My Social Media Life, A.K.A My Life.

                  

It’s happening. It’s a new world out there. Have you seen it? Have you engaged in it? It’s a new era of

gadgets and gizmos a plenty. From Facebook, to Twitter, to Second Life, the age of Social Media is vast

upon us. I will tell you the story of my life in the social media world, plain and simple. I’ve got nothing to

hide and would love to share my journey along this path of the digital world because I am a digital

being. I live my life one refresh screen at a time. Some of it is going to be ugly, but most is quite

beautiful. I am a full- blown believer in the positive effects of social media and highly recommend that

maybe you should  be too. Through networking, learning new and amazing things and relationships

made, the digital world is astonishingly powerful and let me tell you why.

Let’s begin with why I network: my Bio. No, I’m not talking about my a/s/l, that’s internet speak for

“age, sex, location”, I’m talking about my biography in the world of possibilities; my social media bio. My

name is Rebecca. My name is also Iva2Die4 from the Ladies2Die4 Gaming community. You can find me

under Rebecca Winters, Plus Size Model as well. I am a gamer enthusiast, a part-time plus- size model

and also a Licensed Massage Therapist. I live a very busy life and my life is generously affected by social

media tools. I have two twitter accounts, two facebook accounts and one facebook fan page, an

Instagram account and an XboxLive profile. Those are my main accounts but I also have Google+, Model

Mayhem, Fitness Pal, and You Tube that I use periodically. I’m constantly networking and it works.

Many of the successes in my life have been obtained because of pure networking alone. For example,

my re-introduction into modeling was caused by a photographer noticing my comment on a famous

author’s facebook status. She liked my profile picture and noticed I lived near her. She sent me a

message and boom, my first photo shoot was scheduled. If it wasn’t for her, I would have never noticed

my courage, excitement and passion I have for modeling. “Social networking sites facilitate face-to-face

interaction. People use social media to network at in-person events and get to know people before

personal, business, and other meetings.” (Morgan, "5 Ways Social Media Can Facilitate Offline

Networking," www.sociableboost.com, May 8, 2012; web)₁. I do this on a daily basis and it is highly

effective. I meet new photographers/agents/key industry people, keep in contact with massage clients,

and become friends with gaming sponsors.  If it wasn’t for social networking, I’d be lost.  Naysayers

would say I could spend my time doing other things,“36% of people surveyed listed social networking

as the "biggest waste of time," above fantasy sports (25%), watching TV (23%), and shopping (9%)” (Mark

Dolliver, "Social Networking: A Waste of Time?," www.adweek.com, Oct. 7, 2010;web)₂ but I whole-heartedly disagree. I

enjoy the time I spend on social media sites but I do not ignore my other responsibilities in life either.

Moving on,I’ve leaned a lot from the digital media world. I use it in my everyday life. Most of my college

career is now online which is so relieving for someone like me who has a busy schedule. Most

of my classes are hybrid courses which enables me to learn from a classroom discussion while

doing most of the busy work at home. Also, I can learn so many tasks that would take forever if I didn’t

have access to the digital world. I could learn to plant a rose garden, find out how to do my Halloween

makeup as a zombie  or even educate myself on proper driving techniques in the snow. It’s just a click 

away and so easy to use.

One of the best situations ever to come from the digital world for me is the ability to build happy,

 successful relationships. I’ve met an abundant amount of people from all around the world. It’s

funny, because we as humans, do have the urge to connect with other people. Some of my nearest and

dearest friends I have met on the Xbox or from facebook. This includes my husband of whom I

met back in 2006 playing the first-person-shooter game Call of Duty 3.  We were gamers who became

friends and built a communicative, trusting relationship while using the social media tools of today. I

was kind of shocked but totally understood why “1/3 of female gamers met their partners online”

(“Digital Nation”http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/view/;web)₃. They say, “A

couple who games together, stays together “ and I agree 100%.  Some people would argue about the

dangers of meeting people online. For instance, you never can truly know who is on the other side of the

screen, whatever media outlet you choose. Shows like MTV’s Catfish seize the opportunity to capitalize

on this very thing. There are many individuals that have made up fake identities over social media for

 various and multiple reasons. Catfish is a show filming the story and meeting of these individuals of

which, most of the time, someone is horribly surprised. It’s scary to even think about really.                                

People are always telling me how lucky I am to have such a wonderful, loving husband and I couldn’t

agree more. I love that British boy of mine and am so thankful of all the social media outlets we used for

giving me the opportunity of meeting him; despite all the dangers. Needless to say, there was no

“catfish” scenario with us.

So as you can see, I am a huge fan of the social media age. I take advantage of what this digital era has

to offer. I believe it has helped me grow as an individual and is also a wonderful tool to use for school. I

have built successful relationships and friendships and learned so much about the world and different

cultures just by being online. It’s a new age out there indeed and it’s a beauty. You can study me, learn

from me, but try not to judge me; this world IS happening, whether you like it or not.