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Social Media

Around the time when human beings began speech, social media has always been in existence. One of the original representations of social media was wall paintings found in caves. These paintings were designed by use of pigments. Every living organism has a way of communication. The only difference is that mankind’s system leaves an intentional lasting impression.

Social media can be defined as the interaction among individuals that involves creation, sharing and/or exchange of ideas and information in digital communities as well as networks. It depends on itinerant and web-based tools for the designing of platforms of interaction via which people co-create, share, analyse and improve user-generated content. It differs from traditional media in various ways inclusive of usability, quality, and permanence among other factors. Facebook, Twitter, What’s App and You Tube to mention but a few are just some of the many popular social networking sites. These sites have had both positive and negative effects on society. This essay will focus on these effects as well as the similarities and variances between old and modern media drawing on a few ideologies from the sociology of mass communication.

The new social media has led to the creation of a more informed, connected and democratic or egalitarian society. Being a crucial part of modern civilization, it defines how assimilated our social interactions have gotten. This achievement is credited to technological developments. Presences of the sites of networking such as MySpace have made individuals to be even more aware of their surroundings. They have created an entirely new world where everybody is at liberty to express their perceptions and share them with kith plus peers (Bryfonski, 2012, p. 59).

Interactive media is now a vital cradle of news. The believability of certain sources is contestable but through such sites as Twitter, news channels are able to update their audience on important occurrences worldwide. The fact that they are available on social networks gives rise to the easier accessibility of news and information. In addition to this, news spreads faster and in a manner that has never been experienced in previous times.Aside from facilitation of spread of news, social media has also promoted relations on a large scale. It has enabled individuals to meet and stay in touch with each other on a regular basis. Earlier, intimate interaction seemed almost impossible but with the development of these sites of social networking intimacy is promoted and encouraged. People from all walks of life are able to ever so effortlessly contact one another hence establishing the chance to experience diverse cultures.

Another benefit of this innovation is that it has promoted grander political awareness in combination with organization. This has led to cases of political territories being rewritten in some countries. One can catch a glimpse of this in the elections of Iran as well as the re-election of President Barrack Obama without leaving out the Egyptian political disturbances.Literacy has also been fostered by this revolution. Children who start making use of the podia at an early age develop primary skills of communication and become more erudite in general. This trend is raising spirits. Thanks to the monumental information availability, anybody is capable of being as intelligent or smart as they wish to be.

There has also been a grand alteration in the entire marketing dynamics. Business entities are focusing their efforts on being more centred on their customers as opposed to making huge pointless investments in mass channels advertisements. This has been realized through social media interactions. Companies are now able to have a better understanding of the needs and wants of their target market by getting information from within the market. This is a significant change in the way marketing activities were previously carried out.

It would however be ignorant to deny that social media has also adversely affected society. The sites of social networking aforementioned have contributed to what is referred to today as IAD which stands for Internet Addiction Disorder. It has also facilitated the broadcasting of information that is false and undependable. Statistics show that approximately forty nine per cent of individuals access untrue information through social media. Another disadvantage of this development is that sites of social interaction are often prone to lack of privacy and thus open up users to intrusions by corporations and even the government (Meyrowitz, 1985, p.107).

Social media also has a destructive impact on academic performance. Students that frequent social sites have a tendency of taking really low grades home. Research reveals that those scholars using social media registered an average GPA of roughly three points whereas their non-user counterparts registered a GPA of almost four points. Sixty seven per cent of instructors believe that social media distracts students more than it provides them with any help.These sites also inveigle time wastage. They could also lead to stress coupled with wrangles in offline relationships.

Traditional media refers to print, radio and television among others. Modern social media has various aspects that are similar to traditional media. For instance, both traditional and modern media need planning out. Just as in traditional media, the development of a social media plan requires one to be based on the target population. The planning process involves two steps namely; preparation of the information that one wishes their audience to act on and setting up of channels for effective delivery of the message. Another similarity between the two media is that both are measurable. Results are measured in order to determine the effectiveness of communication.

There are also quite a number of ways in which new social media varies from traditional media. One is permanence in that is is not possible to chance an article in a newspaper or advertisement once published but with new social media one can update news and even add comments. Time spent on the research and publishing of a document is a lot. It could take days or weeks even months. Social media on the other hand enhances one on one communication allowing for the sending of news, posing questions and having them replied to as well as starting forums for discussion (Wankel et al., 2012, p 69).

Both forms of media provide the opportunity of communication of messages worldwide. As traditional media implements centralized approaches coupled with production in the distribution of information, social media uses a more decentralizes strategy to disseminate news. This stratagem permits research and production of information in numerous locations simultaneously. Frequency is another aspect that makes the two media different. Channels of social media take longer to display advertisements than traditional media does.Production in traditional media needs adequate knowledge, expertise as well as training. New social media only requires a minute build-up of the level of skill that one is already in possession of.

References

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Bryfonski, Dedria. The Global Impact of Social Media. Detroit, MI: Green haven Press, 2012. Print.

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Meyrowitz, Joshua. No Sense of Place: The Impact of Electronic Media on Social Behavior. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985. Print.

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Wankel, Laura A, and Patrick Blessinger. Increasing Student Engagement and Retention Using Social Technologies: Facebook, E-Portfolios and Other Social Networking Services. Bingley, UK: Emerald, 2012. Print.