The Advantages of Social Media in Today’s Society
Social media is a variety of websites that are used to connect or communicate with people across the world. One example is Facebook, which was created by Mark Zuckerburg. Facebook is used by people all over the world to connect with family, friends, and people who live far away. Another example is Twitter. People using Twitter send out small status updates called “tweets”. These tweets are sent to people who follow that person. MySpace and Friendster are a lot like Facebook. All of these can help people communicate with other people around the globe.
Social Media has a long history. According to an info graph by Jolie O'Dell on “Mashable”, in 1971, the first email was exchanged. In 1978 there was the creation of the Bulletin Board System, which exchanged data over phone lines, along with the first internet browsers being launched. From 1994 to 2008, there was a boom in social media. Geocites, Friendster, AOL messenger, Facebook, Twitter, and basically every other social media site was discovered (O'Dell). The most popular of these sites is Facebook, which has over 600 million users (O'Dell). MySpace is the next most popular, with 260 million users, followed by Twitter with 190 million users, and then Friendster, which gets about 90 percent of its traffic in Asia, with 90 million users. All of these sites provide multiple benefits for people.
Social media has provided benefits to people politically, professionally, and personally. Even though there is less face to face interaction among people, social networking can help organize events, and can help people keep in touch with others that they knew years ago, or who live far away. During the protests in Egypt, protesters actively used sites such as Twitter and Facebook, to organize rallies and update the situations in their areas. According to Tim Lister and Emily Smith of CNN.com, the government in Egypt tried to block access to these sites and disrupt the protests. However, according to Lister and Smith, “Despite attempts to block Twitter, Facebook and other sites (the government denies it was responsible), a Facebook page devoted to Friday's planned protests had more than 80,000 followers as of 2 p.m. ET Thursday, compared with some 20,000 the previous day. (Lister, Smith)” Social media also helped journalists find out about everything that was happening in places they could not get to, such as the city of Suez, which had seen much of the violence (Lister, Smith). However, streaming videos, tweets, and blog updates “…provided at least some guidance on the rapidly evolving situation…” (Lister, Smith). Using Twitter updates after being detained in Egypt, journalist James Karl Buck sent out a message to his followers saying “arrested”. Friends and followers worked to release him, and less than twenty-four hours later, he was able to send out a tweet that said “free” (Lister, Smith).
Social media has also been used as an advocacy tool. President Barack Obama is often referred to as the “Social media President” because he used Twitter and Facebook to send his messages out (Imperatore and Kidwai). Since Obama’s presidential campaign, many politicians have turned to social media. For example, Rep. Glenn Thompson made a speech about the importance of CTE, or Career and Technical Institute, on the House floor. Shortly after, he updated his blog, Facebook, and YouTube about the event (Imperatore and Kidwai).

Social media is also involved heavily in the workplace. LinkedIn is a website that allows professionals in the business world to create their own profiles and connect with other people in their field. Social media also helps if a face to face meeting is not an option. Skype, which allows its users to talk and chat for free with the use of a webcam and microphone, just like a telephone can be used to hold virtual business meetings. That way, the meeting can be held, even if the people involved are on the other side of the country. In the same way, that can be used for regular conversation.
Social media is also convenient for personal use. Facebook, as mentioned earlier, is the most common way to communicate using social media. People can update information, such as what they are doing at the time, where they are, and who they are with. It can also be used to update more personal things, such as where they are living, how old they are, where they go to school, where they work, and other things. People can also post pictures of places they have been and the things that they have done or seen. Another big draw is the ability to track down old friends or people who have moved away. It helps connect people back together and find out how the other person is doing.
	However, some experts believe there are drawbacks to social media. According to an article in the New York Times by Hillary Stout, “…the Pew Research Center found that half of American teenagers — defined in the study as ages 12 through 17 — send 50 or more text messages a day and that one third send more than 100 a day. Fifty-four percent said they text their friends once a day, but only 33 percent said they talk to their friends face-to-face on a daily basis. The findings came just a few months after the Kaiser Family Foundation reported that Americans between the ages of 8 and 18 spend on average 7 1/2 hours a day using some sort of electronic device, from smart phones to MP3 players to computers” (Stout). This reduces the amount of face to face interaction that individuals receive, and can have an effect on the children’s social skills, such as being able to understand facial expressions and body language, along with the concern that “With children’s technical obsessions starting at ever-younger ages — even kindergartners will play side by side on laptops during play dates — their brains may eventually be rewired and those skills will fade further...” (Stout). In other words, with kids starting to use technology at such a young age, there is concern about the development of their social skills.
Technology is a helpful part of today’s society. It keeps us up to date on events, in touch with people, and can even help us with work. Admittedly, there are drawbacks, such as social skills not being fully developed due to the technology being so heavily relied on. However, social media is helping more than it is hurting, and it is not going anywhere. In fact, it will continue to develop and become more up to date, and everyone will continue to use it, regardless of any concerns.