Impact of Social Networking Sites on the Society - Term Paper Example

Impact of social networking sites on the society Name Institution Introduction Since the beginning of time, people have had channels of how they related with each other despite their differences geographically (Oosten, 2006). Human messengers were predominantly used to deliver messages, both official and social ones from one region to the next. Then along came the other modes of communication and social interaction such as use of drums, horns and making noises. Fast track to that modern, world, the advent of media led to the manufacture of radios and TV sets which made the human interaction socially much more simple and interactive. The third generation in the twenty first century made the process even simpler through the discovery of internet. Through internet, social media and social networking sites emerged. These sites have taken the world by a storm. Billions of people in the world are now connected and hooked to these social networking sites. The creators of the sites have successfully managed become among the richest entrepreneurs in the world. This essay takes an in-depth illumination into the impact of these social networking sites and social networking media on the society along political, social and economic avenues. Social media, social networking and impact on society To kick-start this essay, it would be best that a definition of social internet sites and social media may be defined in this paragraph. Social media can be defined in an abstract way as the involvement and interaction of people through the power of internet. The internet as a forum attracts billions of people every day and as such, there is a lot of traffic and interaction that goes on in these sites. The internet was originally accessible using the computer. Today, people can be able to access the internet from multiple devices including mobile phones. This has made the interaction among people easier, faster and more convenient. The effects of this have been felt far and wide. On a social avenue, there are very many impacts, both positive as well as negative that has resulted from the use of social networking sites and social media. One of the advantages of the social networking sites is the ability to bring people closer regardless of their geographical or demographic diversities (Georg, 2002). People have found love that goes across borders, races and creed. For instance, there has been numerous online dating sites that are dedicated to bringing people from different walks of life together. People register as members onto these sites, majority of which offer the services for free and from there, they are capable of interacting with other people whom they think matches their profiles. They can then link up with these people and depending on whether they like each other or not, relationships can be build or broken. Marriages and hookups have developed from such social interactions (Krishna, 2012). Other people meet on normal sites such as Facebook and twitter and relationships develop from there. The social media and social networking sites are great avenues for learning. Many institutions have adopted the social media and social internet sites into their mode of learning as platforms that assist greatly when it comes to education (Livingstone, 1996). For instance, students from a certain fraternity or campus can be brought together into a page or a group in these sites and from there, they can have discussion platforms and share very insightful academic issues. The lecturers can also engage with the students directly without having to be physically present at a learning location. This has been documented across the world. Many renowned universities across the world have been able to offer academic services to numerous people who are many miles away through the use of the social networking sites and distance learning programmes. People can learn practically anything they want from the comfort of their homes and even attain accredited certificates. This has led to an increase in the volume of people who are intellectuals across the world because all that one needs is a connection to the internet site. In the same concept, people have learnt a lot of things from the internet. There is a lot of intellectual property and resources on the internet almost on any topic one comes up with in their minds. People are able to learn a lot about things they did not know before just by going to the internet and typing an inquiry. The social media and social networking sites have also revolutionalized the way people entertain themselves in the third generation. Today, through the power of the social media, people are able to interact and play games with other people who are miles and miles away (Kirkorian et al 2008). The social media brings them closer and makes them have a bond in entertainment that would be only rivaled by the contact games. Through the social media, people can even bet on games that are being played miles from their place. The thrill of enjoying a game that happens miles away in real time is great. There are other forms of entertainment that have taken the world by storm in the way they are conducted. Before the internet and social media, artists and musicians had a really rough time trying to break ground and become popular beyond their boundaries. Today, a person can become world famous overnight through the power of social media and the internet. There are very many sites through which people access music and videos freely and the more they access, the more popular a certain video or music becomes. Downloads are made countless times earning their owners tremendous fame and fortune. Businesses in the society have also in a way benefitted from the advent and popularity of the social media and networking sites. It is the trend of many business people to advertise their products onto the internet and more specifically onto the social media platforms (Tufekci & Wilson, 2012; Muniandy & Muniandy, 2013). When an advertisement occurs in a social media platform, millions of people are able to access the business and this is easily translated into sales volumes by this company. the social sites provide the much needed exposure that many businesses need. Before the internet, businesses used millions of dollars in form of advertising in other media services such as TVs and radios. TV and radios had a more limited audience when you compare their popularity, despites being there for some time to the popularity of the internet and social networking sites. Through advertisement across the social networks and social media platforms, businesses gain a larger clientele base. They are also able to receive almost immediate feedback from people who use their products or services on these social media platforms. Another way through which the social media and social networking sites have had an impact in the society is through making it easier for people to get jobs and placements (Lindsey, 2013). It has also made it easier for employers to be able to get personnel. There are very many job seeking sites that people can go to and access jobs. Employers can go to these sites to post available jobs. This is a very unique, quick and easy way of acquiring personnel. All people need is to go to the internet, log into a job search site, upload credentials and wait to be contacted. There is no need for the old fashioned style of having to tarmac looking for jobs in every office. Some of the companies have even gone an extra mile of ensuring that once a vacancy comes up in the company, an automatic update is made to the job seeking sites. Another major milestone that the advent of internet and social networking sites have made is the fact that people do make money online and this has led to many people becoming financially independent. There are a lot of online jobs that people could tap into and make some cash. Today, jobless youths are turning to the internet to look for online jobs rather than opting to tarmac as was the norm before. The online platform has resulted in many of these people achieving financial awareness and freedom. The internet and social networking platforms have also changed the way businesses are conducted. Through the use of video conferencing, people can interact and have meetings irrespective of the distance between them in real time and at the same time (Joseph, 2012). The social network and the social internet sites greatly influence how political systems work. The political spectrum has been affected mostly by the social media as the following paragraph highlights. The provision of a platform through which political leaders could reach out to their people is perhaps one of the major ways in which the social media and social networking sites have contributed to political revolutions. Political leader use the social media platforms to conduct their campaigns and offer information to their potential voters. They would like to keep their followers updated on the happenings in the political scene always and using the cheapest available means and the internet is one of them. There is also another plus in that they can be able to reach masses of people at a go and very cheaply. Many of these political parties also use these platforms to recruit new members to their parties. Campaigning seems to have taken another form through the use of the social media. The social media has become a favorite of every politician who are technologically savvy. For instance, in the USA, the re-election of the USA president, Barack Obama to office for the second term rode hugely on his popularity in the social media. People took the advantage and used the social media to share their opinions as well as amassing considerable support for Obama’s re-election (Howard &  Parks, 2012). People could interact among themselves and offer their thoughts and their criticisms in this election freely and without any form of censorship. The politicians have an opportunity to interact directly with their potential voters. They get to understand what the people want and the kind of policies that could work in certain setups and those that would not work. on the other hand, people do not need to see their leaders physically to interact with them. They use the internet and other forms of social media to evaluate the strength of their candidate. When politicians need to call for rallies and campaign trails, they can tap into the power of the social media and social networking sites to bring people out in droves. Though the above discussion has highlighted mainly on the positive impacts of the internet and social media, there are a number of negative impacts that have been documented as the following paragraph details. Just as much as the fact that there is a lot of good intellectual information from the internet, there is also a lot of literature that can be defined as corrupting minds. Many people, especially the youth are faced with pornographic materials that are freely available and accessible from the internet and social sites. Gaming online may expose individuals and children to violence through their participation in games that encourage violence. On the political platform, the association of people and the free sharing of information and opinions has resulted into revolutions and uprisings that have claimed the lives of many people and destruction of property. A good example is the Arab uprising that was fuelled by the power of the social media. Conclusion The above discourse has looked keenly into a form of technology, the social media and social networking sites and how they have affected the society. The discussion has looked into the social, economic as well as political impacts of the social media and social networking sites. It has been observed that people have gained economic independence through working online and through promoting their businesses in these social media and social networking sites. The political aspect of social media has been observed as giving both the politicians and the potential voters the chance to have an interactive session before they go to vote. There are a few negative aspects that have been discussed in this paper. The social media is instrumental in the promotion of social evils such as pornography and violence. In conclusion, it has been observed that the advent of the social media and social networking sites have had a very tremendous impact on the society. References Georg, G, H. (2002). “Economic Forecasting for Management : Possibilities and Limitations.” Quorum Books: Westport. Howard P, N &  Parks, M, R. (2012). “Social Media and Political Change: Capacity, Constraint, and Consequence”. Journal of Communication. 62 (2): 359–362. Joseph, S. (2012). “Social Media, Political Change, and Human Rights”. Boston College International and Comparative Law Review. 35(1):145-185. Kirkorian D, Wartella,E and Anderson, D. (2008). “Media and Young Children’s Learning”. Future of children publications. 18(1): 39-61 Krishna, S. B. (2012). “Beyond social networking: Performing global Englishes in Facebook by college youth in Nepal”. 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