You attend a party, and rather than the revelers have a good time, you find them on their phones snapchatting, instagramming, tweeting, and updating their statuses. It sometimes replaces human interaction, and contributes to social divide. You find that some people are being discriminated against because of the kind of phone they use, or the quality of the pictures taken, or the lack of SnapChat filters thereof. Believe it or not, this actually happens.
Depending on how you use social media, it can be a curse or a blessing. Either way, technology has come to stay, and with it comes a wild world of innovative ideas that shape our daily lives. Social media enables real-time communication with family, friends, associates, and acquaintances, as well as enable us stay up to date with their lives and personal business. It can be lethargic, therapeutic or routine.
It can be used, abused or taken advantage of depending on the user’s intentions. Having said that, the power of social media is greater than any one individual, organization or country. For instance, go after Beyonce, troll her and see what happens to you. She has an entire community of what is called Beehives who will taunt and torment you with bee emojis, and you may be forced to temporarily suspend your account to be rid of them.
I prefer to see social media as somewhat of a revolution, where people can air their grievances, rise against tyrannical government policies, demand change, or simply rant. Some have cashed in big time with it, while some have gone down the dark road of destruction. There are those who use it for popularity, fame or notoriety, so many cases I don’t even know where to begin. From the actress who got naked on a live feed, or the transgender who boasts of a sugar daddy who funds his lavish lifestyle, to couples calling each out and going to war. Sadly, it is also used as a scamming tool, where fake accounts of famous people are created and used to ask unsuspecting fans for benefits or money. How about merchants who steal pictures from other people’s pages, post it on theirs, and when you pay for the items—poof! the page is gone, disappeared into oblivion.
Back in the day, you needed to log into Pornhub to see a nude picture, or slot in an x-rated DVD. Now tits and ass stare you dead in eye.
There are those who live for the likes and comments. Constantly refreshing their feed to see if the numbers have gone up. How many views their videos have had in the last fifteen mins. Oh, the addiction has caused many anxiety attacks and depression. Having said all of this, the gift of social media is the connection with billions of people around the world, real time news, a place to share information and passion.
It is a tool that is used by almost every single one of us. If used correctly, social media can aid crowdfunding,where supporters, users, friends or family can lend a hand. We’ve seen cases where ailing celebrities used their platforms to appeal for assistance, and with the help of reposts, entire medical bills running into millions were offset. Influencers grow brands or the brands grow the influencers. Buy and sell from the comfort of your home, advertise your products, and get exposure for your business at lower costs than any other means of traditional marketing. Educational institutes, teachers and professors can extend their classroom discussions and post assignments, quizzes and tests and assist students with homework.
As per 2017 statistics, a person spends an average of 135 minutes per day on social media, for some this is before sunrise. In conclusion, social media can give you fantastic returns if you use it positively and wisely. If you’re not taking advantage of social media, you’re missing out on a fast, inexpensive, and effective way to reach almost half the world’s population.
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