When my dad was in college and he wanted to see a girl, he gave her a phone call and if she accepted, they went on a date.  Twenty years later, I’m sitting in a college classroom thinking about how I haven’t really been on a date since I have been to college.  Personal problem? Maybe - I am hoping to attribute the lack of romantic outings in my life to the huge difference in our generations and a new application called Tinder.

These days, if girls want to know what guys are into them, they don’t wait around for a phone call.  Boys don’t need to worry about a rejection either, because now they have a heads up to whether or not the girl they saw in Five Points the previous weekend is actually interested or if she just wanted a free drink. Thanks to Hatch Jobs Inc., girls and boys alike can avoid putting themselves out there at all.

When I first heard about Tinder, it was in humorous conversations where people were making fun of their friends for having an insta-dating application on their phone.  In the midst of Manti T'eo and Catfish drama, Tinder was a joke.  Soon enough though, everyone was talking about Tinder; what started as a joke became serious.  When I realized every single one of my roommates and friends seemed to have it, curiosity got the cat and I downloaded the application.

What did I discover?  In order to set up your Tinder profile, the application syncs to your Facebook and allows you to choose five or so pictures from that profile to use for your Tinder.  Obviously everyone chooses the most photogenic pictures they have, whether they’re accurate or not. Using pre-sets on your profile, the application finds people within a set mile radius.  You can scroll through a potential match’s photos, mutual Facebook friends and what interests you have in common.  If you like them and they like you, you’re a match and can use the app to converse privately.  If you hit dislike, the person will never know; if a person dislikes you, you’ll never know.  If your boyfriend/girlfriend is conversing with others via Tinder – you’ll never know.

Almost every profile that appears for a like or dislike is someone I already know or could easily go about meeting on my own, if interested enough.   This application provides another way to allow technology to replace guts and courage utilized in my dad’s time.

I have come across several university athletes, fathers posing with their children and friends I see every day while playing the “Tinder game.”  The variety of Tinder users is at large; I just choose not to be one of them.  I deleted the app, not able to take it seriously.  I won’t use it to find a “match” with someone I already know. I’d rather just meet them through fate.  If you’re laughing at me for counting on fate to find love, just remember you’re probably the one counting on Tinder (we can call it even).

Image Source: Madisyn Kellough

As the month of January comes to an end, the only thing on my mind these days is applying for internships.  Last summer, I had the opportunity to intern in NYC as a graphic design intern.  However, my interests have changed to the mainstream and one of the most popular majors around: Public Relations.

EVERY FIRM has a department concerning public relations.  Great! Plenty of job positions right? Not quite.  The challenge is advertising myself to stand out from all the other public relation majors who also plan to intern this summer, let alone at the places I plan to apply to.  Oh, did I mention all these PR firms are ridiculously competitive?  Terrific. Now what?

Luckily, I came up with an idea that I've thought about for a while, yet never had the motivation to begin. Start my own blog.  

I had the opportunity to speak with an editor for a large media magazine whose advice to me was to make my resume and my work available online and on one site of my own.  Not only did I start planning my blog immediately after hearing this adivce, but I also realized I may have found a potential way to make myself look more appealing for an internship position.

This blog not only showcases my publications and other resume-building work, but also provides prospective companies insight to the type of person I am and the type of person I want to become.  On paper, it is very difficult to stand out from all the rest.  A visual representation highlighting talents, passions, and skills is a more efficient and fun way to showboat.

I began my blog very recently (a week ago to be exact) and I have already received such positive feedback from peers.  It is a style blog, one that I formed around my own needs and wants concerning what I would want to read if I came across it.  I focus on how to put outfits together, where to find the best quality merchandise for a fraction of its original price, and ways to make the ordinary extraordinary.  I try to incorporate the styles of voluntary viewers who want to contribute to the morning dilemmas of getting dressed in the morning that I have struggled with for several years.

In addition to my style tips, I have links and visual publications of some of my DIY work, Toms by Til, as well attachments of my online blogs and publications I have done for G&B.

If you want to stand out from the crowd, demonstrate independence, and showcase your passions, then start a blog.  It becomes a rewarding and exciting way to show off what you know. 

Check out what I've been working on - tobebright.org and 'Like' To Be Bright & Garnet and Black on Facebook.  

Involving yourself within a blog, by creating one of your own or participating in others, demonstrates your networking capabilities that ALL PR DEPARTMENTS are looking at today.  Expand your social media use by expanding yourself.

Image Source: http://tobebright.org

Okay, how many times do you log into Facebook or Twitter and see a diary-like status update from an attention-seeking individual.  TOO MANY TIMES.  Last time I checked, these sites are public and therefore, so is the content chosen to share.  WHY would anyone want to share personal thoughts or opinions regarding something that gives them a reputation of the following:

-insecure

-revenge-seeking

-pathetically-bored

-someone you cannot trust to be mature with your own feelings

Not-so-secret-anymore diary content generally places the sharer into one of the following categories that tarnishes his or her reputation within his or her social media community, which is already full of superficial and actual friends.  

Here's the thing, if you're upset or unhappy, take it up with the source whose causing you the personal anguish directly, not by releasing a social media post you hope will be seen by a specific person.  If you want the respect or attention your status is screaming to your social media public, you won't obtain it by that indirect and immature approach.  

Not only does it tarnish your personal present reputation amongst a semi-fake community of friends, but what about your future and potential employers that come across it?  Chances are if any content in a status promotes an individual's reputation as immature, he or she will not receive the job desired, solely on the fact that NO ONE wants to hire somebody who publically vents their feelings and comes off as a potential liability.

So take some advice from an extremely tired Facebook newsfeed viewer, keep the thoughts on paper, not in cyberspace.

Image Source: http://weknowmemes.com/2012/01/its-a-status-not-your-diary/

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