Happy Birthday, Twitter!

Twitter is turning 8! We were given 140 characters in a small white box 8 years ago! NOOO. I'm getting old...

I cannot believe that it has been that long since we lived life before Twitter. The years when we were going through life without giving everyone a play-by-play of our activities were so long ago. I do not remember hearing about its popularity until about 2008, but I know that it started before that.

I remember my first tweet! It was absolutely nothing special, but I wrote it 5 years ago when I was ready to graduate from high school. It was a very emotional tweet, and I hope to never have it brought up again...

So moving on to this week's article... I found The Top Ten Most-Followed Twitter Accounts on Mashable, and it shocked me!

(Check out these tweeple. I bet that you can't guess who they are...)

The article lists the most-followed Twitter accounts- 5 are women, 3 are men, and 2 are brands! Can you guess who they are? Once you read the list, you will understand how they all made the list.

Most-Followed
1. Katy Perry
2. Justin Bieber
3. Barack Obama
4. Lady Gaga
5. YouTube
6. Taylor Swift
7. Britney Spears
8. Rihanna
9. Instagram
10. Justin Timberlake

Out of these ten tweeple, Barack Obama is following the most accounts, and Instagram is following the fewest. This is a no brainer since it does not make sense for Instagram to follow anyone, but Justin Timberlake comes in second on this list for following the fewest accounts at only 69! Crazy! He has 31.2M followers but is only following 69 accounts.

The article also shows the above tweeple's first tweets. They are pretty funny so take a minute and go read the article. It's not very long!

I can't wait to see where Twitter is in 8 more years.

There's an App for That...

JOB HUNTING! 


Yes, there is actually a way to find a job on social media! While looking for an article on Mashable to write about tonight, I came across this one. The list is short, but it is interesting how the author of the article thought about using the social media platforms. It's pretty cool!

It really hit me and made me have to think...

What would I be trying to do at this point if I didn't have a job lined up for after graduation? (For those who don't know, I'm going to work for an insurance company in Arizona) 
Would I be using social media at this time? 

The author observes 5 popular platforms and how to use them to land a job:

1. Twitter- You can follow lots of different companies and people, and you can search specific hashtags such as #jobs or #hiring. You can then keep on tweeting. The more the merrier for some professions!
2. Facebook- Well, first get rid of those spring break pictures... Employers (and your friends) do not need an entire album with you on the beach with a margarita in every picture. Change your privacy settings and figure out also what those viewing your profile can see. Can only friends view your profile? Next, like the pages that you're interested in and edit your "professional skills" section on your profile. This is a lot like LinkedIn, so it's a cool idea.
3. LinkedIn- This can be your longer résumé. Résumés have to be less than a page, so increase your profile on LinkedIn to say what your résumé is missing. Review LinkedIn's jobs board and continue to connect with as many people that you know as possible. They may help you reach someone else. 
4. Tumblr- An account with lots of content can show what you are interested in. Employers might find you and determine that your interests are right for a job. You can also use Tumblr to search in the search bar for terms such as "hiring" and "jobs." 
5. Pinterest- I never thought to use Pinterest for anything but ideas for crafts and recipes that I will never actually complete, but the article actually tells you to "pin your résumé." There are some other helpful tips and links about using Pinterest to your advantage in the article.

Using social media to help you find a job is a great idea. Many companies are interested in employees with a large social footprint and proving yourself by finding the company on social media is a great way to show your worth and expertise.  

Running and Fitness Blogs

I don't know if you all are anything like me, but I LOVE to read fitness blogs. Being a fitness instructor myself, I like to see what other instructors and runners are talking about. There are so many products and so many new trends in the fitness industry that I never hear about until I read their blogs. Here are three blogs that I have been loving:

     Peanut Butter Fingers
     Carrots 'N' Cake
     Run Eat Repeat

All three of these blogs post reviews of equipment, clothing, websites, recipes, and food! They are an amazing resource for me, and I continue to tell others about all of the information that I read on these blogs.

Even better, these blogs are a great resource for companies to tap into! I've seen some of these blogs with links to products, and I've gone and made a purchase because of what I have read. I use these blogs to understand more about a product and to become more comfortable before I make a big purchase.

Yes, some of these bloggers are given a lot of merchandise to post about a product, but it still works and draws me in. I like how all three of these women will state exactly what they received from the company at the end of the post about a product. I love it.

Oh, and here is a link to something that I learned about on Carrots 'N' Cake. It's called Stitch Fix, and I am in love with it! Lucky for them, I read about their service online, signed up, and made a BIG purchase. Suhweet!! I love learning about new things because of blogs :)