The Social Media Age

We’ve heard of the Information age and it’s impact on society, industry and technology, I believe an equally influential subset to this should be considered the Social Media Age. Specifically the exchange of ideas, movements, propaganda and culture through the various forms of interactive media that are now infused with our daily lives. With the recent boom in mobile technology people across the globe are now connected on a 24/7 basis. Social media has drifted from the original use of personal information and now is filled with matters of societal, political and global significance. You can look at most any of the major recent events whether it be ISIS, The Arab Spring, Brexit, the 2016 Presidential race, BLM and undoubtedly see the fundamental role social media has played.

That being said I thought it would make for an interesting discussion to veer away from the more partisan subjects that have been dominating this forum and examine the phenomenon in a more objective manor to discuss the past and future impacts this will have on the world.

This is the extent of my social media. I have never liked the idea of Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, or any of the others. It seems like a narcissism circle-jerk that I choose not to be a part of. What worries me the most however is when I bring up a news story and my friends say “Oh I saw that on facebook.” Has facebook become a news outlet or is it just a series of headlines that people are glossing over and not actually reading?

I agree, while these social media platforms may be bringing important issues to people that would have otherwise not been aware the method that they deliver allows for minimal depth and information into said issue. Think about how 90% of people are accessing these stories, through their phone. This only allows for minimal context be it a headline, picture or video. The BLM movement comes to mind when I think of this, Social media has been flooded with short videos, headlines or picture of police brutality with little context surrounding the specific cases.

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