Ruiqian Zhao Millenial Media Profile

In today’s world social media is that of high importance to many people around the world. Different platforms bring together the newest trends, world news, and entertainment. Nearly 65% of adults use social media networking sites as it has affected things such as work, politics, and communication patterns around the world. Today I interviewed a classmate of mine named Ruiqian Zhao in regards to her daily social media usage. We discussed each social media platform she uses and what she uses them for. Different platforms serve for different reasons or can be used for multiple reasons.

I began by asking Ruiqian about Twitter, which in fact is one of her most used apps. She checks Twitter each day mainly to keep up to date with informational news topics. By viewing Twitters trending hashtags she can easily be informed about the latest updates going on in her immediate area as well as world wide. She mainly uses Twitter for it’s informational benefits yet does not post her own tweets that often.

Following Twitter, I began to ask about the highly popular app Snapchat. With Snapchat’s relatively new feature named Discover, Ruiqian is able to follow the news on this social media platform as well. Discover includes channels from top publishers ranging from National Geographic to CNN that refresh daily. When asked how often she uses Discover she answered every morning. She is very impressed with the innovative outlook Snapchat has upheld as it contains informational news rather than just a basic form of communication among friends.

I then began asking about Ruiqian’s presence on Facebook. Her description relating to her usage is similar to my own. She mainly uses Facebook for communication purposes to keep in touch with her friends and family. She also uses Facebook’s photo sharing abilities to post her own pictures as it keeps her friends up to date with her interests and essentially what is exciting in her life currently. Facebook has become flooded with information ranging videos, articles or pictures regarding news, food, or trending topics. When Ruiqian sees an article that catches her interest, rather than reading the basic description she further looks up the article’s information on a separate search engine. She finds Facebook to be beneficial in regards to news updates. She does not use Facebook as much in comparison to other social media platforms, yet still values its abilities.

Instagram was the next platform I began to ask about. Ruiqian uses Instagram almost as much as she uses Twitter, which is daily. She uses this social media platform for mainly entertainment purposes, as do I. She follows friends and other people of importance to her. She explores Instagram’s popular page feature as it contains photos people she is following like as well. In regards to entertainment platforms, Ruiqian also enjoys using Pinterest. Her own Pinterest account represents her interests and images or ideas she finds significant. She does not use Pinterest as much as she uses Instagram, Twitter or Facebook but mainly uses it for an entertaining time filler.

Finally, I asked Ruiqian about her interests in YouTube and LinkedIn. In regards to YouTube she enjoys the highly popular tutorials provided. Whether it be food recipe tutorials or styling tutorials she enjoys the helpfulness this social media platform has obtained. Similar to Pinterest, she does not use YouTube daily as she does with other apps. Ruiqian uses LinkedIn for it’s basic purposes in regards to searching for a job or social networking.

All in all Ruiqian uses social media platforms everyday, yet some more than others. She admits that they become captivating and almost distracting yet also provide a significant amount of information. As someone who values staying up to date with world news she appreciates the social media platforms upcoming in regards to current or trending information.