The beginning of the social media - Essay Example

Social media Social media Social media is the collection of the entire online communication channels that are dedicated tothe community based input, collaboration, interaction, and content sharing. Social media is not new; it was invented long ago before the invention of computers. While it has recently become a part of our mainstream culture as well business world, people commenced using digital media for socialization, networking, as well as information gathering around three decades ago. Social media started with the use of phones.

The use phones gained momentum in the early 1950s when technophiles and information addicts that were trapped in a telecom monopoly existed. The early social media explorers made gadgets that were called “boxes” which were homemade devices that were capable of generating tones hence allowing people to make calls as well as get an experimental back end of telephone systems (Peacock, 2011).Social media has various impacts to our lives especially the people who spend most of their times in social networks.

Today, social media has enslaved 72% of men and 79% of women (Trusov, Bucklin, & Pauwels 2009). It has become part of our culture and almost everyone has been affected either directly or indirectly. One of the most profound effects of social media is its impact on our interaction with other people in offline situations. Social competency is a very vital ideal, which majorities of the people strive towards; however, it is very evident that social media affects people’s ability competently interacts in an offline setting.

Recent studies based on social competency of teenagers and youths who spend most of their time on social media networks are very conflicting. For instance, a research conducted by the national institute of health showed that youths with stronger and positive offline relationships are probably those that frequently use social media networks in additional to interacting face-to –face with the peers (Ryan, 2011). Conversely, other studies show that social media is the excellent avenue for most introverted people to interact with others.

Most of the people who are not comfortable in face-to-face interactions prefer interacting with other people in the online environment.The growth and popularity of social media is growing at very fast rates due the advancement in technology. The internet plays a very important role in the growth of social media networks. Today, the internet offers us with various social networking sites that enable us to interact with our friends online. Current studies show that 70% of the entire populations on earth have access to the network and 86 % of these internet users are participate in social networks (Lenhart, & Madden, 2007).

Some of internets networking cites include Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp among others. Moreover, social networking networks have also designed applications that can be used in mobile devises such as phones; this has also played a big part in the growth as well as increase in the number of social network users.Advantages of social networkingOne of the major advantages of social networking is the democratization of media. Social networks offer people with a popular forum for exchange of information.

For instance, at their height of popularity, twitter and Facebook were some of the most reliable sources for first hand news. The public used these two social networks as tools where they used to report news first. Moreover, social networks allow people to participate freely in news as well as act as watchdogs over institutionalized media.Disadvantages of social networkingConversely, overlooked content is one of the major disadvantages of social networking. In a world where everybody can act as a journalist, content in the internet may at times be overlooked.

Keeping in mind that democratization is a positive step in the maintenance of accountability in the society; social networks at time become saturated with information with no filters for determining the decency of the information. Moreover, people can use social networks for spreading propagandas and information that can affect the society negatively (Bradburne, 2007).References Bradburne, A. (2007). Practical Rails social networking sites. Berkeley, CA New York, NY: Apress Distributed to the Book trade worldwide by Springer-Verlag New York.

Lenhart, A., & Madden, M. (2007). Social networking websites and teens: An overview (pp. 1-7). Pew/Internet.Trusov, M., Bucklin, R. E., & Pauwels, K. (2009). Effects of word-of-mouth versus traditional marketing: Findings from an internet social networking site. Journal of marketing, 73(5), 90-102.Peacock, M. (2011). Drupal 7 social networking build a social or community website with friends lists, groups, custom user profiles, and much more. Birmingham, UK: Packt Pub.Ryan, P. (2011). Social networking.

New York: Rosen Central.