Saturday, March 24, 2012

2003 and the Social Media Explosion!

2003 was a strange year. It was the same year I entered as a freshman at Forest High School in my hometown, Ocala, Florida. I was just growing out of my weird anti-establishment stage of life that defined my middle school years. I'll paint you a picture, skateboarding, listening to really bad music (koRn, System of a Down, Disturbed), and wearing clothes that were probably two sizes too large were all characteristics of my lifestyle. But, in 2003 something happened!
I was learning how to drive a car, my taste in music improved, and I threw away all the baggy clothing. I was a high schooler, and change was important. At this same time social media was blowing up. I was introduced to MySpace, eBaumsworld and Napster. MySpace was very popular at the time. I thought it was the greatest thing since the videogame, Halo, which consumed a LOT of my time. MySpace was one of the first sites where you could express yourself through pictures, music, and conversation. Everyone in high school had one, and sometimes popularity wasn't marked by how many friends you had in the real world, rather how many friends you had on Myspace. It changed everything.
Since then, I've witnessed the birth of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Foursquare, LinkedIn, Tumblr, and the list goes on. In today's society everyone is connected through social media in some form. Revolutions have sprung, ideas have spread, technology has advanced, and the world has changed. Why? Because social media is such a powerful force that keeps everyone connected. News broadcasters can hardly keep up with the speed of Facebook users beating them to the punch on worthy topics. Social media has changed so much since 2003, and continues to be a valuable tool to those who know how to use it.

My favorite video from eBaumsworld. Me and my friends thought this was hilarious.

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