To begin week 1 of Digital Communities I viewed the video âThe Social Media Revolutionâ which showed a large amount of statistics of social media and how society is using it for almost everything. If I stated all the statistics I would be here all day so I will just share a few of them.
 -      1 in 8 couples married in the U.S met via social media
-Â Â Â Â Â Â If Facebook was a country it would be the third largest
-Â Â Â Â Â Â 80% of companies use social media for recruitment
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Facebook tops Google for weekly traffic in the U.S
 The next video I watched was from the social media website YouTube; as you can tell these social media websites are now being used in our education system, even the social media website Tumblr is being used for our weekly blogs. Anyway, this video was on TED-Ed called âConnected, but Aloneâ with Sherry Turkle.
 Sherry explains how powerful social networking is in todays society. She shows a picture of her daughter and two friends as they hang out together in the living room one day, they all have their heads down looking at their mobile phones. Â
Sherry makes some very valid points about how we donât go looking for news in todays society, the news finds us. This is through various Facebook pages that post totally irrelevant content than what the page is supposed to be.
 I do my own research through âSurveillance, big data and democracyâ which stated that the internet stores your search history and uses it as advertising while you use various social media websites. For example the other day I was searching some protein powder on eBay. I then logged into Facebook later that night and up came advertising for not only protein powder but also gym equipment, pre workout power, and various other supplements.
(De Zwart, M, Humphreys, S & Van Dissel B 2014)
 Buzzz Social Media 2011, The Social Media Revolution 2014, 23 October, viewed 26 August 2014, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eUeL3n7fDs>.
 TED-Ed 2013, Connected, but alone?- Sherry Turkle, 19 April, viewed 26 August 2014, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv0g8TsnA6c>.
 De Zwart, M, Humphreys, S & Van Dissel B 2014 'Surveillance, big data and democracy: Lessons for Australia from the US and UK, UNSW Law Journal viewed 20 September 2014
 For my blog this week I have decided to focus on Eugeniaâs reading âSocialities and Social Media. I really enjoyed this read as it opened up my eyes to a lot about social networking and our communication with one another. In todays society a lot of people have hundreds and thousands of friends on Facebook, Twitter followers etc, but theyâre not really their friends, theyâre just Facebook associates or Twitter followers. Just a few years ago the world of communication was majorly different; people would meet and hangout due to their environments such as suburbs or schools, or sporting groups. Relationships were built and sustained by face to face communication and telephone calls (posting letters were also used to keep in contact with friends or family living elsewhere) rather than messaging one another on your smart phone.  Although these are mostly negatives, there are also positives of this recent digitalised world; Video calling programs such as Skype are used for business calls to save companies sending clients all over the country or world to discuss business. Social media allows others to share pictures and videos or their travelling or even day to day lives to the friends and family they choose (this would save time on your holidays from having to call individual friends and family to let them know your safe or what you are doing etc)
 Siapera, E 2012, âSocialities and Social Mediaâ, in Introduction to New Media, Sage, London, pp 191-208.
 This weeks discussion is on comparing Reddit and Twitter. Both these social media platforms I do not use so I have had to do a fair bit of research. Iâve always had Facebook so I donât see the point of getting Twitter as I donât have any celebrities or idols in my that I care what they are doing and posting.  Ill explain Reddit in some detail.
 Reddit, other known as âthe front page of the interentâ when you search it on google, is a popular website where anonymity is encouraged. The main goal of Reddit is to post links to various news websites, or other exciting content that would amuse the users. The posts get up votes by the public that enjoyed it, or down votes by the public that did disliked the post. All the posts, up votes and down votes are kept anonymous, this is to keep a save place for open discussion. Various subreddits are posted on the site such as âr/gonewildâ which is where âmales rank and comment on female bodiesâ (Nagel, Frith, 2015). The posts with the most up votes will be places on the front page of the site generating for views, giving the users what they want the second they open the website.
 Having a place to discuss varies issues and categories anonymously is positive. People discussing their sexuality and how they express themselves without having to reveal their identity for various reasons is acceptable. However, people abuse their power and use it in cruel and disloyal ways.
 The subreddit r/gonewild is purposely for people to upload self-pornographic images. As the users are uploading anonymously you are uncertain whether it is a female expressing her body or an ex boyfriend leaking private photos.
 Twitter is very similar to Facebook as you create your own account with your name, photo and bio of information, and then begin to follow other people. When tweeting you have a limited character count that you can post. Twitter is mainly used to see what celebrities are doing in their lives; then you re-tweet their posts and show to your friends who are following you that you saw their post and find it interesting. Basically all you are doing is sharing other peopleâs information. In my opinion, Twitter overall is a better information distributor than Reddit is.
 van der Negal 2013, 'Faceless Bodies: Negotiating Technological and Cultural Codes on reddit gonewild', Scan Journal of Media Arts Culture, vol. 10, no. 2, Macquarie University.
 Emily van der Nagel and Jordan Frith. âAnonymity, pseudonymity, and the agency of online identity: Examining the social practices of r/Gonewildâ