Twitter Map

My friend sent me an article about "London's Top Ten Languages" which has been worked out by looking at tweets sent within the city during summer 2012...

http://news.sky.com/story/1003113/twitter-map-shows-londons-top-10-languages

The article is very interesting, mainly the picture at the top which attracted my attention purely because it has lots of colours on it!... although it didn't actually make much sense to me until I read the actual article
The writer, Lulu Sinclair, explains how the map was formed by Ed Manley and James Cheshire, revealing a 'heat map' of languages used during the summer of 2012. This was obviously when the Olympics was going on, therefore a lot of different cultures and countries were bought together, and many people of different nationalities came across to the UK to watch the Games. 

English was the largest tweeting language, with over 3 million (93%) people using the language. The graph below (also seen on the article itself) shows the next top 10 languages that were commonly used through the summer:

As you can see, Spanish and French top the graph, most likely because they are close countries to the UK in terms of distance. 

The researchers found that an 'unknown' language also seemed to crop up a lot, which they later found out was English slang terms such as "lol," "ahhhhh" and "hahaha"- clearly these were some of the top phrases used during the Olympics?!

Have a read of the article and let me know what you think! 

Gemma x

The X Factor - Live Week 3

So the X Factor has just finished for tonight, but who will get though tomorrow? I've given my opinion of all of tonight's performances so have a read and see if you agree!

As it is week 3, i think the acts are more settled in to the competition so it is only right for the judges to be more harsh on them. Who will be watching tomorrow?! 

Gemma x

Facebook - The Things That Connect Us

I recently came across the new Facebook campaign on Youtube - a video named "The Things That Connect Us"

The video was bought out just as the social networking site hit the one billion user mark, to celebrate and honour those who are active users of Facebook. 
It uses the object, a chair, to demonstrate how we take things for granted in the world and everything is made for a reason. The advert states, "Every chair has its day, and it ought to thank Facebook for that." As crazy as it sounds... chairs unite us. Ever country, almost every person in the world has a chair or has sat in many chairs over their life time. The same way that Facebook unites the billion users that connect all together on one site. 
I think the video is clever as it makes you think and makes you realise the little things you wouldn't normally think about. Siting down on a chair is just part of my normal life... I don't even think twice as I bend my knees and park myself upon the chair I have chosen at that particular time, the same way I don't think twice about logging in to Facebook on my laptop, my phone...
Watch the video and let me know your thoughts

Gemma x

Radio Podcast - 2012 Olympics

Before this year's Olympics, I made a radio podcast about the differences between the Olympics and Paralympics, and the issue surrounding the amount of awareness they both have. Even though both events have now ended, I think this is still relevant.

This was the first podcast I made, so any comments would be welcome!

http://soundcloud.com/gemmabee4/radio-documentary-olympics

Gemma x

Ugly Betty and I

Photos from Google

Ugly Betty was an American drama/comedy series that aired from 2006 - 2010. Like many people in the UK and the US, I was a huge Ugly Betty fan from the start, and I followed her journey through Mode Magazine as she tried to pursue her dreams. As cheesy as it sounds, watching Ugly Betty helped me to realise my own dream to become a journalist.
Betty Suarez, a quirky 22 year old, lands her job at Mode and although no one believes in her or thinks she will get anywhere in the business, she proves them all wrong. Betty proves that with hard work, never giving up, and a huge smile, that anything is possible. 

Ugly Betty star America Ferrera

I think that actress America Ferrera plays the character of Betty extremely well, as she moves through the four series, making a slow physical transformation, but never forgetting her roots and who she really is. That is what I admire the most. 

The entire series was originally based on the Columbian soap opera Yo soy Betty, la fea ("I am Betty, the ugly") in which Betty works as a secretary at EcoModa. Although both stories hold a lot of resemblance, the directors of Ugly Betty in the US tried to alter the story to make it more appealing the the Western audience.

Gemma x