Blogger #1

Leah Soto

English 100 MW 5-7

January 25, 2016

Living through Upgrades

    On Christmas Day 2008, I was handed a little black watch box. I was excited, but judging by the box it wasn’t what I had asked for. Luckily for me, my parents were way more clever than me. I was given my first cellphone that day. It was my sister’s old Nokia flip phone, and it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I couldn’t believe it. After months of begging for it, I finally got what I wanted. I was so excited and couldn’t wait to use it all day, every day. It wasn’t until days later that I realized I was only 13 and only about 2 of my friends had cellphones. Also, I had very limited texting and minutes. There was no internet or apps at that time. It didn’t stop me from carrying my phone and taking the blurriest of pictures though. Luckily for me, throughout the years technology would rapidly update and so would my phone. I didn’t realize but my phone and social life were slowly going to develop.

    When I was 14, I got a blackberry, and I felt like the most sophisticated, organized teen ever. Blackberries were created to double as planners, so I couldn’t wait to get all organized (as if I had anything to organize). I remember it was red, and I felt like it showed off my now bold personality. It made me feel grown. I had finally gotten internet on my phone and at least 50% of my friends had hopped on the mobile phone train. I could text, talk, take better pictures, play games, and get on Myspace whenever I wanted. My parents also saw an opportunity when I got this phone. They found a way to blackmail and punish me.

    By the time I was 16, I had completely destroyed my blackberry. I had dropped it in water countless times and burnt out the battery so bad the cover wouldn’t stay on without tape. I didn’t mind though. I was actually extremely excited. Like all teenagers, for a while now, I had my eye on a newer, better phone. I bought the galaxy 3. It could download all kinds of apps and allowed me to be on social media no matter where I was. This was also the time where I gained unlimited text, data, and talk privileges. When I heard that my eyes lit up, and all I could think was thank you, God! I had recently got a boyfriend so I needed all the minutes, messages, and internet I could get. Thanks to the accessibility to social media through this phone I was able to develop my social media self. In person, I was shy, stubborn, close minded, quiet, and an introvert. Through social media I was able to be all the things I longed to be. I wanted to be outgoing, bold, friendly, fun, and personable. With this phone, I could be all of that. I began to post exactly what was on my mind with no filter. I began to leave comments on people’s post like “Wow, you’re pretty,” “Hey! we should hang out sometime,” and “Girl, you need to cut him loose.” I also got to create profiles that represented me the way I wanted them to. My myspace profile was filled with poems I had written to describe how I was feeling and songs that made me sound like a boss. Songs like “Rockstar,” “Diva,” and “Fergalicious.” Eventually and quickly, The real world me became the social media me.