I began to touch on social networking last week when talking about YouTube. I had never thought about YouTube as a social networking source until last week when I saw it in a different light. (see blog for details). However YouTube was only a smaller sector of the large world of social networking. Upon entering my Sociology of sports class this semester I was told that I would need to keep up with what was happening in sports. Rather than setting aside time each day to watch a television program about sports or even to spend time on the internet exploring the sports world I turned to the social media on my phone. I began to follow several sports related twitter names such as @ESPN. I feel as though in the way that I turned to social networking as my first thought of where I could best be informed says something about how social networking has become a part of our daily lives. There is even social media for sports that is specific to your university, for example “Texags” which there is also a Twitter that goes along with their social networking website to follow.
This week being home for thanksgiving I am exposed during such a sporting day of the different modes that people use to stay informed. While watching the game the person next to me is on their smart phone learning about other games and what is going on in the life of athletes. Social networking like Twitter not only allows you to bring several different sources to one location but also several different opinions. Even just being on Facebook if you want to or not you will be informed about what is going on in sports and you will know what happens to the athletes in their personal lives.
You make a really interesting point, most people not only use social networking to keep in touch with friends but to also keep in touch with pop culture and whats going on in the world. I know a lot of people who have apps on their phone that will update them on worldly news and what's going on in certain countries. Social networking such as facebook and twitter has taken a new form in it's ability to inform the public about what's going on, constantly! I don't think social networking ever misses a beat when it comes to "updating statuses" or "tweeting".
ReplyDeleteI think it is funny how our blogs are kind of similar; yours about athletes and mine about celebrities; I find I am always reading yours and we say a lot of similar things. On a more serious note, you do make a really interesting point. People have a way of constantly keeping up with anything with social media sites, it's kind of crazy.
ReplyDeleteI believe that I commented on your blogs earlier in the semester and I told you that I do not follow sports. However, as the Aggie football season progressed I found myself repeatedly checking our stats and rankings. I also downloaded the ESPN app for my iPhone and follow news and scores their! The Johnny Manziel hype also contributed to this thanks to social media sites such as YouTube and Facebook. All of these sites strongly influenced my gradual interest in Aggie Football. All along I thought I wouldn't be part of the statistics of people "following" football! -.-
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