out. What I don’t understand though, is why this is such a bad thing. I think the ever-changing world of media and social media specifically, is quite exciting. It opens up a whole new forum for opportunity, where the world is literally at your fingertips. It almost puts everyone in the world on a level playing field of sorts. Regardless, I like social media.

There’s no doubt that social media is taking a turn to be a popular form of exposure in good and bad ways. The statistics shown clearly illustrate that social media is becoming a powerful empire. I am just wondering how this empire might control others by its influence. As we all know, the media plays a huge role in what others think/believe, but I believe that with this exposure to peer information, a greater number of people can be led to true information rather than a complete bias. I hope that this exposure to differences in opinion may alter the minds of America and the world to a higher knowledge and better understanding of the fact of not only politics, but those around us.

The statistics were definitely interesting, but I wasn’t too surprised by what it said. Social media has pretty much taken over our lives. This can be both a good and bad thing. Social media has even come a long way from the original MySpace days to the current Facebook. I think these forms of social media are damaging our social skills within the “real world,” however, these sites have become more and more useful for contacting people, or getting to know people or companies.

I find it interesting how when radio became a household thing, families stopped talking to each other in favor of listening to the radio. I see the same thing happening to families today because of social media. Today, everyone in the family is on their iPad, or iPod, or iPhone checking their Facebook at the dinner table. I think that at times, social media outstays its welcome when we invite it into our lives. If I’m being honest, I would say that Facebook has had a bit of a negative effect on some areas of my life, due to its slightly addictive nature. In fact, I’m on Facebook right now as I’m writing this.

What I found surprising is that social media had to overtake porn to reach the number one spot in the lives of internet users. Sometimes people just can’t find anything constructive to do with their online lives. This just proves that many people are still trading their real lives for virtual lives, because they cannot find the same kind of pleasure in the real world. It’s a sad thought for society.

The influence of social media has consumed the world to the point that it’s unnatural for someone not to have a Facebook. If you meet someone, you automatically assume that they have a Facebook. They’re a dinosaur if they don’t. Social media has become as much of a part of our lives as television, and like it or not, it’s here to say for the long run.

The title of this article is totally accurate. We as the modern people are definetly braving into a New World. When great revolutions like this occur there are usually a distinct line that is drawn that shows people who were borne before the revolution and old enough to understand or the younger generation that was born after. THe young people born after experience no change because they know nothing different. But that is what is so different about this age because technology is skyrocketting and constantly evolving. For example In my Granpa’s life he’s seen the tv and computers come about and by the time my mom was born pagers and large cellphones came about. Also internet came more accessible to the people. THen in my generation I experience video games and portable gameboys and hightec comuputers and commonly used cell phones. My brother who is only 6 years younger was born and raised with smart phones, ipods, facebook, and youtube. As you can see technology is rolling so fast and no longer is it just the old grandparents reminiscing on the days when things were much simpler.

Social Media has definitly had a huge impact on the news and how it is spread. As a college student, I do not get to watch the news as I did when I was living at home, so now I go to twitter and sites like Yahoo! to find out what is going on in the world. I think social media has its ups and downs but for the most part it has been beneficial for our society and if anything, helped younger people get educated about events around the world because they are checking their twitter every 20 minutes. It is crazy to me that 1 of 8 people meet their spouse online. I think it is making guys have less confidence to go up to girls to ask them out because they can just go online and ask someone out that way without having to go up to them. However, I am sure that this is helping people who are not social and see it as difficult to meet someone.

Some of these facts like Facebook tops Google for weekly Web traffic in the U.S scare me. It is scary to think that people are going onto Facebook to look at what their friends are posting more than using the Google search engine to find out about different subjects. I personally believe that social media is having a negative impact on society and making people not think about complex issues in our society like people 50 years ago had to. The younger generations could almost care less about politics, but they are fascinated with what their friends are doing this weekend. It worries me to think about what kind of social media environment my kids will have to grow up in.

I knew social media was big, but until I read all of those interesting statistics it grew even more. It really hit me when it stated in the beginning of how we used to be entertained, in the olden days, by just communicating with each other face to face instead of being glued to a radio, television or other electronics. This makes me sad. I feel like we are missing out on so much community and relationships that we could be building on but instead we ignore it and are glued onto our electronics. This makes me wonder if I have missed out on any relationship with someone that i could have had if i wasn’t hooked onto my phone or other electronics. I just hope that we as a generation can remember the real traditional way to communicate and that we don’t conform to this world where communication is all about the media and not face to face contact. Or else we can be missing out on a lot of relationship.

The statistic that stood out to me the most was about the study that had proof that online students outperformed those receiving face-to-face instruction. I took an online Bible class last fall at APU and I honestly did not like it at all. I think that certain aspects of it, like the threaded discussions, were really interesting and sometimes fun. When it came to assignments such as the paper, I felt kind of helpless since I did not have the opportunity to meet with my professor if I had any questions. Every question I did have was asked and answered through email. Also, I feel like I pick up more information from lectures when I am actually in class and writing notes. Therefore, I thought that statistic was really interesting and I am curious to learn more about it.

It is scary how much we as a society, as a globe, crave the newest technological advances. Radio took fifty years to really take off to the 4 years of internet and 3 with the iPod… It just shows how we have grown accustomed to look after and hunt down the latest and greatest. Standing in line for the newest iPhone has become a bonding activity, almost a past time nowadays. Hopefully we remember that ultimately, we are the ones in control and don’t lose sight of what is truly important and let the systematic impulses take over.

It is interesting to see these statistics because some of them are quite hard to believe. In an era where everything is so fast paced, humanity seems to make room for the virtual world. Technology has definitely overcome every age. Whats especially shocking to me is seeing kids as young as age 8 having a Facebook, a cellphone, and even an iPod. I didn’t have none of these items growing up and needless to say, I had a pretty great childhood. Its great to see how many advancements have overcome in the technological field. Nonetheless, these advancements have hindered our social way of living life.

There are a lot of interesting facts listed on the blog that people living over a decade ago could have never fathomed. Facts that we no longer have a hard time believing because the craziness of it all has become a reality. Not just a reality, but an overwhelming truth that reveals the impact of modern technology alongside social networking on – like the statistics say – 96% of people around the globe. It is fascinating that rather than questioning the coming of new technological advances, we embrace it. Something completely contradictory to any previous generations who called into question any new advance in anything, especially technology.

The reality that we are living in is literally a virtual reality. I think it is so fascinating to see statistics on how much people are actually online. As society progresses with time we become depended to a certain extant to the virtual world. With Mr. Qualman’s boldface observations it truly shows how the medium is the message. Although this statement is so simple it become complex when we see how the medium begins to shape and change society. A couple years ago, new technology was more appealing towards the younger generations, but now technology is growing in appearance to the older generations. Some of that is due to facilitation and easier access to living life in general.

All of these observations are beyond imaginations and human understanding. As a society it is so easy to just go along with new technology to stay updated but looking at from removing yourself from the situation all you see is a hungry society for an easier way in obtaining information, an easier way of communication, and an easier way to do real work. technology is great in its purest form, but when it is over used and devoted to changing society to become lazy then we have a problem. Reading the observations by Mr. Qualman was very intriguing and eye-opening.

what stood out to me in this article was when it mention “If Facebook were a country, it would be the world’s third largest.” there more people on Facebook then there were a couple hundred years ago. i sometimes look at this and say wow the world is getting smaller but the same time are option by how we choose to work become more diverse the web has worked in so many ways its changing the very world we live in before our own eyes. it amazes me to see how we are becoming more closely and tight around the world