Crystal Amberlyn

Along with school shootings, social media threats are starting to become a common occurrence this year. As shown in this article , threats towards schools on social media are even occurring close to my hometown. Threats like these have been causing schools across the country to panic. It is hard to be sure if these threats are truly dangerous or if they are only a prank. Either way, schools do not wish to take the risk. School shootings are tragic, and it is sad how there has been so many within two months of the new year. Social media threats have always existed, but what caused their sudden rise? I begin to wonder if the rise in school shootings is the cause for this. I personally think it is odd how after the rise in school shootings came the rise of social media threats. Therefore, I come to believe these threats arose because of the attention of school shootings. I do not believe most of these social media threats are real. In my opinion, students post these threats to s...

It all started with my desire for a puppy. Did I get a puppy?   Sadly, I did not, but I got a pretty good substitute! On Feb. 22, 2018, I brought home two adorable baby mice. Yes, I said mice! When most people think of a mouse, they think of the nasty mice that find their way into your home, eat your food and poop in your cabinets. Obviously, these are not the kind of mice I am referring to. Believe it or not, pet mice do exist and from what I have learned so far, they are rather sweet and adorable! Let me explain the series of events leading to this decision. As I mentioned before, I really wanted a puppy. I wanted to have the connection with a dog I have seen with so many dog owners. I wanted to raise it to know and love me as its best friend. Sadly, no matter how bad I wanted a puppy, I knew I could not get one. Since I live with my mom, it is her house and her rules. Trust me, I have brought up the idea to her. I explained I would pay for everything, but she still denie...

In Jason McDonald’s “Social Media Marketing Workbook,” he brings up an interesting point about Facebook and “fake.” No, he is not referring to fake news, he is referring to fake people. He is not referring to the kind of fake people who have fake profiles either. He refers to fake as people who only share the positive information about their lives. He says, “in general, people put their best foot forward on Facebook: it’s a social scrapbook in many ways about how life ‘should’ be, rather than how life ‘is.’” I find this quote very interesting but through my experience, I would have to disagree. McDonald explains people are not likely to share information about their life struggles or any other negative events.   I do agree most Facebook users post positive information but from time to time, people feel the need to share their struggles. I personally see this quite often on my Facebook news feed. Here are some recent examples: ·        A...

Pretend you got a new phone and you are looking online for a new phone case. You browse on Amazon and find two similar cases. They are around the same price, but they are made by two different brands. Which one will you buy?   Will you close your eyes and blindly pick one, or will you look at the reviews? In Jason McDonald’s “Social Media Marketing Workbook,” McDonald discusses the importance of “trust indicators” such as reviews. In my personal experience, I highly rely on reviews when it comes to products or brands I am unfamiliar with. In the earlier situation, I would first see which case has the most reviews and then, read that case’s reviews to see if I can trust the product, brand and/or seller. I first check to see which product has the most reviews because it can be as important, if not more important, as the product’s actual review. In his workbook, McDonald provides an example of this. There are two different sushi restaurants with reviews on Yelp. The first ha...

When I tell my brother and sister I can vividly remember living with my dad as a child, they never believe me. They tell me it is not possible for someone to have memories from such a young age. I must admit I think it is odd I am able to remember so far back, but I also find it interesting. Before you read further, I must warn you. Some of these memories may be emotional or uncomfortable. I am not sure why I wish to share these memories. I guess they are a part of me, and I only wish for others to know they exist.  Our home: I can still remember the layout of our trailer in Kentucky. It was on a country road surrounded by a forest. It had a stone driveway and a shabby wooden porch. When you walked in the front door, you entered the main section of the trailer with the kitchen on the left and the living room on the right. Past the living room was the master bedroom in the back right-hand corner. Past the kitchen was my room in the back left-hand corner. In my room, I h...

On Feb. 8, 2018, Cheyenne Eldridge and I attempted to live tweet. Neither of us are comfortable with Twitter, so it was a unique experience. We attended the Student Planning Committee Trivia at Ohio Northern University. The Student Planning Committee (SPC) is a student organization who plans multiple events for students throughout the school year. Some of these events include painting, bingo and of course, trivia. I have previously attended a few of these events but as well as live tweeting, this was my first trivia experience. As soon as Cheyenne and I decided we were going to live tweet trivia, we had to get busy. First, we had to prepare our audience by letting them know we were going to live tweet. I invited my followers to join us by letting them know when and where the event started. The intensity built as people gathered into the event. We got our phones and prepared ourselves for two hours of trivia and tweeting. Immediately, we found it uncomfortable constantly ha...

When you think of social media, how would you describe it?   I assume you would list Facebook, Snapchat, Pinterest and Twitter. Yes, these are social media platforms, but how would you describe the experience of social media? Would you say it is like a party? Yes, I said party! Personally, I would have never thought of social media to be like a party, but Jason McDonald explains in his “Social Media Marketing Workbook” how the two are a lot alike. When I saw how the first chapter of the workbook talks about parties, my initial thought was a literal party on social media. I thought, cool, I can see a group of people gathering to hang out on social media together. They could use their phones as strobe lights and dance. No, McDonald says social media is like a party, not a literal party, although I am sure it could be. Think about it, you are invited to a party, you go, you usually but not always have a good time and you leave. Now, think of this idea in relation to soci...

If you have read my previous blogs, you might have noticed I mention only my mother, not my dad. Well, I intend to explain this and more. This information about my mother and I is quite personal, but I feel it is important information to help understand me and my stories to come. There have been numerous times I have said my mother has been through a lot. This is because my mom has had two husbands, and both were abusive alcoholics. She did not know her husbands would treat her they did. In fact, I recently learned she did not wish to marry either of them. She was never properly proposed to by these men. They both expected her to take their hands in marriage, and my mother did not have the courage to say deny them. My mother met her first husband in high school. He was the football star, and she was the beautiful cheerleader. She told me one day he said, “I think it is about time we got married.” There was no ring or getting down on one knee. She did not wish to marry ...

Would you ever think social media could benefit children? I certainly did not, but a study discussed in this article explains it can. Although I still believe social media can be ultimately negative for children, the article brings up some interesting points about how it can be positive in certain situations. The study focused on how social media can be beneficial to children who live in residential care homes. It found social media can help them make relationships and reduce the feeling of isolation. I can see how these benefits can be true, but I am still skeptical. I think it is a great idea for children in residential care homes to use social media to connect with their birth families. This relationship is an important one. Knowing you can connect with your family and they can connect to you can mean a lot to a child. I have experience with this because my main form of contact with my father is through social media. Although these relationships are healthy, I feel ther...

As a college student, I have heard a lot of awful roommate stories. Fortunately, I have never had to room with a stranger because I live at home with my mom. I must admit living at home has a lot of benefits.   My bank account surely appreciates it. Now, it may sound as if I am living the dream, but you have not met my mother. I do understand my mom has been through a lot so she has a couple loose screws. I know I should not get angry at her, but I still get irritated by the things she does. I might not have an awful college roommate, but I think my mom can be just as bad. You would assume most mothers are quite clean, but my mom breaks the stereotype. It surprises me how sloppy she can be. If my mom cooks, which is rare, she will either leave out the leftovers on the stove or she will shove the entire pot into the fridge. I guess she does not like to use Tupperware. That is probably because she can never keep the lids and bowls together after she washed them!  This ...

On Feb. 1, 2018, Cheyenne Eldridge and I made and published our first podcast! You can click here to listen to it. This was a completely new experience for us, but we had a lot of fun in the process. Cheyenne and I have a lot in common. We are both sophomore graphic design students at Ohio Northern University, but we live in two completely different situations: Cheyenne lives on campus, and I live off campus. Therefore, we thought it would be interesting to explore the pros and cons of these two options. The process of planning out our podcast turned out to be quite simple. We referenced an article from MyCollegeOptions.org and added some of our personal experiences. The article made a lot of great points we were able to understand and relate to, so it was very easy for us to talk about them. In my opinion, the process of recording the podcast was the trickiest part. It took multiple attempts for us to get our final audio. It took us awhile to get down the intr...