Old to New Media

The result of Web 2.0 is sites that are shaped by user cultures. Culture is a concept encompassing all the norms, values, and related behaviors that people who have interacted in a social group over time agree on and perpetuate. Think about the Web 2.0-enabled social media spaces you frequent. Perhaps when you spend time on Tumblr, you see that people talk about their emotions, and you talk about your own. Meanwhile, in League of Legends chat you don't talk about your emotions because you know you will get attacked if you do. On Facebook and LinkedIn, you might wear a high-buttoned shirt, as you have seen is the norm; but you might appear in a robe on Snapchat, or a bikini on Instagram. Culture encompasses how users talk to each other, present themselves for one another, and take cues from and influence each other as they collectively decide what's in and what's out.

Software platform developers do influence culture in their user designs. For example, Facebook has its own shirt buttoned up rather high, with its plain white background and limitations on user customization of profiles. Online cultures do take some cues from developers, and users are restricted or guided by their affordances. But users have a lot of agency as they develop and share cultures within these sites.

The construction of my social media

Hypebeast: Person who wears high fashion clothing, typically a person who has experience with reselling luxury items and trades for higher priced pieces. Person who can either afford or not afford this expensive lifestyle.

In the present world, social media possesses the ability to shape a person by his/her interests and through this, a person has the volition of choice to either have a positive impact on the internet or to have a negative attitude to certain topics. Even though I have had a rough past from relationship issues to cyberbullying, I chose to create my social media to be positive on the world and for me to not let my enemies' thoughts dwell on my life. This stance symbolizes how I am set apart on all my social media platforms because of how I have different uses for each app.

On my Instagram, I am the most active because I utilize my Instagram feed as a reselling service for the hypebeast community.  In this community, I found my closest friends where we built our own unique reselling business and sold hundreds of items, each ranging from $100 to even $4000. This business allowed me to grow as a person and discover a unique side of myself I never thought I owned. I greatly enjoyed my time reselling in NYC with my friends and through this experience, I now have connections all across Manhattan in New York.

Part of being a member of the special community, I was involved with heavy acts of networking because of how my friends and I connected with buyers first on the internet and then in person to finalize the transaction. With the initial connection online, we were able to communicate with the buyer prior to meeting to identify if the buyer is serious on purchasing the item. If the transaction were to be successful, the buyer would then spread the word of our business and we would then have an increase of potential buyers, each with his/her own taste for fashion. Random people soon became some of our best buyers that we still keep in contact and these buyers led to more transactions. With the success of the small business with my friends, I was able to give the money to my parents and help pay for the bills.

At the time, my family was not financially stable but because of the hard work, I was able to obtain a taste of what determination is in reality. I was determined to help my family and with the extra income, my mom was able to became a well-known real estate broker in New York City and my father became a phlebotomist. With all of my family experience mixed with social media, I can testify that I am different from anyone and that the cultural knowledge of reselling aided me in becoming a better person.

My Snapchat, on the other hand, is not used for reselling purposes. I mainly use my Snapchat as a method of talking with old friends and classmates who need a lending ear. I tell people that if they ever need to talk about anything without judgement, my Snapchat is always open. I have had many conversations with friends and family where I would give them advice on work or relationships. I vowed to myself that I would be there for all my friends and family because my desire is to help those who need it even though I did not receive aid in my darkest times. I want to place others above myself and help whenever I am capable of a task.

All of these moments in my life molded me into a better person and my life illustrates that in life, it is not how you begin a race but how a person finishes. A person can either finish strong or finish weak. The choice is left to the runner.