By 2021, 4.48 billion people worldwide used social media, an increase of 13.13 percent year-on-year from 3.69 billion in 2020. In 2015, there were only 2.07 billion users – that’s an overall increase in users of 115.59 percent in six years.
The rise of social media began in 1996 with the launch of the Bolt (now closed) website. In 1997, six degrees were released that allowed users to add friends and create profiles. Subsequently, services such as AOL Instant Messenger, Live Journal, and Friendster paved the way for the leader, Facebook in 2004.
In 2020, Facebook led social network with 2.85 billion of the 4.48 billion social media users worldwide. YouTube and WhatsApp follow this with over 2 billion, then Messenger, WeChat, and Instagram, all having 1 billion or more users.
Social media is a powerful weapon that has changed our lives a lot. It has changed the way that we socialise, manage our businesses, engage in political affairs, build professions, and has changed our culture a bit.
The use of platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram has revolutionised the way people socialise. It makes it easy to connect with our family members, friends, and relatives on a real-time basis. With social media, people can share pictures and videos and communicate with their loved ones. This strengthens relationships and brings families together like never before.
Different proficiencies
Family, friends, relatives, and businesses have the opportunity to share skills and develop different proficiencies. People can make and meet new friends. The distance between two persons is kept to a minimum thanks to social media. we have the ability to deal with someone as soon as we remember him. Wherever you are, there is an opportunity to talk to that person, to find out about that person, to see that person.
Social media has a huge impact on businesses—from marketing to interacting with customers in a timely manner.
A business that embraces social media has a definite advantage over its competitors. Online platforms are a low-cost way for businesses to advertise their offers in real time and attract more customers.
It has made it easier for businesses to reach a wider customer base and improve customer loyalty through a variety of programs.
It gives businesses the impetus to retain as well as attract more customers who have easy access to them.This leads to a larger market share, a higher profit margin, and better finance for the business. Through business interactions and feedback, businessmen can quickly understand the market, adopt new strategies, and adapt to dynamic customers’ tastes and demands.
Social media has become an e-commerce platform. Today, most people on Facebook use the marketplace to buy and sell things. The concepts of online shopping, online selling, and online buying are familiar nowadays. Rather than going out, people are used to ordering things, accessories, and goods online. Any kind of thing is available on social media.
Rather than using TV commercials, most companies and business owners are used to advertising via social media now.
It’s a low -budget and highly attractive platform, and social media marketing has taken a top-level in the business world since many of us use social media in our day-to-day lives. Smartphones do the major task for social media marketing since many of us have smart phones today.
Social media has influenced politics in many ways. Nowadays, most people get their news from there as well; sometimes this is before the conventional media does. It is the medium that provides the easiest access to politics and other news. These online platforms allow people to voice their political grievances to their leaders and call for action. It is also a medium through which people hold political rallies, agitate and even feel the political turmoil.
Social media has significantly affected job recruitment. The vast majority of companies base their hiring decisions on one’s social portfolio. Recruiters use online networks to post job vacancies for their ideal candidates.
Easy access
It also makes it easier for job seekers to gain access to job positions. This is evident on platforms such as LinkedIn, where job seekers can create profiles that include their skills and see what job opportunities recruiters are posting.
Many careers and skills have been built and learned through social media. There is a huge increase in online learning where one can easily learn a skill and build a strong career around it. The existence of social media has led to an increase in the number of people receiving scholarships such as distance education as well as writing services. The importance of online education can be seen in a pandemic condition such as Covid-19.
Social media changes the culture too. People’s lifestyles have changed a lot since the advent of social media. Many people were used to writing diaries in the past, but today, social media has become an open diary. The diary means something personal and confidential. People write about their events of the day, their emotions regarding incidents, their dreams or ideas, and reflect on daily life in a safe, private space.
But today, the majority is used to sharing and uploading their day-to-day events, their emotions, their dreams, ideas, and the feelings that they feel during various conditions on social media which has become an open diary.
Most people share their lifestyles on social media. Celebrities such as actors and singers are using social media to share their lifestyles and to promote their upcoming events. Politicians use social media to maintain public trust and their image in society.
They use social media to maintain their reputation and image among others.
We are in a period of lots of happenings. Many upload everything on social media, whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing. Social media is something that is risky. In this way, good as well as bad things can thrive in society. Most new trends are spreading through social media because one person who did a rare thing or different thing is going to be a trend since then.
However, there are downsides to social media.
Although it is a platform for us to socialise, run our businesses, and understand ideologies in society, here are some of the negative consequences to consider:
Sharing and uploading personal information puts one’s privacy at risk of impersonation, theft, and pursuit. Nowadays, companies use social media to measure job seekers. We may lose job opportunities by posting anything that is offensive or embarrassing on social media.
Addictive
Online social platforms are addictive. This has greatly reduced productivity in the workplace. This negatively affects when companies incur losses.
In some cases, it has caused some people, especially insiders, to become overly dependent on the virtual world as opposed to the real world.
Cyberbullying is another worrying effect of social media. Victims of cyberbullying have been found to be depressed and, in more radical cases, have lost their lives.
As information travels fast through the internet, a piece of fake information can quickly reach a large number of people and cause great panic among the recipients.
Dealing with social media is risky. Social media can build and create a life as well as destroy or lose a life. With all these in our mind, we have to keep only the best things on social media and have to prevent from negativities on social media and all have to use it effectively.