Supermoon Goes Super Social

Sunday nights supermoon and combined eclipse occurred only five times in the 20th century. This created quite a stir on social media. Every major social media platform had coverage of the rare sighting. Snapchat featured a story for the event, Instagram had a sponsored post for the event, and Facebook and Twitter’s top trending topic was the supermoon. I thought it was very interesting to see an event like this go so viral. We have rare occurrences happen in the sky all the time but many people don’t bat an eye. I believe this comes as a direct result of where we are on social media as a whole. If we did not have friends on social media would we still use it? Absolutely not, and there would be no social element.

I believe in a thing called fear of missing out. I think the supermoon was built up by news channels that wanted an interesting story, which then generated conversations about the event on social media sites. I believe people are so interconnected with their followers that they do not want to miss out on something everyone seems to care about. With that a picture or some sort of documentation becomes a necessary part of the equation. We feel if we don’t document the event in some way, that we missed out on something. Simply watching the eclipse is not enough.

Everyone wants to have a say on exciting topics. Simply posting a picture about the eclipse and making a comment are all of the satisfaction people need. As long as they feel the security that they didn’t miss out on something their community found important. This will fuel the conversation for my next social media blog about the nature of posting. As for the media coverage I am all for it. I am happy to see people appreciating our amazing world we live in even if it is only because they didn’t want to miss out.

Homecoming Weekend

Homecoming weekend is not taken lightly on any college campus. I don’t care if you are at the smallest private liberal arts school in the middle of nowhere, or with the top Ivy Leaguers. Homecoming weekend is the weekend where colleges across the nation have the chance to celebrate their schools success of all forms with alumni and future attendees.  There is nothing better than cheering on your schools team with your friends and alumni.

Homecoming may also serve as a great networking opportunity. With LinkedIn we can find our schools alumni and what they do, but that doesn’t mean we will ever talk with them. Homecoming on any part of campus gives students the opportunity to be extraverted and go meet alumni. I have never met alumni in my fields of study that I felt did not enjoy talking with me as much as I enjoyed talking with them.

Then there is the nightlife. After your football team gets a big win everyone goes and rejuvenates by taking naps, getting a slice down at the local pizzeria, or taking a walk through campus to reminisce on their time spent there. Once night comes around people find their second wind. The streets are filled with students and alumni walking around heading to the local hot spots while conversing with one another.

Homecoming is one of, if not the best weekend on a college campus. I look forward to several years down the road when I too have the chance to revisit my Alma Madder. I look forward to hearing what myths or legends are still talked about, what has changed in the town, what my favorite bar is like, and how my profession is being taught now that I am a few years out. Homecoming is a special weekend, to all college campuses out there if you have not had your homecoming yet; enjoy it and make it a memorable one. You will always appreciate your days on your college campus well spent with your closest friends. And you never know, that one night out might even land you a job with alumni.