Blog Post #1 - Who I think I am.

        I am a moderately active in the world of social media, I read the New York Times and I watch a decent amount of television shows and movies. I’m behind an exorbitant number of social media accounts including but not limited to facebook, twitter, instagram, blogger, tumblr, wordpress, yelp, youtube, the list goes on. I strive to keep my online identity conservative enough to protect myself from any unwanted criticism and for future employment purposes. However, I’d like to think I keep it real and share my opinions on current events when necessary. I suppose I am just your average 26 year old girl who’s Facebook newsfeed is being taken over by pictures of weddings and babies.

I have to admit right off the bat that I indulge in celebrity gossip media coverage on perezhilton.com and am likely to click on any celebrity news that pops up on any other site that Imight happen to stumble upon. I have been reading Perez Hilton’s blog for years and I categorize this habit as a simple guilty pleasure. I believe it’s my guilty pleasure because I realize that celebrity news does absolutely nothing positive for me in my life and I really do not know exactly why I continue to allow myself to read it. To be honest, I do make a conscious effort not to formulate negative opinions on celebrities because I do not know them personally. I also give earnest effort not to compare myself to women in the media. I know that I am not a celebrity and I know that I am a hard working woman with a completely different lifestyle. However, I remain critical in the sense that I do not understand why the media presents men and women in such an overtly sexual way. How is it acceptable in our society to show images of women who are half naked or totally naked on a constant basis? Perez Hilton’s blog aside, seeing a nude woman on a billboard in New York City is unavoidable. There are many women out there who surely compare themselves to the “perfect” bodies these women have and lack the awareness that the media is constructing this image that is unrealistic to attain for themselves. I confess that images of flawless skin and beautifully sculpted women takes a toll on me to some extent and reinforces my dedication to always wearing make up and paying regular visits to the gym. As much as I try to convince myself not to compare myself to photoshopped advertisements, it’s hard to escape in my opinion. I’ll even acknowledge that I have been purchasing anti-aging creams at an early age because of the way older women are nonexistent in the media or are praised for appearing so young at an older age. I am looking at you, Madonna. Slathering on sunscreen to avoid future wrinkles is not an entirely dishonorable act but the cosmetics industry benefits immensely from women in the media.

As far as sharing mass media events with the world, the whole ALS Ice Bucket challenge really affected me in a strange way. I believe that the power of sharing media stories on Facebook and Twitter is to be recognized. I usually ignore a lot of what I see people chatting about online, but the Ice Bucket Challenge struck a a major chord with me. I am not an evil person. I do agree with the intention of the campaign which is to donate money and raise awareness about Lou Gehrig's disease. I am mindful to how terrible it truly is for those who suffer from it and it is a tragedy that researchers lack the funds to find a real cure. Despite that, as I watched celebrities and major public figures participating and posting videos of their experience all over social media and television, I could no longer sit back and watch the copious amounts of water being wasted. It actually scared me when I watched Mark Hoppus of Blink 182 pour a bucket of ice on his head in front of an enormous audience. So, in an effort to raise awareness about water shortages in our country and all over the world, I decided to make a short video and post it to my youtube channel voicing my concern. Overall, I received a good response from my internet audience. On the other hand, some people thought I was a moron and did not understand that water never actually disappears. Well, tell that to the people of Los Angeles who were fined for participating because the state is suffering from a major drought. (I've shared the video below---some of the comments on it are kind of insane, you've been warned.)

To conclude, I think it is important to keep tabs on what’s going on in the world and social media is a tool that makes it very easy for us. I do think that we all share and receive too much information but we are lucky to have the platform of social media to share our thoughts and concerns in a way we never were able to before. The youtube video I made was the first I have ever done in that fashion and it inspired me tremendously to perhaps make some more or even make a podcast at some point. I feel that the internet could use some more criticism and we all have the tools to do it now.