Benefits of social media in contemporary society

 

Introduction

Social media is a form of electronic communication where various platforms are created in order to create online communities, where ideas and information can be exchanged. Examples of these platforms are Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest and Snapchat. Social media is a technology, and like any other technology it comes with its advantages and disadvantages. Although from a certain point of view the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and it is correct to say that social media plays an important role in modern societies. Social media has easily connected people in different continents. In the field of education social media has helped a lot, social media helps to inform and update people on what’s happening around the globe, social media can also be used to promote businesses and campaigns for noble causes. Lastly, social media can help in the building the image of a business. Social media is an important tool and plays a major role in the advancement of the society.

People who are in separate locations do not have to cut off communications completely because of the availability of social media platform. They are able to communicate using video chats where they can see each other, this is an advantage that has been brought about by presence of social media platforms such as skype. People from various parts of the continent are able to connect with each other through social media and share their ideas beliefs and information (Noor, & Hendricks, 2013). This connectivity has been facilitated by the presence of social media where anyone can create an account and keep in touch with the rest of the world. Social media can be used to influence people towards a certain noble cause. It helps in promoting and raising finances for welfares which are undertaken by Non-Governmental Organizations by spreading the massage quickly to many concerned people.

In the field of education social media has helped in promoting a collaborative learning process, helped in building a community of practice. Social media platforms have also helped in generating of study content. In modern society the traditional face to face communication has become out dated, social media has enhanced the communication between student and the teachers and their fellow students. When there is no time to carry out face to face communication it is easy to log into a social media account and pass some questions to your teacher and still get the answers quick. Social media has also made it possible for students to have online discussions with their fellow students (Noor, & Hendricks, 2013). Social media can also act as a good stress booster for students who have had a long tiring day. Platforms such as Instagram and Facebook can entertain the student after a busy school day.

Social media is being use as a tool to pass information very fast across many different locations. Anyone with a social media account has high chances of knowing what’s taking place around the globe faster than any other person. A tweet twitted on twitter by a person who commands a large group of online followers is likely to be seen by millions of people within very few minutes. Thus social media has made platforms where information can be shared quickly available. This is proved by the fact that Twitter has 328 million users per month, Snapchat has about 166 million users in one day (Noor, & Hendricks, 2013). This is proof enough that information shared on these social platforms will reach millions of people worldwide.

The use of social media to promote businesses is on top of the agenda of many businesses. Businesses have created online social media accounts on platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. Using these platforms, they connect with their employees, customers and a larger market for their products. They also use these platforms to inform the general public about events they will be hosting or new products they will be releasing. Through these social media platforms, the organizations and companies ask the public to express their opinion concerning the events they host or products they have in the market. Using these feedbacks from the public they are able to make changes that are necessary and needed by the consumer of their products (Noor, & Hendricks, 2013). These companies use social media because it is fast and therefore replies from consumers will only take a short time and both the company and consumer will not have to strain trying to meet face to face so as to express their opinion.

Just like any other form of technology social media has its disadvantages that may deter its use. Traditionally bullying was done face to face, but the presence and use of social media has changed that. Social media has made it possible for one to bully another anonymously, this is referred to as cyberbullying. On social media some friends end up terrorizing others by revealing secrets of others on social media which is violation of one’s privacy. Some extreme cases of cyberbullying can lead to the victim committing suicide. Cyberbullying affects all people irrespective of their age (Betts, 2016). Companies can also have their reputation ruined on social media by an anonymous person and sometimes this leads to collapsing of some businesses.

Conclusion

Social media has played a very important role in the advancement of society. It has provided a platform where people can stay connected always, social media has also provided a fast means of sharing information across the globe, it has also helped in the sharing of ideas among different people. Social media in the field of education has played a major role in helping the teachers and students stay connected. Social media has also helped in bringing people together and raising finances for noble causes. Social media has been widely used by businesses to promote their agendas. Lastly social media also comes with its disadvantages, it has given people the ability of terrorizing others anonymously which is a crime. The advantages of social media in today’s society outweighs the disadvantages, social media is an important tool in the advancement of the society.

 

 

References

Betts, L. R. (2016). Cyberbullying: Approaches, Consequences and Interventions.
            London: Palgrave Macmillan UK: Imprint: Palgrave Pivot

Noor, A.-D. H. S., & Hendricks, J. A. (2013). Social media: Usage and impact. Lanham, Md:      Lexington Books.