Twitter is Ruining My Study Habits

I have a confession to make: I am addicted to Twitter. I have been for about 4 years now, ever since I signed up. I wake up in the morning and the first thing I do is check Twitter. I get out of class and immediately check Twitter. During big games, presidential debates, award shows, I am constantly checking Twitter. It's the greatest.

However, I have come to realize that Twitter is making it harder and harder for me to study. It is a major distraction. Every time I sit down to get some quality studying done, do some homework, or even write a blog, I end up opening up Twitter and taking a scroll through my timeline. Next thing I know, a half and hour has gone by and I have gotten nothing done. I just can't get away from Twitter. I hate to say it's like a drug, but it's kind of like a drug.

I have contemplated many times deleting my Twitter account. However, every time I do, I start thinking about everything that I will be missing by staying off Twitter: the memes, the jokes, the pictures, the news, the videos, the parody accounts, and of course, the vines. I just can't bring myself to click that button to cancel my account. It's just too hard.

With final exams coming up, I am going to need to find a way to lay off Twitter. Any tips or suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated!

LeBron James caught unfollowing the Cavaliers on Twitter and Instagram

This week, the big story in the sports world has been LeBron James. No, it's not because of his play on the court. It's not because he signed another lucrative endorsement deal. No, instead LeBron James was in the news for unfollowing his own team's Twitter and Instagram accounts. Yes, that was big news.

LEBRON UNFOLLOWED THE CAVS TWITTER TODAY pic.twitter.com/haz6AWWYhH

— Alex (@kanyecobain) March 21, 2016

Now I don't want to get into the potential reasons why LeBron would do this or what message he is trying to send by doing this. But I do want to talk about LeBron's reaction to questions about this story. On Monday, after twitter user @kanyecobain discovered that James had unfollowed the Cavaliers, the media asked LeBron about it. His response was a smug "no comment." He then ended his press conference.

Yes, the greatest athlete of our generation could not answer a question about who he follows on Twitter. I'm sorry LeBron, but you have to be better than that. Your twitter account has 29 million followers. You use it to endorse products, talk to fans, and ultimately grow your brand. The point of Twitter is to interact with people, and you have used it to your full advantage. So don't get upset, or act like it is a silly question, when the media asks why you, the best player in the NBA, unfollowed your current team's account. You can't have it both ways.

LeBron James and all celebrities know by now that whatever you do on social media will be scrutinized by fans and the media. It is the price that comes with the fame. Don't act like you are above questions about your Twitter account.

March Madness bracket leak shows the power of the internet

On Sunday afternoon, CBS was set to televise the unveiling the 2016 NCAA tournament bracket. CBS has always hosted the bracket reveal, but this year was different. What was once just a thirty-minute program, this year was schedule for two full hours.

As expected, the show dragged on and on. With the matchups slowly being revealed, Charles Barkley and other analysts painfully struggled to break down the games with a touch screen. The show was a disaster. Luckily, that is where the internet came in to save the day. About 50 minutes into the program, a bracket leaked online. Within minutes, the bracket spread like wildfire on Twitter. While most users were unsure if the bracket was legitimate, as more and more teams were revealed on the broadcast it became clear that it was the real bracket. Social media users rejoiced as nobody had to sit through another excruciating hour of CBS' coverage.

While the NCAA and CBS wanted to milk the bracket reveal for as much TV revenue as possible, no college basketball fans were interested in sitting for two hours just to learn the bracket. That is why it was awesome to see the Internet stick it to the greedy NCAA and their TV partners on Sunday. It was almost like a victory for the "little guy." The arrogance and conceit of CBS and the NCAA came back to haunt them, for once.

Hopefully CBS and the NCAA learn from this past Sunday. I'd imagine that next year, CBS will go back to just a one hour program. But for this past weekend, the internet got the chance to to sabotage them, and they did.

The Top 10 Vines from the 2016 Presidential Race

Disclaimer: This is not a political post. Regardless of whether you lean left or right, support Hillary or Trump, believe America is doomed or about to be "great again," I think we can all agree that the race to the White House has been pretty darn entertaining. It seems like every other day someone (usually Trump) is saying or doing something ridiculous on the campaign trail. And thanks to social media, we all can relive and laugh at these moments. So without further adieu, here are my top 10 vines from the 2016 Presidential campaign:

10) "More energy tonight I like that"

9) Jeb and Trump's low five

8) Bernie's side eyes

7) Hillary is chillin' in Cedar Rapids

6) Bernie plays the bongos

5) Ben Carson addresses his haters

4) Please clap for Jeb

3) Chris Christie realizes he endorsed Donald Trump

2) When you decide who you're voting for

1) Ted Cruz or Kevin Malone?

The internet is a wonderful place.

Why Twitter Is The Best for Award Shows

Last Monday, I sat down to catch the last half of the 58th annual Grammy Awards. This was after I spent about an hour on Twitter staring at tweets, vines, and pictures about the show. Before it began popping up on my timeline, I had honestly forgotten that the show was that night. But as soon as the tweets and pictures from the red carpet started rolling in, I knew I had to get to a TV.

Award shows are some of the best nights to be on Twitter. Whether it be with hilarious pictures, jokes, or videos, it is always an entertaining time to check your timeline and see what's trending during the show. It is like watching the show the with millions of your friends in one room, only if your friends could instantly create hilarious Vines and memes. It starts on the red carpet and continues all night. It is the best.

This year's Grammys gave Twitter users a place to go crazy about a Broadway play about Alexander Hamilton. Think about that! Everybody went nuts over Justin Bieber's mustache, Ciara's dress, Taylor Swift's fake-act-all-surprised-even-though-everybody-knows-you're-going-to-win routine, and Kendrick Lamar's amazing performance. I think I spent more time looking at my phone during the Awards then actually watching the show. I couldn't imagine watching it without Twitter.

When you combine all of the biggest stars in Hollywood on one night in one venue, there is sure to be some great content. Twitter is the perfect place to capture these moments and have everybody react to them. Last Monday's Grammy Awards proved just that. The night was capped off perfectly when Taylor Swift won Album of the Year, and provided the internet with "the worst handshake of all time":

What a time to be alive.

Warner Bros. Using Digital Media to Create Buzz for their Superhero Movies

With "Batman vs. Superman" releasing in March and "Suicide Squad" coming in August of this year, Warner Bros. boasts two of the years most highly anticipated Superhero movies. In fact, according to a recent study done by Variety, WB's superhero films are crushing the competition on social media. Variety places "Batman vs. Superman" and "Suicide Squad" social and digital tracking as 500% stronger than their competitors.

"Suicide Squad" is currently ranked number 1 in Variety's Digital Audience Rankings (DAR) for movies set to be released in 2016. The DAR measures how entertainment content is resonating with audiences across digital and social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+, and more.

In a very competitive and crowded field of Superhero movies, Warner Bros. is distinguishing its films and creating buzz. The "Batman v Superman" trailer that debuted last July currently has over 61 million views on WB's official Youtube channel. The trailer for "Suicide Squad," which was just released three weeks ago, already has over 38 million views.

With Marvel also set to release big Superhero movies in 2016, such as "Captain America" and "X-Men," it is clear that they have some catching up to do on digital media. Word-of-mouth and generating buzz is such an important part of promoting movies, and its looks like WB has positioned themselves well for their superhero movies this year.

The Problem With Twitter

I was scrolling through my Twitter timeline recently, as I do a lot, when I came across a very interesting quote from Yishan Wong, the former CEO of Reddit. Wong was discussing the problems with Twitter and why so many of its users go dormant. He offered a very interesting take, one which I had no thought of before. "Using Twitter for long periods of time is a fundamentally unpleasant experience," says Wong, explaining that Twitter's most popular's users are the one's that face the most harassment and abuse from other users. Wong describes Twitter as a "global mob" where people can project their anger at anything they may disagree with. The quote that really stuck with me from Wong was this: "The more successfully you use Twitter, the more likely and more frequently the worst possible thing that can happen to you on Twitter is going to happen to you." As someone who is checking my Twitter account at least ten times a day, I love it. I love being able to get news as soon as it comes out, see what my friends are up to, or see who Kanye West is making fun of. I love Twitter. However, these comments from Wong really got me thinking. In today's society, where everybody is offended by everything, and one slip up will have people online calling for you to get fired, why would someone in the public eye really subject themselves to Twitter? While using Twitter is great promotion and great for your brand, it also opens you up to a world of Internet trolls. Regardless of who it is, any politician, athlete, or celebrity is destined to receive hateful comments and threats after any post. So if having a Twitter is not an essential part of your brand, then who really would need to, or want to, use it? I'm not really sure what, of if there is anything, Twitter can do about this problem, but it certainly is an issue. As Wong said, "Twitter's most valuable users are also the one's that have the most unpleasantness in their experience." You can view all of Wong's comments here.