What is Social Media?
Similarly, education and knowledge-sharing have been enhanced, with platforms like YouTube and LinkedIn Learning providing access to tutorials, courses, and webinars. Social media has become an indispensable part of modern life, revolutionizing how people communicate, share, and engage across the globe. It serves various purposes for individuals, businesses, organizations, and communities, making it a versatile and dynamic tool.
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Movements like #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter exemplify how social media can mobilize millions, raise awareness, and spark cultural and policy changes. This level of accessibility allows underrepresented groups to challenge traditional power dynamics and shape public sentiment on critical topics. Despite its many benefits, social media has introduced complexities.
Superficial Connections and Distractions
Social media refers to online platforms and tools that enable people to communicate and interact with each other, share content and ideas, and participate in online communities. Instead of knowing an individual’s private contact information in advance, social media users can find old friends and new like-minded people. Today people can contact each other from opposite sides of the world in less than a second, share files through the cloud and watch the same video simultaneously despite being miles apart. For example, you can share media with your social network to gather likes and comments — a form of social networking.
In many societies, governments and establishment media might try to prevent the news from reaching the people. Before the internet, people were limited to making friends in their immediate community. Editors, governments, and media don’t have a final say over whether people can see it or not. Before social media, we were stuck with what’s called “media gatekeepers” – people like newspaper editors – who can choose what news people will and won’t consume (Potnis & Tahamtan, 2021). Yet, social media can be a hub for cyberbullying and other forms of online harassment. Moreover, it may lead to overindulgence, sidetracking from important tasks, as well as procrastination.
Social Media, Definition, and History
85% of American police departments use this tool as a way to find suspects. These platforms are also instrumental in the prosecution and conviction of several criminals, including professional athletes charged with inappropriate activity with minors. Anyone with any disability can perform all of the activities that their peers can accomplish online because of social media. This advantage makes people feel like they belong to their communities instead of being separated from them. We can even go further back to the invention of blogging on the Internet for the first real taste of social media.
- Enrolling in our course should be your next step if you wish to master all the nuances of social media.
- For example, if someone is organizing an event, they can easily share updates and make announcements about it on social media.
- Messaging opportunities that occur on these platforms can lead to real-life interactions because plans get made online, and then implemented off-line.
- The following list of common features is often dead giveaways of a social media site.
Some may be used purely for socializing, while others are oriented toward professional network building or job-hunting. Some platforms allow users to connect with others who share their political views or leisure Jackpot Jill Casino hobbies. Many social media companies own multiple platforms to target different users. Social media use grew rapidly in the 2000s and early 2010s as Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) became popular. Like MySpace, Facebook users create profiles to share information about themselves, while other users leave comments.
Social networks can be used as a tool for self-development, allowing people to follow inspirational people and content related to their interests. For example, if someone is organizing an event, they can easily share updates and make announcements about it on social media. Besides, social media is a great tool for organizing work/school chats and video calls. While social media can be beneficial, it is important to be aware of its challenges. By accepting the risks, you can take steps to protect yourself and others from the negative effects of social media. Evidence shows that in other rich countries, people also spend many hours per day online.