The Future of Social Media

Predicting the future of Social Media is tricky business, but I can most definitely tell you that Social Media is here to stay! It has already changed how people interact with each other whether it be with friends, family, businesses, governments or organizations. So, what does Social Media have in store for us for the future?

The future of Social Media is going to be way beyond just creating a New Facebook layout like the new timeline. It’s going to be about revolutionizing the way we communicate, see and hear about news and all sorts of things all over the world. I feel like there are going to be a lot of new developments that no one ever expected. Ten years ago, we never would've imagined we'd have the type of technology and Social Media that we do now, so I think the future will continue to keep surprising us and technology will continue to amaze us in the way of what we can do with it. Take Smartphone’s for example, according to Social Media experts, mobile data usage has increased tremendously and they are expecting over 1 billion users by the year 2013. In my opinion, I think that new technologies in Smartphone’s like iPhones, Blackberrys and Androids enable users to easily access all the Social Media sites their little hearts desire anytime, any place! We can already see a shift in the way people use handheld devices to Tweet, Facebook, Email, Blog etc. The funny thing about it is that these days it's like some people can't live without Social Media every minute of everyday! I myself have witnessed this first hand at my work. I work at a pool for the City of Oshawa as a Pool Supervisor/Lifeguard/Instructor & you think that swimming in a pool would make people take a break from their social networking lives and put their mobile device down, but no, think again. I've actually witnessed people bring their phones in the pool while they are swimming with their kids, brothers, sisters, parents etc. Just straight up walking around fingers pushing down on the keys at full tilt. These phones aren’t even waterproof yet! It's a little ridiculous, but it could possibly just be a look at what is to come in the future! Water proof phones and complete social media addiction!

This is only the beginning.. it will be interesting to see what's next! My prediction, a ALL in one brand new Social Media site that connects all your Social Media networking together, kind of like a Social Media Portfolio!  Can’t wait to see what the future holds for Social Media, but I look forward to whatever they come up with, after all I am just another Social Media Junkie like so many others out there!

Social Media: Has the potential to bring about real social change

 “Hey did you see that video on Facebook about Kony?”

“Hey did you see that tweet on twitter that girl from class posted?”

“Hey did you see the pictures posted on Flickr I added?”

These are just some of the many things I hear almost everyday to do with social media. So to answer the question “Do you think that social media has the potential to bring about real social change?” I believe that social media most definitely does have the potential to bring about social media change. In fact, I think that it already has started to change. Social media has allowed us to do so much more and communicate and interact on a whole different level. There’s not very many people that don’t use 1 or more social media tools now a days which proves it has a real impact on our everyday lives and is making a social change!  

Social media allows us to get in touch and stay in touch with friends, family and people in general all over the world, help promote our companies or businesses, advertise and market freely, talk about and share world issues like Kony 2012 and so much more. Social media is easy and convenient. You can look at social media websites from your mobile phone, tablet and computer.  Which makes it easier for people to use them all day, everyday at any point in the day.

Although there are many positives to the social media making a real social change there’s also a couple negatives. For example people aren’t interacting in person as much anymore due to social media. Which is makes it a huge social change. So instead of going to talk to family, friends, ect in person they just send them a message on Facebook for example.

Overall, I think that the social change that has started already with social media is for the better and it suits our fast paced, busy bees society much more just on convenience and availability alone. 

Social Media: How it has impacted the quality of news & information

Do you wake up watch the news on TV, read a newspaper, check your Facebook or Twitter everyday on either your phone or computer? I know that I sure do!

With the advancement of technology over the years the influence of social media has grown tremendously. With this new social media trend it has allowed everyday citizens to become authors, editors and publishers of news and information of all sorts, which has in turn impacted the speed of how fast news travels. There are many pros and cons to this.

PRO: I recently had a friend die in a car accident and because of social media sites almost everyone knew within hours of the accident what had happened. It was all over facebook, twitter and even newpapers had already posted articles and pictures on the web. It all happened so quickly.  In this case I am very grateful because instead of asking loved ones for the painful story that they would usually have to tell over and over back in the day, you can now find out for yourself on social media sites and already know most of the information. This helps so you can just be there to support the friends and family instead of putting them through the pain of continuously re-living the story again and again. This is just one example, in my opinion there are definitely many more pros then there are cons though.

CON: You and your boyfriend breaking up and it being plastered all over Facebook saying “so and so has went from being in a relationship to single” Not so appealing for how fast the news will travel! With that being said there are less cons then pros. If the information comes from an unreliable source or if the information is false that is the biggest con. This rarely happens, but when it does it’s no good.  

In my opinion, I believe that social media has mostly increased the quality of news and information.  We live in a society that thrives off of communication, news and information to keep us going. The advancement of technology and fast growing social media has just made it easier and more accessible for people to deliver and receive all of these things anywhere, anytime, off anything. (phone, computer, tablet, the web etc.) As long as we use it correctly it will definitely continue to improve the quality of news in more ways then even we know possible.

Perception of Social Media

SOCIAL MEDIA.

What is it? There are many different perceptions of how social media can be defined.  I once read that the best way to describe social media is to think of regular media as a one-way street, where you can read a newspaper or listen to an important news report on television, yet have very limited ability to share your thoughts on what you think of the matter. Social media, on the other hand, is thought of as a two-way street that gives you the ability to communicate to whom ever is interested in listening through any form whether be written, audio or video. A good example of this would have to be YouTube. YouTube has millions of videos on anything and everything you can think of, whether it be news, music, personal stories, so on and so forth. Everyone and anyone is welcome to post, comment in written form, as well as, comment or express themselves in audio and video form.

Social media is growing at a rapid rate.  There are so many different social media sites out the there now a days and you can use them all in many different ways. Whether it is for personal use, work, or just to catch up on the latest news, gossip or even what’s going on in an old friends life. They are in my opinion a great way to communicate, stay connected and give your opinion and comments on everything and anything you want at your leisure anytime, place and when it’s most convenient for you.

One social media site I’m a big fan of is facebook. It’s a serious addiction of mine. Even while writing this blog I hopped on facebook in-between collecting my thoughts of what to write next. Seriously though, who would of thought a “like” button could be so amazing!  It’s genius really, especially for those days where I’m lazy or just can’t find the right words to say I can “like” a comment, a picture, a post, a status, a web link, a video link… like, like, like, like LIKE! In my opinion, facebook is the utmost, most amazing way to stay connected, interact, communicate, state your opinion or what’s on your mind and much, much more.

With all that being said, my perception of social media is if your not doing it, you should be, and if you are doing it, good for you because it’s a new time, a new generation and social media is going to soon be something that everyone needs and wants to be involved in. Social media, in my opinion, is most definitely the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution. It’s a new way of communicating with human kind that’s here to stay! It’s a new way of life and I think it’s a good one.

…Unless of course there’s a power failure or black out… SCARY THOUGHT?

First Time Blogger

Hello All,
My name is Brittany & I'm a first time blogger... Can't wait to test out the new waters here. :)