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There’s no doubt that social media has taken over our society. People are constantly plugged in thanks to the Internet and mobile devices. Social media can be a useful tool for businesses and a fun way to communicate. But it has been pounded into my head that once you reach a certain age, you should probably take a step back from the heavy tweeting and posting. Why? You never know who might see it.

I’m majoring in journalism and mass communication so naturally social media is something I’m well aware of. (I’m actually taking a class this coming semester on how to utilize social media effectively.) I’m also graduating in December, so I’m on the job hunt. One thing that’s been drilled into my head: clean up any social media sites you have. When you’re in college and sharing Facebook photos, posts and statuses with your friends, you don’t really think about how the outside world views it.

But social media sites are one of the first things employers are checking these days. According to a 2009 study from Harris Interactive for CareerBuilder.com, 45% of employers polled use social media to screen their candidates. Those party pics where you were wasted might not seem like such a big deal among your friends who do the same thing, but they look entirely irresponsible to an employer.

Over my family vacation, I was given proof of how important this is. My aunt and cousins work for a well-known insurance company. In the branch where my cousins work, two of their colleagues had recently been fired. The reason? Putting up Facebook posts and statuses complaining about work and divulging work information online. It got back to the boss, and they were let go immediately.

So what should you do to clean up your social media sites and keep yourself looking squeaky-clean to employers?

1. Take off those pictures of you in your naughty Halloween costume or doing shots. Employers don’t want to see you getting wild and crazy. It could give the impression that you aren’t reliable or responsible.
2. Don’t divulge every second of your day. People don’t need to know where you are and what you’re doing every minute. And using social media at work is a huge no-no unless you’re in charge of social media for your job.
3. Clean up the language. Using the F-bomb or discussing inappropriate subject matter won’t make you look funny. Employers will just find it distasteful. Any discriminatory language, and your application could be thrown out.
4. Keep it private. All of these sites have privacy settings. It may be beneficial to keep yours as tight at you can. Then there’s less of a chance that someone you don’t want seeing your profile will be able to.

Social media can be a great communication tool. However, it can obviously come with consequences. A word to the job-seeker: use with caution or it could cost you your job.

Ashley Thill, career, CareerBuilder, facebook, social media Hide

From a young age, we’re taught about the good of giving back. Throughout my grade school and high school years, I remember taking part in numerous toy drives, clothing collections, food donations and more. Anyone who has done charitable work can attest to the feeling of fulfillment afterward. You’ve made a real difference that can truly affect someone’s life.

AXE, the men’s deodorant company, is changing the face of charitable work and how people give back.

This spring, AXE is hosting the AXE Undie Run Challenge at 10 college campuses across the country. The challenge has already happened in Boston and San Diego and will be coming to the UW-Madison campus on May 6. They are proposing students do their part by becoming “half-naked humanitarians.”

Students show up at the designated spot on campus and strip down to their skivvies. They then run a marathon through campus. The clothes they leave behind are donated to whatever charity the campus chooses.

The clothes will be weighed from each school and the group with the largest amount of clothing donated will be given additional money for their charity.

The UW-Madison AXE Undie Run has teamed up with the Community Action Coalition (CAC). The CAC is dedicated to reducing poverty among families in south central counties of Wisconsin. This includes drives and donations for food, clothing as well as other items.

AXE isn’t offering your typical clothing drive charity; it’s done specifically to get college students involved but with a twist. Running around in underwear, not to mention an after party, would appeal to a lot of college kids. There are certain guidelines for the run so it isn’t complete debauchery; participants, although in underwear, have to be covered where it matters and not “flopping out” as the guide says. But this event almost masks the fact that it is a charity and not all fun and games.

According to a report on volunteering by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of September 2009, persons between the ages of 16 to 24 volunteered at only a rate of 22%. However, college students are more likely to volunteer than those their age who don’t attend college.

Volunteer events and charities like the Undie Run maybe a new way groups are attempting to get more students involved especially since students who volunteer in their youth continue into adulthood. We may start seeing a trend toward good deeds disguised as social events. I’ve witnessed charitable donations and events hosted by bars and restaurants around campus throughout the year as well as dance parties and movie screenings.

The Undie Run certainly seems to have gotten buzz on campus; the Facebook page for the event has over 700 fans. College students are now taking an active role in a whole new kind of charity.

Ashley Thill, AXE, AXE Undie Run Challenge, Community Action Coalition, facebook Hide

The constant nagging about Internet safety is getting a bit old. We’ve all heard the safety tips regarding predators and, perhaps the more appropriate term of creepers, but that’s what privacy options are for. Although it’s all good advice, a lot of social media users set their profiles to private and look the other way.

Nowadays, social networking goes far beyond personal safety. A lot of people don’t realize the other potential dangers they expose themselves to online, particularly on Facebook.

Facebook currently has 400 million active users. Those users range from preteens to corporate officials to celebrities to animals (yes, animals) and it’s easy to forget that the world of Facebook extends beyond just your friends. Have you ever stopped to consider the harmless information you post on your profile? Things like music and entertainment preferences, random statuses referencing every last detail of your day, your sexual orientation, political views and even your birthday. It’s the accumulation of these several small details that can put you at serious risk in situations beyond the everyday Facebook-stalker.

A 2008 Kaplan study discovered that one out of 10 college admissions officers scoped out their applicant’s profiles. Scandalous, provocative or party photos weren’t the only things affecting an applicant’s possible acceptance. Sometimes it just came down to a status trashing the college’s campus after a tour.

If you’ve already made it into or through college, you’re still not in the clear. When looking for a job, don’t assume that employers are too old or outdated to check your profile. Employers today are hip. They keep up with the times and with technology. They absolutely will hunt you down via Facebook to get the lowdown. It’s like a free background check; a straight shot to the real you.

If having your boss view a photo of you at that frat party isn’t scary enough, here’s something else to consider: Facebook has the right to use your photos. There’s always that fun little spark when someone tags you in a new and cute photo, but remember to read the fine print.

According to Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, content covered by intellectual property rights (IP content), like photos or videos, is licensed to Facebook until the content is deleted. (But if you delete it and a friend still has it, Facebook still licenses content and backup copies can exist for a period of time.)

Essentially, this means that although Facebook may not own your photos, they can still use them in relationship to Facebook. It sounds harmless enough, but you should always be aware of how big time companies are using your content. They’re your photos and videos. Keep them that way!

All in all, being aware is the first step towards true privacy online. Whether you make yourself unsearchable on Facebook (under search in privacy settings, set to “only friends”) or un-tag yourself in those questionable photos, make sure to be conscious of just who is looking at your information.

Ashley Sepanski, facebook, fine print, internet, privacy Hide

For those of you who haven’t noticed, it’s 2009. Many of us consider ourselves to live in societies of relative freedom, tolerance and acceptance — where people of all colors and creeds can live and work side by side in harmony.

On June 8^th this year, the far-right political group, the British National Party (BNP) won two seats in the European Parliament. No big whoop, yeah? What are two seats in an organization of that size? When the Party’s immigration policies include offering financial incentives and political pressure to persuade legal immigrants to leave Britain and return to their countries of origin — no matter how long they have been settled in Britain — and their membership excludes people that are not of direct white, British descent, then I think there is some serious cause for concern.

Nick Griffin, the leader of the BNP, is an incredibly outspoken individual with some seriously scary points of view. In a recent television interview about immigration from South Saharan Africa, Griffin said a way of tackling the problem would be to sink the ships bringing the immigrants. Another comment that jumped out was Griffin’s musings about Third World Aid, when he stated he did not believe Britain should be “obliged to subsidise the incompetence and corruption of Third World states by supplying them with financial aid.” This kind of open hatred is seriously troublesome in the early 21^st century.

Most controversially, members of the BNP have publicly expressed incredibly controversial views regarding the Holocaust. While most members may not openly engage in Holocaust denial, they have made insane claims regarding the numbers of Jews killed in the atrocities. Griffin has previously made comments such as;

“I am well aware that orthodox opinion is that six million Jews were gassed and cremated or turned into soup and lampshades. I have reached the conclusion that the ‘extermination’ tale is a mixture of Allied wartime propaganda, extremely profitable lie, and latter witch-hysteria.”

“There is no doubt that hundreds, probably thousands of Jews were shot to death in Eastern Europe, because they were rightly or wrongly seen as communists or potential partisan supporters. That was awful. But this nonsense about gas chambers is exposed as a total lie”

However, the population of the UK are not just sitting back and doing nothing to protest against the unacceptable views of this far-right party. The Hope Not Hate campaign, fronted by Nick Lowles is at the forefront of the crusade against the BNP, and social networking sites such as Facebook have provided the campaign with a platform to encourage the public to show their support. The Hope Not Hate group has over 18,500 members, and the 1,000,000 United Against the BNP group has just under 600,000 members on Facebook alone.

Watch the now infamous “sink the ships” interview. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8141069.stm

acceptance, British National Party, Eastern Europe, European Parliament, extermination, facebook, financial aid, freedom, gas chambers, holocaust, Hope Not Hate campaign, immigration policies, Jews, legal immigrants, members, Nick Griffin, Nick Lowles, orthodox, politics, population, propaganda, sink the ships, social networking, society, South Saharan Africa, Swine Flu, television, Third World Aid, tolerance, uk Hide

Surfing isn’t just for ocean waves and the Worldwide Web anymore. In fact, in the world of the serious traveler, couch surfing not only facilitates matching free accommodations of a lone traveler with a willing host, but also serves as an international network of people hoping to seek and create a deeper sense of cultural understanding.

This is the mission of Couchsurfing.org, an online community connecting people with others around the globe by providing a sort-of matchmaking service for the true wanderer. The initial appeal of couch surfing may very well be the absence of a bill slipped under your door in the morning. But after scrolling through the testimonials and statistics of “positive experiences” on Couchsurfing.org, it seems that once you crash on the couch of a welcoming local in far-off places like Poland, Ghana or Jamaica, you may never opt to stay in a centrally-located, expensive hotel again.

Couchsurfing.org is the non-profit brainchild of 28 year-old Casey Fenton, whose full-time job is now keeping the Web site and its thousands of members up and traveling. As a registered member of Fenton’s site, you can request accommodations according to your planned travel route — much like requesting a friend on Facebook — and then, if offered a couch, a bed or even a whole room, you can connect with your host and secure your accommodations. You are under no obligation to host if you surf. Don’t feel like riding the couch? Then just register solely as a host. You can even simply support Couchsurfing.org as a project without offering up any space in your home.

Membership is on the rise among young, independent globetrotters who hope to experience more than the typical tourist list of things-to-do. These new set of explorers also are looking to stretch their travel budget. The art of couch surfing seems to have manifested into an underground culture of its own, complete with its own lingo, set of rules and a strict adherence to etiquette, gratefulness and most of all, adventure.

In a way, couch surfing represents a commitment to the human spirit by encouraging people to interact, share and learn from each other. It brings travelers closer to the real experience of a place so that they can reflect, understand and ultimately appreciate the true dynamic of their destination.

photo by ryan jesena

casey fenton, couch, couch-surfing, facebook, ghana, hotel, jamaica, non-profit, poland, surfing, travel Hide

A few years ago, photojournalist Rachel Harbut saw a video on the Tsunami that struck Indonesia. Compelled by its message and images, she showed a friend the same video. Equally mesmerized, the friend proceeded to ask her what had happened. Given that the tsunami tragedy was one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history, not to mention its status as headline news, Rachel was stunned. She says, “Not hearing about a natural disaster wiping over 230,000 people really says something about your world awareness, if not character.”

Inspired by the video, Rachel was on to something big. Her love for newspaper publication and passion for world awareness, left her no choice but to go digital. With just her laptop and YouTube, she started creating media presentations to promote world issues, educate her peers and encourage people to get involved. “I want people to know how fortunate we are in the U.S. and how easy it is for us to help. We have so many resources,” Rachel says.

Want to make a difference but don’t know where to start? Rachel suggests starting with the Internet. “It’s as simple as using Google. You’ll be amazed the little effort it takes to make a huge difference,” she says. Supporting an organization through online participation is an easy way to make a difference. Rachel recommends Nabuur.com, an online volunteering platform that links online volunteers with local communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Through the site, volunteers and local communities learn about each other, share ideas and find solutions to local issues.

Social networking sites are another great resource because they help establish connections and enable us to reach a global audience. Facebook Causes, for example, is a simple and easy way to make a difference in the world around us. “Use the Internet for good things and be a part of something that lasts. The Web’s resources can make a positive impact across the globe… it’s simple. It’s logical. It’s only fair,” stresses Rachel.

The crisis in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is one of the world’s largest humanitarian crisis and an issue dear to Rachel. This global issue is responsible for  45,000 deaths each month and reigns supreme for committing the world’s worst crimes against children and women. Considered the most deadly war since WWII, the conflict in DRC is in need of urgent attention.

Have the desire to help but find it difficult to donate? “You can still help even during hard times and the recession. It’s not always about money. Spread knowledge and be compassionate about something other than yourself,” Rachel says.

Through videos, Rachel hopes to redirect the world’s attention and focus of the media. “Don’t be fooled by the Britney Spears image. There’s much more to life than that. For those that thrive on peace building or just willing to help, here’s an opportunity to make a big difference. Collaborate with others, encourage healthy ways of living and promote peace. Don’t forget to share it with the rest of the world,” Rachel advises.

Check out one of Rachel’s videos:

democratic republic of the congo, facebook, give, google, help, internet, nabuur, rachel harbut, tsunami, volunteer, YouTube Hide

Japanese writers have been doing it for years: creating novels by uploading 140 character texts from cell phones. There are hoards of websites specifically created to house these updates, where readers can comment on the story, even ultimately directing the twists and turns of the final plot. The first keitai shosetsu (directly translated as mobile fiction), Deep Love, was written in 2003—and if this title elicits notions of gaudy or drippy romantic writing, then you would be right.

One interesting facet of this trend is who’s driving it: adolescent girls. Young girls are reading and writing these works in droves (Mika’s Love Sky was read by 20 million people, staggering numbers for any writer). Unwanted pregnancy, eternal love, rape, and prostitution are all popular themes. In a country where women are definitely considered an unequal gender, such a tool is giving more women a voice. With 20 million readers, you can bet that people are talking about these works.

In many ways, this trend is evidence of Japanese youth culture defining themselves, carving out their own genre, in the way that comic books, pop music and Facebook have for Americans. Traditional novels do not reach the younger demographic in Japan, but still they have found a way to tell stories that are relevant to them and, in some ways, rather important. While the genre has been questioned for its simplistic writing and lack of originality, at some point, writing becomes most important as a tool in relating one’s experience, even creating empathy.

So then, is the U.S. next? Using twitter is one possible medium, and quillpill.com has also capitalized on the trend.  American author Matt Ritchel gave the genre a twirl, using twitter to compose his own version, which he labeled twiller (that is, a twitter thriller).

But there are some inherent differences in Japanese culture that seem to be behind its popularity abroad. Japanese is a high context language, making cell phone novels conducive to the language. Sentences can be as short as one syllable in Japanese with subjects and articles often inferred. A two-hour train commute in Japan is common, whereas we Angelinos are more likely to try to sneak in a text when there are no cops around. Also, the cell phone is the primary form of internet access in Japan, while computers are more commonly used in America.

After reading a translated excerpt from Mika’s Love Sky and reading Matt Ritchel’s twitter history, I found there is something that is definitely different about this form. There is no flow to it; instead, it reads like small pops of electricity, each with a short burst of plot. It takes some adjustment but it doesn’t deserve to be written off.

What is definitely exciting is the embrace of new media to do new things, and to do them in different ways. Even if cell phone novels/twitter novels never catch on in the U.S, it is a sign of the diversification of such tools, and that people will continue to tell their stories.

cell phone, facebook, fiction, japan, keitai shosetsu, matt ritchel, mika, movile, novel, reading, technology, twitter Hide

For frequent tweeters and facebookers, status updates loom in our minds every day. A public announcement that our day is one to be relished can give us a new lease on life, and a flood of responses to a gleeful anecdote can make us feel like the most well-liked person around. An old boyfriend’s chipper one-liner can conjure up ancient pains and leave us feeling like our insides are melting. The amount of time networking sites occupy in our lives is one thing, but what status updates are doing to us psychologically is an entirely new question.

“Twitter is unlike any other previous human experience with technology,” psychologist John Grohol writes in ‘The Psychology of Twitter.’  “There’s never been a time in human existence where people could be in a group, socializing, and at the same time, actively socializing with an entirely different group of people who were not in the room.”

How does this dual and dueling socializing change how we process the every day and how we make sense of our world?  Tweeting and FBing may seem harmless enough, but the more the fad catches on, the more it appears to be changing the way our minds work.

We use statuses as revenge on exes, we use them to gloat about productivity (often as a means for revenge on exes), we post quotes that make sense of the strange happenings of a particular day, we publicize our most private thoughts in the hopes that someone will give us a little thumbs up or express interest in our existence.

Status update compulsion creates the mentality that success, achievement and experience is defined by how others perceive us. It creates a heightened double consciousness, where we view ourselves based on the awareness our internet communities have of what we do. Status updates are creating a regression into the huffy-puffy reaction we all used to have to the school day saying that the reward for hard work is a feeling of satisfaction.  More than that, we are left with the feeling that you have not actually done anything at all until somebody knows about it.

Increasingly, Twitter and other sites are being used for business purposes.  But for young people, they are a public display of psychological evolution (and frequently devolution).  They are the way in which we define, present and understand ourselves, and it seems not too farfetched that this may be stunting our spiritual and emotional maturity.  More often than not, for those of us in our twenties, our status updates celebrate long nights, whine about long days, attempt to substantiate recovery from broken relationships and outline our newest beliefs and interests. Whether we are digging at someone who has wronged us or flaunting a cryptic inside joke, there is a common thread: we are now publicly mapping out our personalities.

There is our flesh life and what we make of it on the internet.  And yet, it seems for many young people, it is increasingly hard to tell which came first—the feeling or the feed. Status updates are turning the process of self-actualization into cyber-actualization. The question is whether this is opening up our minds and relationships, or damaging them by discouraging introspection and a relationship with the self.  Either way, the phenomenon will have huge psychological implications for generations to come.

For now, I have to go update my status so everyone on Twitter knows I’m writing about Twitter.

Tweet tweet.

facebook, john grohol, psychology, self-actualization, status, status update, twitter Hide

My pathetic attempts at LDR’s with boyfriends turned into hair pulling experiences for one blatant reason: lack of sex. I’m sorry, but one week of non-stop loving every few months? I’ll take one night every few DAYS, thank you! As Diane pointed out in “Long Distance Relationships and Why You Don’t Want One” friends are for phones and lovers are for…well, you know. But I’d like to give a shout out for the LDR’s with a longer shelf life; I’m talking about your BFF.

You’ve had countless sleepovers; there are shoeboxes full of notes written in pink Pentel beneath your bed; you share matching tattoos! And then she gets accepted to Harvard Law. And so you help her repaint the yellow walls of her apartment and you listen, and you smile, because unlike all the significant-others in your life, her decision to move on was not about you. You knew it was right because you agonized with her, you drove her to the airport after she cried into the lap of the partner she’d just committed to an LDR with – you weighed the relationship’s pros and cons, even as you felt your own goodbye rising in your throat.

Don’t fret, sweetheart. There is a bright future for friends who go the distance.

She’s just a phone call away. Whenever Jenna calls for an LD gabfest, Coel mock covers his ears and postulates that women speak in tongues unknown to man. Well, duh! When I make a BFF it’s because we communicate on a different level. Even though she’s going to grad school in San Francisco, one of the major pieces of our relationship is made easy thanks to Alexander Graham Bell.

We heart technology. Me and my LD buddies are fortunate enough to live in a world that is getting increasingly smaller. The sun of LA doesn’t seem so different from the clouds in Seattle when you’re getting help from that lovable shrinky dink: the Internet. Ah, lubricant of LDR’s across the globe, we all heart the web! Thanks to our culture’s increasing dependence on this medium, I am able to SEE my BFF’s birthday bash at the Dresden, even if I can’t BE there. And while freeze dried comments from acquaintances mean as little as “how d’ya do,” it is always a joy to read what my friends are thinking as they share the familiar routine of logging in.

Stop with the guilt already. I know. You don’t connect as much as you’d like. You’re allergic to phone tag and are more likely to post a drunken comment on her Facebook wall than send a weekly email digest. Sure, it’s different. Compared to the time we spent together before she moved to Chicago, my relationship with Cassy has seemingly fizzled. …but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Once I kick expectations to the curb, I can see our LDR for what it now is: undiluted, intense and full of love and respect for the frenetic paths we have chosen.

photo by melissa ann photography and creative design

best friends, bff, facebook, friends, friendship, LDR, phone, relationship, technology Hide

Ever been soooo into your new beau, and you just can’t seem to get enough of each other, and when you finally surface for air you realize *poof* all you friends have disappeared? You’ve stumbled into the tangled mess of an overly dependent, or “enmeshed” relationship.

Tiff was a great friend in college and early in our careers. She was the one who always called first on my birthday—the friend who never missed anything.  Then, about a year ago, she began dating Joey.  Slowly I started to hear less from her, as did most of our mutual friends.  Whenever she called, it would be all about her and Joey. She missed my birthday because Joey had a lacrosse game. She forgot to call her mom for a week. She had been so busy preparing for Joey’s surprise party that her mom called me asking if I had heard from her.

Tiff and Joey were no longer separate entities but a fused couple.

Experts agree that when individuals become overly dependent on one another it’s not a healthy relationship. Partners should have separate interests, the ability to maintain healthy relationships with friends and family independent of their partner, and, most importantly, each person is a whole, not using each other to create a feeling of being whole.

Overdependence in relationships has become more common. I am sure you know a few girlfriends who graduated college, got in a relationship, and before you knew it were completely different people. When people have trust issues, difficulty establishing healthy boundaries, or are dealing with major transitions, they tend to gravitate towards others who can fulfill those needs. These people often hold the same needs to be wanted and loved unconditionally, but don’t know how to do this without the “all or nothing mentality” of an enmeshed relationship.

Before you end up bound and gagged, here are some red flags:
•    Friends and family tell you your relationship isn’t healthy, but you ignore them.
•    You “can’t get through the day” unless you talk to your significant other.
•    You argue if your feelings and opinions aren’t the same.
•    You’ve lost contact with previously good friends and family.
•    They must meet your emotional needs in order for you to feel complete.
•    You share an email/Facebook/Twitter account.
•    You’re unhappy when you are not with the other person.
•    Your call/text message log is more than 75% from (or to) your significant other.
•    You’re unable to function socially when they’re not available.

Upset, Tiff contacted me a few weeks ago.  One of her best friends from college was getting married, and she had no idea until she saw it on Facebook.  “I mean we were such good friends I can’t believe I wasn’t even invited, let alone a bridesmaid!”  She said.

“You’re right. You were good friends,”  I responded. “But now who are your friends?  I mean you can’t expect to be in a wedding if you haven’t paid attention to your friends in years!  Relationships, just like friendships, are reciprocal, at least the healthy ones are.”

photo by david blaikie

couple, dating, enmeshed, facebook, friend, relationship, significant other, twitter Hide