Monthly Archives: March 2011

The American Academy of Pediatrics has now stated that it is necessary for children’s doctors to ask them questions about how they social network and that improper social networking may lead children to have “facebook depression”

The idea that a child may have problems integrating into social networking sites and may feel isolated is understandable. But a child that finds themselves with many friends in school and during social activities will probably find themselves being fine when it comes to social networking.

This idea of calling something facebook depression and telling doctors to look for the signs of it seems kind of ridiculous in my opinion.

What’s even funnier in this whole situation is that facebook has disputed these findings by talking about the Cornell study that someone in class has previously blogged about

The internet is a very useful tool these days, but is it getting a little out of control? People already cannot stand to walk down the street with out having their ipod, iphone, or blackberry in hand, and new devices and technologies are being created every day to keep us even more connected to the virtual world. People are in constant connection to the internet which makes it easier for people to access information of any kind at any time with just the click of a button.

You may have noticed lately a black and white symbol showing up on billboards or in magazines. Once you see one, you notice that they seem to be springing up everywhere, but what are they? They are called QR codes or quick response codes, and they seem to be the next big thing in advertising. Personally I find them to be a scary realization of what the world is coming too, a world revolving around the internet.

These codes are used in advertisements and are links to promotional pages or pages with discounts and coupons. All you need to do is have a smart phone, download the scan app, and then you will be able to scan every symbol you see and it will automatically bring you to a page relating to the advertisement. The article found from CNN.com reported that 32% of smartphone users have scanned a code, with 53% using it for discounts or coupons, and 72% of users saying they would more likely remember an add that has a QR code.

Advertisements are becoming diluted by the use of the internet, now instead of people thinking of new slogans or eye catching pictures for ads, they are simply slapping a strange looking black and white square on the magazine page or billboard. Personally I believe that it is getting a little out of control, we cant even read a magazine now-a-days without being reminded of the unlimited information that can be found on the world wide web. I understand that the internet is great, but I don’t think that it needs to start being incorporated into daily life even more then it already is. These codes show the growing interest in the internet and the growing obsession that people have with being connected 24/7.

Although many of us girls (and maybe some guys!) are past the Seventeen magazine stage, the popular magazine released a pertinent study, surveying 10,000 guys and girls ages 16 to 21, that concluded that “Facebook plays an important part in how amorous teens make a connection.” Many of us do fall into this age range so perhaps this study could be relatable to your own personal life. According to this article “Boy Meets Girl: How Facebook Functions in Modern Romance” from Mashable.com, Seventeen magazine had pretty substantial findings that included “10% of people have been dumped over Facebook, and the same number would just change their relationship status to ‘single’ to cut a lover loose.” The study did not include how long these relationships lasted for or the ages of the parties in the relationship, which may play a role in sorting out that 10% of responders who have been dumped over Facebook. The study from Seventeen also found that “72% of those surveyed said that talking to someone online brings you closer to them [in real life].” This last finding was a bit surprising, but somewhat sensible, as many people complain about how Facebook and social media mediums are completely replacing communication. However, I can see that talking to someone on Facebook is communication to them nonetheless; sharing thoughts and ideas can be done over the internet which may still lead to an online bond.  

Coming from a teen magazine or not, the study underlines the fact that internet communication is becoming a strong branch of personal human interactions.