Facebook, Formspring, Twitter, Myspace are taking over. Teen’s lives are filled with social media. Computers are easily accessible, in fact more teens than not have their own computer. Social media started out as a way to stay in touch with people and has developed into the lifeline of social life. If you aren’t connected to multiple sites, you’re not in the loop. This new trend is making waves in the social community and in the business world.
In the social community the verbal speech and even email is a thing of the past, and the way of communicating has become more immediate. Practically all phones these days require data plans allowing everyone access to the internet, therefore social media, at any time of the day. No matter where we are there is usually a way to check Facebook or tweet a status. This ability to become dependent on a website is growing, Facebook especially, has been called “addictive” by many teens. The dependencies will most like grow, too. Facebook and I’m sure other, less-popular networks will soon begin email within their sites. Everything one would need would be found on one site. Wide spread social media ultimately will mean unavoidable dependence on it.
In order to be successful these days, people have to be “LinkedIn” or up to date with Justin Timberlake’s Twitter page. Since there are no signs of declination the dependence, as I said earlier will only increase. Careers are being created from the sudden rise of social media; for example, Perez Hilton and businesses are starting to advertise specifically to people in certain Facebook groups. I read an interview from a man who depended on social media for his profession and personal life. He had said in the interview how he used it professionally, he said, “On the IT journalism side, I use social media to find sources, provide live coverage of events, gauge sentiment, distribute content, track news and fact-check stories.” Obviously this is quite an expansive list, if just one person uses social media for all of these tasks, sounds like they would be on Facebook most the day. Then he had continued on to say how he used Facebook on his own time to stay in touch with his family and friends. This shows it reaches people of all ages, making it a fabulous place to advertise. Small and large businesses alike are taking notice. Based on what companies, activities, and groups people “like” or belong to makes them a target for certain companies. The create platforms for ads. Facebook has specified areas of the screen for advertisements. In example, If I belong to Eastview football team they may direct me to an ad for Nike equipment or a small fan t-shirt printer. Not all social media has hopped on this train, however. Twitter and Formspring are still free of cost with no advertising all over your screen. Rather, they have the capability to let businesses have their own account so people can stay up to date with them, and keep in contact if necessary.
Social media will eventually fall, once people decide they would rather have face to face contact again. Until that day comes, social media will strengthen its hold over teens and expand to other generations. It will also become a better way to reach target markets for companies. It is much easier, cheaper and more effective to send a message if you can narrow your list to a specific group or team or business. Although it is an effective way to keep updated and to advertise, social media implicates a much larger amount of dependence on the internet than society has ever seen. This may end up being it’s own death, when people break free of the addiction.
Source: http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2010/01/18/alex-howard-interview
