Hey! Look over here!

Hey there! My name is Ryan Dietrich and I am currently a senior at Slippery Rock University. I'm currently studying Sociology Culture and New Media, a Bachelor of Science in Professional Studies, as well as a minor in History. Doing this allows me to study three subjects I'm interested in, as well as pursue any one of them at a graduate level, among other majors. I am a member of Pi Kappa Alpha, one of the many social fraternities we have on campus. I have a love for photography and baseball. Both impacted my life greatly throughout high school. Unfortunately, I did not pursue either one when coming to college due to a few choices I had made. Recently, I started getting back into both and I have been much more content with my life because of it! Career wise, I am looking into either doing social media for a video game company or a baseball team, preferably the Pittsburgh Pirates. I also have an interest in ancient history, possibly pursuing a career in digital archiving and historical photography. 

Ever since college, I have been quite active on all forms of social media. Back in freshman year, I had no idea they would expand and grow the way that they have. Whether it is Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, you will see me either ranting or posting something ridiculous on one of them. Instagram is my favorite, being that I am into photography and "Social" photography is becoming quite the activity these days. Twitter is genuinely how I get most of my news, as well as Facebook. 

I enrolled in New-Media Journalism for a couple of reasons. The first being that part of my major is new media. I'm not always the biggest fan of media. Watching the news is not something I enjoy. It's too depressing. I think that's why people are taking to social media to get the news out. It allows us to be selective listeners and pay attention to what we want to hear. In my case, ignoring the depressing news. Secondly, I took this class because I knew it would give me valuable skills that I will be able to use in my future career. The media is an ever-changing object in our lives that will never go away, only evolve into something bigger for us to use. Why would I not want to take a course in that?! To add to this all, Dr. Zeltner is an awesome professor to have! I highly suggest you take one of his courses if you get the chance!

A non-traditional news source I frequently use is the radio, specifically 96.1 Kiss FM. This is a Pittsburgh based radio station I have become very fond of over the last years, a lot of it is because of Mikey and Big Bob. If you don't know who they are, I highly advise listening to one of their Morning Freak Shows. They're hysterical! Other than their show, if music isn't playing, I won't listen to other people talk or ads. I'll just flip through the stations until I find something I like.

I'm very fond of a couple of new media outlets. The first I mentioned above is Instagram. Initially, it started out as people posting amazing pictures of nature, scenery, etc. It has developed into pretty much people posting their twitter and Facebook pictures to their Instagrams, which is a little disappointing. I really think people need to reconsider what they use Instagram for. I miss all the incredible pictures that used to be uploaded! Another big outlet for me is Netflix. The amount of time I have wasted on it is immeasurable. With that being said, I wouldn't take any of the time back, ever. It's convenient being able to watch shows at your own pace. Our world today is very busy and not many people want to sit down at an exact time to watch a show. It is much more convenient to do it whenever time is available.

Well, I think that is plenty for my first blog! Start following my blog to keep updated with everything I will be doing this semester!  See yinz soon!!!