Differences Magazine

In this day of mobile technology, easy access to digital cameras, and the ability to share your work through the Internet, young people are easily able to create their own media and share it. Sure, it's funny to watch a spoof video, and interesting to see a fan made video reflecting someone's personal take on a popular novel.

New technology and social media and networking sites have made it so easy to share your thoughts with the world. On YouTube you can find people talking about everything from politics to entertainment to their own lives. When we use computer-mediated communication, like social networking sites, it's easy to begin to share our private thoughts more openly than we might even do in person.

Hoda Emam is a student at Columbia's School of Journalism, and one of ten students providing on the ground coverage of SMWNYC. This is her account, both written and photographic, of "Challenging Conventional Wisdom of Social Media: Socmedia Editors Share Their Latest Ideas."

Watching any kind of sports game has always been considered a very social experience, but in the last few years that social experience has transitioned more and more into a social media experience. Many of the questions that were addressed in the first half of the panel had to do with social media and whether its involvement in sports would take away from the integrity of the sporting event. The overall verdict was that a balance needed to be reached between physical "in the moment" interaction and virtual interaction with sporting events.

Taking on Social Media Week NYC for the first time was everything I expected and much more. Nonetheless, I could not help but noticing that there was an obvious lack of college students at the events I attended. I am both a current college student and new to the entire #SMWNYC experience. As a result, I inferred that the lack of college students might be rooted on the fact that they don't know what to expect or that they are unaware of how insightful it is into any kind of career path to be a part of this conversation.

Education and technology should not be viewed as two distinct entities, especially in today's world. There are many ways that the younger demographic, K-12 age group, could benefit from having more of what would be considered "their world" incorporated into their everyday learning schedule. In the panel for "The Power of Social Media in Education" many topics were discussed especially those pertaining to just how much the Latin community needs a dose of technology in their day-to-day life.

What do you get when you put a Managing Editor, A Director of Global Marketing, 3 Founders, and A supermodel in one panel? A whole lot of inspiration, and not one seat left unattended. 30 Floors above Times Square, people were excited and anxious to hear about the panel that was about to take place. It was none other than the highly anticipated panel that was all over our Twitter feeds-The New Face of Social Good: How To Make Your Own Social Media Magic! Hosted by none other than my favorite organization She's the First (who we have previously featured on our website.)

 

Being a social butterfly takes a lot of energy; along with constantly juggling your Facebook and Tumblr feeds, you have to make sure to be smart about what you're doing on your beloved social networks. Add another thing to your list of things to be concerned about – you might be a social media sinner, and you might not even know it.

Our relationship with the concept of beauty is a complex one – one moment you feel like the most gorgeous person in the world, and the next you're cowering in a corner because you're so ashamed of how you look. On average, only four percent of people believe they're beautiful, and most of the blame can be given to forms of media like Sports Illustrated's annual swimsuit issue or plastic women dominating the airwaves. However, as discussed on February 15th at The Changing Face of Technology: Click Here for Beauty, social media is redefining what beauty is.

Fatima Muneer is a student at Columbia's School of Journalism. She is one of ten students providing on the ground coverage of SMWNYC- all from the student's perspective.