Blog #3: Facebook and The Dead

While reading Facebook of the Dead from What If? by xkcd, I learned that Facebook will have more profiles of dead people than living ones by the year 2060 or the 2130s.  Based on a US age/usage data, by the end of this year, there should be a total of approximately 290,000 Facebook users who will have died.  Although we don't know how long Facebook will last, based on other social websites, we can assume that the popularity will decline, and in that scenario the profiles of dead users will begin to outnumber the profiles of the living users. 

It's creepy to think about such as a scenario, but death is a certainty.  Have you ever wondered what happens to the Facebook account of a person who has died? Facebook of the Dead, answered a lot of the questions I had.  Questions brought up in the blog are: "Should accounts remain accessible? What should be made private? Should next-of-kin have the right to access email? Should memorial pages have comments? How do we handle trolling and vandalism? Should people be allowed to interact with dead user accounts? What lists of friends should they show up on?"

Those are questions I've never really ever thought of, because I have never personally had anyone close to me die, who's had a Facebook.  However, I know many who use Facebook to write on walls of those who have passed.  It's a great way of expressing their emotion to their loved ones and hold on to their existence.  Deleting the deceased person's account entirely may become overwhelming to those trying to mourn, but having everyone constantly remind them that that person is dead could also come to a shock.

I think that families should be able to access their dead loved one's account.  Death is a hard topic to discuss about, because people deal with it in so many different  ways... What do you think?

Blog #2: Gossip Girl: Season Finale

Gossip Girl: Season 6 Finale

Last night I finally finished season 6 of Gossip Girl on Netflix.  I didn't notice that Netflix had put the new season out, so when I found it I was super excited.  Watching it has been my leisure time this whole week, so when I got to the end I was a little sad, but not disappointed.  The season finale was filled with many surprises.  It continued the last episode where Chuck has a feud with his father, Bart, who earlier tried to kill him.  As Bart tries to attack Chuck on the roof, he falls of the edge.  Bart asks Chuck to help him, but in the end Bart falls to his death.

The finale starts off with Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf hiding from the police. Chuck's uncle, Jack, shows up and comes up with a plan where Blair doesn't have to testify against Chuck, if he were to be investigated and trialed for the murder of his father.  A blog from Gossip Girl-Tv by steve@iscribelimited.com explains it well: "With cameos galore, two weddings, a five-year flash forward and the mother of all twists, the Stephanie Savage-penned "New York, I Love You XOXO" sent the show out in style after six seasons." 

As Blair and Chuck get married in Central Park for all of their friends and family to see, police show up and take the two in to custody.  Later on they are released, because the police had no evidence that they were ever involved, and rules Bart Bass' death an accident.  This part seemed a little unrealistic to me, but I can understand how people could be upset with the outcome if it were to be an unhappy ending.

The most exciting thing for me while watching the season finale was finding out who Gossip Girl was.  I definitely had my suspicions, but it was nice to finally know who was behind all of the stories.  In an interview with Stephanie Savage, she said that, "It was unclear if knowing Gossip Girl’s identity was something fans would want. Maybe it was more fun for everyone to not know ... to speculate and come up with your own ideas." I personally liked the fact that they revealed the true Gossip Girl, because there were times where I really thought Dan Humphrey was going to be the loser jerk.  It was nice to see that he never lost his principles.  I liked how he was finally accepted into their world, and how they explained everything that occurred with Gossip Girl.  Not only was he accepted, he marries his dream girl five years later, which was a nice touch to the finish...

I thought the finale was great! I couldn't imagine any other way that they could have ended it. What do you think?

Blog #1: Vine or Instagram?

INSTAGRAM OR VINE??

While I was reading the blog What would you rather use-Instagram OR Vine? from Techacker by Anurag Bansal, my fascination with the two apps made me question which one was the best.  I certainly have spent an incredible amount of time on both apps, and know what both of them offer.  I agree with some stuff Bansal blogged about, however my opinion of the two apps is definitely different.

Instagram, was an app for uploading pictures with the option to edit them and add hashtags, but just this year, Instagram has added a new function where you can post 15 second video clips.  Not long ago even, they've added the function where you can pick any video that's saved on your phone, and upload them after you have trimmed it to 15 seconds or less.  Once you have downloaded the video you can choose from 13 different filters or upload it as normal.

Vine, however, is specially made just for videos.  You can upload 6 second videos, where it will keep playing them over and over again to the viewers.  Just like instagram, you can find different types of vidoes by using hashtags. 

Personally, I use Instagram for posting videos more than I have used Vine, however Vine has definitely filled up my wall on Facebook with funny 6 second videos. I think both of them serve good purposes, but if I had to choose between them I would pick Instagram.Vine is where I go to if I want to find funny videos or I could just log on to Facebook, and go on the Vine page, which doesn't serve the app much of a purpose, in my case.  Instagram, however, is where I can scroll through pictures/video feeds from my friends and family. I think adding the ability to upload videos instead of just pictures on Instagram has improved the app, and the only thing I would change is the short lag to play them.

What are your opinions? Which one do you prefer?