Twitter Story: CHRIS STROUTH tweeted “sh*t, I need a kidney” then got one.

Part 1:

Chris Strouth is a director of artists, producer for Twin/Tone Records, and and an occasional band member (according to citypages.com). Chris has dealt with the kidney disease IGA neprhopathy, which he named Harold, for three years. Eventually Chris’ disease became severe and it led him to Twitter where he
tweeted “Sh*t, I need a kidney.” 

When Chris’ tweet went viral it led to about 19 people willing to get tested to see is they were a potential match for transplant. Chris never thought people would actually react in the way that they did. He didn’t expect to get replies almost instantly like he had.

Scott Pakudaitis was the one who ended up being the donor. Before being tested Scott had read a plea from Chris’ Facebook page. The post on Chris’ page was a lot longer and went in to much detail about his battle. Oddly enough the two had a common connection prior to the need for a kidney. Pakudaitis was a volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters and it ended up that his little brother’s mother had worked with Strouth at the American Composers Forum.

Questions for Chris that we tweeted:

(To see this tweet click here)

(To see this tweet click here)

Part 2:

Northland is a liberal arts college that encourages students to “think different”.  The main focus of Northland is to help students learn how to be sustainable and take care of the environment.  This year, Northland has gained three more sports teams – men and women’s lacrosse and women’s hockey – to add to the appeal of the college.  And now recently, it has been said that Northland is thinking about looking to recruit football players to add football to the list of sports it has to offer.

Creating a football team would mean that Northland will, potentially, gain more students, which would mean that Northland is receiving more money than previous years.  The problem is that if not many people would be interested in joining a new football team, Northland would spend money to make a football team and end up not making that money back.

Some ways to help popularize the idea of a football team, could be through posts on twitter, facebook, and instagram.  Another way Northland could spread the word would be through an information booth at a high school if the school would allow them to do it.  Another way to make sure that football games have fans that attend is to start advertising around campus that there will be a new football team.  That way more fans are likely to go to the sporting event.  Not only can this be done with football, but it should also be done with the other sports that we already have at Northland.  Creating a fan section for the other sports now might make those fans more interested in the upcoming football team.

 

10 Questions for Social Media

1. What defines social change? Social change can be defined as a change in societies behavior as a whole. Social change can be a positive thing or negative.
2. What should we post to social media sites? Depending on what you are looking for depends on what you should post. Many sites and platforms are used to connect with people and get to know people. While posting on sites like; Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat it would be normal to post pictures (or a status for Facebook) of what is going on in your life. Other sites like Etsy connect you to people to sell and buy things so if you’re looking to get some extra cash Etsy is the right route. 
3. What are the positives of social media? Positives of social media include being able to share your experiences and connect with people who have been through things similar to you.
4. What are the negatives of social media? Negatives of social media can be the fact that many people like to post hateful comments and social media can be addictive. No matter what you may post some people feel the need to be negative, the best thing to do is not take it personal. 
5. How has social media brought more youth into the discussion of social issues and social change? Social media has become a platform for youth to voice their opinions. Not only can the youth of today voice their opinion but, they can also voice it to the whole world. With the option to have the whole world seeing their opinion it really brings in the youth to social issues and social change.
6. How has social media changed the discussion of social issues and impacted social change? Social media has made it easier for more people to find out about issues at a faster rate and larger. Because of this social change has become a more talked about topic. People connected to social media can hear what has happened across the world and possibly act on the issue. 
7. How to draw people into blogs? In making a good blog that draws people in it is good to engage the reader by using pictures and interesting topics. By engaging the reader the more likely they are to come back. Bringing more people back to your blog will cause it to become more popular and draw in even more people because it is interesting that it is so popular. 
8. Who gets impacted by social change? The people that get impacted by social change would have to be everyone. Social change causes people to take action and by a trickle down effect eventually everyone is affected. For example is someone hears about the pay wage gap by gender they may choose to try to make the gap nonexistent. If they succeed then every man and woman would be paid equally.
9. What can I use to help me make a good blog post? Something to use to help make a good blog post would be the book 31 Days to Build a Better blog. Keep content your own and don’t try to be something you’re not.
10. How do different types of people influence social change? Different types of people that have different walks of life will have varying opinions. Along with different opinions people will have separate ways of going about things. Some may be very aggressive and try to force social change.