Russia’s government has had the long-standing reputation as one with invasive proclivities; monitoring citizens’ activity, controlling the press and limiting the liberties of its people. But Vladimir Putin and the Russian regime have upped the ante in preparation for the Sochi Olympics – telling news media outlets that they will be observing and scrutinizing the communications of all athletes, journalists and attendees – and that includes each and every message on social media.

The Olympics are located in a highly-contested area of the Russian state; nestled between the Caucauses Mountains and the Black Sea, Sochi is in relatively close-proximity to the separatist republics of Chechnya and Dagestan – and as such, rampant security concerns have overshadowed the forthcoming international athletic events. Islamist militants have vowed to disrupt the Winter Olympics, so Russia has been staked with the task of ensuring tight-knit security in and around the city.

The current Russian government recently announced that it had installed DPI, or Deep Impact Inspection, to its widely-available free Wi-Fi service in Sochi, which will allow massive data-mining of social media. Every byte of information – from status updates, private messages and pages visited – will be collected and surveyed by Russian security officials in an effort to thwart any potential strike.

Anxieties have become so overwhelming that a few U.S. Olympians have told their families to avoid attendance altogether. It’s an unfortunate statement of the realistic fears of today – that fears can override and undermine an event as sacred and embedded in the international mosaic as The Olympics, but these are the lamentable times that we live in – and Russia is utilizing all available online technology in its arsenal to maintain safety and order.

The Winter Olympics in Sochi begin next Friday, February 7th, and with the security measures in place, will hopefully go-off without a hitch.

Jaws is often cited as the first horror film to truly terrify the world. While certainly not as shocking or frightening as The Exorcist or The Shining, Spielberg’s film gripped the audience’s psyche with its plausibility. There’s an eerily disconcerting feeling that accompanies stepping into the ocean – an alien world where humans are not the apex predator and there’s an array of strange wildlife lurking in the depths.

Western Australia has long been a bastion of shark activity – specifically of the great white variety – and their presence near beaches and coastlines has presented a problem for government officials who wish to respect wildlife but also ensure public safety. They may have found a solution to that issue which satisfies both sides of the coin with social media.

Faced with the very real possibility that they would have to begin baiting and killing sharks that come too close to shore – and wanting to avoid that possibility – biologists in Western Australia have devised a 21^st Century solution that protects both the public and the shark population. 338 sharks in the area have been tagged with acoustic transmitters that automatically issue warnings to Surf Life Saving Western Australia’s Twitter feed when a shark comes within a half-mile of the shoreline. The updates also provide information such as the shark’s breed and weight.

This is another example of the many practical applications of social media, and the life-saving benefits it can provide as a result of its real-time nature. By utilizing the possibilities available with online-technology, the Western Australia brain trust provided a solution that preserves the lives of beach-goers and native wildlife, and avoided the scuba tank-rifle-exploding shark scenario of Jaws. It’s yet another illustration of the ever-expanding list of ways that social media is being used to solve real-world problems, and a promising standard set for communities facing similar issues.    

– Carter Breazeale

Celebrities use Twitter for a variety of reasons. Some stick to the promotional side of things, some max-out on their fan interaction, and some like to toss back a few high-gravity ales and drunkenly rattle on about whatever happens to be on their mind at the time. Regardless of their social media motivations, following celebrities is one of the most interesting aspects of Twitter. Here are a few of my favorite celeb moments:

Call Aaron Paul!

The Breaking Bad star tops my list for most creative usage of his Twitter account. While preparing for the launch of its final season last summer, Aaron tweeted a picture of a random payphone with its accompanying number, and answered fans’ questions for five minutes.

Drunk Dials from Howard Stern on NYE

In 2012, Howard Stern and wife Beth Ostrosky spent a portion of their wishing fans a ‘Happy New Year’ who direct-messaged their phone numbers to his account. This was the second year that the King of All Media got a bit loaded on champagne and solicited phone numbers for calls and voice mails, and apparently reached out to over 50 people.

Amanda Bynes Freaking Out on Everybody

I’m not quite sure what to make of Amanda Bynes on Twitter. Is it a technological cry for help? Is it the ramblings of a crazy person, or an immense online troll-job? Whatever it is, it’s surely entertaining, and I know I’m not alone when I say that seeing Amanda call people ‘ugly’ via Twitter doesn’t get old. There’s just something intriguing about seeing a celebrity resort to schoolyard insults when feuding with other celebrities. Whatever the inspiration is for her outbursts, I say – keep ‘em comin’.

There was a time when there was a dividing line between the online realm and the real world; a veritable 38^th parallel separating our Internet personas and our actual reality. In hindsight, that time appears a dystopian landscape, where hash tags and status updates were mysterious jargon confined to the reaches of the World Wide Web, and social media accounts were a novelty as opposed to a necessity.

The coalescing of cyberspace and actuality only further cements the fact that, while in the past, social media outlets were an extension of your personality, they have become an integral aspect of it. Whereas conversation revolving around Facebook or Twitter was previously viewed as a slight social faux pas, it has become a social norm.

It’s a testament to the Internet Age and the stark disparity between ‘the now’ and years gone by, but it also begs the question: has our connectivity hampered our ability to actually connect? When Google is rolling out e-glasses and Apple is thought to have an iWatch in pre-production, are we relying too heavily on social media interaction as opposed to, you know…social interaction?

Where do we begin to redraw that line in the sand that reestablishes social media as a digital addition to our lives rather than the binary manifestation of them? If the current societal pulse is any indication, the fusion of Facebook and other social media platforms with our everyday lives is a trend that will continue to grow.

Whether you view our status update society as enhancing or intrusive, there’s no denying the importance and impact it has on our cultural environment. Social media has reshaped the understanding of traditional reality, and effectively erased the barrier between computer monitors and face to face interaction.

-Carter Breazeale

High school was the certifiable nerve center for gossip and rumor. Hallways were constantly abuzz with mutterings of ‘who’s seeing who,’ ‘who did what last weekend,’ and where your reputation felt like the crux of your campus presence. In retrospect, those juvenile murmurs were inconsequential; you’re a successful business owner, you’ve carved a lucrative niche in your local community. The locker-fodder of your past contemporaries is a triviality of your teenage years.

There’s a new loudmouth lurking the corridors of your corporate reality, however: your followers online. Unlike your adolescent notoriety that usually fades when graduation caps are sent airborne, your social media reputation will follow you around like a laser-sighted black cloud until your business collapses or you make the changes to mitigate it.

While the social-media-stubborn may attribute little value to the opinion of some anonymous keyboard-critic, the fact of the matter is, with the advent of Yelp and other aggregate review websites, managing your online standing is of monumental importance.

Many paths can be taken to safeguard your social media rep, each with varying degrees of efficiency and effectiveness. By far, the most productive way to employ your social media platforms in a reputation-management manner is to bolster your customer service capability.

Addressing your customer’s concerns in an expedited fashion through wall-posts, direct-messages or comments will fortify the online community’s impression of your business as an involved, client-focused organization. Dominos will begin to fall in your favor as word of your customer-service prominence circulates the Web, creating new and lifelong supporters alike.

As with most situations in life, when problems arise, cooler heads typically prevail. The same is true online. If you’re forced into crisis-management mode, be it the result of a scathing review blasted on your Facebook wall or an ill-advised status update, the key is to avoid confrontation and address the matters in a calm, dignified way. Any negative-reaction on your part will rapidly trump the initial issue, and potentially amplify the story: affecting your business in the long-run. Try to direct any possibly damaging subjects to a phone or email conversation, where they can be rectified in private.

The word about you in cafeterias and classrooms represents a brief period of your life, but the word circulating the net is the online-embodiment of your business prowess. Take every avenue available to assure that your social media cohorts have nothing but positive things to say.

-Carter Breazeale