The University of Oklahoma Assistant Athletics Communications Director and a member of the CoSIDA New Media/Technology Committee, Cassie talks about her personal evolution with social media, how she applies to daily to her work and personal life. As the 26-year old athletic PR professional says, she'd like to think that social media is not consuming her - but enhancing her life.
I used to keep notebook paper around to write down thoughts, sayings and ideas. I never really kept a journal but there were times I just need to write something down. When I got ready to write down my thoughts on this matter, I couldn’t find any notebook paper. That’s when I realized how much social media and technology had changed my life. Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft Word have become my notebook paper.
My personal blog has become my avenue to share my opinions as opposed to sitting around discussing them in a group setting. E-mail and more so text messaging have become my one-on-one communication.
I began using the Internet at an early age, so it’s always been a part of my life. Instant messaging replaced the phone. I got my wisdom teeth taken out before I got my driver’s license or a cell phone. If I had to pinpoint an event that permanently sent me on the path to becoming a screen name, it was when I got that first cell phone.
I was 20 and in my third year of college. I knew I’d eventually have to get a cell phone because of my line of work. But, I’ve gone from a Nokia with a black and gray screen to a BlackBerry that can surf the Internet and show me my e-mail.
My first three years of college were highlighted by rewriting notes – by hand – after scrambling to jot down as much as I could before the professor erased the chalkboard. The last two years encompassed downloading the day’s lecture via PowerPoint and taking notes on my laptop. I can’t think of a single paper assigned to me in high school that was required to be typed. Do students these days even know that their name and the date need to go in the top right hand corner?
Shorthand is like a long-lost form of communication now. These days, shorthand includes LOL, OMG and ROTFL. And these days, LOL has become the new default for OK.
A few years ago, I was introduced to ‘the next age’ in the Internet. It was some Website called Facebook. I tried other sites like MySpace, but they never piqued my interest like Facebook.
Through Facebook, I was able to connect with friends, family, co-workers and even high school classmates. If you don’t think Facebook has revolutionized the 10-year class reunion, just ask the Class of 1999 at Northeast Lauderdale (Miss.) High School. As Facebook has evolved, my social abilities seem to be diminished. I send messages, post pictures and comment on things I otherwise wouldn’t know. I used to put a letter in the mail or call. Now, I just hit send.
Twitter has changed me the most. Twitter has become my blog and notebook paper. Twitter allows me to network, connect and reach out – in only 140 characters. My mornings were once welcomed by a cup of coffee and reading through the news online. Now, I can’t remember the last time I actually read the news on multiple news sites in the same day. Why? Because I get the news via Twitter – state, local and national.
Twitter is great for businesses, too. If I tweet where I’m going for lunch, it’s a free advertisement for the establishment. What’s better? When I tweet how great the meal was. Do you know Twitter has changed the movie industry? Once people see a movie on Friday night, they tweet and those reviews get out affecting the weekend’s box office total. There’s no more counting on the hype of a movie anymore. It doesn’t matter how much advertising you do, if the early reviews are bad, chances are you aren’t going to do as well as you would have in the decade prior to heavy social media usage.
ESPN SportsCenter is one of my favorite television shows (seriously). I don’t watch it as much anymore to get scores. I check Twitter. I use LinkedIn to connect with professionals within my field. Previously, I’d have to go to a meeting to connect with those people.
All my thoughts make me wonder how different my life would be without technology and social media. How would we as a society be different without it? Without a doubt, it is a revolution – an evolution of our society.
In a way, I feel like I’m torn between two worlds. I’m on the cusp of Generations X and Y. I don’t know how many other late Generation Xers feel the way I do, but at times, I think my mother has adjusted to technology better than I have. Why? Because she learned how to use a computer and has had the same one since I was a freshman in college. When it comes to programs, she got the few she uses and that’s that. Me? I can’t even begin to think of the number of computers I’ve been through or the programs I’ve learned. While Mom may be at a stagnant stage in the technology revolution, she still gets her work done and communicates with people.
What happened to the days of bluelines and picas? Yes, I remember those. I even remember red grease pencils and quad packs.
I built my first Website with FrontPage and published it through Geocities. AOL was my service provider. In college, I learned Quark and taught myself PageMaker. I learned basic HTML. Media guides were really media guides. I took a photography class, but I learned how to use a manual camera, and I got really good at scanning.
In the span of three years, InDesign and Photoshop were a must-learn. Dreamweaver and CSS were the new Website tools. Flash came along not far after. In fact, the only program that’s basic concept hasn’t changed is StatCrew, an MS DOS based statistics program.
I realize that since I got my first cell phone, I’ve owned two PDAs, neither of which I ever used. These days, my cell phone is my lifeline. I have my calendar and contacts in it. I even use it to make my grocery list, keep reminders and I even can have a memo list to type songs I hear that I want to download from iTunes. I use Google Voice to screen calls instead of caller ID. If anything ever happened to my computer or cell phone, I’d be toast. It’s the 21st century version of a briefcase.
Have I mentioned I’m only 26?
Social media has also made my life full of awareness, and I think that’s a major benefit. It’s not that people are interested in what I’m doing. They’re interested in how I’m doing. As is the case with why I follow my friends. I no longer have to wonder how Katie’s doing in Birmingham or what’s Meg’s latest adventure in Indianapolis. I just log in and read their updates.
Remember when caller five won a prize pack on the radio? Gosh, I remember being in junior high and sitting there frantically hitting redial so I could win a six-pack of Snapple. Now, it’s the first person to answer a trivia question via Twitter. It’s revolutionized our world.
How long will it be before co-workers communicate solely through e-mail? Oh wait, we already do that. What happened to the days of walking three feet to talk to someone? Technology has made it downright impossible to miss a meeting or truly get away for a weekend.
"CrackBerry" syndrome anyone? I wonder how long it will take for that to be recognized as a mental health condition or addiction. Maybe it already is? What exactly would the treatment be?
Has social media and technology consumed me? I’d like to think not. I’m an old-fashioned Southerner. I still like to send a birthday card or handwritten note every once in a while. One of my favorite hobbies is reading. I used to go to the library to check out books. Now, I trade them online. Maybe it has without me knowing it. But, maybe that’s not such a bad thing.
When I think back about this change and how it’s taken place in my life, my head spins. Have I adjusted? Sure, and I’ll continue to change as the times do. But, realization of where we’ve come from can only help us improve as we as a society move forward. We shouldn’t fear the future, but embrace it.