2013 was a year filled to the brim with Youtube smash-hits, TV show drama, and lots of media posts about everything from frogs in a backyard to the biggest celebrity scandal of leaked pictures. Here were the top five ways all this media input influenced me!

 1. Real-life communication abilities.

First and foremost, I saw TONS of useful posts and witty sayings to use next time you’re in an awkward situation. Because of this, I’d say that media changed my real-life communication abilities. Whereas I might have been quiet or not contributing to a conversation with friends purely because I thought I had no comedic skills or words up to scratch, now I can easily get the grasp of a conversation and throw a few jokes in to boot. So, I would say that media has definitely raised my ability to communicate more effectively in the real-world.

 2. Awareness of what I’m viewing on the Internet.

Media posts made me extremely angry and disappointed sometimes, and I have only one word to explain why; spoilers. I learned and have changed my ways because of the amount of spoilers and other giveaways I see on a regular basis on social media sites. Because of this, I have become more cautious and aware of content I’m viewing on the internet, which I believe is a very important thing. If you’re not aware of what you’re doing and seeing online, you’re basically a tiny little clownfish in the midst of a large swarm of sharks. I’m not saying you should be a shark, and be inappropriate or rude on the internet to fit in, but seriously, stay with the social media you know and are used to.

 3. Knowledge of world-wide issues, topics, or important events.

Awareness of world events. Social media is often bursting with posts of pictures and video clips after a large world event has occurred. This raised my knowledge of people over in those places, and how they are struggling just to live every day. Some live in fear of a tyrannical ruler, while others are starving and impoverished. And I’m just sitting on my comfy bed in California, playing around on my iPod. In this way social media really motivated me to start making a difference in my community, and to do my fair share of helping others around me.

 4. Joy and lots of laughs.

In 2013, I have to say, social media brought more than just a few smiles, laughs, and even guffaws to me. From a funny picture of a famous political figure dancing, or even just an ironic post about someone getting their fair share of karma, clever images brought me much happiness and laughter, which I was then able to share with others.

5. More conscious about the amounts of time I spend on social media.

Finally, I have to say that social media made me more time-conscious. I say this because, lets be honest with ourselves, social media and technology in our modern day and age eat up hours upon hours of our precious time we have every day. This amount of time spent on social media sites and apps made me personally a lot more conscious about the amount of time I’ve spent on technology each day, and that maybe I need to take a little more time to simply get outside and take a breath of fresh air. I mean, who wouldn’t feel a little guilty if they saw pictures of a clock or person lying in bed with their face all aglow from a tiny little screen at 1:00 in the morning?

by JOEL TIMMS