How Social Media Became the New Normal

Starting with the morning news - leading up to the daily Facebook posts, to ending the night with an Instagram stalking session, I think it's pretty clear what the one big common factor in every one's day to day life has become. Social Media.
Long gone are the days when you stopped at the corner kiosk for your morning newspaper that you read while sipping your coffee at the office or on the subway, train or whatever means of transportation you preferred. It was the universal morning ritual. This has now been replaced by your phone, tablet or even laptop and you scrolling through hundreds of headline news. Preferential reading pretty much sums up the morning news experience today. While the "hard copies" are still available, aka the newspaper, it's reign has sadly taken a back seat to that one site where all the world news can be found or the gossip sites that make sure everyone is up to date with their "crucial, life changing" latest starlet scandal.
The mid day break was replaced by a constant Facebook presence. Securely running in the background it makes sure to notify you of every little detail happening while you are away or to busy to keep staring at your screens, both on your phone and computer. It's become an hourly habit, *and I'm low balling here*, to check your feed and notifications, putting the original purpose of Social Media to the back burner. Connecting with people. That's where it all started, the original purpose and idea of the online world. To be able to connect with people all over the world. Great idea, great purpose and even great results. The only problem, it's lost sight of that and has gone on to become a hungry online content monster that consumes everything within seconds and creates the need for more and more content.
And right about now you're sitting there reading this and thinking, ok well you're from a different generation,you don't get this or you're too old to get this. I'm not, trust me, I'm in my twenties, and I'm just as addicted to the online world as the next person. Even though I try to turn my phone off or plan "offline" weekends if you will, I do end up checking my Instagram or my Facebook. It's become human nature. And that right here, is my problem and the reason for this post. Social Media has become human nature. How absurd does that sound? That an app or a platform could have such hold over us that we let it become the new normal. The online world has became the new world, keeping us plugged in and listening at all time.
It does of course offer it's benefits, don't get me wrong I'm just as addicted as the next blogger, Instagrammer or online marketer. The world is constantly changing, it's part of life. So we take the good with the bad, like with everything else.
Geek out!

Here's Why We Celebrate International Women's Day!

Gotta love beautiful Tulips.

Let's start of with wishing all the lovely ladies out there a happy International Women's Day! I hope you all have a beautiful day and are appreciated, not just today but every day. Although today is an occasion for celebration, this wasn't always the case. The earliest Women's Day was held on February 28, 1909, in New York. In a little over 2 years it grew to something nobody expected, on March 19, 1911 IWD was marked for the first time, by over a million people! Thanks to marches and women defending their rights and asking for equality, now, over 100 years later we get to celebrate this day every year on March 8th. Though it started as a Socialist political event, nowadays in some countries it simply remains a day when women are celebrated and people express their love for them with flowers or presents. A bit of a mix between Mother's Day and Valentine's Day. In other places the political and equal human rights theme designated by the United Nations is still a strong presence on this day and social awareness of
the struggles of women everywhere are discussed and examined. The celebration part of the day differs from country to country, tradition to tradition. Some do it by giving the women in their lives flowers or presents, some do it by wearing purple ribbons in support of the equal rights movement. At the end of the day it doesn't really matter how you chose to celebrate as long as the women in your life feel special. Of course they should always feel special, but having this one day a year that's basically all about them and their equal rights and importance makes for a pretty special feeling. *Take it from this female blogger*. So no matter where you are today and how you celebrate based on where you live or what traditions you follow, make sure to take a minute and make a woman feel special today. Now don't go thinking you need big presents or hundreds of flowers or something like that, don't get fooled by the greeting card companies into going over the top. It's all about the simple gestures, a phone call, a message, a flower, some chocolate, a compliment. Whatever it is that you know will have a pleasent impact on that person today is enough, trust me. I hope everyone feels very special today and appreciated. This geeky blogger wishes you a lovely day filled with laughter and happiness. I leave you with this beautiful message from Google.
Geek out!

Deadpool review. A Must See Or Fox's New Cautionary Tale?

"Hello my little lovelies."

Deadpool was one of the most anticipated movies of 2016! I mean it took over the marketing world both offline and online and they just ran with it, you couldn't watch a trailer without seeing something about Deadpool, this movie was everywhere! Which is usually the standard go to marketing plan with any new 20th Century Fox movie that's coming out, but they took it to a new level with this Ryan Reynolds movie. The investment did pay off with the movie being the second-biggest grossing R-rated film of all time, earning 619.3 million USD worldwide.
Like with all Superhero movies it has a wide audience, everyone loves a good Superhero, especially one with a twist. The twist being he's no Superhero at all actually. Free of the burden of the usual Superhero stigma of respectful and nice and a basic good conscience, Deadpool takes the term Superhero pretty loosely and just goes ahead and loses his social filter when it comes to pretty much everything. It didn't get a G rating for nothing after all. But with all the swearing, cursing, sex scene and a full on naked Ryan Reynolds, comes also comedy and as he puts it a "love story".

The story is basically about Reynolds who has left the special forces and a dishonourable discharge behind and has become a mercenary for hire. Everything is going great for him, he even meets someone who's crazy fits his crazy. Until he is told his days are numbered. To the rescue comes an evil scientist with the promise of Superhero like abilities thanks to a black-market treatment for cancer. Only to find out he's being turned into a super slave. After torture and a rogue experiment he leaves Deadpool completely disfigured, but gives him the ability to regenerate from pretty much anything. He escapes and later goes hunting for the man who did that to him, Ajax *also known as Francis*. 

What makes this movie so fun to watch is the refreshing script and freedom when it comes to the overly sarcastic Reynolds. He truly is enjoyably obnoxious! Also awareness of his own fictional status and constant name dropping of fellow superheroes along with real life actors makes for a fun experience. With a fresh new take on the Superhero movie genre Deadpool changed the Superhero game, proving sarcasm and profanity can fit a hero. It's cool, it's fun, it will make you laugh, cry and go awww only to make you laugh again. So to all the movie lovers out there, I highly recommend watching Deadpool, it will make for one fun movie night, perfect for the weekend!

Geek out!

So, Spring. We meet again!

Sunshine, flowers, birds singing, sugar, spice, and everything nice.. Wait, I may have gotten lost there for a minute, where was I? Ah yes, Spring is here! And though I am a huge fan of winter for obvious reasons, the beautiful snow, building snowmen, drinking hot chocolate in front of a fire, spring does have it's upsides. The weather for one, the sun comes out of hibernation and brings with it nice opportunities like romantic walks or the chance to go on a photography adventure around the city without needing 10 layers of clothing to prevent freezing, and so on.
Everyone celebrates the arrival of spring in their own way depending on their customs and traditions. Depending on where you are today you could celebrate by going swimming at midnight, or if you happen to be in Romania there's the traditional mărțişor. One of the oldest customs in Romania is gifting a mărțişor, usually a small pin like medallion paired with red & white strings. Also part of this years tradition is the cold apparently. Seems the weather around here hasn't gotten the news that it's time for the rain to go into hibernation. Spring also means more beautiful flowers. Just think of all the tulips, lilacs, hyacinth and peonies, oh the lovely peonies. Anyway, tell me some of your traditions, how do you spend the first day of spring? What are your tips for a getting spring started the right way?

Wherever you are and however you decide to celebrate this day, make sure you have fun and enjoy this lovely day. Let's kick today off with some dancing, with an assist from Brandon Flowers - Still Want You . Now get on your feet and get to dancing.

Geek out!

Here's Why Instagram Is The New Social Superpower

The giant himself.

We live in a busy world where technology seems to be our best ally. Even though we are drowning in social platforms and new apps that are being developed every day, there are a few platforms that remain "Social Superpowers" as I like to call them. In a time when there are hundreds of copies made of a new app every week, some of them hold their own by following some simple rules, mainly one rule: UX. I think the user experience is one of the most important factors in creating anything that is meant to be used by everyone in the world, since ultimately the users have the power to make or break it. 

So in the arena of Twitter and Facebook, comes Instagram. One of the fastest growing giants of them all, with over 400 million monthly users it surpasses even Twitter. So let's get to it, what is this undisputable's giants secret?
The first reason Instagram is so popular is that it's very user friendly. The interface was created for the every day user. The upload process, the profile settings and even following new profiles is easier than ever.
Then there's brand awareness. While we may not like to admit it we are influenced by society and marketing. Recommendations and advertisements play an important factor in our decision making process. We follow what others do and try new things based on what we see.
The 3rd reason is the freedom it provides. No longer are photographers defined by professional camera's and the technical details. With one smartphone users become 21st century photojournalists. Sharing their view of life and stories with their followers, not unlike a photographer does at an art gallery, turning Instagram into their showing room and followers into their captive audience.
The 4th reason are the number of edit settings. No longer do users have to turn to Photoshop or Illustrater to make their pictures perfect. Instagram offers a wide variety of filters as well as individual edit options to fix everything from lighting to contrast. Giving every day people the chance to be recognised among the best.
The 5th reason are the opportunities it creates. With high quality content comes opportunity. Companies often enter partnerships with Instagrammers that have a big following to promote their services or products. Giving marketers access to a new and real audience and Instagrammers the chance to make a living by doing what they love.

So there you have it, Instagram came - gave users what they wanted - and secured it's place among the giants of today's social media platforms.
Geek out!