Abby Sowalla - Blog #1

I’ve never considered myself a big social media person. I’m an introvert, and growing up, I always thought that I had enough of humanity when I was required to be around people in real life. Why would I want to find more ways to let others invade my privacy?

The first social media platform I ever used was Facebook. My mother encouraged me to make an account when I was 13, thinking it would help me stay in touch with my friends from summer camp. When making the account, I told Facebook that I was born in 1967 because I had heard about the dangers of putting personal information online in school and didn’t want Facebook to know my real age. As far as Facebook knows, I had my 53^rd birthday last month. My first profile picture was a penguin and my first post was the phrase “I like penguins and catz,” which my mother liked. I was uninspired by the platform and didn’t make another post for many months.

These days, I’m much more accustomed to Facebook. Graduating from High School made me appreciate how the platform could be used to keep tabs on friends I don’t see anymore, and being a college student made me feel like I had more new experiences to share with others. I still don’t post on Facebook very often, but I like to occasionally post about activities I take part in, accomplishments I’ve made, and things I find funny. I usually post about once every 2 weeks. More often, I use Facebook as a source of entertainment when I’m bored, scrolling through it aimlessly when I’m stuck in a waiting room or waiting for a class to start. I have 131 Facebook friends (which, as I learned when we did our in-class Facebook friend inventory, is a relatively small number), so I’m definitely no Facebook guru.

I have had a few friends try to get me interested in Snapchat and Instagram. However, although I downloaded the apps and even sent a few snaps, I never became enthusiastic about them. I’m more interested in media platforms that have a greater element of entertainment value, particularly in the form of humorous videos. That being said, the platform I visit most frequently is definitely YouTube, and Tiktok is in second place. I don’t usually use these platforms socially; I qualify more as a “lurker” on them. I don’t comment on YouTube videos (although I often read comments for my entertainment) and the only videos I have posted have been schoolwork. I have posted one video on Tiktok, but I have yet to form plans to post a second.

Another social media platform I use is LinkedIn. I don’t use it often, but I do occasionally use LinkedIn to search for job opportunities. I have less than ten people in my LinkedIn network and I don’t see myself attempting to contact these “connections” to edge myself into a job any time soon.

And, of course, I use Twitter, five days a week (or as often as I remember), with an account I made in class last January.

Up to this point, I have described my typical pattern of social media usage. I appreciate its entertainment value, but rarely use the platforms to actually be social. HOWEVER, there is ONE IMPORTANT EXCEPTION to my social media habits. For one month each year, my social media usage increases to the point where I post at least once every day on many social media accounts.

Three years ago, my friend and roommate wished me a merry Christmas on November 1^st. On that day, I created a website, twitter account, and Instagram for a movement I made up called “Thanksgiving Awareness.” I took part in an online battle with everyone I knew who started celebrating Christmas too early, and I thoroughly enjoyed making silly posts which advocated for the remembrance and celebration of Thanksgiving. If you’re in for a laugh, visit https://thanksgivingawareness.weebly.com/, where you’ll find the Thanksgiving Awareness Twitter handle, Instagram handle, Facebook organization name, a Thankfulness Calendar, and a four-chapter story about the Thanksgiving Awareness mascot: Thankful Hank the Holiday Housecat!

If you take a look at my Thanksgiving Awareness media, you’ll see that I can enjoy making numerous posts when I feel like I have something interesting to post about. I don’t necessarily use all these platforms skillfully – My Thanksgiving Awareness posts don’t fit the level of aesthetic most people would post on Instagram – but I have engaged with the platforms and interacted socially with my friends through them as we exchange Christmas vs. Thanksgiving banter.

You might also notice that the Thanksgiving Awareness movement does not have a very broad audience. My TA Twitter account has less followers than my personal account, and my only followers on my personal account are the 20 something members of this social media class and my mother. Please be kind when assigning groups for the social media campaign project and place me with whoever in this class has the most social media popularity!