676 Arrested in Mexico

On Friday over 676 people were arrested in Mexico on a drug bust. Yes you read that right, I said 676 people were arrested. They found over 40,000 pounds of marijuana and 467 kilograms of cocaine. How on earth is that much drug usage in our world? This scares me, in a single day that many people were arrested for drugs. This is happening right next to our borders too. Now I know that drugs are becoming a more popular thing in our society today but these numbers seem substantial to me. I am aware that drug trafficing is already taking place on our borders from Mexico, but I just hope that the numbers continue to grow and I am hopeful that law enforcement is able to stop these drugs from coming into our country.

Here is a link to this story: Lots of Mary J

Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Media

I am sure we all are involved in social media one way or another. Social media allows us stay connected with our friends and keeps us updated on events going on in society. But it clearly has it advantages and disadvantages.

The advantages of social media are obvious. They allow us to stay informed with what is going on in our society. They make us feel a part of what is going on in a way. Which can be good, don't get me wrong. Think of all the times you found out something good the minute it happened due to being involved in social media.

There clearly are some disadvantages though. Social media just tends to cause drama. Now the drama can be on different type of levels. It seems like now a days I can't even tweet a personal opinion without getting some slack for it. For example, I tweeted a bible verse just a couple of weeks ago and I was tweeted back and was told by 2 different people that I should not be tweeting religious material. That was no big deal though. Just think about what is going on in the Middle East. It all started with Egypt, now with social media being involved it has spread to other countries.

First Egypt; Now Iran?

For the past weeks we have all seen footage of the terrible riots that have been taking place in Egypt. They are truly scary situations that are being displayed on TV and other news outlets right before our eyes. Since citizens of Egypt started protesting some other countries have also began to post protests, the latest country to do such is Iran.

In my opinion I do believe that social media could have played a role with some of these protests. Iranians could have seen what was going on in Egypt, then saw where there president resigned, so in return Iranians are going to begin protesting to try and get what they want from their government. The protests are huge as tens of thousands of people are protesting in the Iranian country of Tehran. While the protests in Iran did start out as silent protests they are now beginning to display violence. With what is being shown on televison it is clear to see that these are scary times we are living in.

Here is a link to the story: Protests in Iran

Podcast on Riots in Egypt

I found an interesting podcast on the riots that are currently taking place in Egypt. The podcast was done by Matt Donatelli and Ron Meyer.

One of the first things said in this podcast that struck me was that there are a lot of young people, college aged people, who are very interested in what is happening in Egypt. They are interested because this could ultimately affect them in some way or fashion. But in my opinion I think that they are interested because it has consumed the media and their outlets. Any major news station that you turn to is going to feature coverage of what is happening in Egypt.

It is also interesting that they noted that most of the people who are rioting in Egypt are mostly under the age of 30. They are clearly displeased with the government in that country. Donatelli and Meyer also stated that part of the problem with all these riots escalating is the fact that the Egyptian Government actually killed the Internet for a couple of days. This just made more people angry and caused more people to begin rioting.

What we are seeing in Egypt is truly scary. It makes me happy and it allows me to feel fortunate that I live in a country like I do. This podcast was interesting though. Below is a link to it, you should check it out.

Podcast

Social Media: How Much Is Too Much?

Tweeting, texting, and using Facebook, these have become a mainstay in our society today.  It is there for everyone and is made accessible worldwide.  But how much is too much? According to market researcher Radicati Group, corporate users received about 110 text messages a day in 2010.  According to Twitter, there are on average about 110 million tweets sent a day.  Think about that, 110 million, in one day. 

Researcher Basex estimated that productivity losses were at $650 billion in 2007 due to “unnecessary interruptions.” These statistics may not necessarily be from distractions like text messages, but some of them very well could be. This statistic is also interesting to me because the research was conducted in 2007, so with the rise of Facebook and Twitter I am sure that these numbers have begin to grow.

It seems to me that this whole process is an ongoing cycle, we tweet, check our Facebook and text on a daily basis. It has almost become a lifestyle. Imagine what it would be like if someone were to take away your cell phone for one week. Do you think that you would be able to go one week without having your cell phone? I honestly do not think I could. That is the society that we live in today though, social media consumes us. 

Here is a link to the story I used to write this blog: Social Media Overload