Sid Chadwick's Blog

Facebook Live Facebook’s life feature is a simple way of live streaming yourself to a wider audience. When starting a Facebook live stream the user has the option to decide who the broadcast is shown to, you are also able to send it to Facebook groups which is useful when broadcasting to a closed group. Once live the User Interface is extremely simplistic, with comments and posts by others appearing at the bottom of the screen. The user controlling the live stream is able to interact with the viewers by creating polls, as shown below, these allow for users to pose questions and for the viewers to decide the answer giving more interaction with the live stream host. Livestreams hosts are also able to see their current view count and viewers. This is a useful tool as the creator can ensure who is viewing it. Facebook live also allows for the creator to apply filters to the livestream; this can be in various ways such as a background effect to the stream or a filter on the host's face....

YouTube YouTube allows for any user to view videos uploaded by other users to the platform. Uploading a video from your computer is quick and easy, it requires a video file to be uploaded to the platform. The software itself allows for basic video editing allowing for people to crop the video or add limited effects. YouTube gives their users lots of freedom when uploading to the platform. Firstly you select a title for your video you can also add an optional description. YouTube also gives the creator the option to age restrict the videos so no child comes across harmful content whilst using the website. Next YouTube will automatically scan the video for copyright, this is to prevent any issues for the creator arising in the future. Furthermore it also prevents users from stealing from others. The last menu the users have to use is choosing the publicity of a video therefore users are able to keep their videos private if they wish to do so. In total uploading a video to YouTube is brok...

  Kindle   The Kindle is an extremely useful tool which allows for people to be able access articles much easier. The ability to download texts to your device means that you are able to access the file wherever and whenever required. Using a Kindle to read feels much more authentic than just reading from a text file. This is because of the format of the app attempting to mimic the pages of a book. The app is also accommodating for users. It allows for the user to alter the zoom of the pages, aiding those with visual impairments. It also allows you to edit the colour of the pages and text, this helps prevent the user from straining their eyes after staring at the page for long periods of time. This makes Kindle more usable and accommodating. The User Interface of the app is easy to navigate with the home screen showing books which are in the users library and it also features recommendations which many may find useful to find related media. Converting a file from the compu...

Images  The Smartphones camera feature is extremely easy to use, it allows for the user to take quick and easy pictures from their phone. This feature is commonplace on peoples phones and it means that users are able to catch and store their memories easier than with a digital camera. Such as with my picture which was taken at a Kendrick Lamar music concert in November. In the image I really like how clear the background is and how it perfectly mirrors the artist. Smartphones are equipped with near professional camera lenses however one disadvantage to them is that once zoomed the photo loses lots of quality and can appear pixelated. Users are also able to upload their pictures to social media, many of which such as Twitter allow for basic photo editing. Twitter's editing software allowed me to convert my image from landscape to portrait, it also allowed me to add a filter to the image. This in itself allows for coinvent photo editing as you can be able to make features of pictures...

Twitter  As an app Twitter is incredibly simplistic, a person does not need a deep understanding of the app to be able to navigate it with ease. Twitter's homepage allows people to scroll down and view Tweets from people they follow or that the algorithm recommends for them. This is a useful feature as the posts are shown in chronological order, therefore people see the latest news first. This plays into Twitter's main strength which is living in the moment. Shown in the Twitter slogan "What's happening?" Posting from Twitter itself is also extremely simple, Twitter is used in such a way where not all Tweets have to be serious and often people use Twitter to find media  satirical in nature. Twitter's search tool is a very useful feature. It allows you to search a topic which you find interesting and then tweets related to your search will appear. This allows for the user to interact with others who are like minded. The hashtag feature is also very similar to t...

So far university was been an eye opening experience for the first time in my life I was left to my own devices. To a younger version of myself this is a dream. However the new found independence was daunting and scary but also liberating.  After my parents left I stood in my baron room questioning my decisions in life. Then I unpacked. I'd like to say I hit the ground running after that but when I didn't I was hit with a deep wave of anxiety and dread when I came to the realisation that I was now truly alone. Luckily enough fast forward 10 hours I was blind drunk introducing myself to every approachable person I could see in sight. Socially I was excelling and I had a large group of friends. However at the time these connections were not fully established. It was hard for me to distinguish between genuine connections and people displaying niceties. But after a short time these concerns quickly died and friendships were formed.