Social Media Apocalypse

Imagine a world where can't hash-tag, or post your complaint about your boss while he's yelling at you. A world where not everyone can be a stalker, just the serious, sociopathic stalkers have something to do. A world where you have to confront someone in an argument, not sit behind a computer screen and type their feelings. A world where you only have like 20 friends and not 200. A world where following someone is looked down upon and saying you got "hacked" after a couple of questionable statements will get you nowhere. If you haven't caught on to my rant yet, I'm talking of a world without social media (Facebook/Twitter).


I got thinking about this after my previous post about setting up my father's Facebook. The realization came to me when I thought, 'What would happen if there was no Facebook or Twitter anymore?'. What if the biggest thing to hit the internet since Google, suddenly disappeared? Truth is, it would probably send people into more of a frenzy than the Y2K scare 11 years ago. I can continue to rant on and on about how it would change everything but I feel these statistics will speak louder than my ramblings.


With over 500 million users, Facebook is now used by 1 in every 13 people on earth, with over 250 million of them (over 50%) who log in every day. The average user still has about 130 friends, but that should expand in 2011.48% of 18-34 year olds check Facebook when they wake up, with 28% doing so before even getting out of bed. The 35+ demographic is growing rapidly, now with over 30% of the entire Facebook user base. The core 18-24 year old segment is now growing the fastest at 74% year on year. Almost 72% of all US internet users are on now Facebook, while 70% of the entire user base is located outside of the US. Over 700 Billion minutes a month are spent on Facebook, 20 million applications are installed per day and over 250 million people interact with Facebook from outside the official website on a monthly basis, across 2 million websites. Over 200 million people access Facebook via their mobile phone. 48% of young people said they now get their news through Facebook. Meanwhile, in just 20 minutes on Facebook over 1 million links are shared, 2 million friend requests are accepted and almost 3 million messages are sent.


So as you can see or read, Facebook is much more than social media. Facebook is advertising, addictive, jobs, global, habitual, the news, mobile, and scariest of all, growing. The list could go on for the the range of uses of Facebook. From catching up on Farmville to catching up with old high school classmates. From finding the news to finding incriminating pictures of yourself (untag!). From posting business news to posting personal news (mostly too personal). Shall I continue? I'll save you, for now. 

I guess my point is, if I had one, that Facebook is not going away short of the Mayans' prediction coming true. Maybe that's how it'll happen? Just kidding of course, it's much more likely to be a meteor or solar flares. Hope you enjoyed, stay tuned. 

Wants and Needs

We all have wants and needs, and I know where you think I'm going with this and that there is a difference between what we want and what we need. But I'm going to throw you a curveball. I'm going to indulge you in my wants and what I need to get them, feel free to send me any of these items if you feel then need. So let's get this wish list started.

1. Ipad 2: Not the original, not that I know the difference between the two but as a product of my environment, I want the latest and greatest item on the market. Companies like Apple know this of course, as they hold off certain upgrades on their products like the Ipad for later versions; to give people like me something to look forward too. Unfortunately for Apple, I don't sleep with money so I'll dream for now but I'll think they'll survive without my business...for now. 
1. Need: A lot of extra spending cash mostly would help, a winning lottery ticket wouldn't be bad either. 
2. Summary: Not sure what I would use it for other than playing on the internet and reading books occasionally but let's just say me getting an Ipad 2 is about as likely as Ron Artest (or Metta World Peace) and Chad Johnson trading names. 
2. 3D TV: This one I haven't completely made my mind up yet. On one hand you bring the TV even more to life than the 1080p HD TV's that look so real you almost try to walk in the TV. On the other hand I hate wearing those 3D glasses at the movies for 2 hours, I don't know how I'd deal with them for entire football game. Maybe I'll hold out on this one until 4D TV comes out and the prices go down

1. Need: More money than I feel like spending and more 3D channels to come out, ESPN and the Discovery Channel won't cut it! 
2. Summary: Count me out, I'll have to be convinced by a friend whose an impulse buyer with money and experience the whole thing to decide if the whole hoopla is worth it. 
3. Less sleep: I've always been a person who doesn't deal well without a lot of sleep. It's like my crack, I'm just not the same person if I'm tired or just waking up. This results in many naps and lots of soda to wake me up. This results in loss of free time and loss of other things I would like to do such as: golf, read a book, read the paper, catch up on the latest music, watch movies, Netflix, work out, and write up til the last two days where I'm going to start prioritizing time to keep my blog going, I promise!
1. Need: Vitamins? I've heard they give you energy throughout the day but haven't every taken them for more than a week, but I'm thinking of trying them again and seeing how I respond. Or maybe a sponsorship from 5 hour energy, Jim Rome, that means you. 
2. Summary: As I doubt Jim Rome will be sending me energy supplements, I will try the vitamins thing and will get back to you on that one, but giving up naps is not an option. 
4. A better Golf game: I didn't start to get into golfing until after I graduated high school and really didn't get serious until I got into college. After you give up strapping, lacing, and Velcroing it up; Flag football, pick up basketball, and slow pitch softball can't completely fill that void. So I did the next best thing, try to play a new sport. Unfortunately, Golf is a time consuming, expensive, and frustrating sport. And did I mention addictive? Maybe it's just the competitiveness in me but I love going out and playing now; it's enjoying when you hit the ball where you actually want to and frustrating when it feels like you've never picked up a club in your life. Playing badly in golf is like losing money gambling, you think you know what your doing and can fix it but most the time you just over think yourself. 
1. Need: More spare time, spending money, and or a better attitude about the game. 
2. Summary: I don't see myself making significantly more spare time and money so I try to just go out and have fun and keep my competitive drive to win, off the course. 
5. Manhattan: Do I need to say more? It only took about 9 months to get me hooked. Between Pita Pit, So Long's, Pizza Shuttle, football games, basketball games, tailgating, parties, Orange Leaf, Aggieville, Varneys, the Wabash, and all the great people there, I can't imagine going to school anywhere else. 

1. Need: Wait, longest month or so of my life! Don't get me wrong, I love being home and getting to spend time with the parents and all my friends who came home, but it'll definitely be time to go back when August rolls around. Did I mention I can't wait for football season!
2. Summary: I can't wait, it's going to be the bees knees. 

Welp, I've ran out of things I want, mostly because all I can think of is Manhattan now, good thing I did it last! Stay tuned people

Miracles Do Happen

Believe it or not, people do surprise me everyday, or at least every once in a while. Sometimes I even surprise myself. My Father, who is not a technological junkie by any means is starting to cave into the 21st Century or lose his mind, I'm not sure which one yet. It started when he started learning to text, the next step was digital cable (may have been the last person to do this), and now he has entered the world of Facebook. The first two took some convincing, mostly because I wanted a DVR and don't love talking on the phone for simple questions. This last jump was probably the biggest "are you OK Dad?" moment I've had since he made a taser out of an outlet. So we began his initiation into the social media world on his work laptop and of course it has probably the first internet explorer to ever come out. We battled with the antique computer for a while and finally he threw up the white flag and we went to the real computer, aka "The Mac". At this point I was doing everything on the computer, but mostly just asking him "Do you wanna be his friend?" and he answered all of them "Yep", with an occasional "How many people could possibly have the same name!". The real reason or the one he wants us all to believe that he is getting on Facebook is to find the group page for his High School Reunion. So after searching through cyberspace and finding enough of his classmates to make him ready to stay off the computer for another month, I felt I accomplished my good deed of the day. Maybe I can start working on him about an HD TV or maybe a smart phone? Baby steps, that's how I'm approaching this process.

Other things: I recently got the opportunity to sit in on the radio show "Sports Daily" with Bob Lutz, a columnists for the Wichita Eagle, and Bruce Heardle, who works for KWCH for their sports broadcasting department. Thanks to a good family friend, Jackie Wise, I was lucky enough to experience  something that I'm wanting to get into and meet people who are in the business that I'm going into. The coolest part about the whole experience was Bruce and Bob, they were real guys, down to earth and genuinely gave me advice and answered any questions I had. I also got to see how a talk show works from behind the radio waves and there is definitely more to it than meets the ears. This experience really reaffirmed my belief and dream in becoming involved in sports writing and now radio as well. It has motivated me (again) to start blogging and I forgot all my information for my other blog so I did the next best thing and started a new one.

This weekend was also a family fix it trip in good ole Manhappenin. My Mom, Dad, brother, and sister-in-law, and me all made the trip to fix up our rental in Manhattan that I will and can't wait to be living in this Fall. We worked, ate So-Long's and Orange Leaf, worked, slept, worked, golfed (poorly), worked, ate Pita Pit, worked, nap, worked, ate at Coco-Bolo's, and visited Varney's. Between the five of us, we made probably 7 trips to Target, 3 trips to Menard's, 2 trips to Home Depot, and sprayed ourselves with water 20 plus times with my Mother leading the contest in that category. The house looked 10 times better than we got there but still needed some more work. But there is no amount of work not worth the trip to Manhattan so I'm sure I'll "sacrifice" and volunteer myself for another fix-up trip.

Remember that miracles happen everyday, open your eyes to the world and you'll see them. What will happen next? Stay tuned