Social media impact on our lives.
It feels just like yesterday when children were growing up and playing outside with their friends’ afterschool. There were no gadgets like today, children were creative, they made their own toys and things to play with. In fact, they looked forward to it every single day and you can tell that they really enjoyed that face to face interactions with each other.
Students in boarding school at the time will write letters to their loved ones back home. They will ask one of their day student friends to deliver it for them. They usually share with them what is going on at school or request for things that they need in school. There were no cell phones, though few people have telephones at home. It is fascinating to look back and see that a lot has changed over the years.
Our parents will rush home from work just to come and watch 6:00 o’clock news in black and white. Most of the time when they received visitors they will leave them with piles of album full of pictures and will excuse themselves, while their guest was still entertained by viewing all the pictures.
Years down the line, with our advancement in technology and innovative ideas, quite a lot has changed it is not the same anymore. The way we interact, communicate, play, drive, send messages, take pictures, watch TV, watch the news, movies, order food, shop, sell, hang out with friends and stay connected with distant families and friends have all changed.
Now a day instead of visiting families and friends most people use social media because it is convenient and much cheap to get connected, communicate and interact. For families, far and near communicating via email, phone, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, tango, viber and video calling and skype have made very possible to communicate anytime. People don’t have to wait longer anymore before they get in touch.
Social media impact on our live have made most things easy for us to access. Technology have helped to make most things digital, for example before people drive stick shift, now people drive automatic and hybrids cars which comes with digital features. For Instances drivers, can connect their mobile phones to their cars and communicate whenever they receive a call without picking up the phone to answer or use a head set like before. Car makers are now installing GPS systems in latest car to help drivers navigate their way to wherever they are going. The system can even direct a driver to take the shortest route to destination based on the traffic along the way. Car manufactures have considered the needs of their clients and have realized that social media have become essential to us so much that even some of the cars being manufactured now comes with digital cameras and wi-fi systems for consumers to get access anywhere the ride to.
I am sure some of you will remember those days when some write letters to friends and families, they will take it to the post office to mail it and then wait anxiously for day, weeks or months for a reply. On the other hand, companies find the best person with a good hand writing, hand writes letters out or use their typewriters to make it look professional. In this twentieth century, most people do not write anymore like they used to. Many people use different mediums to get their information or message across to whomever it was intended for. For example, to send a message nowadays many uses, emails, Facebook, WhatsApp, snapchats, Instagram, viber, tango among others. Messaging has become instant and it does not matter where you are in the world if you have internet connection sending and receiving response is instant. Most companies benefit from this phenomenon because if they want to send a crucial information to another companies or so, they can just take a picture and send it or scan instead without printing it and then must mail. Technology, has minimize the amount of time it normally takes to get somethings done in our lives, therefore we can manage our time wisely in some aspects of our lives. Especially at school, work and even at home, by prioritizing the most important things in our lives.
We used to complain a lot about paparazzi following stars everywhere they go. Now I think we have become our own paparazzi, taking pictures and selfies of almost anything that we find interesting or are fascinated by. This is mostly seen among the teens and young adults who have become addicted to their phones and feels that they cannot leave without it for a period or hours. Per Dr. Dowdall, it is ok to put the phone down and enjoy some quality time with friends and families(Brain). She explains that teens who don’t get enough rest at night and spends so much time on their phones texting or whatever normally finds themselves in trouble because, they do not get enough rest, they become angry, depressed, they can gain weight because they are not mobile and turn to junk food when they are hungry and tired(Brian).
Most people are no longer in a rush to get home and watch their favorite shows any longer because they now have the option of streaming online on their mobile devices wherever they are or set a record and watch it when they get home. In every way, it has changed from the time our parents used to watch their black and white TV which was stationary by the way.
Social media impact on our lives is tremendous, I say this because as it evolves it is taking us along for the ride. It has changed the way we cook our food traditionally. This is because if you need a recipe for a dish from wherever in the world you can just google it and you can cook your meal, whether, it Chinese, European, African, Mediterranean, Italian and many more, you can find. This has made it easier for most people to cook whatever they want to eat without traveling to that country to explore their cuisine, but just have it at the comfort of your home.
Most brick and mortar stores are using the web to their advantage and have captured quite several consumers online with their e-commence, which caters for many consumers from all over the world. For people who cannot walk or go to the store on foot, e-commence is the answer.
The newest trend for consumers these days is to shop online at the convenient of their home or wherever they may be. There is no need to go to the store any longer if you don’t have the time to shop. Just log on and go to the stores website, Amazon or eBay for great deals. You click and shop and it would be delivered to your door step. Many people have adapted to this new lifestyle. Some call to order their products and food for delivery. However, with this much activity on social media we must be vigilant of cyberattack because hackers also know that this is where most people spend their time at. We must know which sites prove to be safe and which ones does not for us not to fall victim of their scam.
The most important reason people give to hangout on social media is to communicate and connect with lost friends and families who live long distance. Most people stay connected by chatting online, like on Facebook, twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, viber and skype among others. They share their personal pictures, problems, events, what is new in their lives and what is yet to come with them. Some people also use it to meet new people and to expand their networking. Others use it to search for jobs, to gather information and to get their news about what is trending.
The use of social media has given many people the opportunity to express themselves the way they would not have in person. According to Carrier Kerpen CEO of Likeable Media, social media has made her confident as she started using it to express herself. She asserts that social media has helped people to network better and to brand themselves to the public (Kerpen).
Social media has become beneficial to our existence; however, we do know that “too much of everything is bad for us.” Being on it can be time consuming especially when there are other important things to be done, like homework.
In brief, our way of live has changed and things will never be the same like it used to be, because Social Media keeps evolving with time. I wonder what generations yet to come would be saying about what we know today and how they will deal with it.
Mary.
Reference:
Brian, S. J. (2013, Sep 02). Two days with no phone. Scholastic Action, 37, 4-6. Retrieved
from http://jdebusk.weebly.com/uploads/1/3/2/1/13213092/action-two_days_no_phone.pdf
Carrier Kerpen. (2016). How Has Social Media Changed Us? Forbes. Retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/carriekerpen/2016/04/21/how-has-social-media-changed-us/2/#16a06a6258da