Social Media and Networking

Social Media

I have chosen to discuss the not so new but ever developing world of social media as a technology that I am interested in. The reason I have chosen this particular technology is because of the simple but true fact that whether we choose to accept it or not, social media has become an enormous factor in many of our lives today. 

The aspects of social media I decided to look at are the positive and negative effects that it has on society and also the effect of social networking on the recent presidential elections.

The first article I found, http://socialmediatoday.com/syed-noman-ali/608781/social-media-good-thing-or-bad-thing posted by Syed Noman Ali, was called “Social Media- a Good Thing or Bad thing?”  It discussed the negative and positive aspects of social media today.

The main positive aspects that were highlighted in the article are the opportunities social networking gives us for keeping up with old friends/relations, reducing communication barriers and business opportunities.

Social networking began as a means of keeping up with old friends and perhaps family who had relocated, in a way that was accessible to almost everyone and easy to use. The convenience of this means of communication meant that you could talk to anyone, anywhere, anytime. It has also become a way for people to build on already close relationships, and if face to face meetings aren’t possible. It has also become an essential means of advertising and promoting for businesses, the main reason for its success being its vast audience. Social networking has also become a great way for us to connect with people they don’t know, over online discussion groups who have similar interests and opinions on certain topics. Group chat rooms or discussions allow people to express their opinions to a large audience. It allows for people to broaden their social circle, reaching people they may never have spoken to before.

Despite these positive aspects of social networking, social media can also have an extremely negative influence on people’s lives. Addiction is a major problem with social media. The problem stems from people believing that they can’t go through their day without feeling the need to log onto their favourite social networking site and check “what’s new”. Social media addiction can result in alienating yourself from friends and family, consuming the majority of the user’s time and leaving them in isolation. People become obsessed with their online identities and this results in a breakdown in communication with people from the outside world as human contact is reduced. Excessive online interaction can also result in reduced productivity in the workplace. Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter etc. have been shown to seriously reduce the productivity of employees.

There is no doubt that the points made in the above article are true. Although there are many positive aspects to social media today, the negative side of things must be considered to be able to get a full view on how we are affected by the sometimes all-consuming online world. Social networking is an extremely useful tool, for example online sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace etc. allow us to keep in contact with friends and family, making us feel more connected. However, it is also has the ability to blur out reality and not allow us to see beyond the online world. The ever increasing problem of internet over usage is something I believe needs to be brought to everyone’s attention so that the problem can be addressed and people can begin to see it as real problem in today’s world.

The next article I found in relation to social media and social networking sties (Twitter in particular) was, http://newsroom.cisco.com/feature/1006785/2012-The-Social-Media-Election- , by Laurence Cruz, titled “2012 - The Social Media Election?” .

When president Obama won the 2008 U.S. elections, it was dubbed the social media election. However, at that time both Twitter and Facebook were only beginning to blossom and were nowhere near the phenomenon they have become today. In reality, the 2012 presidential election truly deserved the title “The Social Media Election”. It would appear that the posts being left by the candidates were replacing the nightly news. Being easily accessible and relevant to a larger audience, these social networking sites we the perfect tools for the presidential campaign.

It’s clear that social media has become a huge feature in many aspects of life, even leaking into the world of politics. There’s no telling how our lives will be affected by social networking in the future, but I believe it is clear that it’s never going to stop developing. The social media world has grown an incredible amount in the last 10 years, and it is sure to continue to do so.