The world is changing and it is changing at a very intense pace. Nobody these days can say that our society of today’s world is the same as it was 20 years ago. Not that long time ago we could’ve said that technology changes our society, but now the society is demanding a change in technology. Social Media created new ways of communication, entertainment, advertising, education, etc. The best way to define social media is to break it down. Media is an instrument on communication, like a newspaper or a radio, so social media would be a social instrument of communication. In the past few years, social media websites have become more popular, giving young people a new way to interact with each other and communicate with the world. This new form of communication depends on user-created content, not mass produced messages coming from large media companies. But as with other media before it, social media's rise to prominence has experienced some very serious growing pains. Social media like Face book, Twitter, Orkut, MySpace, Yahoo, Google+, Skype, Watsup aps, viber, and vice versa sites have changed our expectations of the web, as well as society.
The oldest and most powerful form of mass media is the word, both written and spoken; from priests to traveling storytellers, the word has held credibility. A new platform, social media, has taken the power of the word to new levels, transforming companies, society communication. Platforms such as Twitter and Face book are medium for dialogues between many to many, held in a very visible format. The borders of countries and states have dissolved to the credit of the Internet and social media. Through Face book and Twitter, among others, companies are able to fabricate and build virtual personalities. Through history as the communication platforms evolved the method of communicating also had to adapt. Just as the telephone made distance relative, social media has made cultures and social relative. Communication is visible to the world population through MySpace, Twitter, Face book, Second life, and many others.
Social Networking enables us to communicate with anyone and anywhere. People of all ages, races and classes, which have access to new media technology, are empowered to communicate with anyone they want. This instant and low cost communication also changed our society by simply making it global. Teenagers and children spend enormous amount of time on Internet, they learn a lot by communicating with others and at the same time miss out on real life communication. There is simply no need of real life interaction, since all of that is moved online. Social Media have changed distribution of information and coordination and it certainly does make our lives better with faster, cheaper and easier technology, but does it make our lives safer. The main issue that concerns everyone or at least most of new media users is the privacy issue. With all the information which we provide on the web site it is hard to protect yourself from that information being used by someone else.
The spreading of an idea, or of news occurring somewhere in the world can no longer be completely blocked by any organization. As long as one person is able to connect to the internet and express their view about a situation or simply about an idea, then the information that individual will want to share, will get out into the world. Remember, last year during the Iranian elections when there were (and to some extent still are) people disagreeing with the “official” election outcome, the Iranian government attempted to control the communication and the images of what was occurring in Iran from getting out. They were never able to control all the information and images that were being seen by the world in ‘real-time’. Sites such as Face book, Twitter, YouTube and Friend Feed allow people to share ideas on not just news, but also on products and services. Products and Services that before social media, many people would not have even heard about them, let alone request or want the service.
Needless to say, social media has forever changed the way society works, whether it’s the sharing of an idea, the communication of news, or the availability of a product or service. Society today is on the verge of a new way of existing that it’s never experienced before. No longer will people from one side of the world be really able to say that they will never see a person or communicate with someone from the other side of the world ever in their life. No longer will people not be able to share an idea, if they really want to share it (no matter how radical it may be or no matter how many people may disagree with it). No longer will the spreading of information or the expressing of an opinion be able to be completely silenced. As long as there is a person who wishes to express their opinion, share their music or art, or simply say hello to another human being in another country or culture, social media will allow them to do so.
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