Read it and weep.

Times have changed, and there are loads of new ways to earn easy (and honest) money. Thanks to the internet, we are able make some extra cash, usually from the comfort of our own home. I found a website that lists a wide variety of ways to make some moolah on the web: http://www.dumblittleman.com/2006/10/40-ways-to-make-money-on-internet.html. It’s short and sweet, but it gives the basic idea. I’m a big fan on Stumbleupon and Pinterest, and I always come across some great blogs, so I decided that I would focus on making money from blogging. I have always wanted to create a serious blog of my own, so this research is not only an assignment, but some new knowledge for me as well.

I browsed articles from my Google search results, and I thought this was the best one: http://christianpf.com/how-to-make-money-with-a-blog/#started. It was the top search result, and it was also my favorite. The author is very precise and helpful while giving tips about how to make money by blogging. Out of all the ways to make money on the net, I definitely think blogging could be the most fun, although it would be a lot of work.  

I think blogging is a fantastic way to earn money on the internet for so many reasons. First of all, you can make money by doing something you enjoy. Yes, it’s essential to be good at it, but it makes the whole process easier when you have passion for what you are writing about. I, for one, wouldn’t mind making a few extra bucks a week for writing about something I was highly interested in. Also, blogging is extremely limitless. There are endless topics to write about. When I’m on Stumbleupon, I find that some of the most popular topics nowadays are DIY crafts, fitness and health, and cooking. But in reality, your topic could be essentially ANYTHING. Lastly, I find that blogging isn’t very risky. It’s honest and ethical, and you’re not putting much at stake. If one wants to be extremely conscientious at first, he or she can just create a free Tumblr account. Also important: users can decide whether or not they want to read someone’s blog or not. No harm done.

Among the large list of ways to make money on the web, I think blogging seems the most fun/easy/simple/ethical/understandable. Who knows, maybe one day I will actually create one!

I also have to add a bit about making money from eBay. I think it’s as simple as blogging, but in different ways. My aunt is an eBay pro. She goes to places like The Goodwill and Salvation Army and buys clothes for a lot less than she can sell them for. For example, she makes really good money by buying things like Gap coats or Ann Taylor sweaters for a couple bucks, then turns around and sells them for at least twenty. My cousin is also an effective eBay user. He buys college textbooks for a few dollars and sells them for at least ten times more.

The thing about making money on eBay, however, is that you have to be patient. The shopping process is a hit and a miss, and you have to wait for bids on your items. You also take the risk of spending your money on something, and then not making a profit from it. However, if one has the passion for shopping and a great deal of persistence, then eBay could be a great investment.  

Although blogging and eBay don’t necessarily bring in the same promising income as a steady job, they have the potential to be fun and effective. It just takes a little bit of creativity and determination!  

Google and social networking relationships…never thought I would put the two together.

I thought I had Facebook down, then along came Google +. It took me forever to finally learn how to use Facebook correctly, and now I’m restarting this cycle with Google’s new social networking site. To be completely honest, I just recently created a Google + account because we are studying Google in Info class. I probably never would’ve made one if it weren’t for the class but I thought, hey, might as well!

Even though I literally have NO idea how to use it and I probably won’t use it too much, I feel like Google + is giving me a new, fresh start. I can build a new friend list, contact old friends in new ways, and encourage other friends to join. Yes, if I wanted to, I could skim through my friend list on Facebook, delete people I’m not really friends with and add new people, but that’s no fun and it would take way too long. Having a Google + account could potentially give me a chance to start over with my online relationships.

Google + is just another way to build my relationships, or maybe hinder them… On one hand, it’s a fun, new site used for staying in the know when it comes to friends and media. It seems great to me- they even have a group chat option! On the other hand, it’s just one more way that the internet is hampering face to face interaction. I thought Facebook was enough, but I guess I have to think again. Everyone just keeps coming up with ways to make communicating with others easier, not to mention lazier.

On a completely different subject, I thought I would have some fun using my new, insightful knowledge on Google searches, and incorporate relationships into this. I wanted to see how Google had my friends and I connected in its index. First, I typed in “Brooke Skagen AND Jessica Hall,” to see what would come up (P.S. Brooke is my best friend from high school). It brought up some online articles about us from our high school newspaper. Then, I tried another search, “Jessica Hall AND Carlie Blanchard” (another friend). This time, our high school tennis team roster and match scores came up in my results list.

I had never taken Google searches so seriously until I learned how the process works. I find it so fascinating how complex the whole procedure is; who knew that adding a simple word such as “and” between two terms would find pages with one term, the other, or both. Maybe it’s just me, but I am so intrigued. I just think it’s crazy how one search engine can find so many ways that my friends and I are socially connected over the internet.

I know that Google searches aren’t directly related to social networking relationships, but I found a distant correlation between the two. Google searches are nowhere near as advanced as social networking sites like Google + and Facebook, which allow us to connect with other people through chatting, messaging, status updates, and much more. However, I think that being able to type in two names into a search box and find results that include both is a version of social networking relationships.

In conclusion, at first glance, I didn’t think that Google and social networking relationships could be related. But, throw in Google + and some intense search methods and you’ve got a connection. 

As soon as I log onto Facebook, I check on friend requests and scan my news feed, just as millions of other users do. Within the newsfeed, I see a variety of updates: pictures of my cousin’s homecoming, my friend’s relationship status changing from “in a relationship” to “single,” and my best friend’s post about her weekend plans. Not only are these newsfeed updates informative and sometimes scandalous, but they help me keep up on the relationships I have with my friends and family. I’m always in tune with the lives of those I care about. However, there may be a point when this convenience is taken too far.

Yes, social networking is the ideal way to connect with others and build relationships. It has made creating relationships and keeping them so much easier. First, we can connect with those from the past. We can instantly reconnect with childhood friends or family we haven’t spoken with in years with just a couple clicks of a button. Maybe you haven’t seen that boy from your fifth grade class that went to a different middle school. Now, with social networking, there is no need to worry; you can rekindle that relationship by simply typing in his name in the search box and sending a friend request. Piece of cake! We can also stay connected with those who live far away. In my case, for instance, because of my social networking sites, I can keep in touch with my best friends who went to colleges in other states. Lastly, we can connect with those we just meet. All we need is the name, some courage to request them as a friend, and there you go: instant link. With a campus the size of the University of Washington, it is definitely nice to make it smaller with some familiar faces. As much as I, and others, complain about how relationships have become too technology based, social networking makes the concept of keeping in touch with friends and family very convenient; maybe a little too convenient.

Now, the downside of social networking relationships. Networking sites like Facebook have made relationships more of a science than just a way of connecting with those we care about. Now days, social network users analyze EVERYTHING. For example, a new friend request can lead to a string of questions. “Why does this person want to ‘friend’ me?” “Do they think I’m cool?” “Does he/she like me?” Then, there’s the power of the “like” button. This brings about another stream of thoughts. “Am I close enough with this person to ‘like’ their status?” “Should I ‘like’ my mom’s status, or would that be weird?” “Why did my mom’s friend ‘like’ my status about my girls night out?” Every single action that a user does on a social networking site seems to have a hidden meaning.

While researching “Social Networking and Relationships,” I came across this link: http://lifestyle.msn.com/relationships/article.aspx?cp-documentid=24522710. It basically gives rules about how to maintain a romantic relationship on a social networking site. Sounds bizarre, right? But actually, because social networking sites like Facebook have become such a way of life, users want to know how to use them the correct way. In this day and age, keeping a romantic relationship over a social networking site can be a very fragile thing. This site discusses the action of “unfriending” someone. Sadly, a bad breakup means that one has to virtually erase their ex from his or her social world. And who knew that just friend requesting someone who could be your potential beau or simply “liking” his or her status had to be so dramatic? It’s just one click of a button; how much harm could that actually do?

In our technology savvy world, it’s hard to escape the hype of social networking sites. Along with social networking comes some intense drama. The idea of being able to connect with important people in our lives, and some maybe not so important, brings about excitement and relief, but also confusion, conflict, and dilemmas. It makes it hard to decide if social networking site relationships are a simple convenience, or a massive hindrance. On the surface, these sites are just helpful and fun, but once they are analyzed more deeply, they can be almost harmful to relationships.