There are many different forms of new media present in today's world. Some I use more than others, on a daily basis I use email, text messaging, Facebook, and instant messenger. Email is what I use most often throughout the entire day. A large amount of my work is done on the computer communicating through emails with our corporate office, which is in Medford, Oregon. Text messaging in the second most used form of communication I do on a daily basis. While at work, home, or out for the evening, it is a quick and easy way to keep in contact without having to have a long, drawn out conversation in the middle of your busy every day life.

I believe new social media has influenced communication on a much larger scale than ever imagined. Every time I have an event I use Facebook to set up an event for people to join. This way I can make sure that I invite everyone, even those I do not see on a regular basis. Before Facebook I would have called a few people and asked them to mention the event to a few other people, that would have been the extent of how I communicated with people. Now, with the internet there is no limit to the people I can contact and keep in touch with.

New media has greatly influenced my perspectives on communication. Before all of the technology that drives our world today, there was a simple telephone which down the road led to a cell phone. I remember thinking that cell phones were an unbelievable invention. It was so amazing to everyone that you could talk while in your vehicle or while out with friends. This was a major way for me to keep in contact, which allowed me to do more things and participate in more events. Some of the events I would have never been allowed to attend had my parents not been able to reach me. Now there is Twitter, blogging, Facebook, and Google. All of these have influenced my feelings and ideas about social media. Any time I need to find an answer to something quickly I go to Google and search it. I may have to filter through quite a bit of information before I find it, but I generally do find the information I was searching for. That is much different than when I had to go to the library and sit for hours searching through books to find results. The new forms of social media have made researching far more reasonable than it used to be.

I believe the forms of social media can be positive and negative depending on how they are used. Personally, I have found them extremely positive for what I use them for. Email is incredible. I work for a company in Ohio and my direct boss is in Medford, Oregon. Between the two states there is a 3 hour time difference, without email I may not even remember what I needed by the time they come in to the office. This is a wonderful way to make sure that what you need to get done is done no matter the time of day. Facebook has positively influenced my views on social media as well. At first I thought it was nonsense because I felt people posted drama that I didn't need to know about. However; after getting through the negative and sorting through the different sides of Facebook I learned it can be helpful. I once did a survey for a class through Facebook. I gave people a list of options and asked them to please select one of the following choices, this helped me tremendously with my school work and I never had to leave home. The other social media I find positive is text messaging. Text messaging has made keeping in contact so easy. There are times throughout the day I am so busy but I need to ask a question, I can shoot a quick text message and continue on with my day. Also, if I am too busy to answer my telephone, then a text is a great way to get a hold of me because at least I will see it and respond when given the opportunity. I see all of these as very positive means of communication and technology.

So far, I have found that Google, although helpful, when it comes to researching can be negative as well. When researching there is no way to tell if the information you are pulling up is valid. Researching is easy but getting the correct information is not always as simple. This is one of the negative influences I have seen social media have on me. Researching a topic and finding all sorts of information is wonderful. However; having to filter through all of it to find out what is actually useful is very time consuming. The other negative influence for me would be Twitter. I don't personally have a Twitter account because I feel it is negative. Most things I have seen or heard about people posting on Twitter is all drama. If it could somehow be used to voice positive, uplifting advice or help people in some way then I think it could have a positive effect on social media, but right now I seem to only view the negative side of it.

I feel that new social media is a wonderful thing. It has advanced our country and our knowledge. People that may never have been able to learn or understand a specific topic can figure it out all in the privacy of their own homes. They don't have to feel ignorant or embarrassed. Mainly, I feel new social media has had a very positive influence on me and how I use the different forms on a daily basis. It has in many ways made my life much easier and more organized.