In the beginning of the eighth grade, I desperately wanted a Facebook account. Every one of my friends had one and were always discussing the latest gossip  appearing on their “news feed.” But my parents thought, as parents of many middle schoolers did, that if their child made a Facebook account it would open them up to online predators. After about a month of hassling, I gave up on the Facebook profile, despite my friends’ insistence it was essential I had one. By the spring, I really didn’t care anymore.

Once I stopped wanting a Facebook profile, of course, my mom decided I could make one. You see, my mom had made her own Facebook profile. She wanted me to make one so we could be Facebook “friends.” Eventually, she recruited my cousin Brooke who forced me in front of her computer and made my profile for me.

After about a year of initial excitement on Facebook, I was once again indifferent to it. To this day, I rarely post anything myself and only respond to posts that I am directly tagged in. I do use Facebook to keep in touch with friends that have begun to spread throughout the country. While this is a convenient way to stay in contact, I find a relationship that I maintain through the public forum of Facebook is much more superficial unless we also regularly communicate directly . If I see a picture or status update posted by a “friend” on Facebook, I feel the satisfaction of knowing what is going on in their life and may not feel the need to contact them personally. But “liking” a status on Facebook is much different than holding a private conversation. Paul Levinson says in New New Media that relationships between friends and family have begun to “migrate” to the digital world. While I do think that social media sites like Facebook are a useful tool in maintaining relationships, I think more effort is needed to build one, going beyond the basic acknowledgement of “liking” and occasionally commenting on someone’s posts. Interaction through Facebook can enhance a relationship, but I don’t think it can be used exclusively to maintain one.

While Levinson discusses how Facebook can be source of news and knowledge for people, I find that  Twitter serves me better in this capacity. Like Facebook, I rarely post anything myself on my Twitter account. I use it mostly to follow what is going on in the news and what a few of my favorite celebrities are up to.  A quick glance at my Twitter feed in morning lets me know what the major headlines for the day are. As Levinson discusses, links are almost always sent to Twitter when someone publishes an article or blog post. As I read through each tweet I can see what catches my interest and follow the link back to the original article. This allows me to keep track of everything published on the web by my favorite writers, bloggers and publications.

In one of the journalism classes I took in in the Fall 2013 semester we maintained a blog focused on news happening in the journalism industry. I was what Levinson calls a “citizen journalist,” able to publish my own thoughts and analyze the changes happening in an industry where I hope to build my future career. I found that blogging about important events in the journalism industry forced me to think critically about what I was reading and draw my own conclusions, rather than passively reading an article and never thinking about it again. As Levinson discusses, we tweeted a link to our blog posts as we published them.

This blog and Twitter account were the beginnings of my “professional” web presence. I haven’t done much to build it up since then, but a professional web presence as a student will be essential for me in building a career after school, whether in journalism or otherwise. Maintaining a blog allows me to publish my own writing and with Twitter, I can promote my own work and network with others in the business. Before this blog, I didn’t understand the importance of maintaining a professional online presence, or how social media could help me do so.

Levinson discusses how Twitter embodies the new media world. Using social media sites, people can build and maintain both friendships and networking contacts, promote their own  work and share their day-to-day lives with the world. Integrating their own Facebook profile, Twitter account and blog allows people to build an online persona which can enhance their lives both personally and professionally. After my own experience blogging about journalism and reading New New Media I appreciate how important this persona in the digital world of new media is in building my life in the real world.