How Social Media is impacting our daily lives and....

\n\nWikipedia, the social media go-to- reference created by the public at large, in the form of thousands of contributors, defines Social media as “media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable communication techniques. So, Social Media is the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue.\n\nSocial media is ever evolving. It has its’ own uses or misuses. Though its uses continue to change and expand. We clearly understand that social media relates to the technology and platforms that enable the web’s to content creation, collaboration and exchange by participants and the public.\n\nSocial media defined: \n\nSocial media is developed to promote social interaction, by using easily accessible and scalable communication techniques. Social media is the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue.\n\nSocial media consists of various userdriven channels i.e.\n\n• Facebook\n\n• Twitter\n\n• Instagram\n\n• Snap Chat\n\n• YouTube\n\n• various blogs\n\nSocial Media offers ever growing platforms that enable the interactive communication, by engaging users to participate in, comment on and create content as means of communication.\n\n Social media has the following characteristics:\n\nUnder the umbrella of Social Media, a wide variety of content formats including text, video, photographs, audio, PDF and PowerPoint are created. It creates social content with the community, in the community and for the community. The benefits it brings are:\n\n• Facilitates enhanced speed and breadth of information dissemination.\n\n• Provides for one-to-one, one-to-many and many-to-many communications.\n\n• Enables communication to take place in real time over time.\n\n• Facilitate interactions between various platforms through social sharing, email and feeds.\n\n• Involves different levels of engagement by participants who can create, comment or hang around on social media networks.\n\n• Extends engagement by creating realtime online events, extending online interactions offline, or augmenting live events online.\n\n Hallmarks of social media: \n\nThere are three hallmarks of social media: Evolution, Revolution and Contribution. First, it is an evolution of how we all communicate, replacing emails in many cases. It’s indeed a revolution that for the first time in history we have access to free, instantaneous, universal communication. Third, social media is distinguished by the ability of everybody to share and contribute as a writer /contributor.\n\nPresently, we can deduce that social media relates to the technology and platforms that enable the interactive web’s content creation, collaboration and exchange by participants and the public which is a beneficial one.\n\nConnection and Communication made easy: \n\nA decade back, it was very difficult to find and then connect with friends, relatives and others. The social media sites, such as Facebook, What’s Up, Facetime, U Tube and Google et al, are making it much easier for people to find one another and reconnect, even after decades of being apart. Plus, these sites are a great way to see what is happening in the lives of such friends and family, and to meet and dovetail new people who have similar interests and thoughts as yours.\n\nSocial media caters to every segment of society:\n\nTweens, teens, young and old adults-- being always ready to adapt and learn to use new technologies-- are certainly at the forefront of social media of all types. They have more technological know-how than many of older generations as well. Social media, therefore, is certainly having a rather large impact on their activities of daily lives (ADL) for good or otherwise.\n\nThere are those who spend too much time on social sites, or who exchange the abuses of online bullying on the sites could have some issues. For parents, even those of teenagers who are 16 and 17, it is important to watch to make sure that social media sites do not take over the intra-day and inter-day living of their children. When used appropriately, it can produce desirable results.\n\n Social Media a great form of Entertainment:\n\nOne of the most compelling reason why people are spending so much time on social media sites is because they get a great form of entertainment and that too almost free. They watch videos that people post to their timelines, view pictures, read stories, and even play games. Whether using a smart phone, a tablet, or a PC -traditional computer- more and more people are utilizing social media in their daily lives. Few things have quite as much impact and affect as social media over the past few years. The sites are certainly a step toward world globalization.\n\nHOW HAS SOCIAL MEDIA CHANGED THE WORLD? \n\nWhether you’re a staunch user, you’re for it or against it, there is no denying the fact that social media and networking have impacted our lives over the last decade as follows:\n\nCOMMUNICATION \n\nSocial media and networking have broken the barriers in communication, when it comes to communicating and we are spoilt for choice when it comes to ways of getting in contact with someone. Today, voice mail or a massage. Or even better, tweet, Facebook message, or touch base in other ways. We have the ability to see what others are doing, often within seconds of them doing it.\n\nAWARENESS\n\nThe rise of social media and networking has made it faster and easier to access information around the Globe. Whether through a simple tweet, post on Instagram or a status update on Facebook, we can instantly be made aware of different issues around the world than we ever were before.\n\n SHARE YOUR OPINION: \n\nSocial media has given everybody a platform, the opportunity to tell ‘their story’ online. Whether that is through Facebook, Instagram pictures, Tumblr blogs. Normal people now have the capacity to make their opinion known on a massive scale.\n\nBefore social media was such a big element in our lives, you could have an opinion, or a view on something and only close-knit group of friends or family would know about it. Now social media makes it to reach other people, more people are using social media as an outlet to share their thoughts.\n\nRecent research reported by The Guardian UK, states that most young people are more than willing to hand over information. 91% of users share publicly accessible photos of themselves, 71% post where they live and share their location when updating posts, 61 % of users give their email address away and over a fifth share their mobile number.\n\nBUSINESSES:\n\nSocial networks enable businesses across the world to amplify their message in a way never thought possible only a decade or two ago.\n\nBusinesses can now respond to customer queries and complaints in real time, with the ability to converse and engage with their customers on a different level which is continually improving as social media companies’ progress. This in turn is creating a better sense of customer service and brand loyalty among followers.\n\nSocial media has proved to be an invaluable tool for businesses who want to grow and connect with their audience.  \n\n \n\n