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Nothing will ever be the same…

There is no doubt that social media has taken over our lives… some more than others.  There are many things that we do not experience the same as we used to growing up.  Calling each other on the phone, instead of texting.  Writing a letter and mailing it to someone, instead of emailing.  Sending postcards, birthday or holidays cards, instead of evites or ecards.  Actually spending time with someone and catching up, instead of going through his or her social media to see what they have been up to lately.

Your kids may actually still have a chance at a healthy social life, that is, if you are not already setting up their Facebook profiles and giving them their own Instagram accounts.

Social media has definitely changed the way in which we all communicate with one another, new or old, friend or foe, even family members.  It helps to feel a closeness to those long distance relationships.

We went from just making a call, to leaving a message on an answering machine, to voicemails and now texts.  Most people these days would rather receive or send a text without actually having use the phone, or just send a message through Facebook.  Is social media ruining our ability to communicate face to face?

Hannah Schacter, wrote about the psychological impact social media has on us.  There are risks related with online activity.  “Within friendships, excessive monitoring of others’ activities can also trigger feelings of exclusion (e.g., “Why wasn’t I invited to this party??”) and, in turn increase social anxiety” (Schacter, 2015).  “FOMO” has now becomes a thing, fear of missing out.  We would not know of what our friends were up to back then, unless we spoke about it to each other.  I believe that too much activity on social media does create emotional distress in others, who just become absorbed in the lives of others.  If not careful, social media can become quite addicting.

However, do not get me wrong here; social media does have its benefits in our day-to-day lives, when used wisely.  It all depends on what you feel you get out of the experience.  Some of these methods work quiet well when you want convenience of communicating quickly.

Privacy for sure will never be the same.  Have we lost all sense of privacy?  Would you consider everyone you accept on your social media your friend?  Would you actually invite them into your personal life?  Well you have.  We all give a little bit (or a lot) of ourselves when we decide to post on social media.  Social media and the internet even know what you are thinking.  Ever notice when you search for something on Google, you start to get ads on your social media targeting you to your specific searches.  It is a little scary that nothing is sacred these days.  All of these sites are storing data from your shopping experiences, from your searches and just your basic online habits.

Here is an excerpt from a blog titled, “6 Ways Social Media is Changing the World”, by Alejandra Guzman  (Guzman, 2016)

1. Across industries, social media is going from a “nice to have” to an essential component of any business strategy.

2. Social media platforms may be the banks of the future.

3. Social media is shaking up healthcare and public health.

4. Social media is changing how we govern and are governed.

5. Social media is helping us better respond to disasters.

6. Social media is helping us tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges, from human rights violations to climate change.

Social media is valuable tool for those who use it to promote.  Many businesses today, in fact, I would say all businesses today have at least one social media account.  It is essential to any company to have a website where consumers can gather information on the company and a social media profile to be able to interact with its consumers.  That way, these consumers can “share” with others what they love/hate about a company.  Businesses can have direct communication with its customers through social media sites.

Marketing specialists make the most use out of social media.  It would in their best interests to follow the popular trends for marketing.  Social media is a major function of promotion today.  Before social media, business would spend a hefty amount on promotion.  They would have to create advertisements for print, billboards and television.  Using televised commercials for advertisements are especially costly.  Just look at what companies for a 30-second spot during the Super Bowl.  Social media has allowed these companies to use tactic for promotion free of cost.

Public healthcare – While healthcare information can be quite personal and confidential, social media has created platforms for healthcare providers and patients to access an infinite amount of data.  People can communicate with others through blogs and support groups to find solace with other patients who may suffer from the same conditions or provide others with support.  There are apps like Zocdoc, where you are able to find a doctor, book an appointment and even read reviews online, rather than going through the Yellow Pages of yesterday.

Government – We had to rely on news reports and newspapers to gather daily news and current events.  While we do still employ those resources, those same news reports and newspaper articles are now shared with an even bigger audience on social media sites.  Twitter has become known for breaking news ahead of traditional news media reporting.  There are a number of politicians who heavily use social media to aid in their campaigns.  “Digital media makes it easy for politicians to speak directly to voters without relying on the press – and the Clinton campaign is taking full advantage of that” (Foran, 2016).  Whether the message is positive or negative, social media has allowed a way to share or spread the word easily.

There are many do’s and don’ts when it comes to social media activity.  There is a plethora of information collected when doing research online and through social media.  So much data can be passed from many users.  “Social media is also very helpful for expanding our sources of content as a whole.  With so much being blogged and written, then curated and share proactively, the volume of content has grown exponentially” (Landry, 2014).

Guzman, Alejandra.  7 April 2016.  6 Ways Social Media is Changing the World.  Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/04/6-ways-social-media-is-changing-the-world/

Schacter, Hannah.  7 September 2015.  Me, Myself and I: The Psychological Impact of Social Media Activity.  Retrieved from http://www.psychologyinaction.org/2015/09/07/me-myselfie-and-i-the-psychological-impact-of-social-media-activity/

Landry, Tommy.  5 September 2014.  How Social Media has Changed Us: The Good and The Bad. Retrieved from http://www.business2community.com/social-media/social-media-changed-us-good-bad-01000104#TGmtfjMBBYE6qTSl.97

Foran, Clare.  17 August 2016.  Clinton’s End Run Around the Press.  The Atlantic.  Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/08/hillary-clinton-media-press-conferences/495965/

I almost feel like we are in the future of social media in the moment.  With all social media has to offer us and as many platforms its gives us to be able to interact with one another, it is hard to think of what else could become of such a powerful medium to communicate.

Remember the movies and cartoons that show us what things could be like in the future?  The Matrix, the Jetsons.  Hard to believe that computers are such a vital part of our lives these days.  Imagine going one day without using or touching a computer or your smartphone.  They not only help us with our day-to-day activities but also are a major use in the way in which we communicate with one another using social media/networking sites.  Will there be a way to access these sites without a computer or smartphone in the future?

Facebook provides a place where we can stay connected with one another.  We are able to share stories, updates, pictures, etc. with family and friends on a daily, even up to the minute basis.  Facebook now allows live feed videos where you are able to video anything and live stream it on Facebook.  I think the live streaming is pretty futuristic, I mean how much more quickly can we share information and events?  What ever will they propose next in order to compete with the other social media sites?

Mark Zuckerberg wrote a letter about his thoughts on the future of Facebook and in the Business Insider, writer Alex Heath briefly states the key points in his article “Mark Zuckerberg wrote a nearly 6,000 word letter about the future of Facebook that quotes Abe Lincoln – Here are the key points” (Heath, 2017).

Facebook cares about getting people together in the physical world, not just on the internet.  One billion Facebook users are active members of groups, and Zuckerberg sees those as ways to help facilitate real world interactions.

Facebook sees a responsibility to help people stay safe.  Features like Safety Check, which lets users mark themselves as safe during disaster, are important to the company’s future.

Facebook has a role to keep people informed.

Artificial intelligence will be key in keeping hate speech and graphic content off Facebook.

Social media is not only about how to connect with each quickly but also about the “word” or message you want to reach others.

Zuckerberg says, “Facebook stands for bringing us closer together and building a global community” (Zuckerberg, 2017).  Facebook is probably one of the most popular sites for engaging communities and spreading the word of being supportive of one another.  I believe their focus on bringing society together as a “global community” is an important one in order to be supportive, safe, informed, engaged and inclusive of all humanity.  These goals are not easy to accomplish but will have a huge impact, if implemented now, for the future of our children.

Click the link to see his full letter.  https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-zuckerberg/building-global-community/10103508221158471/

Social media has many uses such as promotion, advertising, selling, communication, interaction for personal use, media use, business use, etc.  Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn are a few sites that already allow the ability to provide a direct link to your pages or profile to your own website or any other platform you use to promote your business.  This kind of promotion is an easy way to help simplify your search for people, businesses and organizations alike.

There are many trends that make a social media site more popular than its counterparts.  Take Snapchat for instance.  It is an application where users send short-lived videos to each other or add to their stories.  These videos can last up to only about 10 seconds before it disappears.  Snapchat has fun filters that can transform your facial features for a more exciting experience.  These filters continuously change each day for fun interactions and even include holiday themed filters.  Snapchat has geofilters that provide a location to your story.  One new feature, that has a futuristic feel, is the addition of the Spectacles.  This new feature has made Snapchat go from a software company to now a hardware company.  Spectacles are sunglasses that you can use to Snap.  You can use them to snap your picture or story directly from your perspective, without using your phone.  I believe more companies will start to use Snapchat to promote their product or services.  It is an easy and fun way to engage consumers with snippets of content.

One thing all social media sites have in common is their collection of data.  How they gather data to manipulate users or create content to reflect personal preferences of its users and they use that data may differ.  Social media expert, Warren Knight, provides some insight into his prediction on the future of social media in the article, “The Future of Social Media” (Knight, 2017).  Warren Knight’s predictions for what he thinks will be important for social media sites to stay relevant in the future are data, tools and automation.

Data “helps shape the way we communicate with our target audience online”.  With data, it is easier to share information with your target audience by providing them with content you know they will enjoy.  “Doing your research is key, and finding the data that will help you market using the right platforms, to the right audience will be so important in 2017” (Knight, 2017).

Tools are another prediction that will help companies offer more than one service to utilize these sites for different purposes.

Knight, discusses automation as his last prediction for the future of social media.  Automation is important for companies to help save user information that relates back to the collection of data and user content.  I personally do not like to save ALL my information online with every site that I use.  While it is convenient to save information to easily access your daily sites, I think it is important to keep private and personal information in a place that cannot be easily accessed or hacked into.

The features that differentiate these sites and make them popular will continuously be updated and upgraded in the future.  These sites will follow others or create their own new features and trends that will drive traffic and users to its sites.  It will be important for social media sites to focus on what is important to users and to stay relevant with the younger generation and the trends that make their use popular.

I believe a lot of the future of social media will be a focus on e-marketing.  More and more companies will see the benefits of creating social media profiles to be able to provide content directly to its target audiences.  User data will be available easily and personalized content will be expected from users.  We will want our emails, shopping experiences and news tailored to our preferences.  The term social media, as new as it is, will be the new normal when referring to communication.

Knight, Warren.  6 January 2017.  The Future of Social Media: 3 Predictions for 2017.  Business 2 Community.  Retrieved from http://www.business2community.com/social-media/future-social-media-3-predictions-2017-01750230#iC1VSIR411LS0Y5Z.97

Heath, Alex.  16 February 2017.  Mark Zuckerberg wrote a nearly 6,000-word letter about the future of Facebook that quotes Abe Lincoln – Here are the key points.  Business Insider.  Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-future-letter-2017-2

Zuckerberg, Mark.  16 February 2017.  Building Global Community.  Facebook.  Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-zuckerberg/building-global-community/10103508221158471/

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