Tag Archives: Twitter

#iftheygunnedmedown

michael-brown.jpg

On August 9th, a black teenager named Michael Brown was fatally shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, MO.  There are many different views of what happened on that night.  One side claims that unarmed Brown had his hands in the air to surrender but the officer shot him several times anyways.  A witness (the friend that was with Brown) claimed that Michael Brown and him were walking down the middle of the road unarmed when a police officer confronted them and said to move.  They said they would move in a minute but then the police officer pulled Brown into his car through the window.  After they struggled, the police officer shot Brown.  Then, Brown put his hands in the air to surrender but the officer shot him several more times anyways.

Another side claimed that Brown attacked the officer in his car and tried to take his gun.  It was claimed that the officer only shot Brown for self-defense.  Social media is playing a huge part on how the public is forming opinions about the case.  A new hashtag is circling around sites such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter called #iftheygunnedmedown. People are using this hashtag to gain support for Brown after media created a negative image of him to change people’s opinions about the case.

I believe that Michael Brown was innocent.  I believe this because there were many witnesses that said he put his hands up in surrender and also everyone interviewed that knew him said that he was a “gentle giant” and a good kid.  Also, I believe this because there were several cases before him where a white police officer killed a black man that was giving no harm.

~Courtney

What is Social Media Doing to Our Society?

 

Social media seems to have evolved and taken over the 21st century. Everywhere we go, people are “tweeting” or “instagramming,” sharing pieces of their life with their friends and followers. Social media shares information with people all around the world, keeping everyone updated about your personal life. There are many different social media websites now, ranging from public videos on Youtube to photo sharing on places like Snapchat. Social media has increased communication around the world. It’s easy enough to just a shoot a quick text or message someone on Facebook, and they could contact you from anywhere. With the pros of this new technology comes cons, and there are quite a few. It limits to face-to-face socialization and cyber bullying has become a huge issue. Keeping this in mind, we have to ask ourselves- is social media running our lives?

I think that social media can be greatly beneficial to society, but it needs limits. It can help to improve business, and is a part of many peoples’ daily life. I love going on Twitter and seeing what people have to say! That being said, it should have boundaries. Updating your status every 5 seconds is not going to help you land a job or get an A+ on your next test. I believe that everyone needs to take a step back from this revolution and see what really matters. True socialization is dying in society and by simply having a conversation with someone in person, or going out with friends, you can help to save it.

~Emma

Is Social Media Bad for Society?

By now, social media has taken over our lives. It is used for many reasons and many different ways. There are many social media sites that are able to interact with everyone in the whole entire world. Some social media sites that people use are Facebook, Twitter, etc. These sites make communication with others much easier. For example, when trying to contact with a relative living a state away, you can just go on Facebook and message them. You may think that social media is the best thing that has happened in our generation, but it also has its negative effects. But the main question is, “Is Social Media good or bad  for society?”

In this topic, I think that social media can be good and bad to the society. Social media has brought us closer to the other parts of the world, which can be a good thing. With the many sites, we can communicate with anyone at anytime which is good for business people and other citizens that need to talk to one another.  If you think about it, isn’t it weird knowing that you can talk to someone that lives in Asia or Mexico? Social media sites are being used for spreading the word on any event, product, business, or any nationwide things happening.

You may think Social media is good for society by now, but there are also its negative consequences. With the ability of communicating over the internet, it may cause the feeling of not socializing, not going out, and limit the time we actually talk to someone face to face. I would agree with this, because when I’m out with friends they tend to be more on their phones than actually talking with me. In addition, social media sites can lead to a serious topic thats happening more now, which is cyber bullying. Cyber bullying is when people online insult, or bully people on the sites in any way that hurts their feelings or makes them uncomfortable. Studies show that social media sites promotes no self esteem, no compassion, and or empathy. For example, on the social media site Instagram, several people post “Selfies” which means posting a picture of themselves. This is resulted, because of people wanting input of themselves. This can lead to harmful insults or having other people question their own beauty. But, it is still very important to never judge a book by its cover. In conclusion, the social media effects can be good or bad to society, it depends on how you keep your life relying lessor more on social media. There are many good things about it, but there are also many bad things to it also.

~Paula

 

Think Before You Post

      Do you want your career to be ruined just because of some stupid picture you posted on Instagram when you were 15?  Do you want to get rejected from your dream college because of some stupid tweet that you tweeted 5 years ago?  Nearly 10% of relationships are ruined because of social networking sites.  These sites are taking over our lives!  People are tweeting about whatever whenever and they are not thinking before they hit that little blue button.

     Obviously, I am not into the whole Facebook, Twitter and Instagram stuff.  I am 13 years old and I have a Twitter and Instagram account that I occasionally look at.  When I do, I see teenagers posting pictures with a bottle of Vodka in the background.  They are not realizing that one picture can hold them back from pursuing their dreams.  When you think that you delete a picture and it is gone, it really isn’t.  I can guarantee to you that that picture is somewhere on the internet, or someone may of gotten a screenshot of it.  So, think before you post.  Would you want your parents to see it?

~Bailey Cunningham

Are Smart Phones Really Worth Huge Sums of Money People Pay for Them?

This post was recently highlighted on the Cheshire Patch website

Smart phones such as the iPhone or the Droid are very common these days. But are they worth what people pay for them? I don’t think that they are. Anywhere you go you can find an advertisement for a smart phone or someone bragging about theirs to their friends. I have to wonder though, do these people have them because they need them or because they want to be more popular or were tricked into buying them by flashy commercials.

To answer this question further I asked my friend Nick who has an iPhone. He says that he asked his parents for an iPhone “partially because I thought they were cool and it would make me more popular and partially because my phone recently broke and I needed a new one anyway”. I have to agree.

There are also good things about having a smart phone. Thanks to the built-in wireless Internet capabilities, you can check your bank balance, pay bills, or answer emails away from your computer. Keeping in touch with friends and family is much easier if you can just shoot them a text. The ability to update your social networking accounts is also huge because it lets people tweet or Facebook anywhere, which really helps people stay in touch.

So in conclusion I think that Smart Phones may or may not be worth the money depending on your situation. If you are a kid just trying to fit in then it would probably not be the best time to buy a smart phone. But if you are a person who needs to be able to check their email on the go or have easy access to a GPS, then a smart phone might be the right choice.

~Matt Stayner