1. INTERVIEW WITH SEWON PARK
My first interview was conducted with a girl named Sewon Park, a good friend of mine who is studying journalism at New York University. Before coming to New York City, Sewon has lived in Seoul, Saudi Arabia, and London; she says Facebook is an effective way to keep in touch with her friends. Furthermore, she is a writer at a fashion magazine and publishes articles online. Facebook and Twitter come in handy whenever promoting her articles. Overall, Sewon is a very active user of Facebook and Instagram, so my interview with her was mainly focused on the pros of using the social media.
I chatted Sewon on Skype if she is available for an interview for my English project. "Sewon, you are quite big on Facebook. What is your take on the social media nowadays?" I asked.
"Umm," Sewon hesitated. "I personally think that Facebook is beneficial to our lives. Facebook helps us stay connected with friends who are close and who may live across the world."
"I agree. Especially because you've lived in more than three countries right? I am sure Facebook is effective at keeping you in contact with friends from all over the world."
"Yeah, exactly!" Sewon agreed. "Another reason why I think Facebook is efficient is that it acts like an online scrapbook without the effort. You can easily upload photos from your smartphone devices in a matter of seconds and have a collection of them on your profile."
Her comment on Facebook actually made me think of Facebook in a positive way. "I never thought about social media in that way. I guess since we use them everyday, it actually becomes a scrapbook without us realising. But don't you think Facebook is bad for academics? I get distracted by social media websites a lot."
"Even though some may believe that Facebook hinders our ability to focus, to focus on academics because of social media programs is a personal issue." Sewon attributed distraction as a personal issue, rather than the social media's problem.
"To further elaborate, the reason why someone may not perform as well academically is not because of the presence of social media apps but the person's inability to multi-task and manage his/her time wisely."
"I have a few friends who posted photos on Facebook on accident and were negatively influenced by it. Have you ever been in incidents like that?" I asked Sewon.
"I've personally never posted something on social media that I regretted afterwards but I think it is wrong for people to blame their mistakes on social media." "So, what I am trying to say is that people should think twice about posting something on social media websites, rather than using social media as a gateway to express their problems and regretting it afterwards."
"Thanks for the interview, Sewon. This has been really helpful." I thanked Sewon for her time and insight during the interview.
I chatted Sewon on Skype if she is available for an interview for my English project. "Sewon, you are quite big on Facebook. What is your take on the social media nowadays?" I asked.
"Umm," Sewon hesitated. "I personally think that Facebook is beneficial to our lives. Facebook helps us stay connected with friends who are close and who may live across the world."
"I agree. Especially because you've lived in more than three countries right? I am sure Facebook is effective at keeping you in contact with friends from all over the world."
"Yeah, exactly!" Sewon agreed. "Another reason why I think Facebook is efficient is that it acts like an online scrapbook without the effort. You can easily upload photos from your smartphone devices in a matter of seconds and have a collection of them on your profile."
Her comment on Facebook actually made me think of Facebook in a positive way. "I never thought about social media in that way. I guess since we use them everyday, it actually becomes a scrapbook without us realising. But don't you think Facebook is bad for academics? I get distracted by social media websites a lot."
"Even though some may believe that Facebook hinders our ability to focus, to focus on academics because of social media programs is a personal issue." Sewon attributed distraction as a personal issue, rather than the social media's problem.
"To further elaborate, the reason why someone may not perform as well academically is not because of the presence of social media apps but the person's inability to multi-task and manage his/her time wisely."
"I have a few friends who posted photos on Facebook on accident and were negatively influenced by it. Have you ever been in incidents like that?" I asked Sewon.
"I've personally never posted something on social media that I regretted afterwards but I think it is wrong for people to blame their mistakes on social media." "So, what I am trying to say is that people should think twice about posting something on social media websites, rather than using social media as a gateway to express their problems and regretting it afterwards."
"Thanks for the interview, Sewon. This has been really helpful." I thanked Sewon for her time and insight during the interview.
2. INTERVIEW WITH EUNMIN PARK
My second interview was conducted with a girl named Eunmin Park, a good friend of mine who is pursuing pre-medicine at Emory University. She is not as active on Facebook or Twitter as Sewon, although she does use social media sites frequently. My interview with her involved a discussion on pros and cons of the social media, and how progressively invasive they are in our lives. Overall, Eunmin thinks the pros and cons are almost equal, and it is one's responsibility to use the social media wisely and let it not affect your relationships negatively.
Since Eunmin lives on the same floor as I do, it was fairly easy finding her for the interview. We both sat down at the Harris Hall lounge.
"Eunmin, you use social media websites quite frequently. How often do you use them?" I asked.
"Almost everyday. I am not a huge fan but I think it's hard to avoid social media these days. Social media has really exploded these past few years, and there are definitely a lot of pros and cons." Eunmin responded.
I wondered whether she thought the social media websites were bad overall. "Do you think the pros of the social media websites overweight the cons?"
"I think they are almost equal. It really depends on whether you are able to use them wisely or not. But I do think it takes very strong self-control to avoid the cons of social media."
I couldn't agree more. I spend a lot of time on Facebook, scrolling through my friends' stories, even when I have other things to do. "What do you think are the pros and cons of Facebook, or social media services in general?"
"Pros: I can really keep in contact with a lot of people, even people who I may not have kept in contact with if it weren't for Facebook." "Cons: VERY distracting. Also, sometimes social media lack of privacy."
Eunmin added on to her comment about privacy. "You know how Facebook collects our personal data, such as music preferences, check-in places, and even our facial data on photos? I think it's just too much sometimes. I don't like being exposed on internet too much. It's a very scary thing."
"I agree. That's why I am not too fond of revealing myself on Facebook. I try not to post too many photos or personal data, nor do I spend too much time on it."
We both agreed that if one balances the pros and cons of the social media websites well, it will be helpful to enhancing relationships. I thanked her for her time and input during the interview.
Since Eunmin lives on the same floor as I do, it was fairly easy finding her for the interview. We both sat down at the Harris Hall lounge.
"Eunmin, you use social media websites quite frequently. How often do you use them?" I asked.
"Almost everyday. I am not a huge fan but I think it's hard to avoid social media these days. Social media has really exploded these past few years, and there are definitely a lot of pros and cons." Eunmin responded.
I wondered whether she thought the social media websites were bad overall. "Do you think the pros of the social media websites overweight the cons?"
"I think they are almost equal. It really depends on whether you are able to use them wisely or not. But I do think it takes very strong self-control to avoid the cons of social media."
I couldn't agree more. I spend a lot of time on Facebook, scrolling through my friends' stories, even when I have other things to do. "What do you think are the pros and cons of Facebook, or social media services in general?"
"Pros: I can really keep in contact with a lot of people, even people who I may not have kept in contact with if it weren't for Facebook." "Cons: VERY distracting. Also, sometimes social media lack of privacy."
Eunmin added on to her comment about privacy. "You know how Facebook collects our personal data, such as music preferences, check-in places, and even our facial data on photos? I think it's just too much sometimes. I don't like being exposed on internet too much. It's a very scary thing."
"I agree. That's why I am not too fond of revealing myself on Facebook. I try not to post too many photos or personal data, nor do I spend too much time on it."
We both agreed that if one balances the pros and cons of the social media websites well, it will be helpful to enhancing relationships. I thanked her for her time and input during the interview.
3. INTERVIEW WITH Becca chang
My third interview was conducted with Amy. Amy is a good friend of mine from high school and now studies biomedical engineering at UC Berkeley. Over the summer, she did an internship at a company where she had to utilise social media heavily, but she isn't a big fan of Facebook otherwise. My interview with her focused on how the social media may actually hinder personal relationships.
I went on Skype and asked Amy if she's available for an interview.
"Yeah sure! What's up?" Amy responded with excitement.
"I am doing a project on social media, or social networking services."
"Woah, interesting. What about them?"
I told her about my English project. "I am writing about how social networking services can actually harm your relationships."
"I like using Facebook," she said. "Social networking has many cons, but they come from how people adapt to them. I mean, of course, social media has become a force of habit in the digital age integrating our personal lives with the public. As such it has diminished personal contact and isolated individuals even while they are together in person. But that's still not inherent."
Her comment on social media made me think. She was right, all of the cons come from how people adapt to them.
She continued. "I hate it when people are like "Oh my god, privacy. But you sacrifice privacy and familiarity for convenience. I think people are finally understanding that it is not acceptable to use your phone at the table nonstop, but I think there are definitely more pros. And problems come for those who are too obsessed and insecure with self-image."
"Could you elaborate more on that?" I asked her.
"For me, Facebook is just for close friends to stay in touch. I don't even write wall posts that much anymore. I mainly use it for chat or just to keep my contacts in order because I can import contact photos from Facebook. But it's not just Facebook. It's technology. We're too busy trying to take the perfect photo. We forget to take a look at our surroundings or we only look through the screen."
"Wow, that is very accurate. Maybe I should reconsider my position on this topic." Yes, her comments on Facebook made me think that maybe social media is not inherently bad. It is how people adapt to them.
I went on Skype and asked Amy if she's available for an interview.
"Yeah sure! What's up?" Amy responded with excitement.
"I am doing a project on social media, or social networking services."
"Woah, interesting. What about them?"
I told her about my English project. "I am writing about how social networking services can actually harm your relationships."
"I like using Facebook," she said. "Social networking has many cons, but they come from how people adapt to them. I mean, of course, social media has become a force of habit in the digital age integrating our personal lives with the public. As such it has diminished personal contact and isolated individuals even while they are together in person. But that's still not inherent."
Her comment on social media made me think. She was right, all of the cons come from how people adapt to them.
She continued. "I hate it when people are like "Oh my god, privacy. But you sacrifice privacy and familiarity for convenience. I think people are finally understanding that it is not acceptable to use your phone at the table nonstop, but I think there are definitely more pros. And problems come for those who are too obsessed and insecure with self-image."
"Could you elaborate more on that?" I asked her.
"For me, Facebook is just for close friends to stay in touch. I don't even write wall posts that much anymore. I mainly use it for chat or just to keep my contacts in order because I can import contact photos from Facebook. But it's not just Facebook. It's technology. We're too busy trying to take the perfect photo. We forget to take a look at our surroundings or we only look through the screen."
"Wow, that is very accurate. Maybe I should reconsider my position on this topic." Yes, her comments on Facebook made me think that maybe social media is not inherently bad. It is how people adapt to them.