You can’t go five minutes in any conversation without someone asking if you saw something online. “Did you see that hashtag on Twitter?” your best friend asks. “Why didn’t you like my photo?” your grandmother asks. If you don’t “get” social media, then it probably drives you batty.
What is it about social media that people love so much? Certainly there is something to it, for it to have taken over the whole world by storm. If a country has reliable access to high-speed internet, you can bet that something concerning social media is at the top of the popularity chart.
A Way To Connect With Friends And Family
When someone complains about the state of their Facebook timeline, you probably ask them why they bother to keep their account. “Because it’s the easiest way to keep in contact with friends and family,” they probably say. Really, they have a point.
Even ten or twenty years ago, most people communicated by the telephone or through email, if they had it. Now most people either text or chat on social media. When was the last time you arranged a meetup with someone over Twitter? Probably as late as a few days ago.
There’s speculation that class reunions will soon be a thing of the past thanks to social media. The mystery of how your classmates are doing is removed when you see their statuses every day.
Self-Expression
Having friends and followers on social media means you have a built-in audience. For artists, this is crucial. They can share their latest releases and updates, all while keeping in touch with fans. If you’re not a celebrity, then social media is a great way to get your feet off the ground. All it takes is one share from a friend with thousands of followers, and the next thing you know you’ve gone viral.
It’s not uncommon to hear that the latest household name was “discovered” on the internet. They probably have social media to thank for that.
Real Time Reporting
Everyone has an opinion on the state of current news media. Most of it is pretty negative, what with political biases and government money lining newspaper pockets all over the world. If you really want to know what people love about social media, it’s probably the real time reporting.
Remember the Arab Spring? It got its momentum thanks to social media. People in the Arab world were live tweeting and Facebook posting about events as they happened. These are updates that you wouldn’t get from any other news outlet. Thanks to the viral spread of social media, change happened. You also see it every election year as people share resources and debate one another.
Whenever there is a natural disaster or attack, people take to social media to get their updates from people who are actually there. It’s a powerful thing. Social media is changing the world, one Tweet at a time. It’s not hard to see what the public loves so much about it.