Social Media

Since social media is all the rage nowadays, I thought I would provide a personal guide for choosing the right social platform to focus on. You are by no means entitled to follow this. *

*Note: social media can be very addicting. You have been warned.

Facebook is the place to start if you are new to the internet scene. Almost everyone has an account and it is a convenient way to connect with people you know, or stalk anyone you want to know. You will end up "friending" people you don't actually know in person nor ones that you care about, yet they will clog your newsfeed to no avail. Sorry.

Instagram is essentially Facebook for pictures. But these are artsy pictures, so be sure to: never look directly at the camera lens, keep a journal of song lyrics to use as captions and upload using the highest quality possible. Don't feel bad if your friend has 2000+ followers -- they're lying to themselves.

Twitter is for the individual with a fast-paced life. Updates are made in seconds, not minutes. It is the ultimate place for the fangirl but beware, fandoms can go batshit cray. Make sure to get your hashtags straight aka start googling now.

Blogs and a youtube channel are very different beasts altogether (I'm actually not even sure if they count as social networking but here we are). It involves exposing parts of yourself to the internet (hello, world)  and we all know nothing on the internet is private. Be prepared.

Tumblr, in all honesty, scares me. However, I do enjoy .gifs (short clips of moving images that repeat) and tumblr is full of them. From what I understand, it is like a blog but in pictures/videos but one that should be used by only the most advanced of social networkers as an in-depth understanding of internet memes and the latest social trends are necessary.

I realize there are more platforms of social media but these are the major ones I decided to touch upon. Let me know which one is your favorite in the comments below!

Youtubers

There are countless youtubers out there I have yet to discover but these are just a sampling of those I enjoy. I have separated them into categories based on the content of their videos. Let me know who you're subscribed to in the comments below!

BEAUTY/FASHION:

Michelle Phan: queen of the beauty/fashion gurus. Taught herself how to apply makeup and started making tutorials for fun. Now owns her own makeup line, em cosmetics (available for order on her website and amazon!) with a store in Times Square. Makes videos once a week that are usually too editorial for daily wear but always beautifully filmed.

Jenn Im aka clothesencounters: my fashion idol. Has killer style and a down-to-earth attitude. You will want her to be your best friend. Films once or twice a week and her editing skills are flawless. Graphics are beautiful and the music is unreal. 

Sammi aka beautycrush: curly haired gal from the UK. Very genuine personality and cheerful disposition. Recently lost some weight and looks amaaaazing. Great sense of style that is sophisticated and tastefully promiscuous. Apart from youtube, also runs a blog: beautycrush.co.uk. Owns a Frenchie named Captain Riley and lives with her boyfriend Jason.

EVERYTHING ELSE:

Grace Helbig aka itsGrace (previously known as DailyGrace): makes videos every weekday. Each day is a different category of videos but since launching a new channel (because the company she used to work for apparently owned all the content she ever created and did not tell her clearly in her contract sorry I kind of hate them), they are yet to be 100% determined. Very awkward (on purpose) and sometimes slightly inappropriate, yet extremely smart (although you can't always tell). Definitely an acquired taste but you will grow to love her.

Mamrie Hart aka youdeserveadrink: loves consuming alcohol. Used to work as a bartender and concocts amazing beverages for whomever she believes most deserves a drink that week i.e. George Clooney, Lil Bub etc. Enjoys making puns but they can veer on the side of flippancy. Best friends with Grace Helbig (see above) and Hannah Hart (see below, not related).

Craig Benzine aka wheezywaiter: impossible to describe in a few words. Has many quirks/inside jokes with his viewers, whom he calls beardlovers, that will take some getting used to. The most notable ones are his singing carpet, cloning machine (he has created various clones, including Sexy Clone, Quiet Clone, Corporal Clone) and love for his beard. He is definitely an acquired taste and may not be everyone's cup of tea.

Ryan Higa aka nigahiga: the first youtuber I ever watched. Ever since his "how to be…" series, Ryan's career has catapulted. Once the most subscribed in history (until the title was turned over to Ray William Johnson and then Smosh and now, pewdiepie), he remains an iconic video content maker. I find most of his videos are geared towards a younger audience i.e. middle school, but occasionally, I watch them.

Jenna Mourey aka Jenna Marbles: crazy yet hilarious bombshell. Makes the most random videos that will make you confused and cry with laughter. Loves her two dogs, Marbles and Kermit, very dearly. Used to be an exotic dancer and went viral with her "how to trick people into thinking you're good-looking" video -- it was her getting ready for work. 

Natalie Tran aka communitychannel: underappreciated Aussie. Makes videos once a week usually to rant/explain a phenomenon she experiences. She then proceeds to act it out with herself (via special effects, unlike Craig -- see above) with sometimes ridiculous costumes and accents. Is hilarious and you will not regret watching a video of hers.

John and Hank Green aka vlogbrothers: usually very thoughtful content, sometimes silly and occasionally educational. Uploads twice a week. Started vidcon so they're practically gods. Hank sings professionally, sometimes in a band, and runs the DFTBA (Don't Forget To Be Awesome) record label. John writes novels, most notably The Fault in Our Stars, and along with his brother, produces videos on other youtube channels: mentalfloss, crash course (topic include US history, english, biology, and chemistry), scishow and more. Call their viewers Nerdfighters and their internet niche, Nerdfighteria. Their goal: ridding the planet of WorldSuck.

HONORABLE MENTION:

Karen Yeung aka iamkareno: beauty/fashion youtuber with very similar style to Jenn 

Claire Marshall aka heyclaire: beauty/fashion youtuber with an edgy and casual style, similar to Jenn

Hannah Hart aka harto: friends with Grace and Mamrie, known for her "my drunk kitchen" episodes once a week that were mentioned in a Jenna Marbles video

Collegehumor: a group of creative minds that create a variety of video content. Sometimes inappropriate and even gross but certain segments are quite funny

Net Neutrality

I know I said my next post would be on youtube personalities, but I would like to pause and mention a hot topic today: net neutrality. 

The Federal Communications Commission is hoping to pass a bill that will enable wifi companies -- i.e. Verizon, Comcast, who bundle wifi and cable -- to charge you different prices for different websites. Essentially, the internet will be treated like television. Like cable, which allows you to choose from basic programming (just news channels) up to millions of channels, the proposed bill would allow companies to charge consumers extra for webpages such as google or youtube (my love!). 

Net neutrality is the idea that companies should provide consumer equal access to all websites -- charge one fee for the entire internet. 

The internet is a free place and I should not be charged if I want to use youtube! Many people believe that this is simply a way for companies to make more money, and it sure looks like it. Others argue that the current billing method excludes the 99%. 

Net neutrality promotes information flow and increased innovation. Small starter companies will not be able to compete with the internet powerhouses! The internet is a privilege but it is a right for us to freely explore what we choose. Great, now I'm starting to feel that television channels should all be equally priced...

If you are still confused, check out these two videos. I am giving you the liberty to choose between two very informative videos: collegehumor (sarcastic, sometimes inappropriate -- you have been warned) and vlogbrothers (talks fast, quirky)

There are many petitions out there here is just one you can sign: https://www.change.org/petitions/tom-wheeler-save-net-neutrality

And leave a comment down below -- let's have a debate :)

Youtube

I would like to kick off this blog by discussing my first love of the internet: youtube

I spend some time on Facebook, I no longer use twitter and I never joined tumblr (because honestly, tumblr scares me) but when I say I live on the internet, I mostly mean I live on youtube.

I watch videos when I wake up, when I brush my teeth, when I eat breakfast, before I go to sleep -- constantly. It's probably the reason I can't sleep (that melatonin though) and the reason I don't have time to do anything else.

I've subscribed to so many youtubers that my sub box is almost always active…what a life, I know.

My dream is to attend VidCon. For those of you who don't know, it is THE conference for video content creators and viewers in America. It was launched by the vlogbrothers (John and Hank Green, god bless, although TFIOS was so depressing I can't even look at their posts on Facebook without crying but that's a whole different blog post) and takes place for 4 days every year in Anaheim, California. All the youtube stars convene. I don't know what I would do with myself if I went -- probably die.

If you've been watching youtube for a while, you have probably gone through the "man, I want to make videos" phase as I have been in for the past year or so. I actually adore filming and editing videos. It's the first thing I lean towards for school: physics extra credit music video, wellness movie trailer, junior class president campaign video, senior class vice president music video, biology final project… the list goes on forever. However, there are already videos out there in every category imaginable -- beauty, vlogs, comedy, film, cooking, music… if you can think of it, it's probably already been done. I would just be one of many million and never go viral, because, trust me, youtube is a commitment that only gives back once you start hitting about 100,000 subscribers or so. Which could take years. You'd have to start making content in 2008 to be big now.

Let me know in the comments if any of you are as addicted to youtube as I am. And, if any of you have ever attended VidCon!

I plan to dedicate my next post to describing the personalities of some (and by some, I mean perhaps 20) of my favorite youtubers. I will try to include ones who are not as well known and deserve to receive some attention.