Facebook timeline

As a Facebook user who has not yet switched over to timeline, I have been observing my Facebook friends' usage of the feature. Not the most common thought of going back in time to see what people were like in 2007 when Facebook became popular with our generation, but more so: what they select to be their "cover photo" with the new display. With the size of cover photos being about 10 times greater than the size of profile pictures, I'm curious to see how if and how these images replaces the notion of a profile picture.

This phenomenon interests me because people choose profile pictures where they look good. Eye tracking studies (ironically enough, funded and conducted by Facebook) show that the top left corner of the page, where the profile picture is placed, is where eyes are programmed to look on someone's profile. So now that the profile picture is so minimal on the page, which will be more dominant?

It's easy to analyze someone based on his or her choice of cover photos on timeline. Do these photos display a pretty image? A meaningful one to the person, such as the place they have a lake house or their favorite city? A strong memory with friends? The university they attend? A photo that makes them look popular? Is more than one uploaded? Are they the same as their profile pictures? Will people keep changing their profile pictures....or their cover photos? 

All of these questions have arose, and provide a basis for judgment. I'm interested in seeing the direction they go. What do you think? 

An example from the Web of the new Facebook timeline layout, with the cover photo being a beautiful view

iPhone ownership

I am officially the owner of an iPhone 4S. After holding out on getting a smartphone for the past few years and planning to waiting until after graduation, I gave in and upgraded to the iPhone. 

As I described to my sister, buying an iPhone is not just like getting a new phone, it's like buying a new lifestyle. My dad spent two days setting up his smartphone upon purchase, and I've spent the past few days adjusting. I now have full access to internet with 3G (whatever that means), a GPS, my email, the weather, a camera, apps, voice activation and my own personal secretary...her name is Siri. 

As obsessed as I am with email, my favorite tool is voice activation. I don't have to text and drive anymore because I can dictate what I want in a text message and it will type it for me. You can press a button and ask Siri pretty much anything, and if she (yes, I'm speaking as if it's a person) doesn't know the answer, she'll look it up on the Web. I was Christmas shopping in Target and when they didn't hold the gift that I needed, I asked Siri what the phone number for GameStop in Glenview, IL was and it called it for me. So much for phone books, Google-ing phone numbers or any of that...smartphones do the work for you. 

Half of the issues in my life have now been solved. I can type (or record) a message on notes and it will send it to my computer. I can check my email from the train. I don't have to open my computer and scavenge weather.com each morning. I don't even have to take out my digital camera to take a picture, upload it to my computer and put it online...I can snap a photo and Twitpic it in seconds. There are no PNC banks in Missouri, so I can take a picture with it, submit it on my VirtualWallet app and the check will clear. 

There is definitely a price to pay for the convenience--the insurance for two years costs more than the phone itself (with an upgrade). The cost adds up by the time you buy a phone case, car charger and additional applications. I run the fear every day that I will drop the phone and lose everything. 

But I feel like after waiting so long to get a smartphone, it's acting as not only the gift it is, but a reward. I no longer have to stop in a parking lot and call for directions. Call friends to Google phone numbers and text them to me to call businesses. Mail checks home. Look up Mizzou sports scores. The phone does it all. It's truly fascinating. 

Naturally, I'm pretty competitive, but having the iPhone really is a daily "YOU WIN!" You followed the blue dot on the GPS to find your way to the restaurant, win! You don't have to log on Facebook later because you cleared your notifications, win! Downloaded a new app for free, yay! Look forward to further posts, updates and stories about the usage of my personal secretary and phone that does everything for you. 

iPhone 4S

Turning points

My friend Alex and I are inspirational quote nerds. We love finding amazing words whether they are from Audrey Hepburn, Proverbs, quote books or other inspiring messages. Today, she emailed me this one:

"I found that every single successful person I've ever spoken to had a turning point and the turning point was where they made a clear, specific, unequivocal decision that they were not going to live like this anymore. Some people make that decision at 15 and some people make it at 50 and most never make it at all."

Mine was junior year of high school. I made the decision to get myself organized. I cleaned my room, wrote things down in a planner, decided to work a part-time job in my "free time" and grew up. I worked as an editor for the school newspaper, took my section and myself seriously and continued to work hard at school while doing so. I made an active decision to no longer be a procrastinator who remembers everything in my head. I pursued scrapbooking to keep track of all my high school and life memories from that stage on. It's also when I truly identified the Type A in me and acted upon those ambitious qualities. 

But I urge you to think, what is YOUR clear decision that caused a turning point in your way of life? Have you had it yet? Are you happy with the changes made after that? If not, it's not too late to change that. It requires strength and determination. You have that in you, now let it shine to find your successful qualities.

It's important to note that just because you make that revolutionary decision does not mean you are set up for success. It's all about the attitude you have as a result of the decision. You have to actively pursue things, they don't just come to you. Every successful person was not God's gift to Earth and doesn't go around thinking that. They decided what they wanted, kept a positive mindset and lived with assertiveness. So think about it!

Christmas families

One of my favorite parts about Christmas is spending time with all of the people I call family. I am thankful to have a variety of groups of friends that I consider as my families at Mizzou. Since classes have ended, we've participated in many Secret Santa gift exchanges, family dinners and more, so I have gotten to see all of the friends I call family in the past two days! Here are some holiday card-type photos of the people I call family!

Our dysfunctional but loving Mark Twain 5th floor family

My beautiful Phi Mu pledge family!

The Homecoming Steering Committee family!

The Phi Mu friends family

My soon-to-be MOJO family, team Maven!

And of course, the ACTUAL Artemas family. Sadly enough, this is the last photo we have all together.
At TGI Friday's. In May. 

Facebook irony

This morning, I came across this Mashable article titled: "Facebook's secret to high emotional engagement? Faces."

In a study Facebook commissioned to "display its emotional connection with consumers to advertisers," researchers found that participants responded better to Facebook than both The New York Times and Yahoo websites on a scale of attention, emotional engagement and memory retention. Why? Because of the presence of human faces. The New York Times and Yahoo sites don't have a reason to portray these, because they only really publish newsworthy photos rather than images of each reporter or contributor, nonetheless profiles. 

A.K. Pradeep, CEO of NeuroFocus, says in the article that "The face is a window to the human emotions. Since childhood, we are trained to read people's faces to discern emotion, and that such information is key to survival: Thus the stimulation we experience when scanning our newsfeeds." 

So here's the irony with today's young adults and teens. Faces are the key to emotions. We want that stimulation and emotional engagement, but we don't want it from a face IN PERSON. We want that from an image of someone using impression management on the internet. No one puts up a profile picture of him or herself looking mediocre or depressed. They post nice, happy photos where they feel they look attractive. So why get together in person for emotional engagement in a conversation when you can look through your newsfeed with faux images of people's faces?

It's great that we can have so much engagement online, especially in maintaining relationships with friends and family members across the world. But there are plenty of people like my own sister who sit on Facebook chat for hours at a time instead of calling friends up and inviting them over for the night. Today's youth can have just as much fun sitting on Facebook chat having racy conversations on a Friday night rather than getting together and hearing about the others' lives. They are adjusted to learning about acquaintances' thoughts, feelings and doings from statuses and pictures, instead of the art of asking them about it.

We are losing our value of conversation. As much as Facebook can be emotionally engaging and capitalize on this idea with advertisers, we as individuals should take note of the fact that human contact is a value that will always produce more emotional engagement than a phone or computer screen. 

My first lease

This afternoon, I signed my first lease to live in an apartment near campus next year. And it was one of the most rewarding feelings ever.

My friends and I have been seeking housing since I got to Mizzou in August for recruitment, and I probably have about five Columbia, Mo. landlords saved in my phone. I spent most Thursday afternoons this semester calling landlords, getting the addresses of all of their properties, driving by and taking pictures, to soon be disappointed that all of those properties were getting renewed by their current tenants. I was incredibly competitive with the process, and the one morning we had a solid option of touring two homes, the better one got signed just a few hours before we went to look at them. There were many letdowns.

The notion of the difficulty of feeling satisfied when you have done such extensive research definitely held true in this case, as the expectations and standards were set very high with each place we found. And where did we end up signing? A beautiful, new apartment that is fully furnished. And next door to our best friends. None of us have really settled and everyone seems to be happy with the decision. It's new, close to downtown and close to the J-School (where the majority of our classes are). What more could we ask?

The best part about it: we're living with our best friends. We have all worked hard for the past few years for this moment. Freshman year, all of my friends were in the same hallway- the 5th floor of Mark Twain. Let's face it- the majority of my Mizzou friends happen to be journalism majors, and my dorm friends are all very close. We have other friends, but our Twain relationship is on a different level. We kept our rooms unlocked and essentially lived in the others' rooms. We maintained these friendships the past three semesters, even we stopped living together. Various visits to each other, text messages, long phone calls, Skype dates, walks around campus and crowding into each other's double rooms kept us needing each other...but still loving each other. To me, moving in the same apartment with three of my best friends and next door to two more symbolizes the effort we will have put into the past three years of college before living there.

Signing the lease was like receiving a prize- you win! You no longer need to track each other down! You'll all be here...ALL the time...when you're not at the J-School! It will no longer take countless phone calls, dining hall meals or extraneous difficulties see the other for more than five minutes! It's about time...we deserve it. Needless to say, I'm unbelievably excited for August 14 when I move into my new apartment with some of my favorite people at Mizzou!